Articles

Imam Mohamed Magid

Many of us witnessed the Republican candidates for the presidency bash Muslims for two plus hours last night on the CNN debate. The outlandish comments and racist rhetoric of Trump and his ilk make for an interesting spiritual case study, one that we can all learn from.

The only way to reconstitute a faith that long ago succumbed to suspicion over erudition, replacing its theological proofs for idealized ideological truths, is by confronting theories and absurdities head on.

Shaykh Muhammad Yaqoubi. From the Al-Madina Institute 2012 Moroccan Spiritual Tour.

In a time in which several movements arose in the Arab world to challenge traditional Sunni Islam, Shaykh Salih chose to give his life to teaching, and to live inside the walls of the very heart of Sunni Islam, giving his knowledge, wisdom, and counsel to those who came from near and far. We could say that his mission could be summed up in this: to equip the believers with beneficial knowledge that would guide them to the right course of action, and to fill their hearts with faith so that they had no space for - nor even desired - anything else.

Gender and sexuality are matters that our culture is obsessed with, not our children. Children live part of almost every day in a fiction only known to them, in which they pretend to be king, dinosaur, shark, and yes—on occasion—a person of the opposite sex.

A powerful response on the issues of youth lured by extremism on one side and materialism on the other.

I was never raised to think about me, me, me. But in a world that has become so prevalent with tragedies, in a world where those who claim to be of my faith begin to terrorize for reasons I cannot even begin to fathom, I have begun to use “I” more and more. More, because I now feel as if I am being watched. Feel as if whatever I say is being scrutinized, whatever I wear is being judged, whatever I do is being tallied. Of the billions of Muslims in the world, I have begun to focus on I.

Everywhere we turn we see a world on fire. Many of us are searching for answers but are having trouble finding them. Though we are unable to control the deranged acts of some, there is something each one ofus can do about the craziness around us.

From the 2012 Al-Madina Institute Spiritual Tour.

We do not have the luxury or the permission from Allah to isolate ourselves from those around us. While it is challenging to face the unfortunate animosity, we must be the first to follow the example being set by our faith leaders today and to step forward and be voices of tolerance, kindness, and compassion.

Imam al-Ghazali and Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah, two of the most gifted Islamic scholars in history, stood before me. I envisioned their encouraging me and thanks, but instead they slapped me across the face.