Last Monday January 25th the LAPD sponsored a Muslim Community Forum at the Omar Ibn Al Khattab Mosque near USC. A diverse group of Los Angeles Muslims filled the room to capacity to hear perspectives on the ideal relationship between law enforcement and the Muslim community the new Los Angeles Police Department, as presented by…
That Haiti was devastated by a massive 7.0 magnitude earthquake – the largest to strike the small Caribbean nation in more than two centuries – on Tuesday, January 13th, is already well known. Since then, we have been confronted with a veritable deluge of distressing news and disturbing headlines, as the extent of the disaster…
History, in my opinion, is useless unless we implement its lessons to our present society. Great leaders, such as Martin Luther King Jr., would have struggled and sacrificed in vain if the proceeding generations fail to draw upon the fundamental principles from such historical movements that managed to pull society from the ugly and dark…
By Fatema Kahil They are indeed infamous: individuals who are always late. It seems that no matter what the circumstance or the occasion, they just can’t appear to be on time. Some even attempt to justify their chronic tardiness with a litany of excuses: traffic on the Interstate-5, a sick relative, or even DNA tuned…
By Sumaya Bezrati Less than a minute after the news broke about Michael Jackson’s passing, one of my relatives posted a video link on Facebook of what appeared to be Michael Jackson singing an Islamic nasheed called “Give Thanks to Allah.” Thousands of comments poured in from Muslims ecstatic to hear the “proof” that confirmed…
By Nader Nasr In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful The 11th Annual MSA West Conference was recently held at UC Riverside. For me personally, it was my first annual MSA West Conference, and to be perfectly honest, I was not as excited before the event as I should”ve been. When I had…
By: Habib Hamidi Authoritarian leaders subjugate their people to their absolute ways. They expect everyone to follow their rules and what they deem as right. Many times, they enforce their rules violently and make it known to their people that dissent is not tolerated. They promote their agendas through the media by stressing how deleterious…
by: Amin Eddebbarh “I could sell a mil’ sayin’ nothing on the track¦” These words are from the 2007 hit song “This is why I’m hot” by M.I.M.S (ironically an acronym for Music Is My Savior). Sadly in today’s era of commercial hip hop, the records getting the most plays are almost completely void of…
By Abrar Ahmed Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim Salaamalykum wa rahmatullah Dawah = Inviting people to Islam. Here are a few suggestions on how to begin a conversation, and key points to remember when talking about Islam in any setting. Remember these are all flexible where using your own style of talk is encouraged! Following are a…
by Adam Sheets, UCLA It is crucial that one has her/his facts straight about Israel”s war on Gaza. What events brought about this dreadful situation? What needs to be done to make it stop? These questions will be answered in the content of this article, using concrete facts from a variety of news sources. Let”s…