Part, 1 Ramadan: Casablanca, Morocco
Somehow the stars seemed to be aligned just right, because my fortune could not have been better. I embarked on my dream to live in Muslim countries during the month of Ramadan this year.
Reflections on Bin Laden’s Death: “The Man Gone Horribly Wrong”
“OSAMA BIN LADEN DEAD, BODY IN US CUSTODY,” read the large block letters beneath President Obama’s face. The President’s measured words spilled about me and echoes back up from the downstairs TV. Fifteen Minutes Earlier My family was relaxing. We’d all had a lazy Sunday, so we decided to catch a late dinner, and we…
Why our Current Education System is Leading us to Failure
When we walk into the lecture hall, we can easily identify the seats meant for students and the single podium that belongs to the teacher. Many of the lecture halls at universities are meant to accommodate hundreds of students at a time, the seats arranged theater-style…
When Hate Comes to Town
It is a late afternoon and a crowd mostly made up of Tea Party members are standing outside a community center protesting against a meeting that Muslims from their community are having, shouting all sorts of degrading remarks about Islam, Muslims and the beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw). What was surprising about this event was that…
Your tax dollars hard at work: U.S foreign aid to Israel and Egypt
A third of the United States foreign aid is spent on Israel and Egypt. That’s your tax dollars hard at work. Israel receives $400 million in economic aid and $2.775 billion in military aid while Egypt receives $250 million in economic aid and $1.3 billion in foreign aid. Their total aid package ($3.175 billion to…
A Small Rewrite
Amir Abdel Malik Ali’s new pledge of allegiance at the 2011 MSA West Conference caused quite a stir. Not only did it receive the routine, incendiary criticism from the usual suspects outside of the Muslim community, it caused many Muslims, including myself, to raise their eyebrows in concern.
The Do’s and Don’ts of Restoring Sanity
Judging by protests attended by various politicians at the Orange County ICNA fundraiser and the recent incident in Washington DC, the effects of the rally to restore sanity have surely worn off. And they exhibit a strong message to American Muslims: we sure have our work cut out for us.
Arab Dictators: Billions and Billions of Dollars, and still counting…
As Arab dictators in the Middle East are falling one by one like dominoes, it is just mind boggling to see the billions they had tucked away for all these decades. Hosni Mubarak resigned with $70 billion in US and European banks, not including his bank accounts in other countries or real estate. Former Tunisian…
Limited Horizons: What the Movements We Support Reveal About Us as a Community
200 demonstrators gather outside of the Los Angeles Federal Building, dozens of flags floating in the air, each piece of cloth boldly declaring support for movements in Iran and Libya. As protests go, the one held on February 20th was small compared to one’s held in previous weeks for Egypt and Tunisia, yet it’s sometimes…
Sheikh Qaradawi’s Fatwa Calling for Gaddafi’s Death Will Not Lead to Justice
Last Monday, the head of the International Union for Muslim Scholars, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, issued a fatwa saying that it is permissible for anyone to kill the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi because of his mass murders and heinous crimes against the people of Libya. As much as I agree that Gaddafi should be punished for…