THE BEGGARS OUTSIDE THE MASJID: MYTH AND REALITY

Source: muslimmatters.org

By: Hena Zuberi

A woman in her 30s in a headscarf hails the worshipers as they leave Eid salah. Feeling a curious mix of guilt and joy, most don’t hesitate in handing over some money. They have cash in their pockets and purses today, expecting to give it as gifts to the children in their own families.

Some have not paid their Sadaqah Fitr [charity due before Eid salah] and jump at the chance to give it in person. The woman looks like she is in need, she also knows the right things to say.

From New Orleans to London, beggars have become a part of the Eid and often Jumuah prayers. A set of seven or eight were outside a large East Coast masjid, says Sarah S., who was visiting family. Some are visibly Middle Eastern or from the Indian subcontinent, and many are supposedly Romani, often holding index cards asking for money.

UNDERSTAND YOUR IDENTITY AND GAIN SELF CONFIDENCE: ART OF CONNECTION WITH BELAL KHAN (VIDEO)

Source: muslimmatters.org

By: Belal Khan

John Hopkins basketball coach was quoted saying,

“People often fail because they give up what they want most for what they want now.”

The challenge that a lot of us have, especially growing up in the US and the times we live in today where there’s a lot of connection and communication, is answer the question, “What’s the identity that we want to adapt?”

Knowing the answer will lead to self confidence needed to stand for something.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FOR THE UNMOSQUED – ART OF CONNECTION WITH BELAL KHAN (VIDEO)

I read an interesting article recently by Mohamed Abdul-Azeez, the former head of the Salam Center in Sacramento on the “Crisis of Imams in America”

Source: muslimmatters.org

By: Belal Khan

Due to the way Muslim communities have been developed, the challenges they face are different from that of other faith communities.

Among the Christian community you find one of two types of models.

Model 1 – Corporate Franchise Clergy Structure

Model 2 – Local Visionary

The American Muslim community for the most part doesn’t follow any of these two models.

Typically you have a bunch of local folks that want to establish a place to pray. They come together, form a board, write out the policies, buy some real estate and make that a place to pray.

Then they realize they need to get an imam, and they end up hiring one of two types.

WHEN PARENTS GO TO HAJJ

Source: muslimmatters.org

By: Nur Kose, Nura F, and Safiyyah Ghori

Every year, millions of Muslims around the world gather to Mecca for Hajj.  Many men and women complete the sacred rituals that Muslims have been doing for hundreds, even thousands of years.  During Hajj season, people around the world watch the daily tawaafs around the ka’bah on TV and on the Internet, observing the Hajjis fulfill the pilgrimage of a lifetime.  People wonder about the Hajjis’ stories, their trips, how long their journeys will be, and how they feel in such a sacred place.  What many observers don’t realize or consider, however, are the stories of the children left behind at home.

Some girls have collaborated together and have compiled some stories and experiences of Hajjis’ kids on the homefront.  Kids from all around the United States share what it was like for them to be at home while their parents were off at Hajj.

THE HYPOCRISY OF FEMINIST OUTRAGE

Source: muslimmatters.org

By: Daniel Haqiqatjou

The viral NYC Catcall video has caused a stir in social media and online forums. It records a woman receiving over 100 catcalls from men as she walks the streets of New York City for 10 hours.

Just consider the 100,000+ youtube comments alone. While most commenters found the behavior of the catcalling men disgusting, some took issue with how the woman in the video was dressed. These commenters were daring enough to suggest that perhaps she would have attracted less negative attention had she dressed more “modestly.”

This suggestion, in turn, was met with backlash. How dare anyone “blame the victim” by suggesting that a woman change the way she dresses because men cannot or will not act with common decency!

What do we make of all this?

Is it completely outlandish to suggest that the way a woman (or man) dresses has an impact on how others treat her (or him)?

Interview of Nouman Ali Khan (Video)

 MuslimMatters.org Live! Episode #1: Interview of Nouman Ali Khan by Siraaj Muhammad.
Watch lectures by Nouman Ali Khan…

5 REASONS TO PRAISE THE WEST

Source: muslimmatters.org

By: Muhammad Wajid Akhter

Do not adjust your screen or your glasses – you read it right. This article is by a Muslim praising the West. Much like the title image of a smiling Shakeel Ahmed Butt (referred to online as “Muslim Rage Boy”), I’m trying to show that we can break the stereotype.

One of the more pernicious symptoms of depression is losing the ability to recognise good in others. The gloom that is cast over the Muslim world at the present time demonstrates this perfectly. We are sore at “the West” and blame them (with some justification) for many of the ills that plague us.

WHY I DON’T NEED A MAKEUP TUTORIAL TO TEACH ME HOW TO WEAR A HIJAB

Source: muslimmatters.org

By: Maryam S.

When I first started wearing hijab, my mother would pin it for me every day—a square scarf that she’d fold into a triangle, pin under my chin, and whose ends I would then tie into a little knot on my chest. I’d go to school (where my sister and I were the only girls in hijab) like that, thinking that I looked pretty good, especially if I was wearing a particular blue silky scarf that made 5th-grade me feel glamorous. There were other aspects of my wardrobe that I wished I could change at 10 years old (namely the many denim shirts with flower decals that my mother loved buying me so much)—but I can’t recall feeling inferior to anyone because of my hijab style (or lack thereof, really) at that point in my life.

4 THOUGHTS ON CONDEMNING PEOPLE DOING TERRIBLE THINGS

By: Iesa Galloway

Source: http://muslimmatters.org

Here are four thoughts that normally go through my head when folks ask for individual American Muslims to condemn some foreign group of people claiming Islam while doing terrible things: