Reality Check: Ted Cruz right that Middle East was Better Off with Hussein and Gaddaffi (Video)

 Ted Cruz says the Middle East was better off under Mummaar Gaddaffi and Saddam Hussein. Can that possibly be true? Not only is it true but the numbers behind it will stun you! Reality Check!

Six ways to help lower the gaze

Source: productivemuslim.com

By: Aiman Azlan

The eyes have desires that have a great tendency to want to be fulfilled, as if there is a gravity-like force that pulls the sight to the things we should not be looking at. Like gravity, those who resist will feel the force acting on them, while those who just go with the flow will feel little or nothing at all. Like gravity, it takes a lot of strength to escape it.

How ISIS harms Religion

Source: aquila-style.com

By: Omar Shahid

One of the signs of the end times, according to Islam, is the inversion of reality – in other words, things being upside-down. For Muslims, there is nothing that more obviously illustrates this than Islam being made to appear bad to the world. For the first time in the history of our faith, an extremist fringe has hijacked the religion and is dominating the headlines, causing havoc and creating a global crisis.

Fiqh of Reality – Shaykh Abdallah Bin Bayyah with Shaykh Hamza Yusuf (Video)

 Fiqh of Reality: When Fiqh Meets Fact, How Do We Act? By Shaykh Abdallah Bin Bayyah with translation by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf.
Hamza Yusuf lectures…

Why I’m really not Charlie Hebdo

By: Sandip Roy

Source: alternet.org

Je suis Charlie?

Well, not quite. I really am not Charlie Hebdo.

Nothing – no cartoon, no book, no song – justifies the kind of shooting rampage that happened in Paris. As Hassen Chalghoumi, the imam of Drancy mosque in Paris says, “These are criminals, barbarians. They have sold their souls to hell.”

And he is not talking about the cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo. He is talking about those who mowed them down and fled.

But the spontaneous outpouring of the #JeSuisCharlie hashtags also elides over the really thorny issue of free speech. While we want free speech to be absolute, in the real world, it is not. And even as we stand with Charlie Hebdo we cannot pretend not to understand that.

If – The door for Shaitan

Source: islamiconlineuniversity.com

By: Umm Salih

“Please wait for just five minutes, dinner is almost ready. Do eat before leaving,” requested his aunt.

“No, Jazak Allah Khair! I am already late. I’ll eat at home InshaAllah,” replied the nephew with a smile.

Only an hour had passed after Salim left that she heard her mobile phone ringing.

“Yes, yes…Oh no! Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’oon!” Nasreen was in total shock; Salim had been hit by a speeding van on the highway and had died on spot.

“If only I could have stopped him for dinner! He was right here in front of me minutes ago…Oh! How I wish!’ she thought with tears in her eyes.

When the light of faith tries to enter

By: Asmaa Hussein

“When the light of faith tries to enter sometimes it hurts – like the first moment you emerge from a dark room into the sunlight. You squint your eyes and shade your face from the sun’s intensity. But after a moment or two, you can see that whatever the light has touched has been brightened and beautified so much more than before.

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.