The Reliever (al-Munfarijah) is a poem composed by the great Tunisian scholar Yusuf ibn Muhammad at-Tawozari at-Tilimsanī (d. 1119 AD/513 AH). He was known for his mastery of the various Islamic sciences but his erudition and rhetorical abilities became his defining feature to the degree that he was known as ibn an-Nahawi (Son of the […]
Author Archives: Mohamed Ghilan, M.D, Ph.D.
15
Oct
Oct
The Reliever (al-Munfarijah) is a poem composed by the great Tunisian scholar Yusuf ibn Muhammad at-Tawozari at-Tilimsanī (d. 1119 AD/513 AH). He was known for his mastery of the various Islamic sciences but his erudition and rhetorical abilities became his defining feature to the degree that he was known as ibn an-Nahawi (Son of the […]
13
Oct
Oct
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, theology is defined as “the study of religious faith, practice, and experience: especially the study of God and God’s relation to the world.” The term originally comes from the Greek theos, i.e., God, and logos, i.e., reason. As a subject, it deals with matters concerning the nature of God, the essence of what […]
10
Oct
Oct
The Reliever (al-Munfarijah) is a poem composed by the great Tunisian scholar Yusuf ibn Muhammad at-Tawozari at-Tilimsanī (d. 1119 AD/513 AH). He was known for his mastery of the various Islamic sciences but his erudition and rhetorical abilities became his defining feature to the degree that he was known as ibn an-Nahawi (Son of the […]
03
Oct
Oct
I usually reserve book discussions and reviews for Andalus Book Club. However, in this episode, I chose to go through a particular book, “Radical Skin, Moderate Masks” by Yassir Morsi, because it’s a good representation of how a new generation of Muslim activists and Muslims in academia are thinking about the world and our place […]
18
Sep
Sep
Islamic edutainment has failed in many respects to engender an Islamic ethos within the average Muslim. Are celebrity speakers, the culture of Muslim fandom, and sound bytes of curated content just a hollow shell of education, with more style than substance? In this far-reaching conversation on the ImanWire Podcast, we discussed the phenomenon of Islamic […]
19
Aug
Aug
Muslim activists involved in social justice movements are navigating a scene in which they ally with groups such as those promoting LGBQIT practices to be normalized and some have become voices for same-sex marriage campaigns. In doing so, they have abandoned an essential Islamic duty to command good and forbid evil and reversed it. […]
01
Aug
Aug
We have made you [believers] into a just community, so that you may bear witness [to the truth] before others and so that the Messenger may bear witness [to it] before you. We only made the direction the one you used to face [Prophet] in order to distinguish those who follow the Messenger from those […]
30
Jul
Jul
The approach to the Islamic Tradition in general and to Sufism in specific that is adopted by Western Muslims drives many to partake in practices and in some cases life-altering life decisions that make one fall victim to a classic deception of Iblees packaged as a spiritual calling. The previous episode garnered a polarized reaction […]
23
Jul
Jul
The religious drive and desire for spiritual attainment can be exploited if one doesn’t know how to distinguish between the pursuit of Truth and the pursuit of experiencing a high. In this episode, the issue of pledging allegiance to a shaykh and a tariqa is discussed within the context of psychology and Islamic learning. Articles […]
08
Jul
Jul
The following is an excerpt from Islam and the Destiny of Man by Charles Le Gai Eaton (1921–2010), which was first published in 1985. Besides Gai Eaton, there are only two other Muslim writers who bring forth a synthesis between Eastern and Western thought in their presentation of Islam in a nuanced way that does not undermine its […]
29
Jun
Jun
Ritual acts of worship in Islam are intimately linked with natural phenomena, and with the current reliance upon technology, many have created an artificial division that has resulted in the deprivation of the spiritual dimension of these rituals. This bonus episode features a Friday khutba delivered on the first Friday after Ramadan 1439/2018 was concluded […]
27
Jun
Jun
A feature of the modern approach to Islam is to historicize rulings and limit their applications to the imagined context in which they arose. This goes beyond recognition of the particularities surrounding a ruling to the degree that allows one to extract the principles upon which it stands in order to properly apply it today […]
26
Jun
Jun
Is covering the hair for women really obligatory as part of the Hijab? How can one make their intention for the sake of God for everything without making it exhausting to continuously do so? Is working to improve one’s situation a sign of lacking acceptance of God’s tests to us? These questions and others from […]
04
Jun
Jun
Fasting is a practice that according to the Quran has been prescribed upon Muslims as it has been prescribed upon those who have come before. At the external superficial level, it’s described as the abstaining from eating, drinking, and having intimate sexual relations from the break of dawn until sunset. However, there is much more to this […]
28
May
May
Fasting is a practice that according to the Quran has been prescribed upon Muslims as it has been prescribed upon those who have come before. At the external superficial level, it’s described as the abstaining from eating, drinking, and having intimate sexual relations from the break of dawn until sunset. However, there is much more to this […]
21
May
May
Fasting is a practice that according to the Quran has been prescribed upon Muslims as it has been prescribed upon those who have come before. At the external superficial level, it’s described as the abstaining from eating, drinking, and having intimate sexual relations from the break of dawn until sunset. However, there is much more to this […]
13
May
May
Fasting is a practice that according to the Quran has been prescribed upon Muslims as it has been prescribed upon those who have come before. At the external superficial level, it’s described as the abstaining from eating, drinking, and having intimate sexual relations from the break of dawn until sunset. However, there is much more to this […]
07
May
May
Fasting is a practice that according to the Quran has been prescribed upon Muslims as it has been prescribed upon those who have come before. At the external superficial level, it’s described as the abstaining from eating, drinking, and having intimate sexual relations from the break of dawn until sunset. However, there is much more to this […]
22
Apr
Apr
What passes off as “rational” today is nothing more than a cognitive exercise in the pursuit of rationalizing the fulfillment of whims and desires. Given the dominance of various -isms present in a variety of social movements, it is important to question their merit and to what degree can we be justified in participating in […]
17
Apr
Apr
A version of this article originally appeared in Healing Hearts يا خير من دفنت في الترب أعظمه *** فطاب من طيبهن القاع والأكم نفسي الفداء لقبر أنت ساكنه *** فيه العفاف وفيه الجود والكرم أنت الحبيب الذي ترجى شفاعته *** عند الصراط إذا ما زلت القدم لولاك ما خلقت شمس ولا قمر *** ولا سماء […]
15
Apr
Apr
The recent controversy surrounding Imam Zaid Shakir’s khutba on feminism speaks to the rise of an increasingly aggressive feminist movement in the Muslim community. In this informal episode, I offer some thoughts on this matter and address my recent change in social media engagement. Articles mentioned in this episode: Feminism and Use of the Secular […]
14
Apr
Apr
There are many Muslim converts in the West who leave Islam on a daily basis for various reasons. Sometimes it is the lack of education, while other times it is the nostalgia for their pre-Islamic lifestyle and friends. But there are times that a legitimate doubt about the validity of Islam itself enters the heart, […]
13
Apr
Apr
For a book carrying the subtitle “Science and Religion in Islam,” one would reasonably expect the author to be well-versed in three subjects: science, religion, and Islam. However, Taner Edis readily admits from the very beginning of An Illusion of Harmony that he is no expert in Islam. He cites having grown in a Muslim land, […]
10
Apr
Apr
The controversial nature of evolutionary theory is a great example of what happens when one has no clear conception of their theology, science, or both in terms of their epistemology and what they can learn from them. Evolution: The Basics is a very well-written introductory book on the evolutionary theory. Sherrie Lyons did a great job […]
03
Apr
Apr
The Egyptian scholar Mohammed al-Ghazali (1917-1996) said: “إن نصف الكفر في العالم يحمل وزره متدينون بغضوا الله إلى عباده” “Verily, the weight of half of the disbelief in the world is carried by religious people who made God detestable to His servants.” God is not Great by Christopher Hitchens should be assigned reading for all […]
30
Mar
Mar
The subject of the status of women in Islam is one that captivates minds today to an extent that makes it difficult to appreciate how historically recent this obsession really is. This begs the question to what extent is it an artifact of the currently prevailing values of Western feminist thought and inherited colonialist narratives […]
18
Feb
Feb
What does it mean to be a Muslim feminist? How does feminism align with Islamic theology? And what does toxic masculinity come? As these questions continue to be discussed by various figures, including Muslims, the cosmological and theological perspectives are often omitted from the conversation. In this episode is a reading of and commentary on […]
04
Feb
Feb
Free speech is an often-invoked principle to justify vitriolic and hateful rhetoric against racial and religious groups. However, the philosophical argument for free speech does not necessarily support the form in which the principle of free speech is being invoked in these cases. Furthermore, current research suggests that the issue here is not about the […]