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City of Brass

The transcript of Secretary Kerry’s remarks at the State Dept Iftar (to which I was invited but was sadly unable to attend) are now posted online and I found this section to be particularly moving: I want you to know that the tradition of sharing respect for this particularly holy month actually reaches back to…

I am grateful and honored to have been invited to the State Department Iftar hosted by Secretary John Kerry, which will take place tonight in Washington D.C. It is with sincere regret that I am unable to attend due to my other obligations during Ramadan. President Obama will also hold an iftar at the White…

In mathematics, an inflection point is a point on a curve at which the curvature or concavity changes sign from plus to minus or from minus to plus. What better description of the midpoint of Ramadan? Regardless of your reckoning, we are roughly halfway through Ramadan 1434. This means that we are now leaving, not…

Most of the religious obligations of a Muslim are positive actions: pray, strive, donate, go. Prayer is a physical action of movement, zakat is a positive action of donation, jihad is an explicit struggle towards a difficult ideal, and the Hajj is a physical journey laden with specific rituals and symbolic actions. However, the act…

I’d like to wish my Jewish friends Tzom kal (easy fast) on the occasion of Tisha B’av, which is a day Jews are obligated to fast in observance of the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem. Here’s more detail from Wikipedia: Tisha B’Av (lit. “the ninth of Av”), is an annual fast…

What are the Brass Crescent Awards? Founded in 2004 by myself and Shahed Amanullah, the Brass Crescent Awards are named for the Story of the City of Brass in the Thousand and One Nights. Today, the Islamsphere is forging a new synthesis of Islam and modernity, and is the intellectual heir to the traditions of…

I’m in sunny California, on the obligatory summer vacation with my family for the 4th of July. But there is also an air of quiet desperation to our barbecue and beach and pool exploits. If ever my House had Words, they would probably be: Ramadan is Coming. Make your own house sigil at JoinTheRealm.com 🙂

This is a horrific story and the first thought should be duas for the grieving family for their loss: A young pregnant Muslim woman, who was allegedly attacked in the street for wearing a veil has lost her baby, her lawyer announced on Monday. According to reports in the French media, the woman, who was…

We are almost done with the holy month of Rajab al-Asab, which as I noted a few years ago is a herald for the impending arrival of Ramadan. Today is the 27th of Rajab, which means last night was the Night of Ascent (Laylatul Me’raj) and today is the Day of Elevation (Yawmul Ma’bath). I’ve…
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