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The phone rang early in the morning and as usual I reached for it with a fearful heart. For the last 15 years I have been waking up to such calls, often from BBC, to comment on some tragedy or the other in the Muslim World. This was the first week of August 2014 and for a change...

On April 6-7, there was a major symposium on CVE, Countering Violent Extremism, that brought, experts, government officials, national leadership and practitioners together to deliberate on the state of America’s efforts to respond to the challenge of rising extremism. The...

“By Allah, he is not a believer! By Allah, he is not a believer! By Allah, he is not a believer. One whose neighbour does not feel safe from his evil” — Prophet Muhammad. A Muslim response to the terror attacks in Brussels Once again terrorism has rocked a major global city. The...

American Islam will be increasingly marked by two trends: the embracing of the American through enhanced engagement in politics and service, and a shift in theological orientation toward a more spiritual Islam. Islamophobia reaching a manageable equilibrium The future of Islam in...

How can we wrap our minds around the perverse appeal of ISIS to youth growing up in modern, liberal and democratic societies of the West? What is it that compels a young woman in Paris or a well-established young professional in California to eschew the fruits of modernity and...

The news of the horrible attack that killed nearly a hundred peace activists in Ankara on October 10th came as a punch in the gut! By now most people are used to shocking and violent events in the Middle East and with each event we are getting more and more desensitized to...

On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court extended marriage rights to same-sex couples in all 50 states. The shift toward acceptance of gays and lesbians has generated a muted debate among American Muslims. That there has been no knee-jerk reaction to the ruling is a testimony to...

“I heard your footsteps in front of me in Paradise.” Slavery is America’s original sin. It was there from the beginning. While the civil war eventually abolished it, what remains is an insidious, institutionalized and pervasive racism that has persisted in spite of the triumph of...

Indeed, only through the remembrance of God, do hearts find contentment (Quran 13:28). The holy month of Ramadan is once again upon us and those Muslims who are fortunate to witness it are obligated to fast for the entire month, unless, they are old, traveling, ill or unable....

“Whoever starts a good practice in Islam he will be rewarded for it and whoever starts evil practice in Islam he will be burdened with it.” (Prophet Muhammad pbuh from Sahih Muslim) The concomitant usage of the two terms Islam and Reform constitutes a major trope in the discourse...