Why Give the Name Muhammad?
Ibn Arabi said "Beings come and are mirrors of the Divine names; they are seen and then disappear." Reflections of the Divine world can be found in names. Names like Abdurrahman are chosen from the Names of Allah for new arrivals in this world so that closeness to Allah can be expressed. People who are given such names become frequent reminders of the infinite mercy o...

Forgiveness and Justice: Meditation on Some Hadith
Forgiveness and Justice: Meditations on Some Hadiths by Abdal Hakim Murad (1) The Prophet prayed for pardon for his people, and received the reply: ‘I have forgiven them all but acts of oppression, for I shall exact recompense for the one who is wronged, from his oppressor.’ In the Quran, God is just, and requires justice; but he is also forgiving, and requires forgiveness; in fact, its referenc...

Book on Prophet as Social Reformer by Sarah Conover
From Sarah Conover, co-author of the acclaimed Ayat Jamilah, Beautiful Signs: A Treasury of Islamic Wisdom for Children and Parents, comes a beautiful new book about Muhammad, revered by Muslims as the Messenger of God.

In the pages of Muhammad: The Story of a Prophet and Reformer, young readers will encounter a man very different from the figure often presented in Western popular cultur...

Thomas Jefferson's Quran
Thomas Jefferson had a vast personal library reflecting his enormous curiosity about the world. Among his volumes: a Quran purchased in 1765 that informed his ideas about plurality and religious freedom in the founding of America. In her book, Thomas Jefferson's Qur'an: Islam and the Founders, author Denise Spellberg draws parallels between the beliefs of the founding father and religious toleran...

Untold - Tamam Khan's book on the Wives of the Prophet
Tamam Kahn was born outside Chicago, and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a tenth generation American. Her travels to sacred sites in Morocco, Syria, Andalusia, and India, and her careful research of early Islamic history have informed her attunement to and knowledge of the wives of Prophet Muhammad. In 2009 she was invited by the Royal Ministry of Morocco to read about these first w...

Refreshing Our Faith in the Month of Dhu al-Hijjah
As we welcome the month of Dhu al-Hijjah in which the Hajj Pilgrimage takes place, we should strive to do righteous deeds, especially during the first ten days of this sacred month.

Imam Zaid Shakir, the prominent American Muslim Imam, reminds us of the virtue of the first ten days of Dhu al-Hijjah and the devotional practices that are recommended during these blessed days in the light of the had...

Hamza Yusuf on the Hajj of Community
There is no animal on earth, nor yet a bird on the wing, but forms communities like you. We have not neglected anything in the Book; and they will ultimately be gathered to their Lord. Those who repudiate Our signs are deaf and dumb, in the dark. God confuses whomever God wills, and places whomever God wills on a straight path. – Qur’an, Sura 6, Cattle, (38-39) Pilgrimage is one of the profound ...

Review of The Personality of Allah's Last Messenger
While Muslims may tire of feeling compelled to defend Islam or Muslims generally from criticisms that insult and slander the entire community, the desire to see the Prophet's good name not dragged through the rhetorical dirt is our strongest passion. Abdul Waheed Khan has offered his contribution to the apologia on behalf of the Prophet, and his book 'The Personality of Allah's Last Messenger' (...

Hadith on Times of Conflict and Civil War
As civil war and terrorism wreak havoc on Muslim countries, some words of the Prophet addressing how Muslims should behave in times of fitna (chaos, civil war, conflict). Most of these hadith are selected from the collection of abu Dawud, a hadith scholar whose books are amongst the sahih-sitta (six books of Prophetic Traditions considered most authentic) and while they immediately addressed the ...

Students Remember the Prophet
Last Friday, Muslim students greeted their peers and faculty with flowers. From 11 a.m. to noon, roughly 40 Muslim students, spread throughout various campus locations, handed out red and white roses to passers-by. Attached to each rose was a short quote from the Prophet Muhammad. "The project began in New Zealand and our national organizers hoped to get as many cities as possible to partici...

Being Trustworthy
Saying in one hadith, "Anyone who is not trustworthy has no faith," the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) pointed out that one of the most important traits of a believer (or muqmin) is his trustworthiness. Well, what does being trustworthy mean? In the Quran the term trust is generally used to mean the duty of a servant, divine responsibility and duty stipulated in revelation. "We did indeed...

Jonathan Brown Addresses Misunderstandings
Jonathan Brown examines the historical misunderstandings about the Prophet Muhammad's life. Jonathan AC Brown is Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies in the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim Christian Understanding at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. He received his BA in History from Georgetown University in 2000 and his doctorate in Near Eastern Languages and Civil...