Are We Ready for Ramadan?
We live in the time where months and years seem to be devoid of blessing; that is, a week passes like a day, a month like a week and a year like a month. It seems like just the other day when we last bid farewell to the month of Ramadan. And yet here it is again. A friend of mine once said that when she asked people how they were, as one usually does in the manner of conversing, people responded...

What If There Is No Afterlife?
LastProphet regular writer Fatma Bayram offers some thoughts on the Islamic understanding of the Hereafter (akhira), presented as a dialogue between a friend [E] and herself, discussing the precepts and confusing perceptions which are sometimes offered on the subject. What if there is no afterlife? E: The people around me seem to have the hardest time in believing in an afterlife. And I think to...

Not Knowing What to Say
In daily life, we may face objections and questions having to do with religion that are not well-intentioned. Don’t object immediately thinking, “How can you know someone’s intentions?” What gives people with such attitudes away are their expressions, their raised eyebrows, a belittling and mocking tone, and instead of the usually intrigued wide eyes, there are half-closed  eyes that seem lik...

On 'Planting a Seedling'
"Even if the end of time is upon you and you have a seedling in your hand, plant it!" I first encountered this Prophetic Tradition years ago in a Friday sermon “on the occasion of Forest Week.” In the following years, I came to understand that these words are constantly cited via this unfitting correlation. Those who vociferously repeat these words in order to encourage the...

The Conscience of a Society
Last week, Lastprophet.info attended the 1st Global Congress for Muslim Public Relations Practitioners held in Kuala Lumpur, where we were awarded the First Global Muslim Public Relations Excellence Award. Greatly honored and indeed humbled at having received the inaugural award, being present at such a momentous event was itself propitious. Jointly organized by the International Islamic Univers...

French Provocateurs at work – again!
Recent developments in France bear all the hallmarks of the cartoon crisis of 2006-2007 which shook the globe and had an indelible impact on the Islamic world. Describing themselves as having anarchist-left wing leanings, the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo named the Prophet Muhammad as guest ‘edtior’ in its latest edition, published Wednesday. Using political developments in Tunisia...

Between Allah & Jesus: What Christians Can Learn from Muslims
Despite the distorted image of Islam in the West, there remains an underlying sense of admiration and intrigue surrounding the exercise of the Islamic faith.  This fascination with the world’s fastest growing religion is one that goes beyond the old school infatuation with the exotic other, but rather a slightly more sincere attempt by outsiders to approach Islam as a guidepost for be...

A Response to 'My Take: There’s no such thing as the Bible and n
  While Beal’s statements may appear harsh, his views are similar to the Islamic outlook of the Bible. On February 22nd, author and professor Timothy Beal unleashed an oft repeated stance on Biblical error.  His blog entry, My Take:  There’s no such thing as the Bible and never has been, points to the reality that there have been as many versions and iterat...

Islam's Stance On Homosexuality
  The persecuted homosexual has emerged as Islam’s essential difference, and has become a key figure in the ‘us’ versus ‘them’ rhetoric of those who believe in a clashed civilization of cultures.   Lately, there has been a lot of coverage on the degradation and punishment of homosexuals in Muslim communities. Although in many countries in the M...

Renewal
  Was it not that I were married on New Year’s Day, January 1st would bear no significance for observation.  Just as the American Thanksgiving is rife with historical baggage I care not to honor in celebration, the particularly Christian and Pagan origins of New Year’s Day leave me absent a compelling reason to hang a streamer.  However, the Christian New Year will be ...

Black Mecca: The African Muslims of Harlem - A Review
  In Black Mecca: The African Muslims of Harlem, Professor Zain Abdullah shows how Harlem is undergoing a new cultural transformation fueled by very different yet similar circumstances. During the 1920’s and 1930’s, Harlem, New York, became the center of black intellectual thought, art, music and literature. Due to the concentration of middle and upper-middle class bl...

Awaiting My Turn
I am still waiting.  Each year goes by, and for some reason or other, I am forced to wait another year.  I pray for my turn to make the journey, my turn face the challenge, my turn to fulfill one of the duties of passage in life, my turn to walk and pray and worship on the sacred grounds of the pilgrimage.  I wait for my turn to go on Hajj. While I wait, I strive to fulfill the dut...