Hijra, the Month of Muharram and Ashura
Hijrah is the exemplary and difficult narrative of forsaking ones mother, father, child, love, land, possessions, property and even one’s life for the sake of Allah. Da’wah engendered hijrah, while the hijrah moulded da’wah. In short, the hijrah is a milestone for Muslims.“We have entered the month of Muharram in which our Prophet realised the hijrah from Makkah to Medina a...

The Enquiry of Heraclius
Heraclius, Illustration by Rossen Toshev Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Abbas: Abu Sufyan bin Harb informed me that Heraclius had sent a messenger to him while he had been accompanying a caravan from Quraish. They were merchants doing business in Sham (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan), at the time when Allah's Messenger ﷺ had truce with Abu Sufyan and Quraish infidels. So Abu Sufyan and his compan...

Violence Against Women is Betrayal to Islam
The fact that “man” referred to “human” throughout history and woman is considered a second category has been one of the greatest tests of our adventure on earth. One of the significant functions of revelation is to eliminate inequalities and discriminations and to declare equality of man and woman in humanity. While in Muslim countries hundreds of women are killed every year, young girls are ha...

The Day of Ashura
The Day of Āshūrā, the tenth of Muḥarram, is an auspicious day. It has been narrated that it was the day on which Allah forgave our father Ādam, the day on which the Ark of Nūḥ came to rest on the mountain known as al-Jūdī after six months at sea, and the day on which Allah forgave the people of Yūnus (peace be upon him and all the Prophets). When the Messenger of Allah came to al-Madīnah, he fo...

The Refugee
Today I would like to briefly share Ms. Feyza Şahin’s reflections on Ramadan. She compares Ramadan to a safe haven in a world full of wars and herself to a refugee that would like to remain in the safe haven: “I waited for these days like a desperate refugee, waiting for the border to open. As I was suffering in the hunger and the thirst of my soul, I threw myself through the door that was opened...

The Bounty of Ramadan
One of the first things that come to mind when we speak of the bounty of Ramadan is the fridges that remain full because we stop snacking and eat only two times a day. We also think of how people compete with each other to help each other and offer iftaars for as many people as possible. Also how charity in all its forms increases dramatically in society. For me the blessing and bounty of Ramadan...

Ramadan: The Celebration of Revelation
We have mentioned that fasting is a celebration. Celebrating our joy by coming closer to the angelic. What we in fact celebrate with a month of fasting is the revelation of the Quran to mankind. Quran is a redemptive rope extended from the Heavens to the Earth. No matter how rough the waters of life, it keeps those who cling to it always in security and always close to their Lord.  Whenever we ne...

The Evolution of Iftaars
We know that our Prophet (s.a.w) has told us that whoever prepares or offers food to a fasting person will earn as much of a reward as him. Possibly under the influence of this good news, every country in the Muslim world has developed its own iftaar traditions. In some Anatolian villages, Ramadan nights are shared among the well-off members of the community (especially if there’s a guest sheikh ...

The Women Believers of the Mosques
Have you ever been made to feel unwanted in a place by those who behave like they own it? Unfortunately many of the women in our country are made to feel exactly like this, not only during Ramadan, but any time they enter a mosque. It’s not only those who frequent the mosques that stare them down; even the most disinterested people in the area look at them as if to say, “What business...

The School of Ramadan
According to the “Ramadan” entry in the Encyclopedia of Islam (TDV), our Prophet (s.a.w) stated that when the “blessed month of Ramadan” comes, the gates of heaven open and those of hell close; the devils are chained; and the sins of someone who has fasted with faith and sincerity, expecting the reward of his deeds from Allah (s.w.t), will be forgiven. It’s these virtues of Ramadan that make it i...

We Love Ramadan
Ramadan disrupts all our routines and gently imposes its own schedule… We wake up in the middle of the night and try to eat something, our eyes barely open. Drowsiness takes over in the middle of the day, and we succumb to naps at random places and times. Our dinner time depends not on the clock, but on the sunset. We suddenly become unable to watch movies like we usually do, and we can’t bring o...

Kids' Iftaars
Like all our behavior, acts of worship have a close association with our habits. In other words, our habits determine our behavior, and most of us give as much space to worship in our lives as our habits permit us. People of consciousness and willpower who are aware of this condition know how much of a personal effort is required in the struggle to positively rebuild themselves. More often than n...