Halal Fest: One Month Later

September 17, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Packed Crowds at Halal Fest, Aug. 17th, 2013 - Photo Credit Vasim Pathan

Recently, I conducted an interview with ILLUME Magazine about the Halal Fest event, which was held one month ago on August 17th. Although a lot of the "noise" online was negative, most people who attended the event, even if they did not get to eat any of the food, thought the event itself was a big success. With over 10 articles about the event (some of which are featured here on the HalalFest website), and approximately 10,000 people in attendance, HalalFest was one of the largest and most … [Read more...]

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The Aftermath: 12 years later

September 11, 2013 By Leave a Comment
aftermathDVDcover

12 years ago, my friend Javaid Malik and I started on this documentary video called, "The Aftermath: American-Muslims After September 11th." It took us 14 months to complete as we did all the pre-production, research, script writing, shooting, editing, post-production, marketing, and promotion ourselves (although we did get help from a few people along the way). At the time it was a somewhat controversial video since it was rare for American Muslim leaders and activists to come on camera and … [Read more...]

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Avoiding ‘Fat-Rebound’ After Ramadan

August 10, 2013 By Leave a Comment
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Avoiding 'Fat-Rebound' After Ramadan by Guest Blogger Yusuf Clack of "Clack Fit" *** Consult your doctor before changing your diet or exercise program*** For some us, we lose 4-10 lbs in Ramadan, but... put it ALL back by the end of Shawwal! We get our hopes up every year. This time will be different. It’s a new chapter. We’ve changed! Until... gravity takes over. Fail. Part of the perceived rapid weight loss is often due to faulty weighing practices. If you weigh … [Read more...]

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Man of Steel: The Good, The Bad and The Super

June 16, 2013 By 2 Comments
ManofSteel

Recently I watched Man of Steel, the latest Superman flick, and although it was a pretty good movie (way better than the last 3 Superman films); I still rank 1980’s Superman II as my all time favorite.  But here is my take on all that was good and bad about this latest one made for a 2013 audience (Warning : There are some Spoilers Below): The Good: The Kryptonians have all this futuristic technology and are expert scientists and explorers. The Bad: They still use some kind of black & … [Read more...]

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Umar Lee: Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish

May 18, 2013 By 30 Comments
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For those who don’t know, former Muslim convert Umar Lee, is (or should I saywas) a well known blogger in the “Islamic” blogosphere.  I must admit, I do not know “Mr. Lee” personally, but I have read some of his writings and heard about him from those who know him personally. First of all, I didn’t agree with most of what Mr. Lee said while he was a so-called “Muslim” because most of it was extreme “Salafi” or “Wahabi” methodology;  meaning that he being a recent … [Read more...]

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An American [Werewolf] in Lahore – Part 1

March 23, 2013 By 15 Comments
Me at the Minar-E-Pakistan in Feb. 2012

Last year, I went to Pakistan after 25 years and to Lahore for the first time ever.  My father was from Karachi, but since most of my relatives are here in the U.S. now, we did not have much reason to visit Pakistan.  My wife’s family is from Lahore, so since we both had the time to go last year, we decided to make a last minute trip.  This will be the first part in a series, chronicling my eye-opening trip to Pakistan, and I hope I can pass along some entertaining, yet useful information … [Read more...]

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Inteview with the Founders of “Noor Kids”: From Harvard Business School Project to Full Time Job

March 17, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Amin & Mohammed - Noor Kids.jpeg

Recently I interviewed Amin Aaser, 24 and Mohammed Aaser, 27 - the Business school graduates and founders of "Noor Kids" books for Muslim children. They talk about how their passion, desire and hobby for creating an alternative educational book for their own children has turned into a full time job. 1.      Why did you start "Noor Kids" My brother and I felt compelled to. Like it was something of a duty, given that nothing like it exists currently. Growing up as a Muslim-American in … [Read more...]

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How I Could Just Kill a Goat!

December 30, 2012 By 11 Comments
Mexican Butcher taking the Goat I selected

Recently, my wife and I had our first child, a baby boy we named Mustafa, on Nov. 20th, 2012. In the Islamic faith it is custom, but not a requirement to perform an Aqiqah or sacrifice of a goat(s) to thank God for the blessing of a new child in the family. In our tradition, 1 goat is sacrificed for a girl and 2 goats are sacrificed for a boy.  These are only the suggested minimums set by our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), who lived during a time when female infants were buried alive by Non-Muslim … [Read more...]

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Why I Plan to Vote for President Obama Again…as an American Muslim

October 10, 2012 By 42 Comments
VoteObamaForward

There have been a lot of discussions going on lately online among Americans, including American Muslims on whether to vote in this year's presidential elections.  Many people, especially Muslims feel that President Obama has disappointed them, thus they will not vote to help re-elect him for a second term. Still others believe that it is no use for us to vote because either party will not help us American Muslims out and a few people also think that it is Haram (unlawful in Islam) to even vote … [Read more...]

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Before You Blame Obama for the Problems in the Middle East – Read this Book!

September 15, 2012 By 4 Comments
ObamaIsrael

Recently I read Fawaz A. Gerges’ latest book, “Obama and the Middle East: The End of America’s Moment?” (2012). Gerges is a professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics & Political Science.  I must admit, that I was skeptical at first, and did not think there would be anything new, but after reading it, I was shocked to learn some of the insights on US foreign policy over the past almost 70 years since World War II. Gerges, who also serves as the … [Read more...]

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