Meditations On the Beautiful Signs of Allah

Last updated on: July 25, 2019 at 9:38 pm By Stephenie Bushra Khan

Continuously, the eternal bright sunlight radiates throughout the golden, sunlit forest. The tops of trees shine like tinsel in the sunlight. The shadows are deep, and beneath them, myriads of rays shine through the leaves like prisms. Life is abundant and connected to each other. Trees and plants communicate through roots. Even the rocks are alive. All life is one energy. Each life is unique and separate. All is threaded together with the brilliant light of the Creator. This Creator... Read more

Being with Cancer and the One Who Watches Over Us

Last updated on: June 12, 2019 at 9:25 pm By Guest Contributor

Written by Iljas Baker If you must call it a battle, let it be the doctors’ battle; for you, there are the virtues to attend to. Just as we are each unique, so are our illnesses and our responses to them. My symptoms were abdominal pain, flushing, sudden weight loss, and fatigue. A CAT scan a few weeks before Ramadhan in 2014 revealed a large tumour on my small intestine and a large number of smaller tumours on my liver.... Read more

To Hell and Back: Discovering the Mercy of Allah on my Journey with Chronic Pain

Last updated on: May 27, 2019 at 7:53 pm By Samrah Abdi

I have been jogging since I was 12 years old. It was part of life for me. All of Allah’s beings in unison, and I, an attentive admirer. Every step through the northern breeze brought me one step closer to flying. During my second pregnancy, I tested positive for anti-c antibodies but was never given the medication needed to prevent my own body from destroying the life inside me. By Allah’s grace and several intra-uterine blood transfusions to my baby... Read more

My Battle with Mental Illness and Shame: The Story of a Reborn Muslim

Last updated on: May 21, 2019 at 12:37 am By Stephenie Bushra Khan

Within these past few months, something inside of me has changed. I became a “reborn” Muslim (not that I was not Muslim before). I read Malcolm X and read other books on the Quran. I embrace every morning now. I embrace the universe and earth. I actually sing in the morning. I tell God how grateful I am that He has given me this life. There are only a few years left that I get to enjoy it. I say... Read more

The Miracle of the Azaan (Muslim Call to Prayer): A Jewish Israeli’s Perspective

Last updated on: July 25, 2019 at 8:42 pm By Lynn Fux

I want to tell you all a beautiful story of something you will probably never hear from the media in any context. I live in Northern Israel surrounded by Arab villages, a wonderful benefit. Here is why (well, one reason): I am privileged to hear early every morning, before the sun rises, one of the most beautiful, holy, and otherworldly sounds one can ever hear. It is so ethereal it becomes an addiction. I must go outside and stand in... Read more

The True Origins of Discrimination and Injustice

Last updated on: April 15, 2019 at 1:15 pm By Stephenie Bushra Khan

Even before we are born, life chooses for us which type of family we will grow up into and what type of attitudes we will have. We grow up in different nations and cultures, in well-off families or impoverished ones, kind or indifferent, abusive or alone. We do not choose. We find out who we are on this Earth. From the beginning, we teach our children how to be empathetic, or instill in them discrimination or unworthiness. We teach them... Read more

Except Those Who Have Faith and Do Good

Last updated on: March 25, 2019 at 7:56 pm By naeema

Someone recently asked me which was more important in attaining Jannah (Paradise): belief or good deeds? For example, if a person did a lot of good things while they lived, and they avoided sin and were a good human being but they did not believe in God, would they enter Jannah? Conversely, if a person believed in Allah, His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and the other prophets but did not offer any good works (for example, they did not pray, fast,... Read more

Why a Near-Death Experience Made Me Appreciate My Parents

Last updated on: March 6, 2019 at 11:26 am By naeema

I recently had a close brush with death and the one thing I kept worrying about was how my parents would take the loss. I didn’t care if I was going to be in Jannah (paradise) or not (though I hoped I would be) or about how many things I hadn’t yet done or achieved. I cared primarily that I wasn’t going to be there for my parents when they grow old. Death is not really talked about in today’s... Read more

Standing Beneath the Plum Tree | How I Found God

Last updated on: March 6, 2019 at 11:26 am By Stephenie Bushra Khan

As I was deeply moved As I stood beneath the plum tree And watched it slowly bloom And within the stillness of the crescent moon Within each small white petal I have blossomed with it From the very beginning of civilization, man yearned to know why he existed. He had an awareness of the environment that he was born into. In the beginning, man could not rationalize a lot of things around him and his knowledge was very limited. From... Read more

Leader or Follower? The Truth About Social Influence, Independence, & Religion

Last updated on: December 26, 2019 at 9:33 am By Iman

You know how we grow up learning that some people are leaders and others are followers? That’s a lie. There’s a potential leader and potential follower in each one of us. One side of us is independent and strong and can fight the currents in a sea of social pressures, and another side is vulnerable, susceptible to pressure, and easily swept away into that sea of social norms and expectations. I saw something interesting a few weeks ago while I... Read more