Sr. Chantal Carnes on Making Good Use of Ramadan

One of our local sisters and teachers, Chantal Carnes, speaks about taking advantage of the time we have in Ramadan.

Domestic Abuse – Imam Zaid Shakir

A great interview with Imam Zaid Shakir on the important topic of Domestic Abuse and violence in the Muslim Community. This was originally posted on the blog SheikhyNotes.

Islam & the Environment – Imam Ammar

Imam Ammar Amonette gave a moving and very in-depth explanation of our responsibility as Muslims towards the environment and the resources Allah has given us stewardship over.

You can watch the entire halaqa below, divided into four parts:

Islam & the Environment

The Imam of Masjid Bilal, Br. Muhammad Salaam, speaks about Islam and the responsibility towards the Earth in this YouTube video. Masjid Bilal is the oldest Masjid in the Richmond region and is located in the historic Church Hill area of Richmond VA at 400 Chimborazo Blvd.

Imam Magid denounces extremism on internet

Imam Magid, the popular Imam of the ADAMS Center in Northern Virginia, speaks about the dangerous threat facing Muslim youth today: religious extremism from so called Muslim “scholars” on the internet. Watch below:

A Muslim in the Army

A recent article in The Washington Post provides a startlingly in-depth and emotional account of a young American Muslim serving in the U.S. Army. The article covered the backlash and harassment Zachari Klawonn deals with as a Muslim soldier.

The first thing that struck me was the picture at the beginning of the article: A lean, olive skinned young man wearing  Army fatigues standing on a prayer rug with his hands raised to begin the prayer. As soon as I saw it I felt drawn in. The picture felt familiar and right. And not just because I come from a military family and have seen my father pray in his uniform several times. It felt right because  the picture affirmed for me, the promise of America. That there is no conflict between being American and being Muslim.

As I read the story, I found myself simultaneously feeling detached and connected to him. Detached because I couldn’t relate to the intense harassment he was put through because of his faith. I’ve been blessed throughout my life to be surrounded by people with warm hearts. I felt connected to him though, because of his desire to serve.

Zachari talks about his decision to enlist in the Army:

Then Klawonn’s father was told he had cancer and died just weeks later. Golf suddenly seemed so trivial. Klawonn thought back to how his dad, a convert to Islam, had always talked about his five years in the Air Force. How he had enlisted straight out of his Kansas high school. How it had given his life purpose and molded him into the man he was.

He could be like his father: one of his country’s proud defenders. There were Muslims to protect in the United States, just as there were in Iraq.

To this day, one of my only regrets was not having been able to serve in our nation’s Armed Forces, as my father and brother do. I can definitely understand and appreciate the pull, as Zachari did, to be a part of something greater than yourself. And just like Zachari, unfortunately, I’ve come across a few people who seem to think that an American Muslim cannot or should not serve in the U.S. Military. This view has been rejected:

Muzammil Siddiqi, an imam in Orange County, Calif., and member of the North American Fiqh Council, which issues rulings on issues of concern to Muslims, said Islam in no way prohibits Muslims from serving in the U.S. or other non-Muslim militaries, and they may even participate in war.

I encourage all young Muslims to read this article. The harassment Zachari had to put up with is frustrating, but the real gem of the story is how Zachari held up under such mental and physical strain with a healthy attitude looking forward instead of backwards.

Central Virginia Quran Competition

The Fifth Annual Central Virginia Quran Competition from centralva QCC on Vimeo.

This video from Central Virginia Community Leaders has been meticulously prepared through the dedicated efforts of Muslim youth in our community, and is a testimony to the importance of empowering our youth with responsibility and a sense of belonging to our institutions and our causes.

We look forward to seeing you at the Preliminaries on March 13th from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM and at the Finals Ceremony on March 20, inshaAllah!

Register TODAY

Click Here for an Application

Muslims & Jews in the middle east

I just read a tragic story on CNN about a man attempting to bomb a synagogue in Egypt. Thankfully the synangogue was mostly empty and no one was hurt, but this reminds me of how much we need to work on relations between the abrahamic faiths: especially Muslims and Jews.

This reminds me of a very important article by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf about holocaust deniers. In this article he emphasizes the importance of believability and using reason when it comes to analyzing faith, religion and current events.

A great quote from his article is below:

Much of what we know about the world and what we accept as truth comes from multiply-transmitted accounts. Let’s say I claim that Australia doesn’t exist and is merely a figment of our imagination, that its origins lie in a whimsical cartographer in the Middle Ages who decided that such a large ocean needed a land mass. And, when confronted with people who claim to be from Australia and can prove it, I dismiss them as part of a conspiracy of cartographers who wish to perpetuate the myth of their forbearer. I would be laughed at, or ignored, or deemed “certifiable.” While this example seems absurd, many people actually believe things just as fatuous and far-fetched.

Holocaust denial is one such example.

There are many reasons, most of them political, for why there is such mistrust between ethnic/faith communities in the middle east. But those of us who claim to derive our moral/ethical system from our faith should stand alert and question the attitudes and views we hold about people of different faiths.

Specifically when it comes to relations between Muslims and Jews, we Muslims should know there is important bridge-building/repairing that needs to be done. This becomes harder, indeed almost impossible, if we don’t question and reject un-Islamic attitudes about Jews. Holocaust denail is one example of an un-Islamic attitude.

THE SOLA CAMPAIGN

The SOLA campaign is  an international art project by A-Pax (Artists for Peace) that promotes the peaceful teachings of Islam and condemns the brutal and inhumane acts being committed in the name of this faith. The campaign takes its name from the word for “peace” in Pashto, the national language of Afghanistan.

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Muslims & Health Reform

Health reform is everywhere right now. As Muslims it is important for us to examine our faith to see where we should stand. We know that people are suffering for lack of health care in America and it is our duty to speak and act to change this.

The Islamic Society of North America has released an Action Alert for Muslims in the United States to support health care reform. You can view the action alert by visiting the URL below:

http://www.isna.net/articles/Press-Releases/Action-Alert-Call-in-on-Health-Care-Reform-featuring-President-Obama.aspx

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