Muslim | American | Photographer
Charity is important. Some of us are blessed with abundance; others are less fortunate. We Muslims are instructed to give in charity, and we believe that abundance is something God tests us with, to see what we’re going to do with it.
I’ve probably written about charity before, and will likely get more into it later, but in Surah Baqarah, Allah azza wa jall tells us how to go about giving in charity. Continue reading “How to Give in Charity”
Today is the last day of my 30s. Insofar as 40 is the new 30, is it perhaps equally accurate to say this is the last day of my 20s? Of that, I have my doubts, and, anyway, I’m very happy to (finally?) be older. And I wouldn’t want to go back even a week, let along a decade or two. I’ve learned so much and travelled so far along this winding road, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
So here, as a reminder to myself, first, and to celebrate, commemorate, and in hopes that I might remember and implement them as I move towards my 50s, are 40 things I learned before I turned 40… Continue reading “40 before 40”
In three days, I’ll turn 40 years old… I worry about this some, or, rather, not worry, but feel a sense of… something, a melancholia of sorts, maybe, and I’m not really sure what to make of it, or what it means.
What’s so different about 40? Continue reading “enable me to be grateful”
In downtown Eureka Springs, there are all these old houses, perched on the side of the hill, hanging off into space. I used to wonder how they were held up, why they didn’t go sliding down the side, but, then, I’d never looked round the back of any of them, and I was young. These days, I see something different. Continue reading “a strong foundation”
All that you love in this world—your spouse, children, and parents, your job, maybe, your toys, Oreo cookies, whatever—it’s all but a passing fancy, really. Something far better is waiting for us… Continue reading “Something better than that…”
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is the Rabbi Al-Alamin, the Lord of all that exists: all the people, certainly, but also all the sentient beings, everything with a soul, and, indeed, everything without a soul. Rocks and trees and stars perform their functions exactly as Allah made them, and as for everything else, well… Continue reading “Rabbi Al ‘Alamin”
Allah makes it clear to us, over and over again…
وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ اللَّيْلُ وَالنَّهَارُ وَالشَّمْسُ وَالْقَمَرُ ۚ لَا تَسْجُدُوا لِلشَّمْسِ وَلَا لِلْقَمَرِ وَاسْجُدُوا لِلَّهِ الَّذِي خَلَقَهُنَّ إِن كُنتُمْ إِيَّاهُ تَعْبُدُونَ
And of His signs are the night and day and the sun and moon. Do not prostrate to the sun or to the moon, but prostate to Allah, who created them, if it should be Him that you worship.