Faith does not mean forwarding every piece of spurious crap you receive on WhatsApp, believing everything you read on Facebook, or liking every Tweet shared by a Muslim personality. You still have to verify the information you receive, even if it comes from a trusted friend.
The parallel lives of anti-Muslim and Muslim activists are remarkable. They reside in different rooms of the same house: only the furniture is different. They read from the same script; only the actors are diverse. The conspiracies they take to heart are the same; only the protagonists are unique.
How easy it is to find fault with the other. It is always our opponents that have entered the proverbial lizard hole, while we ourselves cling firm to authentic faith. Our orthodoxy is palpably correct, while the beliefs of our foes are obviously suspect. Thus do we wield in our armoury words famously attributed to the Prophet, …
Dear members, We don’t often call other organisations out by name, but frankly the state of membership of the Biscuit Dunking Society is so perilous, so flaccid, so lax, that it merits us causing a humongous controversy for all to see, in order to increase the standing of our society in the eyes of the …
After twenty years moving in this community, and over a decade — on and off — amongst Muslims online, I have grown far too skeptical to take the latest manufactured controversy at face value. To our activists and leaders of opinion, amongst whom are the sincere and faithful, I am sorry; I am sorry that …
One of the first lessons most of us learn when we set out on the path is, “Actions are by intentions.” It hardly needs to be said, for that is the primary concern of most seekers: to believe sincerely, without that prevailing sense of hypocrisy that gave birth to our search in the first place. …
Don’t turn your religion into a source of income, because in time you’ll inevitably be forced to follow the money.
Sheikh of the interwebs has a following to propagate; twenty-two thousand and rising (he’s small-fry today, but tomorrow the world). A populist controversy daily keeps the disciples coming back for more: he’s a champion of the new voiceless, an advocate for forgotten reactionaries. Social media is manna from heaven: the glue that holds together a …
Simply repeating a claim over and over again does not make it a fact. How about verifying the information you have received from your source, before treating it as certain truth to be included in your lightly-edited version of the campaign article? Or are facts immaterial in pursuit of the ultimate goal? I suppose they …
Dawah Table Guys: you need to up your game. Big bushy beard, sincerity and a partial grasp of the English language won’t cut it any more. The people you’re preaching to know more than you. They come to you wielding the works of Ibn Ishaq, bamboozling you with quotations from a millennium ago, and all …
Be careful what you say, for the hunters are out hunting. Say the wrong thing and they will declare your social media accounts fake, to be reported and closed. Advocate for the wrong party or speak of things that must be censored, and you will find your accounts inaccessible, marked for deletion, obliterated from public …
Mostly I fear that I will be indicted thus. And of the people are some who say, “We believe in God and the Last Day,” but they are not believers. They try to deceive God and those who believe, but they deceive not except themselves and perceive not. In their hearts is disease, so God …
We are a people easily led. We trust in our wise ones, like idolators bowing down to stones, believing in them without a moment’s thought. Simply because they appear to be our esteemed superiors, steeped as they are in apparent knowledge, we hang on their every word, believing in whatever they tell us. Who dares …
How strange. Men who claim to be leaders of the faithful, vying with one another to see who can outdo others with displays of mysoginy and racism. These seasoned students of knowledge have lost the plot. Or maybe I have.
The leaders of opinion in our community have framed our narrative for us. So no need to engage the intellect or think for yourself. Just follow their lead. When they condemn, condemn, and when they choose not to, follow suit. Do not investigate for yourself. Do not come to your own conclusions. Do not challenge …
