The following is a sampling of some of about 50 of the most uniquely insightful and inspiring articles from 2010. Click here to access the briefer list and original article on “2010 Year in Review.”
RELATIONSHIPS
Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself – A compelling reminder on the importance of not judging others, humbling ourselves [in our hearts] and renewing our sincerity in all things.
Let’s Talk About Dating – Confronting the paralysis of the Muslim community when approaching the issue of dating due to fear of western values that accept pre-marital sex.
Am I Marrying the Right Person? – A much needed reminder that while many factors are used to determine compatibility, your feelings should be kept in mind as a very important factor.
How You Say It Matters! – The powerful effect of XYZ statements on your relationships, practical advice on ensuring healthy communication in any relationship, written by a qualified professional.
Hook Up with Allah, Allah will Hook You Up – An empowering article that responds to the pressures of changing oneself for the wrong reasons, particularly changing for the worse due to pressures to marry.
Understanding Nasihah
I always used to think that nasihah literally meant to give advice because that’s how many of us use the term. Apparently, I was wrong: Abu Raqiyyah Tamin bin Aws ad-Dari radi Allahu `anhu, may Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said: “[Islam] is an-nasihah.” We said, “To whom?” He said, “To Allah, to […]
Question Regarding Dating
Question: Is dating allowed in Islam so that I can get to know someone for marriage? It’s hard to get married and dating is normal in our society. Arranged marriages aren’t realistic for us nowadays. Answer: As-salamu `alaykum brother, Thank you for the honest question you asked regarding dating. There are a number of issues that you brought […]
Escaping the Worst of Prisons
When Sara met Ahmed, she immediately knew. He was everything she had always dreamed of. Meeting him was like watching the sun rise in the middle of a snowstorm. His warmth melted the cold. But soon admiration turned to worship. Before she could understand what had happened, Sara had become a prisoner. She became a […]
New Best Friend
It was around 10am when my six-year-old first grader said, “Teacher! I want to recite Surat al-Mulk in front of the class!” Surat al-Mulk is title that refers to a chapter from the Quran; surah means chapter; al-Mulk means dominion. “Insha’Allah (God willing) at story time,” I promised. Story time is at the end of […]
Why Aren’t My Prayers Being Answered?
Question: Why aren’t my prayers being answered? Answer: May Allah reward you for asking such an honest question, and may He guide us towards the truth. Ameen. I think what happens in this type of situation is that we mix up our means and our ends. When we make du`a’ for a good husband, for […]
Oh Servant of the Qur’an, if You Need Motivation, Read This!
A friend in Alexandria related this to me: One day while sitting at the school in which I take Islamic studies classes, my teacher introduced me to an Egyptian girl that memorizes Qur’aan there. I remember thinking how shy and timid the girl seemed. After the girl left, my teacher revealed that she is both […]
SOCIETY
Battling Temptation – Whether your struggle is at the initial stages of guarding your gaze and thoughts, or at the level of looking at porn, masturbation, or actual adultery (may Allah protect us all), some suggestions and tips to help in battling the temptation.
Taking Off the Hijab – Sincere, detailed, and practical advice for a sister struggling with wearing the hijab.
A Woman’s Reflection on Leading Prayer – Refuting the idea that a woman leading prayer brings women closer to achieving liberation.
Angry Hijabi – A short but powerful, stereotype-defying poem challenging misguided views on women in Islam.
Imancipate: Addiction to Pornography
“It all started when I was in my final year of elementary school abroad. My siblings and I had rented a movie which was PG in Asia but PG13 in the West. I came to realize later on in life that I was too young to have watched that […]
“He needs to go to the hospital right now.”
“I’m so glad it’s you!” the woman cried desperately, “It’s my son, Tariq, he’s been very, very sick. I’ve been waiting outside the masjid; I came here today to be able to collect enough money to take him to the hospital. I don’t know what to do!” Crying, she held Tariq […]
When is the difference of opinion (al-Ikhtilāf) amongst scholars a mercy?
A quick search within the plethora of fatāwa (Islamic scholarly opinion) available on the internet alone will quickly help one to conclude that difference of opinion in matters relating to Islam is indeed a reality. The purpose of this short article is neither to address the causes of such differences nor to support one position […]
Extreme Consumerism: The Great Deception
Ever notice how attached to shopping people have become? How buying new things is now a common hobby? This phenomenon can be condensed into one simple, elusive word: overconsumption. Within the last few decades, it has completely engulfed the American economy. Today, Americans are seemingly obsessed with the superficial. They consume their […]
Imprisonment of the Body, Liberation of the Soul: Lessons Learned from the Life of Ahmed ibn Taymiyya
Why Islam Can Liberate the Souls of Prisoners “How many of us would be able to overcome our desires and resist the temptation of sin? How many of us even lower our gaze when we look upon something that we are not supposed to? The real prisoner is the one whose heart has been kept […]
Best Apple Deen Apps
The following is a list of some of the favorite Apple applications used by virtualmosque.com authors as tools to help fill our lives with the light, love, and guidance of Allah (God), Islam, and the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Like never before, the Apple iPhone, iPod, iPad and other devices allow for volumes […]
Half the Deen – Check. Half the Hayaa’ – Check?
It is from the prophetic guidance that when someone looks to get married, they should take a good, critical look at their potential spouse and make sure there is nothing physically repelling to them. Better yet, they should see what is attractive in the other person. This is in the case of suitors who are […]
Cell Phones vs. Qur’an
I wonder what would happen if we were to treat the Qur’an the same way that we treat our cell phones. What if.. …we carried it around in our purses or pockets? …we made sure to go back to get it if we forgot it? …we flipped through it several times […]
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
Attachments: Emptying the Vessel – illumination on the greatest struggle of earthly life: the struggle to free one’s heart from all false attachments, to empty the vessel of the heart.
What would Mariam do? – A series on Mariam’s character (peace be upon her) and how to live with the best of virtue and honor.
The Ocean of Dunya
Yesterday, I went to the beach. As I sat watching the massive Californian waves, I realized something strange. The ocean is so breathtakingly beautiful. But just as it is beautiful, it is also deadly. The same spellbinding waves, which we appreciate from the shore, can kill us if we enter them. Water, the same substance […]
The Essence of Islam: Are We Missing the Point?
To some, a Monet is only a collection of dots. To others, it is a perfect masterpiece. To some, Islam is nothing but a code of rules and regulations. But, to those who understand, it is a perfect vision of life. As Muslims, we often focus so much on Islam’s dos and don’ts that we […]
Pain, Loss, and the Path to God
I still remember the desperation. In the deep disappointment which often follows self-reflection, I turned to my Creator to plead. I turned to plead – but not for what can be measured, bought, sold, or traded. It was desperation for a truer currency. With my flaws suddenly made open to me, I became desperate to […]
GPS for the Night that is the Best
Its Blessed Name: Laylat al-Qadar Night [Layl]: indicates the time from sunset till dawn. Power [al-Qadar]: This word carries a number of different meanings such as honor, serenity, judgment, and power. The scholars differed over the meaning of this word when used in relation to that special night that takes place during the month of […]
Returning to the Qur’an
After two hours of taraweeh and four hours of tahajjud, the Shaykh was crying to Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala (exalted is He) in his prostration, pleading with Allah (swt) to forgive him. This Shaykh would have to stop reciting the Qur’an because he was weeping so much. He would recite verses of the hellfire and you felt that […]
The Ramadan Nutrition and Workout Plan for Success: Women and Men
By Rehan Jalali, C.S.N. I am frequently asked, “How can I workout and eat properly while fasting?” Most people see the blessed month of Ramadan as a time when they will lose strength and muscle mass; some think they can only “maintain” themselves during this month, while many women actually gain weight! If you use […]
A Sacred Conversation
There is a time of night when the whole world transforms. During the day, chaos often takes over our lives. The responsibilities of work, school, and family dominate much of our attention. Other than the time we take for the five daily prayers, it is hard to also take time out to reflect or even […]
Taking Responsibility for our Actions
The city under siege was about to surrender without any bloodshed in 1453 AD. But three Venetian warships came in with reinforcements, and the Muslim fleet, under the command of Turkish admiral Suleiman Baltughlu, failed to block the reinforcements from entering Constantinople’s gulf. The Ottoman sultan, Muhammad II (also known as Al-Faatih or Mehmet II) […]
The Balance between Following Scholars (Taqleed) and Fanaticism (Ta`ssub)
There is a fine line between following (taqleed تقليد) a juristic school of thought (madhab مذهب) or an established scholar of Islamic Jurisprudence (faqih فقيه) and fanaticism/blind partisanship (ta`ssub تعصب) to a scholar or school of thought. The former is something that the scholars of Islam have recommended for the common people who aren’t able […]
How To Survive (and Then Benefit From) a Boring Khutbah
We are sitting in the masjid. Front row, clean clothes on, ready to hear something that will inspire us, teach us, and give us gems of spiritual wisdom gleaned from the mountain of Prophethood. Our hearts fill with hope that today will be the day that a young, vibrant and dynamic speaker, or a wise, […]
Salah and the Worst Kind of Theft
The only sad part of finding the straight path is when you lose it. There are many ways to fall, but no fall is more tragic than a fall in one’s deen. Sometimes it’s a sister who decided to take off her hijab and live a different type of life, other times it’s a brother […]
ISLAMIC STUDIES
The Language of the Khutbah – A detailed explanation on the majority opinion that the khutbah may be a mixture of both Arabic and the local language.
Is a Woman’s Prayer at Home Better? – Answered by Shaykh Muhammad al-Hassan al-Dado | Translated and Abridged by VirtualMosque.com.
How to Taste the Sweetness of Prayer – An award-winning series on salah (prayer), filled with practical advice on how to reach the state of serenity, tranquility, and humility during prayer.
Unity Through Connecting to Sahih al-Bukhari
A blessed gathering recently took place in Leicester, England, and it was the final maqra’ (reading) of the entire Sahih al-Bukhari under the supervision of Shaykh Ahmad Ali Surty, who Shaykh Akram Nadwi says has the shortest isnad (chain of transmission) of the book to Imam Bukhari in the entire world. The final session was […]
Questioning the Hadith?
Question: I was wondering if you could talk about how we should deal with hadiths [Prophetic traditions] that seem to be unfair towards women; for example, that the hellfire is full of women, a woman is deficient in intellect, etc. How are we supposed to understand and accept these kinds of statements when they seem […]
Review of The Qur’an – a New Translation by M.A.S. Abdel Haleem
Translation is no easy task, especially when dealing with the words of Allah, the All-Mighty. Many attempts have been made to translate the Qur’an’s meaning into English, starting with Alexander Ross and George Sale in the 16th and 17th centuries.1 Some endeavors, especially 19th and 20th century ones (i.e. by Rodwell, Bell and Dawood) have done […]
The Case Against Interest
The prohibition of interest in Islam is a Divine ruling; hence a Muslim seeks to submit to it. Nonetheless, there are two crucial aspects to such submission. Firstly, we believe that all Divine rulings have wisdom, even if we are not cognisant of the wisdom. Secondly, with abstinence of and […]
Supplicating in Another Language while Praying
Question: I recently converted and, while I’ve learned to say my prayers in Arabic, I cannot make general supplications (du`a’) in Arabic when I prostrate. Is it Islamically acceptable to say those supplications in English? Answer: I would like to welcome you to Islam, and I pray that Allah will bless you and guide you […]
HISTORY
The Prophet’s ﷺ Sadness – An explanation of how to understand narrations describing a time when the Prophet ﷺ became so sad that he intended to throw himself from the tops of high mountains, but was compelled to stop every time.
How the Muslims Killed Dracula – A research-based understanding of Dracula like no Hollywood story has ever told before! Centering on the triumph of Radu the Handsome over the man who became known as Dracula.
TRANSLATIONS
- A Question on Migration to the Lands of Islam by Dr. ‘Abdullah bin Bayyah
- No Condemnation in Areas of Ijtihad By Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi
- The Statute of Tolerance in Islam by Dr. `Ali Gom`a
- On Celebrating The Prophet’s Birthday ﷺ by Shaykh Abdullah Bin Bayyah
- The 30 Principles of Moderate & Balanced Thought
- Between Hardship and Ease: Imam al-Qarafi Drops Mad Science
- Muhammad ‘Abdu’s Advice for Educational Reform in the Ottoman Empire
- A Tribute to Shaykh Ahmed al-`Assāl by Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradāwī
MULTIMEDIA
- Virtual Pulpit: Net Mosques, Congregations & Imams by Suhaib Webb
- The Essentials for Muslim Activists by Suhaib Webb
- How to Unlock iJannah by Suhaib Webb
- The Role of Muslim Students by Suhaib Webb
- Advice to Converts by Suhaib Webb
- Real Men Don’t Hit Women by Khalid Latif
CURRENT EVENTS
Why All Americans Should Want a Mosque in their Neighborhood – Refuting the mosque has unjustifiably become a symbol of fear and worry in American communities.
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