Practical Islamic Governance: Regulating Drug Use
There are a variety of ways for state authorities to regulate people's behavior. The caricature of state power is a brutal, punitive police force...
The Impact of Liberalism on American Muslims
Another essay by Prof. Sherman Jackson on liberalism. This should be read in conjunction with his other essay: "Liberalism and the American Muslim Predicament."
Here...
The Value of Destruction to Modern Islamic Scholarship
My dad has always been a very handy person and loves to take on home projects mashaAllah. When I was young, he would try...
How “Progressive” Muslims Get Their Foot in the Door
Are we willing to defend Islamic values and the Islamic tradition against those who wish to see it destroyed? If so, we need to...
Why is Islam Reviled Today?
The Princeton event I spoke at earlier this month was not recorded. But here are the first couple of questions I was asked and...
The Lost Virtue of Himma
Himma is a lost concept for Western Muslims. I've seen himma translated as "lofty aspiration" in some places, but perhaps "zeal" gives a better...
Overgeneralization and Its Dangers in Understanding Islam
In Western philosophy early to mid 20th century, a group of philosophers argued that the discipline of philosophy is prone to overgeneralize, i.e., to...
You Will Not Spread Islam by Censoring It
When we say that Islam is the religion of the fitra, part of what that means is that in some capacity, whether consciously or...
What is “Traditional” Islam?
Following "traditional Islam" does not mean that we care about the past for the sake of the past. We only care about the past...
Islamic “Imperialism”?
Do we as Muslims have a problem with colonization and imperialism? Maybe.
A lot of historical imperialism involved wanton murder and pillaging, i.e., things that...