Just Do the Next Best Thing, for, That Is Islam
Islam is all about Doing the Next Best Thing.
That is: If you cannot do the very best thing that Islam requires of you, then, what is the Next Best Thing that you can do in its place? Just go ahead and do that Next Best Thing.
That is Islam for you in a nutshell.
God Opens All Kinds of Doors for People
What many people don’t understand is that when God seems to close one door for you, he may open a thousand other doors.
All the Terrible Conditions in Which Muslims Live:
Why Isn’t Anyone Upset about Them?
When was it you last saw a real good Muslim really, really upset by the terrible social, educational and economic conditions pervading much of the Muslim world? Why, all that is not Islam? And Muslims are not people?
Just Inventory All the Ways Muslims Today Defy God’s Laws
I can’t begin to count the ways in which Muslim societies today defy the teachings of Islam – socially, politically, morally and economically.
Do Muslims Drive through Life Looking at the Rear View Mirror?
Many Muslims drive through life’s highways with their eyes glued to the rear view mirror. How do you expect them to get anywhere?
No One Does Connectivity Like Islam Does:
And for the Past 1400 Years Too
In this age of the Internet, we all understand the meaning of “Connectivity.”
Islam gave the world that concept, 1400 years ago, and drilled Muslims into practicing it, by requiring them to attend Congregational Prayers in neighbourhood mosques no less than five times a day — unless of course anyone should have a legitimate excuse.
That is as much Connectivity as anyone can imagine.
Superior Human Attributes Are What Lead to Being a Better Muslim
To pretend to be “better” and superior-quality Muslims, without trying to first embody in us the better and superior human attributes mandated by the Qur’an and modelled by the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, is a sham and a fraud.
It is the very height of hypocrisy – and arrogance. And it will never work.
Is There, or Is There Not, a God – That Is the Question!
The greatest challenge before human beings is to decide if there is or there isn’t a God. And if there is, then, what kind of God he is or he could be. Once you get past this checkpoint, everything else is a cinch – or should I say breeze? Everything else follows, as night follows day.
A Great Muslim Is a Great Human Being First
Want to be a great Muslim? Try being a great human being first!
Qur’an on God’s Boundless Love and Mercy
Just like we cannot think of rain or ocean without water; or of forest without trees; or of desert without sand; or of sky without sun, moon and the stars; in the same way we cannot also conceive of God without the qualities of love, compassion and mercy.
The Qur’an tells us over and over that Allah’s greatest attribute is his infinite love and his boundless mercy and compassion. God is, says the Qur’an, Rahmaan and Wadood: most merciful and most loving. The Qur’an makes it perfectly clear that nothing falls outside the bounds of God’s most amazing and all-encompassing grace.
Islam Is about Being a Better Human Being
We all need to work on being better human beings first — better men, better women and better children. We may then, if Allah wants, some day hope to graduate to being better Muslims.
Want to Live Free? Elect the Government You Want
If you don’t work to elect the government you want, someone else will impose on you the government they want.
Islam and Feudalism Don’t Mix
I have never been able to understand how a society can be loudly Muslim and rigidly feudal, both at the same time. What is equally puzzling is that you don’t hear a squeak about it from any of the Muslim sources that act as if they hold a patent on Islam.
Don’t Make Islam Your Refuge from Islam
Many Muslims hide in Islam from Islam. They would rather sit in mosques and roll the rosary, which is not what Islam wants them to do all the time, than be out on the streets helping or educating people, which is what Islam really wants them to do as much as they can.
Freedom also Means Freedom from the Tyranny of Alcohol
Alcohol is a powerful drug with enormous health, social, economic and political cost, consequences and compulsions. To use it is to abuse it. Therefore, to be truly free an individual, people, nation or society must be free from the tyranny of alcohol in their lives.
To Vote Is as Islamic a Duty as You Can Imagine
If you are Muslim, you must vote! Or be prepared to answer to God on the Day of Judgment.
If We Only Knew the Full Hazards of Smoking!
Smoking pollutes! And not just the environment.
Using Extra Hajj to Avoid Responsibility to Society?
Some Muslims would rather dash off to Makkah to do an extra Pilgrimage than invest time and money in helping their own societies deal with hunger, disease and lack of education.
Say in Private Only What You Will Not Hesitate to Say in Public
Advice to those working for Allah in America: Don’t say or do anything in private that you do not wish to see make the front page of The New York Times the next day.
Islam Is Islam and Muslims Are Merely People
Sometimes I think: How much better our world would be if all of us — Muslim as well as non-Muslim — focused a little bit less on what Muslims do and a little bit more on what Islam really is! So if you have an ounce of intelligence or integrity, don’t blame Islam for everything Muslims do.
