notes

Yemen: A Crying Shame

BY IMAM ZAID SHAKIR

Mar 04, 2018 at 12:00 am

O Allah, Bless us in our Syria and in our Yemen! Hadith Sharif The people of Yemen will come to you. They have the most tender minds and the softest hearts. Wisdom and faith are Yemeni. Hadith Sharif The dastardly murder of Shaykh Aydrus bin Abdullah bin Sumayt, may…

notes

As Ghuta Bleeds…

BY IMAM ZAID SHAKIR

Feb 23, 2018 at 8:25 am

O God, bless us in our Syria! Hadith Sharif The Ghuta of Damascus is one of the four worldly paradises… Mu’jam al-Buldan As I write these words, a large swath of the Ghuta, an area which was once a beautiful belt of forests, orchards and gardens surrounding Damascus,…

notes

School Shootings: More Than Deranged Teenagers

BY IMAM ZAID SHAKIR

Feb 16, 2018 at 12:12 am

Our condolences to the families of those killed and wounded by Nikolas Cruz in the “Valentine’s Day Massacre” yesterday in Parkland, Florida. The fact that Parkland was recently rated the 15th safest city in America and the safest in Florida, indicates the kind of mindless violence which has befallen that…

notes

They Don’t Know

BY IMAM ZAID SHAKIR

Jan 28, 2018 at 5:56 pm

Unfortunately they don’t know the pain Of hungry kids and no shelter from rain. They’ll never know the feel of grime and dirt, Or just how hard some people have to work, Or what it means to have to ride the bus, Or place your…

notes

The Monk of Mokha

BY IMAM ZAID SHAKIR

Jan 21, 2018 at 11:43 am

“The Monk of Mokha,” Dave Eggers chronicle of the revival of Yemeni coffee through the efforts of an unlikely young man, could well have been entitled, “The Mad Adventures of Mokhtar Alkhanshali.” If fiction is art and nonfiction life, this book would definitely qualify as life imitating art. The unlikely…

notes

America, Stop Exporting Your S**t!

BY IMAM ZAID SHAKIR

Jan 14, 2018 at 8:50 am

America, Stop Exporting Your S**t! Trump and the millions of racist Americans he faithfully represents love to point out the problems of what Vijay Prashad refers to as, “The Darker Nations.” However, there is no acknowledgement of what we and other western nations have done to create what Trump so…

notes

The Greatest Thing My Mother Taught Me

BY IMAM ZAID SHAKIR

Jan 06, 2018 at 9:00 am

I was not blessed to be able to enjoy the presence of my mother throughout my adult life, as she passed away when I was eighteen-years-old. I was able to benefit from her mentorship and wisdom during my formative years, even though many of the lessons she taught me I…

notes

Hard Questions

BY IMAM ZAID SHAKIR

Jan 05, 2018 at 6:21 pm

As we North American Muslims enter a new year it might be beneficial for us to ask ourselves some serious questions. A bit of soul searching has never harmed anyone. The type of questions I have in mind involve a set of challenges to some of the prevailing trends which…

notes

Jerusalem: What Can We Do?

BY IMAM ZAID SHAKIR

Dec 18, 2017 at 8:56 pm

The recent decision of President Donald J. Trump to both recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel and to move the US Embassy to that blessed city is not only a slap in the face of the world’s Muslims and the Palestinian people, it is also a…

notes

“Heil Trump” is Not a Bad Joke

BY IMAM ZAID SHAKIR

Dec 08, 2017 at 6:44 am

When the President of the United Stated retweeted the filthy, fake anti-Muslim propaganda put out by a fascist British organization he effectively declared war on a segment of the population he is sworn to lead and protect. What was the response of his administration? From Sarah Sanders Huckabee to…

New Islamic Directions is dedicated to bringing to our visitors a fair and balanced presentation of Islam and its basic teachings.

We are a balanced nation whose historical advance has only been possible when that balance created the spiritual and intellectual space for some of the most brilliant minds known to humanity to flourish.