Currently Browsing: Notes
notes
Imam Jamil, Imam Talib: Two Mountains
Owing to a very difficult and challenging couple of months, I was unable to sit down and share my thoughts on the passing of two giants who impacted me and many others in profound ways. Those two giants are Imam Jamil al-Amin and Imam Talib Abdul Rashid. To…
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notes
Ahmad Goes to “Heaven”
by Imam Zaid Shakir
The following is a true story. The youth’s name has been changed. Ahmad is a normal teenage boy. He is full of life, brimming with energy, and intellectually curious. He is quick to smile and easy to please. Ahmad is not a normal teenage boy. He has seen far too…
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notes
Statement on the Killing of Charlie Kirk
by Imam Zaid Shakir
An assassin’s bullet ended the life of Charlie Kirk. As Muslims, we reject the misinformed, xenophobic fear-mongering Kirk engaged in against our community. We likewise deplore Kirk’s wholesale endorsement of the Zionists’ ongoing genocidal slaughter and starvation of innocent civilians in Gaza. We abhor Kirk’s incendiary rhetoric…
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notes
Israel Alone
by Imam Zaid Shakir
The rogue state of Israel has added a massive, unprovoked attack on Iran to the list of its crimes. It is not enough to slaughter, starve, and ethnically cleanse the people of Gaza; it is not enough to bomb anything in Lebanon with wanton impunity; it is not enough to…
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notes
America, Israel, and Gaza: How “The West Was Won”
by Imam Zaid Shakir
The ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza, coupled with the accelerating ethnic cleansing of the West Bank, is the latest act in the appalling history of European colonization of non-European lands. In Gaza, this has meant overwhelmed hospitals being bombed out of existence. It has meant the destruction of virtually every…
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notes
Hard Questions For The New Year
by Imam Zaid Shakir
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…
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notes
Last Minute Advice For Muslims
by Imam Zaid Shakir
As we stand on the eve of what promises to be a very consequential election, many in our community are confused and frustrated. Who should we vote for? Will our vote matter? What is the best path forward as our growing numbers potentially give us an expanded role in both…
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notes
Bibi’s Useful Idiots
By Imam Zaid Shakir July 24, 2024 will soon be remembered as a day of infamy in the history of the United States. That is the day that the war criminal, the child murderer, the Butcher of Gaza, Benyamin Netanyahu (Bibi) derided as Iran’s “useful idiots” American citizens…
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notes
The Looming Demise of a “Special” Relationship
by Imam Zaid Shakir
We are not going to create any conditions on the support that we give to Israel to defend itself. Kamala Harris, US Vice President, November 2, 2023 When I first read this statement last Fall, I thought to myself that at least we can applaud the Biden Administration…
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notes
One Political Team
by Imam Zaid Shakir
One Political Team Last week, I received a call from one of the leaders in the African American Muslim Community, Salima Suswell. She is the founder of both Evolve Solutions and the Black Muslim Leadership Council. I have been in touch with Salima over the years, both seeking…
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notes
A Letter to The Fallen Children of Gaza
by Imam Zaid Shakir
To my young Palestinian brothers and sisters, the fallen children of Gaza, you continue to die because those capable of stopping the massacre instead repeat, like drunk parrots, “Israel has a right to defend herself.” To “defend” herself against you children who never had a chance to grow to defend…
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Let Us Mock the Muslims (For We Traffic in Mockery)
by Imam Zaid Shakir
Let Us Mock the Muslims (For We Traffic in Mockery) Mockery: Behavior or speech that makes fun of someone or something in a hurtful way. Mockery of entire groups has effectively been criminalized in Western societies. One would think thrice before publicly mocking Jews, African Americans, homosexuals or many other…
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notes
The Crime of The State
by Imam Zaid Shakir
Was it the crime of the state, Or the state of the crime That has my body, soul, and mind Suspended in air; Awaiting the moment, Dreading the time, That will mark its descent to the ground With a thud; Like the thud of a bomb, Like the thud of…
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notes
A New Year’s Thought
by Imam Zaid Shakir
May all seeking it come to know peace. May all of the wars, violence and conflicts cease. May the fools come to see the folly of their ways. May those suffering come to know better days. May the weary find rest, may the homeless find shelter.…
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notes
They Do Not Care
by Imam Zaid Shakir
I begin by offering my condolences to the families and loved ones of every innocent Palestinian, man, woman, and child who has been unjustly killed during the ongoing illegal occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Likewise, I offer my condolences to the families and loved ones of every…
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notes
A Statement Deserving Our Support
by Imam Zaid Shakir
Navigating Differences: Clarifying Sexual and Gender Ethics in Islam Last week, a group of Muslim scholars released a statement outlining a reasoned and reasonable response to the growing challenge the LGBTQIAP+ movement presents to the Muslim community. The statement is timely owing to growing confusion in the community resulting from…
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