Planting Seeds: Seeking Islamic Knowledge in North America
Yousef Wahb
June 6, 2021 • 11 min readReflecting deeply on the word Iqra’ (read) should inform individual and communal perceptions of the purpose of our lives in relation to our pursuits of knowledge. Being revealed to our Messenger (ﷺ) who did not read or write, its meaning transcends beyond mere literacy to the broader experiential engagement with the revelation, both spoken and observed.
Bringing the Nonmaterial to the Fore: Reading Harry Potter as a Muslim
Bilkis Bharucha
June 6, 2021 • 8 min readAt the turn of the 21st century, Muslim hot takes on the Harry Potter series included censorship and online fatwas to preempt the corruption of young minds from what was then regarded as a suspiciously occult theme. Similar suspicions from Christian groups were quickly laid to rest as they discovered layers of Christian allegories woven throughout the series.
Ramadan: Refueling for the Marathon, with Tesneem Alkiek
Thinkbites Team
April 5, 2021 • 7 min readOur team had the opportunity to interview Sr. Tesneem Alkiek, Director of Expanded Learning at Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, about preparing ourselves for a sincere and transformative Ramadan that can remain with us throughout the year. This interview has been edited and condensed for readability.
Faith in the Time of Corona
Thinkbites Community
April 5, 2021 • 8 min readWe asked our readers to share their reflections on Ramadan 2020 as we prepare to enter our second COVID Ramadan. This is a compilation of some of their submissions, lovingly stitched together by our team, and edited and condensed for readability.
Priming the Wandering Mind for Mindfulness
Justin Parrott
March 7, 2021 • 5 min readWe’ve all been there before. We want to focus on something, but our mind keeps racing. The thoughts keep gushing out like water from a broken fire hydrant and we just can’t seem to turn them off. We feel helpless and frustrated. What do we do?
The Islamic Uncertainty Principle
Ahmed Elbenni
February 7, 2021 • 13 min readWe’ve accepted numbers as our rulers, but rarely do we perceive their rule. Now, a medieval insurgent has come for the throne— that virus with the crown— and our counterattack has exposed the promises and pathologies of our numerical order.
Balancing Act: Life and the Afterlife
Amal Abdifatah
February 7, 2021 • 10 min readWe must carry ourselves in this world knowing that our souls were made in heaven and belong there, and we should not seek anything less than that. The primary way to do that is to recognize that this world and the next are not equal in value, and though we should strive and ask Allah (ﷻ) for the best in both, our primary efforts and focus should always be geared towards the next.
Soft Skills: The Importance of Personal Development
Omar Usman
January 4, 2021 • 8 min readThe default behavior of most people is avoiding discomfort, prioritizing hard skills, and being passive about self-investment. This not only answers the question of why people don’t focus on developing soft skills, despite the immense benefit in doing so – it also makes the path forward clear.
The Power of Personal Narrative
Tareq Tamr
December 13, 2020 • 7 min readDespite the potential feelings of pain and discomfort that can come from revisiting your history, gaining an increased awareness of your personal narrative can become a powerful tool to steer your future in the direction you want to head.
Building Focus in an Age of Distractions
Heraa Hashmi
December 6, 2020 • 6 min readBuilding focus means building resilience to distractions and subduing the harmful habits we’ve developed over time. Once we understand the mechanics of these habits, we can start to pull at the harmful roots.
A Psycho-Spiritual Analysis of a Prayer for Times of Difficulty
Sara Alattar
December 6, 2020 • 9 min readThis is a summary and reflection based on the article “Islamic Spirituality and Mental Well-Being” by Dr. Zohair Abdul-Rahman for Yaqeen Institute of Islamic Research.
Difficult Conversations: An Introduction to Addressing Racism
Mohammed Hassan
October 13, 2020 • 8 min readAs the brutal murder of George Floyd motivated weeks of unrest and protest amongst those seeking justice and reform, the actions of non-black Muslim communities to support the voices of Black Americans have not gone without notice.
Suffering unto God
Tarek Younis
October 13, 2020 • 8 min readIn the rising tide of the COVID-19 pandemic, an existential threat to life has captured the minds of many; a threat superseding the manufactured moral panics of crime, immigration, and terrorism. We live in uncertain times — an age of anxiety. Our ability to navigate anxiety has become a central feature of everyday life. Is there any meaning to the widespread experience of anxiety, however?
