By Ramla Bile, Engage Minnesota This month, Muslims across the world are observing Ramadan. In addition to its copious spiritual and personal benefits, the month provides an excellent opportunity to acknowledge the notion of freedom from hunger, and the extent to which the right to food is met locally, nationally, and internationally.
Tag: muslim
Far, Far Away (from Muslims) You Say?
By Heba Abdel-Karim, Engage Minnesota You have an everyday link to Muslims. Yes, you do. You may not realize it, but there are many things we use in our daily lives that come from a “Muslim” background. From math and science to education and commerce, it may surprise you how much Muslim inventions have influenced the world, starting centuries ago and making their overlooked way into our day-to-day lives. You were taught that the Greeks were the developers of trigonometry, right? Not exactly. Take out the word developers and replace it with “continuers.” Trigonometry was “developed to a level of Read More …
MN Writer’s New Children’s Book Inspired by Hadith
The Runaway Scarf, a new book by Twin Cities-based writer Corey Habbas, is a story about human justice and freedom inspired by an Islamic hadith. The 52-page illustrated children’s book is set to be available at the end of February. Habbas is also a regular contributor to EngageMN.com. “I was mad after watching that movie Hidalgo,” Habbas said, “because it was such a distortion about Muslims, and that is what inspired this book. I wrote it in 2004 [after the movie was released], and it took me a long time to get it published!” The book follows an African slave, Read More …
Myth-busting
Some myths in Middle East politics and religion need to be deconstructed. By Elias Karmi Myth: The “Ancient Feud” Unfortunately, a few academics have fallen for this one. The myth is that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is rooted in an ancient feud between Ismael, the perceived ancestor of the Arabs, and Isaac, the ancestor of the Children of Israel, both of whom are the sons of Abraham from different mothers. From the point of view of Muslims, this is particularly absurd. Muslims highly revere both Ismael and Isaac – peace be upon them – as holy prophets whose brotherhood transcends sharing Read More …
1,400-year-old advice still valuable for modern parents
Islam’s advice on raising minds, not just bodies By Rawan Hamade Evolution versus creation may be subject to debate in our world today, but there is no doubt that our understanding of certain institutions evolves with time. Our concept of family is just one example. I am not about to tell you that, back in the day, the family was what it ought to be and now divorce rates are increasing a hundredfold. That may be true, but only on the surface. Many sociologists tell us that marriage may have seemed holy long ago, but in fact family ties weren’t Read More …