by Dr. Safiyyah Ally Arab. Muslim. Arab. Muslim. What’s the difference? It can be confusing to distinguish between the two. While there’s significant overlap between Arabs and Muslims, they’re not the same thing. Not all Muslims are Arabs and not all Arabs are Muslims. What’s an Arab? "Arab" refers to people whose native language is Arabic and who identify themselves as Arabs. Due to migration, Arabs can be found in almost every part of the world, but the largest concentration of Arabs is in the Middle East and North Africa. Not all Arabs are Muslim, though the vast majority are. Ninety-three ..read more

Prayer is the second pillar out of the five pillars of Islam. It has been prescribed to Muslims as a way of drawing closer to God and personally connecting to our creator, through a direct dialogue between oneself and Allah (swt). Not only is prayer a way of connecting to God and thanking him for our blessings but it also serves as a way to find tranquility, ease and inner peace. Muslims are required to fulfill five daily prayers over the span of a day, but for some individuals praying five times a day may be challenging to them. For those that may be struggling, the best approach would be to ..read more

Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl is truly one of our time’s most distinguished and brilliant Islamic thinkers, engaging both Muslims and non-Muslims on numerous complex issues regarding the interpretation of the Islamic faith, law, and the Quran. ,,In her interview, Dr. Safiyyah Ally probes his thoughts on several topics related to the Quran. She puts forth challenging questions that demand further explanation from Dr. Abou El Fadl, while also bringing about deep reflection on the part of the viewer: how can we understand the Quran to have complete ethical coherence in its overall message? What has mot ..read more

Here are 5 ways we can draw nearer to God and seek His forgiveness and blessings in the blessed last ten nights of Ramadan. We can seclude ourselves for all or part of the last ten nights. We can serve human beings, especially those who are needy or vulnerable. We can engage in additional worship at home or in the mosque. This includes reciting the Quran and praying extra prayers in congregation or alone, especially at night. We can beseech God with a special supplication: "Oh Allah, You are Forgiving, You love to forgive, so forgive me!" And we can partake in any other good acts that would p ..read more

Question: Does taking medication or injection ruin my fast? Dr. Shabir Ally: The Quran is very clear that eating or drinking is going to break the fast. But what if you're taking medication orally? Well, classical Muslim scholars had to think about this. The Quran doesn't mention medicine, but what qualifies as eating? Suppose you put something in your mouth. That seems to be allowed so long as you don't swallow it. So the swallowing it is going to break the fast. So a principle emerged that if something enters the stomach orally, then that breaks the fast. Medicine does that, so they conclud ..read more

There is no clear indication about when children should begin fasting. What is very clear is that fasting is an obligation on adult Muslims. So, the question that spins off from that is that at what age does the child become adult? And this is not specified in the Quran. The Quran speaks about children reaching the age of marriage, for example, but doesn't say what that age is in terms of years. A hadith says that when a child is 10 years old,we should require that they pray. But does that mean automatically that children should be required to fast when they're 10 years old? Muslim scholars h ..read more

Have you ever thought about whether God is close or far? Where exactly is God? Our Christian friends, at least some of them, will say that God lives inside of them and so they feel a close attachment to God. How do Muslims feel? Do we feel that God is too far away and that we can't reach Him? Sometimes we see problems occurring on earth. We see sin, crime, and cruelty, and we wonder, where is God in all of this? Let's look into the Quran to see what the Quran says about the closeness of God to human beings. The Quran shows us that God is very close to us. God is always watchful and attentive ..read more

Have you ever been asked by one of your friends at work, school, or in the neighbourhood, “Don't you guys find this fast difficult? How do you do it? How do you stay without food from morning until night?”. Then they hear that you cannot even drink and they say, "Oh, you cannot even drink anything?" Some people may be familiar with a form of fasting in which you are allowed to eat some things and you are allowed to drink liquids. The Muslim fast is a medium type fast. It's not like the dry fast where you cannot even wash your mouth. On the other hand, it is not a more liberal fast where you'r ..read more

Dr. Safiyyah Ally: Welcome to “Ramadan Ready”, where we answer common questions about Ramadan. Dr. Shabir, I want to talk about how Ramadan works. Because, for outsiders, it might seem quite strange, especially the whole idea of fasting. They want to know how fasting works. What does it entail? One of the common things that people ask is, “You can't even drink water?!” That's really surprising to people. Dr. Shabir Ally: Let me start with the basics. Essentially, fasting entails abstinence from food, drink, and sexual intercourse from dawn till sunset. So then, how does one make this work? Typ ..read more

Question: “ I live in the far north, and the day is very long. How do I fast?” Dr. Shabir Ally: If you live too close to the Arctic circle and the day is too long to be bearable, then according to Muslim scholars you can 1) follow the timings in a city with a similar time zone, but lower in latitude or 2) you can follow the timings in Mecca or Medina. I'm more attracted to the second idea. If you're going to choose between Mecca and Medina, Medina seems to be the obvious choice, because that is where the fasting was given as the regulation for the first time. But either one of those will do ..read more