On treating broken hearts (love addictions)
If you are trying to get over a person you can’t be with, treat it like an addiction: 1. Cut yourself off from the drug completely: Cut off all communication and reminders–even if that means blocking numbers, emails, a Facebook profile, and stop checking their Facebook! This is your detox. 2. Replace it with something better: Increase in your thikr (remembrance of Allah) and get closer to Allah. If you aren’t praying your daily prayers, fix that. Pray all and pray on time. Pray qiyam in the last third of the night (just before fajr). Make duaa, tawbah (repentance), cry,...
Read MoreHouston Illumination Speech
A speech I gave at a conference in Houston on March 10, 2012 (my birthday): A few years ago today—we wont talk about how many years—but a few years ago today, I was born. And while a lot of people get into the theological debate about celebrating or not celebrating birthdays, I want to step outside of that for a moment. And look at something else. Some time ago, I had a realization. As young people, and then not so young people, many spend their birthdays waiting for people to celebrate them. As children they can’t wait to receive gifts and get heartbroken if someone forgets to...
Read MoreThis is Love
This is love. And so there are some who spend their whole lives seeking. Sometimes giving, sometimes taking. Sometimes chasing. But often, just waiting. They believe that love is a place that you get to: a destination at the end of a long road. And they can’t wait for that road to end at their destination. They are those hearts moved by the movement of hearts. Those hopeless romantics, the sucker for a love story, or any sincere expression of true devotion. For them, the search is almost a lifelong obsession of sorts. But, this tragic ‘quest’ can have its costs—and its’ gifts. The...
Read MoreManhood and Womanhood in Islam (MSA West 2011)
Speakers: Yassir Fazaga & Yasmin Mogahed Throughout history, every culture and society has crafted their ideals for manhood and womanhood. The 14th century sociologist, Ibn Khaldun, noted that the common denominator of all cultures is that they usually take their rich and powerful as their archetypes for manhood and womanhood. For us living in a pluralistic society these “powerful” are overwhelmingly defined by pop-culture, the music industry, the sports industry etc and this reality coupled with the deterioration of ethics and morals poses an immense problem. A...
Read MoreDefining Manhood: The Facade of Being “Hard”
Last week my sister called. She has been studying abroad since summer began, so naturally I was thrilled to hear from her. After hearing how she was, I asked about her new home. With her living in a Muslim country, I felt assured that everything would be fine. For that reason, what she described next was a complete shock. She began to describe a place where a girl can hardly leave her house without being verbally harassed by men walking by. She said that the catcalling was no longer the exception; it had become the rule. Then she told me about a Muslim girl she knew. The girl...
Read More
