Houston 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 MoreFall in Love with the Real Thing
Fall in Love with the Real Thing It’s never easy to let go. Or is it? Most of us would agree that there are few things harder than letting go of what we love. And yet, sometimes that’s exactly what we have to do. Sometimes we love things that we can’t have. Sometimes we want things that are not good for us. And sometimes we love what Allah does not love. To let go of these things is hard. Giving up something the heart adores is one of the hardest battles we ever have to fight. But what if it didn’t have to be such a battle? What if it didn’t have to be so hard? Could there...
Read MoreLife, death, and our final meeting with our Lord
Life, death, and our final meeting with our Lord September 30, 2008 was the last day of Ramadan. For Nora Risha, 18-year-old freshmen at Arizona State University, it was the last day on this earth. At approximately 10 o’clock in the evening on October 1, 2008, a drunk driver ran a light, slammed his Nissan into Nora’s van and threw her from the car. It was the evening of Eid, and Nora spent her final moments in this world. It was the day of celebration, family, gifts; no one expected it would end in tragedy. How many of us woke up on Eid thinking we might never live to see the next...
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