“Those who work for you are your brothers. Allah has made them your assistants.” ——— Bukhari and Tirmidhi. The Prophet Muhammad (s) said: “There is reward for kindness to every living thing.” ——— Bukhari and Muslim. The Prophet Muhammad (s) said: “Be kind, for whenever kindness becomes part of something, it beautifies it. Whenever it is […]
April 24, 2013
Note from Rafik Beekun: In response to a recent story about salaat on this blog (Whether to pray or not?), one of our readers from South Africa sent us this very inspiring post about a critical job related decision he had to make. May Allah strenthen all of us to choose our deen over dunya […]
February 11, 2013
A moving and true story about salaat from a young sister and that can inspire all of us: While on my way to Starbucks (my current location), I realized I hadn’t prayed dhuhr yet…it was about a quarter passed 3 and ‘asr would surely find me here 45 mins later. Through the cab ride, I […]
September 27, 2012
Amnesty International, 2012 “Muslims are subject to a variety of forms of racism and intolerance, as described in several sections of this report. In particular, some factions of public opinion make no distinction between terrorists, religious extremists and the Muslim population as a whole. In some cases, it is claimed that these prejudices lead […]
September 8, 2012
CNN.com There is a shiny addition among the Ottoman mosques and palaces that make up Istanbul’s stunning skyline: the metallic, mirrored dome of the new Sakirin Mosque, a Muslim place of worship built with a woman’s touch. For what may be the first time in history, women have been at the forefront of the construction […]
August 8, 2012
Source: Islamophobia Today It was a golden night in the Olympic stadium as both Jess Ennis and Greg Rutherford picked up gold medals in the heptathlon and long jump before Mo Farah took to the track. Please click here to watch Mohamed Farah win the 10,000 m Olympic race. And Farah admits that he had […]
August 1, 2012
Many Muslims will make ablution at home and put on their socks before going out to work or on a trip. Later, when they make wudhu, they wipe their moist hands over their socks instead of washing their feet. This is permissible for a period of 24 hours if one is not traveling. If you […]
July 28, 2012
Updated July 29, 2012 Often work related issues and stress (e.g. closing the budget year, cutbacks, hiring or firing decisions, etc.) intrude in our concentration during prayer and we may experience forgetfulness. How do you make amends if you missed something in your prayer? Can you make amends? Does your prayer still count. For these […]
July 26, 2012
Recounted by one of friends: The Husband Who Was Too Shy To Look At His Wife (a moving story) This story was recounted by Prof. Khalid Al-Jubeir, consulting cardiovascular surgeon, in one of his lectures: Once I operated on a two and a half year old child. It was Tuesday, and on Wednesday the child […]
July 22, 2012
Note from Rafik Beekun: I don’t see why it is a dilemma for these Olympians. Islam allows people who are working in very harsh conditions to postpone their fasts. As some of the Muslim athletes below indicate, they have received the Islamic opinion from some scholars that they can postpone their fast during the […]
July 14, 2012
Many of us who are working throughout Ramadan are likely to be worried about how to keep spirituality at the top of our priority list while coping with a demanding work environment. Getting through the working hours can become a drag. We end up waiting to get home or to a mosque to really ‘find […]
July 12, 2012
With the number of Muslims increasing in the workplace it is important for employees to know how to approach the month of Ramadan when working for an employer. The aim of this guide is to provide some helpful tips on how to deal with some of the things that come up during the month of Ramadan for employees. A Working Muslim […]
May 7, 2012
In general. lying is forbidden in Islam, is a major sin and is considered of the attributes of a hypocrite. Abu Hurayrah (r) narrated that the Prophet (s) said: “The signs of a hypocrite are three; he lies when talking, he breaks his promises and he deceives when entrusted […] anyone who possesses all such […]
April 17, 2012
Dr. Rafik Beekun, theislamicworkplace.com Last updated September 9, 2012 Recent studies reveal that 45-55% of married women and 50-60% of married men engage in extramarital sex at some time or another during their relationship (Atwood & Schwartz, 2002 – Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy). According to US statistics, 46% of unfaithful wives and 62% […]
April 16, 2012
Kevin Roose, New York TImes NAIEL IQBAL’S co-workers couldn’t figure him out. He’d just started at a Midtown Manhattan hedge fund — the kind of elite enclave where overachievers in button-downs go to make a few hundred grand before heading off to Harvard Business School. But Mr. Iqbal, 27, a graduate of the Wharton School, […]
February 15, 2012
Abdul Malik Mujahid Ask Him. He Listens: Dua Turn each anxiety, each fear and each concern into a Dua (supplication). Look at it as another reason to submit to God and be in Sajdah (prostration), during which you are closest to Allah. God listens and already knows what is in your heart, but He wants […]
January 20, 2012
Posted by Haleh Banani on Muslimmatters.org Imagine what your reaction would be if you saw your Muslim brother or sister verbally and physically abusing another Muslim that was feeling very depressed for making a mistake? What if you heard them yelling, “ YOU STUPID IDIOT…..can’t you do anything right? Then punching him and saying, “YOU’RE […]
August 12, 2011
Last updated August 13, 2011 I have extracted from Fiqh us Sunnah, the website Sunnah.com and the website fatwaIslam.com relevant information that relates to some of the issues faced by Muslim brothers and sisters at work during Ramadan. The following is not meant to be exhaustive or to replace the opinion of Fiqh scholars, but […]
August 3, 2011
Note from Rafik Beekun During the blessed month of Ramadan, many Muslims (especially in Muslim countries) slack off, showing up late at work (or not showing up at all), sleeping on the job, procrastinating, doing the least possible, and asking employers for shorter working days at the same wage rate. This type of behavior is […]
June 23, 2011
http://www.cair.com Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals because of their religion in hiring, firing and other terms of employment. The act also requires employers to reasonably accommodate the religious practices of the employee, unless doing so would create an “undue hardship” for the employer. CAIR offers […]
June 5, 2011
Rafik Beekun, Louay Safi and Iqbal Unus, www.theIslamicworkplace.com Now has come to you a Messenger from among yourselves: it grieves him that you should experience hardship: ardently anxious is he over you: to the Believers is he most kind and merciful. (Tawbah 9:128) We sent you merely as a Mercy for all humanity. (Anbiya 21:107) […]
May 21, 2011
Rafik Beekun, theislamicworkplace.com Many Islamic community organizations, masajids and businesses are often characterized by leadership lacking any vision and the requisite skills for the job. As a result, masajids have been reduced to mere prayer halls, community organizations lack a sense of direction and do nothing really well, and businesses are characterized by nepotism, favoritism […]
May 16, 2011
Rafik Beekun, the Islamicworkplace.com, updated May 22, 2011 Self-confidence plays a critical role in self identity and how we carry ourselves. It can affect our job performance, our involvement in the community, and even our success/failure in finding a spouse, Insha Allah. The cardinal principle of self-confidence in Islam is the concept of Tawakkul, one’s […]
April 30, 2011
Professor Muhammad Abdallah Al Buraey, King Fadh University, presentation in Sydney, Australia (and commented upon by Professor Rafik Beekun), theIslamicworkplace.com In choosing excellent leaders and making appointment of public officials, only merit matters, nothing else. [Note from Rafik Beekun: clearly as indicated by the Qur’anic quotations and ahadiths cited by Professor Buraey below, “merit” is […]
April 29, 2011
Eve Tahmincioglu, MSNBC… [Read more…] A poll released l[in September 2010] by the Pew Research Center that shows that the public’s view of Islam has deteriorated, with only 30 percent of Americans expressing a favorable opinion of Islam, compared with 41 percent in 2005. “One can easily conclude that since the general situation is so unfavorable […]
April 19, 2011
By Jayne O’Donnell, USA TODAY NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — “Pashmina! Pashmina!” The CEO of one of the largest U.S. furniture chains, determined to introduce a visitor to his beloved cat, is calling in vain out the doors of his stone-and-stucco mansion on the water here. He quizzes his driver and the landscaper on whether they’ve […]
January 13, 2011
Bismillah hir Rahman nir Rahim – In the name of God the Most Beneficent the Most Merciful Announcing Good News Jan 7, 2011 – Anaheim: Islamic Shura Council of Southern California is pleased to launch an online leadership and management course tailored for the current and future leadership of Masajid and non-profit organizations. “Masajid ought […]
January 3, 2011
Jerome Taylor and Sarah Morrison, http://www.independent.co.uk Tuesday, 4 January 2011 The number of Britons choosing to become Muslims has nearly doubled in the past decade, according to one of the most comprehensive attempts to estimate how many people have embraced Islam. Following the global spread of violent Islamism, British Muslims have faced more scrutiny, criticism […]
January 2, 2011
Paul Moses, CNN. com Editor’s note: Paul Moses, professor of journalism at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, is the author of “The Saint and the Sultan: The Crusades, Islam and Francis of Assisi’s Mission of Peace” (Doubleday, 2009). New York (CNN) — Speaking hours after a terrorist attack killed 21 people […]
January 1, 2011
NPR Please click here to listen to an interview of Moustafa Bayoumi, author of “How does feel to be a problem?” on NPR. He reviews 2010 with respect to American Muslims. Note from Rafik Beekun: My blog was hacked, and the above link to the interview was changed to refer to a link promoting a […]
December 6, 2010
(Herald Times) By Dann Denny 331-4350 | ddenny@heraldt.com It was a tiny gathering – 11 people huddled around a table in a small room at the Beth Shalom synagogue – eating cookies, sipping hot tea and talking. But the five Muslims who had come to express their support and solidarity Thursday afternoon to a Jewish community that’s been […]
October 28, 2010
Daily Mail Reporter, October 28, 2010 Eve Ahmed Much of my childhood was spent trying to escape Islam. Born in London to an English mother and a Pakistani Muslim father, I was brought up to follow my father’s faith without question. But, privately, I hated it. The minute I left home for university at the […]
September 14, 2010
KRNV.com Reno-area Christian church presents gift of flowers to Muslim center By Jeff DeLong • jdelong@rgj.com • September 10, 2010 It was a gesture of kindness and understanding during turbulent times. On Friday, members of the Summit Christian Church in Spanish Springs presented a gift of flowers to members of the Northern Nevada Muslim Cultural […]
September 1, 2010
August 14, 2010
Note from Rafik Beekun: Thank you New York TImes. You got it right in this editorial about the Muslim Community Center in Lower Manhattan. It has been disturbing to hear and read the vitriol and outright bigotry surrounding the building of a mosque two blocks from the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. […]
August 14, 2010
Sally Steenland, Huffington Post Protesters have recently been rallying against a proposed Islamic educational center containing a mosque near Ground Zero, claiming that the proximity of anything Muslim to Ground Zero would contaminate a hallowed place. Protesters claim they aren’t anti-Muslim; they merely want the center and mosque to be built someplace else. But it […]
August 12, 2010
Al Jazeera
August 3, 2010
Commentary from Rafik Beekun: Mayor Bloomberg, who is of the Jewish faith, stands up for the Community Center near Ground Zero–one more reason why Muslims should draw a clear distinction between Judaism and Zionism. As for myself, I have friends from many faith-based communities and we respect each other’s faith and try to dialogue as […]
May 18, 2010
by Brianna McClane, Medill Reports May 12, 2010 Religious conversations between Muslims and Jews take place in coffee shops across Chicago. They gather every other month to discuss religious text and its application to daily life, an attempt to bridge cultures with distinct differences and similarities. Discussions over Coffee is one of many events hosted […]
April 6, 2010
Kim Willsher, guardian.co.uk Halal butchery and poultry shelves in a supermarket in Illzach, eastern France. Photograph: Sebastien Bozon/AFP/Getty Images Few things define the traditional good life in France better than champagne and foie gras, but few would have thought them symbols of social integration – until now. A boom in sales of halal products, including […]
April 4, 2010
Based on the work by Egyptian Physicist, Mansour Hassab El Naby. The greatest speed C, denoting the velocity of light in vacuum, is hinted at in two glorious Qur’anic verses relating this fundamental universal constant C with the motion of the Earth-Moon system. A new relativistic interpretation of this Qur’anic relation gives C=299792.5 km/s in […]
March 30, 2010
By Rebecca Smith, Medical Editor, Telegraph.co.uk All staff involved in caring for patients should be ‘bare below the elbows’ to ensure sleeves do not become contaminated and hands can be washed thoroughly to prevent infections passed around the ward. However female Muslim staff had been concerned about the rule as exposure of their forearms is […]
March 25, 2010
The Alternative Finance Program respects Islamic law by offering fixed-rate loans. Published: 03/24/2010 Katherine Lymn klymn@mndaily.com An Islamic law enacted centuries ago was an obstacle for modern Minneapolis businesses until Minneapolis partnered with an African business resource group to allow Muslim business owners a way to both comply with their beliefs and invest in their […]
March 23, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CAIR Seeks Probe of Anti-Islam Bias in Military Training Training film features Islamophobes, Islam compared to Nazism, ‘Hajji’ used as pejorative (WASHINGTON, D.C., 3/23/2010) – A prominent national Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization today said it has asked the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) to investigate a report of anti-Islam bias […]
March 14, 2010
The Guardian, Afua Hirsch Muslim Arbitration Tribunal reports 15% rise in non-Muslims employing sharia law in commercial cases Campaigners have voiced concerns over a growing number of non-Muslims using Islamic law to resolve legal disputes in Britain despite controversy over the role of sharia law. A spokesman for the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal (MAT) said that […]
March 13, 2010
Rafik Beekun I knew Sr. Aminah from 1979 until her death. She was very close to my family, helping me get married to my wife, Nadiah, and being a very close friend. Her whole life was dedicated to Islam and to representing it in the best possible way. Sr. Aminah brought many to Islam and […]
February 18, 2010
CNN CNN) — Ministering to young adults at New York’s Riverside Church, the Rev. J. Lee Hill Jr. hasn’t had much success in recruiting for Sunday morning services. But his mission trips to New Orleans, Louisiana, since Hurricane Katrina and his efforts to connect with older teens and 20-somethings — the so-called millennial generation — […]
February 12, 2010
www.thewcmp.org FEBRUARY 11, 2010 The Government of Abu Dhabi announced today a grant of US$25 million, over five years, to support the work of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership (RBM). Specifically to scale-up malaria control worldwide and contribute to achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG) by 2015. The grant from the Government of […]
February 7, 2010
By WAJAHAT ALI http://www.counterpunch.org/waj01282010.html Haiti is experiencing unimaginable suffering from its devastating earthquake, with more than 150,000 dead and one to three million individuals displaced. Individuals, groups and governments from around the world have stepped in to do what they can. United by their religious tradition of charity, Muslims have emerged as effective partners in […]
January 14, 2010
Haiti Earthquake Emergency January 13, 2010 http://www.islamicreliefusa.org/emergencies/haiti-earthquake Haitians are in desperate need for support after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake rocked their island nation on Tuesday. An estimated 3 million people were affected by the quake, which was the worst in the region in 200 years. “More than 100,000 are dead,” the Haitian Consul General to the […]
May 1, 2013
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