The Prophet Ibrahim’s sacrifice is a heart-wrenching story that seems absurd and dangerous. Absurd because it seemingly paints God with a cruel personality; dangerous because it seems to glorify an act of apparent cruelty. In his old age, there was nothing Ibrahim desired more than a son. After waiting for decades, he was finally blessed […]
The Study Quran for Non-Muslim Learners of Islam
When The Study Quran project was first offered to Seyyed Hossein Nasr, he declined.1Seyyed Hossein Nasr is an eminent Islamic philosopher in academia. He did his Master’s degree in Geology and Geophysics at M.I.T, and PhD in History of Science and Learning from Harvard, at the age of 25. See his biography from Closer to […]
Semester Breaks: The Untapped Resource for Superior Learners
Semester breaks are psychological lines. These lines separate the learners who study only for the exams and the ones who seek meaning in learning. The reason is, each semester break is a breathing space woven into the marathon of your university life, a space where the study load of the exams […]
Navigating Faith in Your 20s: Becoming a Less Bad Muslim
Being less bad Muslims does not sound inspiring. It is, however, a fair starting point for many, especially if you are in your late teens and early twenties. The reason is, you are at that mercurial stage of figuring out who you want to become. And wanting to become good Muslims can be emotionally expensive. […]
People You Don’t Like Make You Better
The more you interact with others, the more you will find people you don’t like. Two things might happen: One, you would follow your default impulse, which is to mentally attack them, creating a wall between the egos — I versus you, us versus them. Or two, you can use that encounter to deepen your […]
A Learner’s Guide to Mastering Forgiveness (When It is Bloody Hard)
Embodying forgiveness is difficult at times; our mind knows that resentment is a cancerous aspect of the ego, but our heart refuses to let it go. When I am struggling with it, I guide myself with these ideas. Of course, these ideas are not apps that we can click and make us forgive immediately. As […]