The Mindful Muslims

standing upon the shoulders of giants

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“There is a sense in which we are all each other’s consequences.” 

– Wallace Sterner

Syrian men carrying babies make their way through the rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported air strike on the rebel-held Salihin neighborhood of the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, on September 11, 2016.

Ameer Alhalbi / AFP / Getty

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Surat Al-Kafirun (109:6)

As a Muslim, Surah Al-Kafirun one of the first Chapters you read, you learn, and memorize. This verse is it’s last. More often than not it’s the small chapters, which comfortably fall at the end of the Quran, that Muslims read in their daily prayers. 

Yet, sadly, we don’t heed what they translate to. We’ve committed them to memory, but not to understanding. I love this verse. I love it because it welcomes tolerance. Leading up to this final verse, it says:

I do not worship that which you worship, [2] nor do you worship the One whom I worship. [3] And neither I am going to worship that which you have worshiped, [4] nor will you worship the One whom I worship. [5] For you is your faith, and for me, my faith. [6] 

It basically tells us to live, and let live. Indeed, a beautiful message, if we choose to embrace it.

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"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is." - A. Einstein

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Bill Watterson Calvin and Hobbes, March 23, 1986

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“Librarians are subversive. You think they're just sitting there at the desk, all quiet and everything. They're like plotting the revolution, man. I wouldn't mess with them.” ― Micheal Moore

Abdel Kader Haidara, The Librarian Who Saved Timbuktu’s Cultural Treasures From al Qaeda  PHOTO: AMI VITALE/PANOS 

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War does not determine who is right,  only who is left. — Bertrand Russell

Last veteran of his WWII battle group marching alone on Victory Day

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Not letting our mood affect the way we treat people is a forgotten Sunnah.

Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan *

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Meet 82 year-old Khaled al-Asaad, a hero. 

ISIS militants beheaded and hung his body in the square because he refused to reveal where they had hidden Palmyra Antiques. 

In Arabic, Khaled means "eternal.” How fitting a name for a man who gave his life to preserve history. Keep him in your thoughts.

This news story is a month old but you can read it by clicking here.

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Nine-year-old Daniel Cabrera, a homeless Filipino boy, using McDonald's light to do his homework.

MANILA: A homeless Filipino boy has been overwhelmed with aid after a heart-wrenching photo of him studying on the pavement and using faint light from a McDonald’s outlet went viral on the Internet. 

Full Story Here

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Laylat al-Qadr

God, just like the Night of Power, is hidden amidst the other nights So that the soul will go on seeking every night.

Oh young one, not every night is the Night of Power And yet, not every night is bereft of the Night of Power

— Rumi, Masnavi, [2:2935]

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Meet the muslim student, Faatimah Knight, who raised $30,000 to help fix churches destroyed by fire

Faatimah Knight is pursuing an MA in Religious Studies at the Chicago Theological Seminary and holds a BA in Islamic Law and Theology from Zaytuna College.

Ms Knight’s campaign – carried out as Muslims around the world marked the festival of Ramadan - followed a smaller, more modest enterprise. 

Days after the shooting dead of nine people at Charleston’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, she and some friends wanted to gather $500 to send flowers; they ended up raising $900.

And when she read about the series of churches that were burned down, Faatimah carried on her quest to help these churches in need. 

“All houses of worship are sanctuaries, a place where all should feel safe, a place we can seek refuge when the world is too much to bear.”

She said that Islam taught of the need to protect the weak and vulnerable. She said while the black Christian communities of the South might not be weak, they were vulnerable.

“Traditionally, when we have been on our best behaviour, we have created space for other faiths, and let people worship as they see fit.”

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Mississauga mosque helps vandalized church clean up

Love thy neighbour as thyself.

A mosque in Mississauga has taken the holy words to heart and is donating thousands of dollars to help a nearby Catholic church clean up after it was hit with a spate of vulgar acts of vandalism last month.

After hearing of the incidents through the media, Hamid Slimi, imam of the Sayeda Khadija Centre in Mississauga, paid a visit to nearby St. Catherine of Siena Roman Catholic Church. He was shocked after Father Camillo Lando showed him some of the vandal’s behaviour caught on security video.

Moved by what he saw at the church, Slimi told his congregation about the incident at a Friday sermon and urged them to donate. They raised almost $5,000 in one day.

“I told my community, there is nothing we can do now. But the church needs funds,” said Slimi. “We believe there is no discrimination in charity. It is the act that is rewarded. It doesn’t matter who is the recipient.”

Full Story Here

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Free Speech

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The Vatican recognizes Palestine as a state in new treaty

The Vatican has agreed to a new treaty with Palestinian representatives that refers to them as the State of Palestine, which the Associated Press is reporting as formal recognition of Palestine as a state. A Vatican spokesman told AP, "Yes, it's a recognition that the state exists."

Recognizing "the state of Palestine" is mostly a symbolic act: it doesn't in any way make the Palestinian Authority into an independent government.

Full Story Here

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if you’re on a mission to change the world, start with yourself

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"Share Happiness”

- Coca-Cola