I. What Happened This Week I have been a student of this region for six decades. I have watched, across a lifetime, the Muslim world be dismembered, manipulated, and played against itself by external powers whose strategic interest has always been our fragmentation. I am writing today because what I …
The Taliban’s newly enacted penal code quietly signed by Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada on January 7, 2026 has provoked deep concern among scholars of Islamic law, human rights advocates, and Afghan citizens alike. Early analyses reveal that the code not only permits but structurally legitimizes forms of domestic violence, imposes …
Introduction: Freedom Requires Guardians Americans rightly celebrate their Constitution as a beacon of liberty. Yet no right—however beautifully written—defends itself. Freedoms live or die in the space between law and people: in our daily choices, civic courage, and willingness to hold power accountable. For Muslim readers in particular, this message …
Introduction: The Structural Challenge Across the Muslim world, a familiar pattern repeats: economies geared toward consumption rather than production, fragile institutions, and rising costs of living that outpace household incomes. In response, some offer familiar prescriptions—more piety, more religious observance, more regulation of personal conduct. Yet piety alone has never …
Methodological Preface: Language, Limits, and Orientation This essay proceeds from a simple but necessary recognition: Qur’anic language operates at a depth that resists full capture by any single translation, metaphor, or conceptual framework. Terms such as Rūḥ, Amr, Nūr, Sakīnah, and Islam function within an integrated Qur’anic worldview that precedes …
Abrogation in the Qur’an: Clearing the Confusion for a New Generation Many young Muslims today encounter a troubling narrative: that “later verses” in the Qur’an cancelled “earlier verses,” especially those about patience, coexistence, and respectful relations with Jews and Christians. Some are even told that early tolerance was merely tactical—”allowed …
A Maqāṣid‑Based Framework for the Modern Muslim Introduction: Contemporary Challenges and the Qur’an’s Higher Purposes The contemporary Muslims live in a world marked by rapid technological change, shifting moral landscapes, and unprecedented pressures on identity, family, and community. Many young Muslims feel caught between inherited expectations and contemporary realities, unsure …
Across the Arab world, young people are rising with questions, dreams, and a longing for dignity. You inherited nations shaped by colonial borders, foreign interests, and decades of political turmoil, but the deepest struggle you face is not only political or economic. It is the struggle for the mind. Colonialism …
Understanding the Divine Pattern in Human Moral Development This article explores the profound interconnection between the immutable divine laws that govern history—what the Qur’an calls Sunan Allah—and the ethical responsibilities entrusted to humankind in light of these laws. Together, they form a coherent moral vision in which human conduct is …
A Glimpse into my Upcoming Three‑Volume Work, The Thematic Qur’an When the Qur’an speaks of the Last Day, it does not offer scattered images or isolated warnings. It constructs a sweeping, unified vision — a moral, psychological, and cosmic architecture that reveals the deepest truths of human existence. In my …
