Ahmed Lotfy Rashed's Blog, page 5
June 16, 2020
Why is the Qur’an written in Arabic?
Hi Ahmed, Please let me know if you could assist me with this. If Islam is the true religion of God, why did he cater the religion toward Arabs? Why is the Qur’an written in Arabic? It makes it extremely difficult not being Arab to understand how to pray in Arabic. I’ve been contemplating to […]
June 10, 2020
A Mathematician’s Journey to Islam
An amazing journey of Dr Jeffrey Lang who was born into a Roman Catholic family but by 18 he was an Atheist. He converted to Islam in the early 1980’s and lives with his wife and children. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H_C0...
June 9, 2020
Free Will and Sharia Law
Dear Ahmed, Does free will allow Muslim judges to choose the path of not sentencing someone? For example, you mentioned in class that “adultery, theft, and treason have single fixed penalties, but armed robbery, murder, and manslaughter have multiple penalty options. So judges have the option of sentencing for the latter, but not for the […]
June 2, 2020
Muslims and Meditation
This is an interesting question I received from one of my students a few years ago. I am sharing this with you because I felt you may find it beneficial and thoughtful. . . “Do you have any books to recommend? I’ve been reading through Muhammad: A Prophet for our Time by Karen Armstrong. Also, […]
May 26, 2020
Sunnis, Shias, and Caliphate
This is an interesting email I received from one of my students a few years ago. I am sharing this with you because I felt you may find it beneficial and thoughtful. . . “I have some questions from last Monday’s Islam 101 class. 1) What is a caliph, exactly? I wrote down that it […]
May 19, 2020
The Dangers of Islamophobia
A good friend of mine shared this with me so I’m passing this along: Dangers of Islamophobia: Dr. Marc Scarcelli is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Cal Poly Pomona. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZASGO... Thanks, Kashif!
A Prayer for the Newlyweds
The Prophet (peace be upon him) was once asked, “What is more important than prayer?” He replied, “The spirit of prayer.” He was asked what is more important than fasting – he replied, “The spirit of fasting.” For each question concerning an Islamic practice the answer was the same – the spirit that animates the […]
Verse of the Sword?
This is an example of one of the more negative questions I have received. As expected, there was no reply to my response, but this response contains a link to an excellent podcast explanation that I felt was worth sharing. . . When the caller asked, “How come the Quran has so many verses about […]
April 14, 2020
Once upon a time. . .
This is a story I told one of my online students many years ago. It is relevant for today’s climate, and I thought you would appreciate it. Enjoy! Once upon a time, there was a good king –a devout Christian– who was asked to give refuge to a group of people who were being persecuted […]
April 7, 2020
Stand Firm for Justice
This is the Friday Sermon I delivered on 4/7/17 at the Islamic Society of Boston.
