Tag: Islam
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Understanding the Hadith of the Three Best Generations, by Imam Abu Laith Luqman Ahmad
One of the most foundational statements of Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم is his pronouncement regarding the virtue of the early eras of Islam. Recorded in authentic collections such as Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, frequently narrated by companions like Abdullah ibn Mas’ud and Imran ibn Husain, the exact wording is typically:“خير الناس قرني،…
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The Crack-Pipe Da’wah: The Phenomena of Muslim-Owned Liquor Stores in Inner-City America.
أعود بالله من الشيطان الرجيم بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم While conversations surrounding the challenges facing American Muslims frequently focus on civil liberties, political backlash, Islamophobia, or institutional growth, a critical domestic issue, that constitutes one more fitna of the many fitan (trials) of our time is routinely sidelined: Muslim-owned liquor and party stores situated in…
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The Islamic Ruling Regarding How Much a Man has to Pay in Maintenance Clarifying the Legal Scope of Nafaqah (Maintenance) according to Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), Imam Abu Laith Luqman Ahmad
The financial maintenance (nafaqah) that is legally obligatory upon a husband is precise and well-defined. It does not encompass an open-ended list of personal preferences, social activities, or external luxuries. Across the major schools of thought, nafaqah strictly comprises the essentials required for human survival and dignity: food (ta’am), clothing (kiswah), suitable housing (sukna), and…
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Islam’s Answer to Narcissism: What Psychology Borrowed and What Islam Already Knew, Imam Abu Laith Luqman Ahmad
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَبَعْد There is a word that has found its way into Muslim conversations with remarkable frequency: narcissist. It is uttered in living rooms, a staple on Facebook, WhatsApp groups, and even Islamic circles as though it were a revelation from Allah sub’haanahu wa ta’ala. Yet few who wield it so confidently, and capriciously, pause to ask: where did this word…
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The First Ten Days of Dhul Hijjah, A Season of Mercy You Cannot Afford to Miss, Imam Luqman Ahmad
اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ There are moments in the Islamic calendar that Allah subḥānahū wa ta’ālā singles out and elevates above all others — and among the most magnificent of these is the opening of Dhul Hijjah. The Prophet ﷺ declared that there are no days on which righteous deeds are…
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Islam, Human Experience, and the Language of Trauma: Imam Abu Laith Luqman Ahmad
I بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ Conversations about trauma, emotional pain, and the human experience are often charged because they touch the deepest parts of our lives. When we speak about the Prophet ﷺ, the Sahabah, or the early believers, we must do so with precision, reverence, and clarity. Not because…
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When Psychology Contradicts Islam: Reclaiming the Muslim Understanding of the Self, Imam Abu Laith Luqman Ahmad
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَبَعْد Modern psychology has become one of the most influential forces shaping how people interpret their emotions, their relationships, and even their sense of identity. It has seeped into schools, workplaces, social media, and everyday conversation. For many Muslims, it has quietly replaced the Qur’an and Sunnah as the primary framework for understanding the inner world. Yet…
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The Dilemma of Back American Imams in America
In Black Muslim America , frontline Imams are first responders. We don’t get to retreats, play hooky or play hide and go seek. As active and working Imams, we have to show up. We even have to show up online these days. Many of us do not even get to retire in this life. Most…
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The Forgotten Roots of Psychology in the Islamic Intellectual Tradition
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَبَعْد Long before psychology emerged as a formal scientific discipline in the modern West, Muslim scholars were already charting the inner landscape of the human being with remarkable precision. Their writings explored cognition, emotion, behavior, trauma, resilience, and the spiritual dimensions of the self. What we now call psychology was once known in the Islamic tradition as ʿilm al‑nafs —…
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The Mind Without God: Why Secular Psychology Alone Cannot Heal the Believer, by Imam Abu Laith Luqman Ahmad
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَبَعْد In a time when the language of trauma, emotional pain, healing, mental abuse, and mental health has reached a fever pitch in Black Muslim America’s conversation with itself, an unmistakable trend has emerged: many Muslims now turn first—and often exclusively—to modern psychology and its practitioners for relief. For a growing number, the therapist’s office…
