I would describe myself as a casual fan of tennis. However, I thought it was common knowledge that Serena Williams, the recently retired American tennis legend, is one of the GOATs (Greatest Of All Time). So when I mentioned this to some die-hard tennis fans (all of whom were men), I was surprised to hear them reference the controversial statement of John Mcenroe, who said, “If Serena played on the male circuit, she would be like 700th in the world.”

​I was thinking: That might be true but how does that factor into an assessment of her greatness?

“Empty feminine packages...and blank slates,” this is how Umm Zakiyyah describes the self-effacing ethic Muslim women are expected to assume in their romantic partnerships. In her view, the Muslim community has arrived at this impoverished understanding of womanhood thru an inversion of Islamic teaching.

The Qur’anic teaching is clear in its mandate to men to “maintain and protect” women. However, attitudes like those expressed above encourage women to shrink in order to maintain and protect the egos of men in their fragility. 

Umm Zakiyyah is a novelist, spiritual leader, and advocate for women. Her work focuses on fostering wholistic wellness and equanimity through purposeful engagement with Islamic practice. My wife, Hadiyah Muhammad, had been studying with Umm Zakiyyah and encouraged me to review her recent book, But Do You Feel Safe with Him? 10 Reasons Why Performing Femininity Never Works in Love. I read the book and am thankful to them both for an opportunity to enrich my perspective.

BY: USTADH UBAYDULLAH EVANS
Resident Scholar, ALIM

The American Learning Institute for Muslims (ALIM) condemns in the strongest possible terms the violence that has been perpetrated against the Palestinian people by the Israeli regime and its enablers. It is at once harrowing and humiliating for the American community to watch passively as the lethal machinery of modern warfare is deployed against a defenseless, civilian population. Contrary to some uninformed opinion, ALIM has never defined itself as apolitical or quietist. Over our more than twenty-year history, ALIM has offered an unrestricted platform to our faculty and guest contributors. This means we’ve learned from scholars and activists who have broadened the scope of our political awareness, challenged us to identify with the oppressed, and agitated concerning our complicity with injustice.

​Stated unequivocally, solidarity with our brothers and sisters suffering oppression is a core tenet of our faith. As such, to deny the imperative of advocating for them would violate our mission of empowering the American Muslim community through literacy. What Islamic literacy can our community claim if we fail to recognize the centrality of condemning injustice to Islam? How can our community claim empowerment if we can’t voice disapproval with the fact that our tax dollars are used to fund the unjustifiable deaths of our co-religionists?

​Friday marked the first night of the blessed month of Ramadan. Mashallah, it appears that the three principal ways of determining the matla’ produced the same result: a) Global moonsighting b) Local moonsighting c) Astronomical calculation.

I was genuinely pleased at this outcome. In years past, I would celebrate the diversity of opinion on this issue. “The fact that Muslims disagree on matters such as the beginning of Ramadan is proof of our sincerity. Each group is exhausting the full stock of its resources to determine God’s Will. Disagreement exists because these things matter to us.” In a certain sense, I would use the contentiousness of the Muslim community to explain what made us distinct in a time of widespread nihilism. That really strikes me as strange now.

​Although I haven’t repudiated my initial embrace of intramural religious pluralism, this year’s ALIM Winter Program, held at MCC East Bay, was a reminder of the value of unity. Disagreement is inevitable. However, elevating disagreement to being a “distinguishing feature” and badge of honor might have been a miscalculation. We are stronger and more capable of realizing the objectives of our collective mission when we are united.

Assalamualaikum dear ALIM family. I pray this message finds you and your loved ones in good health and high spirits, InshaAllah. As we near the end of the year, I wanted to take a moment to share some exciting updates about what's happening at ALIM and what lies ahead!

​For better or worse, meritocracy shapes many of our ideals concerning achievement. On the one hand, as the famed Ibn Khaldūn summarized in his Muqaddimah: The work ethic of a people is strongest when the fruits of their labor are safe from the reach of government usurpation. Simply put, when people believe that hard work results in success, they work hard. This is meritocracy at its commendable best.

​On the other hand, an overemphasis on meritocracy may have the effect of minimizing the role of providence in success. Moreover, when success, and by extension prosperity, are separated from the Divine prerogative they are no longer embraced as tests and responsibilities. Quite the reverse, in the absence of an intentional acknowledgment of God’s favor, achievement—more than even appearance, talent, or status—can become a great source of delusion and ingratitude. If our individual worthiness, dedication, or ability has secured for us what we have, how do we view those who haven’t achieved as much? Are they definitively less worthy, unintelligent, or lazy? The Prophet (upon him be peace) said:

It’s Wednesday, November 6th and the results are in. Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States of America. In the lead up to the election, conversations within the American Muslim community were tense and sometimes even caustic.

A Trump presidency and the impending policy (foreign and domestic) consequences likely to accompany it risk exacerbating tensions. Among the many potentially explosive conversations I observed online was the recurring Blackamerican versus immigrant exchange—“immigrant” is such an imprecise term and is often used to refer to people of South Asian, Southeast Asian, Middle Eastern, North African, Continental African, etc descent even when they were born and raised in the US! Nonetheless, as a discursive category it may still be useful…maybe.

This most recent iteration of the genocidal campaign of the ethno-nationalist Israeli state has led many Muslims to question our faith. For some, that interrogation has taken the form of theodicy: What is the utility of worshipping a God who either A) Pre-ordains and decrees something so horrific, B) is unable or unwilling to prevent these catastrophic events from taking place in spite of the fact that He is being appealed to by supplicants incessantly? And though we’ve had our work cut out for us, Islamic scholars/teachers/preachers have attempted to respond.

​We’ve had to provide theological frameworks to help people contextualize the Israeli-led genocide in a faith-affirming manner. The classical work by `Izz al-Dīn ibn Abdus-Salām, The Benefits of Tribulation has generated renewed interest in this regard. Personally, I too have had to wrestle with the meaning of the Israeli-led genocide. However, the issue for me hasn’t been theodicy. Though certainly gut-wrenching, I’m able to see the Hand of God in what is unfolding.

In his esteemed collection of rigorously authenticated Prophetic traditions, Imam al-Bukhārī records the statement of the Prophet (upon him be peace): “The best deeds in the sight of God are those that are performed with the greatest consistency.”
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The American Learning Institute for Muslims (ALIM) has been hosting its annual summer program for a quarter century. Needless to say, much has changed in 25 years. However, ALIM has demonstrated incredible consistency. We’ve remained committed to our mission. We empower Muslims through Islamic literacy.

As a signifier of commitment to progressive values, the terms “diversity and inclusion” are nearly ubiquitous. The past decade or so has witnessed “diversity and inclusion” move from the Affirmative Action inspired charters of schools and businesses to a vibrant part of our media, art, and vernacular cultures. Put differently, we no longer only expect diversity and inclusion where we work or study; it’s something we’ve come to seek more broadly. Taken at face value, this shift toward plurality should inspire American Muslims with great satisfaction. Our faith affords inter- religious/cultural exchange and ultimately familiarity, spiritual value. The Qur’ān proclaims:

Dr. Sherman Jackson is very eloquent, mashallah. In fact, so appreciated is his ability to “turn a phrase” that we jokingly use the term “Jacksonian” to describe the rhetorical flourishes for which he’s known. However, the most eloquent I’ve ever heard him is in response to a question about the “essence of Ramadan.” For Dr. Jackson, such a broad, open-ended question was like a pitch right down the middle of the plate. So in his simple response, “Ramadan is about being hungry” he appeared to bunt. A slight chuckle could be heard among the audience. For many, he had either ironically or jokingly stated the obvious.
 
Hunger is undoubtedly our most primal urge. It is at once the greatest unifying factor within our humanity and the source of our greatest disparity. And for all that could be correctly said concerning our advocacy around hunger: the obligation to fight it, to repudiate the greed that subjects so many of our fellow men and women to it involuntarily, the unacceptable callousness with which we turn a blind eye to those afflicted by hunger, it remains a perennial human universal.