Published on Islamic Insights on August 25, 2015.

Growing up, my summers were filled with annual trips to Iran to visit my family and experience this culture I was born into, but for as long as I could remember, the memories surrounding my visits to the shrine of Imam Ridha (as) in Mashad were faint. I knew I had been there frequently, yet almost shamefully, the most I could remember were the fun hotels we would stay at when we visited with my grandparents. Those memories now don’t compare to my most recent visitation of the beloved and revered Imam Ridha (as).

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Published on Islamic Insights on May 14, 2015. 

Imam Musa al-Kadhim (as) is reported to have said, “Have patience in obeying and in not disobeying God, because this world is only a short period of time; you don’t feel the happiness and sorrow of what has passed and don’t know of what hasn’t come yet. Therefore, I have patience for what is now as if you were happy.” In a world that drowns us with temptations and distractions from our ultimate goals in life, it is difficult to always remember and embody the patience and tolerance of the seventh Imam of Islam, Musa al-Kadhim (as), but it is in those times we must reflect on his hardships and the hardships of our Islamic role models to allow us to persevere. Continue reading →

Published April 22, 2015 by Islamic Insights

From newly re-elected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s promise that he will not allow a free Palestine to the United Nations report stating more Palestinian civilians were killed in 2014 than any other year since the devastating war of 1967, the need for international awareness and support for the Palestinian cause has been greater than ever. As the global support for Palestine continues to rise in popularity, the political sphere has slowly shifted to reflect those sentiments. Continue reading →