Confronting Inequality. Building Community
Is money dirty? Is it wrong to be rich? How can a Muslim build their wealth in a “halal” or “religiously permissible” way? These are some of the questions that Islamic finance companies, especially those that focus on wealth accumulation, [...]
In the twenty-first century, economists have increasingly recognized the profound issue of wealth inequality that afflicts societies worldwide. This realization holds true not only in non-Muslim countries but extends to the Muslim world, where disparities in wealth are apparent both [...]
Introduction Atop a rural mesa in Northern New Mexico, where the high desert meets riparian woodlands, there is an adobe mosque. Nubian by design, funded by the Saudi royal family, and built by the hands of an incredibly diverse group [...]
In the first year of the Islamic Moral Theology and the Future project (IMTF), authors contributing to the part of the project concerned with communal morality and ethics in Muslim contexts discussed various concepts that undergird the Muslim moral “ideal” [...]
This past fall, on October 20-22, the first conference in support of the “Islamic Moral Theology and the Future” Project was held at George Mason University. With the invaluable support of the AbuSulayman Center for Global Islamic Studies, Maria Dakake [...]
The Muslim umma is internally diverse and reaches across a variety of continents, customs and cultures, yet it retains its sense of unity by virtue of a common set of moral precepts and religious beliefs. This holds true with regard [...]
In my previous contribution to this forum, I proposed a dialogical approach to understanding Muslim virtue ethics that put Islam’s textual tradition into conversation with the lived practices of Muslims. Since virtue ethics is concerned with character formation and the [...]
“Praise be to God I’m no longer on that jāhilī app (aplikasi jahiliah),” the middle-aged man sitting beside me said when he caught a glimpse of me checking Twitter moments before our plane taxied down the runway. For a moment, [...]
The Prophet Muhammad’s open and outward-looking worldview has been constricted over centuries into insular dogmas that circumambulate increasingly tighter circles. Contemporary extremists, particularly, seek to hold believers hostage in narrow confines. The Prophet’s establishment of the umma encompassed Medinan Jews; [...]
Opportunities for interaction between diverse groups has today reached an unprecedented level due to innovations in communication, transportation, and virtual media. Nonetheless, people’s interactions are often superficial and limited, with the knowledge they gain of each other only surface-level. In [...]
Before death takes away what you are given, Give away what there is to give. –– Rumi A number of reports released over the last decade by Oxfam and similar organizations have drawn attention to the mind-boggling disparity of [...]
In my previous essay I explored how the Islamic tradition lends itself to multiple interpretations regarding the Islamic theology of poverty. While there are traditions that endorse the acquisition of wealth and praise richness, there exist other traditions that seem [...]
Viele Menschen haben im Zuge der Covid-19 Shut Downs und ihren Einschränkungen vor allem in Bezug auf die sozialen Interaktionen, starke Wut und Angst empfunden. In der Pandemie haben Menschen Kontrollverluste erlitten und sind mit ihren Begrenztheiten konfrontiert worden. Zugleich [...]
Many people have experienced intense anger and fear in the wake of the Covid-19 shutdowns and their subsequent toll on social interaction. During the pandemic, people suffered a loss of control and were confronted by their limitations. At the same [...]
On Modern Islamic Economics Mainstream depictions of economic science and the development of capitalism are by-and-large historically distorted. They ignore power relations and are based upon a particular philosophical understanding of the division of sciences developed under the specific social [...]
My neighbor passed away and I did not hear about it until sometime later. We had not really known each other but had been on greeting terms. The deceased was elderly and ill, and had been in the care of [...]
In the first set of essays posted for the IMTF online roundtable discussion on communal ethics, I asked scholars and thinkers from Muslim communities in different geographical regions and contexts to address the basic question of “what we owe to [...]
Parts of what is called modern Europe saw the arrival of Jews and Judaism over two thousand years ago. Following which, approximately two thousand years ago, Europe saw the spread of Christianity. Christians of Jewish heritage were the first to [...]
Islamic spirituality, in both its principles and practices, establishes an impetus and a framework to design businesses that support a positive social and environmental impact. Among them is the notion of faqr (poverty), raised by Professor Martin Nguyen in his [...]
Three centuries of white minority rule in South Africa has left the African majority materially and psychologically impoverished. A record of mismanagement and widespread corruption have resulted in the state's failure to meet the needs of the poor, while service [...]