Ibrahim Ramey's blog
A Muslim Views the Promise of Nonviolence
This article was originally published in the June-July 1995 issue of Ansar As-Salam, the newsletter of the Muslim Peace Fellowship. It is republished online by the Fellowship of Reconciliation with the permission of MPF and the author.
Is Islam a “nonviolent” faith? Is the practice of our faith compatible with the broader movement for nonviolent – and even revolutionary – social change? These are difficult questions for those of us who profess Islam, and who live in the realization that much of the Islamic world, contrary to the resonant message of peace and reconciliation of Prophet Muhammad [Peace and Blessings Be Upon Him] is drenched in the blood of doctrinal warfare, internecine strife, and raging national antagonisms among Islamic states and between Islamic and non-Islamic citizens within a number of nations.
Reflections on the Death of Michael Jackson, and the Worship of Celebrities
Like almost everyone, I was stunned to hear of the sudden death of Michael Jackson on Thursday, June June 25th. The community around Georgia Avenue in Washington, DC, was literally buzzing with the news when I arrived home from my office, with no fewer that three people stopping me on the street to share the news.
Somehow, the man-child who dominated the universe of popular music for nearly 40 years was someone who seemed to flirt with immortality. Michael Jackson, to hundreds of millions of people who celebrated him with a passion that bordered on worship, never grew old, and wasn't supposed to die. But now that are confronted with the reality that, at the age of 50, he is, indeed, dead.
As the Qur'an teaches us, from God Almighty we come, and to Him, we shall (all) surely return.
