12. November 2018

The rulers of Saudi Arabia derive much of their legitimacy and prestige in the Muslim world from their control and upkeep of the Grand Mosque and the Kaaba in Mecca and the mosque of Prophet Muhammad in Medina. King Salman, like the rulers before him, wears the title of the “Khadim al-Ḥaramayn as-Sarifayn,” which is translated as the “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques” or, more precisely, “The Servant of the Two Noble Sanctuaries.” Despite the humility of the royal title, the...

19. June 2017

Dr. Abou El Fadl presents a "first-hand meeting" with the Prophet. Based on a review of original Arabic texts, this seminar: 1) Gives a view as to the moral lessons from the Prophet's life as a model for humanity; 2) Brings to life his moral example; 3) Provides a portrait of the living tradition of the Prophet's character: how he looked, smiled, laughed, talked, and got angry; 4) Presents the opportunity to learn to identify at a personal level with the identity of the Prophet as a symbol of...

30. June 2016

Dear Dr. Abou El Fadl, I would like to begin by saying that I am an avid reader of your work, and have a deep respect for the Islamic tradition. If it isn't too bothersome, I just have a few questions that I have yet to find satisfying answers too. A good friend of mine recently confronted me on the issue of the Prophet's (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) wife, Aisha. I was rather confounded on how to answer, particularly because he phrased the question approximately as such: "Did...

01. November 2014

By Khaled Abou El Fadl Years ago, purely out of curiosity, I bought a group of cassettes that would change my life. Normally, whatever money I had, or even did not have, was spent on books. My whole childhood could be summed up by an endless quest for books, and the never-ending chase for money that could be spent on books. For reasons that never became clear to me, this one time I managed to save some money but did not feel like buying more books, and instead, on an impulse bought a set of...

01. January 2006

By Khaled Abou El Fadl Prophet of God, Muhammad, may peace and blessings be upon you. Peace and blessings from the heart of this pitiful delinquent, and if you turn me away, I have no grounds to complain. I know that I am a man who is frivolous, malevolent, and trivial; I deem myself entirely contemptible. So if you ignore me, I understand; in fact, perhaps that is exactly what you should do. Yet, you never turned a single soul away especially when this soul, with your love, is entirely at...

01. January 2006

Can we trace the footsteps of the beloved when the beloved has walked away? Can we find the scent, the fragrance, the redolence of his trace? Can we seek the fragments of memory, the smiles, the laughs, and the kind gestures? Can we locate the beauty over fourteen hundred years too late? I agonize over these questions, struggle with the promises, and I refuse to despair. I agonize over the questions, and so I run to the Conference—I run to the books. I run to the papers and the ink. I run to...

01. January 2006

If envy is a sin then I am the incurable sinner for I envy every eye that ever caught a glimpse of you. I envy the waves that carried your voice, and the air that touched your cheeks. I envy even the ground that once served you, and I confess to you that despite my indulgent sins, my shameful whimsies and ugly flimsies, I confess to you, "I love you." My confessions are as silly as my muted words. You have been loved by so many more substantial than I, and what good does my silence or...