Many people say the world is imperfect because of its contradiction in every aspect. The imperfection, they say, should not have been there. People wish that the world should have been full of goodness, light, honesty, love and compassion without any hatred, diseases, sickness, poverty, death, pain, violence or evil. As Martyr Ayatollah Murtadha Mutahhari explains in his brilliant book The Problem of Contradiction in Islamic Philosophy, Allah created the world with duality because if it had one source and one principle, two opposite tendencies would never exist, and the world would have stagnated. All peace and harmony are always followed by death and destruction.

There are great Islamic movies out there as well which we can benefit from. We should do our best to support these ventures as they directly promote Islamic values and denounce sin. Having such movies spread on a large scale should be our goal because this would be another way to spread Islam in our day and age.

Mulk-e-Sulayman, or the Kingdom of Solomon, is an Iranian-made film portraying certain events in the life of Prophet Sulayman (peace be upon him). This is an interesting choice of personality to base a film upon because Prophet Sulayman is a prominent figure in the three main world religions: Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. The main difference between the perceptions of Sulayman among the three religions is that Islam views the Prophet as a sinless human being while Christianity and Judaism do not. The Islamic view is the one that is portrayed in this movie and it gives us a glimpse of the virtue and power possessed by Sulayman.

In the culture we find in the US post-1960's, the domestic life, as well as love and everything that typically leads to marriage, has been taken apart and put back together so many times and in so many ways that there are few wholesome rules that lead to good results. It's no wonder that over 50 percent of couples divorce in a culture where men and women are encouraged into and expected to have semi-serious relationships that involve all the perks of marriage without the responsibility and accountability.

Journey to Mecca takes us back to 1325, when a young Moroccan law student, the real-life Ibn Battuta who is played by Chems Eddine Zinoun, sets out from Tangier, Morocco and on a 5000 mile journey to Mecca to perform the Hajj pilgrimage. In a world of religious mistrust and defamation, this film does the exact opposite: it enlightens and engages.

Immediately following Slumdog Millionaire's sweep at this year's Academy Awards, it seemed like business as usual on the streets of South Mumbai.

Although some Muslim- and Arab-Americans serve in the U.S. military, most Muslim- and Arab-Americans have not met a soldier who has served in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Obsession is not an honest critique of violent radicalism. Instead, it is a propaganda piece that seeks to cast a wide net of suspicion against Muslims.

Mockery of religious beliefs and customs, lampooning a people, and frivolous use of sacred terms…sound familiar? Since September 11, we Muslims have also been the brunt of endless such jokes and stereotypes promoted by Hollywood and popular culture in general.

We see religious leaders in many parts of the Muslim world speaking out against various forms of un-Islamic behavior, but when it comes to promoting human rights and education, they are strangely silent. The victims are therefore forced to turn towards advocacy groups.