Whenever someone was in need, Imam Hassan would give them whatever he had before they even voiced their concerns. He was so generous towards others that during his lifetime he gave away half of his possessions and wealth at least three times, and he gave it all away at least twice. When he had nothing left to give, he then worked for others, not considering manual labor to be beneath him.

Apparently some conservatives have turned to extreme measures, when the American public effectually voted against many of these ideals in the last national presidential election. They created an agenda to try to paint the elected administration as illegitimate and radical, but instead they turned themselves into increasingly irrational destabilizers that threaten to rip apart the Republican Party – and even the nation – if given too much power.

Across the country it is estimated the flooding has affected and displaced approximately twenty million people. The United Nations and Pakistani government estimate close to 80% of the country's food stock has been destroyed by flooding. In the coming months when the flood waters will finally have receded, how will this country of 170 million be fed? The damage to Pakistan's humanitarian infrastructure is beyond comprehension and the world is most likely witnessing the worst natural disaster confounded by human corruption in the past two centuries.

The worst thing a teacher can do is come unprepared to class, ignore students' questions, and when not knowing the answer, make them up! Within the realms of the Madressa institutions across the world, we have somehow labeled the more difficult and higher classes as prestigious, with teachers desperately trying to climb the imaginary teaching hierarchy.

The best way to start is to get a small group of people who can brainstorm some ideas – hopefully creative and catchy ones – to inform and educate the public about the Muslim stance on justice and equality. Here are a few tips to start with:

The media incessantly teaches us that Muslims – particularly the male gender – are cruel and behave scathingly towards females. In the case of the Taliban this is the truth, and it's an insult to Islam that such vile characters claim adherence to it. However, equally insulting is the notion of the US being in Afghanistan to protect the women from the Taliban, which was created and funded by the United States during the Cold War against the now-defunct Soviet Union. Those absurd enough to propagate that the US is out to liberate Muslim women seem at a loss to explain why the US is not currently sending F-16's into Saudi Arabia to free its women from the chains of oppression, and from the threat of honor killings and child marriages.

All of us were paralyzed with fear. We could not believe or understand what Dad was going on about, and he was uncharacteristically upset and irritated. He frantically began filling empty boxes with clothes, flour, sugar, and cans of cooking oil. The frenzied look on Dad's face jerked Mum into action, and then all of us as well. We packed as much as we could carry and some more; Mum wanted to pack the whole house! But Dad, usually a calm and easygoing man who easily gave in to her occasional whims, was very firm and ordered Mum to leave everything except warm clothes and food, which made Mum weep. We wore our coats over our home clothes and, with wheelbarrows full of boxes, clumsily trekked up through piles of snow and ice into the mountains that surround our village.

There are Blacks today who are forced to work, live in shacks, often have no indoor plumbing, trapped in peonage and tied to land where they owe its owners debts that can never be repaid, according to an activist and researcher. Some are even forced to pay rent to White land-owners for dilapidated housing, yet remain fearful of identifying such landlords.

We too can feel the excitement and exertion of swimming, which is an important life skill every Muslim should possess. Here are some tips to help you get the most out of your trip to the beach (or pool) by organizing, planning ahead, and playing it smart. There are two goals, however, that we should keep in mind on a beach trip. The smaller of the two is to avoid ruining your trip with unforeseen expenses, painful sunburns, and wasted opportunities. The bigger goal is to walk away with an incredible and memorable experience that enhances and refreshes your soul, ultimately reminding you of Allah.

At the age of 25, he began leading prayers in the shrine of Imam Hussain, until he was expelled from Iraq along with many other scholars by the Ba'athist regime. He had since been teaching in the Islamic seminary of Qom and was considered one of its most senior and respected teachers.