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Eid (al-Adha) Mubarak to you too!

I'm curious what Islam has to say about forgiving family members.

Depends. If it is something unforgivable worthy of the death sentence, then of course not. But Islam emphasizes family a lot. A lot a lot. Chances are, at least for your parents, you are probably obligated to be less harsh on them and more forgiving instead. They're the ones who took care of you when you were young, after all (in ideal situations).

Double post, I know, but I have a question for people who live in Muslim areas.

Is the call to prayer in your area automated, or done by a human? The call in my area is done by a human being.

I've only heard of automated azans from prayer apps or clocks which indicate the time for prayer.

If I hear the azan from a mosque, I'm inclined to believe the muazzin is giving it in real-time.

(Sidenote/confession: did anyone else have an absurd fear of the azan, or a particular azan that's a popular recorded one? Yeah I don't know what was up with younger me.)

Double-checking just in case, but are there any tropes that are specifically about Muslims and Islam?

All Muslims Are Arab and Eurabia are the only ones I know about. They are probably the only ones we have on the site right now as global portrayal of Islam in pop culture is still scarce/not very diverse.

Edited by MacronNotes on Apr 24th 2023 at 10:47:13 AM

Or just plain bad.

That reminds me, there's a few Islamic edutainment shows that I'm familiar with and want to give a page here.

• Series.The Misri Bunch: A puppet show where animals narrate stories about other animals with morals centred on Islamic values (the latter of which is illustrated in 2D). Its first season of 5 episodes followed the theme of teaching about Allah's Names (and Attributes). There was a Kickstarter for the 2nd season (after some unsuccessful funding attempts) but apparently it never took off, sadly.
• WebAnimation.Productive Muslim: A bunch of animated shorts by Productive Muslim Company using (colored) stick figures to illustrate practical advice for Muslims. (the relevant playlists)
• WebAnimation.Im The Best Muslim: I'm least familiar with this one, but it looks fantastic. It's a stylised 3D-animated series which portrays the bad and good ways of handling situations in a Muslim perspective. Made by Free Quran Education, an animation/illustration studio from Jakarta. I've more often seen their 2D videos that illustrate parts of Islamic lectures (sometimes with a comedic touch), so it's awesome to see how they've translated their style into 3D.
• Animation.Nussa: An Indonesian 3D-animated series for TV mostly featuring the young eponymous boy, his little sister Rarra, and his cat Anta. (The names are intended to reflect the name of the Indonesian archipelago, Nusantara.) Also got a movie in 2021, which I have yet to see, but it appears to focus on Nussa's dreams of going to space. This is the one series that makes me cry due to how wholesome (the kind that restores your faith, at least in my experience). Though I have to wrap my head around the Indonesian, which is easier for me as a Malaysian, but likely more difficult for those who aren't.

I'd be down to hear about other Islamic edutainment works!

All I know is Adam's World. I watched it as a child so I think been around since the early late 90's or early 00's

Does anyone here know about non-Muslim works that have Muslim male representation? The majority of Muslim representation in media tends to be women wearing hijabs. I only know of one example that is Ali from Squid Game, and even then I only know that because his wife is Muslim which implies he's Muslim too. Sure, there are Arab characters from time to time, but just because they're Arab doesn't mean they're Muslim.

Issac from Castlevania (2017) is a black Sufi Muslim. He notes the hell will be emptied hadith twice too.

Edited by MacronNotes on Apr 25th 2023 at 11:17:11 AM

IIRC, Joe from The Old Guard is Muslim too.

"The Muslim Lantern" is a channel I've really been enjoying since I found out about it. Muhammad Ali (no, not that one) is very simple and clear in answering questions about Islam. I also really appreciate how patient he is, especially in the videos where he answers whoever asks at his outdoor booth, one of the videos that I first saw of him. His civil and understanding approach is commendable and inspirational to me. May Allah bless him, ameen.

Assalam alaikum (I hope I said it right).

I'm a Christian-turned-atheist (a very long and dark story), but I'm still really fascinated with philosophy, history, and myths/religion, and I'm trying to educate myself on the topic of Islam.

Aside from reading some history books about Islam, I feel that reading the Qu'ran is also an important starting point. I'm aware that the true depth and beauty of the book can only be fully appreciated in Arabic...but sadly, I can't speak/read that language just yet. XP

So...can anyone recommend some good English translations of Qu'ran, better if it's also an annotated version like study Bibles published by Zondervan? I heard good things about ones by Yusuf Ali and I currently have an English translation by - looks at the author's name - Maulana Wahiduddin Khan.

Wa alaikumu salam :)

I don't have first hand experience in (annotated) translations of the Quran, so I'm mostly going off of online info. Frankly, I say the takeaway is that it's difficult to find the "best" translation with all the intricacies Arabic has. Regarding that, I also found a video of an Arabic teacher comparing 5 different translations (may or may not be among those listed below), which should give a better idea of how they can differ.

So, these recommendations are only stuff I'm stating from (hopefully reliable) hearsay in regards to what they provide.

In a similar question to yours on Reddit, these 2 appear to be the most popular. Also given was a link to this post of Islamic sources.

• The Clear Quran by Dr. Mustafa Khattab. (Popular among reverts for being easy to digest.)

Along with informative footnotes and Sura (chapter) introductions, verses have been grouped and titled based on their themes for a better understanding of the chapters, their main concepts, and internal coherence.

• On Amazon Kindle edition
• Video interview with Dr. Mustafa Khattab on YouTube

• The Quran (Oxford's Worlds Classics) by M. A. S. Abdel Haleem.

Haleem includes notes that explain geographical, historical, and personal allusions as well as an index in which Qur'anic material is arranged into topics for easy reference. His introduction traces the history of the Qur'an, examines its structure and stylistic features, and considers issues related to militancy, intolerance, and the subjection of women.

• Amazon link

This article mentions the above two (as easiest to read) and Yusuf Ali (for having interesting footnotes), among others that may be worth considering.

• Saheeh International matches the Arabic text as much as possible, so some consider it as most reliable.
• The website quran.com can open multiple translations to adjacently compare them.

I hope you enjoy learning about Islam

ARE YOU READY AND EXCITED FOR RAMADAN! IT'S THE BEST TIME OF YEAR FOR A (Southeast Asian) MUSLIM! WEIRD MARJAN BOUDOIN COMMERCIALS + EXAMS + SHORT SCHOOL HOURS + THE ONLY TIME WHERE KIDS ACTUALLY GO OUT IN THE NIGHT + JUMPSCARE TIMES WHILE GOING TO TARAWEEH = THE BEST TIME TO BE MUSLIM!

YEAAAA RAMADHAN ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

*insert "Yusuf Taiyoob" whispering*

Man, I miss kid me being at masjid every night.

But seriously I’m so happy that Ramadan is here

It's nice that ramadan's approaching, too bad that I'll fast while I attend school. At least, last year I could do it at home the whole day thanks to all the strikes and blockades that happened in my country.

Oh well, it still won't stop me from doing it though... Inshallah.

Thanks you :)

Edited by Coock-atoo on Feb 26th 2024 at 10:29:27 AM

Huh? I also did that, Indonesian public schools rarely, but private schools? All. The. Time.

You can do it, insha Allah, I believe in you!

Meanwhile my exams this semester are in Ramadan 😅

I'm stuck on night shift for two weeks during Ramadan... I have no clue how fasting is supposed to work then for me.

You can do in bestie I believe in you

Do your night shifts start before Maghrib? Maybe you can have some food on you to break your fast with?

If you can get any, eating dates is sunnah (recommended), and they're surprisingly filling.

May Allah grant all of us strength and keep us steadfast this upcoming Ramadhan, ameen 🤲.

Edited by BlackFaithStar on Feb 27th 2024 at 4:02:11 AM