Is It Permissible to Call Another Human Being ‘Lord’?
A young man asks after watching a British period drama: is it ever permissible to call another person ‘lord’? Imam Marc Manley traces the word through Old English and Arabic to answer.
Reflections & Notes
The Blog
Islamic Law (Sharīʿah) and Neutering Cats
A reader asks whether it’s permissible to spay or neuter a cat. Imam Marc Manley surveys the four classical schools and the modern fatwas that have revisited the question.
Developing A Taste For Faith
The Prophet ﷺ described faith as having a sweetness the heart can taste. Imam Marc Manley explores what that sweetness is, how a scattered heart obscures it, and the difference between Allāh’s decree and His command.
Integrity in an Age of Unlived Words
On Sūrah al-Ṣaff and the classical rulings on vows and promises — when your word becomes legally binding, and why breaking it chips away at your honor.
Courage Is Found In Fearing God Not His Creation
On the changing of the Qiblah, subtractive courage, and why the Qur’an commands us to fear Allah rather than His creation.
Finding Your Security As A Muslim
A post-Fajr khāṭirah on Sūrat al-Maʿārij: why the people of prayer stay secure through hardship and ease alike.
Why Do People Reject God’s Signs?
Why does no sign ever satisfy the skeptic? A close reading of Sūrah al-Anʿām on turning away from God’s signs — and why the Qur’ān calls it denial, not doubt.
Muslims & The Post-Literacy Society
A ḥadīth about being read to, and a warning about a society that is losing the very capacity — and the source material — to read.
Friday Ghusl & Walking to Jumuʿah
Does an earlier ghusl count for Jumuʿah? Do the rewards for ghusl and keeping wuḍūʾ on the walk to the masjid stack? The first post in our new Question and Answer series.
Modern Myths of Professional & Wellness Culture
Efficiency and optimization can’t buy you more time. A reflection on discipline, control, and trusting Allāh’s decree.
Ribā, Robots, and the Panopticon
Episode 51 of the Middle Ground Podcast: on surveillance and the panopticon, building AI locally, and ribā vs. Islamic economics.
Putting God on Trial?!
Why the skeptic’s demand that God prove Himself is itself the trap — the Qur’an’s diagnosis of unbelief in Sūrah al-Anʿām.
What Does Sunnah Really Mean?
A quick-start guide to what “sunnah” really means, drawn from Imām al-Qafaṣī’s Lubāb al-Lubāb.
Repetition & Remembrance
On why the Qur’ān repeats itself — speaking as plainly to a brand-new Muslim as to one who’s walked the path for years.
AI Is More Artificial Than You Think
The problem with AI isn't what it can do — it's how we mislabel math as thinking.
On Morality and Secularism
Secularism demands a moral standard for everyone while eschewing any authority beyond the self.
Hope & Faith in Times of Absurdity
Episode 50 of the Middle Ground Podcast with Imam Marc Manley and brother Dawud Aleman.
From Villain to Vindicated
Sūrah Munafiqun, the vindication of Zayd ibn Arqam, and telling the truth in difficult times.
Dreaming of a Prophetic Life
A reflection on fitrah, homesteading, and the quiet pull toward a simpler, more prophetic way of living.
Guard Your Narrative
On protecting your inner narrative from those who profit by naming your anger for you.
Islam & Evolution
Pushing the Yaqeen–Muslim Skeptic debate over human evolution forward, thoughtfully.
Islamic Psychology
Does a psychology built on agnosticism toward the soul deserve the name “Islamic”?
Meaning & Terminology in the Qur'an
On preserving Qur'anic terminology against the temptation to redefine it.
The Modernist Muslim
On the false humility of dismissing scholarship while claiming not to be a scholar.
Muslims & Manhood
Why some Muslim men reach for pop psychology instead of tradition to answer a crisis in manhood.
On Liberalism
Framing an excerpt from Modern Age on liberalism's quiet hold over Muslim education in the West.
Black Lives Matter & Systemic Racism
A civil conversation on race and systemic racism with Dr. Abdullah bin Hamid Ali.
Performative Islam
On the shift from practicing Islam to performing it for an audience.
Race & Secularism in America
Musings on Vincent J. Lloyd's work on how secularism manages both race and religion.
Reading List (Articles)
A companion stack of articles alongside the book reading list.
Reading List 2023
Imam Marc's running list of books for teaching, study, and inspiration.
Reflection
In Arabic
The Challenges of Embracing Islam Today
On the difficulty of learning Arabic, and what the ummah owes new Muslims — written in Arabic.
Biography
In Arabic
Marc Manley: A Brief Biography
Imam Marc's path to Islam, his teachers, and the story behind Middle Ground — written in Arabic.
“The Joker” With Imam Suhaib Webb
Part II of Imam Marc’s conversation with Imam Suhaib Webb on the film “Joker.”
Fajr Club Ḥalaqah
“Having Hope In Meeting Allah” — a short Fajr talk on the opening of Sūrah Yūnus.
Why Islam Is Not a Culture
On revelation, culture, and the temptation to conflate the two.
American Imamate
On serving an underserved ummah, and a hadith from Ibn ʿAbbas on preaching with earnestness and restraint.
Our Culture of Indifference
A crying toddler on a crowded train reveals a culture that has forgotten patience — and what the Qur'an asks of us instead.
Islamophobia: It’s Not a Phobia
Islamophobia isn’t fear. It’s hatred dressed up as anxiety — and Muslims need to stop pretending otherwise.
American Muslim Identity
A 2012 essay on the quest for authenticity among Blackamerican and immigrant Muslims — and the still-unfinished work of an American Muslim culture.
Islam: A Din of Action, Not Just Philosophy
Islam is a religion of action, not just philosophy — more than the decadent acquisition of knowledge.