Friday Rituals (The Day of Jummah)
Tania Rahman

During my childhood, Friday was the weekend,
A day of relief after grueling, busy days of school, private tutors, and cram schools, Monday through Sunday.
Yes, I used to go to school on Saturdays and Sundays.
When I started living in the U.S., it took some time to accept going to school on a Friday.
I don’t think I’m used to it even now.
 
Friday is the smell of my mom cooking in the kitchen.
Me running to kitchen,
to taste the sweet polao with green peas and fried onions on top before lunch.
It’s my dad returning from the mosque with a bag of jilapi from a milad,
It’s me attempting a headstand on the bed and failing miserably in front of my siblings,
It’s a sunny, quiet afternoon filled with the sound of cicadas and white noise of a fan during a post-lunch nap,
It’s the scent of the attar my dad wears before heading to the mosque.
 
I still try to hold on to traditions,
even though it’s been seven years since I smelled my dad’s perfume or tasted my mother’s cooking,
Seven years since I tasted the jilapi my dad brought home,
Seven years since I attempted a headstand on the bed,
Seven years since I took a post-lunch nap on a Friday afternoon.
 
How do I forget traditions and rituals,
even though I don’t hear the adhan five times a day?
 
But I can’t stop celebrating Fridays,
regardless of where I am in the world,
be it East, West, North, or South.
 
Because
I am a Bengali girl from a Muslim household.
I still hold on to the traditions of my parents and my grandparents,
as if the steps I take in life are not mine alone.
Everyone who has prayed for me and my well-being walks beside me in those footsteps.
I don’t want to do myself the injustice of changing for the sake of fitting into the status quo.
My traditions and values are not a piece of cloth to be cut away or sewn over.
 
Ever.

Banana Chocolate Cake
Musfirah Waqar

Allah SWT will provide for you in ways you can’t even imagine.

A few weeks ago, I was craving something sweet. You know those cravings that just sit in your brain all day and refuse to leave? That was me. However, I had to keep myself from buying something because I’m trying to stop buying little treats every time I want them and teaching myself to be more patient. Alhamdulillah, I didn’t buy anything, but I still kept thinking about the treat all day and was in a bit of a mood when I got home. 

That very night, my mom brought home HALF of A BANANA CHOCOLATE CAKE. It was her coworker’s birthday, and nobody else had wanted to take it home. Half a cake, Subhanallah! So many other things could have happened. It could have been finished, or someone else could have taken it home. But Alhamdulillah, it ended up coming home to me. It was as if Allah SWT had heard the small du'a (prayer) I had made without even realizing it and was rewarding my patience in the sweetest way. After all, He is al-Wahhab and al-Kareem, The Giver of Gifts and The Most Generous. Maybe it was just a coincidence, Allah SWT knows best, but the lesson I learned is that Allah SWT will find ways for you when you can’t even imagine a way out. Doors will open that you didn’t even know existed. I never expected a banana chocolate cake would arrive just in time to satisfy my sweet tooth. A banana chocolate cake is such a small thing, really, but imagine something bigger.

We all go through difficult situations in life where we feel stuck. There are moments where we think there is no way out of a situation, whether it be struggles with school, challenges with family or friends, or stress from work. Yet, Allah SWT always shows us a path. Sometimes it takes days, and sometimes years. Sometimes it takes just a couple of minutes. Regardless, His help always comes and in ways we sometimes don’t expect. This was a reminder for me to never lose faith and to remember that Allah SWT is always listening. He hears the quietest of thoughts and the unspoken du'as, and to me, there is nothing more comforting than that. After all, He is as-Samee' and al-Baseer, The All-Hearing and The All-Seeing.

Quantum Mechanics Is Deeply Connected With Islam
Zaira Shareef

Introduction
For my brothers and sisters pursuing STEM-related studies, this post is dedicated to you. As we continue on with our fasts in this month of Ramadan, I’d like to bring your attention to something different. Something that is deeply connected with the Qur’an, yet many of us Muslims don’t even know about it. When it comes to what each Surah means, the exact translation into the English language can vary but, the idea behind each of them stays the same. In this short read, I’ll be talking you through how Quantum Mechanics (QM) is deeply connected with Islam.  

Some Context
Now, as someone pursuing a Physics-related degree, unfortunately, I have to talk about physics because it’s what I do. It is something I am deeply passionate about, and is a topic I love to share with others. Don’t worry though; I promise not to bore you and guarantee there will be no mathematics involved, so be sure to stick around for at least the theory. Firstly, I’ll be giving you some context before we get into the details. QM is the study of objects invisible to the naked eye. There’s a whole subfield dedicated just to tiny particles, electrons and atoms, solely because of how different they are from what we call Classical Mechanics — which is pretty much the study of everything that is visible to the naked eye. Now, here’s the thing about QM: QM is known for being so notoriously difficult that some physicists try to avoid it as much as they can. This is because a majority of the theories are abstract/conceptual, and so, any calculations being done, are being done on abstract things. We’ll go into a few examples of what I am talking about. Let me begin by stating that Richard Feynman, a notable physicist renowned for his work in QM and electrodynamics, interestingly said the following:

“I think I can safely say that nobody understands Quantum Mechanics”
Richard Feynman

Although there is still much to discover and understand about QM, the statement above, coming from someone who won a noble prize in this field, is quite ironic. QM behaves way differently than we expect it to. A vast majority of it is just probability. Finding the probabilities of where a particle might end up is the only method we have to make a guess as to where a particle might end up. That being said, Allah SWT shares knowledge with us through the Qur’an that may explain why QM is so difficult to understand.

#1: Entanglement
Imagine you flip two coins. There’s a 50 percent chance that you will get either heads or tails. You flip the first one and get heads. You flip the second one and expect to get tails since you already got heads, but instead, you get heads again. You flip the first coin again and get tails. Then you go to another corner away from where you flipped the first coin and flip the second coin expecting that you’d get heads. Once again, you get tails. You repeat this again and again and notice that no matter what you do, the second coin ends up with the same result as the first one, even when you separated the two coins with some distance. It's almost as if the first coin was telling the second coin what to do. It sounds silly though, doesn’t it? That’s the idea behind entanglement. That no matter how far two particles may be separated, they are still able to “communicate” and influence one another. In this specific case, receiving either heads or tails is what we physicists would call the “state” of a particle, and although the idea behind entanglement is quite finicky, there’s numerous applications of it, from quantum computing to medical imaging. The existence of entanglement was only proved by John Clauser in the 70s, meaning that it's only been about fifty years since its discovery.

سُبۡحَٰنَ ٱلَّذِي خَلَقَ ٱلۡأَزۡوَٰجَ كُلَّهَا مِمَّا تُنۢبِتُ ٱلۡأَرۡضُ وَمِنۡ أَنفُسِهِمۡ وَمِمَّا لَا يَعۡلَمُونَ
(Exalted is He who created all pairs — from what the earth grows and from themselves and from that which they do not know.)
(Qur’an 36:36)

Qur’an 36:36 states that Allah SWT created us in pairs, and entanglement can be tied back to this idea. No matter how far a particle, even if it’s light years away from the other, it will still have the possibility of being influenced by the other particle because those particles were “created in pairs,” meaning that nothing can stop them from influencing each other. Indeed Allah SWT made entanglement as one of the many proofs of His creations being made in pairs. 

#2: Retrocausality: Thomas Young’s Double Slit Experiment 
In 1801, Thomas Young conducted an experiment to answer the mind-boggling question at the time: Is light a wave or a particle? Now, the experiment ended with quite shocking results. Electrons were projected onto two slits with a screen behind. When they were projected, the detector used showcased electrons exhibiting wave properties, i.e., showcasing interference. So naturally, if we wanted to measure that interference or observe it with our own eyes, we’d expect the same result right? Nope. And that’s the mind-blowing part. When the electrons were projected and an observer was placed, the electrons showcased particle-like properties. It’s almost as if the particles themselves had some sort of consciousness, but during the time period, could that even be possible? So, what about fooling the particle instead? The electrons pass through normally, showcasing a wave property. When the detector was removed and an observer was placed, we would expect the wave property to remain, right? Wrong again. This time, the particles changed their behaviour to make it look as if they only went through one slit. In other words, they changed their past. Young’s Double Slit Experiment led to this idea of retrocausality.

We humans cannot change our past so how can something invisible to our eyes have this ability? The answer has to do with the concept of retrocausality. The simplest definition I can give is that retrocausality is when future events can affect events that happened in the past. Understanding an actual explanation of this would require much deeper QM knowledge, so for the sake of simplicity, I will keep this definition as is. Young’s Double Slit Experiment is the perfect example of this concept, and in fact, the idea of retrocausality is mentioned in the Qur’an. 

وَيَخۡلُقُ مَا لَا تَعۡلَمُونَ
(... And He creates that which you do not know.)
(Qur’an 16:8)

“And He creates that which you do not know.” Interpreting this in a QM matter, Allah SWT is able to see what us humans aren’t able to. He can see the other possible outcomes when we can only see one. In QM, particularly for the result of Young’s Double Slit, awareness and observance matter when it comes to the outcome. As we all know, Allah SWT is the best planner for each and every one of his followers, so what He wills will happen no matter what. Subhan Allah, I think this is amazing proof that Allah SWT is indeed Al-Khaliq (The Creator) and Al-Alim (The All-Knowing), because how else would Allah SWT have created something so abstract and mysterious that only He Himself can see? I’ll leave that as a question for you all to ponder on.

وَمَا تَشَآءُونَ إِلَّآ أَن يَشَآءَ ٱللَّهُۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ عَلِيمًا حَكِيمٗا
(And you do not will except that Allah wills. Indeed, Allah is ever Knowing and Wise)
(Qur’an 76:30)

Only Allah SWT can command something to be because only He is able to see into the future. So the idea of retrocausality is something that only Allah SWT can see. He is able to see every single outcome that we cannot see. After all, He is the Best Planner and is the only one who knows what is best for each of his followers.

#3: Erwin Schrodinger’s Theory In Relation To Werner Heisenburg’s Uncertainty Principle
I promise you that this is the last example I’ll give before ending this off. You may have all heard of Schrodinger’s Thought Experiment, but if not, the simplest way I can explain it is by giving the end result of the experiment: if a cat is inside a closed box, it can be both dead and alive at the same time. This may seem confusing, but looking at it from a quantum perspective, Schrodinger pretty much concluded that a particle invisible to the eye can exist in two states at the same time; like how the cat is both dead and alive, a particle can be at two different positions at the same time. This idea then led to what physicists call superposition, which is the idea that a particle can exist in two states at the same time. I like to consider this superposition theory from Schrodinger as one of the fundamental theories needed in order to understand QM because it sets the baseline for every other theory that follows. For example, Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle.
​
For my brothers and sisters that are pursuing a statistics-related degree, taking a statistics course or doing research where data has to be collected, you might all be familiar with the concept of uncertainty. If not, no worries. The best explanation I can give is this: any data that is collected cannot 100% accurately be represented by a model because there is always going to be some variation in the data. This variation is what we call uncertainty and it accounts for any data collected, along with identifying any potential data that we consider outliers; also known as data that doesn’t fit the given model. Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle is what I like to consider statistics in the practice of QM, and the overall formula itself is not difficult to understand -- though this may be a subjective opinion, so please bear with me while I do my best to explain this principle.

The change in position (Δx) multiplied by the change in momentum (Δp) is greater than or equal to Planck’s constant (ħ) divided by 2. That’s it. That’s all Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle is and we can use this along with other concepts such as normalization and Schrodinger's Equation to predict where a particle might end up. I will not go into much detail about normalization and Schrodinger's Equation because there’s a lot of mathematics involved and, after all, I did promise no mathematics would be here — though I may have already broken that, which I do apologize for. Intuitively it makes sense, since particles themselves can only have two possible spin states; spin up (↑ = + ½) or spin down (↓ = -½). Because we don’t have a tool to measure the exact location of a particle, we can only estimate where it could be. Okay, I may have ranted on a bit too long, so let’s get into the details you all came here for.

Surah Ya-sin (36) verse 36, which was mentioned in the section on entanglement, can be seen again here. We have another set of “pairs” which are spin up and spin down. We have this idea of superposition, and we can explain it using Surah Al-Insan (76) verse 30 because what Allah SWT wills is going to happen. Even if it seems impossible, He Himself will have a way to make it possible because at the end of the day, only Allah SWT is able to see what we cannot see and only He is able to change the outcome. Surah An-Nahl (16) verse 8 can also be used to prove this because in QM, we cannot say for sure what the outcome will be because of this probabilistic nature. After all, these tiny particles have a consciousness of their own and I find it amazing how Allah SWT created them.

Conclusion
From this article, I do wish that this may have convinced some of you to take a deeper look at both QM and the Qur’an, and I also hope that some of you might join me in pursuing something physics-related (doesn’t have to be QM, as I understand it’s a notoriously difficult discipline). All in all, I’d like for you to take the following as the key message of this long rant: QM is not a replacement for our belief in Allah SWT, rather, it reinforces our faith and trust in Him and is proof that what He wills will happen. After all, He is Al-Alim. Jazak-Allah Khair my brothers and sisters for reading my thoughts on QM. May Allah SWT reward all your fasts, answer all your duas, and may He guide you down the path you wish to see yourself on later in the future. Ameen. 

Sources Used Aside From The Qur’an

• Arian El-Taher. (2025, July 6). The Quran and the Cosmos: Islam at the Frontiers of Astrophysics. Arianeltaher.com; Blogger. https://www.arianeltaher.com/2025/07/the-quran-and-cosmos-islam-at-frontiers.html
• Moussa R. (2025, August 1). Between the Crocodile and God: Entanglement, Suffering, and the Qur’anic Self. Medium. https://mousssa.medium.com/between-the-crocodile-and-god-entanglement-suffering-and-the-quranic-self-df19c90bf47d
• Qureshi, F. (2021). Comparisons of Ayats of the Quran with Astrophysics, Quantum Physics, and Cosmology. Journal of Quranic Sciences and Research, 02(01). https://doi.org/10.30880/jqsr.2021.02.01.006
• Shah, Z. (2025, February 13). From Quantum Entanglement to Providence, Record Keeping and Afterlife. The Glorious Quran and Science. https://thequran.love/2025/02/13/from-quantum-entanglement-to-providence-record-keeping-and-afterlife/

Ramadan Foods from Around the World
Compiled and designed by Maryam Noor

​We asked our MSA members to share their Ramadan food traditions to see how different places around the world experience suhoor and iftar. We have compiled their responses and challenge you to spot the similarities between the cultural foods of different countries!

“My Mercy Prevails over My Wrath”: How the Way you Teach a Child about Allah SWT Impacts their Belief in Islam
Sadiah Bemat

The first day of Ramadan has passed, and I, like many avid Yaqeen Institute watchers, began the month by watching Omar Suleiman’s Ramadan Series “Allah’s Names,” where the whole month, he will be delving into Allah SWT’s 99 names and explaining their meanings. At the beginning of every episode, we slowly watch a story unfold, where a young Gazan child who has fled the genocide is seeking safety and a new life with his uncle, while his mother and the rest of his loved ones are still stuck and being bombarded and displaced. Each new episode of this series will see the family’s story unfold, and how Allah SWT’s 99 names are invoked under every situation and circumstance, no matter how dire, showing the power of Allah SWT’s 99 names, and what they truly bring to the struggling Muslim. The first episode delves into the names Ar-Rahman (The Most Merciful), Ar-Raheem (The Especially Merciful), and Al-Raouf (The Tenderly Merciful), names that invoke and describe the mercy of Allah SWT upon His creation, humankind. 
I was blessed to be born into a religious family, and surrounded by Islam and the beauty of our faith, and it is one of my earliest memories as a child. I have early memories of my father praying Maghrib salah every day in our living room in an aim to set a good example for my siblings and me, and after I turned 7, he made me practice my Maghrib salah out loud for many months to ensure I learned correctly. I have memories of my mother getting dressed for dawats (gatherings) and asking me to help her match her hijab to her dress (I still do this with her). I remember being encouraged to go to the masjid from a young age, and this is where I began my Qur'an lessons, and also where I would go read Taraweeh prayer with my aunt every weekend, spending late nights playing with my friends after the salah was finished, exchanging candies and chocolates, and doing our mehndi (henna) once Eid was announced. 

All of this is to say that I had a very beautiful upbringing in learning Islam, but, while the adults in my life had encouraged and guided my Islamic practices from a place of love, they had grown up in a generation where they were taught to fear Allah SWT before being taught His mercy, and remnants of their childhood manifested in my education of Islam as well. This was not just my parents; it could also be seen in some of the practices my Molana and Alimah (may Allah SWT bless them) taught us about Allah SWT while I attended madressa (Islamic classes) from a young age. While I have always loved Allah SWT, I often remember being taught to fear Him first, and had this fear be the guiding principle of my actions, rather than my actions and deeds being influenced by intentions of seeking His love and mercy.  

See, there is a healthy dose of fear necessary in our faith of Allah SWT. But for a child, who you hope grows up to follow the path of Allah SWT, His remembrance, and steadfastness in His faith, being introduced to Islam through the punishment of the grave, the book of deeds where the Angels record your every actions, and the beast that is Jahannam (Hell) at the age of ten is terrifying. More often than not, you're pushing a person away from Islam, not because they don’t believe in Allah SWT, but because they are afraid of not living up to the standards placed by the Muslim community, or being “perfect” in their practice of Islam. 
While watching Omar Suleiman’s video, I thought to myself about how much his explanation would have helped me had I been taught about Ar-Rahman, Ar-Raheem, and Al-Raouf before I was taught about Allah SWT’s anger. How much easier it would have been for me as a child, how much pressure would have been alleviated from my young and impressionable mind, which did not understand the complexities of Islam. How much stronger my faith would have been if I had been taught about these when I was younger. How much sooner I would have turned to Allah SWT when I was struggling, rather than turn my back in shame. 

Shame.
Shame.
Shame.

I was taught to be ashamed before I was taught to turn to Allah SWT, no matter what I had done. 

It was narrated by Abu Huraira RA that the Prophet Muhammad SAW said “When Allah SWT completed the creation, He wrote in His book with Him upon the Throne: Verily, My mercy prevails over my wrath” (Sahih al-Bukhari 3194, Sahih Muslim 2751).

Allah SWT’s love, forgiveness and mercy come before His anger. That is what a child should be taught first about his Lord. Not how, if you commit a sin, you will be thrown into Jahanam and punished for eternity. In actuality, it is much more complicated than that, and there is a much more nuanced discussion and explanation that a child cannot comprehend about how a person goes to Jahannam. It is only for Allah SWT to know and decide if a person goes to Jahanam. As His creation, it is not for us to tell anyone, or fearmonger them into obeying with what will happen to them in the hereafter, whether they are a child or an adult, because that is not for us to know, and will only push a person away from Islam. 

Oh my inner child, how long it took to heal you. How much fear, anxiety, and shame had built and festered inside of you. It wasn’t until I was older, already finished with my madressa studies when I decided to learn Islam differently, and this time, learn it for myself, that I had truly realized who Allah SWT was, beyond what I had been conditioned to fear. I finally got the answers to my questions, and no longer had to digest the hollow line from adults, “because Allah SWT says so” when I asked why we are commanded to some action and prohibited from others. My curiosity to understand led me to finally understand that Allah SWT only commanded us to do certain actions, and abstain from others because we will benefit, or we will be protected. There are so many benefits for salah, but Allah SWT also tells us why, because it is a gift, where five times a day, while your head is in sujood (prostration), that is when you are closest to Him. Allah SWT has bestowed His mercy in salah, as it is a gift granted to humankind, where you get to speak to your Lord directly five times a day. Five times a day, you can turn to Him when your heart feels heavy, when you are overwhelmed with the dunya (life), and find peace. Allah SWT has bestowed mercy in even the preparation of salah, where every drop of wudu washes away your sins (Sahih Muslim 244). 

While we have the why for many things, there are some that we do not have answers for, but, just know that everything Allah SWT tells us, there is a good reason for it, and it is only in our benefit. That is the mercy of Allah SWT, because He only wants goodness for us, or to protect us from something that only He knows. 

Allah SWT is more merciful to you than your parents. He is more merciful to you than your closest companion. He is more merciful to you than a mother who gives everything to her child and receives nothing in return. If you turn to Allah SWT, He will run to you (Sahih al-Bukhari 7405). He is the Most Merciful.  

A story that exemplifies, and truly shows how merciful Allah SWT truly is, is the story of the Firoun (The Pharaoh) from the time of Musa AS (Moses). He was on the brink of death, and the angel Jibrael AS (Gabriel) came down, and in fear that Firoun would ask for forgiveness, after committing the worst sins, Jibreal AS kicked sand into his mouth because Jibreal knew, as the closest angel to Allah SWT, how merciful Allah SWT is, and that he would forgive Firoun if only he asked (Jami' at-Tirmidhi 3107). That is how merciful Allah SWT is. That is how loving He is, so why would He not forgive us if only we asked and tried to do better next time? 

Humans and Jinns were not made to be sinless. We are deeply flawed; we are deeply prone to commit sins. But Jannah (Heaven) is meant for those who repented, not those who did not sin. That is the mercy of Allah SWT.

If you have not already, I recommend following this series and learn the beauty of Allah SWT through His 99 names with Omar Suleiman’s incredible explanation, and see how the story of the Gazan boy unfolds, reflecting on the privilege we have this Ramadan to seek food, spend time alongside our loved ones, and worship Allah SWT in safety and comfort. 

Castles of Worship
Raisa Farhin

O son of Adam,
how long will you remain chained
between the needles of dusk and dawn?

You’re caught in a trance,
quenching your thirst with a mirage.
Will you never awaken?

When the hourglass is empty,
will you lie wrapped in muslin,
buried in sin?

O son of Adam,
why remain the devotee of a temple
in your name?

What is the purpose of worship
that is driven by the hatred
of your own being?

You fawn after a siren’s echo,
carving hollows you refuse to face.

If only you released your fear of the sea,
if only you swept away the shards,
if only you pulverized the pedestal you’ve built,
would you find the sweetness
of turning within.

The Dawn of Imaan 
Raisa Farhin

When the earth is cloaked with darkness, 
and the light within is called to rise, 
I seek my torch, 
but within the hollow,
I find cinders in its place.

The silent shadows suffocate my rooh, 
so I shackle my qalb 
within layers of plaster 
smothered across shards of imaan. 

If only these eyes could find dawn, 
and learn to rekindle the flame.

If only this traveller would trust His decree, 
and let the springs tear apart each seam.

If only this mind surrendered, 
and let His mercy split the stone within this chest.

If only this soul would taste His words,
and let them revive the tarnished embers. 

When will you unlock the chains, 
and let the mountains erode?

Let the tides of His rahmah mend your wounds, 
Let the blessed rain revive the rivers within you, 
Let the nectar of His words melt the fears you store. 

And when the darkness cloaks the earth, 
may you accept the noor He lends, 
and let it shine through.