This time it’s the athletes’ turn to be “Kuffar” (Arabic for sinners), according to Islam. Dr. Abdullah Al-faqih issued a Fatwa, claiming that wearing any clothing or accessories baring the Nike sign is a sin. According to this Muslim scholar, the Nike commercial sign is “a sign of a goddess of victory, daughter of the giant Pulas, as the...

“The ship is now ready," Samar al-Hajj, the organizer of the flotilla ship, destined to sail from Lebanon to Gaza, told AFP on Thursday. Women activists—from Lebanon and other countries—plan to sail on this humanitarian vessel, which will carry food and medical supplies to people in Gaza. Israeli officials were clear about their opposition...

There was a black churchIn the land of mist and clouds!Dressed in darkness insideAnd so all the surrounds…A holy cross rose atop,Dark itself, too, so dull.Built on an ancient graveyardOf a hundred million skulls!Days pass by… years just die…But still it is this gloomy night!Silence spread… that of the dead…A witness to the death of light!...

A friend played me a documentary, yesterday, titled “It’s About Time Lebanon” by Lebanese filmmaker Pierre Dawalibi, released in 2006. I was really taken by the emotional footage intercut into this summary, reviewing the 30 years of war in Lebanon. Even though, it has been 4 years since it was released, I believe it is worth posting on my...

So far I’ve been focusing on Fatwas that have received a fair share of publicity. For this post, however, I’ve chosen one from a website that issues Fatwa’s by the dozen, every day. Those Fatwas are in the form of Q & A; any Muslim, who has a concern or a question about a certain matter, can log in to this website/forum and submit a...

(Despite the on-going political and economic instability in Lebanon, fueled by the harboring of religious fundamentalism, the New York Times named Beirut as the best place to visit in 2009.)   Lebanon is one of the few countries that weren’t affected by the subprime crisis. Economists explain that the three main reasons behind this...

  According to Muslim doctrine, around 157 Million Muslims living today are sinners for reasons they probably ignore. Why is that? Well, according to this Fatwa, eating or writing with your left hand is a sin. And since the percentage of Muslims in the world is 23% (2009) and the total population is 6.8 billion (2009), and the estimated...

Today, Jonah (display name: Jonah Di Bap), has joined the author list of Free Thinking Lebanon. He is one of my closest real-life friends. A free-thinker from Lebanon, endowed with a smooth writing-style and a twisted sense of humor, he’s a well versed fellow in both essay writing and poetry. I’m really glad to have him on board, contributing...

(I will be moving this segment “Fatwa of the Day” to a separate blog soon. Meanwhile I will keep posting them here.)     A Fatwa have surfaced on the Islamic religious forum ahlalhdeeth.com, which claims that, according to several narrations in the Islamic Hadith, the replication of God’s creations (humans, animals etc..)...

When you hear about a religious scholar, especially a Muslim Sheikh, fighting for women’s rights you might be thinking what a great step this is for the Muslim world. You might also praise him for finally breaking free from the nonsensical stereotype, which is deeply rooted in his religion, and which sets Men as the superior gender. But...

The Islamic Sharia law, states that all mice are evil and calls for their total extermination. This idea by itself is silly but then a cleric comes up with a Fatwa that takes this statement to a higher level of absurdity. Sheikh Mohamed al-Munajid, a renowned religious scholar in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, issued a Fatwa against Mickey...

I was talking today to a friend of mine who came from Saudi Arabia after living there for 3 years, during which she did her Junior and Senior years in high-school and her first year of college. She was telling me about her experience in that country and about the social life there (actually the lack of it). Even though I am well aware of how closed-minded the system is in the Kingdom and I’ve heard many stories about how religion,...

In my opinion, the terrible attack on the freedom flotilla was bound to happen. Anyone, who has been following news related to this high profile fleet, would have expected such confrontation between the international activists and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The Israeli foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, regarded the flotilla as a...