In the Name of God: The Extremely and Eternally Loving and Caring In a poll of Americans released by Public Religion Research Institute, a majority of Americans said that “The values of Islam are at odds with American values and way of life.” And this feeling is consistent across various religious and racial groups of…

In the Name of God: The Extremely and Eternally Loving and Caring Today is the tenth day of the first Islamic New Year, more commonly known as “Ashura.” This day has great significance for Muslims all over the world. For Shi’ite Muslims, this is a sad time. It is the anniversary of the brutal betrayal…

In the Name of God: the Infinitely Compassionate and Merciful Beloved Lord As is the case every year, Christmas Day is just another calendar day for me. In fact, I will be working in the hospital on Christmas Day this year, one of 11 shifts I am scheduled to work until the end of the…

In the Name of the Infinitely Good and Merciful Lord Our God I am an American, whose ancestry hails from Egypt. I have quite a bit of family that still lives there. Both my and my wife’s parents frequently go back and visit, and my mother – in fact – is vacationing in Egypt right…

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Infinitely Merciful  I can only share in a tiny amount of the elation of the people of Israel and Palestine over the cease-fire that was negotiated today. That both Israelis and Palestinians can breathe a little sigh of relief that no more rockets and bombs will rain…

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful  I recently received an email with the subject, “An Honest Question.” It read: Dr. Hassaballa: I have discovered your blog, and greatly appreciate what you say.  You seem very thoughtful, and I particularly applaud your condemnations of violence — even if your choice of words sometimes…

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Most Merciful I must have missed the memo, because I reserved a tee time on early Sunday morning. Apparently, however, the world will end on May 21, 2011. That is according to a group called Family Radio, and they figure this out by this mathematical formula: In…

Hesham A. Hassaballa
about

Hesham A. Hassaballa

Hesham A. Hassaballa is a Chicago doctor and writer. He has written extensively on a freelance basis, being published in newspapers across the country and around the world. He has been a Beliefnet columnist since 2001, and has written for the Religion News Service. He is also a columnist for Patheos. His articles have been distributed worldwide by Agence Global, and he was also a guest blogger for The Chicago Tribune and has blogged on ChicagoNow" . In addition, Dr. Hassaballa has appeared as a guest on WTTW (Channel 11) in Chicago, CNN, Fox News, BBC, and National Public Radio.

Dr. Hassaballa is co-author of The Beliefnet Guide to Islam (Doubleday), and his essay, “Why I Love the Ten Commandments,” was published in the award-winning book Taking Back Islam (Rodale). His latest book, Noble Brother, is the story of the Prophet Muhammad told entirely in poetry, and it is now published in its second edition.

In 2007, his blog "God, Faith, and a Pen" was nominated for a Brass Crescent Award for a blog that is “the most stimulating, insightful, and philosophical, providing the best rebuttals to extremist ideology and making an impact whenever they post.” "God, Faith, and a Pen" has also received an award for being one of the "Top Muslim Blogs for 2010" by Awarding The Web.

In addition to writing, Dr. Hassaballa helped found the Chicago Chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations and currently serves on their board of directors. He also co-founded the Bayan H. Hassaballa Charitable Foundation and now serves as its Treasurer.

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