Imposing my beliefs onto the healthcare of others is a slippery slope. This doctor, for one, refuses to take this path.

In the Name of God: The Extremely and Eternally Loving and Caring The religious hatred I have been seeing in our country has made me very concerned. Almost by the day, there are threats to Jewish Community Centers, Synagogues, and even Jewish children’s museums. Muslims have not been spared, either, as hate crimes against Muslims…

In the Name of God: The Extremely and Eternally Loving and Caring In an interview on NPR, White House Special Assistant to the President, Sebastian Gorka, had this exchange with host Steve Inskeep: INSKEEP: On Feb. 3 when you were on the program, we asked if you felt the president believes Islam is a religion.…

In the Name of God: The Extremely and Eternally Loving and Caring I QUICKLY PASS OVER the pictures in my Twitter feed. I try not to read the news reports. I even confess at getting a bit annoyed at the constant tweets and posts about what is happening in Syria, about the devastating human tragedy…

In the Name of God: The Extremely and Eternally Loving and Caring In the aftermath of another terror attack committed by the savages of ISIS (or as I like to call them, KIL), yet again people like to link their actions to all of Islam and Muslims. Politicians use such attacks to smear all Muslims…

In the Name of God: The Extremely and Eternally Loving and Caring I leave aside the fact that no other community is expected to condemn the actions of its criminal fringe. I leave aside the fact that the perverse logic of assigning blame to the whole for the actions of a few tends to be…

In the Name of God: The Eternally and Extremely Loving and Caring “I have always been fascinated by God.” So says Morgan Freeman, the Academy Award-winning actor known, among many other things, for playing the role of God in films such as Bruce Almighty. Now, he sets out on an amazing journey to study God…

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 Infinitely Merciful and Compassionate Beloved Lord I thought, for certain, that Hozier would win “Song of the Year” at the Grammy Awards last night for “Take Me To Church.” Not that I’m disappointed about Sam Smith – whose music I enjoy – but “Church’s” fame continues to be strong.…

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…

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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