In the Name of God: The Extremely and Eternally Loving and Caring Let me say this up front: extremist savages have no regard for the sacred: An ISIS suicide bomber attacked the holy city of the Prophet Muhammad, Medina, in 2016. This year, Saudi authorities foiled an attack on the holy city of Mecca. And…

In the Name of God: The Eternally and Extremely Loving and Caring  I have been following American Muslim Hip-Hop group Native Deen for more than two decades now. Their music represents the best of American Muslims: providing entertainment that educates and uplifts. And their latest production, “Nothing Light,” does not disappoint.  And as Native Deen…

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 Extremely and Eternally Loving and Caring By the grace of God, I was featured on PRI’s “The World” radio show today. We were discussing the Muslim condemnation of ISIS, and I spoke about how their invoking God to justify their violence is blasphemy: The fact that ISIS kills in…

In the Name of God: The Infinitely Compassionate and Merciful Lord That I condemn ISIS with every cell of my body goes without saying. Their barbarism knows no bounds, and I pray that the Lord brings to an end their reign of terror and inhumanity. The murder of American photojournalist James Foley, who was exposing…

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 The sectarian violence that has gripped the land of my ancestors, Egypt, has been truly sickening to watch. The attacks on Christians and Christian churches in the past weeks are horrific, and they must be condemned. Not that my condemnation necessarily means much, but at least…

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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