Can war ever be holy? It is a question that continues to confront us as terror in the name of religion remains very much a tragic part of the human experience. While the news primarily focuses on Muslim fanatics who justify violence through religion, 2011 was also the year that...

Women have been the heart and backbone of Islam from its beginnings. From the courage of Khadija, Prophet Muhammad's first wife and first convert, to the scholarship and fiery independence of his later wife Aisha; from the political genius of Muslim queens such as Egypt's Shajarat al-Dur and India's Nur...

Many fans have asked where I have been for the past few months. I have been a regular blogger for the Huffington Post since 2009, often commenting on issues relating to Islam and the media, which as a Muslim in Hollywood is perhaps appropriate. But I have not written a...

Black Swan is a perfect movie. Intellectually provocative. Emotionally engaging. Sensual. Heart breaking. It is a movie that stays with you for a very, very long time after the credits rise. And for me, it is a movie that serves as a reminder of why I chose to become a...

I work in Hollywood, which is one of the centers of the fashion industry. Along with Paris and New York, Los Angeles is a city where trends are launched. While European runways may introduce the latest hemline, I suspect that it isn't until Hollywood movie stars adopt the new look...

I buried my father a few days ago in a Muslim cemetery outside of Phoenix, Arizona. He passed away unexpectedly in his sleep in the last few days of Ramadan. My mother, sisters and I were devastated. My father was a gentle man who never raised his voice much less...

I am honored to share with you a YouTube video prepared by some of the most respected Muslim scholars denouncing terrorism and extremism as a violation of true Islam:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IofpsHOosE

The mainstream media, as usual, is ignoring this powerful and emotionally moving video by some of Islam's most...

People often ask me what it is like being one of the first Muslims to succeed in Hollywood. There is always a hint of surprise in their tone, as if they never expected to meet a Muslim who has made strides in the entertainment industry. Because the real question they...

As a Muslim and an American, let me say this loudly and clearly -- Anwar al-Awlaki is a servant of evil and a traitor both to Islam and to America. He is intent on misleading the world by spreading the lie that Islam permits the killing of civilians. It does...

Nine years after September 11, 2001, we are still facing one fundamental question: Who is our enemy? There are two answers. One based in the truth, the other in a lie.

One answer is that Islam itself is the enemy of America and Western civilization. That all Muslims are...

As a writer, I have always appreciated how Christmas is a time for great storytelling. Some of the most moving parables ever told have been inspired by this special time of year. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens continues to touch the heart, 166 years after it was first published....

Is there life after death?

This is perhaps the most fundamental question of the human condition. Is consciousness a phenomenon that is created by the brain and ceases to exist at the moment of death? Or does consciousness transcend the limitations of matter? Does some aspect of awareness, of sentience,...

Major Nidal Malik Hasan is a murderer and has brought great shame upon every American Muslim in the armed forces.

There are currently over 10,000 Muslim soldiers in the U.S. military, men and women who are patriotic and love their country and their fellow service members. Hasan’s evil...

It is the controversy that refuses to die - the now infamous Danish cartoons about Prophet Muhammad that caused much furor in the Muslim world a few years ago have appeared in the media spotlight again after Yale University Press decided not to print the caricatures in an upcoming book...

I am not a vegetarian or a vegan. But like most people of conscience, I was sickened and horrified to see the recent video taken by animal rights activists of baby chicks being ground alive at an egg hatchery. Seeing such cruel and heartless treatment of living beings has...

I returned last night from a week in France where a debate is raging over whether Muslim women should be permitted to wear the burqa, the traditional Middle Eastern garment that covers not only the whole body, but the face as well. President Nicholas Sarkozy unleashed a firestorm of controversy...

Last week I received my first death threat from a Taliban supporter. I knew when I wrote Mother of the Believers, my novel on the birth of Islam, that this day would come. And yet now that it has, I actually find myself smiling. Because I know that it...

President Barack Obama will give a highly anticipated speech to the Islamic world on June 4th in Cairo. There is a great deal of excitement in the Muslim community to hear what a President who shares a middle name with the grandson of Prophet Muhammad has to say. There are...

On the eve of President Barack Obama's historic address to the Muslim world from Cairo, I wanted to take a moment to highlight a small but poignant story - of a Muslim shopkeeper, the man who tried to rob him, and the common bond of faith and humanity that they...

Ron Howard's new adaptation of the Dan Brown book Angels and Demons represents a breakthrough in Hollywood's approach toward religion, taking the discussions of faith away from the extremes of proselytizing and rejection to the middle ground. That is where most believers are, and that is where great storytelling takes...