There's a statement in the Quran: There should be "absolutely no compulsion in religion."

There's no specific punishment in the books of fiqh (Islamic laws) that relate to homosexuality per se. They apply to any illicit sexual relations, including prohibited heterosexual acts like adultery. And the punishments are strong, but they are legal fictions because they are impossible to prove. You need four witnesses to say they witnessed (sexual) penetration. In what circumstances are you going to find someone to testify to that?

I'm amazed at the courage of the journalists on the frontlines in Iraq, but we need intellectual courage in our community.

Call on your Lord when your heart is brittle, that is a time when it's in pieces and the Light of Allah can fill the gaps. That is why Allāh is with the broken hearted.

God is with the broken-hearted. When your heart breaks, it’s a good thing – the breaking of the heart is what opens it up to the light of Allah. The dunya is designed to break your heart, to crush it.

Opinion is not knowledge. You're entitled to your own opinion but you're not entitled to your own facts.

Islam is based on naql (texts) and ‘aql (intellect). Some people just have the texts – we call them naql-heads.