NFL practices this time of year are designed for maximum sweat production. Coaches are trying to build up stamina and endurance. Players push themselves to the limit, in pursuit of jobs and starting spots. It's also really, really hot.

And starting on Aug. 11, the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan, Minnesota Vikings safety Husain Abdullah(notes) will be going through these practices without the benefit of water. Or food. Or any other kind of hydration.

During Ramadan, observing Muslims like Abdullah will fast for 30 days; eating or drinking nothing while the sun is out. Food and drink are permitted after dark and before sunrise, but during the day, there's nada -- not a tiny little sip of water, or the smallest release of Powerade's mystic mountain blueberry.

Don't worry, this Examiner won't be spoiling the newly released movie 'Inception' starring Leonardo DiCaprio. But since the film's subject matter is heavily focused on that of dreams, why not learn the supplications said for sleep and dreams, according to Islam?

A useful book for a Muslim to have is Fortress of the Muslim: Invocations from the Quran & Sunnah. It comes in nugget size and is the perfect dua'a book for numerous occasions and occurrences in everyday life. Such as dreaming....

Ok so I admit it: I was a nerd growing up. The sciencey type you know; I had my own little microscope and I knew the periodic table by heart and competed for high grades like the best of them. I was a hit with my parent’s friends and especially old ladies; they just loved how well-behaved and well-spoken I was. I loved it too, until I woke up one day and realized that being nerdy does not equate with being cool.

Throngs of fans crowded former boxing champion (and convert) Mike Tyson this week, as he took a spiritual tour of Mecca, while performing Umrah, that ended in tears: tears of awakening. Tyson toured the requisite sites, finally crying at the Prophet’s Mosque, saying: “I couldn’t resist shedding tears when I came to know that I was in one of the gardens of paradise.”

Dr. Aneesah Nadir is a social worker, author, speaker, consultant, diversity trainer, mediator and marriage and family life educator, with a career that spans more than 30 years. Dr. Nadir obtained her Bachelor’s in Social Welfare from Adelphi University and her Masters and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Social Work from Arizona State University. She is a founder and past president of the Islamic Social Services Association-USA and Canada, and currently serves as the president of the Islamic Social Services Association-USA. Today, she coordinates ISSA-USA’s Sakinah Healthy Marriage Initiative, a national effort to promote healthy marriage among Muslims throughout the United States. She is also a writer and member of the editorial board of Marriage Today, an E-newsletter published in collaboration with Soundvision.com and ISSA-USA, and is authoring two upcoming books on marriage titled So You Think You’re Ready for Marriage? and Now that We’re Married.

[UPDATE]: Whoo hoo..Alhumdulilah, so my cousin known as Angry Brown Guy contacted Nabisco and he got a response, they said as long as the North American Oreo product is not “Reduced Fat” or of the “Sugar Free” variety then it’s good to go (halal).See the images below for proof…thanks Faraz!!Before you start throwing Oreo cookies [...]

U.S President Barack Obama has a new secret weapon in his war on ‘anything that even smirks or smells like anti-American sentiment’. And it comes in a pair of perky blue jeans, a wild Western-shirt and a Stetson hat tilted at just the right angle to raise at least a couple of eyebrows.

For the past several years, TIME magazine has released an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. The TIME 100, as they are known, are individuals using their influence to work toward change. They are selected from a group of world leaders, scientists, philanthropists, artists, activists, doctors, CEOs and ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

Historical evidence suggests that there were Muslims within the original, native, Ameri-Indian community and that the first group of immigrant Muslims reached the Americas in 1312 (180 years before Columbus). From Mali and other parts of West Africa, Muslim explorers arrived via the Gulf of Mexico for exploration of the American interior, using the Mississippi River as their access route. Abubakri was one of the first to set sail to America from Africa (according to "˜Muslims in America' by Amir Nashid Ali Muhammad).

Type the word “Muslim” into an app finder and you’ll probably be overwhelmed by the number of applications you get as a result. It’s hard to decide which ones to purchase and which ones you can live without. But have no fear, elan is here to help you distinguish between the good, the bad and the ones that make you think, “Why?”