Dear M, A friend set me up with good practicing Muslim brother whom she knows. When we met and chatted, I was completely underwhelmed. He could barely speak English, and had a minimum wage job. To top it off, I wasn’t attracted to him either. He told my friend that…
Note: This piece is an introduction to Dr. Mohammad Fadel’s scholarly article on Islamic marriage, temporary marriage, secret marriage and polygamous marriage. Sometimes even holy men have their wicked schemes. Over the past few months, my colleagues and I have learned from multiple sources about a set of Muslim celebrity-scholars…
Last night, while I was putting my nine-year-old daughter to bed, she asked the question I’ve been both anticipating and dreading. “Mama, someone at school told me today that if Donald Trump gets elected, he would make all the Muslims leave the country. Mama, are we going to have to…
This is not a question I ever expected I’d have to answer. As a young girl, I always assumed that I would not need to sacrifice one for the other, but rather my devotion both would inevitably pull Allah and my husband nearer to one another. Just one conversation at…
Salaam Nutritionals is one such solution. As it explains on its site, the product was “born out of the necessity to address the growing frustrations from parents whose children were not getting adequate nutrition and not being able to swallow big chalky pills; we knew there was a niche that…
Note: An introduction to this piece can be found here. Anyone born into a typical Muslim family cannot avoid the central place that marriage occupies within the concept of a good Muslim life. Popular Muslim culture invests marriage with such religious significance that it is often described as comprising…
Salaam Nutritionals is one such solution. As it explains on its site, the product was “born out of the necessity to address the growing frustrations from parents whose children were not getting adequate nutrition and not being able to swallow big chalky pills; we knew there was a niche that…
Mariam: The biggest challenge I face as a working mom is striking the right work-home balance. I’ve taken various career detours to make sure that I’m able to be home as much as possible when the kids are home. This included changing my area of legal specialization, going on flex-time schedules,…
A letter to my daughter. I often feel lonely. Being surrounded by supportive family and friends is wonderful, but after losing your dad Amr, there has been a loneliness in my heart that I’ve had a hard time filling. Amr listened to me talk for as long as I needed…
France has recently carried out discriminatory raids and house arrests against Muslims under its sweeping new state of emergency law. As these and other policies and social norms across Europe have created economic hardship, stigmatized those targeted, and traumatized children, voices that bring these issues to the forefront are more…
This presidential election season we’ve paid much attention to the anti-Muslim ideas some presidential candidates like Donald Trump spew — and rightfully so. Most political candidates would never dare make such utterances about any other religious minority group. Still, in the midst of the vitriol and alarming political rhetoric, an…
Nearly 1000 “honor” killings are reported in Pakistan each year, murders by a family member for behavior deemed “shameful,” such as a relationship outside of marriage. When Khalida Brohi lost a close friend to the practice, she resolved to campaign against it. Yet she met resistance from an unlikely source:…
TRIGGER WARNING This article or section contains information about sexual assault and/or violence which may be triggering to survivors. Up until a few years ago, Jian Ghomeshi was known to many Canadians as a singer, musician and radio broadcaster. In 2014, he gained notoriety for a much more sinister reason….
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This is not a question I ever expected I’d have to answer. As a young girl, I always assumed that I would not need to sacrifice one for the other, but rather my devotion both would inevitably pull Allah and my husband nearer to one another. Just one conversation at…
Read More
Dear M, A friend set me up with good practicing Muslim brother whom she knows. When we met and chatted, I was completely underwhelmed. He could barely speak English, and had a minimum wage job. To top it off, I wasn’t attracted to him either. He told my friend that…
Read More
On February 10, Abdul Jamil Kamawal, a 68-year-old Afghani American man, was bludgeoned to death with a shovel in a suburb of Portland, Oregon. Remembered as “a pillar in the Muslim community,” he had helped refugees settle in the region for over two decades. Abdul Jamil Kamawal He also founded…
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Note: An introduction to this piece can be found here. Anyone born into a typical Muslim family cannot avoid the central place that marriage occupies within the concept of a good Muslim life. Popular Muslim culture invests marriage with such religious significance that it is often described as comprising…
Read More
Note: This piece is an introduction to Dr. Mohammad Fadel’s scholarly article on Islamic marriage, temporary marriage, secret marriage and polygamous marriage. Sometimes even holy men have their wicked schemes. Over the past few months, my colleagues and I have learned from multiple sources about a set of Muslim celebrity-scholars…
Read More
France has recently carried out discriminatory raids and house arrests against Muslims under its sweeping new state of emergency law. As these and other policies and social norms across Europe have created economic hardship, stigmatized those targeted, and traumatized children, voices that bring these issues to the forefront are more…
Read More
This presidential election season we’ve paid much attention to the anti-Muslim ideas some presidential candidates like Donald Trump spew — and rightfully so. Most political candidates would never dare make such utterances about any other religious minority group. Still, in the midst of the vitriol and alarming political rhetoric, an…
Read More
The United States of America is one of the most popular destinations in the world, both for tourists and migrants looking for a new place to live. Each year, thousands of people from around the world flock to the USA in search of somewhere to start a business or a…
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Western and Eastern authors have historically painted a picture of the Muslim world as one in which the sexuality of Muslim women flourishes behind closed doors. It seems that in these secluded spaces a secret is passed from generation of women to generation of women about how to actively create a vibrant sexuality within the private sphere.
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In 2005, Boston University hosted the largest Muslim prayer of the year for Eid-ul-Adha. As we ushered in members of the community, I noticed, for the first time in my student life, a large number of Black Muslims. I remember, in particular, a very tall man with very long dreadlocks…
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The truth is that although I was raised Muslim, I came to feminism before I truly came to Islam. That says more about how each was presented to me than it does about the inherent value of either feminism or Islam. I am telling you the chronology of my allegiances…
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