Enith Morillo is an emerging freelance writer whose work has been featured in Al-Jumuah Magazine, Islamic Ink, The Message International, and the recently published “Many Poetic Voices, One Faith” and “Many Voices, One Faith: Islamic Fiction Stories.” Her writing spans from poetry, to career-related essays, to articles on a myriad of topics of contemporary interest. Originally from Venezuela, she is a Galileo scholar and a graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, holding a Masters in Electrical & Biomedical Engineering. A long time advocate for girls and women pursuing careers in Engineering, Math and Science, she has volunteered for various programs supporting this cause, including GEMS and Inspiring Minds. Enith is currently the Media Liaison for the Healthy Families Initiative, a program aimed at addressing domestic abuse in the Rhode Island Muslim community. She is also a member of the Islamic Writers Alliance. She can be reached at advertising[at]altmuslimah.com.
Since the beginning of time, women have been unequivocally blessed with the ability to share in the creation of the human race, and have been revered for the tremendous responsibility of carrying life within their wombs. In tandem, some women have pondered on the undisputable weight of this responsibility, and instead have chosen “the road less traveled,” deliberately shying away from motherhood and foregoing its glory altogether. For women, witnessing how life grows within and nurturing that life from the time of conception can be the ultimate spiritual experience. It not only intrinsically ties women to the Divine, but indeed makes paradise itself lie at her feet. (14 comments)
The prophet (saw) said: “The sun and the moon are two signs from amongst Allah’s signs and they do not eclipse because of the death or life of anyone.” Although October was designated as Domestic Violence Awareness Month back in 1995 by leading organizations across North America, for Muslims February seems to be a pivotal month for raising awareness of the presence of Domestic Violence in the Muslim community. The tragic death of sister Aasiya Zubair Hassan on February 2009 served as a catalyst for the birth and rebirth of programs and organizations addressing this social evil. (2 comments)
Muslim women have often used literary works, paintings, or other forms of artistic expression to paint a deeply sensitive and intimate portrayal of how Islam, culture, and society impact their realities. “Breaking the Veils: Women Artists from the Islamic World” is an art exhibition organized by the Royal Society of Fine Arts in Jordan and the Pan-Mediterranean Women Artists Network of Greece, to dispel the negative stereotypes surrounding women throughout the Islamic world, including Indonesia, Yemen, and Morocco. The showcase consists of 72 art pieces by 51 women representing a spectrum of religious beliefs in over 20 Islamic countries. (No comments)
Prophet Muhammad (saw) said, in the hadith narrated by Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri (ra): “You will certainly follow the ways of those who came before you, span by span, cubit by cubit, until even if they were to enter a lizard’s hole, you would follow them.” We said, “O Messenger of Allah, (do you mean) the Jews and Christians?” He said, “Who else?!” (1 comment)
Muslims throughout the world are fierce in their love and respect of Muslim religious scholars, whom Allah (swt) and His beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw) have so strongly praised in the Qur’an and ahadith. Endless are the narrations on the excellence of those who seek knowledge and teach it, those who memorize and recite our sacred scripture, and those who sacrifice their lives in the pursuit of knowledge. (No comments)
Muslims face many a challenge when forbidding evil, and often lack the wisdom and sincerity to do so effectively. We might be quick to judge the new sister in our community who does not wear hijab, but fail to admonish the veteran sister who attends the study circle and backbites. Or we might stand against the brother who sells liquor, but will not speak up against the religious leader who commits wrongdoings. (11 comments)
The existent double standards that occur when polygyny is practiced, particularly when it is kept secret from the other wife or wives, make it acceptable and praiseworthy for a Muslim man to marry (or marry more than one wife) to guard his chastity, while when a Muslim sister marries for that reason only, she is considered lewd and desperate. (2 comments)
The Prophet has stated, "The greatest sin amongst all sins in the eyes of God is of a person, who marries a woman and divorces her once his needs have been fulfilled and also usurps her dowry in the process…" (Al-Hakim and Al-Bayhaqi Ibn Umar). In the last couple of decades, the American Muslim community has unfortunately witnessed a growing trend in which respectable, well-known Muslim men marry and then divorce Muslim women in a secret, serial manner. (31 comments)
News briefs for week of August 23, 2010 - This week, A Bangladesh court ruled that people cannot be forced to wear religious clothing, a youth organization in Massachusetts urges officials for more comprehensive cultural sensitivity training of teachers, Emirati women frequent hair salons less during the month of Ramadan, and the Christian Science Monitor describes the pro-women's rights stance of one of the leaders behind the proposed Islamic center near ground zero. (August 24, 2010) (0 comments)
News briefs for week of August 16, 2010 - This week, the government of Afghanistan releases statistics on alarmingly high suicide attempt rates by Afghan women, and an Islamic theologian recounts his experience on a nudist beach that led to his conversion to Islam. (August 17, 2010) (0 comments)
Ramadan: A wife’s perspective (and a husband’s) - When my husband finally makes his way down the stairs, my frustration abates and he and I sit across from each other and share our early morning meal. We speak intermittently and keep one eye trained on the clock to ensure we finish our food by the time dawn prayers begin. Despite the sparse conversation and the hurried meal, I enjoy the feeling that we are both beginning our obligatory fasts together, as a unit. (August 13, 2010) (1 comment)
News briefs for week of August 9, 2010 - This week in the news, why pregnant women exempt from fasting still fast, Taliban responds to TIME's cover story on Aisha, Satirist claims he is not joking about his plans to open an Islamic gay bar next to Cordoba Mosque, and a young American Muslim man abstains from alcohol and dating for the month of Ramadan. (August 10, 2010) (0 comments)
News briefs for week of August 2, 2010 - Brazil offers asylum to Iranian women sentenced to death by stoning, veiled women pass through Canadian airport checkpoint without being checked, Malaysian reality show crowns its champion imam, and a few British gay Muslims find support from their local imams. (August 3, 2010) (0 comments)
News Briefs for the week of July 24, 2010 - This week, Saudi clerics seek more Muslim maids and say its okay for women to uncover their faces in the presence of burqa bans. Two French women in burqinis were refused entry into a pool, and two Muslim women in England are not allowed onto a public bus. (July 27, 2010) (0 comments)
