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By Tasneem Lat, December 22, 2011
For six days, Muslims and non-Muslims alike were shocked by the seeming abduction of Aisha Khan. The Kansas student who was studying for her finals left a disturbing voicemail for her sister about a man who had been harassing her. When her family rushed to campus, they found her belongings, including her phone, in a neat pile on a picnic table with no trace of Aisha. This, coupled with the voicemail Aisha had left, was possibly the worst scenario any mother, father, sister, brother or husband could imagine.  ( ) |
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A plea to help find Aisha Khan By Sobia Lodhi Kamran, December 21, 2011 |
Before fajr as I got up to get ready for my first prayer of the day, the words from my prior conversation with my husband dwindled in my mind. The khutbah this Friday was about how numb we were towards everyone and everything, hiding behind technology, securing every moment with mindless engagements. He said, "In this time we are so numbed by facebooking, tweeting, watching Netflix that we actually can't genuinely feel a single emotion towards someone else's pain. We've got so much to deal with in our own lives that we'd actually rather be desensitized to other people's pain." ( ) |
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Stuff to cram into my kids’ heads By Nausheena Ahmed, December 14, 2011 |
Men. You can’t live with them and you can’t live without them. Children. You can’t live with them and you can’t sell them on eBay. And sometimes, sometimes you really want to write that ad. But since that transaction would be illegal, I like to take a deep yoga breath and focus on turning the little people in my home into humans I would actually want to spend time with. ( ) |
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My book and my friend By Natalie Abraham, December 8, 2011 |
<< This piece complements Mariam Sheikh's piece, "The Reawakening." >>
By the time I gathered the courage to email my friend Mariam for recommendations on local mosques, I had been keeping my secret for weeks. I was a half-closeted Muslim. My conversion to Islam came about with blinding speed and by accident. ( ) |
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The Reawakening By Mariam Sheikh, December 7, 2011 |
<< This piece complements Natalie Abraham's piece, "My book and my friend." >>
On a summer day two years ago, I sat in my office lost in thought. A half written legal brief sat on my desk while I focused on the river beneath my office window, my stress level high and my spirits low. Often as a college student I would turn to prayer to pull me out of a rut, and in law school I would open the Quran to get re-energized when overwhelmed by classes and work. ( ) |
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Searching for American “nu ahongs” By Zehra Rizavi, December 6, 2011 |
<< From the AltMuslimah Archives >>
A quiet Muslim community known as the Hui that has long been buried among China's Buddhist majority has recently been receiving attention for its nu ahong - female spiritual leaders. While the spotlight is new, the concept is not. As early as the late Ming dynasty (around the 17th century), the faithful set up Muslim schools catering exclusively to young females and by the arrival of the late Qing dynasty in the 19th century, these schools had transformed into mosques operated by and serving women. In the coming decades, the practice of female Imams, if you will, permeated all Chinese Muslim societies. ( ) |
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Part 2: Time to end gender segregation in mosques By Jehanzeb Dar, November 28, 2011 |
<< From the Altmuslimah Archives >>
Mosques need to be more inclusive of Muslim women. We should encourage our sisters to be leaders in our communities, as Imams, scholars, educators, directors, activists, artists, and so on. These ideas do not stem from “Western liberalism” or “Western decadence,” but rather these values of gender equality and inclusiveness are rooted in Islam. If we do not actively oppose the sexism and misogyny in our communities, they will become permanent features of the practice of our faith. ( ) |
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Part 1: Time to end gender segregation in mosques By Jehanzeb Dar, November 26, 2011 |
<< From the AltMuslimah Archives >>
Muslim male privilege is a reality that cannot be denied. It is not as simple as Muslim men enjoying greater space, comfort and accessibility in the mosque; the ramifications extend further. Muslim men dominate the leadership positions in the mosque and in the world of scholarship and can abuse their power to preach sexist interpretations of Islamic law and tradition in order to further control women. ( ) |
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Forbidding evil: Muslims “cast the first stone” By Enith Morillo, November 21, 2011 |
<< From the AltMuslimah Archives >>
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. ( ) |
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The myth of gender equality among Muslim Americans By Uzma Mariam Ahmed, November 17, 2011 |
<< From the AltMuslimah Archives >>
When my husband and I leave for work together every morning, we have completely different experiences. I keep thinking that I am making a choice to go to work and leave my child. My husband walks out with the satisfying knowledge that he is fulfilling his duty as a father and husband by going out to provide for his family. ( ) |
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My first hajj By Farah El-Sharif, November 16, 2011 |
<< From the AltMuslimah Archives >>
Our journey began with the intention of ihram: “I’ve made my skin, my hair, and my nails sacred for You, Allah.” I had prayed to be enveloped by enough light to lead me all the way to Mecca from my bedroom in hilly Amman, Jordan. Qibla-bound, we first stopped in Jeddah. I tried to remain indifferent to the lavishness of the glitzy port-city. Instead, I was excited by the prospect of completing umrah under the clear, starry nights of Mecca. ( ) |
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A jihad for love: The quest for agapé in Islam By G. Willow Wilson, November 9, 2011 |
<< From the AltMuslimah Archives >>
What the Greeks called agape, the boundary-less, self-sacrificing love between believers, or between a believer and God, is the struggle in Islam to serve God, and one another, out of love. This jihad of human potential against the jihad of violent ideology, if resurrected, has the power to change the world. ( ) |
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The rise of the American ‘rockstar’ imams By Nadia Mohammad, November 2, 2011 |
R-O-C-K-S-T-A-R, is what I thought when I first saw Sheikh Hamza Yusuf speak at a Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) conference in Chicago. I was in awe, not just of his words, but by size of the crowd. This was not your average local halaqah (gathering) – this was a crowd of thousands who had traveled from all over the United States to attend the conference and to see Yusuf. ( ) |
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Halloween Muslim style: To treat or not to trick? By Nausheena Ahmed, October 31, 2011 |
Growing up in the West, there are few holiday traditions that Muslim kids share with their classmates. They do not participate in the, “Whatcha get from Santa?” discussions or “What did the Easter Bunny bring you?” conversations. After Halloween, though, I remember being in the thick of the candy bartering sessions, and I wanted my children to enjoy the same sense of belonging and participation. But my three children all attended an Islamic school and it never occurred to me that the school may view Halloween as anything but innocuous fun. ( ) |
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The back row for menstruating middle schoolers By Shazia Riaz, October 27, 2011 |
A photograph in the “Toronto Star” shows three rows of young Muslim females, all students at Valley Park Middle school, prostrating their heads in unison on a crisp white sheet in the school cafeteria as they say one of the five daily prayers. A short distance behind them, are eight girls wearing modest clothing and neatly wrapped headscarves who sit quietly, conspicuous in their observation, rather than active participation, in the communal prayer. ( ) |
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The hypocrisy of misdirected faith By Fahad Faruqui, October 26, 2011 |
After reading the news of 60 masked men, armed with iron rods, who barged into an all-girls high school in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, to enforce their vision of female modesty, I asked myself this question: what right do these "keepers-of-faith" have to rigorously impose Islamic morals on other people? I asked myself the same question when I read the news that Saudi morality police—acting as “God’s agents” on earth to prevent sin—beat up a woman and a man accompanying her on suspicion of dating. They turned out to be related. ( ) |
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