“Men are the qawwamoon (protectors and maintainers) of women, because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the other, and because they [the men] support them [the women] from their [the men’s] means.“ Qur’an 4:34 Most Muslims, and perhaps even some non-Muslims, are familiar with this contentious Qur’anic verse. The Arabic…
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This holiday season I’m fully embracing Christmas. Those of you who know me know I’m not a little bit Muslim. I’m ardently Muslim. I love dhikr, I celebrate when my kids recite chapters of the Qur’an, I quote from its meaning in conversation, I talk about the meaning and solace…
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I have found myself contemplating death ever since I returned from Hajj a few months ago. People perform Hajj to fulfill a religious obligation to God, to renew their faith in God, and to experience a sense of community with Muslims from around the world. In this sense, Hajj is…
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This article is part of a collaborative series commissioned by altMuslimah and Jewschool to promote interfaith dialogue and understanding between Muslim and Jewish communities experiencing a rise in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. This piece was originally published on October 17, 2017. At a time when political upheaval and rising waves of anti-Semitism and…
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Last week Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to be a life-long member of the highest legal court of arguably the most the most powerful country in the world—he was chosen as a United States Supreme Court justice. From almost any spiritual or faith-based perspective, this appointment corrodes the soul of the…
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The elephant in every room Into which I stride All eyes on Miss Never the Bride Walking down the lonely aisle of life Holding a wilting bouquet of pride Faith in God, Hope in community lost Receiving judgment, hurtful thoughts, Wrecking ball stares Pity for a state no one cares…
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1979. I’m seven-years-old piled in a hatchback with my three siblings. I hear the gravel crunch under the car’s wheels as it slows down and my father’s voice announces softly “It’s ‘asr (the afternoon prayer) time.” As cars rush by on I-5, I kneel with my family some forty feet off…
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When I arrived for Eid-ul-Adha prayers at Noor Cultural Center in Toronto, my hopes were not high. I have been, over the years, to dozens of mosques, in half a dozen countries, on four continents. Sometimes, I’ve been looking for a mosque to call home, a source of intellectual and spiritual…
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It has taken intense intellectual fighting and scientific research on the part of a few to convince the many that women’s brains are not significantly different—read “weaker”—than men’s. (Our corpora collosa tend to be larger actually, but who’s measuring? Oh, yes, centuries of patriarchal thought patterns.) The most infamous example…
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Ramadan of 2018 came to a close two weeks ago and the holy month reminded me of a tragedy—a wholly preventable one—that took place during Ramadan of 2015. Three years ago about 1,000 Pakistanis died during Ramadan. They died because piety was thrust upon these impoverished day-wage workers. You see, Pakistani dictator…
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