Sex is described as many things: it can be an act of passion for some, physical gratification for others, a necessity for procreation, an act of worship for people of faith, or some combination thereof. It is also a word and experience that is often loaded with many emotions: joy,…
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As Salaamu Alaikum. I have had some Muslim friends asking questions about certain rules and regulations in Islam. Specifically, it was asked “Why don’t we women pray or fast during our menses?”. Now, the short answer to that is “God said so”. It is agreed upon by all the scholars…
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I was 16 the first time I experienced a panic attack. I was standing by the stairs of my parents’ New Jersey townhouse, looking at myself in the mirror, admiring the way my new turquoise blue salwar kameez draped down in graceful folds. Suddenly the room started spinning and I…
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On Friday, Professor Tariq Ramadan, who is arguably Europe’s most influential Muslim public intellectual of the last twenty years, was charged in Paris with two counts of rape and put under criminal investigation. Since these allegations first surfaced last October, Professor Ramadan has repeatedly denied them. The campaign group, “Justice…
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I was never a fan of social engineering until I became involved in the interfaith world and realized that pluralism is not intuitive. It takes conscious effort. In other words, it takes some engineering. There are few organic social conditions that propel people from different faith traditions to meaningfully engage…
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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. Trumpian White nationalism and supremacy are transnational and have found their mirror globally, in emboldened movements that threaten both…
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One of my earliest memories is of laying my head in my mother’s lap as she silently wept during a majlis, a gathering where a scholar recites the history of the slaughter of Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) family. She would gently stroke my hair with one hand and use the other…
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This Ashura, I’m more thankful than ever that I’ve had this lifetime of training, and of understanding to prepare me, to give me a sense of identity, to give me strenght to continue to stand up against injustice and to stand up in solidarity. I can smell the incense burning,…
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Avigayil Halpern: Sarah, something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately is the ways in which the burden of creating progressive religious community often falls on women, even as men position themselves as eager allies and members of such a community. Communities that seek out women to lead them give…
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There are many things to be concerned about in the political and social fabric of America these days. But there is also much evidence that diverse groups of Americans see themselves as part of a shared community and a shared humanity. On May 26, 2017, 53-year-old Ricky John Best and…
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