What inspired you to write this book? You’ve shared on social media that it was a decade-long project: take us through that journey briefly. Huda: I took my first stab at drafting a memoir at the height of the Iraq War. I knew I wanted to do something to put…
Read More
Writer and interfaith activist Saadia Faruqi has launched an amazing new children’s book series, Meet Yasmin. altM’s Asma Uddin sat down with her to talk about her inspiration for the series and her path to success. altM: Saadia, welcome to altM. You’ve written some really wonderful pieces for us in the past,…
Read More
Over the last year, Muslim artists, educators, authors, designers, and engineers have been busy creating a world of new products to serve the Muslim community in North America. For many of these entrepreneurs, the month of Ramadan is a critical time to gain support to sustain their efforts. Amin Aaser,…
Read More
Tamim Sadikali is the author of “Dear Infidel,” a novel which he describes as a piece of literature about “…love, hate, longing and sexual dysfunction, all sifted through [the lens of] the war on terror…” Sadikali was born in Kent, England in 1973 and studied Mathematics at Warwick University. His…
Read More
[title maintitle=”” subtitle=”For your summer reading list”] Most people who haven’t read science fiction and fantasy (SFF) define it by Hollywood blockbusters. If they’ve read SFF, they don’t think of it as such. “Fahrenheit 451? 1984?” I’ve heard from members of our Muslim communities. “Those are science fiction?” While these…
Read More
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s 2015 New Year’s resolution was to read an important book every two weeks and discuss it with the Facebook community. My next book for A Year of Books is Muqaddimah by Ibn Khaldun. It’s a history of the world written by an intellectual… Posted by Mark…
Read More
On February 27, 2015 at 6:00pmEST/9:00pm PST, altMuslimah (“altM”) hosted the #MuslimWomenArts Twitter chat. This conversation was a prelude to a celebration of Muslim Women Artists at altM’s 6th birthday on March 8th, hosted by Princeton Muslim Life in Princeton, NJ. We were joined by Aisha Saeed, a rising literary star…
Read More
Mehded Maryam Sinclair’s YA novel When Wings Expand is a beautiful account of a young girl’s process of coming to terms with her mother’s death. After her mother’s passing, Nur struggles to adjust to life without her mother and subsequently becomes a source of strength for Taqwa, a young girl battling cancer.
Read More
Some time ago, I complained to a friend that there were few good children’s books on Muslims or Islamic themes. I’m an American-born Muslim woman, and I was looking for books to share with my older daughter Maryam, then three. I wanted lively, upbeat bedtime books that would introduce her to our faith and identity while emphasizing universal values.
My friend, a thoughtful educator at a local Islamic school invited me to visit the school’s library. Unfortunately, that visit largely confirmed my dismal view.
It is a universal truth—although not universally acknowledged—that we all share the desire to love and be loved for who we are. We see ourselves reflected in love stories, regardless of how far removed in time and place they might be from our lives. The perennial popularity of period romances—“Downton Abbey” anyone?—shows that beneath the robes or corsets, the heart flutters in ways that we instinctively recognize even today.
Read More