On Sunday January 28th, a jury in Kingston, Canada returned a guilty verdict against Mohammed Shafia, a 58 year old Afghani immigrant, his wife and their 21 year old son in the murder of Shafia’s three daughters and first wife. Shafia was married to both women at the time of the murder.
Read MoreWhat do butterflies, Javed Mohammed, and the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winners have in common? The answer: Purpose! The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women has been observed on November 25th since 1960 (although officially designated as such by the United Nations in 1989), its roots deeply seated in the brutal death by beating of the Dominican Mirabal sisters.
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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.”
Read More << 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.
Before we left home, I had a long conversation with Zayd, our nine year old. I explained to him that we were going to Staples to shop for school supplies for underprivileged children in our community. I asked him gently to please not ask for anything for himself, that this trip was about doing something good for someone else. I reminded Zayd that I had already ordered his school supplies and that he would find them sitting on his desk on the first day of school.
Read MoreA recent Huffington Post editorial, “Women Retake Islam,” calls on Muslims to improve the status of women by “rediscovering the progressive jewel at the heart of Islam.” The author, Kamran Pasha, rightly attributes much of the misogyny in places like Saudi Arabia to regional customs rather than religion. Yet despite the many valid points he raises, he undermines his own argument by selectively disregarding elements of the Islamic tradition that seem unfriendly to women. This inconsistency begs a question which cannot be overlooked…
Read MoreOf the various strands of Muslim reformers and reformists, the Tablighi Jamaat, a Muslim association composed of volunteers and centered on internal individual and community regeneration, is a phenomenon that has taken form in recent times. The first convention of the Tablighi Jamaat was created and led by Maulana Muhammad Ilyas, and took place in New Delhi, India around 1927.
Read MoreI was raised in a very religious Christian household. Religion is as much a part of our family’s identity as are the black eyed peas, corn bread, and greens we eat after Sunday service. At any given time, guests who walk into our home would be greeted by Christian, TBN/Moody Bible/Focus on the Family orchestra blaring on all three televisions and the radio. Outwardly, I sang in the church choir, orchestrated college trips to service, and dutifully made communion every first Sunday. But internally, a storm of confusion brewed.
Read MoreMuch has been said about Imam Abdul Rauf, the Imam behind the proposed Park 51 Islamic Cultural Center in New York City, which would stand a few blocks from the site of the 9/11 attacks nine years ago today. In the intense controversy surrounding the construction of the community center, he has been called a “radical,” despite ample evidence of his longtime efforts to do interfaith work and bridge misunderstandings between Muslims and other communities.
Read MoreWith one-fifth of a nation under water and sluggish donations to fund relief efforts for flood victims, there is a fragile element within a drowning, disenfranchised population, a group that has historically and categorically been cast as a lower-grade victim in times of disasters – women. The Association for Women’s Rights in Development notes that “Gender-biased attitudes and stereotypes can complicate and extend women’s recovery, for example if women do not seek or do not receive timely care for physical and mental trauma experienced in disasters.”
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