Continuing our series on the history of Muslim Media Activism in the Bay Area from last month, I was recruited by my local mosque, the South Bay Islamic Association (SBIA) in San Jose, CA shortly after the tragedies of Sept. 11th, 2001. According to Mohammad Azizuddin, the former Vice-President of the Mosque Board at the time, "[The] Majority of the SBIA membership is from San Jose, which is the largest city in the bay area in terms of Muslim population, but had no formal media representation to … [Read more...]
The Religion of ‘Star Wars’: Why People of All Faiths Embrace the Force
May 26, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Yoda, seen here in The Empire Strikes Back, has parallels in many religious traditions. (Photo: Everett)Gwynne Watkins WriterYahoo Movies May 25, 2017A lifelong Star Wars fan from California, Irfan Rydhan always saw echoes of his Muslim faith in the concept of the Force. But when he began researching the parallels between Star Wars and Islam for a blog post, he was surprised to find a traditional Sufi figure that reminded him of Yoda. “Al-Khidr is described as a green being w … [Read more...]
Muslim Media Activism, Circa 1998
May 13, 2017 by Leave a Comment
In 1998, I had been out of college (UC Berkeley) for 1 year and was living in Oakland, CA. After a year of working, I decided to join my friend Javaid, who recently got his degree in Radio & TV Broadcasting from SFSU to start a Video Production Company to serve the needs of the American Muslim Community (we wanted to make a feature film, but ended up making wedding videos instead). As there were always negative stereotypes of Muslims in the media (even before Sept. 11th, 2001), we also w … [Read more...]
Dubai: A Halal Foodie’s Paradise
February 10, 2017 by Leave a Comment
I recently went on a family vacation to Dubai and stayed there for a little over 2 weeks. Dubai is known for many things, including extravagance as well as incompetence, but almost everyone agrees that it is one of the best places in the world for foodies. Being a "Halal Foodie" myself (someone who only eats Halal food), I of course ate a bunch of American "Fast Food", since I can rarely eat that here in the United States. But I also tried a variety of ethnic foods from around the world such a … [Read more...]
How to Hang on to your Faith in College
December 19, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Whether you are studying on campus or for a remote program such as an online RN to BSN degree, having a religious faith can often be tough at college. No matter which faith you follow or what your beliefs are, many college students often find it more difficult to continue attending church or other religious gatherings, and many put their faith on the back-burner in favor of making new friends and putting time into studying for their degree. However, there’s no need to forget about your faith if y … [Read more...]
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