Good Muslim News Stories of 2017

Admit it. When 2017 began, you, like many other Muslim Americans, probably faced it with a sense of foreboding. After all, 2016 itself was a tumultuous year, with numerous beloved stars, authors and icons having passed on as well as bearing witness to the (insert your adjective here) election that gave us Donald J. Trump as our president. Then, 2017 began with Trump’s inauguration and a flurry of executive orders and breaking news that had most of overwhelmed by updates on our phones or screaming headlines on the news about everything that was changing (and not necessarily for the better) in our world. But, like many have pointed out, the silver lining in all of this was a coming together of communities and allies to stand up for the rights of Muslims, Jews, Latinos, Blacks, LGBTQ and other marginalized communities. We were exposed to our privileges by communities who had been suffering for decades and now saw many Muslims grow aware of their precarious status in America. We learned to search within ourselves as well as partnering with true allies to stand up for humanity.

So, when we began looking for good Muslim news stories from 2017 to share with you, as per Altmuslim’s annual tradition, we didn’t have to search that far. The stories were all around us, from Muslims and other communities banding together to fight Trump’s travel ban to Muslim women becoming mainstream icons to Muslims fasting in Ramadan rushing to wake sleeping neighbors ahead of the terrible Grenfall Tower fire. Check out the top ten good Muslim news stories of 2017 (in no particular order)!

Next: #MuslimBan, Muslim Women and Hollywood Highlights