By Zehra Rizavi Muslim-American journalist Noor Tagouri posted a response piece today to the backlash she has faced for choosing to appear in the latest issue of Playboy magazine — this sentence might seem like an oxymoron, but it is all too real. The incongruity of a hijab-wearing Muslim woman posing in a publication that for the last 63 years has built an empire on men’s desire to gawp at naked women has understandably left many bewildered. Tagouri is a... Read more
By Layla Abdullah-Poulos A profoundly difficult part of being Black in America is struggling with layers of individual, institutional and cultural racism, the need to fight against them and the added requirement that we articulate and justify our struggles to those outside of it. African American Muslims are members of a culture with multiple venues of injustices, a major one being where our racial and religious identities intersect. Many outside the African American Muslim culture are usually unaware of or... Read more
By Saud Inam Abraham Lincoln said: “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” We all know what trolls are when it comes to the internet. Those unbearably annoying, opinionated, arrogant, and argumentative. Unfortunately, we have trolls in other forms too. I call them Trending Trolls. I define a Trending Troll as someone who comments on each and every hot trending topic regardless if the troll has any understanding, knowledge or... Read more
By Naureen Aqueel I was 27 years old, and I was writing my will. I was apologizing to friends and family if I had ever done anything to hurt them. I was thinking over my life. It was an eerie feeling as I imagined the possibility of dying and never returning to my apartment. To my bed. To my books. To the fridge that still had some food in it that I hadn’t found the time to give away... Read more
By Laura P. Hajj season is always somewhat bittersweet for me. For a number of years after I converted, I didn’t have enough savings to contemplate going on hajj. More recently, as my financial situation improved for the better and as I remosqued, I began to look more seriously into what would be necessary to undertake the pilgrimage. Here I discovered a major roadblock: As a convert I have no Muslim relatives, and I have chosen not to marry. The... Read more
By Fatima Ashraf It’s Eid again. In New York City, public schools will be closed so Muslim families can celebrate. I am happy for everyone who worked tirelessly to get our holiday on the calendar, and I am happy for everyone who is able to take their kids to prayer. But honestly, I am not rejoicing that NYC’s 1.1 million public school children get the day off. Here’s why: My kids are very lucky. My husband and I are gainfully... Read more
The first nine days of Dhul Hijjah (the ninth month in the Muslim calendar) are upon us, a most blessed time leading up to the annual Hajj pilgrimage. (In fact, we are a little behind in putting this call out – but better late then never!) Millions are converging in Makkah and its surrounding areas for the pilgrimage. You probably know someone who is performing holy pilgrimage this year, and may have received messages asking for forgiveness or invitations to send in... Read more
Embed from Getty Images By Rim-Sarah Alouane If you’ve been following the ongoing burkini debacle in France, you may have concluded that since hijabs and niqabs are already banned in certain circumstances and since anti-Muslim sentiment continues to increase, that a national affirmation of the burkini ban would have been a fait accompli. However, the French legal system’s view of the public expressions of Muslim life do not necessarily correlate with that of public opinion. In fact, there was an apparent red... Read more
Embed from Getty Images By Aisha Rahman While France increases its bans on Muslim women’s dress, international sports agencies like FIBA decide whether a headscarf wearing woman is “valid” enough to play basketball. Women today are stripped, literally or otherwise, of our dignity and right to self-determination. Instead, we are reduced to what society deems acceptable attire, presentation or behavior. Muslims will soon celebrate my favorite holiday—Eid ul-Adha. Islamic history relates that God ordered prophet Ibrahim to take his wife... Read more
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Noor Tagouri and Playboy – Empowerment, Assimilation or Colonialism?
The Muslim community’s response to Noor Tagouri’s appearance in Playboy has been generally been one of condemnation or support. Despite the opposition of their differing opinions, the one thing they both share is that their responses are reactionary. Both fixate on the small picture of Noor’s actions (should she have done this?), rather than the larger picture — how does this event play into the greater context of the Muslim American experience, namely the challenge of assimilation amidst increasing... Read more