Noor Tagouri Responds – But is Playboy the Medium for Muslim Women’s Empowerment?

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 7:44 pm By Guest Contributor

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

#WeMustWin – National Call Empowers Muslims to Action for Black Lives

Last updated on: September 29, 2016 at 10:40 am By Guest Contributor

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

Trending Trolls and Being Silent on Social Media

Last updated on: September 21, 2016 at 12:01 pm By Guest Contributor

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

Hajj Reflections: Finding Peace in the Chaos

Last updated on: September 11, 2016 at 3:15 pm By Guest Contributor

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

Hajj and the Single Woman

Last updated on: September 11, 2016 at 2:49 pm By Guest Contributor

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

The Push for Muslim School Holidays – Where Do Other Children Go On Eid?

Last updated on: September 9, 2016 at 1:57 pm By Guest Contributor

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

Hajj 2016 – Call for Submissions of Hajj, Dhul Hijjah and Eid ul Adha Stories

Last updated on: September 6, 2016 at 1:13 pm By Guest Contributor

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

France’s Burkini Ban Declared Illegal. Now What?

Last updated on: September 6, 2016 at 4:38 pm By Guest Contributor

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

On Burkini and (Athletic) Headscarf Bans – Stripping Muslim Women of their Right to Self-Determination

Last updated on: August 25, 2016 at 6:56 pm By Guest Contributor

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

Be an Ansaar: 10 Ways to Care for and Help a New Muslim

Last updated on: August 25, 2016 at 5:26 pm By Guest Contributor

Embed from Getty Images By Saud Inam Madinah, which brings to mind the beauty of the Prophet Muhammad’s (SAW) masjid, is considered the first Muslim community in Islamic history. Many of us may think that the first thing the Prophet Muhammad (SAW)* did when he came to Madinah was build a masjid, which served as the center of the community. But we are forgetting something vastly important. When the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) first entered Madinah, he didn’t just build a... Read more

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