#OurThreeWinners: What Muslims Still Need to Learn One Year Later

Last updated on: February 9, 2016 at 8:25 pm By Guest Contributor

By Saud Inam I remember three times in my life where I was shaken to my core and moved to tears. The first was when I lost my childhood friend to suicide in 2004, the second was when I survived my car accident in 2011 and the third was at a vigil for #OurThreeWinners, Deah Barakat and Yusor and Razan Abu-Salha. The three young Muslim Americans were murdered in a hate crime by their neighbor Craig Hicks. The media initially... Read more

To Know Black History is to Know Islamic History

Last updated on: February 6, 2018 at 12:21 am By Guest Contributor

By Hakeem Muhammed True Black history has been obfuscated and replaced with nefarious Eurocentric myths. Africa is portrayed as a place without history: primitive, inferior and impoverished. The noble descendants of Africa are by extension portrayed as incompetent and inconsequential actors in world history. To counter these Eurocentric tall-tells that masquerade as objective history, Carter G. Woodson first proposed Black History Week, which later expanded to a month. Muslims, who have been duty-bound to submit to Quranic revelations of getting to... Read more

Ask A Muslim – A Simple Question that Opened a Floodgate of Humanity

Last updated on: February 6, 2016 at 1:39 pm By Guest Contributor

By Sebastian Robins Mid-winter in New England sees about seven hours of daylight, and that’s only when the sun is shining. More often than not the skies are grey or spitting rain, and it feels like everyone and everything is contracting into itself, pulling up collars against the onslaught of winter, and keeping eyes down. It was into this darkness several weeks ago that my family and I arrived at my mom’s house south of Boston to help her recover... Read more

Black to the Future: A Black History Month Reflection from Margari Aziza Hill

Last updated on: January 31, 2016 at 11:39 pm By Guest Contributor

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of articles and reflections for Black History month. By Margari Aziza Hill Know from whence you came. If you know whence you came, there are absolutely no limitations to where you can go. — James Baldwin I was in sixth grade when first learned of Black History month. My teacher turned to me, the only identifiably Black student in class, and asked, “Margari, were any of your ancestors slaves?” I shrunk... Read more

The Hope Initiative: Changing The World One Act of Kindness at a Time

Last updated on: January 26, 2016 at 3:01 pm By Guest Contributor

By Reema Kamran “Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolution.” — Khalil Gibran At the end of 2015, friends, community members and family were discussing the state of the world. They were particularly concerned about the sadness and the fear that surrounded us. The conversation circled around how to take back the narrative, shift the paradigm in our community and our country back towards hope and love. Eman Hassaballa Aly wrote to... Read more

Who Speaks for Islam in America?

Last updated on: January 21, 2016 at 8:31 pm By Guest Contributor

By Khurram Dara Who speaks for Islam in America? After tragedies like the ones that occurred in Paris and San Bernardino, the dearth of central leadership in Muslim America has become increasingly apparent. While a host of Muslim organizations, communities and thought-leaders routinely condemn violence committed in the name of Islam, their voices are often dispersed and drowned out. When we move beyond mere condemnation to talk about what action can be taken to curb the radicalism crippling Islam, who... Read more

The Value of Interpretation – Why Declaring the Quran to be Fallible is Wrong

Last updated on: January 15, 2016 at 12:21 am By Guest Contributor

By Farouk Peru In our current socio-political milieu, the world of Islam is coming under close scrutiny by the rest of the humanity, especially the West. Islamophobia is a veritable industry and many individuals make their fortunes by generating racial hatred towards Muslims. In this climate, one can only expect there to be criticism towards sources of the Islamic tradition. Rather than this being a source of despair, I think one should welcome it, especially by those who have insider’s... Read more

Wheaton College v. Prof. Larycia Hawkins – Why This Evangelical Feels Her Potential Firing is Wrong

Last updated on: January 6, 2016 at 1:05 am By Guest Contributor

By Susan Campbell Score one for the letter of the law and immaturity of spirit. On Tuesday, evangelical Wheaton College announced it had started a procedure that could result in the firing of Dr. Larycia Hawkins, who’d announced on Facebook late last year that she would wear a hijab during Advent to show solidarity with Muslims. She’d also said that Muslims and Christians worship the same God. In a statement posted on the school’s website, administrators said they’d reached an... Read more

Year in Review: Top Ten Good Muslim News Stories of 2015

Last updated on: January 1, 2016 at 4:01 pm By Guest Contributor

By Altmuslim Editors Sure, we could talk about the Paris attacks, Charlie Hebdo, Isis, San Bernardino, Donald Trump, Islamophobia, anti-Muslim rhetoric and other things that made 2015 a difficult year for Muslim news, but why not end 2015 and look to 2016 by focusing on the positive? Because a lot of good things happened in 2015, from charity initiatives to the recognition of Eid as a holiday in various school districts to Muslim heroes responding to terrorism and violence to... Read more

Douse the Fires of Fear – Join the Hope Initiative

Last updated on: December 29, 2015 at 7:21 pm By Guest Contributor

By Eman Hassaballa Aly As we come to the close of 2015, the world has seen much sadness and destruction. I’m not planning on making this a retrospective of the year’s tragedies, but I just want to focus in on one for the moment: Recently, when I was speaking to someone from Southern California, he said to me, [San Bernardino is] our 9/11. A local tragedy became a national one in San Bernardino. Muslims were suspected to be the perpetrators of the... Read more

What does "Melchizedek" mean in Hebrew?