By Muqtedar Khan “And Salam (peace) be upon me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive! (Quran 19:33)” For the lovers of Prophets, the year 2015 has been a very special one. First, because the solar year is longer than the lunar one by about 12 days, Muslims were able to celebrate two Mawlids in the same calendar year (solar). Secondly, for the first time in many many years, both Christmas and Mawlid have occurred... Read more
By Susan Campbell Too often, the public face of evangelical Christianity is that of a shouting preacher sweating into the microphone so much that he’s (it’s always a he) shorting out the lights in his fervor to send you, and you, and YOU to hell. To the administrators of Wheaton College: Baby Jesus is crying. And the lights are flickering. In a show of solidarity with her Muslim brothers and sisters, Wheaton College political science associate professor Larycia Hawkins recently... Read more
By Farouk Peru As a lifelong fan of Star Wars (I went to see “The Empire Strikes Back” at the age of four), it is perhaps very predicable for me to link it to another great passion of my life – Islam. At one point, I watched at least one of the original trilogy every night. If you mentioned any scene to me, I could reel off the dialogue. I even played its RPGs and board games, plunging me in... Read more
By Margari Hill On November 21st, the Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative kick-started the #BlackInMSA hashtag. It began with a conversation on our steering committee’s WhatsApp group about the current tensions between black students and their non-black peers in Muslim Student Associations the night before. This conversation was important given the current struggle Black Muslim students face in light of Islamophobia and #BlackLivesMatter. I tweeted about my own 15 years of experience with Muslim student organizing. Over the years, I have found... Read more
By Afeefa Syeed “I just don’t even know how to feel; I’m either numb in my mind or hurting in my heart.” Over the past decade and half, American Muslims have seen aspects of this complicated identity play out: Besides more than one family losing a relative in the Twin Towers, in another family a child’s Purple Heart fighter jet pilot uncle ran military missions over cities of countries where his extended family relatives live. In another, an aunt’s life... Read more
By Farouk Peru I went to bed last night praying. The news of the San Bernardino murders were just breaking out and obviously, I prayed it would not be Muslims who were responsible. Today, God answered my prayers by allowing it to be just so. The suspect is not only a Muslim but bears my very name – Syed Rizwan Farook. Sigh … some years ago, there was another one — a would-be under bomber whose name was Umar Farouk... Read more
By Alan Howard America today is grieving. Two mass shootings on the same day, and more families weeping and knowing that their mother, father, sister, brother, wife, husband will not be coming home. Last night and again this morning I found myself asking over and over, “why does this keep happening?” And by “this” I mean two different things, gun violence and disaffected Muslims (regardless of political motives) killing people. I believe that we have two separate issues here: radicalized... Read more
By Dr. Maha Hilal They can take everything you own-your property, your best years, all your joys, all your good works, everything down to your last shirt — but you’ll always have your dreams so you can reinvent your stolen world. — Yasmina Khadra When I hear the word “Guantanamo,” there is little other than the notorious prison that I think about. It is difficult to comprehend that a city with vibrant life and culture exists in a space that... Read more
By Dr. Maha Hilal The U.S.-lead “War on Terror” in response to the 9/11 attacks lead to a myriad of disastrous policies that largely and indiscriminately targeted Muslims and Muslim Americans. One of the biggest stains on the American legacy in this regard is the Guantanamo Bay prison to house an exclusively Muslim male population. Guantanamo Bay began housing the first prisoners on January 11, 2002. Located on occupied Cuban land, the prison has housed close to 800 detainees. Most... Read more
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Douse the Fires of Fear – Join the Hope Initiative
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