By Arzu Kaya-Uranli Honey, don’t get me wrong, but maybe it’s better if you remove these Arabic words from above your door for a while,” my 70-year-old neighbor softly advised me as she was leaving my house. I must have given her a puzzled look because she explained, “Crazy things are happening in the world, and people who don’t know you might get the wrong idea about you.” I grimaced and responded, “I’ll take my “besmele” down when you take your... Read more
By Junaid Afeef Not all accusations of police abuse may be legitimate, but for all but the most spurious allegations, the truth can only be uncovered after an impartial and transparent review. This is why independent investigations, at home and abroad, are indispensable for maintaining trust between the public and those charged with securing the public’s safety. Whether it is a municipal police department in Ferguson, MO, the Federal Bureau of Investigations’ pursuit of violent extremists within the American Muslim... Read more
Editorial Note: In recent months, we’ve seen more coverage of Islam by the Patheos Atheist channel as well as a growing spotlight on the relationship and interactions between Atheists and Muslims in wake of the Chapel Hill shootings. One of Patheos’ Atheist bloggers, Kaveh Mousavi, considers himself an ex-Muslim and writes about his conversion-to-deconversion process here. In efforts to explore these stories and interactions more, here is a piece from Farouk A. Peru, who dubs himself a “Quranist Muslim,” about attending... Read more
By Margari Hill Often, when we talk about the history of Islam in America, we focus on the great men and their big ideas. This month, in looking at the BlackLivesMatter Movement through the life and legacy of Malcolm X, I thought of the many women who were also part of our nation’s freedom struggle. Just as we remember Malcolm, we should acknowledge Ella Collins, the half-sister of Malcolm X, Betty Shabazz, his wife, and Malcolm X’s six daughters—all these women both pioneered... Read more
By Sahar Aziz Not just anyone has the capacity for cold-blooded murder. The perpetrator would have to be either a malicious criminal or severely mentally ill. In the tragic murder of three Muslim students (one at UNC-Chapel Hill, two at NC State), the perpetrator was a criminal whose motives reveal a strong bias against all religions, with particular barbs aimed at Islam. Police have blamed the incident on a petty parking dispute to explain this hateful act, which cut short the lives of three brilliant... Read more
Editorial Note: After an investigation lasting more than two months, the former president of the Institute for Islamic Education in Elgin, Ill, Mohammad Abdullah Saleem, has been charged with criminal sexual abuse for an incident involving a 23-year-old woman, which occurred in April 2014. Saleem, 75, is in custody. The school, founded in 1989, is a full-time residential and day educational institute aiming to provide (according to its website) “an education in the sacred and intellectual foundation of Islamic heritage.”... Read more
By Junaid M. Afeef President Obama’s remarks at this year’s National Prayer Breakfast — particularly that those who commit acts of terror in the name of Islam are in fact betraying it — are timely if not overdue. Muslims in America, particularly youth, deserve to hear the president speaking accurately about Islam at a time when Islam is being maligned by terrorists like ISIS and by Islamophobes like Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX). Terrorists and Islamophobes are seemingly bound together by... Read more
By Sadaf Sajwani By now, most of us know that last Tuesday evening, three young Muslims were shot and killed, execution style, in their home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina by a white male. In the immediate hours after the murders, the nation’s mass media largely ignored this horrific crime. People rushed to Twitter and other social media outlets to spread the word and call out the media’s hypocrisy. Had it been a Muslim man executing three young white students,... Read more
By Alan Howard By now you have probably heard of the tragic shooting deaths of the three students in Chapel Hill, NC – Deah Barakat, his wife Yusor Abu-Salha and her sister Razan Abu-Salha. You have no doubt also heard of the arrest a short while later of the suspect Craig Stephen Hicks who has admitted that he entered their home and shot all three of them to death. The reason given by the local authorities is that this shooting was... Read more
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Sexual Abuse Case in Illinois – Open Letter From Ulema Regarding Rights of Media and Public Discussion
Editor’s Note: In the nearly two months since the former president of the Institute for Islamic Education in Elgin, Ill, Mohammad Abdullah Saleem, was charged with criminal sexual abuse for an incident involving a 23-year-old woman (which occurred in April 2014). A Cook County grand jury recently handed down an eight-count indictment against Saleem on charges of sex abuse and battery of a female school employee. Saleem is also potentially facing additional charges of sexual abuse and battery as these investigations... Read more