By Deonna Kelli My marriage had taken me all over the Muslim world — to Mecca, Cairo, Kabul and countless countries in between. I would even venture to say that over the course of my 12 year union, I experienced more Islam than many Muslims will know in their lifetimes. Yet, I left the relationship to dive deeper into my faith in a manner that felt more organic and honest. To some, this admission makes me selfish. To others, it paints... Read more
By Davi Barker At a Capitol Hill press conference at the end of January, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) joined more than 45 faith leaders from various religious groups in petitioning legislators to pass a statutory solution for gun violence, including a ban on “assault” weapons. The move was organized by “Faiths United to Prevent Gun Violence” and motivated by the recent shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. This troubles me for a number of reasons. Firstly, gun control is unquestionably outside... Read more
By Sarah Farrukh By the grace of God, I met the end of 2012 in a state of blissful contentment. However, this didn’t come without struggle. I was reminded of a particular difficulty I experienced when I was cleaning out my inbox and I came across an unsent email. My heart felt heavy at the memory of how I felt when I wrote it. “It’s been a hell of a year, Sarah,” I thought. “What a way to mark your... Read more
By Rabia Chaudry Part I of a two-part series on why to get divorced, how to go about doing so and what the Quran and Sunnah have to say about divorce . Having always been rather open and public about the fact that I’m a remarried divorcee — and such publicity being uncommon in the Muslim world — I get approached every so often by others who are considering or actually going through their own divorce. Sometimes I don’t even know... Read more
By Stephen Cobbe As a former Catholic school student, Wajahat Ali has some familiarity with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. But for a long time, there was another less-forgiving trinity in his life: “Success,” as defined by his Pakistani-American community, was becoming a doctor, engineer, or businessman — three venerated careers that Ali has collectively called “the holy trinity.” “The trinity has no space for artistic inclinations,” Ali said. “There’s almost no value placed upon these endeavors because in... Read more
By Shirin Sinnar Some time ago, I complained to a friend that there were few good children’s books on Muslims or Islamic themes. I’m an American-born Muslim woman, and I was looking for books to share with my older daughter Maryam, then three. I wanted lively, upbeat bedtime books that would introduce her to our faith and identity while emphasizing universal values. My friend, a thoughtful educator at a local Islamic school invited me to visit the school’s library. Unfortunately,... Read more
By Davi Barker When we talk about forgotten Islamic history, we usually look to the philosophers and physicists of the Middle Ages. But there’s plenty of interesting forgotten history as recent as the 1970s. Pakistan held its first democratic elections after independence; Iran overthrew the Shah; women strolled through Afghanistan in knee high skirts; and thanks to the Immigration Act of 1965, which ended race-based restrictions on immigrants, the United States enjoyed unprecedented levels of immigration from the Middle East, Africa... Read more
By Zainab Chaudry Raindrops splatter against the window – briefly clinging to its cool, damp surface before slowly sliding down and collecting into amorphic pools on the pane. The myriad of drops represent people, the descent – their lifespan from birth to death. Each drop begins as a single entity. Gradually as it makes its descent, it merges with others along the way – simultaneously absorbing and imparting en route to its destination. We are like these drops, absorbing and... Read more
By Salam Al-Marayati We have failed in engendering healthy gender relations in our community. Face it. I travel throughout the United States, and I see troubling signs of Muslim women unable to get married, primarily because Muslim men have abdicated their social responsibilities. Muslim men can marry non-Muslims– so they oblige — and Muslim women are stuck. There are usually few young men around in Muslim community events. You attend any Muslim gathering and find young Muslim women outnumbering young Muslim men usually... Read more
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Islamophobia is Only One Chapter in the Muslim-Western Story
By Muqtedar Khan ISTANBUL – It concerns me that Islamophobia, an irrational fear of Islam and animosity toward Muslims, is becoming a dominant paradigm through which all Western-Muslim relations are now being explored. A conglomerate of five Universities, led by Yildiz Technical University and the municipality of Beykoz province in Istanbul Turkey, organised an international workshop on Islamophobia from 25-27 January in Istanbul. Scholars from the United States, the UK, Europe, Russia and Turkey sought to define and understand the... Read more