Don’t Fall for the Crazy Fatwa – It’s Either False or Just an Opinion

Last updated on: January 10, 2013 at 10:54 pm By Guest Contributor

By Davi Barker We’ve all been taken in by a rouse. At least I was, and it’s embarrassing to admit because you’d think by now I’d have learned. The good folks over at Electronic Intifada (genius branding, by the way) have done some homework and exposed the recent so-called “gang rape fatwa” as yet another hoax by the Anti-Muslim Brain Trust. You may have heard it as well: A “prominent Saudi cleric”allegedly issued a fatwa, or religious ruling, that permitted... Read more

Pamela K. Taylor’s Friday Khutbah – God is Love, and Love is Never Wasted

Last updated on: January 8, 2013 at 9:04 pm By Guest Contributor

Muslims for Progressive Values (MPV) is an organization founded on 10 principles “rooted in Islam,” according to its website. MPV accepts all Muslims who identify as such, and believes in equality for all, regardless of race, gender, sex, ethnicity, nationality, creed, sexual orientation or ability. MPV supports “MPV Unity Mosques” in the United States and Canada, where “new Muslims, old Muslims, LGBTQ Muslims and Muslims in mixed-faith relationships” are welcome, and where men and women are invited to lead prayers... Read more

#MyJihad is Language

Last updated on: January 3, 2013 at 7:51 am By Guest Contributor

By Davi Barker There is a public education campaign making some waves titled “#MyJihad.” Their homepage proclaims their mission as “Taking back Islam from Muslim and anti-Muslim extremists alike.” It includes a pretty robust social media buzz on Twitter and Facebook, a series of speaking events around the country, and a national print ad campaign. The advertising campaign splashed across buses and trains show colorful photos of sunnah smiling Muslim faces proclaiming, “My Jihad is Freedom & Peace for Syria.... Read more

O Holy Night – Ending the Contrived Muslim Controversy over the Holiday Season

Last updated on: December 26, 2017 at 12:31 pm By Guest Contributor

By Rabia Chaudry The Chaudrys always rolled with the punches during the holidays. Despite the fact that we are a Pakistani-American Muslim family, my childhood is filled with as many holiday and Christmas memories that a self-professing believer could possibly have within the boundaries of Islamic theology. It was good times. Things were simpler thirty-odd years ago. I and my younger sister sang in the school choir faithfully from elementary to mid-high school. We unabashedly and happily took part in... Read more

Praising God Through Our Work – an Interview with Tayyibah Taylor

Last updated on: January 18, 2017 at 7:38 pm By Guest Contributor

By Sarah Farrukh Tayyibah Taylor is the founding editor-in-chief and publisher of Azizah Magazine, an award winning Muslim women’s magazine in its twelfth year of publication and a member of WISE initiative. Sarah Farrukh asks Taylor about gender, Islam, the magazine’s vision, and violence against women in the Muslim community. Tell us about your experience with reconciling Islam and gender. Tayyibah Taylor: Before I converted [to Islam], I visited a mosque while I was in the Caribbean to listen to the... Read more

For Those Grieving over Newtown, Hold Their Hand

Last updated on: December 21, 2012 at 8:58 pm By Guest Contributor

By Hesham A. Hassaballa December is never a good month for my wife and me. Our daughter — who passed away three years ago from cancer — was born on December 30. And so this time of year is always hard. This year, the horrific shootings in Newtown, Connecticut have only made it worse, for us, for everyone. As I read the news reports of the funerals that are taking place this week, one after the other after the other,... Read more

Choose Kindness – From God We Come and to God We Return

Last updated on: December 17, 2012 at 7:06 pm By Guest Contributor

The editors and writers at Altmuslim and Patheos’ Muslim Channel are heartbroken over the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut. As the news and stories emerge, and journalists, writers, bloggers and pundits are weighing in on every aspect of this horrible tragedy – from debates over gun control, to addressing mental health issues, to the important role teachers play in our children’s lives, to how to help our children cope with all of this. We are reminded of the words from the Quran:... Read more

Lesley Hazleton’s TEDx Talk on Stereotyping Islam

Last updated on: December 13, 2012 at 5:58 pm By Guest Contributor

Author Lesley Hazleton, who blogs at The Accidental Theologist, recently gave a TEDx talk on the “Seeing Muhammad and Others” and the inherent problems with stereotyping Islam. Watch for yourself, and please comment below. Lesley Hazleton’s new book, The First Muslim: the Story of Muhammad, will be published on January 24 (www.TheFirstMuslim.com). Her previous book, After the Prophet: the Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split, was a finalist for the PEN-USA Book Award. She blogs as The Accidental Theologist ,... Read more

My Hajj Reflections – The Greatest Jihad

Last updated on: December 7, 2012 at 9:35 pm By Guest Contributor

By Davi Barker Davi Barker, who writes at The Muslim Agorist and for other publications, recently returned from his Hajj pilgrimage. Altmuslim is featuring a few of his reflections this week, as Barker settles back into his post-Hajj life. Earlier this month I returned home from Hajj, the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. They say the sign of a successful pilgrimage is that your life changes. Well, I got that in spades, as I’ll explain. But the strangest thing about being... Read more

Reflections from My Hajj – The Ka’ba Versus the Saudi Regime

Last updated on: December 6, 2012 at 8:20 pm By Guest Contributor

Davi Barker, who writes at The Muslim Agorist and for other publications, recently returned from his Hajj pilgrimage. Altmuslim is featuring a few of his reflections this week, as Barker settles back into his post-Hajj life. By Davi Barker I just returned home from Hajj, the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. They say the sign of a successful pilgrimage is that your life changes. Well, I got that in spades, as I’ll explain soon. There was only one evening that I was able... Read more