Expanding The Definition of Muslim Activism

Last updated on: May 23, 2012 at 9:37 pm By Guest Contributor

By Daniel Tutt When I tell people about the activism work I do, many people wonder if I’m a Muslim, and when I tell them I’m not, they’re either confused or intrigued. Sometimes both. They wonder what it is that makes me want to be an advocate for Muslims even though I don’t practice Islam. My work seeks to educate Americans about Islam and I’m affiliated with several American Muslim organizations. My activism involves film-based dialogues, training, speaking, blogging and... Read more

The Vilification of CAIR

Last updated on: May 18, 2012 at 9:53 pm By Guest Contributor

By Rabia Chaudry The is the first in a two-part series on the vilification of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and how the American Muslim community has responded. There is only one national organization in the United States whose primary mission is protecting the civil liberties of American Muslims, and that is the Council on American-Islamic Relations, commonly referred to as CAIR. Since its inception in 1994, CAIR has battled countless smears and attacks against its work and reputation,... Read more

Muslims on Wall Street: Pragmatic over Dogmatic

Last updated on: May 7, 2012 at 9:38 pm By Guest Contributor

By Rushdi Siddiqui The New York Stock Exchange — Muslims working in non-Muslim countries do understand work is for work, even in Islamic finance, and informed non-Muslim colleagues understand basic tenets of Islam. The New York Times recently interviewed several American Muslims, including me, working in the financial arena for the article, “Muslims on Wall Street, Bridging Two Traditions.” It explored two ‘conflicts’: Muslims working in conventional finance may encounter ‘interest’ against their faith, and challenges of abiding by Islamic ‘traditions’ in... Read more

Does Mona Eltahawy’s Radicalism Advance Arab Women’s Rights?

Last updated on: May 1, 2012 at 9:08 pm By Guest Contributor

By Sahar Aziz Last week, Mona Eltahawy triggered a polemic firestorm with her blanket assertion that Arab men’s hatred of women explains the abysmal gender inequities found in the Middle East. Many Arab women are perturbed that her article “Why Do They Hate Us?” in Foreign Policy has receive so much attention while millions of women leaders throughout the Middle East are reduced to a footnote by Western media. These women are the unsung heroes in the trenches struggling to... Read more

Taking the Gloves Off – The ‘War on Women’ in the Middle East and Beyond

Last updated on: April 27, 2012 at 4:15 pm By Guest Contributor

By Nadia S. Mohammed “Why Do They Hate Us,” asks Arab journalist, Mona Eltahawy, in her essay for Foreign Policy magazine. Eltahawy goes on to describe her perception of the treatment of women in the Arab world and ascribes all related mistreatment to systematic sociopolitical misogyny and patriarchy. The title of her essay is featured on the cover of the magazine with a photo of a nude woman painted in black with only her eyes showing, as if she were... Read more

Ice Princess Zahra Lari – An Example for Women of Faith

Last updated on: April 26, 2012 at 6:57 pm By Guest Contributor

By Ashley McGuire She’s been called the “Ice Princess in the Hijab.” And, I think she rocks. Zahra Lari is a 17-year-old Olympic figure-skating hopeful from the United Arab Emirates. And you can’t miss her because she wears a black hijab instead of sparkly hair clips and nylon pants instead of the characteristic shiny nude tights. I love seeing a Muslim woman as a competitive athlete. I just love it. I was crushed when the Iranian women’s soccer team was... Read more

The Typecast Muslim Professional

Last updated on: April 19, 2012 at 3:54 am By Guest Contributor

By Kari Ansari While Muslims collectively groan almost daily over some mischaracterization of Islam or Muslims in the media, Islamic organizations and institutions continue to endure unwarranted government suspicion, as this recent Pulitzer Prize-winning Associated Press investigation series highlights. Now, more than ever, the Muslim community supports Muslim institutions and organizations as our champions who come to the collective aid of the Ummah here and abroad. We cheer them on, thanking them for their dedication while we write checks in... Read more

Shaima Al-Awadi – Beyond Hoodies and Hijabs

Last updated on: April 12, 2012 at 5:35 am By Guest Contributor

By Nadia S. Mohammad The perplexing circumstances surrounding the brutal murder of a young mother, Shaima Alawadi, has had the Muslim American community abuzz recently. As her daughter purportedly found Alawadi’s body with a note stating, “go back to your country, you terrorist,” many rushed to label the incident as a ‘hate crime,’ even attempting to demonstrate a link between her death and that of Trayvon Martin, the 17 year old shot by neighborhood watchman, George Zimmerman. Those attempting to... Read more

The Golden Calf of Motherhood

Last updated on: April 5, 2012 at 1:02 pm By Guest Contributor

By Susan Carland There probably isn’t a Muslim alive that hasn’t heard the hadith, ‘paradise lies at your mother’s feet.’ Muslims are quite proud of this, as well as many other prophetic traditions and Qur’anic verses that champion motherhood. Indeed, it seems to be unquestioned that being a mother is a blessed and strongly endorsed position for a Muslim woman. The primary role for any Muslim woman, and indeed Muslim man, is to be a servant of Allah. There is... Read more

‘Homeland,’ Islam and the Battle Within

Last updated on: March 28, 2012 at 9:24 pm By Dilshad Ali

By Daniel Tutt When television portrays the war on terrorism, more than 67 percent of the time, the enemy is white, according to a recent study by the Norman Lear Center at USC. At first glance this seems odd. Isn’t the war on terror a war against extremist Muslims? Aren’t Muslims mostly brown-skinned? The war on terrorism, both on television, and in real life, defies our immediate assumptions. The Washington Post recently revealed that a Muslim convert is heading up... Read more