#MuslimYouthRising Creative Selfies

Last updated on: November 3, 2014 at 11:13 am By Posted by The Editors

Here is a salute to creative selfies! BuzzFeed recently featured Yasmeen, an American-Muslim’s tongue-in-cheek Tumblr take on being a hijabi in America. Hailing from California, this eighteen-year-old developed the prefect social media response to those questions: “Is it, like, hot to wear that?” and “Do you take it off to shower?” See the BuzzFeed post here. Visit Yasmeen’s Tumblr and follow her on Twitter. What a fitting kick-off to the month of August, where Loveinshallah, Coming of Faith, storyandchai, Muslimah Montage will highlight... Read more

Healing in Ramadan

Last updated on: November 3, 2014 at 11:13 am By Posted by The Editors

Our Salaam, Love contributor Mohammed Shamma writes a post for Beacon Broadside about his love of soccer, instilled in him by his father, and his first Ramadan after his father’s death: The World Cup and Ramadan aren’t always mentioned in the same sentence, but this year was different. The Islamic holy month started during the tournament’s knockout stage. In some ways, this was a fitting moment for the Muslim soccer players who had made it that far. They knew the... Read more

Longing

Last updated on: November 3, 2014 at 11:13 am By Posted by The Editors

Eds. Note: Wishing our readers a blessed Eid filled with peace, beauty, & joy! Ramadan may have ended, but our hearts are filled with longing for the month again. holiest of dates the last hunger before the breaking of the fast the taste of you on my lips sustenance for thirty days and thirty nights from sun up to sun down i watched for your arrival like the blessed coolness of the night air on my parched dryness like... Read more

Advice: Navigating Young (Forbidden) Love

Last updated on: November 3, 2014 at 11:13 am By Posted by The Editors

Dear Love, InshAllah, We are parents of a Muslim college student who met a Muslim boy at school and wish to get to know each other with parental supervision for marriage. The boy told his Pakistani parents he wished us to meet and get to know each other. They first agreed and next day refused and hit him and threatened to have him transfer to another school. We are not Pakistani, however they say that is not the reason, that... Read more

Hidden Fractures

Last updated on: November 3, 2014 at 11:13 am By Posted by The Editors

When I was a child, Ramadan – like the life that stretched before me – seemed magical. Forbidden for the very young, fasting was a mark of adulthood, a rite of passage for which we were all too eager. You woke for the early morning meal with a sense of pride, keen to know what mysterious things adults got up to at this delicious hour. As I grew older, Ramadan became a time to pause life, a time for reflection... Read more

Father of the Bride

Last updated on: November 3, 2014 at 11:13 am By Posted by The Editors

On my wedding day, my father won’t walk me down the steps to my husband. He won’t lift my blusher and give me a kiss on the forehead. He won’t have a twinkle of tears in his eyes. He won’t take my hand and place it in my fiancé’s, and then take a step back as I begin a new journey with another man by my side. He won’t do any of this, because he won’t be there. It’s not... Read more

Running Orders

Last updated on: November 3, 2014 at 11:13 am By Posted by The Editors

Running Orders “They call us now. Before they drop the bombs. The phone rings and someone who knows my first name calls and says in perfect Arabic “This is David.” And in my stupor of sonic booms and glass shattering symphonies still smashing around in my head I think “Do I know any Davids in Gaza?” They call us now to say Run. You have 58 seconds from the end of this message. Your house is next. They think of... Read more

Pitfalls of a First Time Ramadan-er

Last updated on: November 3, 2014 at 11:13 am By Posted by The Editors

Our Salaam, Love contributor John Austin pens this insightful piece for Beacon Broadside about his first Ramadan after his conversion to Islam: When I discovered that I wanted to be a Muslim I don’t think I really knew what was involved. This was not for lack of knowledge about the religion but perhaps a lack of knowledge about myself, and a lack of knowledge generally. I knew that I would be required to kneel in submission to God five times... Read more

Finding Home

Last updated on: November 3, 2014 at 11:13 am By Posted by The Editors

I’ve been uncomfortably straddling the Alps for some time now. This see-saw sensation is common amongst those who live in a foreign country. Love and vocation brought me to Italy five years ago, but family and culture keep me closely tethered to the UK. Sometimes, there’s equilibrium. I stroll through formerly unknown streets where the muddled muzak of a foreign tongue has steadily becomethe main means of perception and expression in my daily life. People cheerily wave at me from... Read more

When Fairy Tales Fail Us

Last updated on: November 3, 2014 at 11:13 am By Posted by The Editors

When a daughter is born into a loving family, she is cherished and treated like a princess and dressed up like pretty little doll with colorful plastic bangles and trinkets. The beautiful princess is told fairy tales before being tucked into bed. Her mother speaks about the knights that saved Cinderella, Rapunzel and Snow White. Then, this little girl begins to dream of her very own Prince Charming and she starts looking for him as soon as she turns sixteen... Read more