Today would have been El Hajj Malik El Shabazz/Malcolm X’s 89th birthday, may he be blessed with peace and beauty. When I read his autobiography at the age of 16, it radically shifted my perspectives on race, Islam, America & social justice. How did he impact your life? Read more
Veiled Humor is a creative You Tube channel featuring Mona and Dana, who are “two hijabis who want to prove to the world that Muslim women can be funny, intelligent, and religious all at the same time. I don’t see oppressed on that list. Do you?” Check out their You Tube channel, and follow Mona and Dana on Twitter! Happy Friday, loves! Read more
The text arrived while I sat at a coffee shop bent over a lazy notebook and a blank page. Happy Mother’s Day, the text read. Thank you for taking care of us. I can only imagine how stressful it was. I hope you’re doing well. My head jerked back as I sucked in caffeinated air. I sat in my chair for approximately three seconds before I retreated to the bathroom to cry. I continued bawling on the way home. Later while... Read more
I was a novelty to Ashley. I’d never travelled or lived alone. I’d never been to bar or a club. I’d never had a boyfriend before my husband nor kissed another man. Ashley and I might not have become such close friends had we not been living in Guadalajara, Mexico while our husbands attended the local medical school, but in the company of so much strangeness, we were more similar than different. We were both in our early twenties, and... Read more
Cross-posting this in solidarity with our friends at The Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity (MASGD). Please consider attending, sharing the information, or supporting the scholarship fund! The 4th consecutive retreat is from May 23-26, 2014 in Philadelphia, PA. Dear friends, 2014 marks the fourth consecutive year we are organizing the LGBTQ Muslim Retreat, a program of Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity (MASGD). The Retreat is a uniquely diverse, radically welcoming and inclusive, safe and affirming space... Read more
The Prophet (pbuh) said: “Souls are like crowds, which gather together. The ones who met before get along well. The ones who did not meet before, cannot get along very well and separate.” (Bukhari, Anbiya, 2; Muslim, Birr, 159; Abu Dawud, Adab, 19). I believe soulmates exist. Believing in soulmates is equivalent to believing in the existence of Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy- people scoff and laugh at me. Some even sit me down and try to reason with... Read more
Eds. Note: In honor of Mother’s Day, today is the debut of Food, Love & Memories, a bimonthly column devoted to the evocative connections between the heart, food & soul. We invite you to share your story+recipe for future columns. Currently we’re soliciting Ramadan stories, but welcome all submissions. More details here. I don’t cook my mother’s food. She would never eat lamb, for one. I take the pieces of lamb shank out of the plastic bag and wash them under... Read more
The little ghost pops up on my phone and I push the button to see what kind of a Snapchat he has sent. My sisters convinced me to download the app so we can send photos of outfits to each other, but Snapchat is infamous as the app with which teenage boys share pictures of their penis. Photos which self-destruct within 10 seconds. I touch the screen, and up pops an image of a smiling brown baby, a few months... Read more
The #WeNeedDiverseBooks hashtag has been trending on Twitter for three days now and just went viral, pointing to a much-needed conversation. We’re so proud of www.patheos.com/blogs/loveinshallah contributor Aisha Saeed for spearheading the campaign with a team of other folks, including publishers, agents, bookstores, & writers. Join the movement! Recently, there’s been a groundswell of discontent over the lack of diversity in children’s literature. The issue is being picked up by news outlets like these two pieces in the NYT, CNN, EW, and many more. But while we... Read more
Recently, one of my friends informed me that her ex-husband was getting remarried. My first thought was that he was already married. Didn’t he just post pictures of himself and his wife on social media? Before I could even ask, she blurted, “I wonder what sister he fooled this time.” He was on his third marriage within a five year span. A “serial husband” is one who takes on a wife and divorces her shortly after only to repeat the... Read more
Love, InshAllah
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