"On the face of it, the film seems to be a legitimate attempt to highlight abuses against women in the Muslim world in an effort to raise awareness and catalyze action (though the only kinds of action the website promotes is a letter to Congress and a film screening). Numerous Muslim women activists, who have spent years and indeed lifetimes to the upliftment of women from horrific circumstances, are featured in it. The backlash has not been pretty." Read more

We have movement – people are talking, people are planning. Those in our communities who are always compelled to action feel no option but to move onward and upward. They can’t look away from the proof in written form that will be forever preserved on the internet that institutional sexism, one that allows jokes at the expense of the dignity of women, is part and parcel of the Muslim experience. Read more

As the mother of of two young girls, it brought more tears because I thought of them and the fight they would inherit from us, a fight for simple dignity and decency from Muslim men as the norm. I wonder if they’ll be able to hold on to the deen in the face of external and internal challenges, because not everyone is strong enough in their faith to reject the ugliness of some of our leaders. Muslims are apostatizing, rejecting a religion that is made to seem harsh, hateful, misogynistic, angry, and judgemental by people like Abu Eesa. Instead of using gentle speech and beautiful language to draw people to Islam, “scholars” like these burn bridges to faith. Read more

cried, I cringed, I laughed, I called my husband over to share something, I read and re-read the same passages sometimes, and in a hundred different ways I became engrossed with the glimpses of these men’s lives. The authors are cracking open windows into their souls, with limited views for the outside world, but enough to feel their anxiety, pain, anticipation, exhilaration, and sometimes exhaustion. These men are lovers in every sense of the word, compelled by hormones, struck by a fat little winged cherub, longing for companionship, baring open the empty holes we all carry around, unable or sometimes unwilling to fill. They express sentimentalities rarely attributed to Muslim men, a reality that’s a bit heartbreaking. Read more

I’m not saying you’re a God-awful person if you don’t like cats.  But your entire life may be a lie. I’ve loved cats my entire life, as I’ve loved other animals, but none as fiercely as cats. Partly because my father is a veterinarian and I spent years working alongside him in his clinic, and partly because my mother never hesitated to pick up any animal she found off the street (other than dogs) and bring it home.  My childhood... Read more

"The children in the film repeatedly spoke of God, showing hope in Him and His divine will, expressing an ease with God that I’m no longer used to. You would expect children of privilege (as many are in the West) to be more God-conscious and thankful, with full bellies, warm homes, the latest gadgets. And I’d have expected these children, without families, sleeping on stone floors, forgotten by society and with no certain prospects, to be resentful, rejecting the very idea of a merciful God. But they held on to God, praying in disjointed congregations, led by a madrassah run-away. They were not yet so jaded to turn away from a God who hadn’t fulfilled their most basic human need - the love of parents. Their devotion was a testament to both their innocence and resilience. All was not lost. There was still hope for their lives." Read more

"It’s both a very short and very long life. Finding purpose, making a difference in the world, paying our dues, raising kids, supporting friends, being someone's better half, caring for our parents, going above and beyond our responsibilities, living and hoping to die well, being faithful to the Creator and created, just getting through it all with dignity and hope for eternal Grace. These are the miracles of the common man. These are our moons to split, and split them we must." Read more