On Sunday, I joined more than a thousand demonstrators at Raleigh-Durham International Airport to oppose an unconstitutional executive order signed by President Donald Trump last week. The order attempts to block refugees from entering the United States for 120 days (or if they’re Syrian, indefinitely) and to prohibit U.S. entry to nationals of seven Muslim-majority countries (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen) for 90 days.
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: When Islamophobia Gets Personal →
If ever there were an election cycle that has taken a nonrefundable toll on the American psyche, this is it. And as an American Muslim, it has been all the more taxing.
Read MoreBBC: World Have Your Say (17:18 to 38:42) →
As the annual Hajj pilgrimage gets under way in Saudi Arabia, we hear from those preparing for the journey after last year's deadly crush. And, after a photo by a person with depression of their tidied bedroom went viral, we ask people with the illness what coping mechanisms they use
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: 5 Tips For My Fellow Muslims →
Muslims are increasingly under attack—both from within and without, both domestically and globally. We are being slaughtered by those claiming to be Muslim but ignoring the most basic tenets of our faith, those forgetting the meaning of the words with which we begin every single prayer—calling on a most “compassionate” and “merciful” God. On the other hand, we are also being slaughtered by those duped into believing that these vicious so-called Muslims (who have dismissed and disgraced our faith by claiming it, building organizations they insist on calling “Islamic”) represent all Muslims.
Read MoreMs. Magazine: The U.S. Has a Lot of Work to Do in the Wake of the Orlando Shooting →
Before we even knew how many innocent lives were lost in the massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando on Sunday, many were already rushing to lay blame. Media commentators, politicians and bystanders alike speculated out loud. Anyone who could do something like this, many agreed, couldn’t be one of us. Our kind could never be capable of such inhumanity. It must be a Muslim, a maniac, an immigrant, an other. And while the gunman claimed to be Muslim, and according to an ex-wife at least, appeared to have had bipolar disorder—he was also an American, born and raised.
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: Brief Encounters of the Muslim Kind →
Last week, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Raja’ee Fatihah, a Muslim-American Army reservist who was denied service at an Oktaha gun range based solely on his religion. According to the lawsuit, the Save Yourself Survival and Tactical Gun Range had posted a sign that read:
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: A Message From Your Muslim Neighbors →
As someone who writes about the news, I can’t exactly ignore it. Still, lately, I have been tempted. So many of the breaking news alerts I receive on my phone now seem to have something to do with a certain leading political candidate saying hateful and ignorant things about me.
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: Bad Muslim? →
I don’t speak Arabic. I rarely pray more than once a day. I don’t cover my hair. I curse. I sing. I dance. I paint my nails. I sport spaghetti straps. I love dogs. And if pork and alcohol didn’t smell so nasty to me, I’d have no trouble consuming either.
Read MoreMs. Magazine: H&M - Where Pseudo-Sustainability Meets Diversity Porn →
The world’s second largest fashion retailer recently made a deliberate move to attract members of the world’s second largest religion, and people have taken notice.
Read MoreBuzzfeed: 9 Badass Feminists Of Faith You Should Know (Compilation by Gina Messina-Dysert, Jennifer Zobair, and Amy Levin) →
They have been assaulted, arrested, excommunicated, and condemned for defying male religious authority. They even - gasp - use the words “hymen” and “vagina.” Here are nine badass Jewish, Christian, and Muslim feminists who shatter stereotypes and are scaring the sh!# out of the patriarchy.
Read MoreATLmuslimah: Muslim Women Changemakers →
"I consider myself 100 percent Iranian and 100 percent American."
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: 5 Tips From Your Sober Holiday Guest →
When people first learn that I don’t drink alcohol, they often request an explanation. Mine is rarely consistent. Sometimes I say I don’t like the taste. Sometimes I say I’m Muslim. Sometimes I say I have a medical condition.
Read MoreNAMI: Facing a Double Stigma (Interview by Hanem Ali) →
Mental Illness stigma is universal, although it may appear differently across countries, communities and religious groups. The pervasiveness of mental illness stigma is often higher in ethnic minority and religious communities. This is mainly because of the stereotypical views about mental illness in general, the double stigma that these communities already face because of their group affiliation and the cultural tendencies that associate shame with seeking mental health services.
Read MoreMuslimah Media Watch: An Interview with "Haldol and Hyacinths" Author Melody Moezzi (Interview by Azra Thakur) →
I recently read Melody Moezzi’s new memoir, Haldol and Hyacinths: A Bipolar Life. In the book, Moezzi bravely portrays her diagnosis with bipolar disorder, focusing briefly before her mental illness is diagnosed through to a point when she receives an accurate diagnosis and treatment. While much of the book hauntingly illustrates the incredible highs and lows associated with the illness, Moezzi also depicts life outside the disorder: her relationship with her supportive family, her love for her unwavering husband, and decision to pursue writing as a career as she completed her law and public health programs.
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: TSA Ramadan Alert: Expect Unduly Clean, Respectful, Teetotaling Travelers →
In honor of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, the Transportation Security Administration has provided the public with some curious “travel information,” under the heading “Traveling During Ramadan.” Ever devoted to protecting the safety and civil rights of travelers, the “TSA has reminded its security workforce that traveling passengers may be observed at various areas in the airport — including security checkpoints or on aircraft — engaged in religious practices and meditations during Ramadan.”
Read MoreCNN: A plea from an exhausted Muslim woman →
I wasn’t surprised by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's recent statement about a “problem within Islam.”
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: What’s the Most Islamic Approach to Islamophobia? →
Whether the recent attacks on U.S. diplomatic outposts in Libya, Egypt and Yemen were provoked solely by an Islamophobic film ridiculing the Prophet Muhammad isn’t entirely clear, though most media reports seem to suggest it. Claims that at least one of these attacks — most likely the one in Benghazi that left four Americans dead — may have been the result of a more organized terrorist plot have not been confirmed. Whatever the case, however, this incendiary and amateurish film has sparked the media’s interest, as most news outlets continue citing the film as the likely motivation for the riots.
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: What’s the Most Islamic Approach to Islamophobia? →
Whether the recent attacks on U.S. diplomatic outposts in Libya, Egypt and Yemen were provoked solely by an Islamophobic film ridiculing the Prophet Muhammad isn’t entirely clear, though most media reports seem to suggest it. Claims that at least one of these attacks — most likely the one in Benghazi that left four Americans dead — may have been the result of a more organized terrorist plot have not been confirmed. Whatever the case, however, this incendiary and amateurish film has sparked the media’s interest, as most news outlets continue citing the film as the likely motivation for the riots.
Read MoreThe Washington Post: Honoring Ashura in Iran →
This Monday marks the Muslim holy day of Ashura, a day that is perhaps nowhere more ardently commemorated than in Iran. The only way to fully understand what this day means to so many Iranians is to delve into a history that has repeated itself there for years on end. From the Constitutional Revolution of the early 20th Century to the 1979 Islamic Revolution to the growth of the opposition Green Movement since 2009 to last week’s storming of the British Embassy, the history of Ashura is reflected in every struggle against injustice in Iran. Whether opposing monarchy, imperialism, theocracy or crippling sanctions, the history of this day holds a unique position in the hearts of countless Iranians.
Read MoreMs. Magazine: Will Saudi Women Lose Their Virginity En Masse If They Start Driving? →
My first thought is “no,” followed by a swift “none of your business.” But that wasn’t the conclusion of a recent report prepared for Saudi Arabia’s legislative assembly by a well-known academic. He predicted that if Saudi women were given the right to drive, those who had never had sex would quickly start losing their virginity as easily as they might their car keys.
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