Letter from the Editor: July 2012

It’s been a long and rewarding journey, and we are very excited to say that MuslimGirl.net is finally back and better than ever. Our readers have supported us and made this a mutually fulfilling effort for us all, and now we can proudly say that we’ve come a long way from our launch in 2009 from a teenage girl’s bedroom.

As you may have heard, last year MuslimGirl.net suffered a cyber attack by an online group of hackers, who effectively wiped our databases clean of everything we’ve all worked so hard to develop over the past few years. Despite the upsetting loss, we viewed this as a testament to the incredible impact of our members towards promoting tolerance across all religions and eliminating the stereotypes surrounding Islam and Muslims. And besides, we still had the most valuable part of MuslimGirl – the loving support of our readers.

As a result, we were more determined than ever to bring back MuslimGirl and make it even better than before. We salvaged what we could, and we are grateful to say that you can still read some of your favorite MuslimGirl.net articles from the past, alhamdullah. We took away some of the features that we didn’t think were the absolute most relevant to you, and only kept the parts that you care about the most. Whatever was lost will only be replaced by even better articles and features in the days to come insha’Allah.

Even though MuslimGirl was offline for a bit, it still didn’t slow us down! We opened the first collegiate chapter of MuslimGirl at Rutgers University, and hosted some incredible events that included a DAM concert opened by comedian Baha Khalil, as well as an interfaith panel featuring local Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religious leaders discussing the role of gender in religion. You can bring MuslimGirl to life in your own school or community by starting a chapter today.

You have all watched us grow and evolve since we started in 2009, and it means so much to us that you’ve continued to support us during the good times and even more during the difficult ones. We hope that MuslimGirl 2.0 gives you everything you want it to, and that our inspiring community of love and faith continues to grow everyday insha’Allah. Here’s to a new beginning – bismillah!