By SaraWe so often hear about the firsts in every sport, but the Speed Sisters are little known to even us Palestine advocates. The Speed Sisters are the first all-women Palestinian automobile racing team of both Muslims and Christians, who formed in 2009 when the British Consulate in Jerusalem funded a race car for them. They…
By SaraInsha’Allah everyone’s been having a fruitful and blessed Ramadan; it’s the perfect time to pick up good habits and maintain them throughout the year. We tune ourselves up mentally and spiritually for the sake of Allah (SWT), so why not physically too? After all, the Prophet (PBUH) said: “The strong believer is better and more…
By SaraGeorge Zimmerman’s trial has dominated headlines for weeks now. In the wake of the not guilty verdict, I’ve had time to deeply reflect on its relevance and why it garnered the national attention that it did. For those that aren’t up to speed, a 17-year-old boy named Trayvon Martin was walking home from the store…
By SaraFatima al-Fihri isn’t a household name, but she should be, because she founded the world’s first University (which, incidentally, is still thriving today). She was born in Tunisia into a wealthy family; her father was a successful businessman. She also had one sister named Mariam (it is unclear if her mother died young). They were…
By SaraI graduated from a private Islamic school in June 2012. I was a student there since I was in 4th grade. I remember resenting the hijab and the Islamic curriculum, but I grew to appreciate them as the years went on and I got older (and hopefully wiser). When I entered high school, everything I…
By SaraThe Boston bombings were a dark tragedy, without question. They represented a moral failing that we so often forget is present in the thread of daily life, and three people lost their lives. Although the occurrence was probably the most talked about news item this week, very little attention was given to the victims of…
By SaraEvery so often, Western feminists are struck with the need to “liberate” Muslim women from our religion and hijab. FEMEN is a Ukrainian feminist group that recently launched an “International Topless Jihad Day,” a series of demonstrations throughout Europe, in protest of Islam’s “oppression” of women. First, why is there a prevalent belief that women…
By SaraIt is a mark of the hypocrisy of the media that any blow sustained by an Israeli is zoomed in on and cited for years to come, but Palestinians, for some reason, do not receive the same treatment. One might objectively say that many verbal and physical attacks are based on nothing but hearsay, but…
By Sara“A man asked a Muslim man: Why do your women cover their bodies and their hair? The Muslim man smiled and took two sweets, he opened one and kept the other closed. He threw them both on the dirty floor and then asked: If I asked you to take one of the sweets, which one…
By SaraLiberation has always been a hot topic. Liberation isn’t an ideal, but a journey; it means to break the inevitable chains of societal norms and to rise above whatever causes one pain or hardship. For Muslim women living in Western society, it is particularly hard to decide where to turn when the question of liberation…
By SaraProphet Muhammad (SAW) was in grave condition. Soon after his last sermon, he was so weak that he could not move. He appointed Abu Bakr to lead the prayers in his place (a wise forethought, for Abu Bakr was to become the Caliph after the death of the Prophet.) Although he was dangerously ill, he…
By SaraKhadijah (RAA) was Prophet Muhammad’s (SAW) most beloved wife, and for good reason. She was supportive, gentle, independent, powerful, and inspiring, not to mention the fact that she was named one of the four best women of all time by the Prophet (SAW) himself! She was born in the year 555, raised on praiseworthy manners,…
By SaraToday is the one-year anniversary of the first day of the Gaza siege. Many of us can clearly remember the horror: the first bits of news trickled in and protests exploded around the world out of solidarity and, possibly, guilt for not having acted sooner. Day by day, the death toll rose; I myself can…
By SaraThroughout history, Islam has distinguished itself in many areas of science – one of them being optics, the study of the behavior and properties of light. One may assume that optics aren’t nearly as important as, for example, math, but you’d be surprised at what far-reaching advancements the Islamic Empire made – and how such…
By SaraMuhammad (SAW) began to meditate in the cave of Mount Hira to escape the corruption of Mecca and dwell on the deepest questions of life to which he could not seem to find answers. It is well known that he spent the entire month of Ramadan at this familiar retreat. It was then, in the…
