Society

Dear Friend Who Can Do Better: I hope you are well. I thought about messaging you directly, but since you have made your disdain for my recent views quite public, it strikes me as more appropriate to respond to your concerns publicly as well – and to ask people you trust to lead this conversation…

In the spirit of empowering women — because we are always in the spirit of empowering women — here’s a toast (non-alcoholic, of course) to the mothers, the wives, the awesome women who give the majority of their time and attention to holding down the home. To the ladies raising awesome Muslims and all-around beautiful…

In the past two weeks, we have seen two prominent Muslim women influencers featured in two very well known brands. Amena, known on social media as Amenakin, was just recently part of L’Oreal’s latest campaign for its True Match foundation. Noor Tagouri, a multimedia journalist with a huge social media presence, was interviewed in Playboy…

I grew up waking up at 7:00 A.M. on Saturdays to the sounds of Spanish music as my mom opened my bedroom door to find my sister and I hiding under the covers in our twin beds. She would yell, “Vamos a limpiar la casa, vamos!” And boy, did we clean. My mom was born and…

I hate the word “tolerance.” Every time I hear someone say it, I think of two possible reasons they would choose that word: Either they believe they are superior and they will “put up with you” despite the fact they think they are right or better; or, they don’t understand the implications given when they…

There’s this assumption that Muslim women are docile, weak and incapable of thinking for themselves. This is a colonial, orientalist, lie so people can feel better about sexualizing and oppressing Muslim women with the hope that we won’t be able to tell if we are being exploited. They thought. Fact: Muslim women in hijab are…

It’s a little-known secret that Arab women don’t just marry Arab men, they marry within the same village as their family if they can, first. If they don’t, their husband will be considered as “Ghareeb” (strangers), even if the town they hail from is only 10 minutes away. (Disclaimer: Lots of women are stepping away from…

Nearing the end of an undergraduate degree for a south Asian Muslim female can only mean one thing, and no, it’s not that exciting yet daunting projection into the career world. It’s marriage. As I enter into my final year at university, my family members have taken a sudden interest in me — not because they…

My name is Ahlam Abdelkader and my name might be hard to pronounce for some of you, since you have to speak in tongue to pronounce the Arabic letters. When my mother named me, pronunciation for non-Arabic speakers was something she did not consider. All that mattered to her was that my name meant “dreams.” You…

These stories are part of our new hashtag conversation, #IAmMuslimGirl — Share your experiences about post-9/11 life, incidents of Islamophobia, or additional reflections on social media to let us know your thoughts.  You can also submit your story to editorial@muslim-girl-2021-production.mystagingwebsite.com. I don’t remember what happened on September 11, 2001. I was only a year old on that…

These stories are part of our new hashtag conversation, #IAmMuslimGirl — Share your experiences about post-9/11 life, incidents of Islamophobia, or additional reflections on social media to let us know your thoughts.  You can also submit your story to editorial@muslim-girl-2021-production.mystagingwebsite.com. To Whom It May Concern, I am a Muslim and 9/11 hurt me too. Fifteen years ago, I…

I am Muslim. I am a woman. I am Middle Eastern. I am a first-generation American. I have layers to my identity and I do not fit into one category or can be easily labeled. I also know I am not alone in this struggle, yet the struggle continues for us to be understood. I…

Like much of what we see on the news these days, the burkini issue was all consuming when it trended, but ephemeral in its media shelf life. Media outlets would rather repeat what Donald Trump has to say over and over again. Given he repeats himself often, the double repetition serves as a hypnotic trance…