Society

When the Paris attacks happened in November, 2015, my first thought was “Wow.” My second thought was, “Oh no, Hira.” Hira was not in Paris. In fact, she lived quite close to me in Mesa, Arizona, USA. She’s also Muslim and, like her mother and sister, wears a hijab. In other words, they are visible…

Islamophobia. Month after month, year after year. It’s an old enemy that plays games with me, hated but familiar games. “Man Admits to Pulling Hijab From Muslim Woman’s Head During Airline Flight: ‘Take It Off! This Is America!’” – CNN Wire Articles like that make it hard to get out of bed in the morning. “Applebee’s…

The long Ramadan nights have come to an end, and you’ve been saddened by bidding farewell to the days of fasting, family iftars, and nights of worship, when acts of remembrance were second nature.  Now we’re post-Ramadan, and you’re anxious because you haven’t been able to maintain the momentum you’d built during this special month. Or maybe you feel…

I remember being a little girl at school, and on the day in which we were allowed to bring in dolls I would bring in a book or a Rubix Cube – something that would occupy my mind, because I knew there were no dolls in the stores looked like me. At the time, I…

The work day just ended, and it’s rush hour. There are two seats open to my right, and the lady next to me has a pencil pointed upward. Also, the train is packed. Some creep is trying to slyly take a picture of me. I put my head down for two reasons: I was worried…

This week was heavy. I left Eid prayer early because it seemed too bittersweet to be celebrating among all the chaos of our world:  From bombings to police brutality, and everything in between, this week was heavy. You know that feeling when there aren’t any words, but you feel too numb to cry, and all…

It turns out that Donald Trump isn’t the generous philanthropist he says he is.  (Surprise, surprise.) The Washington Post’s David A. Farhenthold is one of many journalists who have investigated Trump’s charitable track record and found that, well, there isn’t much to investigate. The 70 year old business mogul with a net worth of about…

I’m going to go ahead and admit it:  This Ramadan was probably the most difficult Ramadan in my twenty something years of fasting. Long, 17+ hours days, hot weather, and two young children made for a challenging Ramadan. But alhamdulilah, it is coming to an end, and I am thankful I witnessed another blessed month. For…

Today I got language-shamed by the man who came to my home to fix my closet doors. I was speaking English, and not my “own language” to my children. My own language. I had to think about that for a minute. He asked me if I knew my “own language.” I said yes. “Fluently?” he…

Every Ramadan, I go to the first taraweeh prayer in the masjid with full force excitement. It’s the time of year where you feel that sense of community in the Ummah again. Smiling faces surround you as you reunite with friends you haven’t seen in a while, reminding you of what a special place the…

The All Dulles area Muslim Society Center held an event on June 20, 2016 to mark World Refugee Day. John Kerry and Angelina Jolie were guests on this occasion. Jolie spoke to an enthusiastic audience of ADAMS community members. Yes, she spoke to a mixed audience of men and women. And no, there were no…

This past week, Muslim Girl attended the White House Summit on Women.  It was monumental for me, for more reasons than one. I can’t explain what it was like to be standing face to face with my childhood hero. It seems watered down and over used to say speechless, or that I had chills, or…

We are always the trendsetters, those of us from marginalized communities who grew up and were told that we need to aspire to whiteness to be successful. And you were told that. I promise. There’s a reason that none of the faces on magazine covers looked like yours, why news anchors never looked liked you,…

The terrible tragedy that occurred in Orlando, FL this past week has emotions running high for all Muslims across the globe. This event may or may not have been related to the gunman’s religious beliefs, but either way, all Muslims will be facing the consequences to one man’s actions. Our children and young people are being…