By Hira UddinIt’s that time of the year when social media timelines are flooded with pictures and posts of friends sharing important milestones and life-achievements — from graduations to weddings to births. As I click the “like” button or double-tap these special moments, my attention is diverted by flashes of distraught and famished faces of the Rohingya…
By Hira UddinJameel Syed, founder and CEO of Fluidvisions branding firm and author of 99 Scenarios: Business in the American Muslim Sector, is currently on a mission to make the adhaan (call to prayer) and the words of Muhammad (pbuh) go viral across all 50 states of America. His goal is to deliver the call to prayer in one mosque in every state over a period…
By Hira UddinScrolling through my social media news-feed, I was intrigued when I saw “Practicing Islam in Short Shorts.” Since my initial click, I have read Thanaa El-Naggar’s article several times because it has caused me to reflect upon my experience both as a Muslim individually and a woman, respectively. Meanwhile, other Muslim women and men were also divided in…
By Hira UddinSometimes the deepest connections we feel aren’t physical. The most apparent manifestation of this phenomenon is the relationship that some share with God, each in our individual way. It transcends the realm of our senses because we cannot physically see, hear, smell, nor touch God; but the connection we feel by means of whichever faith…
By Hira UddinI previously thought there was nothing more terrifying than a seasoned Islamophobe preaching hatred from a platform like Fox News. The network is notorious for fabricating untruths and propagating misinformation about Islam and Muslims in order to create fear in the minds of Americans. The fact that Fox abuses the word “news” to disguise bigotry…
By Hira UddinAfter watching India’s Daughter, a BBC documentary based on the Delhi gang rape of a 23-year-old woman, I am struggling to contain feelings of debilitating disappointment and bitter frustration. The gruesome details of this disgusting act perpetrated by at least five men and one juvenile have caused some women to retreat into their own shadows. Perhaps that…
By Hira UddinJust recently, I overheard two of my co-workers discussing how “those people” are horrid and hell-bent on committing violent acts of crime. The subject of their conversation involved a news story about ISIS and the people they were referring to were all those practicing Islam. Unbeknownst to them, there was one of “those people,” a Muslim, working…
By Hira UddinGrowing up, my complexion was never light enough, my hair was never straight enough, my B.O. was never fresh enough, and my name was never pronounced easily enough. I was the only lanky, brown girl, placed in the midst of people I couldn’t identify with. Some people referred to me as just “that Indian girl”…
