By Marwa AbdulhaiIt seems almost everyday that I wake up to see another massacre of hundreds of innocent victims of what has become a war against humanity. In the wake of the recent terror attacks in Turkey and Bangladesh, a bomb struck the capital city of Baghdad late Saturday night as crowds of people were gathering to…
By Marwa AbdulhaiAfter a month fasting and supplication, Muslims across the globe celebrate one of their only two days of celebration in the year: The day of Eid-ul-Fitr. It is a joyous occasion, not to commemorate the end of the holy month of Ramadan, but to thank Allah for giving us the power and opportunity to please…
By Marwa AbdulhaiWe are well into the holy month of Ramadan now, and in the flow of waking up for suhur, fasting with lesser complaints, praying five times a day on time, and attending (almost) every night of Tarraweh. At the end of Ramadan, almost all of us will be the best version of ourselves, as compared with…
By Marwa AbdulhaiIt’s that time of the year again, when senior girls go all out buying fancy dresses and the guys plan out extravagant promposals to ask their girls out for what’s the biggest night of their young lives thus far: Prom. *Cue the shudders* Being a Muslim in high school, I have had my fair share…
By Marwa AbdulhaiIn today’s society, where Islamophobia runs rampant, the number one fear parents have for their children–besides their obvious safety–is their child’s perspective on Islam amidst the rise of xenophobic rhetoric and hate crimes against Muslims. Since the emergence of Daesh in Iraq and Syria, there has been an increase in anti-Muslim bias, bullying, and hate…
By Marwa AbdulhaiToday, hundreds of Indonesian women are forced to have virginity tests done in order to join the police force. Iraqi women face court ordered virginity tests after allegations from husbands that they are not virgins after the first day of marriage. Women all across the globe are expected to bleed on their wedding nights as…
By Marwa AbdulhaiBassima Hakkaoui, the Moroccan Minister of Family and Solidarity, drafted a law to curb violence against women that has been pending approval from the government since 2013. Years have passed and the statistics on sexual-harrassment and violence against women in Morocco have not shown improvement. “During the government’s failure in this field, [gender-based] violence has…
By Marwa Abdulhai“I remember the first time I attended a masjid in northern New Jersey after becoming a revert. I eventually made my second home in this masjid, but it was very difficult because the khutbahs were not even in English — they were in Arabic. I don’t speak in Arabic or understand it, so it was…
By Marwa AbdulhaiJihad Al Nafs. No, this is not the kind of Jihad almost everyone in the media and beyond is scared to the bone about — or the one that is often misinterpreted to be acts of violence on the battlefield. The fight that a Muslim takes part in is against the self, or a Jihad…
By Marwa AbdulhaiSome of our professors in undergraduate and graduate school just leave a mark on our lives – molding the way we think and our opinions on various issues both politically and emotionally. Larycia Alaine Hawkins, a tenure political science professor at Wheaton College in Illinois, was one and the same. “I stand in human solidarity…
By Marwa AbdulhaiIt’s Dec. 8, 2015: The time of year where either many high school seniors are getting ready to send off their college applications or are anxiously waiting for their early decisions on Dec. 15. I am one of them. As any ambitious high school senior, this year was where I could make it or break…
By Marwa AbdulhaiFor all the Muslim guys and girls who love Adele but just cannot connect with her new song “Hello,” Omar Esa’s got a new cover of the song you’re bound to love. When I was first introduced to this version by my dearest friend, I was obsessed. This song has the most beautiful twist to…
By Marwa AbdulhaiIn the aftermath of the Paris attacks on Friday, there has been an array of mixed responses from the public. Many have changed their profile pictures on Facebook to show their solitary with France at this time while others are questioning why the millions who perished in Beirut, Syria, and Palestine combined have not received…
By Marwa AbdulhaiFor the past two years, the Mark Garrison Salon has offered a private space to covered women to remove their headscarves and be offered the same treatment as uncovered women of having their hair done and their confidence raised. As a hijabi myself, I could only dream of having professional work done on my hair…
By Marwa AbdulhaiThe world woke up last Thursday to a new executive director of the National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms (NCPCF) — Maha Hilal. Established in October 2010, NCPCF is a nonprofit organization whose mission is “to educate the public about the erosion of civil and political freedoms in the society, and the abuses of prisoners within the U.S….
