Muslim celebrities, including Muslim Girl’s own Amani Al-Khatahtbeh, collaborated with Vox to address the question: What does it mean to be Muslim? Here are their answers.
Celebrities Explain What It Means to Be Muslim
By Naaz Modan
By Naaz Modan
CAIR-Florida Is Alerting That the FBI Is Interviewing Muslims
By Naaz ModanThe Council on American-Islamic Relations of Florida released an official press statement this past Saturday warning its local Muslim population that the FBI is interviewing Muslims nationwide. This operation comes just two days before the presidential elections–and multiple members of the Floridian Muslim community have been already interviewed, mainly of either Afghani or Pakistani background. This…
Jakarta Police Violently Clashed With Protestors Over Blasphemy Against Islam
By Naaz ModanHundreds of thousands gathered in protest in the streets of Jakarta, Indonesia, home to the world’s greatest number of moderate Muslims, after its Christian governor was accused of insulting the Qur’an. The rally soon turned violent, as tear gas and water cannons were used to dispel the demonstrators, supposedly killing one elderly man and injuring…
Trump Tape Outrage Reminds Us Not All Women Are Equal
By Naaz ModanThe GOP party is rushing to make amends after an audio clip of Donald Trump, originally released by The Washington Post, revealed the candidate boasting about aggressively kissing, groping, and making unwanted sexual advances toward women in lewd terms that bordered on sexual assault. It’s 2005. Donald Trump and Billy Bush, then from “Access of…
The City of Khujand in Tajikistan Is Keeping a Tally of Headscarves
By Naaz ModanThe Islamic headscarf began as a religious commitment over 1,400 years ago, recently transformed into a political statement, and now seems to be taking on the face of Islamic extremism for some fearful and paranoid political leaders. As of this month, authorities of Khujand, a city in Tajikistan, are keeping track of women who choose…
France Just Banned the Burkini & Its Islamophobic History Proves Why
By Naaz ModanThe mayor of Cannes in France has banned women from wearing swimsuits that cover too much skin on local public beaches. Targeted specifically are the burkinis, a play on “burqa” and “bikini,” a hijab-friendly wetsuit that is commonly worn in the water by Muslim women who observe the headscarf. This comes soon after an attack…
Palestine Not Found On Google Maps – What’s the Real Deal?
By Naaz ModanThe social media hashtag #PalestineIsHere took the internet by the storm this past week as users came to believe that the disputed territory’s label was deleted from Google Maps. The uproar gave traction to a five-month-old petition to mark Palestine and its borders, which gained over 316,300 signatories within just a few days and pushed…
Here’s What Ghazala Khan Had to Say in Response to Trump
By Naaz ModanMrs. Ghazala Khan, the mother of deceased soldier Humayun Khan, spoke out early yesterday in a letter to The Washington Post after she was criticized by Trump for having “nothing to say” at the Democratic National Convention, where her husband, Mr. Khizr Khan, addressed the crowd. Trump said he would have liked to hear her…
Trump’s Comments on Ghazala Khan are Textbook Islamophobia
By Naaz ModanWith another day comes another Donald Trump move that leaves us flabbergasted. Unsurprisingly, most are ignorant, and sometimes entertaining — but they are political statements fabricated to support his platform. Most recently, he managed to take it a step further. In a child-like attempt to rebuke Khizr M. Khan’s much applauded speech, Trump suggested that…
Chicago PD Strip Searched Veiled Muslim Woman on Video
By Naaz ModanA Muslim woman was tackled, forced to take off her hijab, and strip searched by five police officers as she was climbing the stairs at a Chicago train station on July 4, 2015. Itemad “Angel” Almatar, who was fasting at the time, was charged with reckless conduct and resisting arrest. Her story came into light…
What the Orlando Shooting Means for Muslims in the 2016 Elections
By Naaz ModanPresidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have weighed in on the shooting in Orlando, Florida that occurred early Sunday morning, marking the second greatest mass shooting in US history (after Wounded Knee) with 50 dead and 53 injured Both said they were stunned and saddened by the shocking incident on their personal Twitter accounts….
Leonardio DiCaprio’s Rumi Goes Far Beyond Whitewashing
By Naaz ModanI have a taste for diversity. This probably doesn’t come as a surprise, considering that I am an Indian Muslim woman who was raised in America, wears the hijab, speaks Urdu, and flaunts a Persian name. Naturally, Rumi landed on my must-read list by the time I was old enough to understand the art of…
Is There a Reemergence of Honor Killings in Afghanistan?
By Naaz ModanRabia was 22 years old with a husband, two children, and another on the way. She had just begun her life when it was cut short by the hands of the Taliban, whose members publically executed her after she was accused of committing adultery by her husband. This execution, commonly called an honor killing, immediately…
This is Why I’m Okay With Being 30 and Single
By Naaz ModanHAHAHA, SIIIIIIIIKEEEEE!!!! We’ve all heard it before. At parties and family dinners, weddings and bridal showers, any woman over the age of 25 is subject to the same question: “So, when are you getting married?” We are, by default, considered creatures that must want to (and are expected to) find a mate as soon as…
A Letter (Again)
By Naaz ModanThese are my people We are white and brown and yellow and red And every shade of skin, every kind of person, your eyes claim to “know.” We are the ones with cloth on our heads that you call oppression and we call liberty; We are the ones with beautiful voices –like soft hands gliding…