By Shanzay Farzan“Shanzay! Wanna write for a website about Muslim girls with me?” Amani asked me 7 years ago in the public library of our hometown. We were 15 and 17 years old – both juniors in high school, busy with our AP course-load and college applications. I didn’t quite understand what she meant at first. I…
By Shanzay FarzanThe Transgender community within the Muslim Ummah may seem like a new development, but has been around for centuries. The call for more inclusive spaces for fellow Trans Muslims, however, has been steadily rising. Mahdia Lynn, an activist and leader to step up to this call — has been involved in establishing such a space…
By Shanzay FarzanIt’s Super Tuesday — meaning for the states that qualify, voting is well underway. If you’re on the lookout for info on the right leader, you know there’s been a frenzy of political coverage from mainstream news to social media. But nothing quite gets down and dirty like comedians that cover 22-minute episodes on the…
By Shanzay FarzanThe 2016 Oscars may have been riddled with controversy about nominating only White actors, but let’s not forget to acknowledge some serious groundbreaking wins from Muslim filmmakers. This year, two of them have taken home the wins in both the shorts and feature categories for documentaries! Pakistani-Canadian filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy has won an Academy Award…
By Shanzay FarzanYou might have seen Dalia Mogahed, the Director of Research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, recently at the Daily Show With Trevor Noah — shedding light into the myths and misconceptions about Islam. In February, she was recently invited to the TED 2016 Conference in Vancouver, Canada. Mogahed talks about her identity…
By Shanzay FarzanSouth Asian women are making headlines again — this time on space. Pakistani-American Quantum Astrophysicist Nergis Mavalvala, the Curtis and Kathleen Marble Professor of Astrophysics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Associate Head of the Physics Department is a member of the team of scientists that discovered gravitational waves. The announcement on Thursday was…
By Shanzay FarzanYou know those annoying newsletter emails you signed up for years ago and keep ignoring now that they won’t stop flooding your inbox? I have a bad habit of thinking I might actually read them at some point. So when I got an email titled “Our 35th Anniversary Cosmos Award Announced!” from The Planetary Society…
By Shanzay FarzanAnother day, another Islamophobic event by white Americans to have us fear for our lives. In more than 20 cities across the United States, anti-Muslim rallies have been scheduled to take place planned through the Facebook page titled ironically “Global Rally for Humanity.” The page encourages “patriots” across the United States to set up protests with…
By Shanzay FarzanAs an astrophysics major that grew up on Star Trek, space travel has been in my eyes a little bit more than a child’s fantasy that I willingly want to take too far. I’ve been no stranger to the religion versus science debate that has been intermittently popping into my head since the tender age…
By Shanzay FarzanThe Islamic Empire’s great endeavors and developments in trade proved to be a major benefit to the Muslims, as well as to the rest of the world. International trade increased and maintained expansion of the empire. Materials for manufacturing purposes, luxuries, and food were in great demand and supply among the people. The flow of…
By Shanzay FarzanA time of great prosperity, the Islamic Golden Age was an era of innovation at its finest. Not only were advancements in art, architecture, medicine, and mathematics prominent, but entire civilizations were improved by the conquest of lands by the Arabs. Significant areas of study such as engineering and astronomy thrived at the hands of…
