By Laila AlawaShe has all the general trappings of your typical superhero: standing up for the weak and defenseless, she’s always there to save the day. She’s always there when you most need her, and she has some awesome swordsmanship skills. She’s your typical badass crime-fighter. But wait. Qahera’s not like everyone else. Something makes Qahera different:…
By NidaEver since I was a young girl, flipping through the pages of my Islamic Studies textbook in Sunday school, I’ve been exposed to the history of Islam. Amongst the many paragraphs and historical text I came across, I found a list of martyrs who had sacrificed their lives for the sake of Islam. I must…
By GiselleThis past May, Stephanie Diaz was amongst the many 2013 graduates, as she received her Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene from the University of Oklahoma. Aside from completing her undergraduate degree, she was undergoing a spiritual journey. Stephanie, like many other converts, began comparing Catholicism, Christianity, and Islam. “When you don’t have the relationship…
By HabeebaShow of hands: who has trouble focusing during prayer? The first step to conquering a problem is realizing there is one, right? The five daily prayers shouldn’t be a quick jumble of Arabic words and physical movements thrown together for a span of a few minutes. But with our minds in 20 places at once,…
By Ainee FatimaIf you’re a comic book enthusiast, you might be familiar with Sooraya Qadir — known as Dust from X-Men: The first Muslim X-Men character who happens to wear a traditional black burqa and niqab while fighting crime. Her special powers include the ability to transform into and control sand. But recently, Pakistan has emerged with…
By Laila AlawaI always felt as though my life, my being, my very self were forevermore saddled with the very expectations of generations before me, dusty individuals, their fervent whispers carrying, moving, traveling, across centuries of near-still air, air rippled only with the occasional revolution, scented softly with rosewater and hot Arabic coffee, that their unfulfilled wishes,…
By NidaStarting a fashion line for Muslim women has always been a dream of mine; as a young Muslim girl, I’d have trouble finding the perfect hijab or the ideal shirt in terms of sleeves, length, color, or style. All the Muslim-owned stores were the same — solid colors, jilbaabs, maybe even a few shalwar kameezes….
By SaraGeorge Zimmerman’s trial has dominated headlines for weeks now. In the wake of the not guilty verdict, I’ve had time to deeply reflect on its relevance and why it garnered the national attention that it did. For those that aren’t up to speed, a 17-year-old boy named Trayvon Martin was walking home from the store…
By SaraFatima al-Fihri isn’t a household name, but she should be, because she founded the world’s first University (which, incidentally, is still thriving today). She was born in Tunisia into a wealthy family; her father was a successful businessman. She also had one sister named Mariam (it is unclear if her mother died young). They were…
By emmaWalking along Jerusalem’s millennia old cobblestone steps, my pathway was suddenly blocked. “Muslims on—” “I am Muslim.” Heavily armed and sporting the Israeli Police insignia on his shoulder, the paramilitary police officer seemed startled by my reply. “Do you have your passport?” My U.S. passport in hand, he began suspiciously pawing through its worn, stamp-filled…
By SaraThe Boston bombings were a dark tragedy, without question. They represented a moral failing that we so often forget is present in the thread of daily life, and three people lost their lives. Although the occurrence was probably the most talked about news item this week, very little attention was given to the victims of…
By SaraEvery so often, Western feminists are struck with the need to “liberate” Muslim women from our religion and hijab. FEMEN is a Ukrainian feminist group that recently launched an “International Topless Jihad Day,” a series of demonstrations throughout Europe, in protest of Islam’s “oppression” of women. First, why is there a prevalent belief that women…
By Ainee FatimaWhatever you choose to call it, periods are dreadful. During 5th grade, I remember hearing whispers from my classmates about the horrors of getting your period and learning about all the wonders of puberty. However, for a long time, talking about something that was a natural occurrence in the human body was considered taboo. At…
By Sara“A man asked a Muslim man: Why do your women cover their bodies and their hair? The Muslim man smiled and took two sweets, he opened one and kept the other closed. He threw them both on the dirty floor and then asked: If I asked you to take one of the sweets, which one…
By SaraLiberation has always been a hot topic. Liberation isn’t an ideal, but a journey; it means to break the inevitable chains of societal norms and to rise above whatever causes one pain or hardship. For Muslim women living in Western society, it is particularly hard to decide where to turn when the question of liberation…
