Practicing Islam At A Catholic University...
At Boston College, a Jesuit Catholic university where 70 percent of students identify as Catholic, Fatmah Berikaa says she is the only student who lives on campus and wears a hijab. Berikaa, an Egyptian-American who grew up in Massachusetts, says she chose BC for its academic programs, its friendly campus and its financial aid. She lives in a dorm on the Upper Campus with other first-years. Berikaa hopes to teach and is studying secondary education and English, with a focus in English as a second language, and minoring in Arabic. Berikaa talked to The Huffington Post about her experiences on campus — what she worried about before starting at the school, how strangers approach her with questions, and...
Muslims Pray in Solidarity with Christian Victims of Terror...
A small group of muslims staged a picket in the Cape Town CBD on Wednesday to show their solidarity with christian families who lost loved ones in recent attacks by muslim extremists. “We are here to show Christian families we too are heartbroken about their loss,” said Qutb Hendricks, one of the picketers gathered outside the St Georges Cathedral. The picketers who were from all over the country were taking time out of their holiday. “Islam is a peaceful religion. The likes of jihadi like Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab are twisting Islam for their crimes,” said Hendricks. The picketing followed the massacre of 148 Kenyan students over the Easter weekend by al-Shabaab militants. It also coincided with the...
Michigan Man to Recite Muslim Call to Prayer in 50 States...
Holding his hands over his ears, Jameel Syed stood in front of the congregation at a Farmington Hills mosque, calling the faithful to prayer. “God is the greatest,” the Auburn Hills man recited in a melodious voice in Arabic that extended the vowels. “There is no god but God … Come to prayer.” The scene inside the Tawheed Center mosque on Thursday night is similar to what happens five times a day at mosques around the world, a resonant voice that cries out to remind believers that it’s time to worship God. Called the “adhan,” the Muslim call to prayer is one of the more familiar parts of Islamic life, and one that Syed, 40, has become known...
Female Muslim Comedian Aizzah Fatimah in Demand...
One of the last things many people might expect a Muslim Pakistani-American woman to do when she takes the stage is crack a joke, openly talk about smoking weed, or say that she is gay. Conversations about South Asian women in America are more usually limited to topics like early marriages, abuse and oppression. If the woman happens to be Muslim, fundamentalism and terrorism are often added to the narrative. As Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie summed it up: “The problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete.” A bunch of young Muslim Pakistani-American women, however, are now completing that picture. Not only are they pushing the boundaries on how desi Muslim...
Muslim Women Have Healthier Self-Image...
The hijab, or headscarf, is often portrayed in the West as a symbol of victimization—and by many Muslims as a badge of religious and cultural identity. In Europe, anti-hijab sentiment has reached fever pitch in recent years. In China, the government went so far as to offer reward money for turning in women wearing headscarves. In the Canadian province of Quebec, a leading opposition nationalist party wanted to ban the headscarf and all other religious symbols for public workers. The move failed but nearly 70% of Quebec’s citizens supported it. Lost in the often vitriolic debate, however, are the voices of Muslim women. A new study, conducted by researchers at the University of Westminster in the UK and...
Muslim Teen Girls Highly Confident
It was the 16-year-old girl wearing a hijab, who spoke about feminism at Glastonbury, who first took my breath away. In front of thousands of muddy concert goers, she noted she was probably the only overtly Muslim person present. She spoke about living in a world where the odds are still stacked against women. Those same odds are even more heavily stacked against Muslim women: employment discrimination, Islamophobia, social stereotyping and cultural expectations add to the challenges they face. Like their peers, these young Muslim women are very much the selfie generation. Fashion, consumerism and online communities play a powerful role in their lives. And while feminism is undergoing a digitally-driven revival – faith is increasingly unfashionable, at...
Quick Links
