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...
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...
Poll: Most Americans Say Islam is Peaceful...
By Cheryl K. Chumley – The Washington Times – Wednesday, February 4, 2015 Iowa caucus-goers taking part in a poll said Islam, by and large, is a peaceful religion — and that finding has some Muslims shocked, particularly with Republicans. The Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics Iowa Poll showed that 53 percent of Republicans and 81 percent of Democrats think Islam is a peaceful religion — and only 39 percent of GOPers and 13 percent of Democrats see it is as inherently violent. Basim Bakri, 54, who moved from Jordan to Iowa 30 years ago, said he’s surprised especially that so few Republicans labeled the Muslim faith as violent because so many in the party seem to have a...
Islam, As Truly Found in the Qur’an...
Vice President Joe Biden spoke truth to power at last week’s White House conference on fighting violent extremism when he said that we have no military means with which to wage and win such a struggle of conflicting ideals. At the same time, President Obama has asked the Congress for war powers with which to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. He wants to use more U.S. military force against a religious movement of Sunni Muslims. This is not the right way to end this conflict. Military force is a very limited instrument that comes with inherent shortcomings, as we have learned after years of inconclusive fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. I learned this fighting...
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