Count down the most popular Altmuslimah stories of the 2013 to see what most captivated our readers! These pieces cover everything from a South Asian Miss America to adoption in the American Muslim community, but the common thread between all 10 articles is that they were the most read and most shared of the past year. Enjoy!
1. “Adoption in Islam: Not in my house” by Yusra Gomaa
“Despite all the spiritual rewards of adoption, I cringe when I imagine the widened eyes and awkward questions that would arise if I wanted to adopt: Is it because she can’t have her own? Why else would she go that route?”
2. “Men and Modesty: The Muslim male gaze” by Zainab Khan
“Interesting isn’t it, that we choose to bypass the [Qur’anic] injunction on lowering our gaze, which appears first and therefore arguably carries just as much, if not more, weight, in favor of the portion of the verse detailing how Muslim women ought to dress?”
3. “Redefining Islam, Post-divorce” by Deonna Kelli Sayed
“For many Muslims, the decision to leave a decent husband, but an empty marriage, implies I am the typical, flippant and capricious white American woman who many Muslim mothers fear will snatch their sons away.”
4. “I am a Muslim woman and I chose to have an abortion” by Iman Ahmed
“As a pro-choice and deeply religious Muslim, the decision to possibly terminate a pregnancy was doubly difficult for me.”
5. “To be or not to Beyoncé” by Abrar Qadir
“No performance in recent memory did more to spark dialogue on women’s empowerment, misogyny and sexuality than Beyoncé’s Super Bowl Halftime show.”
6. “Women and mosques: a love-hate relationship” by Samra Hussain
“There are countless stories of women facing undue humiliation and belittling at mosques for one reason or another. Ironically enough, it is at the hands of other women.”
7. “Nina Davuluri: Miss America—peeking behind the bigotry” by Abrar Qadir
“Behind the Miss America fueled [racist] tweets about ‘Arabs’ and ‘7/11,’ we often find, rather than simply white privilege – spirits withered under years of economic difficulty, and cultural disregard.”
8. “Cultural Appropriation: Hips don’t lie” by Deonna Kelli Sayed
“‘How ironic is that,’ my friend and fellow [belly dancing] partner comments, ‘that we are engaging in a form of cultural expression with roots in a part of the world that most people associate with silent, oppressed, frigid women?'”
9. “On (Not) Losing My Hijab” by Sarah Farrukh
“My relationship with my hijab is indeed like a marriage; a marriage that underwent an enormous upheaval and survived. It was a painful process, but the resulting newfound love and strength made it completely worthwhile.”
10. “Sexual Abuse: My secret” by M.E.
“When I was thirteen, and again when I was fifteen, I was sexually abused by my maternal uncle. Only a handful of people, including my husband, know this, but I suspect there are more Muslim girls carefully hiding this very same ‘dirty’ secret than the Muslim-American community would like to believe. For their sake and my own, I have decided to share my secret.”
Zehra Rizavi the Managing Editor at Altmuslimah.
