I have always loved the month of Ramadan. It was always my springboard for the rest of the year, and I used it as a time to pause and reflect. I found the actual fasting hard, and so I devoured books around the virtues abstaining from food and drink for…
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March has become exhausting. A month that is supposed to be dedicated to women has now every women’s issue crammed in. We have no time to celebrate. We just have more to explain than ever. Last year for International Women’s Day, I issued an invitation to the AltMuslimah readers on…
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Mo Salah’s GQ Middle East has cover stirred quite the controversy. In Arab and Muslim communities, men and women are judged based on two entirely different systems. Women are policed every step of the way and their lives are dissected under a patriarchal microscope. Men, on the other hand, are…
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B If you were to pass me on the street, you would never suspect I’m a Muslim: I don’t wear hijab. I have platinum blonde hair and blue eyes. And I am heavily tattooed. I grew up in Texas and was raised Southern Baptist. I use the word “y’all” a…
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When people ask me why I created Across Red Lines, my natural response has been to share my mind’s truth: that over a professional lifetime spent in war zones, I witnessed and experienced first-hand the crippling legacy of the fractured relationship between women’s sexuality and the modern practice of Islam….
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Asma: Ramadan is a challenge for so many people, especially those trying to eat clean and stay on a balanced diet. Hunger overtakes us and makes us want to eat carb filled foods at Iftar. Can you offer some guidelines to help keep us on track? Zainab:Ramadan is a great…
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The following was published as a Facebook post by the author. It is reprinted here with permission. It has been edited for clarity. I’ve spent the past week in and out of a lot of conversations about the new Hulu show ‘Ramy’. Those conversations have waded through expressions of disgust…
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Asma: Zainab, as you know, Marie Kondo and her KonMari method of decluttering is tremendously popular the world over, and definitely in the US. Can you reflect on how her advice might be relevant when it comes to healthy eating? Zainab: Marie is definitely wildly popular! And I think at the…
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Two recent incidents remind us of not only the diversity of Muslim women and their experiences, but the myriad ways that both Muslims and non-Muslims attempt to police Muslim women: (1) reactions to newly elected congresswoman Rashida Tlaib’s choice of language to refer to President Trump; (2) and the flight…
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Zainab Sarwar is a certified 500-hour Power Yoga Specialist and Nutritionist, and has run highly successful yoga studios in Pakistan. She has now moved to Dubai and is re-establishing her brand – Moksha Studio Power Yoga. She shares some of her nutrition / exercise tips with AltMuslimah. What should people…
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