Culture

Books, Culture

The Sweetness of Tears by Nafisa Haji

For many years, I had been trying to figure out how to explain, describe, encompass, sum up, or simply understand what has happened to this world in the last ten years. I have been wondering how humanity, faith, identity, tradition, race relations, extremism, terrorism, and international law have shaped our world and our senses since 9/11. I finally found what I was looking for in the intricate fiction narrative created by Nafisa Haji in her novel, The Sweetness of Tears.

Read More
Culture

Raising awareness through art about violence against women

A series of eighteen copper bowls hang from a long black panel. Brilliant in color, some have kneaded, furled edges, while others have smooth, buffed surfaces. This series entitled “Noise,” is an installation made by Maryland-based Metal-smith Mawadda Alaswadi for the 12th Annual Muslim Women in the Arts (MWIA) exhibit, “Healing & Empowerment: Violence, Women & Art.” Mawadda’s installation expresses the different stages one experiences in being a victim of sexual abuse.

Read More
Culture

Face to faith

Among a row of pretty young girls wearing both dark and pastel colored head scarves, and making furiously quick and deliberate movements with their fingers, all the while mouthing the words, we see the profile of a pensive 27 year-old woman. Seated in this lecture hall, she stands out from the others, with her silent demeanor and her curly, chestnut hair unrestrained by a scarf. Aran Slade is the star of “Deaf Sisterhood,” a documentary made by Redbird Productions for British Sign Language Broadcasting Trust (BSL) and available on BSL’s website.

Read More
Books, Culture

An intriguing novel and a delight to read

If Herman Hesse were alive today, he’d fall in love with Lyrics Alley, a story that resonates with the theme of his famous short story The Poet: the solitary life and mission of the poet. But Leila Aboulela’s novel depicts that theme with arguably more intrigue, depth, and complexity, as it tells its story of self-determination, fate, love, and the intrinsic value of art. The novel takes place in the Sudanese city of Umdurman in the early 1950’s, which was a critical time in Sudanese history.

Read More
Books, Culture

An excerpt from Leila Aboulela’s latest book

Lyrics Alley by Leila Aboulela is the evocative story of an affluent Sudanese family shaken by the shifting powers in their country and the near-tragedy that threatens the legacy they’ve built for decades. Moving from Sudanese alleys to cosmopolitan Cairo and a decimated postcolonial Britain, this sweeping tale of desire, loss, despair, and reconciliation is one of the most accomplished portraits ever written about Sudanese society at the time of independence. Here is a short excerpt.

Read More
Books, Culture

“That was how our friendship began”

The monkey and the crocodile. My father used to tell me that story when I was very young. But the version he told me was different from the tale I told Sadiq. In my father’s story, the crocodile is put up to the betrayal of his friend, the monkey, by his greedy wife. She deceives him, feigning illness to get him to do what she wants–to bring back the monkey’s heart for her to eat so that she might become well. Same ending, though. When I was eight or nine years old, older than Sadiq was when he was taken from me, I told my father that I didn’t like his story.

Read More
Culture

Announcing the shortest ever conference on Islam

Today Altmuslimah is excited to invite you to participate in an unprecedented online event and audio seminar happening this May and which we’re a proud partner in. It’s called The Future of Islam In the Age of New Media and it features 60 speakers in 60 seconds each for a total of 60 insightful minutes. Billed as “the shortest conference on Islam ever,” it brings together many names and faces you’ll recognize including Asma Uddin, Reza Aslan, Jillian C. York, Abdullahi An-Na’im and many others.

Read More
Culture, Fashion

A style statement

Frankees Samad, a senior at the University of California Davis, debuted her womenswear line at the Signature Collection Fashion Show earlier this month. Hosted by the Runway Designers Club at the Performance Art Institute in San Francisco, the show presented the senior projects of 25 fashion students at UC Davis. As expected, models sashayed down the runway in gauzy, floaty gowns, wildly exuberant accessories, and deconstructed garments typical of any student fashion show (a dress decorated in hundreds of glass fragments, anyone?).

Read More
Culture

Thin is in

“Can You Be Fit & Fat” was the title of an article I read in the April 2011 issue of Runner’s World magazine. The heading left me wondering, is it possible to be unhealthy if you are ‘not fat’? Increased physical activity can to lead to weight loss, but losing weight should not be the end itself. Thus we have a variety people who exercise every day to improve endurance, improve their heart or lose weight.

Read More
Culture, Fashion

An interview with Bayan Jondy

Fashion designer Bayan Jondy: “I truly wanted Muslim women to feel confident and beautiful wearing modest clothing. Up until we launched, I felt that our options for fashionable clothing in line with my beliefs were very limited. I was frustrated with not being able to find the kind of clothing that reflected my personality and uniqueness; I was tired of wearing so many layers, especially in the spring and summer.”

Read More