Sex is described as many things: it can be an act of passion for some, physical gratification for others, a necessity for procreation, an act of worship for people of faith, or some combination thereof. It is also a word and experience that is often loaded with many emotions: joy,…
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altMuslimah’s Zehra Rizavi recently interviewed Joohi Tahir, the Executive Director of the non-profit MUHSEN, an organization founded by Shaykh Omar Suleiman that advocates for families and individuals in Muslim American communities with special needs members. A few weeks ago, MUHSEN launched an endeavor never before undertaken by any other Muslim…
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My middle schoolers are in that precious yet precarious space where they yo-yo between the innocence of childhood and the desire to be independent. They cling to the safety of parents and home, and while they are not ready to leap out of their bubble, both nudge its outer limits…
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As a mother to three sons, I know how rambunctious boys can be. I know the games they play often involve battles, forts, and play fighting with sticks, straws, spoons and yes, even toy guns. To see boys whooping and tearing through backyards while re-enacting fight scenes from the latest…
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This past weekend, I was at an event and an uncle stopped me. He then proceeded to ask what I was studying (Social Work) and I made the mistake of mentioning that I used to be pre-med. I’m sure he had good intentions but he immediately dismissed my current profession…
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This article responds to Yusra Gomaa’s piece on altM, Placing Muslim orphans into real homes. In 1961, Frantz Fanon wrote his seminal work The Wretched of the Earth. In the section of the book entitled “On National Culture”, he indicts the colonial system of both his native Martinique as well…
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This election cycle has been difficult to experience, even for adults. Civil conversations and respect for diversity have been sidelined, and the loudest voices in politics and on television now are frighteningly extreme. Unsurprisingly the hateful rhetoric has filtered into American schools. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has just…
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Mental illness is a dirty secret in the Muslim community. It’s seen as a curse, as an embarrassment, as something to be kept hidden. In many countries it’s not spoken about, and certainly not medically treated. It’s something you get over, because you really don’t have any choice. It goes…
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I am thirty-seven, single and childless. The latter two of these three descriptives are taboo within the Muslim community. Whether you live in America, Pakistan or Egypt, if you are not attached to a husband and with a brood of children in tow, you are an outsider. Extended family and…
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Giving birth is, in so many ways, an act of faith. It involves a kind of radical trust in our bodies that I equate with tawakkul, trust in Allah, the One who made our bodies. For me, being a doula is also an act of faith. A doula is someone who supports and comforts a mother in childbirth, building a relationship with her over the weeks leading up to the delivery and sometimes continuing to support a new mother in the weeks that follow.
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