9/11

It happened. A heckler. At my first solo book reading.
I was promoting my debut novel, Painted Hands, at Cambridge’s Porter Square Books. Though I was an attorney in a past life, I was ridiculously nervous. It’s one thing to participate in moot court, or lead a seminar on contract negotiation. But to stand before a crowd of strangers and read your work–the pages that you have poured your heart and soul into for years? When you’re new to it, it can border on terrifying.

Certain moments define us. As Americans, we find these moments often come at times of tragedy. Pain and suffering strike a special chord in the American ethos. They remind us that we are united, that we care, and that we truly are the land of the free and the home of the brave. As President Obama put it, these moments remind us that “We are Americans — united in concern for our fellow citizen.”

As Ramadan sets in, Muslims in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, are fighting for the right to celebrate as faithful Muslims. Yesterday, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty filed a request for a temporary restraining order on behalf of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro. Becket’s brief requested that the Islamic Center be permitted to use its newly built mosque in time for Ramadan, the holiest month of the Islamic calendar, during which Muslims fast each day from dawn till sunset.

Revelations about the NYPD’s extensive surveillance of Muslims have provoked heated debates about whether spying on mosques, Muslim-owned businesses and university students is justified by national security interests. In order to clear up some misconceptions, we here at AltMuslimah have compiled a list of ten key reasons why profiling American Muslims has no rational justification. Please help us get the word out by sharing this with your friends and colleagues!