community

The case for social media and hashtag activism

Social Media: Websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking Activism: The policy or action of using vigorous campaigning to bring about political or social change. My husband is one of those individuals who have chosen a life of complete abstinence from…

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Moving and Making peace

About four weeks ago Aziz Ansari in one of his sold out shows in Houston, broached the topic of our social etiquette in modern-day social media obsessed world. I couldn’t help but uproariously laugh at some of the scenarios Ansari threw out, but his jokes also left me thinking seriously…

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10,000 Strong: The March for Gaza

I’m not one for humid, oppressively hot weather, but there I was standing on the grassy knoll opposite the White House, squinting into the noon-day sun. And I wasn’t alone. Roughly 10,000 people–give or take a few hundred—milled around me on Lafayette Square, spilling onto Pennsylvania Avenue.

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A Mother’s Day Tribute from a pediatric nurse

The first time I worked on Mother’s Day, I saw the day through a different lens. My patient’s mother usually came in every morning after her night shift job and passed out on the hospital sleeper chair for a few hours. But that morning, she arrived wearing her Sunday best and her finest pearls. In her hand was a camera, and a satin dress for the baby. She wanted a picture with her daughter, and asked if we could do everything possible to make her look less like a patient and more like a “normal” child.

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Is modesty enough? How about fair labor?

The MODSHOP (http://www.modshop.us/) is an endeavor to provide modest, Fair Labor friendly fashion for the modern woman. The MODSHOP works with a variety of designers to provide anything from hijabs to bridal outfits to the woman seeking an answer to her modest fashion needs. Altmuslimah sat down with Sadeel Allam, the founder of the MODSHOP, to learn more about this niche business.

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“Mommy, why are women in the back?”

<< From the Altmuslimah archives >> “Mommy, why are the women in the back?” my daughter asked me when she was just three years old. I wasn’t prepared for this. The truth is I had been hoping that she wouldn’t ask me because I wasn’t convinced that the women should be behind the men during prayer. I also knew that it wasn’t a requirement for congregational prayer. I felt conflicted because I wanted my beautiful, brilliant little girl to come to love prayer and praying in congregation.

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‘Unmosqued’ Debate: Muslim Millennials explore the problem with American mosques

Muslim millennials joined host Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani on Huff Post Live to discuss the exclusivity of many American mosques, as captured in the upcoming film “UnMosqued” by Ahmed Eid.
More and more American Muslims find themselves at odds with the culture in their mosque communities, particularly as many of these places of worship retain strong ties to homelands that self-identified American Muslims may not relate to, say many of those interviewed in “Unmosqued.”

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Capturing “beautiful,” “adequate,” and “pathetic” women’s spaces: An Interview with Hind Makki

<< From the Altmuslimah archives >> The Tumblr blog “Side Entrance” describes itself as a collection of images “from mosques around the world, showcasing women’s sacred spaces, in relation to men’s spaces,” showing ”the beautiful, the adequate and the pathetic.” Sarah Farrukh talks to project founder and community activist Hind Makki about the significance of the collection and its implications for mosque reform.

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Unity Amongst the Faiths

Youth Groups Connecting Through Faith and Compassion: Interfaith youth groups cement relationships which intend to enlighten members of the various religions represented. One such group, based in the Washington, D.C. metro area is made up of Jewish, Christian, Buddhist and Islamic members. They came together in 2011 to serve dinner at a women’s shelter in Washington, D.C. and decided to form an organization called Capital Area Interfaith Friends (CAIF) to learn about each others faiths while doing meaningful and rewarding community service throughout the D.C. metro area.

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