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Community

I am not a lollipop or a pearl

Last week, a national religious organization, which focuses on proliferating accurate information about Islam, shared a photo on its Facebook page depicting two lollipops- one bare, with a swarm of flies and one in a wrapper with a solitary fly. Predictably, the photo likened the lollipops to women- those uncovered and those covered. Following a frenzy of angry comments, the photo was promptly removed, but of course once on the Internet, something is never truly erased and so this photo continues to surface on every social media platform imaginable.

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Community, Mosque

“Will my family go to heaven?”

I converted to Islam for many reasons, but the most important of those was the holistic teaching of justice I found pervasive in the Qu’ran and life of Prophet Muhammad. What most people do not expect, however, is that in the two years leading up to my conversion and continuing after, I have become more filled with questions than with answers, and I’ve grown comfortable, even intimate with them. They remind me that I am human and Allah is everything but.

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Community, Mosque

A renovated mosque

Mahnoor wished she was returning to their home town under happier circumstances. She and her father had crossed two states to attend the funeral of his best friend, Khalid. Once they had made their way across the expansive parking lot of the recently renovated mosque where friends and family had gathered for the funeral, Mahnoor circled around the building trying to spot the entrance to the women’s’ section.

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Community

I am the captain of my soul

In my fifteen years of fasting, I was mostly going through the motions. Sure, I knew that Ramadan was a time for increased God-consciousness, but last month I learned the difference between knowing something and feeling something. This Ramadan, I felt it.
Reaching a level of spirituality at which I felt a connection to my Creator in my bones required preparation. Just as we begin each fast with a niyaat (or intention), I also commenced this year’s Ramadan with a niyaat.

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Community

“30 Days 30 deeds”: A Ramadan blog

In an effort to share the essence of the month of Ramadan with my children, we’ve been keeping a “30 days” blog for the past three years (www.30days30deeds.com). I wanted to help the kids understand that in addition to fasting, this month is about doing good deeds, about expressing gratitude, about praying sincerely for yourself and for others. Keeping a blog helps us stay mindful and think about these issues each day. The first year we decided to do one good deed each day—30 days, 30 deeds.

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Community

5 steps to get you ready for Ramadan

Once the smoke of July 4th fireworks and grills wafts away it will probably dawn on you that Ramadan is less than a week away. Anxiety about the long hours of fasting and the heat sets in. Long gone is the winter Ramadans of your youth, where you would come home from school and nap for an hour before you broke your fast with Mama’s homemade basbousa. Times have changed, and it will become clearer in a month. How do we avoid this eventuality? We have to adapt, and that takes preparation.

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Community

“Brutal”

I am a 36-year-old Muslim woman and am happily engaged to a wonderful man who I plan to marry this year. I have reached this healthy place after 27 years of depression, self-doubt and subsequent counselling. A major component of my healing has been my autobiography, “Brutal,” a book in which I spare no details and for which I make no apologies. And what compelled me, an ordinary Muslim woman from Midlands, England to share my life story?

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Community

A Muslim woman’s journey towards faith and acceptance — Part II

I learn about the Imam Ali Center, an Iranian mosque in Woodside, Queens, from a friend at the dergah who raves about their beautiful Ramadan prayer service. It is part of the well-organized Razi School that prides itself on academic excellence in a distinctively Islamic environment. As I approach the entrance, a habitual wave of anxiety seizes me.

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Community

A Muslim woman’s journey towards faith and acceptance — Part I

I set myself a Ramadan challenge: to step out of the boundaries of my safe familiar and visit a mosque. My spiritual home in New York City is a Sufi dergah in Tribeca. It is a beautiful, aesthetically pleasing space, conducive to quiet contemplation and meditation. On Thursday evenings, it is open to the public for zikr, the ceremony of Divine remembrance. Our circle is led by a wise and beautiful woman—Sheikha Fariha Fatima—who possesses a joyous and compassionate approach to faith and an infectious laugh.

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Community

A peace prize for all?

What do butterflies, Javed Mohammed, and the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winners have in common? The answer: Purpose! The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women has been observed on November 25th since 1960 (although officially designated as such by the United Nations in 1989), its roots deeply seated in the brutal death by beating of the Dominican Mirabal sisters.

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