Ever since I began trying to understand life, one of the crippling realizations about the Muslim communities I reached was this: we tend to bury our problems in a dark hole, dismiss them and hope they will never come back to haunt us. But they often do. We overlook many…
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Interested in becoming a therapist or advocate for social justice in the Muslim community? A degree in social work might be right for you. The majority of mental health providers in the United States have a degree in social work.[1] This means that a psychotherapist or counselor is more likely…
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With all the stories on the Internet it can be difficult to always stay in the know. To help, we’ve searched the web for interesting pieces of news, videos and tips to help you start off your week on the right foot. 1. 40 badass times Donald Trump was asked…
Read Moreo What follows is a brief and updated discussion based on a section I wrote in 2014 in my report published by Penal Reform International as part of an ongoing international campaign to abolish the death penalty. In February 2015, I was invited by the Albert Kennedy Trust in London…
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altM’s Founder, Editor-in-Chief, and religious liberties lawyer Asma Uddin reviews the Marrakesh Declaration, and what it means for religious freedom. In the 13th century, when the Mongols conquered Baghdad, their ruler Hulagu Khan gathered the religious scholars in the city and asked them: According to spiritual law, which option is…
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Muslim women’s voices across the globe continue to rise up to call for change. The days of Muslim men or Western women defining the Muslimah agenda is over. For decades we have seen organizations and individuals rise that promote authentic Muslim women voices. Join us as that conversation continues –…
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“People in the West are discovering, with anxiety and fear, that sex in the Muslim world is sick, and that the disease is spreading to their own lands.” (Daoud, The Sexual Misery of the Arab World) In an era of fear and loathing, cultural difference stealthily, yet all too…
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I recently had the opportunity to interview Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah, Chairman of the Board & Scholar-in-Residence at the Nawawi Foundation, a non-profit educational foundation based in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Abd-Allah offered me his insights into the growing phenomenon of Muslim women taking off their headscarves. The first part of the four-part interview can be read here, the second part of the interview can be read here, and the third part of the interview can be read here. The fourth and final part of the interview follows:
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The women had arrived to Islam in various ways. One of them, Lina, was born into the religion but often struggled to reconcile it with her mother’s Peruvian culture, which she felt was more “liberal.” Two others, Myree and Noelia, converted as a result of marriage. Miriam, the daughter of…
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I don’t speak Arabic. I rarely pray more than once a day. I don’t cover my hair. I curse. I sing. I dance. I paint my nails. I sport spaghetti straps. I love dogs. And if pork and alcohol didn’t smell so nasty to me, I’d have no trouble consuming…
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