By Zoha QamarA series of allegations regarding inappropriate conduct by popular speaker Nouman Ali Khan hit a tipping point earlier this week. A number of prominent Muslim-American community leaders have released statements through social media, with a substantial fraction of them asserting the claims of his gender-based and sexual misconduct to be true. Inappropriate messages with a number of…
By Zoha QamarRizwan Ahmed, also known as Riz MC, made history Sunday night as the first South Asian man as well first Muslim to take home an Emmy. Ahmed was nominated twice – once for his role in “The Night Of” and then for a guest appearance in “Girls.” He went home with “Outstanding Lead Actor in…
By Zoha QamarA 21-year-old Muslim aspiring model and cousin were attacked with acid, unprovoked, while waiting at a traffic stop in East London on the morning of her birthday, June 21. Resham Khan and 37-year-old Jameel Mukhtar were driving through town when a man approached their car and threw sulfuric acid in from an open window, before…
By Zoha Qamar2017 has not been the easiest year. We’ve seen bans specifically targeting Muslims, America officially inaugurating a sexist as the president, and xenophobes everywhere bolstering discrimination. But don’t let that fool anyone – the #MuslimGirlArmy doesn’t let even the most heated hate get in the way of Muslim women’s history. We teamed up with our allies to…
By Zoha QamarJust before 9 PM Saturday night, the Eastern District of New York granted temporary emergency stay for valid visa holding individuals who had landed in the United States or were currently in transit in defiance of Donald Trump’s illegal and unconstitutional executive order on immigration. As the director of the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union), Dale Ho, tweeted:…
By Zoha QamarOur beloved (insert sarcasm here) Speaker of the House, Representative Paul Ryan, is at it again, per usual. The Wisconsin Republican continues to lead the GOP push to “defund” Planned Parenthood (PP), given the organization’s abortion services. Many of the processes and terms relevant to the situation, however, have been simplified deceivingly and tossed around…
By Zoha QamarNew York City has made me a better runner. It’s not from trying to outrun all the shuffling shoes scuffing the sidewalks, nor from hurdling over the asphalt before that cab from down the block screeches and reaches toward me during a red-handed “no-walk” sign. Maneuvering the bodies and buildings sprouting from the curved concrete…
By Zoha QamarIn few but substantial ways, the tumultuous journey of 2016 is ending just as it began. For Muslims, the potential threat of the Muslim registry proposed by President-elect Trump has not only been looming, but has magnified significantly. His pledge to surveil the Muslim-American community bolstered much of his presidential campaign and its implementation remains…
By Zoha QamarThis Thanksgiving, the star of our national menu wasn’t a bronzed colored turkey or golden potatoes or pies; no crisps or crumbles or gravy or greens or beans – no insane cook times or obscure ingredients or peculiar pans for prep. Nope. Despite how few Americans properly got the memo, the most notable character in the…
By Zoha QamarNearing the one month anniversary of Trump’s election affords us a minuscule amount of time before his January inauguration and takeover and the Affordable Care Act—Obamacare—is in jeopardy, as are women’s health resources in general. Trump’s aggressive pro-life attitude publicized in his campaign promises to defund the nonprofit Planned Parenthood (PP), the largest player in…
By Zoha QamarAs campaigns, news, and opinions projected themselves onto many online platforms and digital outlets, this election’s relationship with social media marks a milestone of unprecedented strength. Coping with its results has only proven Americans to remain more reliant on cyber spheres to either facilitate or weaken trust and safety. We have fallen onto a range…
By Zoha QamarAmid a national climate that is, at best, uncertain — and, at worst, unimaginable; the Muslim community faces an America that is digging deep at a question of fundamental patriotic identity. Who is American, or even what is American? Who is an outsider? How? Better yet, who retains the power to decide the answer to…
By Zoha QamarIn this edition of #MuslimGirlFire, we introduce you to our friend and powerhouse dynamo, Rasha Mubarak. Rasha Mubarak is a Palestinian-American Muslim community activist and leader, who was recently selected as part of the MPower 100 list. Born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in the heart of Central Florida, she serves as the Orlando Regional Coordinator…
By Zoha QamarThis week, fifty prominent Pakistani clerics issued a fatwa offering conditional rights for transgender people under Islamic law. The men, associated with the Tanzeem Ittehad-i-Ummat sector based out of Lahore, declared that under their branch of law, it be necessary for a transgender person to be granted equality in terms of marriage, inheritance, and funerals….
By Zoha QamarThis fall, the Smithsonian is slated to debut its first ever exhibit featuring the Qur’an. The four month display, “The Art of the Qur’an: Treasures from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts,” will spotlight pieces lent by the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts in Istanbul. After a trip to Istanbul in 2010, chief…
