Reposted with permission. Part 1 of a 5 part series. We often forget that the faces on the other side of the television screen have thoughts and feelings just like our own. We forget to think about the common threads of humanity between all living beings. I’m obviously no expert on the subject, having only…
As a revert many things are new, intimidating, and often frustrating. From learning to say “As’ Salaamu Alaykum” properly to memorizing the number of rakaat for each individual prayer, it can be exhausting! But there is one thing that most reverts look forward to and that’s the opportunity to set foot in a real mosque.…
by Sumaya Bezrati Today I read someone’s status message that was criticizing children’s misbehavior in the mosque (albeit jokingly) but it still struck a nerve with me. This would be the 4th status message about this very topic that I have read this Ramadan. When did the Ummah become this intolerant of children in the…
by Rahil Khan While the scope of the destruction caused by the floods in Pakistan is heart-wrenching, the relief efforts are even more frustrating. The way the worst crisis in Pakistan was handled by the government, especially by our President Zardari, you would know that they are simply not competent to deal with the scale…
My father happily walks into my room handing me a mug of tea, hoping it would make me smile. As I take a whiff, I smell the aroma that teases me from a distance on my desk. Just like the smell of pie teases passerby’s from the kitchen windowsill in Saturday morning cartoons. The aroma…
Karachi, Pakistan can be summed up in two words: insufferable heat. The faint, bitter smell of sweat lingers in the atmosphere; the stifling heat is almost tangible. Clothes cling obstinately to bodies and the feeling of being perpetually filthy prevails, no matter the number of cold showers one takes. Karachi is also extremely polluted. An…
“Twenty-five people died after a bomb blast near the hospital” and “twenty civilians were killed as police attacked the protesters” –we hear similar news on a daily basis, but never pay attention to the fact that so many precious lives are lost. I always try to keep up with the news, and whenever there is…
The idea of a day devoted solely to celebrating and recognizing women’s achievements, International Women’s Day, was first proposed a hundred years ago by Clara Zetkin at the second International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen, Denmark. This was in the midst of an era of turbulent and changing times in a rapidly industrializing world.…
Over the past weekend I was fortunate enough to participate in an event that was both inspirational and educational. The event I am referring to was MSA West, hosted at the University of California Davis. After getting through the near 7 even hour drive there my expectations were high. Because after traveling in a car…
I first picked up Howard Zinn’s A People’s History when I was eleven years old. I had been dared to do so by a friend of mine who declared that if I successfully completed it, I’d go down in history as the biggest bookworm that ever walked the halls of our school. 675 pages of…