elective Outrage: The Danger of One-Sided Condemnations in Campus Speech
C ountering Islamophobia is a Civilizational Imperative
Prisoners: The U.S. Census Bureau Does Not Count Incarcerated Converts as Muslims
We welcome Ramadan with this issue. May God bless all of us and bring forth His rewards for our strivings.
The past nearly 500 days have been most trying, with a live Genocide that continues with our involuntary accommodation as American taxpayers. Sadly, the uneasy halt in the Genocide that we saw in late January was not an end to barbarism. The Zionists, experts at hair splitting, found it convenient to assign it as an agreement limited to carnage in Gaza and so continue to destroy Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank, and neighboring countries.
The humaneness of the humanitarian organizations should be qualified. It took Amnesty International 424 days to gather the courage to tell the truth that Israel is committing a Genocide in Gaza. Ironically, in its provisional order of Jan. 26, 2024, the International Court of Justice had acknowledged this already in its traditionally convoluted language of its provisional ruling on the case concerning “Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel).”
It took the ICC a mere 300 days to muster up the courage to issue a warrant of arrest for Benjamin Netanyahu — the barbarian prime minister — and his (now former) war minister, Yoav Gallant.
Now and then, and even in public debates, an often-overlooked legal maxim props up, that is “justice delayed is justice denied” — meaning that if legal redress or equitable relief to an injured party is available but is not forthcoming in a timely fashion, it is effectively the same as having no remedy at all. It is something that cannot be dismissed under some assumed defense. In fact, it is found even in the Pirkei Avot (Chapters of the Fathers), which is a compilation of ethical teachings and maxims from Rabbinic Jewish tradition, and it is part of didactic Jewish ethical literature.
Passed in 1990 by U.S. Congress, the United States Code, Title 28, §476(a)(3) as part of the “Judicial Improvements Act of 1990,” this concept even compels a “novel process of making public the names of judges” who let cases go too long without decisions or judgment.
Amnesty International had stated month after month that Israel’s assault on Gaza constituted Genocide. And now the world has watched as Israel treated Palestinians in Gaza as a subhuman group unworthy of rights or dignity, demonstrating its intent to destroy them all (‘You Feel Like You Are Subhuman’: Israel’s Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza: Executive Summary [Index: 15/8744/2024]).
The United States’ Genocide junta of 202024, that has been replaced by its right-wing clone, continues its full support for Israel’s slaughter . Indeed, this war has been invigorating for the weapons makers and their investors. It is as late President Ronald Reagan famously declared about the trickle-down economic effect.
Predictably, the U.S. State Department chimed in, “We do not agree with Amnesty International’s conclusions that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.” Equally unsurprisingly, the State Department, which consumed $86.96 billion in fiscal year 2024, also said, “Our assessment of the situation in Gaza is not yet complete [emphasis added], but accusations of genocide against Israel are baseless.” It took the ICC a mere 300 days, and Amnesty International 424 days to gather up the courage to point out Genocide. Now we wait to see if the State Department will ever muster the courage to speak the truth. Chances of that in the current political climate in the United States are less than slim, for the “Congressional Budget Justification for Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs,” clearly states that the U.S. will continue “supporting our enduring commitments to allies and partners in the region, including] Israel and Jordan.”
The late Hannah Arendt — a German American historian and philosopher— stated that the distinction between truth and lie can be eroded, over time, by “continual lying.” Isn’t the saying, “Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth,” a law of propaganda often attributed to the Nazi Joseph Goebbels?
When political leaders, institutions, the media, and respected figures habitually and continually state “alternative facts,” their lies — even if they aren’t believed — attack the very foundations of what Arendt calls the common world.
And what are Muslim majority countries doing while watching their kin being obliterated? Shamelessly, only collusion with barbarism. For instance, Morocco let an Israeli warship to dock at Tangier’s port, after Spain had denied such the use of its own facility.
This issue comes to readers in the period when ISNA holds its East Coast Education Forum, and as challenges grow for Muslim educators, Islamic schools, and for Muslim students and parents. The country’s once amiable atmosphere is drastically changing as Islamophobia increasingly becomes a standard tool of success for a certain category of public office seekers. New challenges such as mandatory Bible Studies have been imposed on Texas public school students, where Muslims are also enrolled.
Isn’t it time for Muslim Americans to plan more effectively in providing a nourishing intellectual environment for their coming generations? ih
PUBLISHER
The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA)
PRESIDENT
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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Basharat Saleem
EDITOR
Omer Bin Abdullah
ASSISTANT EDITOR
Bareerah Zafar
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
Iqbal Unus, Chair: M. Ahmadullah Siddiqi, Saba Ali, Rasheed Rabbi
ISLAMIC HORIZONS
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BY CRYSTAL HABIB
The 13th Annual West Coast Education Forum, hosted by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) took place on January 17 and 18, 2025 at the Hilton Orange County/ Costa Mesa in Costa Mesa, California. This year’s theme, “Promoting Social Justice and Spiritual Resilience Through Education,” attracted 177 pre-registered attendees, including educators, administrators, and board members from Islamic schools across the nation.
This annual forum serves as a platform for professional development, networking, and community leadership with 25 speakers participating in 24 diverse sessions covering various topics such as Arabic language studies, curriculum instruction, leadership, and more. Among the notable speakers were director of Islamic studies at the New Horizon Schools in Southern California Logan Siler; Maisa Meziou, who is currently pursuing a doctorate of education at the University of
Houston in Clear Lake; Long Beach City College professor and leader of the New Muslims Program at the Islamic Society of Orange County Tahir Aziz; Arabic teacher Maria Kouli; Educational development professional and founder of Genius School Susan Labadi; and head of sschool and program manager at the Center of Innovative Religious Education at Al Faith Academy Ismail ibn Ali. They all contributed insights that resonated deeply with attendees.
Thies year’s event featured an engaging program commencing with a welcoming introduction and the Principals Panel Discussion facilitated by Munira Ezzeldine, a college and career counselor dedicated to empowering Muslim students as they navigate their educational and professional paths. The Principals Panel featured Islamic school leaders who discussed the challenges and strategies for recruiting and retaining
talented staff who would become future leaders in Islamic education.
“Relationships enhance our wellbeing,” said Ibrahim Yousef, the principal of Minaret Academy in Anaheim, Calif. This sentiment was later emphasized in the networking luncheon by ISNA Program Committee member Abir Catovic.
Following the panel, participants enjoyed a networking lunch before delving into a multitude of informative sessions, including “STEM Integration for Social Justice” by doctoral student Maisa Meziou. “Comprehending Arabic to Facilitate Quranic Contemplation” was offered by Arabic and Quran teacher Amal Sakr Elhoseiny, PhD, while “Integrating Justice and Meaning through 5D Thinking” was given by Nadine Kamal of the Institute of Integrated Knowledge in Abu Dhabi. “Recognizing and Addressing Mental Health Issues Within Schools” was a final session offered by licensed marriage and family therapist Yassir Fazaga.
This year’s forum also hosted a Celebration Banquet, where the ISNA Lifetime Service Award was presented to Dr. Omar Ezzeldine, Director of Operations
and Community Engagement at the Rahma Center (a community center of the Islamic Foundation). He has a long history of service in Islamic schools and youth development. This moment was accompanied by a gesture of solidarity with Muslims in Syria and Gaza with a powerful testimonial from ASU medical graduate from Gaza, Dr. Ahmed Abdeen, and director of community and partner relations for Syrian American Council, Suzanne Meridan. Inspiring student presentations from the Minaret Academy followed. Head of Department Dania Silk was accompanied by the Minaret students in the recitation of Surah Al-Fattah, a poem about the struggle of Palestinian youth in securing freedom and peace in their land. They also sung ‘Mawtini, a song of tribute to the Palestinians of Gaza.
The event included powerful testimonials reflecting the attendees’ enthusiasm and commitment to enhancing educational standards. Islamic Studies teacher Logan Siler remarked, “I had a great time this year at the ISNA Education Forum. It’s great to hear the passion [educators] have for teaching.” Similarly, computer science professor and leader of the New Muslims Program at the Islamic Society of Orange County, Tahir Aziz, emphasized the importance of heart in education. “If you are a
critical thinker, you are a problem solver,” he said.
Speaker Nadine Kamal expressed appreciation for the forum’s theme. “I think and I hope that teachers will find a way to use this information and give them the inspiration to find a sense of purpose in their day job,” she said. Nadeem Siddiqi, Adjunct Faculty at Tayseer Seminary, highlighted the collaborative spirit of the participants, noting, “It
was great to see all the collaboration and cross pollination of information and ideas.”
The forum was supported by six official sponsors, including Aldeen Foundation, Crescent Foods, and Amana Mutual Funds Trust. Each sponsor conveyed a shared commitment to educational empowerment. As Ali Wadi of Minneapolis-based Diwan stated, the forum was “a very well organized event with great topics. It was great to meet with the leaders behind great Islamic schools and organizations.”
With a robust program and impactful discussions, the ISNA Education Forum successfully fostered community, collaboration, and educational advancement for Islamic institutions. Basharat Saleem, ISNA Executive Director, noted the increased attendance compared to previous years and the involvement of international participants, reinforcing the forum’s role as a crucial gathering for educators dedicated to shaping the future of Islamic education. The forum concluded with a call to action for ongoing collaboration and planning for the next 25 years to ensure that the mission of promoting social justice and spiritual resilience through education continues to thrive into the future. ih
In a historic move highlighting the contributions of Muslim Americans to the history and culture of the United States, Michigan Governor Whitmer (D) declared January as “Muslim American Heritage Month” for the first time in the state’s history.
The governor’s announcement came as part of growing recognition of the significant contributions made by Muslim Americans across various economic, artistic, and cultural fields. Michigan joins several other states that celebrate this occasion following the federal government’s recognition of January as the official month to honor Muslim heritage a year ago.
In making this announcement, Governor Whitmer emphasized the growing role
Muslims have played in various aspects of life in Michigan and across the country. The governor, who has long cultivated strong relationships with Michigan’s Muslim communities, also highlighted that Muslims have been part of the United States’ fabric since its founding.
“Michigan is stronger because of our Muslim American community. Muslim Americans have shaped our state and nation in countless ways, enriching our communities and driving progress,” said Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist II. “As we celebrate Muslim American Heritage Month, we honor their achievements and reaffirm our commitment to building a Michigan where everyone’s contributions are valued and celebrated.”
As of 2024, Michigan is home to approximately 240,000 Muslims, ranking it among the top 10 states by Muslim population. This community plays a vital role in driving economic, cultural, and social growth in the Great Lakes state.
“This historic declaration is a moment of pride and joy for our community,” said Hira Khan, Executive Director of Engage Michigan. “It’s a time to celebrate the incredible contributions, rich culture, and inspiring history of Muslim Americans who have helped shape Michigan and beyond.”
Last January, the U.S. Congress issued a resolution recognizing Muslim American Heritage Month to celebrate the Muslim Americans’ contributions. However, the resolution has not been federally adopted, and celebrations remain confined to certain states with significant Muslim populations such as New Jersey, Illinois, and now Michigan. In December 2021, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker issued a proclamation that recognizes January as Muslim American Heritage Month in that state.
Muslim Marylanders are now calling on Governor Wes Moore (D) to follow the example of states like Michigan, North Carolina, and New Jersey by issuing a statewide declaration. A statewide designation would also encourage schools, organizations, and government institutions to engage in educational initiatives that promote a deeper understanding of Muslim American history and culture. ih
The Islamic Circle of North America’s (ICNA) elected Syed Saad Kazmi, a pharmacist from Murphy, Tex., as its president for the 2025-26 term. He succeeds the outgoing Amir (leader), Mohsin Ansari, MD, who has been an ICNA member since 1993, and ended his term as ICNA Amir after serving in that position since 2023.
Kazmi previously served as president of ICNA Dallas, member of the advisory board of ICNA Relief - Dallas, and head of ICNA Tarbiyah program. He is a past president of Islami Jamiate Talba in Karachi (1991-92).
ICNA is an Islamic North American grassroots umbrella organization of religious, charitable, educational, policy, and humanitarian groups representing hundreds of thousands of Muslims. ih
Azhar Azeez, an ISNA board member, and a former ISNA president, has been named to the Multi-Religious Council of Leaders, brought together by the United Nations Committee on Human Rights (UNHCR), and Religions for Peace.
His nomination serves to strengthen the collective efforts across the country to address root causes of conflict by supporting global advocacy, conflict prevention, reconciliation, peacebuilding, and social cohesion initiatives.
The Multi-Religious Council of Leaders comprises a group of religious and spiritual leaders, and their mandate extends until the third Global Refugee Forum (GRF) in 2027, where they will present progress on pledges made at the 2023 GRF and seek further commitments to action from a broader range of religious actors and institutions.
Members of the Council were identified based on having served as strong advocates for conflict prevention, reconciliation and peacebuilding, and for the hosting of refugees. ih
On January 1, 2025, Hanaa Unus started her new position as the Muslim Chaplain at University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
Previously, Unus served as chaplain at Shenandoah University (2019-24) as the university’s first Muslim community coordinator, and the first clergy member in the university’s nearly 150-year history who does not identify as Christian.
Unus previously served as the education coordinator at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society Center and also worked for the International Interfaith Peace Corps in Herndon, Virginia in association with ISNA and MYNA. She also organized conferences with the International Interfaith Peace Corps to promote interreligious dialogue and counter violent extremism.
Chaplains serve a vital role in the spiritual health of university campuses by offering spiritual care and support to students and staff in the practice of their faith. They also serve to help people address questions about meaning, hope, and spiritual transcendence. Good Chaplains, like Chaplain Unus, will also put their energies toward good relations between people of different faiths in their local communities. ih
On January 16, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it has determined that AWH Orlando Property LLC, the owner of the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Orlando at SeaWorld, used discriminatory practices that led to the l ast-minute cancellation of the Foundation’s Connect Arab America: Empowerment Summit in November 2023, just one week before the event was scheduled.
The settlement serves as an essential reminder that all groups, irrespective of race, color, religion, or national origin, are entitled to equal access and public accommodations under Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The Foundation is now pursuing civil damages to address the disruption to their event and the broader impact on the Arab American community.
The settlement includes significant measures to ensure compliance with anti-discrimination laws such as mandatory training for hotel staff, implementation of an enhanced anti-discrimination policy, and outreach to Arab American groups. These steps are essential to promoting a more inclusive environment and for preventing future discriminatory practices.
Title II does not authorize the complainant to obtain monetary damages for customers who are victims of discrimination, but does allow, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division can obtain injunctive relief that changes policies and practices to remedy the discriminatory conduct. ih
The Consultants for Islamic School Excellence (CISE) announced the availability of an interactive online version of Module 1 from the Jerusalem & al-Aqsa: Mirror to the World curriculum, and available for free! Designed for students in grades 7-12, this resource allows educators and learners to explore the historical, religious, and cultural significance of Jerusalem and Masjid al-Aqsa in an interactive and accessible format.
The course is hosted on a user-friendly Learning Management System (LMS), which enables students to seamlessly complete the modules and automatically generate a certificate of completion. This feature helps educators and parents establish accountability and track their students' progress throughout the course.
This initiative has been made possible through the donors’ contributions, who hope to ensure that future generations remain informed and connected to the rich legacy of Masjid al-Aqsa and Jerusalem.
CISE would like educators to take advantage of this incredible opportunity to empower students with knowledge and strengthen their connection to this vital part of our faith, history and heritage.
Unit1 interactive online version: https://cise.startkiwi.com/ public-catalog
Unit 1 student textbook: https: //cise.startkiwi.com/public-catalog
Unit 1 Packet (including the instructional material): https:// www.gocise.org/jerusalemcurriclumunit1
Curriculum Homepage (with all planned future modules): https://www.gocise.org/jerusalemcurriculum ih
t’s early June in the historic little city of Chester, Penn., and 8-year-old Safiya Lockett’s long, flowered skirt swirls around her ankles as she beams with pride. Safiya loves her hijab. She proudly dons it on the playground, although she might be the only child wearing religious attire. She doesn’t even mind the other school-aged children asking questions like, “What is that scarf on your head?” and “Are you hot?”
As a young Muslim girl in America, Safiya holds a wealth of answers to preemptive questions she knows are on the horizon. She’s responsible and studious, unapologetic and capable. Poised with a quick wit and a level of rationality that exceeds her years, Safiya is usually the most serious face you would spy in a crowd.
But today, things are different. Today, Safiya Lockett is light on her feet, her smile a curl in an endless sea of bedazzled khimars and festively decorated shaylas (a type of hijab). And under the lights of a makeshift runway, she shines in a modest gown crafted by her own hands. The crowd explodes with applause as she spins around the stage. Other students line up behind her to take their turn, each adorned in handmade, sustainable designs from the fashion categories they created.
The children’s designs in this sustainable fashion show are variously girly, cozy, classic, and sporty. Each style of streetwear is different, but all of them are green. The theme for the show is conservation. Conserving our modesty means conserving our planet as well.
BY CYNTHIA GRIFFITH
Fast fashion continues to take an unfathomable toll on the environment. As Muslims are tasked with being caretakers of the earth. As such, first through 12th grade students at The Institute of Islamic Studies (IIS) in Chester are making a difference by creating sustainable modest clothing and reshaping the runway with a futuristic flare.
IIS, the only K-12-learning facility in Chester, features a faith-based curriculum for local Muslim students. It is also the only school of its kind across Delaware County, Penn. This place is notable because
of its proximity to Philadelphia, which is an iconic city for Muslim Americans and is sometimes called the “Mecca of the West.” IIS is not a new development, though. Like the clothing launched on its runway, this unique school represents an old idea that has been revived with a modern twist. In this sense, it is old but also new, having only been operational for a few years. Most of the teachers working there are very familiar with the philosophy embraced by IIS having been students at the old Institute, an Islamic educational facility that was shuttered in 2010 due to a lack of funding.
The original school, which opened in the late 1990s, was a community effort founded by the local Imam in collaboration with local Muslim parents. In 2020, some former students came together by pooling community resources and managed to reopen the latest school’s incarnation by taking on the role of teachers themselves. They hold out hope that the educational opportunity offered to the area’s Muslim students will stick around this time. Together, they pour their hearts, souls, and sometimes their wallets into projects they believe will bolster the community.
One of these young teachers is sewing instructor Zahrah Waites who makes her living crafting handbags out of repurposed materials. She pointed out the Islamic responsibility to uphold unpretentious mannerisms and to take on tasks with modesty and in moderation. This is the mindset she wishes to pass on to her students.
“Our Lord and Creator is Al-Musawwir, the shaper and fashioner of beauty,” Waites said. “God loves beauty and has demonstrated it in his creation of mankind and our environment. He has also placed the responsibility on Muslims to be the caretakers and maintainers of this beautiful earth. With the rise of fast fashion and landfills destroying our planet, upcycling or [repurposing] fashion is very important.”
emerald gowns. And something inside the students was positively changing too.
“I think learning to sew things they could wear and walk around in helped boost their confidence,” Waites said. “Once you unlock that potential and the students realize what they’re capable of, nothing can stop them. I know every child has the ability to create something amazing that will greatly impact the entire world. The only difference is that now, they know it too.”
As a testament to that statement, Nuriah Blackwell, 13, who oozes with subtle confidence, entered the room. The 8th grader took sewing for the first time in the 2023-24 school year at IIS. She smiled excitedly, her posture as straight as a needle, an accomplished look sprinkling her eyes as she described the experience.
IIS is not a new development, though. Like the clothing launched on its runway, this unique school represents an old idea that has been revived with a modern twist. In this sense, it is old but also new, having only been operational for a few years.
That rise, as Waites mentioned, is a destructive trend. According to Florida State University, stocking racks with the latest apparel consumes about 79 billion cubic meters of water every year, making fast fashion the second most destructive industry in the world in terms of water consumption and water pollution (Mogavero, Taylor, “Clothed in Conservation: Fashion & Water”, Florida State University, April 16, 2020).
The teachings of Prophet Muhammad (salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) on conserving water are clear in the Quran and hadiths, where we are told that one should not waste water even if one is on the banks of a flowing river. It is also taught that polluting water is a grave sin. As industrial waste leaves a stain on the earth with each new pair of jeans that is created, the Muslim duty for preservation becomes clear.
The mission to design eco-friendly overgarments and khimars began at the start of the school year. Sewing students were instructed to go home and ask their parents and family members for gently-used, unwanted items.
“We reached out and asked everyone to donate things like old clothes, old fabric, and unused materials,” Waites said. “Then we used those materials to bring the whole ensemble together. We covered a lot of the sewing basics and then we added the sustainability factor.”
On Tuesdays, the hum of the sewing machine takes over classrooms. Vision boards were etched into laptop screens. Blueprints were drawn in pencil. The students grew more confident and creative as their ideas transformed from thoughts in their minds to illustrations in their notebooks to real-life items they could hold, touch, and proudly wear. As the school year wore on, scraps became cozy earmuffs, and forgotten curtains were transformed into chic
“I had fun sewing my clothes. It was different, something I never did before,” said Nuriah. “It made me learn new things about life. For example, if I was not able to buy anything, now I know I could make my own stuff.”
Beside Nuriah sat her 6th grade classmate Sumaiyah Smith, 11. Sumaiyah, known around school for her kind spirit, easy going nature, and impressive collection of Hello Kitty items, is lovingly referred to by friends as “Mai Mai.”
“I could make a dress out of newspaper now if I wanted to,” said Sumaiyah, proving she feels anything is possible.
Both Nuriah and Sumaiyah agreed that their favorite part of the whole project was “everything.”
In the end, the students wore their handmade overgarments on stage at a schoolwide, ladies-only fashion show, and their families got to witness their inspiring creations come sashaying down the runway. “When we invited the parents back at the end of the year to see the fashion that the girls put together, everyone was blown away,” said Waites. “It looked amazing. We’re already getting requests to do it again, and it’s so popular that we might need a bigger venue.”
Through their sewing, cooking, carpentry, electrical, and financial literacy courses, the IIS aims to nurture the youth by instilling in them a strong background in Quran and Sunnah while inspiring the highest level of moral character. Through these principles coupled with an active, hands-on curriculum, the IIS hopes to elevate young Muslims across Delaware County and beyond. ih
BY BAHEEJAH FAREED
On Nov. 22, 2024, in an 8-7 vote, the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) approved the “Bluebonnet Learning” curriculum. Texas schools who choose to adopt the curriculum will receive up to $40 in additional funding per student. The curriculum will be available for use in classrooms for the 2025-26 school year. What are the implications of Bible-based instruction in Texas schools? What potential impact does this decision have on Muslim students in particular?
In 2007, the Texas legislature passed House Bill 1287 allowing the inclusion of elective Bible courses in public schools. While these courses are intended to provide students with an academic study of the Bible’s literary, historical, and cultural significance, a similar opportunity to learn from other religious texts is not offered. But the Bluebonnet curriculum remakes HB 1287 into something taught to all students in the districts that adopt it.
Pearland, Tex., based Educational Consultant Shanedria Wagner, a Christian, is nevertheless concerned at the proposition of public schools teaching the Bible. In an interview on Fox 26 News in Houston in November 2024, she said, “We live in a democracy not a theocracy. If the district adopts it, you have to teach it. Why force it on students and treat other religions as an afterthought?” In the same interview, Victor M. Rios, a teacher, argued, “It comes with a $40 incentive per student. Sometimes you have to follow the money.” He further indicated, “[The Bible is] interwoven into our government already, and into Texas culture.”
Creators of the Bluebonnet curriculum have defended its biblical content, arguing that the Bible is a foundational document of our civilization so students must understand it to be well-educated citizens (Jaden Edison, “State Board of Education approves Bibleinfused curriculum,” The Texas Tribune. Nov. 19, 2024). In her criticism, of Bluebonnet, Caryn Tamber-Rosenau, a Biblical scholar, writes, “The idea that there is a real thing called “Judeo-Christian” obscures the major differences between these two religions, and between Jewish and Christian interpretations of the Hebrew Bible” (The Jewish Daily Forward, Nov. 25, 2024).
The First Amendment mandates that public schools maintain a separation of church and state. This means the Bible cannot be presented in a way that promotes or endorses religious beliefs, however it can be taught from a secular, academic perspective such as in literature, history, or cultural studies. But legal debates have long argued that Bible courses often sway too closely to religious indoctrination instead of remaining strictly
academic. As such, the question remains, what parameters will be set to keep teachers from teaching the Bible as the one true religious text for everyone to follow? In an AP News article published on Nov. 22, 2024, Mathew Patrick Shaw, an Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Education at Vanderbilt University, supported this constitutional challenge to the Bluebonnet curriculum, stating, “Whether the lesson plans will be considered constitutional is up in the air” (Nadia Lathan and Kendria LaFleur, “Texas education board approves optional Bibleinfused curriculum for elementary schools,” AP News, Nov. 22, 2024).
Before Bluebonnet, opting out of Bible classes was possible for Muslim students. However, this option was not well-publicized and Muslim students often felt social pressure to conform to the majority culture,
Islamic perspectives, which emphasize the Quran as the primary religious text, are often overlooked or misunderstood. This lack of representation can leave Muslim students feeling that their faith and its sacred texts are undervalued or misrepresented, reinforcing the notion that only Christianity holds cultural or educational weight in American society.
leading to stigma and feelings of isolation.
On Nov. 21, 2024, Houston-based news anchor Isiah Carey asked, “But when the school district decides, what do the students do when they have different beliefs, and they don’t want to participate in that? Particularly in my family [there have been]
lots of Jehovah’s Witnesses and religion was not to be taught in schools.” He further questions, “How will they be graded?”
As evidenced, the inclusion of Bible instruction in the public curriculum raises both practical and philosophical concerns for Muslim families. The reality of attending
a public school where Christianity is the default cultural reference, or is mandated by legal decree, can be alienating for students of various faiths, especially Muslims. The loss of Muslim identity and faith would likely be the result of such influences.
The following list indicates some of the ways in which Muslim students suffer from the Christian doctrine within our country’s public schools.
In a third-grade lesson about the first Thanksgiving, teachers discuss how the governor of Plymouth said a prayer and gave a speech that included references to “several passages from the Christian Bible in the book of Psalms.” Teachers are then instructed to tell students the book of Psalms is a collection of songs, poems and hymns “that are used in both Jewish and Christian worship.”
The constant exposure to Christian stories, doctrines, and values may make Muslim
students feel like outsiders in their own classrooms even when presented from a historical or literary perspective. It might be an unintentional signal that their own religious beliefs are secondary or irrelevant for Muslim students.
2. Lack of Representation
Islamic perspectives, which emphasize the Quran as the primary religious text, are often overlooked or misunderstood. This lack of representation can leave Muslim students feeling that their faith and its sacred texts are undervalued or misrepresented, reinforcing the notion that only Christianity holds cultural or educational weight in American society.
Moreover, Muslim students may struggle with teachers or peers who hold misconceptions about Islam. This lack of proper representation can contribute to a broader environment of misunderstanding or even discrimination, further complicating their educational experience.
3. The Tension Between Faith and Education
Muslim students may also face a deeper, more personal conflict between their faith and the nature of Bible instruction. While they are encouraged to respect other religions, including Christianity, many Muslims believe that religious education should not include teachings that contradict Islamic beliefs. For example, Muslim students may feel uncomfortable when Bible courses delve into teachings about the divinity of Jesus, which directly contradicts core Islamic teachings about the oneness of God. This tension can create a cognitive dissonance for Muslim students who are expected to engage with a curriculum that promotes views contrary to their own.
“This curriculum is not age-appropriate or subject matter appropriate in the way that it presents these Bible stories,” said Amanda Tyler, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. Children who read the material, Tyler said, “are simply too young to tell the difference between what is a faith claim and what is a matter of fact.”
As Texas continues to expand the inclusion of Bible courses in its public schools, it’s important for those in charge to consider the needs of all students, especially those from minority religious communities. Another option is for parents to consider removing their children from public schools and choosing Islamic schools or homeschooling to ensure that their child’s educational environment remains inclusive and respectful of Islamic beliefs and practices. Parents may wonder: will their children’s education quality suffer from not being in public school? However, there are many examples of scholars who were not educated through the public school system and were accepted in Ivy League universities or went on to build impressive careers with financial stability and social standing. It may take a little effort to seek out qualified teachers or private schools to help in the journey, however if it saves your child’s faith and dignity, it is well worth the endeavor.
Alternatively, parents can contact their school district collectively expressing concerns and requesting that the schools should take the following steps:
Clearer Guidelines for Bible Instruction: Bible courses should only be taught strictly from an academic perspective, focusing on
the historical, cultural, and literary aspects of the text. Teachers should be trained to avoid promoting any religious viewpoint and should include discussions on how different religions, including Islam, view religious texts.
Curriculum Diversity: To ensure that Muslim students (and students of other faiths) feel included and respected, schools should aim for a more balanced curriculum that incorporates world religions and their foundational texts, including the Quran. This would allow for a broader understanding of global religious traditions and foster a more inclusive environment.
Cultural Sensitivity Training: Teachers should be educated about the diverse religious backgrounds of their students, and schools should provide training on how to handle sensitive topics related to religion in the classroom. This would help create an environment of mutual respect and understanding, where students of all faiths feel valued.
Opt-out Policies and Support: Schools should make it clear that students are not required to participate in Bible classes and should offer alternative options for students who choose to opt out. This will help avoid feelings of exclusion and ensure that students’ religious rights are respected.
Shaimaa Zayan (CAIR-Texas) adds that the Texas SBOE’s approval of a Bible-infused curriculum for public schools should ensure inclusivity and provide equal space for other religions. She adds that the curriculum should remain neutral and provide equal space for historical materials rooted in other religions and ideologies.
The key word is “should”. Will the district schools and teachers be concerned with respecting religious beliefs and practices or are we just expressing concerns that fall on deaf ears? ih
BY MARGAUX BLANCHARD
During Ramadan, in classrooms across North America, Muslim students run on nothing but faith and willpower. No snacks, no water, just sabr (patience) and a countdown to maghrib (sunset prayer). While their classmates sip on iced lattes and munch on chips, these students quietly push through lectures, group projects, and pop quizzes while fasting from dawn to dusk. For Muslim students, Ramadan is about taqwa, consciousness of God, and maintaining spiritual focus while navigating the demands of academic life.
While fasting during Ramadan, students wake up as even as early as 4:30 a.m., depending on the time of the year for suhoor (predawn meal), eat half asleep, and then head back to bed only to rise again two hours later for school. By noon, hunger isn’t the main battle; it’s the fatigue that settles in after only a few hours of sleep followed by many more spent concentrating in class. In gym, fasting students often find themselves caught in a dilemma between participating in physical activities with classmates or conserving
their much needed energy. Some teachers are quick to offer alternatives — study halls or lighter exercises — while others still expect laps to be run regardless of an empty stomach. It’s a balancing act between honoring faith and meeting academic expectations, one that requires personal and institutional support.
But Ramadan at school isn’t just about saying “no” to food. It’s also about saying “yes” to faith while praying dhuhr (midday prayer) in a quiet corner or an empty classroom. It is about dodging curious glances, and fielding questions like, “Wait, not even water?” It’s about explaining the significance of fasting without turning every classroom discussion into a theology seminar.
This consistent pattern of unique struggles Muslim students face during Ramadan hasn’t gone unnoticed. Schools are starting to catch on. Many schools now offer designated prayer spaces, flexible schedules, and cultural-awareness workshops for
teachers. In Dearborn — home to the largest Arab American community — schools like Fordson High School send newsletters explaining Ramadan to parents and staff, ensuring that celebrations like Eid al-Fitr are recognized alongside Christmas and Hanukkah.
Despite this progress, some challenges remain. In smaller towns such as Lafayette, La., accommodations can feel more like exceptions than norms. Students often have to advocate for themselves by requesting spaces to pray or by asking for understanding when they simply can’t give 100%. Some face microaggressions like peers eating as conspicuously as possible or teachers questioning whether fasting affects their ability to perform in class.
During times of discouragement, it is important to remember that Ramadan isn’t just about the challenges; it’s also about pride. Many Muslim students see the holy month as an opportunity to share their culture and religion with classmates. Some schools, like Al-Huda School in College Park, Md., turn the month of fasting into a teaching moment, incorporating lessons about Ramadan and Islam into the curriculum. These efforts go a long way toward demystifying the practices and countering stereotypes, but they also highlight a deeper issue — why does it take seeing Muslim students struggle during Ramadan for schools to notice Islam?
The answer, for many educators, lies in policy, or the lack of it. While some cities such as Chicago and Houston have introduced guidelines for religious accommodations, others are still navigating these waters without clear direction. Teachers, often left to make decisions without institutional support or advice, rely on their own understanding or misunderstanding of Ramadan, leading to inconsistent and sometimes problematic practices. For their part, the students themselves are often the ones having to repeatedly explain their practices to teachers and peers,
turning their personal spiritual journey into a public discussion.
Even in schools that make accommodations, there’s an underlying tension — how much flexibility is too much? At what point does inclusivity become favoritism? While most schools are moving toward inclusion, some are still grappling with the idea that accommodating religious practices doesn’t mean endorsing them.
For Muslim students, however, the need is clear. Ramadan isn’t just a month of fasting; it’s a deeply personal, spiritual journey
In Dearborn, inclusivity is less about building awareness and more about refining practices. Schools in Dearborn have long embraced prayer rooms and adjusted schedules for Muslim students, but administrators are now experimenting with more structured approaches.
“We don’t just accommodate anymore,” said Principal Hadiya Al-Khatib of Crestwood Preparatory College in Toronto. “We integrate.” She pointed to events like Ramadan-themed assemblies and iftars hosted on campus as examples of efforts to
The answer, for many educators, lies in policy— or the lack of it. While some cities such as Chicago and Houston have introduced guidelines for religious accommodations, others are still navigating these waters without clear direction.
flexible deadlines and adjust schedules during Ramadan. In California, schools are providing cultural competency training for staff, ensuring teachers understand not just the basics of Ramadan but the deeper significance it holds for Muslim students. Educators are often the driving force behind these efforts.
Priya Patel, a math teacher at Stuyvesant High School in New York City, set up a Ramadan resource table in the staff room. “I printed out a cheat sheet explaining the basics — fasting, prayer, Eid — and it sparked conversations,” she said. “Teachers started asking questions instead of making assumptions.”
that doesn’t pause for exams, essays, or gym class. As schools continue to diversify, the question isn’t whether they should adapt, but how quickly and how thoughtfully they can rise to meet the moment.
In Toronto, where multiculturalism is sewn into the city’s fabric, some schools are at the forefront of accommodating Ramadan observances. Teacher Zara Malik at Valley Park Middle School in Toronto described how designated prayer rooms felt like sanctuaries during busy school days. “We pushed for it and now we have this space where we don’t feel like we’re interrupting anyone’s schedule just to practice our faith,” she said.
Teachers in these schools are proactive, allowing students to reschedule tests or assignments. But inclusivity isn’t always seamless. Toronto educator Diana Andrews, a history teacher at Lawrence Heights Public School, admitted that the learning curve is steep. “The first year, we weren’t prepared,” Andrews said. “We had students falling asleep in class and skipping gym without explanation. Now we know better. We give options for lighter activities in PE and plan tests with flexibility in mind.”
create a sense of belonging. “The goal is to make students feel seen, not just tolerated,” she said.
In rural areas where Muslim populations are smaller and less visible, change is slower but no less significant. For example, in Montana, educators are learning to adapt in real time. Emily Rogers, principal of West High School in Billings, Mt., admitted she hadn’t heard of Ramadan until a student brought it up. “We’re playing catch-up,” she said, “but we’ve turned a storage closet into a prayer room, and our PE teacher now offers students the option to sit out certain activities. It’s baby steps, but we’re getting there.”
For some students in schools with a smaller Muslim population, accommodations have been life changing. Amina Yusuf, a junior in a rural Kansas high school, shared how difficult her first Ramadan as a freshman at school had been. “There was nowhere to pray, and lunchtime was the worst,” she said. “I’d just sit in the library, alone.”
After her parents met with the administration, the school created a quiet room and encouraged teachers to let fasting students take breaks if needed. “It’s not perfect but I don’t feel invisible anymore,” Yusuf said.
Policy changes played a big role in this shift. Some districts issued formal guidelines, encouraging teachers to offer
Policies and practices can only go so far without buy-in from students and parents. Several administrators stressed the importance of open communication, encouraging families to voice their needs without hesitation. In one case, a parent in Fort Cavazos, Tex., worked with the PTA to host a Ramadan Awareness Night, which included a mock iftar for teachers and classmates. These efforts underscore a broader cultural shift in schools from simply acknowledging religious diversity to actively creating environments where it can thrive.
There is still a long way to go. Some students still struggle to explain their faith and traditions to their peers, and not every school has the resources to implement changes quickly. One theme emerged repeatedly: change often begins with a single conversation.
“It all started when a student asked if they could have a quiet space to pray,” Patel said. “That small question sparked bigger changes in how we approach accommodations for Ramadan. Sometimes, change begins with something as simple as asking.” Whether it’s a student asking for a prayer space, a teacher offering flexibility during exams, or a principal turning a supply closet into a quiet refuge, small steps are adding up to create more inclusive learning environments.
As schools continue to evolve, their responses to Ramadan may serve as a litmus test for their broader commitment to equity and inclusion. With each adjustment and accommodation, the message grows louder: faith and education don’t have to exist in separate worlds. They can — and should — thrive together. ih
Margaux
Blanchard is a freelance journalist based in Canada.
BY MOMMINA TARAR
In Islam, social justice is not a political ideology, but a way of life that is infused throughout the community. As God says, “O you who believe, be upright for God, and be bearers of witness with justice!” (Quran, 5:8).
Rooted in the traditions of knowledge and learning, Muslim organizations in the United States have developed educational initiatives that promote social justice while also tackling these issues within an Islamic context. Many mosques and Islamic centers have followed suit and begun to modify their educational courses and services to promote civic engagement and to support Muslims in the local community. These initiatives are set up to tackle issues such as financial stability, racism, affordable housing, and more. These programs unite Muslims of all backgrounds
by fostering a sense of spiritual resilience while also educating younger generations about the essential nature of social justice within the Islamic tradition.
Originating during the time of Prophet Muhammad (salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam), the theological concept of ummah is a collective of people who live together according to their shared Islamic faith. The value of the ummah is in its power to influence how one thinks and acts in accordance with their faith, a process that transcends the artificial boundaries of culture, race, and class. For example, the genocide of the Palestinian people impacts all Muslims across the globe. None of us are free until all of us are free. In harnessing the power of our ummah, we take a meaningful step toward justice and liberation for Palestine and for all Muslims around the world.
The San Jose, Calif.-based Al-Kisa Foundation is one of many organizations that offers a variety of educational initiatives to promote spiritual, intellectual, and personal growth for individuals of all backgrounds. One of these initiatives is the Sirāt Project which began in partnership with the 1990s SABA prison program. The project, officially launched in 2024, connects incarcerated Muslims with local Muslims around the country. It includes sending inmates the quarterly Sirāt Link magazine and providing books, calendars, postcards, and prayer items to Muslim inmates. The organization provides incarcerated Muslims with access to tools for rehabilitation, resources for education, and emotional and spiritual support during their incarceration.
“Initiatives like the Sirāt Project empower the ummah by addressing critical gaps in access to Islamic education, spiritual support, and community inclusion,” said Fatima Al Sharifi, operations director for the Sirāt Project. “We provide incarcerated individuals with the resources needed to reconnect with their faith. These efforts not only support the individual but also contribute to the collective strength of the ummah by uplifting members who might otherwise be marginalized.”
From donating books to libraries across the world to sending Islamic materials to incarcerated Muslims through the Sirāt Project, the Al-Kisa Foundation provides a basis for holistic education. The foundation aims to uplift and support people from all walks of life, not just Muslims, who are seeking rehabilitation and community by providing essential educational resources.
“Though human beings are born with an innate knowledge of the Creator, their full potential cannot be reached without deep insight and an understanding of the magnificence and exalted status of Allah,” said Naadira Muhibullah, mission coordinator for the Sirāt Project. “A person must also know what brings about the pleasure of Allah and our responsibilities toward Him. This can only be achieved through education, therefore gaining knowledge is an active aspect of faith.”
Social justice is a key tenet of our faith. Fair distribution of wealth, the provision of basic necessities for the poor, and care for the elderly and orphans are just a few of the ways social justice is manifested in Islam. No matter how diligently we practice our faith, we have not truly exalted ourselves in our highest form unless we fulfill our obligation to society and to the ummah. Even the pleasures of this life should serve as a poignant reminder that we have work to do, as there are others among us in need of strength and support.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations in Texas (CAIR-TX) is helping Muslim Americans feel both recognized and safe. Recently, members of the organization assisted a Muslim speech pathologist who was fired for supporting BDS, the national movement aimed at ending the Israeli occupation of Palestine through boycott, divestment, and sanction of Israel. “The State of Texas made it mandatory for
anyone working in a state agency to sign that they would not boycott, divest, or sanction the State of Israel,” said Mustafaa Carroll, Executive Director of CAIR-TX. “CAIR came to her aid and sued the state as the statute was unconstitutional. The sister was reinstated and received back pay.”
In addition to their work with civil rights, CAIR-TX hosts the Muslim Youth Leadership program to provide young Muslims with skills such as public speaking, debate, and civic engagement. They also share knowledge about Islamic history and Muslim identity. Graduates of the
patients with medical consultations and preventive screen recommendations. It is open five days a week.
“Social justice is so deeply embedded in the teachings of Islam,” said Shaffa Chaudhry, a San Antonio resident. “Financial inequality, racism, women’s rights all align with Islamic principles. The lack of these core principles in a Muslim society does not imply that Islam itself lacks them. Instead, it emphasizes a disconnect in effectively teaching these values to the community and encouraging a genuine commitment to learning and self-improvement.”
Social justice is a key tenet of our faith. Fair distribution of wealth, the provision of basic necessities for the poor, and care for the elderly and orphans are just a few of the ways social justice is manifested in Islam.
youth leadership program are then eligible to join the Young Muslims Leadership Council where they apply their skills to tackle social injustice.
“It is not only important but absolutely necessary to teach young Muslims the importance of values such as justice and community because their survival physically, socially, economically, mentally, and spiritually depend upon it,” said Carroll. “Our Islamic values are underpinned by the concept of justice. Many of the array of issues that permeate our society today are due to injustices in the world.”
Mosques are a safe haven for Muslims around the world. As sanctuaries for the oppressed, mosques provide a space for Muslims to distance themselves from their worldly hardships and take time to be one with God. Mosques also offer opportunities to give back.
Some mosques address a wide range of issues, such as fulfilling the religious obligation of Zakat by assisting local Muslim families, providing food to the needy, and more. The Muslim Children Education and Civic Center (MCECC) and the Al Madinah Masjid in San Antonio host the El Bari community health center, a service that provides
Shaffa, who attends Masjid Al-Ikhlas, emphasizes the importance of instilling social justice values in the mosques’ educational curricula. “I would love to see more open discussions on racial injustices, women’s rights in Islam, et cetera. Providing services like financial literacy programs, tenants’ rights workshops, or career development to empower community members would be amazing. And those headed by women for women, even better!”
In addressing social justice and instilling values of community and justice within the ummah, Muslims are nurturing the fervor of spiritual resilience. It is through this sense of community that we can persevere and face challenges with patience. Spiritual resilience is at the forefront of our core beliefs when dealing with stress, hardship, or tragedy. By implementing social justice in our school curricula, we are using education to draw closer to our faith. As we grow closer, our eyes are opened to the many injustices our community faces daily.
It is our responsibility to provide fellow Muslims with the resources and services that can unequivocally change their lives, and to cultivate the capability to dream of a different future for the ummah. ih Mommina Tarar is a freelance reporter who covers culture, faith, travel, and intersectional social/racial justice.
BY SORAYA MITTA
How do we change the world? With this pivotal question, A Continuous Charity (ACC) co-founder, Faizan Syed, opened his landmark speech at the 61st Annual ISNA Conference, which was held last Labor Day weekend. ACC’s mission provides the much-needed answer: one student at a time.
ACC’s vision is to foster a generation of graduates who will have a strong Muslim identity and be well-versed in their fields, using both for the benefit of all mankind.
Many Muslim parents make sacrifices to ensure their children sail through college and university without taking loans. However, not everyone can achieve this goal. For those who are hindered in some way or another, there is hope. ACC is a 501(c)3 organization established in 2013 that provides interest-free loans to Muslim students throughout North America, helping them achieve their professional dreams and aspirations without the burden of riba (interest).
At ACC, investment in both the spiritual and intellectual development of Muslim students is the key to seeing change in the future.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, 70% of college students will graduate with debt, most of which includes interest-bearing loans. Nearly 43 million Americans have student loan debt, totaling $1.77 trillion. Student debt is the second highest level of consumer debt, following mortgages. More Americans suffer from snowballing student debt than credit card and auto debt combined (Hanson, Melanie. “Student Loan Debt Statistics [2025]: Average + Total Debt.” Education Data Initiative, 15 Jan. 2025).
Some Muslim students seeking to avoid riba may even be forced to walk away from educational opportunities to avoid loans that clash with their religious principles. ACC offers an alternative by offering student loans in keeping with traditional Muslim values.
To date, ACC has awarded 584 students around $8.3 million in educational loans, preventing them from being saddled by almost $4.9 million in riba-based debt. These loans, once paid back, are distributed to other Muslims students to support their education, and the cycle continues. This recycling of funds is a unique, one-ofa-kind model known as a Sadaqah Jariyah, or a continuous charity.
Some of the program’s beneficiaries have shared their unique experiences with Islamic Horizons
Abdulaziz: “I was 13 years old when the revolution began.”
At the age of 20, Abdulaziz, now 27, left Syria for the possibility of higher education in the United States. As he left his homeland, the deep impression of war remained in his heart.
“One of my high school classmates was kidnapped, and I lived in constant fear that the same could happen to me,” he said. “We faced frequent power outages, a deteriorating currency, and the constant threat of violence. Bombs fell from the sky, and one even struck my grandmother’s apartment while she and my grandfather were praying.”
Through the difficult times, Abdulaziz relied on his faith to sustain him. “I always remind myself that many others in Syria and Palestine endured far greater suffering, yet they remained resilient and steadfast. Their strength has been a profound source of inspiration for me.”
ACC’s vision is to foster a generation of graduates who will have a strong Muslim identity and be well-versed in their fields, using both for the benefit of all mankind.
After leaving Syria, the road to education in America was not always an easy one. Abdulaziz explains, “There was a time when I considered leaving my program when I faced tough financial constraints.”
In the end, Abdulaziz was able to fund his education in a halal manner as a recipient of an ACC interest-free loan. Now, this Columbia University graduate wishes to use his bachelor’s degree in architecture and his master of science degree in construction administration to help his home country.
“My professional aspiration is to go back to Syria, In Sha Allah, and participate in the rebuilding process,” he said. “I pray for Allah’s help in making this vision a reality and creating a model that can inspire communities globally.”
Abdulwaliy: “I discovered my role as a part of humankind … a slave of The Guardian.”
Abdulwaliy, 33, is a senior at Marshalltown Community College in Marshalltown, Iowa, majoring in Applied Mathematics with the dream of becoming a physician.
Born and raised in Nigeria, he left his homeland behind, entering the U.S. on a student visa to pursue his academic aspirations. Abdulwaliy, a born helper, felt he needed to pursue the purpose that God had laid out for him.
“I am inspired [by] the route of human discovery and family studies to aid our Muslim community,” he said. “I discovered my role as a part of humankind … a slave of The Guardian.”
Considering the high cost of education, he applied to ACC, firmly rooted in his principles of avoiding riba. His submission resonated with the ACC application committee and he was awarded financial support.
This funding is now helping him obtain the education necessary to care for others. “I am inspired to seek knowledge that prioritizes humankind. I was accommodated,” he said.
Encouraging others to donate to this Sadaqah Jariyah, he added, “I imagine such behavior as an extension on righteousness.” He went on to recite, “[those]. . . who give charity out of their cherished wealth to relatives, orphans, the poor, needy travelers, beggars, and for freeing captives” (Quran, 2:177).
Currently, Abdulwaliy looks to remain in the United States, and use his knowledge to support the ummah given his deep ties to the Muslim community in his adopted country.
“I espouse a reality [where] I am interconnected,” he said.
Mohammad: “Alhamdulillah, one thing I learned is that hardship builds a person.”
Mohammad, 27, is currently studying physical therapy at Hunter College in New York City. While he grew up in the suburbs of Brooklyn, the first five years of his life were spent in a village in Pakistan.
When he began his pursuit of advanced academic studies, he realized the difficulties in avoiding riba
Through this trying time, he remained patient and steadfast. “Alhamdulillah, one thing I learned is that hardship builds a person,” Mohammad said. “There are too many blessings we overlook.”
He found out about ACC from a friend, applied and was awarded a loan that allowed him to embark on the journey towards becoming a physical therapist.
At one point, Mohammad feared that he wouldn’t be able to find a program that could accommodate both his spiritual and professional goals. As a proud Muslim, Mohammad said that ACC’s interest-free loans are a blessing.
“I believe [seeking knowledge] is one avenue for bettering oneself and fostering a means for receiving rizq [sustenance],” he said. “[This loan] enables me to have a career, which will, In Sha Allah, be a source from which I draw inspiration and confidence in order to make positive connections and efforts in the world.”
ACC strives to make positive change in the world through funding Muslim students interest-free. Many students have benefited from these loans which will facilitate the educational opportunities that will work to shape the students of today into leaders of tomorrow, In Sha Allah. ih
Soraya Mitta is a freelance writer who is passionate about her faith.
BY ANMOL IRFAN
There is no question that Islam places great importance in holistic health and emotional wellbeing. However, in the last 1,400 years, some Muslim communities replaced that focus with spiritual bypassing, the idea that we can simply pray or worship enough to fix mental health issues. While a strong spiritual connection and trust in God is helpful to one’s emotional wellbeing, it is not a magic cure-all.
Fatima Khan, a Muslim therapist from Maryland, said spiritual bypassing is a common occurrence with her clients. “I’ve talked to people and seen that they’ve had experiences where they’ve focused on mental health and instead are being told to pray more,” she said.
Islamic scholars and academics are attempting to change this narrative. Institutions like Maristan and the Muslim Mental Health Lab address key issues that are often brushed under the rug, including
mental illnesses, abuse, and faith-based counseling. These institutes work with North American Muslim communities that face rising levels of Islamophobia.
More Muslim youth have been reporting mental and emotional struggles.
At the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition Mental Health Conference in 2021, Dr. Sameera Ahmed presented data showing that at least 13% of Muslim youth are dealing with anxiety, and almost 30% have digestive disorders, mood disorders, ADHD, trauma, or have experienced sexual abuse.
“For many people who are Muslim, it can be an everyday experience,” she said. “55% of Muslim youth, one in two Muslim high school students, and 78% of Muslim college students have experienced religious discrimination. And that’s direct experience. It doesn’t even include perceived experiences.”
There is a gap in how these studies are understood by everyday Muslims, especially
For many people who are Muslim, it can be an everyday experience,” she said. “55% of Muslim youth, one in two Muslim high school students, and 78% of Muslim college students have experienced religious discrimination. And that’s direct experience. It doesn’t even include perceived experiences.”
teenagers and children, in the context of faith. At a time when Muslim youth in North America have to face so many different challenges, including exposure to non-Islamic perspectives, it’s crucial that their emotional wellbeing is cared for from a young age.
Islamic education institutions and platforms can play a huge role in making these topics accessible for children and teenagers and help them connect with themselves better. Khan, a former counselor in an Islamic school, said she’s seeing the shift where Islamic educational institutions are creating space for these conversations. But overall, the community does have work to do.
“Sometimes I’ll get clients who are adults who are getting therapy, but their parents don’t know about it or don’t believe in it,” Khan shared.
Studies show that Muslim youth often struggle with identity due to differing information they consume at home, abroad, or online. A sense of not belonging and not feeling connection with their faith is often a reason for emotional distress and disconnect. Mosques, educational programmes,
and schools can play a role in building that emotional connection amongst youth.
“Now masjids are doing things on Halloween to still do something fun on that day, doing stuff to show kids we can still be fun in religion,” said Canada-based social worker and therapist Faizah Latif.
But education has to go deeper than just events, and it has to happen in all aspects of young Muslim lives. “There’s so many layers to this, and I think that to talk about emotional wellbeing is so important because at the basic, foundational level, we forget that Islam is also about character and mannerisms and how we see people,” said Latif.
She said that Islamic educational institutes can help young Muslims in these aspects by placing equal importance on teaching emotional tools as they do on other religious teachings such as reading the Quran and praying.
Khan pointed out that while more Islamic schools employ counselors now, they can be doing more to increase awareness and education around emotional wellbeing. “Islam is holistic and it covers all these things for us. Something I’ve learned that works in my pursuit of Islamic education is learning
the Prophet’s stories and understanding the emotions they were feeling.”
Fairuziana Humam, a community educator and researcher on Islamic psychology, also emphasized that stories and books can be a great way to get young Muslims involved in such conversations.
“Children need to understand that Allah is loving and there for us, and from there, open more conversations, instead of growing up with a fear-based perception of Allah,” Humam said.
Humam also pointed out that language and communication play a big role in helping Muslim youth understand these topics in relation to their everyday lives. It can be as simple as starting with concepts they are already familiar with tauheed or salah
“[Salah is] an example of the benefits of mindfulness being applied to practices we already have,” Khan said. She stressed the importance of discussing emotional wellbeing as a part of faith rather than a separate topic. ih
Anmol Irfan is a freelance journalist and the co-founder of Echoes Media, a slow news platform based in the Global South. Her work focuses on marginalized narratives within global discourse including topics such as gender justice, mental health, climate, and more.
BY FAISAL KUTTY
The ongoing crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus activism across the United States exposes a troubling double standard in how universities handle free speech. While rhetoric critical of Israeli policies is swiftly condemned and restricted, activism against other regimes, even those with poor human rights records, do not face the same scrutiny. This selective outrage stifles debate, marginalizes dissenting voices, and undermines the principles of academic freedom that universities claim to uphold.
This approach, evident most recently in Berkeley Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky’s opinion piece in The New York Times calling on campuses to clamp down on pro-Palestinian protests, raises troubling questions about selective condemnation and the broader implications for free speech on college campuses (“College Officials Must Condemn On-Campus Support for Hamas Violence,” Oct. 20, 2024). By selectively condemning Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation while offering only a muted critique of Israel’s ongoing actions, U.S. universities are, in fact, legitimizing a narrative that selectively applies principles of free speech at various campus events.
While campus supporters of Israel are right to decry rhetoric celebrating Hamas’s actions, they often only offer a tepid acknowledgement of Israel’s ongoing destruction in Gaza. This narrow focus on protecting the sensitivities of Zionist or even Jewish students while minimizing or ignoring Palestinian suffering reveals a deeper flaw in their argument: a conflation of Jewish identity with Zionism and the resulting repression of legitimate expressions of support for the Palestinian struggle.
One of the most significant issues with this line of thinking is the failure to distinguish between anti-Israel protests and
antisemitism. The assumption that opposition to Israeli policies creates a hostile environment for Jewish students promotes the false claim that all Jews support Israeli actions, or the equally flawed doctrine that Israel acts on behalf of global Jewry. This narrative erases the voices of the many Jews who stand against Israel’s occupation and decades-long apartheid regime. Contrary to these faulty assumptions, evidence shows that a growing number of Jewish students and faculty advocate for Palestinian rights, often from a non-Zionist or anti-Zionist perspective. The failure to recognize this distinction reinforces a dangerous narrative that equates criticism of Israel with hostility toward Jewish identity, a deliberately false premise that weaponizes the horrors of antisemitism to stifle legitimate, on campus debate.
On October 21, 2024, at the University of Minnesota, for instance, eleven pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested for occupying an administrative building while calling for divestment from Israel (Michelle Murphy, “11 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested at University of Minnesota,” Oct. 22, 2024, ABC News). This group were but a few of a much larger punitive push across the country. In just six months, more than 3,000 people have
been arrested nationwide for engaging in pro-Palestine advocacy on college campuses. Institutions that once prided themselves on championing free speech have now become hostile environments for those opposing Israeli violence against civilian populations.
The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) has further intensified this repression by pressuring universities to take aggressive steps to curb antisemitism. In at least one instance, the DOE went so far as to claim
If universities genuinely value free speech, they must condemn all forms of violence—whether it is the celebration of attacks on Israel or the defense of Israel’s war crimes in Gaza. Anything less is an endorsement of selective repression, a betrayal of free speech principles, and a denial of the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people.
that anti-genocide protests may have created a “hostile environment,” conflating legitimate criticism of Israeli policies with hate speech (Ahmad Ibsais. “For US universities, Arab and Muslim lives do not matter,” Oct. 19, 2024, Aljazeera). This shift undermines the open debate that universities are supposed to foster, chilling free expression and disproportionately silencing pro-Palestinian voices.
Meanwhile, the experiences of Palestinian students and their allies are ignored. For example, in the Fall 2024 semester, a leaked recording of Santa J. Ono, the University of Michigan president, revealed a disturbing bias within universities, with powerful groups pressuring administrators to combat antisemitism while disregarding Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian hate (Layla McMurtrie, “The recording indicates that the institution risks losing $2 billion in federal funding if it fails to follow directives focusing on antisemitism,” Oct. 9, 2024, Detroit Metro Times). This unbalanced approach results in Arab, Muslim, and other non-Zionist or anti-Zionist students feeling unsafe or unwelcome while universities
prioritize Zionist perspectives and silence Palestinian, Arab, and other Muslim voices.
Across American campuses, new restrictions have been implemented to stifle these protests. Indiana University enacted an “expressive activity policy” that bans protests after 11 p.m., prohibits camping, and requires pre-approval for signs (Annie Ma, “American universities accused of attacks on free speech with strict campus protest rules,” The Independent). These measures specifically target pro-Palestinian voices, prompting the question: should similar restrictions apply to protests against Saudi Arabia or Iran because they could be considered anti-Arab hate or Islamophobia?
There is, of course, an argument that suggests that celebrating violence against civilians is both an ethical and political mistake. Such rhetoric distracts from the legitimate cause of Palestinian liberation and gives opponents a pretext to discredit the entire movement. However, those campaigning to shut down Palestinian activism go beyond condemning extremist rhetoric. Rather, these efforts form only a part of a broader effort
to undermine all forms of Palestinian resistance, even those grounded in international law. By focusing solely on those who justify violence, these critics fail to address the root causes of the conflict: the Israeli occupation of historic and contemporary Palestine, systematic state-sanctioned and settler violence against Palestinian civilians, and enumerable methods of inhuman oppression that drive Palestinian resistance. Their selective outrage paints a one-sided narrative, leaving little room for a nuanced discussion on the ethics and legality of Palestinian resistance.
Ultimately, one-sided condemnations are a danger to free speech on campus. They selectively condemn expressions of solidarity with Palestine while protecting inherently violent Zionist narratives, silencing both Palestinian voices and anti-Zionist Jewish voices. If universities genuinely value free speech, they must condemn all forms of violence – whether it is the celebration of attacks on Israel or the defense of Israel’s war crimes in Gaza. Anything less is an endorsement of selective repression, a betrayal of free speech principles, and a denial of the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people. ih
Faisal Kutty is a lawyer, writer, public speaker, and human rights advocate. He currently teaches at Southwestern Law School and is an affiliate faculty member at the Center for Security, Race, and Rights at Rutgers University. He also holds the title of associate professor of Law Emeritus at Valparaiso University. Follow him on X @faisalkutty.
BY ABU ALI BAFAQUIH
Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton (R) has introduced a Senate bill, mirroring the HR 7552 House bill introduced last February by New York Republicans Reps. Claudia Tenney and Anthony D’Esposito, alongside Randy Weber (R. Tex.), the bill mandates that all official U.S. federal government documents refer to the West Bank as “Judea and Samaria,” the terminology, which they claim aligns with Israel’s historical and biblical claims to the territory.
In doing so, Cotton has regurgitated what several Congress members on both sides of the aisle have previously stated, “The Jewish people’s legal and historic rights to Judea
and Samaria go back thousands of years. The U.S. should stop using the politically charged term West Bank to refer to the biblical heartland of Israel.”
The name West Bank is a translation of the Arabic term ad-Duffah al-Gharbiyyah, given to the territory west of the Jordan River. Gaza and the West Bank are two Palestinian territories that were a small part of Mandate Palestine and were part of the swatch of territory captured by Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967. On the ground, however, Israel has rendered a two-state solution including the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel impossible with the establishment of more than 300 settlements
with a population of approximately 700,00 on occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem (James Dorsey, “The Gaza war’s fog complicates separating the wheat from the chaff,” Dec. 5, 2023, moderndiplomacy.eu.).
Effectively, the U.S. congressional move aims to erase Palestinian identity, and cements U.S. complicity in Israeli expansionism. It also gives the blatant greenlight for further illegal settlement expansion.
Cotton’s interest, however, is most interesting. According to the Jewish Virtual Library published by the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, his state’s Jewish population was 4,000 in 1899 rising to 5,090 in 2024, just 0.17% of his state’s overall population. However, his deep interest in Israeli policies should be seen through the lens of his receipts from the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC): Code Pink says that he has received $237,077 from AIPAC. “The New York Times has announced that the amount of this financial assistance was around $2 million. This is while some informed sources in the US say the AIPAC lobby has spent $4.5 million for Tom Cotton to insure his winning against “Mark Pryor” in the 2014 Senate elections (Jack Anderson, Tom Cotton: What’s the Reason for AIPAC’s $ 4.5 Million Support for the Young Senator April 25, 2018.).
Israel is headed by a fragile ultra rightwing coalition that holds 64 seats out of a 120-seat Knesset. The ruling western-armed Israeli junta has, since Oct. 7, 2023, and as always since the British planted this colony in 1948, striven to eliminate all non-Jews, because they claim they have a “birthright” in the territory.
On July 24, 2024, the head of this ethnocracy, Benjamin Netanyahu, visited the U.S. Congress where had pledged in a scathing and combative speech to achieve “total victory” against Hamas while denouncing American opponents of the war in Gaza as “idiots” (Ellen Knickmeyer, Farnoush Amirri and Ashraf Khalil, In fiery speech to Congress, Netanyahu vows ‘total victory’ in Gaza and denounces US protesters, AP, July 24, 2024).
Speaking for nearly an hour in which, he was applauded 79 times, 58 of which were standing ovations from sycophantic members of Congress, Netanyahu said, “America and Israel must stand together. When we stand together something really simple happens: We win, they lose.”
In essence, Netanyahu was verifying that his colonial occupation of Palestine is American made.
To this end, it serves Netanyahu that those of us watching the release of the Israeli hostages notice the extensive damage all over Gaza, but not the Palestinian jubilation over the release of their hostages, or the surviving strength of Hamas.
It was ordained that Hamas demonstrate clear control of these scenes while transferring previously held Israelis to the ICRC without any indication that the occupation had caved in.
American president as his own achievement,—is merely a 42-day arrangement.
Still, Netanyahu continues his war in Gaza by refusing Israeli withdrawal from the denuded enclave. His coalition partner, Bezalel Smotrich, vows to bolt the coalition if stage two of the ceasefire is agreed upon. Consequently, Netanyahu will likely conduct a provocation, either in Gaza, the West Bank, or East Jerusalem, that could be interpreted as Hamas breaching the ceasefire thereby creating an excuse where Trump would re-assent to Israel’s renewal of the slaughter of innocent Palestinians.
Israel and its western partners envision the Palestinian Authority taking over control of the Rafah crossing, and eventually Gaza. But will Hamas, which survives despite all the propaganda and bombs, agree to the PA taking over a major thoroughfare in their territory?
Netanyahu is banking on a Palestinian revolt against Hamas so that the U.S. and Israel can install a more pliant regime, like the ineffectual Palestinian Authority (PA) in the occupied West Bank.
The Anadolu Agency’s Abdelraouf Arnaout, citing Israeli analyst Avi Issacharoff, wrote in Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper on Jan. 20, 2025, “Even after 15 months of war, Hamas remains in place… Although the government of Benjamin Netanyahu said it will eradicate Hamas, the group not only survived militarily but also retained its rule intact.”
True to their bias, Reuters reported, “But, in the days since the ceasefire took effect, Gaza’s Hamas-run administration has moved quickly to reimpose security, to curb looting, and to start restoring basic services to parts of the enclave, swathes of which have been reduced to wasteland by the Israeli offensive” (Nidal Al-Mughrabi, “Hamas’ tight grip on Gaza complicates plan for lasting peace,” Jan. 22, 2025).
The much-heralded ceasefire between Israel and Hamas (The Islamic Resistance Movement—an Arabic acronym Romanized from Arabic: Harakat al-Muqāwamah al-’Islāmiyyah), loudly and falsely claimed by the
The Israelis and the American rightwing consider the question of who rules Gaza as the key to ending the war which would lead to the full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. If Hamas remains in control of the Gaza Strip, there will likely be no reconstruction permitted. As it is, both the state of Israel and their U.S. backers have maintained a purely colonial mindset which may well lead to further ethnic cleansing in Palestine. The Trump Administration is very vocally pursuing Egypt, Jordan, and even Indonesia and Albania are being pressed to take in the intended to displace Palestinians from Gaza.
Foreign ministers of five Arab countries, the PA, and the Arab League (Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar) have issued a joint statement rejecting the forced displacement of Palestinians from their land “under any excuse.”
The statement, released on Feb. 1, 2025, presented a unified stance against Trump’s call for Egypt and Jordan to take in Palestinian refugees from Gaza (“Arab ministers reject Trump’s call to displace Palestinians from Gaza,” Feb. 1, 2025, Aljazeera).
However, Trump reiterated his illegal position on Jan. 30, 2025, saying, “We do
a lot for them, and they are going to do it.” This is in apparent reference to the abundant U.S. aid, including military assistance, to Egypt and Jordan, two countries who, along with Israel, have been exempted from the American aid cutoff initiated by the autocratic Trump.
Israel and its western partners envision the Palestinian Authority taking over control of the Rafah crossing, and eventually Gaza. But will Hamas, which survives despite all the propaganda and bombs, agree to the PA taking over a major thoroughfare in their territory?
Gershon Baskin Ph.D., an Israeli blogger and self-styled negotiator, says that the Israelis are banking on creating the facade of a new temporary government in Gaza by some pliable figures such as Dr. Nasser Alkidwa, the former PLO ambassador to the UN and former PA minister of foreign affairs (he also happens to be Yasser Arafat’s nephew).
For their parts, regional Arab governments have been compliant since the British installed them to replace the Ottoman rule after World War I. To his credit, Trump, who visited the region in October 2018, correctly stated to cheers at a rally in Mississippi on October 2, “We protect Saudi Arabia — would you say they’re rich? And I love the king, King Salman, but I said, ‘King we’re protecting you. You might not be there for two weeks without us. You have to pay for your military, you have to pay. . .”
According to opinion polls published by Gallup in 2009, the presence of the U.S. military in Saudi Arabia was strongly objected to by most of the world’s Muslim population. This is the reality of the present-day Muslim majority countries, organized under the obviously dormant Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Given their compromised position owing to the billions flowing in their direction from the United States, their immoral silence over the Gaza Genocide is understandable.
When will Arkansas, or any constituency of American voters, ask that their politicians focus on the U.S. like they do Israel? In the absences of that call, a joint U.S.-Zionist owned Gaza is far more sacrosanct than any human life, let alone the collection of 7 million Palestinians living on the land between the River and the Sea. ih
Abu Ali Bafaquih is a freelance writer.
BY S. AMJAD HUSSAIN
After 15 months of relentless bombing of Gaza in which much of the walled-off territory was reduced to rubble and more than 64,000 civilians were killed (as calculated by The Lancet journal in January 2025), Israel has agreed to a ceasefire. In essence, the conditions of this ceasefire render it identical to the proposal that then-U.S. President Joe Biden announced last summer.
Why did it take more than six months to implement a proposal that had already been agreed upon? It seems that Israeli domestic politics got in the way. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government depends on the support of six extreme right parties that together make up 64 of the ruling coalition’s seats in the 120-seat Israeli Knesset.
These parties were set against the ceasefire and vowed to leave the government if Netanyahu agreed to it. Israel’s avowedly fascist Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was true to his word in this case and resigned his position in protest, but most of the others within the coalition stayed and saved the government from collapse.
The question remains: What made the Israeli government agree to a ceasefire in the first place? Israel felt pressured by the return of Trump.
In the final negotiation, Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steven Witkoff (who is not a diplomat, but a New York real estate investor), played a pivotal role in pressuring Netanyahu to accept the deal that he had rejected many times before over the past year. Allegedly, Netanyahu was ultimately convinced to accept the deal when the Trump team also promised to empty the Gaza Strip of Palestinians.
The ceasefire calls for phased release of Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. But Palestinians in Israeli prisons are, in fact, hostages. When
innocent men, women, and children are kidnapped from their homes in Gaza and on the West Bank and kept in administrative detention without being charged with any crime, they are hostages held by the occupying state. And when these hostages are “tried” in Israeli military courts, the outcome is a foregone conclusion. Israeli military courts have a higher than 95% conviction rate for Palestinian defendants since 1967.
The ceasefire also calls for an increase in the flow of food into the Gaza strip. During their assault on Gaza, Israel allowed in a fraction of the food that was ready to enter the Strip. In December 2024, Human Rights Watch stated that Israel was using starvation as a weapon. In the first three days after the ceasefire, though, at least 2,400 food and aid trucks entered Gaza.
However, the ceasefire is, at best, a murky arrangement as Israel continues its aggression in what is left to Palestinians in the West Bank. And considering the power held by the Israeli lobby on the American political establishment, it cannot be ruled out that Israel would find some flimsy excuse to restart their genocide against the Palestinians once all of its people have been retrieved.
One wonders why Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken were not able to accomplish what Trump did even before becoming president? The simple answer is pressure.
Biden refused to use America’s enormous leverage against Israel and continued sending billions in military aid to a state committing genocide until the very end of their administration. But as the left-leaning Israeli newspaper Haaretz put it succinctly, Israel only understands force (September 2024). By not using political leverage while at the same time repeating the fatuous mantra of two-state solution, Biden and Blinken were really talking from both sides of their mouths. As a result, over the course of the past four years, we have seen precious little
accomplished by the Biden administration to achieve any sort of peace in the Middle East.
On Jan. 15, 2025, Blinken addressed the Atlantic Council think tank, stating: “It is time to forge a new reality in the Middle East in which all people are more secure, all can realize their national aspirations, all can live in peace. Is that hard to achieve? Yes. Peace in the region has always been. Is it impossible? No. Is it necessary? Absolutely, yes.”
The ad nauseum repetition of a twostate solution has become a joke, especially coming from the former U.S. Secretary of State. More than any other person in Biden’s circle, Blinken knew that Israel would never agree to a two-state solution.
Trump injected another element into this complex equation when he suggested the idea of having Indonesia take in one million-plus Palestinians. No sooner had he made that ridiculous suggestion than he lobbed another idiotic bombshell, asking Jordan and Egypt to take refugees from Gaza. Upon finding no response, he even brought up the possibility of bringing Albania into the deal.
The ceasefire is, at best, a murky arrangement as Israel continues its aggression in what is left to Palestinians in the West Bank. And considering the power held by the Israeli lobby on the American political establishment, it cannot be ruled out that Israel would find some flimsy excuse to restart their genocide against the Palestinians once all of its people have been retrieved.
Trump is parroting the views of Israeli, American, British, and European right-wing politicians. They want to build Jewish settlements in Gaza by “voluntary” repatriation of Gazans to other Arab countries. In common parlance, Trump’s proposal is nothing more than ethnic cleansing.
For Palestinians it is a double whammy. First a genocide with the tacit approval of
the United States and now an attempt to ethnically cleanse Gaza for good.
It is said that Arab countries have sold their honor and traditions to the interests of the United States. Following this line of thought, the Jimmy Carter engineered Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt was the first step in this surrender. Subsequently other Arab countries — typically ruled by despots
— have also given up on solidarity with Palestine mostly in exchange for American military products and/or protection.
And now the Abraham Accords have brought most Arab countries into the United States’ sphere of interest and in turn, into Israel’s. The only notable regional hold out so far is Saudi Arabia.
Considering Trump’s propensity to retaliate against those who refuse to buckle under his dictates, it is not beyond him to issue an ultimatum to his Arab client states to either toe the line or be ready for retaliation.
That is why it is time that all Arab countries come together and devise a common strategy for the future of the Middle East that is based on their shared history and values. Only then Palestine will have a true ally in the region. ih
S. Amjad Hussain, MD, FRCSC, FACS, D.Sc. honoris causa, is Emeritus Professor of Cardiothoracic surgery at the College of Medicine and Life Sciences; and Emeritus Professor of Humanities, College of Arts and Letters University of Toledo.
An earlier version was published in The Blade of Toledo, Ohio, on January 29, 2025.
BY SHEIMA SALAM SUMER
Douglas Johnson came to Islam after his experience teaching in Palestine. Imam Suhaib Webb, Amaal Melissa Toney, and Sha’Qira Holemon couldn’t believe in the Catholic doctrine of the Trinity in which God is both one unified being, and three distinct beings. Nicole Hawkins met a Bangladeshi friend who changed her perspective.
According to the Huffington Post, an estimated 20,000 Americans convert to Islam every year, as of 2011 (“Conversion to Islam One Result of post-9/11 Curiosity,” Omar Sacirbey, Aug. 24, 2011). That’s 20,000 Americans every year who are learning to pray, learning to read the Quran, and fasting during Ramadan. Each convert – some prefer to use the term ‘reverts’ – has their own unique story and faces their own unique challenges. Ramadan especially can be a bittersweet time as they experience the bliss of the holy month while dealing with struggles inherent to navigating their new religion and its associated traditions.
Islamic Horizons spoke with Muslim American converts to learn more about their experiences.
Many converts come to Islam because of Muslims they meet. Douglas Johnson from Ottawa, Ill., was attracted by the good manners of the Muslims he met in Palestine. While working as a teacher there, he was impressed by the students and people’s maturity and goodness. “I felt very welcome. I was attributing it to Islam, which was right,” he said. Nicole Hawkins from Baltimore, Md., had an online Bangladeshi friend who was Muslim. She became curious about his beliefs and so she bought a copy of the translation of the Quran. What she read made sense to her. The stories of the Prophets moved her. The biggest factor in her conversion was Islam’s teaching that life is a test. Growing up, Nicole, who lost her mother to suicide, always wondered why life was so difficult. She found the answer in Islam. “It’s because Allah puts trials and tests in our way to bring us closer to Him,” she said.
Nicole shared that while she loves fasting because it increases her Godconsciousness, Ramadan can be very lonely. Many don’t have the privilege of practicing with their families the way native-born Muslims do. She wishes more Muslims would invite converts to their homes for iftar, and that mosques had more fun activities during the month.
to
sincerity he saw in Muslims. As a child, he observed hypocrisy in the church. As a result, he left organized religion until he met Muslims in Michigan and learned about Islam. Like Nicole, the people and the Quran inspired him. He especially liked that the Quran is still in its original language. He began exploring mosques and meeting imams. “It was crazy clear that this felt right,” he said. “There was an absence of hypocrisy; there was one clear path. It felt like returning to a place that I could be proud of and give me some forward direction.”
Many Christians convert to Islam because of Islam’s clear concept of God. The renowned Imam Suhaib Webb from Oklahoma City, Ok., told the Deen Show he converted to Islam because the Catholic concept of the Trinity didn’t make sense to him “I just wasn’t able to digest that God could be three or one of three,” he said. (https:// muslimcentral.com/the-deen-show-why-suhaibwebb-came-to-islam/).
Similarly, Amaal Melissa Toney from Manhattan, N.Y. could not understand how Jesus
prayed to God when he was also God. Sha’Qira Holemon from Richmond, Va., felt that the Trinity and God having a son didn’t make sense. Douglas resonated with the fact that Islam viewed Jesus as a prophet, rather than as God or the son of God.
Luke Hodel* from Mechanicsville, Va., was attracted to Islam by the five daily prayers. He was raised as “a Christmas and Easter Catholic” who went to mass only on holidays. “I liked the idea of remembrance every day,” he said.
Many find solace in the sense of community during Ramadan. Amaal reminisced about her Ramadan in different locales. She loves how Muslims come together to give out dates, water, and to share iftar meals. “I’ve seen it in Egypt. I’ve seen it in Georgia. I’ve seen it in South Carolina, New Jersey, and New York,” she said. “You’re gonna get that same experience no matter where you are – that sense of community, love, and giving.”
Like Amaal, Kareem experienced Ramadan in many places. Wherever he went, he always found a mosque that welcomed him. He shared that he’s always able to find a good mosque and the vibe is always “welcome my brother, let’s do this thing together.” During his first street-wide iftar in Egypt, he felt cared for. “It was incredible. I was welcomed. I didn’t need anything,” he said.
Douglas experienced his first Ramadan in Palestine before he became Muslim. His colleague invited him to a community iftar. When he entered the cafeteria, he didn’t know what to expect. He sat in rows with Muslims who had been fasting all day. Despite not being Muslim, he felt welcomed. There was no sense of distinction between him and the Muslims. It didn’t feel strange that he was participating in a Muslim ceremony; it felt natural. “Being treated like a Muslim before I was Muslim was really special to me,” he said.
For Kareem, suhoor (the pre-dawn meal) is one of his favorite parts of Ramadan. He enjoys waking up early and eating with people he loves. “We say al-Hamdu lillāh for this blessing,” he said. “We prepare for the fast and get into that rhythm. Then, when fajr happens, it’s game on.”
Kyle Bayer from Delray Beach, Fla., whose wife inspired him to convert, said he enjoys bonding and connecting at iftar dinners. “I could speak to others freely about my experience fasting and they did the same with me,” he said.
As strong as the sense of community is during Ramadan, new converts to the religion still deal with certain struggles. Imam Suhaib Webb recalled that he felt “terrified” during his first Ramadan. He actually hadn’t known much about fasting when he converted at the age of 20. He felt he wasn’t just converting to a new religion, but to a new community. He described all the Muslim cultures he encountered as a “religious Times Square.” On top of that, he was constantly bombarded with questions about how and why he converted which made him uncomfortable.
He found consolation in the hadith that Ramadan is a month of patience. He kept going to the mosque, praying tarawih (night prayers), and reading the translation of the meaning of the Quran in English, which really helped. “Alhamdulillah, man that helped me,” he said. “That first Ramadan ended up being a great blessing for me.”
The act of fasting alone can be difficult for some converts, especially those who are participating in Ramadan for the first time. “I struggle with it,” Douglas said. “[But] the more Muslims I have around me fasting, the easier and better it is.”
Others simply adjust. For Amaal, fasting has been easy overall, but was challenging in the past because of her anemia which she is now able to manage. Kyle fasted for the first time last Ramadan and enjoyed it. “I can’t wait to fast this upcoming Ramadan,” he said.
Sha’Qira, however, finds Ramadan to be bittersweet. Due to her medical condition, she can’t fast. She expressed that she often feels disconnected from Ramadan. To cope, she reads more Quran, listens to nasheed (Islamic songs), and prays more. She tries to go to the mosque to meet Muslims but is often thwarted by her social anxiety. “I’m afraid of people, so it’s hard,” she said.
Fasting isn’t the only aspect of Ramadan that can be hard.
Nicole shared that while she loves fasting because it increases her God-consciousness, Ramadan can be very lonely. Many don’t have the privilege of practicing with their families the way nativeborn Muslims do. She wishes more Muslims would invite converts to their homes for iftar, and that mosques had more fun activities during the month.
Even before Kareem officially became Muslim, he would fast in solidarity and respect with his Muslim friends. He learned about the value of fasting, being pure, and the spirit behind the practice. He learned that fasting is not just a group activity, it’s also a “solo adventure.”
He enjoys the solo aspect of Ramadan. “Doing the iftar together is awesome,” he said. “But then I like to find my center, when it’s just me and Allah.”
Last year, Kareem read through the Quran a few times. He says there’s always something new to catch. He listens to the Quran in Arabic as he reads it in English, following the words with his hand. To improve this practice, Kareem is currently studying Arabic and sees a mentor regularly.
Like most Muslims, converts see Ramadan as a month to get closer to God, to purify, and to grow. “Ramadan is a month of self-reflection and a chance to become closer to Allah,” said Luke.
For Sha’qira, Ramadan means devotion, sacrifice, and being thankful for one’s blessings.
Amaal is especially fascinated with the Night of Power. “It’s a time when you can ask Allah and seek Laylatul Qadr [the Night of Power],” she said. “There are so many benefits in reaching it because of how many of your sins can be removed. It’s like you’re cleansing yourself.”
For Kyle, Ramadan is about commitment, mental endurance, and introspection. Fasting made him feel more grateful. “Ramadan is a special place in time that allows you to embark on self-introspection,” he shared. “It offers the questions [like] ‘Are you truly being the best version of yourself? Can you still make positive changes in your life?’”
Imam Suhaib Webb described Ramadan as “a great opportunity to make up for mistakes made in the past and to create a new capacity to continue to grow for the future.” ih
*Some names have been changed for privacy.
Sheima Salam Sumer is the author of How to be a Happy Muslim Insha’Allah (2014) and the Basic Values of Islam (2021). She is also a tutor and life coach.
BY MALAK KASSEM
According to a 2022 report by the New York City Mayor’s Office of Food Policy, about 1.2 million out of 8.4 million New York residents are food insecure in America’s largest city. The New York City Council confirms that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides assistance to more than 1 million New York City households every year. While SNAP supports many food insecure households, nonprofit organizations are likewise essential in providing support to vulnerable communities across the city. They are safe havens for people to seek resources, advice and direction. According to NGO Base, a source for information about NGOs throughout the world, there are 245 registered Islamic nonprofits in the State of New York. However, many registered on this site are mosques, a fact which fails to account for nonprofits that are established by the Muslim community but are not necessarily Islamic institutions.
According to a study by the ArabAmerican Family Support Center (AAFSC), only 38% of surveyed food pantries in New York City offered halal options. According to a PBS report, more than 185,000 asylum seekers have entered the country since 2022, with many arriving from African Muslim-majority nations such as Senegal and Mauritania (Nation. “Mosques in NYC Struggle to House and Feed an Influx of Muslim Migrants This Ramadan.” PBS, 2 Apr. 2024.). As halal food remains inaccessible in most food pantries, traditional community support systems, such as mosques, are utilized year-round, but become especially exhausted during Ramadan when Muslims need regular access to halal food in order to break their fast and sustain their nutrients every day throughout the holy month.
“The prices in New York City have skyrocketed so much that it’s very hard to afford the bare minimum,” said Zahra Omairat, the communications coordinator at Brooklyn’s Asiyah Women’s Center, an organization that supports Muslim women and children who have survived domestic violence. “But we try our best to alleviate some of that off their shoulders”.
“New York City’s shelter system is not very accommodating for Muslim women, especially when it comes to halal food, or just private space for them,” Omairat said, “especially when a lot of us wear hijab.” Asiyah helps alleviate food insecurity by helping clients navigate food and cash assistance programs such as SNAP and Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards.
Omairat explained that oftentimes,
While SNAP supports many food insecure households, nonprofit organizations are likewise essential in providing support to vulnerable communities across the city. They are safe havens for people to seek resources, advice and direction.
government assistance isn’t enough. “Some women get $100 a month, which is a low amount of money for someone with multiple kids, or even just for herself,” she said.
Asiyah also collaborates with local grocery stores to donate items such as chicken, produce, bread and rice for distribution. Her team reached hundreds of clients last Ramadan. They also plan to host weekly iftars for Ramadans in the future.
Shahana Hanif, a representative of Brooklyn’s District 39 and the first Muslim and Bangladeshi woman elected to the New York City Council, campaigned during the Covid-19 lockdown when her neighborhood of Kenington was hit especially hard. “Every supermarket shut down. It was very overwhelming,” Hanif said. “Immediately, my sister and I put together a fund relief for undocumented Muslims in particular because a lot of the food pantries were not
giving additional funding to people who literally didn’t have anything.”
Many community members in Hanif’s district struggle to pay rent, land a decent-paying job, or afford basic amenities like childcare and even food. “It is imperative for me as an elected leader to ensure that the needs of our communities are met. And the needs of our communities are not unique,” she said.
In partnership with local organizations such as the Arab-American Family Support Center and Muslims Giving Back, Hanif and her sister created a food survival fund so that families won’t have to worry about putting food on the table and can instead allocate their money to other necessities such as rent.
“This is our community,” Hanif said “There is no shame asking for food or being on a line for food. We will work together to make sure that everyone is fed.”
During Ramadan, Hanif’s office expands food distribution, surveying local residents about what they need for holiday preparations. They also hold an annual iftar dinner at Avenue C Plaza in partnership with the group Arts & Democracy. This is Hanif’s favorite Ramadan event. Her office purchases food from local halal restaurants and holds performances by local artists before taraweeh prayer.
Amal Rady, the community manager at Malikah in Astoria’s Little Egypt, runs a halal food fridge at a local mosque year round alongside Wellness on Wheels. Malikah is dedicated to advocating against gender and hate-based violence through self-defense training, healing justice workshops, economic empowerment programs and community organizing. Like Asiyah and Councilmember Hanif, Malikah is involved in combating food insecurity. “We are rooted
in the belief that everyone deserves to live with dignity and safety and have access to the resources they need to thrive,” Rady said.
Most of Malikah’s clients are Arabs, Muslims, asylum seekers, and/or refugees.
“There are a lot of things that are swept under the rug,” Rady said. “[Arabs and Muslims] don’t have access to resources or benefits that other communities may be able to access.” These benefits include government assistance.
For this upcoming Ramadan, Malikah is partnering with Islamic Relief USA to host a food truck outside their office twice a week to provide hot meals for iftar. The organization will also hold an iftar dinner at the Museum of Moving Image (MoMI) where the team expects to break their fast with about 200 asylum seekers. ih
BY HAMZA MOHAMMED
For many colleges and universities, Ramadan can be the busiest time of the year, attracting both Muslim and non-Muslim students alike. Many Muslim Student Associations (MSAs) hold special events and programs to help support Muslim students and faculty during Ramadan, as well as inform non-Muslim students and faculty about the importance that Ramadan holds for Muslims around the world.
Muslim presence on college campuses throughout the United States is growing. One commentator, Amer Ahmed, noted, “On college campuses in the United States, Muslim Student Associations have more than doubled since 9/11, as now more than 400 local chapters exist.” (“Islam in America and on our Campuses: Reducing Stigma, Increasing Support,” National Association of Student Personnel Administrators).
A 2019 Pew Research Center study revealed that 31% of Muslim Americans have a college degree, equating to roughly 1.25 million Muslims (David Masci, “Many Americans see religious discrimination in the U.S.—especially against Muslims,” The Pew Research Center, May 17, 2019). And with so many Muslims seeking higher education opportunities, often far away from their homes, it can be difficult for Muslim students to find a sense of community, especially during important times during the Islamic year. Fortunately, many universities in the United States have established an MSA as part of the Muslim Student Association of the United States & Canada, established in 1963.
Today, across the U.S., over 25% of universities have an MSA or a similar organization with this number growing annually. Many MSAs were created with the goal of working towards inclusion on campus by organizing weekly educational and community-building events for students to attend.
Below are examples of some North American MSAs and their Ramadan activities.
The Rutgers University Muslim Student Association (RU-MSA) serves one of the largest Muslim student organizations in the country. With roughly 6,000 Muslim students on a 44,000-student campus, Muslims account for almost 15% of RU-NB’s student body.
One of their founders is Imam Zaid Shakir (formerly Ricky Daryl Mitchell) who co-founded Zaytuna College, the first accredited Islamic undergraduate university in the U.S. When Shakir attended Rutgers University as a graduate student, he led a student movement encouraging people to divest from corporations that contributed to Apartheid in South Africa.
“This protest, held at Brower Commons, remains an iconic chapter in Rutgers’ history,” said Zakariya Insanally, a RU-NB engineering sophomore, who serves as RU-MSA outreach coordinator. The MSA continues to host events at the same Brower Commons where Shakir led this protest movement.
RU-MSA, which has grown steadily since its founding over 40 years ago, has seven
specialty teams, all dedicated to encouraging important Islamic values such as charity, professional growth, and tazkiyah (purification of oneself). The MSA hosts two to three events every week, each averaging 100-150 Muslim and non-Muslim attendees.
During Ramadan 2024, RU-NB’s MSA partnered with several other organizations including the Muslim Public Relations Council, the Pakistani Student Association, and the Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University to host iftars on the first three Thursdays of Ramadan, each serving over 400 students.
For Ramadan 2025, the RU-NB MSA hopes to continue their current Ramadan programs and projects. “Our vision for Ramadan 2025 builds upon our past successes,” stated Insanally. MSA hopes to partner with more organizations to host larger iftars that will include pre-iftar events featuring local scholars and community leaders to enhance the Ramadan experience. They also plan to launch a new fundraising campaign to help ensure the sustainability of their events in the future.
The University of Tennessee at Knoxville Muslim Students Association (UTK MSA), was founded in the early 1970s by the Muslim Community of Knoxville. Today, it has over 200 members. Events are hosted year-round and are open to all students that attend the school. Ramadan is their busiest time of the year.
During the holy month, MSA hosts weekly halaqas (gatherings to study the Quran), daily Quran readings, sporting events, game nights, and lectures. Their most popular event during Ramadan is their annual fast-a-thon where non-Muslim students and faculty are invited to fast alongside Muslim students. At the end of the fast-a-thon day, UTK MSA hosts an iftar for all participants while also sharing some of the history behind the holy month and its attendant traditions.
“We try to create a welcoming environment where people can meet Muslims and learn more about their religion,” said Ashraf Dkhiri, a junior accounting major and UTK MSA board member.
For Ramadan 2025, the UTK MSA hopes to focus more on Quranic readings and halaqas. They will also be hosting their 24th fast-a-thon and are expecting more participants in the event as the MSA continues to grow in size.
The OSU MSA also collaborates with the university to host an annual fast-a-thon where they invite non-Muslim students and faculty to fast along with the students. Like the UTK MSA, at the end of the fast-a-thon, the OSU MSA hosts an iftar for all of the participants.
The OSU MSA hopes to collaborate with even more Muslim organizations across Columbus, Ohio for events during Ramadan 2025.
Each MSA chapter celebrates Ramadan on campus in a unique way. Whether through events like fast-a-thons, or hosting iftar and suhoor for students, college MSAs across the country work tirelessly every year to make sure that Muslim students never feel alone during Ramadan.
Since its founding 30 years ago, the Ohio State University Muslim Student Association (OSU MSA) has seen a steady growth and has become a safe place for one of the nation’s largest Muslim student bodies. The OSU MSA hosts a variety of social events throughout the year including multiple jumuah (Friday) prayers options to allow students to find a time that works within their schedule. Nearly 500 people attend jumuah prayers weekly across campus.
Like many university MSAs across the country, Ramadan is one of the busiest times for the OSU MSA. They host an iftar every night from Monday to Thursday during the holy month that feeds 200 students as well as a taraweeh (night) prayer every evening. They also host halaqas between Maghrib and Isha prayers. “[Students] take the time out to chill and socialize with each other, building brotherhood and sisterhood,” said junior Daanish Khan who serves as the MSA outreach chair.
The MSA at the Texas Agricultural and Mechanical (A&M) University in College Station works closely with their nearby local mosque. During Ramadan, the mosque partners with the students to host daily iftars for almost 300-400 people. Texas A&M students help to fundraise, cook, and clean up the iftars while other students lead Isha and taraweeh prayers there during the holy month. During Ramadan, MSA serves suhoor, the predawn meal, every Friday.
“Our Ramadans are often the most active time for our MSA. It’s when we have the highest turnout and the most brotherhood/ sisterhood throughout the school year,” said Hadi Tameez, a junior and the men’s section social officer for the MSA.
The MSA also hosts an annual lock-in (Qiyam ul-Layl), where students spend the night praying, supplicating, and reading the Quran at the masjid. Besides religious activities, the participants take part in sports
and video games as well. In addition, during Ramadan, halal dining halls at the A&M adjust their schedules to open earlier so that students fasting on campus can have access to meals for suhoor. The MSA also works with the local mosque to assist in hosting Eid Prayer and Festival. MSA members often serve on the planning committee to coordinate the event, and make up the largest group of volunteers for Eid as well.
For Ramadan 2025, the Texas A&M MSA hopes to be able to offer iftar every night for all students and locals in the area. They are also looking to expand their suhoor program, as well as the halal food options on campus. With a rapidly growing Muslim community surrounding the campus, A&M’s MSA is also looking to host larger Eid, prayer, and social events with more options for students and residents to enjoy.
Each MSA chapter celebrates Ramadan on campus in a unique way. Whether through events like fast-a-thons, or hosting iftar and suhoor for students, college MSAs across the country work tirelessly every year to make sure that Muslim students never feel alone during Ramadan. ih
BY NAAZISH YARKHAN
The news continues to leave many of us feeling powerless. Anxiety, loneliness, and depression are rampant among Americans (Vivek Murthy, former U.S. Surgeon General, “WHO launches commission to foster social connection,” Nov., 15, 2023; World Health Organization, 2024). But there is an antidote, albeit an often overlooked one. According to Psychology Today, no matter our age, finding ways to “exert your positive energy and positive power” keeps us from sinking into the quicksand that is negativity and despair. Helping others and doing good counteracts despondency by triggering dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin, our brain’s “feel good” chemicals.
For some, this comes in the form of picking up a friend’s child from school when they can’t or delivering a meal when a neighbor is ill. For others, it’s driving a friend to the airport, or smiling and waving hello as you cross paths. Every good deed we do for others, no matter how big or small, has the power to alleviate our own feeling of helplessness.
Community nurtures a sense of belonging, creates a support system, and provides purpose, all elements that fuel wellbeing. The National Alliance on Mental Illness states, “We’re social beings, and we are not meant to live in isolation. Community is critical for us to thrive, especially for [those] already experiencing the common symptoms of loneliness and isolation.”
Naz Hassan of Downers Grove, Ill. finds purpose by investing in her community.
“After being a wife and mother for 27 and 24 years respectively, I’d come to a point where household responsibilities felt humdrum, mundane,” she said. “With my volunteer work, I fill a hole by connecting with others. I return home as a much better wife, a much better mother. Plus, I get household responsibilities done with a lot more heart.”
Hassan, a mother to five, recently accepted a volunteer role as co-chair of the Interfaith and Outreach Committee at the Islamic Foundation mosque in Villa Park, Ill. She also decided to renew her involvement in community organizing with DuPage United, an interfaith organization where volunteers create systemic change by engaging with local politicians and townships. Though her avocations take up relatively little time, her interests already feel like life savers, Hasan shared.
“DuPage United’s advocacy for mental health initiatives reeled me in ten years ago,” she said. After a decade-long hiatus from DuPage United, Hasan resumed volunteering with the organization once her
Helping people and changing lives provides us with health benefits, according to the Mayo Clinic. “Research shows that people who are part of strong communities tend to have lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol levels, and a lower risk of obesity,” the institution said. “They are also more likely to exercise regularly and eat a healthy diet.”
older children had grown and flown. It was DuPage United’s affordable housing initiative that drew her in this time.
“DuPage United gets to the heart [of] where the need is for people on the fringes, those who are suffering the most,” Hassan said. “Volunteering is important to me because serving humanity is important to me. We are put on this earth to do good. All of humanity are the people of Allah.”
Indeed, finding a sense of community and “using our personal strengths can make us healthier, happier, and more successful” (M. E. P. Seligman, T. A. Steen, N. Park, & C. Peterson. (2005). “Positive Psychology Progress: Empirical Validation of Interventions,” American Psychologist, 60(5), 410–421).
In the shadow of George Floyd’s murder and the ensuing Black Lives Matter protests, principal software engineer Fatima Azfar could have succumbed to the nation’s shared feelings of helplessness and overwhelm. Or she could be a force for good.
At her first job out of university, at the Chicago-based West Monroe Consulting where she had only been working a year, Azfar, a resident of San Jose, California, had a proposal. In an industry that required employees to wine and dine clients, practices that were contrary to Islamic values and those of some non-Muslim co-workers, Azfar wanted to serve as a catalyst for change.
With encouragement from the founders of the Black Employee Network, she became the co-founder of the Interfaith Employee Resource Group (ERG) at West Monroe. The group’s intention was to bring Muslims together in mutual support.
Her employers’ response surprised her. “It was wonderful to see the company welcoming the endeavors of their only hijabi employee striving to create a space for her community,” she said. It took twelve months from introducing the idea of the ERG to its official launch.
“I sought out the support of key figures within the company and built a strong network of leaders through one on one coffee chats,” Azfar said. “I explained the idea, the purpose, and got not only their agreement, but their passionate support. Engaging them personally was key.”
She made sure to incorporate their feedback and personal passions into the initiatives the ERG planned. “It allowed our first year to be filled with excitement, and engaged ERG leaders,” she said.
She explained that grassroot initiatives often prevail through key supporters. “If someone has created something similar [e.g. the Pan-Asian Network Employee Resource Group (ERG) or Women Leadership Network at West Monroe], harness their leaders for your own initiative. Learn wisdom from their experiences. Follow their example.”
By 2021, the ERG expanded to become an interfaith organization. The group’s wins
include a Ramadan campaign, “Acts of Kindness,” an iftar and a “Fast for a Day” event in several of the company’s offices. Azfar’s ERG hosted an Abrahamic Faiths panel to share religious texts while also co-hosting intersectional events with other ERG chapters. They held bi-annual, virtual, firm-wide employee town halls including a talk by speaker Dalia Mogahed (Director of Research at Institute for Social Policy and Understanding in Washington, D.C.) to address issues facing religious minority groups in the U.S. “Office operations opened up prayer rooms in all our offices, and the Interfaith ERG stocked them with hijabs, prayer rugs, tasbeeh, and religious texts,” Azfar said.
Azfar’s decision to lean into her positive energy and sense of personal power earned her recognition as one of EqualityX’s Top 50 Influential Muslims of 2024 in America, an award for Muslims who’ve embraced their faith in the workplace as a catalyst for positive impact in their communities.
Helping people and changing lives provides us with health benefits, according to the Mayo Clinic. “Research shows that people who are part of strong communities tend to have lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol levels, and a lower risk of obesity,” the institution said. “They are also more likely to exercise regularly and eat a healthy diet” (Abby Smith, “Mayo Clinic Q and A: Health benefits of volunteering,” Dec. 5, 2023).
At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in Hicksville, N.J., Acutis Diagnostics launched its Social Responsibility Response Committee. It helped counter some of the collective helplessness felt across the country.
One of its most impactful initiatives was Letters to Elders, during which staff wrote letters of hope and cheer. Also, during the quarantine, employees made 40 wish lists come true through the KiDS NEED MoRE Holiday Cheer Bus event. They also visited 11 local families whose children were battling cancer. Crucially, they learned that in some families more than one child had a life-threatening illness, while others fought financial hardship.
Encouraging self- agency, the company had employees decide which initiatives to support. “Instead of the typical top-down approach to corporate citizenship, the company put the team in the front seat,” CEO Jibreel Sarij wrote on LinkedIn. “Our
colleagues set the agenda and carried it forward from the hallways of our offices to the communities we belong to.”
Through the years, Acutis Diagnostics has sponsored a single mother’s rent for a year, conducted blood drives for the New York Blood Center, and raised school supplies for Wyandanch School District. Staff have donated personal care products and food to ECLI-Vibes on Long Island and to the South Brunswick Food Pantry in New Jersey through their Thanksgiving Initiative. In addition, the company recognizes Earth Day with an Annual Campus Cleanup on grounds at their headquarters. Acutis Diagnostics was also among the first companies to recognize Juneteenth as a holiday, according to its LinkedIn Profile. The company’s efforts dovetail with a research paper titled “What Do Muslims Say About Corporate Social Responsibility?” which states, “[Muslims] must utilize their potential by shouldering the responsibility of maintaining and developing the universe” (Zahid Parvez, “Building a New Society,” Revival, 2007).
Muslims in the U.S. donated approximately $1.8 billion in zakat in 2021, according to the Muslim American Zakat Report. In 2019, the Muslim American Philanthropy Report found that American Muslims are 81% more likely to contribute to organizations that address domestic poverty outside of their own faith. This trend was corroborated again by the 2021 Muslim American Giving Report that found Muslims had donated an estimated $4.3 billion to non-religious causes that year. The report also shared that Muslims donated more to civil rights causes that weren’t faith-based initiatives as compared to the general public (Shariq Siddiqui, et al, Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Sponsorship: Islamic Relief USA; Mirza Family Foundation).
While giving is often motivated by a sense of religious duty and a belief that those with more must help those with less, the psychological and health benefits are still other reasons for Muslims to continue being the good neighbors they are. ih
Naazish YarKhan is a writer and educator. She teaches online writing workshops for grades 3 to 12 and coaches applicants on college essays as founder of WritersStudio.us. Her writing has been featured on NPR, PRI, Chicago Tribune, and more.
BY NAJIA SHUAIB
Whether you’re in Dallas to visit some family and friends or just thinking about your next vacation or business venture, and looking for something to do, look no further than The Keir Collection of Islamic Art, currently housed at the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) in Dallas, Texas. This display is a wonderful opportunity for anyone interested in Islamic art, history, heritage, or culture, bridging historical craftsmanship with accessible public viewing. This collection offers a rare glimpse into the global cultural legacy of Islamic art which is a pride of Muslims worldwide.
Though special exhibitions at the DMA may require a fee, the DMA’s free general admission allows the visitors to view all the collections housed within the museum’s permanent galleries including The Keir Collection.
Before planning your visit, check the museum’s website for special events or conservation-related closures. The DMA is typically open from Tuesday to Sunday, with specific hours mentioned on its official website. The Keir Collection Gallery is conveniently located on the ground floor near the main entrance of the DMA.
Visitors can also arrange guided tours to have a deeper insight into the collection. The intricate craftsmanship across the collection demonstrates Islamic civilizations’ cultural and technological advancements from various regions, including North Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Spain.
The Keir Collection is one of the most significant private collections of Islamic art, encompassing nearly 2,000 artifacts that span over 1,300 years. It includes a wide range of objects such as rare Quranic manuscripts, ceramics, textiles, carpets, metalwork, and rock crystal artifacts. Some highlights include an extraordinary 10th–11th-century rock crystal ewer and a 16th-century folio from the Khamsa of Nizami. Distinguished Islamic art historian, author, illustrator, and curator Dr. Sabiha Al Khemir played a key role in bringing the Keir Collection to the DMA. The move was motivated by the museum’s commitment
to creating a dedicated space for Islamic art and broadening public access to these works. This partnership between the Keir Foundation and the DMA also reflects the museum’s aim to promote multiculturalism and expand its international collection, making Dallas a significant hub for Islamic art in North America.
Edmund de Unger (1918–2011), a Hungarian-British art collector, was the man behind the Keir Collection. He had a passion for collecting oriental carpets. He pursued studies in England and became active in the real estate business. Through his financial success, he was able to focus on his lifelong interest in collecting.
He always viewed himself as a traditional private collector, acquiring art for personal enjoyment rather than investment. He named his collection “ Keir” after the name of his former home in Ham, London. After decades of displaying the Keir Collection in his home, he arranged for some parts of it to be loaned to prestigious institutions such as the Museum für Islamische Kunst in Berlin. Following his passing in 2011, significant portions of the collection were transferred to be housed at the Dallas Museum of Art. Ownership of the Keir Collection remains
with the de Unger Family Foundation, while the DMA acts as a custodian.
The decision to transfer the collection to the DMA in 2014 under a 15-year renewable loan agreement could be driven by several factors:
Enhanced Accessibility: Dallas offered a new geographical and cultural context to the Keir Collection, by increasing its visibility to diverse audiences. The state of Texas experienced remarkable growth in recent years, positioning itself as a prominent state and economic hub for the U.S. People from Hispanic, African American, Asian, Middle Eastern, German, Czech, Irish, and many other backgrounds make it the melting pot of multicultural influences.
Muslim Population: The Dallas Fort Worth region is home to one of the largest Muslim communities in Texas, with approximately 30,000 Muslims in Dallas and an additional 7,000 in surrounding areas like Fort Worth and Arlington, estimating around half million Muslims statewide. In the Dallas area, the infrastructure supporting Islamic culture is robust. It includes numerous mosques, Islamic schools, and cultural institutions, such as the Islamic Center of Irving, The East Plano Islamic Center, The Islamic Association of Collin County, The Islamic Center of Frisco, Yaqeen Institute,
Qalam, and Roots which provide education and community services. This environment fosters a sense of cultural and religious identity and has made the city attractive for Muslim immigrants, contributing to the community’s expansion.
Dedicated Facilities: The DMA provided state-of-the-art conservation, storage, and display facilities, allowing the collection to be preserved and presented optimally.
Cultural Synergy: The DMA’s commitment to multiculturalism and fostering interfaith understanding made it an ideal custodian. This aligns with de Unger’s vision of making Islamic art a bridge between cultures.
Educational Opportunities: The collaboration between Dallas Universities and the DMA has provided a great platform for students to enhance their knowledge in the field of visual arts. The Keir Collection at the DMA has also invoked an immense appreciation of Islamic culture and history among art students and the general public alike. Rotating some 2000 artifacts at the gallery and giving free access contributes a great educational opportunity that in turn keeps De Unger’s legacy alive.
The Rock Crystal Ewer is an extraordinary piece of early Islamic art, considered to be one of the finest examples of its kind. Crafted during the Fatimid period (10th-12th century), this ewer is one of only seven similar masterpieces worldwide. Its intricate design
Double page from the Qur’an manuscript made for Nur ad-Din and endowed to his madrasa Damascus in 652 AH/1166–7 AD by ‘Ali ibn Ja’far ibn Asad al-Katib - https://collections.dma.org/ artwork/5342788, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=116389589.
includes relief decorations of hunting cheetahs, symbolizing both artistic expertise and technical excellence. In the 19th century, the vessel was adorned with gold, silver-gilt, and enamel mounts by Jean-Valentin Morel, a notable French gold and silver smith often credited for the aptitude of his work.
The Fatimid rock crystal industry, centered in Egypt, utilized high-quality alluvial quartz deposits from places like Madagascar. The painstaking carving and polishing techniques required for these objects showcased unmatched craftsmanship and remain a subject of scholarly research today. The ewer’s combination of artistry and material rarity makes it a cornerstone of the Keir Collection and a highlight of the Dallas Museum of Art’s Islamic Art gallery, where it serves as a symbol of cultural and artistic legacy.
The Keir Collection includes an impressive array of Quranic manuscripts, numbering over 40 pieces. These span centuries and geographic regions, showcasing the artistic and calligraphic excellence of Islamic manuscript traditions. One of the finest pieces in the collection is a fragmentary Quranic manuscript attributed to the 10th century, created in North Africa or the Iberian Peninsula. Written in Kufic script on parchment, it demonstrates remarkable precision and artistry, characteristic of early Quranic calligraphy.
Additionally, the collection features significant works such as an illuminated Quran
attributed to 16th-century Ottoman Turkey, known for its intricate floral and geometric decorations. These manuscripts represent the high cultural and artistic achievements of Islamic civilizations over time, making them key highlights of the Keir Collection. ih Najia Shuaib, an artist and an Islamic art enthusiast, explores the opportunity to engage with some of the finest Islamic artworks in the world at the Dallas Museum of Art.
BY CYNTHIA GRIFFITH
Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world, but in the United States, not all Muslims are accounted for. The U.S. Census Bureau’s religious data does not include one of the largest populations of Muslim Americans: incarcerated converts. This is indicative of a larger effort to make it appear as if the growth of Islam is due to high birth rates and immigration alone, which is a fallacy. Additionally, this accounting practice illustrates a dismissive and dehumanizing attitude toward incarcerated people who may embrace Islam. The implication is that incarcerated converts are somehow less representative of the general population outside of jail. This unjust message can then be used to perpetuate additional harmful stereotypes against Muslim Americans whether converts, prisoners, or other individuals within the Muslim community.
Islamic Horizons reached out to the U.S. Census Bureau to discuss this matter, and a representative confirmed the Bureau does not collect data on religious affiliations. They directed Horizons to the Bureau of Prisons (BOP). Horizons found that while
the BOP collects data for categories such as age, race, ethnicity, and citizenship status, it does not account for the religious identity of inmates.
This practice of not counting converts to Islam as Muslims dates to the early 20th century, and has prevented federal courts from interfering with inmate rights cases for many decades (SpearIt, “Muslims in American Prisons: Advancing the Rule of Law through Litigation Praxis,” Vol 3 No 1 (2022): Journal of Islamic Law at Harvard Law School).
Some states are accommodating to the incarcerated Muslims’ religious needs, while others are not. For example, only 17 states allow inmates the right to religious head coverings, and some states make it difficult or impossible for Muslims to access alternative meals (Leila Fadel, “Muslims OverRepresented in State Prisons, Report Finds,” July 25, 2019, NPR).
According to the Pew Research Center, “The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics routinely reports on several characteristics of the U.S. prison population, such as age, gender, and racial/ethnic composition, but it does not usually report on the religious affiliation
of inmates, and independent surveys of inmates rarely are permitted” (“Religion in Prisons—A 50-State Survey of Prison Chaplains,” March 22, 2012).
Philadelphia native Faheem took his shahada in 1979 after he was sentenced to 10 years in the notorious Graterford Prison, about 31 miles northwest of Philadelphia. His story is emblematic of the decades-long pattern of embracing the Islamic faith in U.S. correctional institutions. Faheem described his time served as an awe-inspiring experience and proclaimed that even as far back as 45 years ago, the Muslim prison population was so abundant that they “pretty much ran the whole jail.”
“When entering prison, I was immediately greeted by the Muslims,” Faheem fondly recalled. “They had a huge community and were respected by everyone from all other religions. . . not to mention they had a massive impact on the guards.”
Faheem said it was the character of his Muslim brothers that drew him to Islam. “They were the intellectuals, the scholarly, community men, and they had developed a reputation for their cleanliness, unity, and leadership roles throughout the jail,” he said. “They pretty much ran everything—the cafeteria, the library, and the mechanical and academic departments. They did so in a just and orderly fashion, to the point where even non-Muslims referred to them for advice. The local guards were so impressed and influenced that many of them took their shahadas too, and you could see the dawah spreading far beyond the towering concrete walls.”
Excluding Muslim prisoners from the U.S. census when counting Muslim Americans is part of a broader effort to make Islam appear as if it is spread by immigration only
and as if conversion plays little to no role in the astronomical growth of Islam. Census numbers in the contemporary United States tell a vastly different story.
The United States has the highest rate of incarceration per capita in the world (World Prison Brief, October 2021). According to the Prison Policy Initiative , there are approximately 7 million prison admissions annually. While some people cycle in and out of the U.S. prison industrial complex more than once per year, many others are new to the system. These offenders are frequently jailed for nonviolent crimes. The Prison Policy Initiative also found that many who get arrested are innocent but find themselves imprisoned for days, months, and even years, simply because they are too poor to make bail.
Policies and legislation play a pivotal role in the criminal justice system. There are laws in place that target specific demo-
incite violence, he was still given a lengthy sentence that would last well into adulthood.
“Really, I got off easy doing ten years,” he said. “I can’t even count how many 18 and 19-year-olds who looked like me were given life sentences for petty crimes, and how many of them were innocent.”
Many Americans are aware of the vast injustices taking place in the prison industrial complex, but without hard data, we cannot even begin to imagine how many Muslims, converts, and born Muslims alike, have filtered through the system. If seven million arrests are made each year, how many millions of Muslims have, for decades, been uncounted and left out of the data? Untold stories of Muslim resilience move like modern folklore over city streets, anonymous sources of inspiration. How impactful would these tales be if they were told to the masses?
Excluding Muslim prisoners from the U.S. census when counting Muslim Americans is part of a broader effort to make Islam appear as if it is spread by immigration only and as if conversion plays little to no role in the astronomical growth of Islam. Census numbers in the contemporary United States tell a vastly different story.
traditions spoken in small inner-city circles, and occasional mainstream media coverage. According to Oxford Research Encyclopedias, most mainstream media coverage of North American Muslims casts them in a negative light through techniques like Othering and Orientalism (Ahmed Al-Rawi, News Coverage of Islam and Muslims in North America | Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion, July 17, 2024). But their numbers are not few, and if they were accounted for, the ever-growing and sizable sum of Muslims in America would be made much clearer to the news consuming public at large.
Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world and it grows in some of the most formidable places on Earth. No 6 by 8 foot concrete cage can contain it. No barred metal door can hold it back. No amount of darkness can cover the light it shines on open hearts and yearning souls.
“I never committed another crime after becoming a Muslim in prison,” Faheem concludes.
May God continue to bless him and the countless other converts who share a similar story. ih
graphics of people and push them into the prison system for minor infractions. For example, it is illegal for a homeless person to sleep, stand, walk, or otherwise engage in life-sustaining activities in public. Doing so can result in a fine or even in an arrest. Recently, a homeless woman was issued a citation while giving birth on a sidewalk (Sean Neumann, “Officer Cites Pregnant Homeless Woman While She Pleads That She’s Going Into Labor: ‘What She Needed Was Help’,” Dec. 20, 2024).
Faheem recalled a time in the not-so-distant past when unjust policies were used to target people like him — African American males in their late teens. Faheem was convicted on the count of possessing an illegal weapon at just 19 years old. Despite the fact that he never used the alleged weapon to
A former volunteer prison chaplain who wishes to remain anonymous and who used to visit an upstate New York maximum security prison once mused that the imprisoned convert’s journey is “akin to Hijrah, moving to a world of enlightenment.” He said, “We need more resources for people who take the shahada in jail to access upon release.” He also believes that care is needed for the families of the converts, a service which would make them closer to the family of Islam.
Through the onslaught of mass incarceration, Muslim men and women behind bars are too often counted out — out of the data, out of employment opportunities, out of their families, and out of society altogether. Their stories are relegated to oral
BY HAMZA KHAN
Zaynab Mohamed, 27, and Yasmin Trudeau, 40, have never met — but their lives tell the same powerful American story. Mohamed was nine years old when her family immigrated to Minnesota after fleeing war in Northern Somalia. Trudeau, a Bangali American, faced her own share of adversity having spent her childhood navigating the foster-care system in Washington State. Both women pushed through seemingly insurmountable odds to ascend to the state legislature, Mohamed as a Senator in Minnesota representing District 63, and Trudeau in Washington State Senate District 27.
The Democratic duo is part of a small yet growing trend. In 2023, a record 235 Muslims were elected to public office, according to a joint analysis by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Jetpac Resource Center. While data for 2024 has yet to be released, the number has risen steadily since 2020, with new names emerging each year.
The journey often takes shape in the classroom. Despite living in 11 homes between 7th and 12th grade, Trudeau would go on to win her high school’s Gates Achievement Award, setting her on a path toward college and ultimately law school. “Regardless of how many places I lived or how things were like, that was the thing in the back of my mind — just finish your education,” said Trudeau, who in 2021 became the first Muslim member of Washington State’s legislature.
A 2017 study by the Institute for Policy and Understanding found that Muslims are 8% more likely to graduate college than the average American. Mohamed was no different. She found purpose through the Minneapolis “Step Up Program,” through which she worked at a bank during high school and college. At the same time, she taught her mother how to read English.
Mohamed credited her work supervisor with setting her on a path of success. “Now that I look back as a young person, that was one of the most meaningful things that has ever happened to me,” said Mohamed, who was one of eight children. “Because none of my siblings have gone to school here, and all my family members have had no one, and nothing.”
Neither Trudeau nor Mohamed actually planned to pursue politics. Like many in immigrant families, they initially prioritized stability over risk. It is perhaps for this reason that while Muslims are underrepresented in local government, they make up around four times their share of the population in medicine.
But growing up in a changing America often means adopting changing roles. Trudeau was in law school when she found herself in a heated debate with a classmate over the “intent behind law.” Passionate about immigration advocacy, she found herself wanting to do more than just learn — she wanted to shape policy.
Mohamed, who is 13 years younger than Trudeau, was swept up in the activist fervor of 2020 when George Floyd was murdered a few blocks from her parents’ house. Neither
were alone in their passion. Two years before George Floyd’s murder at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department, fellow Muslims Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar were making history as the first Muslims elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018. Both women got their start in the state legislature.
Still, the road ahead wasn’t steady for these groundbreaking women. Trudeau’s background as the daughter of a young single mother often left her feeling ostracized in a conservative Muslim community. But her mother’s words still echo in her ears: “No matter what, you’re a Muslim.”
“I was like, ‘Mom, the Muslim community barely accepts you’,” Trudeau said. “And she was like, ‘They don’t need to.’ And that really stood out to me.” Trudeau spent her years after law school working for Washington State Senator Pramila Jayapal (D), who now serves in the U.S. Congress. Later, Trudeau joined the state Attorney General’s office, which at the time was challenging then-President Donald Trump’s Muslim ban.
In 2021, the seven-member Pierce County Council unanimously appointed Trudeau to the Washington State Senate. She has since won an election in 2022 and reelection in 2024. And despite the hardships that accompany Trudeau’s unique background,
she often found herself at an advantage. “We have a lot of different things that impact our folks, and so I think that actually the ‘Muslim misfits’ are probably the most primed to have these nuanced conversations on behalf of our communities,” Trudeau said. “Because we’ve experienced that we’re not a monolith, and we understand that that’s not the goal.”
The same year Trudeau was appointed, Mohamed took her passion for social justice to CAIR-Minnesota, where she worked as the director of advocacy. She then began managing campaigns for Minneapolis city council candidates, eventually becoming a
Muslim officials. As a Muslim politician in Washington State, Trudeau was a trailblazer. She recalled interviewing a prospective staff member, a Palestinian Christian, who tearfully expressed concern about being a political liability. “I was like, oh, no, this office — don’t worry about that for a second,” Trudeau said.
Both Trudeau and Mohamed have since worked on a slew of legislation, including investments in affordable housing, wage
There will always be somebody who tells you to wait your turn,” said Mohamed, who recalled being told she was too young to mount a successful campaign. “If you know what you’re doing, and you believe in the value you can bring to an institution, just run.”
policy aide for a sitting councilmember. “I guess when you’re really angry at the world, it’s easy to learn things that you want to be good at to better the world,” Mohamed said with a chuckle. “So that’s sort of what got me into organizing.”
Not a year into her job as an aide, the sitting state senator of 16 years, Patricia Torres Ray, retired. Before Mohamed even thought of running, the hashtag “RunZaynabRun” spread across social media. In a decision that still surprises her to this day, Mohamed threw her hat in the ring. The result was a landslide primary and general election win in 2022. In January 2023, Mohamed made history as the youngest woman to ever serve in Minnesota’s State Senate.
“There will always be somebody who tells you to wait your turn,” said Mohamed, who recalled being told she was too young to mount a successful campaign. “If you know what you’re doing, and you believe in the value you can bring to an institution, just run.”
Trudeau, too, was surprised by the positive response from her community. New Jersey, Michigan, and California take the helm as states with the most elected
reform, and homelessness prevention programs. They have also received warm reviews from their constituents. In her 2024 race, Trudeau won by a nearly 44% margin.
And if more Muslims are looking to get their names on the ballot, Trudeau hopes they know they are not alone. “It’s gonna feel uncomfortable and awkward, and you’re never gonna feel like you fully fit anywhere,” Trudeau said. “But that’s how a lot of people feel in this country all the time. So if anything, I think we translate an experience that really goes beyond just the Muslim community.”
Neither could forget the mentors and educators who helped them find their footing in the world. For Mohamed, this was her old boss, who taught her how to apply to college. “I still talk to him,” Mohamed said. “Every few months he still checks up on me.”
Trudeau remembered fondly the late Professor José Goméz at Evergreen State College. When she had told him she was always interested in law, he simply responded with: “Well then — we’re gonna help you become a lawyer.” ih
Hamza Khan, a New York based freelance journalist, previously worked for Binghamton’s WICZ FOX 40.
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BY ANMOL IRFAN
Each passing day brings new trends that revolve around the latest must-haves and the newest versions of everything we need to own. It’s not just limited to one category either. There are countless articles and social media posts dedicated to kitchen, bathroom, travel, and car essentials, and more. Such items are hardly ever “essentials” but merely things that would be nice to have. The need to just have more of anything is slowly becoming ingrained in our lives.
As with any other festive season, experts say that even advocates for sustainability seem to get caught up in the constant cycle of consumption that exorbitantly increases this time of the year. When many of us think of overconsumption, the first thing that comes to mind is fast fashion. A 2023 UN Environment Program (UNEP) study revealed that textile production has skyrocketed from 18.3 lbs per person in 1975 to 34.2 lbs in 2023, with projections at 41.5 lbs by 2030.
The world is producing, consuming, and throwing away more clothes than ever before. Clothing production doubled from 2000 to 2014, with more than 150 billion garments produced annually. Every second, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned.
Many of us donate unwanted clothes to charity shops and clothing collection banks, but do we really know what happens to them? Globally, only 30% of collected clothing are resold on domestic markets, due to poor quality and low resale value. The rest are sold to textile merchants who ship them overseas to Sub-Saharan Africa to sell in countries like Kenya, Ghana and Senegal (Textile Mountain: The Hidden Burden of our Fashion Waste).
But consumption isn’t just limited to clothes — it is a mindset, and one that has become equally as pervasive in Muslim communities.
In the age of social media and influencers, like others, many Muslims too easily fall into
the overconsumption trap, often forgetting or ignoring what Islam says about it. The Quran stresses mindfulness when it comes to consuming anything, stating, “O children of Adam! Wear your beautiful apparel at every time and place of prayer; eat and drink; but waste not by excess, for God loves not the wasters” (7:31). It also pointedly reminds Muslims, “And do not waste, for God does not love the wasteful” (6:141).
Tammara Soma, an associate professor at Simon Fraser University and research director and co-founder of the Food Systems Lab, said what is important to note here is the feeling of wanting to consume excessively. “There’s a verse in the Quran that talks about how everything we chase after is a mirage (29:64),” she said “Real peace can be found in remembrance of God and we try to fill that void with consumption.”
Muslims are taught that the life that we live on planet Earth and the privileges we enjoy here are temporary. We are free to enjoy what God has blessed us with, but in moderation, and we must keep our attachment at an arm’s length. The Quran states, “God made the Earth a temporary place of trial, not a permanent settlement” (40:39). Yet today’s trends around consumption are encouraging Muslims to do the exact opposite.
Within this culture are embedded what Soma describes as “nudges” which can be as simple as a “Buy 1 Get 1 Free” sign, which makes buyers think you need to buy two
things to “save” when really you only need one. This is perhaps the smallest example of how overconsumption is encouraged.
Another big driver of overconsumption is the influencer culture which many popular Muslim social media creators participate in. In an effort to make Eid and Ramadan comparable to non-Muslim holidays, which are often lavish and maximalist, many Muslim influencers have fallen victim to overconsumption, especially when it comes to promoting excessive decor, clothes, and food.
“Haul videos also play a huge part. And I have to admit, they’re fun to watch!” said Annie Mirza, chief editor at Faithfully Sustainable, a U.K.-based organization promoting Muslim-led initiatives at the front of the climate crisis. “Unboxing content [and] lifestyle/beauty/fashion upgrades
The world is producing, consuming, and throwing away more clothes than ever before. Clothing production doubled from 2000 to 2014, with more than 150 billion garments produced annually. Every second, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned.
present overconsumption as ordinary. And the influencers who create this content need and want to keep creating it. So they, of course, buy more things or are sent PR boxes frequently.”
Muslim influencers should remind themselves of the hadith cited by Abu Huraira (radi Allahu ‘anhu) that Prophet Muhammad (salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said, “whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to those who follow him, without detracting from their rewards at all. Whoever calls to misguidance will have sin upon him similar to those who follow him, without detracting from their sins at all” (Riyad as-Salihin 1382, Book 12, Hadith 7).
Of course, influencers cannot take the full blame. While they do portray an extravagant and hard-to-achieve lifestyle, they are not forcing consumers to buy everything they promote. Consumers have free will and can decide for themselves if they want to imitate them. Social media might influence them, but they do need to take personal responsibility for also contributing to the culture of overconsumption.
Teacher Afsan Redwan (PhD, ‘24, Cardiff University) discussed how online mechanism and socializing has changed mindsets around why we do what we do. Overconsumption, he says, has become a social norm. “The whole idea of social circles, and social gathering and groups is one
we are seeing completely change,” he said. “Within this new social hierarchy there’s also a mechanism of shaming that’s used as well. A lot of these mechanisms come around without an Allah-centric mindset.”
Muslim sustainability activists are using Islamic principles to challenge these trends that lead to overconsumption by framing Islamic principles in the same accessible and easy-to-understand way.
Nouhad Awaad, campaigner and global outreach coordinator for Ummah for Earth, shared that the organization bases its work on three Islamic principles: Haqimah, for wisdom, Mazin for balance, and Khalifa for stewardship. By promoting these three guiding principles, Awaad believes the organization can encourage Muslims to connect with mindful consumption and shape their own lifestyle choices rather than simply doing what others tell them.
“Unfortunately we are seeing many people and consumers removed and disconnected from the consumption process,” said Awaad. “They don’t know the reality of people working to produce these things, or don’t know the environmental effects. So there is a lack of awareness on a humanitarian and environmental level.”
Mirza also explained how Muslims can take a step back and make sure that they are not part of those who are disconnected from these realities. “Faith inspires us,” she
said. “It gives us meaning and purpose in many ways. It encourages us to live life in a positive way. Many of the things we must do, for example salah [prayer], reciting the Quran, reinforce and remind us about why we need to lead a healthy life.”
She added, “There’s also the ethical rationale that many of us get from faith to avoid what’s deemed harmful, like overconsumption and environmental neglect. And the accountability we feel knowing there is a God who will question us — who has entrusted us with not just the earth, but our own minds and bodies — can push us to take responsibility to live life in a healthier way. [It pushes us] to acknowledge what’s wrong — whether that’s overspending/excessive, living/unhealthy, eating/mental health problems/sickness, etc. — and aim to better it.”
Of course, there is still the question of how to bring oneself to the point where distinction can be made between what is wrong and make sure Islamic teachings are at the forefront of our decision making.
“I want to ask people to link consumption to spirituality and be grateful for blessings before consuming them,” Awwad shared as a final piece of advice for anyone trying to make the switch. “Say Al hamdu lillah for whatever you consume, and say Bismillah whenever you do something, and give charity.” ih
Anmol Irfan is a freelance writer and journalist, who has contributed to The Guardian, VICE, Gal-dem, and others.
BY MOHAMMAD ABDULLAH
Packaged food nutrition labels are important for Muslim consumers because these convey information about the product’s identity while the Ingredient Statement allows them to determine the product’s status as either halal, haram, or doubtful. Nutrition labels also provide advice on how to handle, store, prepare, and/or consume food products safely where needed, especially meat and poultry products. In case of food recalls, labels with batch numbers can also help identify the source of a contaminated product quickly, thus mitigating the threat to the consumer.
The problem, however, is that some labels can be vague and even misleading. The United States has no nutrient warning policy unlike countries like Chile, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay that have had them since 2016. These policies focus on products with excessive levels of unhealthy nutrients, and require these products to display front of package (FOP) warning labels such as: “WARNING: High in added sugar or high in sodium” to inform consumers of the high content of potentially unhealthy nutrients.
In contrast, beside not having the nutrient warning policy, American manufacturers use colorful images, product names, and claims that make the food seem healthy on FOP labels such as being lower in calories or added sugar or being “naturally” flavored. But these vague descriptions may mislead consumers by leaving out less favorable information such as being high in sodium or saturated fat. When it comes to food labels conforming with critically important Islamic dietary practices therefore, simply checking for halal or kosher markers is not enough.
As a result, grocery shopping as a Muslim requires extensive knowledge about ingredients and industrial food preparation. Through the late 1960s, there was little information on food labels to identify their nutrient content. Back then, meals in American
households were typically prepared at home from basic ingredients and most foods did not require a nutrition label. However, as more processed foods and beverages entered the U.S. market, and food retailers became more deceitful and blatantly profit-seeking, consumers soon came to need additional information that would help them make informed choices (The National Center for Biotechnology Information).
The FDA updated the Nutrition Facts label on packaged foods in 2016 to reflect updated scientific information including information about the link between diet and chronic diseases such as obesity and heart disease.
In 1990, Congress passage of the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act was an historic moment for the food industry. As a result of this legislation, food producers were forced to include food labels on their products to disclose key nutritional information, including a “% Daily Value” (DV) that is based on a 2,000-calorie diet. This information can be used to support personal dietary needs by looking for foods that contain more or less of the nutrients they desire. However, as it turns out, 2,000 was never an accurate number. It was, in fact, a number arrived at via extensive debate and disagreement that has yet to be fully resolved: “In truth, there is no standard number of daily calories,”
says Joseph St. Pierre, Hartford HealthCare bariatric specialist at St. Vincent’s Medical Center (“Everyone’s number is different”).
A food label claim becomes confusing or misleading when it provides inaccurate or incomplete product information, potentially deceiving consumers into believing something about it that isn’t true. Manufacturers generally describe the nutrient levels by using terms such as “free,” “high,” “low,” and “reduced,” or they use a number of other attractive or beneficial identifiers such as “organic,” “free-range,” or “no-hormone” to convince consumers that the product is healthy and ethical. In actuality, the term “organic” does not necessarily mean a product is healthy while the term “freerange” does not mean that chickens roam free yards..
Other examples of confusing terms are “no-cholesterol peanut butter,” (cholesterol is only found in animal products), or the use of “made with sea salt” (both table salt and sea salt have about the same amount of sodium per serving). The terms “Superfoods” or “Superfruits” are also misleading and lack scientific evidence and the use of the term “low carb” is misleading as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not have any guidelines for such labels. According to the FDA, “light” sounds healthy, but some products are extensively processed to reduce calories or fat, and consumers are advised to check carefully to see what has been added to make up for these reduced quantities (National Institute on Aging/National Institute of Health).
Grace Hussain lists terms considered among the most misleading food labelling. She claims that “sugar-free” products can contain up to 0.5 grams of sugar in each serving while “fruit-flavored” is typically flavored with chemicals that produce a fruity taste The claim “made with whole grains” is also misleading as food producers can claim that foods are made with whole grains even if they are made primarily with refined grains Likewise, the term “multigrain” simply means that a variety of grains were used in the food and most, if not all of them, are likely refined. The FDA defines “natural” to mean a product that contains nothing artificial or synthetic, while the USDA defines it as simply minimally processed.
The “no-cholesterol” label suggests that it is cholesterol-free but according to FDA, these food items can contain up to 2 milligram of cholesterol per serving (13 Misleading Food Label Claims and How Not to Be Tricked, Oct. 20, 2021, Sentient Media).
The marketing effort behind organic foods in the United States has been strong for some time. Commonly, organic foods are said to be grown with no chemicals, making them safer and more nutritious for consumers.
most people use the information provided on the FOP rather than the information provided on the “Nutrition Fact” table and in the “Ingredient Statement” for the product itself.
There are also other factors that may lead to further confusion such as the FDA allowing for up to a 20% margin of error. For example, if the label of a food product says there is a certain amount of carbs, calories, or sugars in it, there could be up to 20% more or less than is specified in the label (“Food Label Accuracy of Common Snack Foods,” PubMed Central, Jan 1, 2014.).
When it comes to food labels conforming with critically important Islamic dietary practices therefore, simply checking for halal or kosher markers is not enough.
But according to author Robert Pavlis, scientific testing does not support these claims (Food Science for Gardeners, New Society Publishers, Canada, 2024). In one study of 68,946 French adults published in JAMA Internal Medicine in 2018, a correlation between organic food consumption and a reduced risk of cancer was heavily criticized. for various methodological flaws (“Organic vegetables and fruits are a marketing ploy,” Amy De Lury, The Johns Hopkins NewsLetter, Sept. 2018). Other studies claiming the benefits of organic food consumption have come under similar scrutiny. Rather than an authentic representation of the actual content of food items, such marketing terms are mostly used to increase the product’s sales. It is not surprising, then, that according to a report in Newsweek (Nov. 12, 2024), none of the world’s 30 biggest food companies were following the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendations for responsible marketing (“’A Bleak Picture: Most Food Sold by Biggest Companies Is Unhealthy”).
Marketing influences food preferences and choices. Research shows that adding health claims on FOP labels makes people believe that the product is healthier than products that do not list such health claims, thus affecting consumer choices. Unfortunately,
Compounding the confusion is the fact that food products are regulated by multiple government, state, or private agencies. For example, the National Organic Program (NOP) is the federal regulatory framework governing organically produced crops and livestock. Certifiers interested in becoming a USDA Accredited Certifying Agent (ACA) apply to the NOP for accreditation. The USDA oversees the program and enforces the NOP regulations and standards. But some reports indicate that the enforcement division needs to make major improvements before labels identifying organic foods are to be trusted (“How Organic is “Organic” Food?” Islamic Horizons, Nov/Dec 2022).
Another important factor contributing to the overall confusion in food labeling is the lack of consumers’ knowledge about food label claims and their regulatory agencies (nearly 59% of consumers have difficulty understanding nutrition labels, (CBS News, June 11, 2012). According to the FDA, there are three major types of food claims represented on food packaging, each following a specific set of requirements: health claims, structure/function claims, and nutrient content claims. Health claims on food products require pre-market review and approval by the FDA. However, structure/function and nutrient content claims are FDA regulated but are not pre-approved by the FDA before they are released in the market. This
can be misleading because companies can use language to focus on a single positive nutrient while neglecting the product’s other potentially unhealthy aspects (“Label Claims for Conventional Foods and Dietary Supplements,” FDA, March 28, 2024).
Despite the use of confusing and misleading terms meant to trick consumers into purchasing food products, there are few simple steps consumers can take to make informed decisions at the grocery store:
Do not solely rely on FOP claims; ignore claims made in large fonts. Read the fine print on the label.
Choose foods with less than 5 ingredients that are real food and spices. If you want to consume less of something such as saturated fat or sodium, choose foods with a lower percentage DV (5% or less).
Products that have whole foods listed as the first few ingredients are likely to be healthier than those that list refined grains or sugars first since food ingredients are listed by quantity in descending order.
Look at serving size to compare nutrients between products.
Sugar is added to virtually every type of processed food and can be recognized in the ingredients list by the ending “-ose” such as dextrose, fructose, and sucralose.
Look for labels and terms that are defined by USDA such as the term “Fresh Poultry” which means that whole poultry and cuts have never been below 26 degrees Fahrenheit.
Seek out labels that are verified through third party certifiers such as the term “GrassFed” which is approved by the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).
Avoid processed foods altogether, and instead seek out primarily whole foods and plant-based foods such as products made with 100% whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.
Nutrition labels can provide a wealth of information, so use them to your advantage by following the rule: Read it before you eat it Reading the nutrition facts and ingredient list must include more intention and diligence for Muslim consumers than just glancing at the front of the package. ih
Mohammad Abdullah, DVM, who retired after serving 29 years with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, the agency that regulates the meat industry, is the author of A Closer Look at Halal Meat from Farm to Fork (Ahmed Jakda Publishing, 2016).
BY NAAZISH YARKHAN
In November 2024, Northwestern University made waves among its Muslim students when sophomore Nur Yalinbas spotted bacon labeled as “halal” in the dining hall. She double checked with dining hall staff if the food was indeed halal. She also asked if it was bacon. The staff member responded in the affirmative to both questions.
Weinberg College freshman Rayan Lahlou-Nabil shared similar stories of mislabeled food and cross-contamination, like pork placed next to halal chicken or workers using the same gloves for everything, as reported by the campus newspaper, The Daily Northwestern. There have been instances where wine was mentioned as an ingredient in recipes for foods labeled as “halal,” only for students to be told it was a “database error.” Repeated incidents like this have made it hard for students here to trust the food they’re served.
Muslim students say the administration hasn’t addressed these concerns. For years, Yalinbas and others in the Muslim-Cultural Student Association pushed for better labels, proper training for staff on halal standards, and separate halal stations like the kosher stations in two of the dining halls. At the end of the day, it’s not just about food — it’s about feeling like you belong, contend these students.
An increasing awareness of the concept of halal among administrators and service providers, the growing availability of halal foods, and the certification of kitchens by certifiers such as Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America (IFANCA), have made halal food on U.S. college campuses far more common. Still, it’s not ubiquitous.
“At Northern Illinois University, even in 2024, we have no halal dining. Even our vegan and vegetarian options are very limited,” says Arif Khan, a freshman. “It feels like the school isn’t inclusive nor cares about our religious needs. It makes me consider transferring to Illinois institutions that are.”
While it is easy to feel discouraged in an age
where instantaneous results feel like a birthright, Muslim students must strive to inspire change through the right avenues. “Like all students, Muslim students will benefit from communicating intentionally, proactively, and respectfully… about their unique situation and particular needs. This is especially true during Ramadan,” reads the University of San Diego (USD) Muslim Student Life page.
The school has a dining hall that stays open late during Ramadan and offers takeout for suhoor. While this is a win for Muslim students, they may have requirements, too. To facilitate such conversations, three email templates have been provided for students to customize.
It bears remembering that success has always been rooted in student advocacy whether garnering assistance towards bringing halal services to campus, or improving dining hall standards. Nowhere is this more evident than when reflecting on the inroads halal food has made across U.S. campuses.
In 1999, a freshman at Virginia Tech found himself in a quandary. Obligated to live on campus in the dorms and pay for the meal
plan, he found his requests for halal food options ignored. When salads, pasta, and bread were cited as alternatives by the school, he demanded equal service for equal fees. His parents rallied too. If they were paying the same as every other student for meals, why didn’t their son have the same access to foods that he could actually consume?
Despite having an MSA on campus, it was the first time in Virginia Tech’s history that a Muslim student had made such dietary demands. Perhaps it was the fear of possible legal trouble but the school acquiesced. However, the paucity of resources on halal food options at that time meant the student and his family had to help the school find a halal meat distributor or vendor who met its various requirements and regulations. Working with Al Safa Halal, Virginia Tech’s first halal window was inaugurated a year later, in January 2000.
In 1999, MSA-National launched the Muslims Accommodations Task Force (MATF), an initiative intended to help students advocate for their religious needs — halal food options, prayer spaces, and other necessities of Muslim student life. Using its successful campaign
with Villanova University as a template, MATF created a step-by-step manual guiding students how to lobby and guide school administrators. It even connected students to those who’d pulled it off successfully on their respective campus. The guide continues to be used to date.
At Dartmouth, university authorities adopted Muslim students’ burgeoning demands as a means to promote cooperation and understanding in the shadow of 9/11.
An
fruit juices and asked how we could provide them, so they could break their fast, since our dining halls would close by then,” said Richard Mason, executive director of UChicago Dining, in an interview with Halal Consumer Magazine
At San Diego State University, the Warren College marketplace, when launched in 2020, was deemed “the largest halal-certified residential dining facility in the nation.” A huge win for inclusivity. More than seven
increasing awareness of the concept of halal among administrators and service providers, the growing availability of halal foods, and the certification of kitchens by certifiers such as Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America (IFANCA), have made halal food on U.S. college campuses far more common. Still, it’s not ubiquitous.
In October 2004, Yale offered a Ramadan halal food facility for the first time. It was in response to the MSA’s signature campaigns and a demand for rebates since students were opening their fasts and eating elsewhere each night. Also in Fall 2004, the Muslim community at NYU secured their right to halal meals. On September 4, 2006 Texas A&M was the first college in Texas to offer halal food on its campus, as reported by The Battalion. Once students had petitioned successfully for administrative support, Nadeem Siddiqui, executive director for Dining Services (now assistant vice president of campus dining at Princeton), helped implement the program, just as he had done with halal and kosher food programs at Cornell University and Stanford University. In October 2006, during Ramadan, the MSA of Hofstra University secured its first halal food facility at one dining hall. The school’s Committee for Religious and Spiritual Life had supported their Muslim students’ campaign.
The University of Chicago (UChicago) introduced its halal food services in 2011. The effort, first initiated in 2006, began with the MSA reaching out to Dining Services with Ramadan needs.
“The students wanted dates, fruits,
years prior, a seed had been planted when students from the Union of Jewish Students and the Muslim Student Association “lobbied for more halal and kosher options.” The school’s Housing, Dining, and Hospitality team partnered with IFANCA to create a fully halal eatery in 2020. Hundreds of recipes were reviewed as were over 1,000 ingredients from seven vendors, according to UC San Diego Today. Today, the school also offers frozen and fresh halal-certified food options at all its Aztec Markets. These are made in-house on SDSU’s campus and labeled as halal. The Halal Shack, a fast-casual national restaurant chain, too, has found a home amongst campus restaurants within East Commons.
Making halal a campus priority has been a long journey. Even in 1972, the fledgling MSA at Syracuse University successfully lobbied the food service department to allow Muslim students to be served at iftar time, and to pre-order takeout packaged food for suhoor. Halal options were really slim, besides eggs, vegetarian dishes, and some alcohol and bacon free salads. There is a long road ahead at so many more schools.
Find Allies: Allies are important. Your efforts could carry more weight when collaborating with other student populations
that also observe dietary restrictions such as Hindus, Jews, and Orthodox Christians. If You Fail to Plan, You Plan to Fail A well-planned and strategic approach is vital. So is the awareness that success may or may not happen during one’s time on campus and efforts cannot be left to wilt when students graduate. There has to be documentation, and a formalized hand-off between batches. Saalika Mela (UC ‘13; Cambridge, G ‘14), one of the MSA members who collaborated with UChicago Dining and Undergraduate Student Housing to make halal on campus a reality, discussed how halal would help recruit Muslim students. The MSA also conducted surveys on Muslim students’ satisfaction with dining hall food, their needs, what they would like to see more of, and food contamination issues.
Use it or Lose it According to the MATF, “a number of campus halal food programs have discontinued or failed. The top reasons for failure? Yucky food, lack of variety, and inadequate Muslim student commitment.” Just getting halal food on campus isn’t enough. If students don’t actually use their halal service — especially if the options are bland or unappealing — the university might decide to shut it down. Reviving it could be hard. At Stanford, where halal food has been available since 1997, students are smart about spreading the word to the whole community. Educating fellow Muslims and non-Muslims on campus is also about encouraging them to see halal as the preferred choice, the best option, not just a necessity for those who observe the practice. Variety Sells As important is ensuring Dining Services understand that the Muslim palette is not relegated to one regional cuisine. At University of Chicago, multiple dining halls offer a range of Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and other halal cuisines. So popular is the variety that even those who don’t observe halal for religious reasons have reason to eat it.
At a time when so much about the future seems foreboding, and so much in the world seems wrong, it’s worth remembering that change can happen. That even rocks and mountains crack under the consistent deluge of water. The caveat? It takes time. Further, we can’t just wish for it, we must work for it. Relentlessly. ih
Naazish YarKhan is a college essay coach. The owner of WritersStudio. us, her writing has been translated into several languages, and featured in more than 50 media platforms including NPR and Chicago Tribune, and in anthologies.
BY LUKE PETERSON
Though the well-established institutional and intellectual bias shown by Western media and the United States government toward Israel has been entrenched in this country’s psychology for three-quarters of a century, a new facet in the American insistence on the Israeli narrative has recently emerged. This new element legislates that the U.S. government and its myriad of entities and affiliates refuse to accept or endorse demographic statistics produced by the Palestinian government.
Specifically, according to a brief provision buried within the recently passed National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which authorized a colossal new $895 billion spending package for the U.S. military, the U.S. will not accept casualty figures from the Gaza Health Ministry as it endeavors to keep up with the nearly interminable list of dead, injured, or missing Gazans since the most recent Israeli assault on that population began in October of 2023 (Mathew Petti, “Media amplified US, Israeli narrative on Palestinian deaths,” Nov. 20, 2023, Responsible Statecraft).
point all while Israeli statistics are naturally not burdened by the stain of partiality for some reason that has never been explained by the federal government.
on Gaza beginning in October of 2023 constitutes genocide (“Amnesty International investigation concludes Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza,” Amnesty international, Dec. 5, 2024).
Ostensibly, this line-item proviso was attached to the NDAA to maintain intellectual balance in U.S. government recordkeeping on Israel and Palestine. Congress’ stance over Gaza works according to Israeli propaganda requirements that, despite the prolific destruction wrought upon that territory by the Israeli military over the course of the last 15 months, is still largely under the official sway of the Hamas government, a political organization founded in the ideology of resistance to the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine. Rejecting the Gaza Health Ministry’s statistics is therefore a hedging of bets by the U.S. government. They will not trust Gazan health statistics because Gaza is governed by Hamas, and the U.S. considers Hamas a terrorist entity and is therefore not to be trusted. Lawmakers on both sides of the barely visible political aisle when it comes to this topic agreed on this
This trend mandating that officials reject statistical information coming from the Gaza Ministry of Health is a new phenomenon. In fact, aspersions cast upon official figures provided by the Gaza Health Ministry began only after the widely lauded humanitarian agency Amnesty International (AI) confirmed for the world what Palestinians already knew: Israel’s indiscriminate assault
AI’s established record as an international watchdog has made it into a standard-bearer of fact in reporting on crises and conflicts all over the world. Today, it is a much relied-upon agency informing state governments as well as political coalitions like the European Union, and it has declared statistics from the Gaza Health Ministry to be factual and reliable. Nevertheless, the official U.S. position is to ignore AI’s finding on the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza. As it has done for the past 75 years of this occupation, the U.S. government simply looks away when truly neutral agencies like AI clamor for a ceasefire to protect innocent civilians in Gaza. AI is not alone in trusting the Gaza Health Ministry to report on intentional Israeli efforts to exterminate the Palestinians. Statistics coming out of the government in Gaza are also trusted by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Further, the World Health Organization and Human Rights Watch cite Gaza Ministry of Health figures in their reporting on the destruction of the Palestinian society by the Israeli occupiers (“Despite Biden’s doubts, humanitarian agencies consider Gaza toll reliable,” Oct. 17, 2023, Reuters).
Continuously in the throes of the ongoing American love affair with Israel, while at the same time rejecting international confirmation of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, the American news establishment leaves consumers in the dark regarding Israeli brutality in the Gaza Strip.
Where Israeli crimes are concerned, however, it seems AI’s word confirming the Gaza Health Ministry’s assessment of the carnage done to their own people by the Israeli onslaught is not sufficient for the U.S. government or media establishment. So, continuously in the throes of the ongoing American love affair with Israel, while at the same time rejecting international confirmation of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, the American news establishment deliberately leaves consumers in the dark regarding Israeli brutality in the Gaza Strip.
As such, the extent of the Israeli destruction of Gaza since October of 2023 is largely unknown to Americans. A key component within that body of ignorance is a profound lack of knowledge about the number of Palestinian dead in Gaza (at least 45,541 including 17,492 children with an additional 11,160 missing) and the percentage of those casualties that were civilian non-combatants (no less than 70% according to Gaza Ministry of Health statistics, verified by additional international observers). And there is simply no way to account for the thousands of Palestinians who now lie buried under the rubble, a number which may well escalate the number of casualties in Gaza to between 64,000 and 186,000 dead (Ismail Allison, “Traumatic injury mortality in the Gaza Strip from Oct 7, 2023, to June 30, 2024: a capture–recapture analysis, Zeina Jamaluddine, et al., The Lancet, CAIR Says Top Medical Journal’s Estimate of 64,000+ Killed in First 9 Months of Gaza War is Further Evidence of Genocide,” Council on American-Islamic Relations, January 10, 2025).
Shortly before Sam [Osama] Husseini, 59, was dragged out of the State Department briefing room on Jan. 16, he had once again tried to ask [the then] Secretary of State Blinken about the Geneva Conventions — a question that Blinken's evasive department spokespersons had given him the runaround on for months. Husseini is communications director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, a D.C.-based nonprofit group.
In 2019, when he tried to question Elliot Abrams about U.S. actions in Venezuela, they deployed a handler to get others to ask questions and box him out.ox me out.
Husseini, a Palestinian Christian, is the son of a Palestinian Christian father from Tiberias, and a Jordanian Christian mother. (Photo source: X)
deaths while downplaying or omitting the killing of Palestinians, a massacre of citizenry more than 40 times larger than the deaths of Israelis that occurred on October 7.
used to describe the killing of Israelis versus Palestinians 36 to 4.”
Further, shockingly few stories emanating from these standard bearers of U.S. news ever mentioned the staggering number of Palestinian children and journalists that have been killed by Israel. “Only two headlines out of over 1,100 news articles in the study mention the word ‘children’ related to Gazan children,” the Intercept report stated. “The word ‘journalists’ and its iterations such as ‘reporters’ and ‘photojournalists’ only appears in nine headlines out of over 1,100 articles studied.”
Much more concern was shown by U.S. news media over child killings and the targeting of journalists in Ukraine during this period of time versus the much more numerous casualties of this type inflicted by Israel in Gaza. In the light of this analysis and others of its kind, it is reasonable to conclude that U.S. news media simply does not want its readership to know about the Israeli slaughter of the Palestinians either in its gory detail or even by description in broad strokes (Adam Johnson & Othman Al, “Coverage of Gaza War in the New York Times and Other Major Newspapers Heavily Favored Israel, Analysis Shows,” Jan. 9, 2024, The Intercept).
So, we are left with an unclear picture of the damage done by Israel in Gaza, and if we continue to put our faith in the authoritative U.S. news media, we will remain ignorant of the horrific crimes committed by America’s closest ally in the Middle East.
Such deliberate obfuscation of the numbers of dead and missing in Gaza by the U.S. news media is perhaps only the most blatant example of that institution carrying water for the state of Israel since 1948, and especially since October of 2023. In addition to these omissions, analysis of the news covering the genocide in Gaza during this period has demonstrated utterly biased coverage in favor of the Israeli narrative across news media outlets in the U.S. In reputable publications from the New York Times to the Washington Post to the Los Angeles Times, coverage of the war on Gaza has enacted hyperbolic language to describe Israeli
In a detailed analysis of more than 1,000 news articles from those sources mentioned above, the independent outlet The Intercept uncovered a glaring bias in the U.S. media’s approach to the ongoing destruction of Gaza.
“Highly emotive terms for the killing of civilians like ‘slaughter’, ‘massacre’, and ‘horrific’ were reserved almost exclusively for Israelis who were killed by Palestinians, rather than the other way around,” the report read. “The term ‘slaughter’ was used by editors and reporters to describe the killing of Israelis versus Palestinians 60 to 1, and ‘massacre’ was used to describe the killing of Israelis versus Palestinians 125 to 2. ‘Horrific’ was
Worse than the promotion of ignorance about this genocide, though, is the the fact that the U.S. is materially abetting Israel’s actions. With only a few weeks left of his bitterly disappointing presidency, Joe Biden authorized an additional $8 billion in weaponry to Israel (“Congress notified by Biden administration of planned $8 billion weapons sale to Israel,” Jan. 4, 2025, CBS News). Little wonder, then, that American newsmakers want media consumers to look the other way when it comes to Israel’s mass murder in Gaza. What might an accurately informed citizenry do about a government that actively participates in genocide? ih
Luke Peterson, Ph.D., The University of Cambridge–King’s College, is a professor of Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies based in Pittsburgh. He is author of The U.S. Military in the Print News Media: Service and Sacrifice in Contemporary Discourse (2024).
BY TARIQ AHMED
Kashmir continues to bleed and determine South Asia’s power relations due to its framing as a national security issue. Surrounded by multiple nation-states, the former princely state has long been and continues to be adversely affected by its location.
Its strategic significance can be traced back to the 19th-century Anglo-Russian conflict, when Central and South Asia were frontlines of the Great Game. British India and Russian-controlled Central Asia surrounded Kashmir. Russian influence made the British anxious, whereas the Russians saw Kashmir as a conduit between Central Asia and India.
Kashmir’s transition from Afghan rule to the Sikh empire (1820-46) was a turning point. Kashmiri Muslims passed through miserable conditions under the reprehensible Sikh rule: Adhan was banned, the obligatory five daily prayers were prohibited, mosques were sealed, cow slaughter was banned, and heavy taxes were imposed.
The Sikh dynasty fell into disarray, after Ranjit Singh death in 1839. Meanwhile, British-Sikh tensions escalated due to their mutual distrust as regards territorial matters. Two successive wars erupted and ended
only when the Sikhs were subjugated under the Treaty of Lahore (March 9, 1846) and required to pay an indemnity. Failing this, the Sikh Empire was forced to cede territory and its rights and interests. Resultantly, Punjab and Kashmir were placed under direct British colonial rule.
Britain, impatient to offload Kashmir due to its financial difficulties, sold the princely state to Gulab Singh, a Hindu ruler of the nearby province of Jammu, through the infamous Treaty of Amritsar on March 25, 1846. This was only days after signing the Lahore Treaty, relieving the British of all their direct control responsibilities. Besides the paltry sum of £750,000 (today about $31,040,131), the sale included people, land, crops, mountains, and rivers. In exchange for security guarantee, the British royalty required annual gifts of a few fabled Kashmiri shawls and cashmere goats.
The treaty formalized Gulab Singh’s loyalty to the British East India Company during the 1845-46 Anglo-Sikh war, and his relative munificence paid him dividends: He was installed as the Maharaja of the Jammu
and Kashmir region, although neither he nor the British had any moral, political, cultural, or legal claims to Kashmir. This bizarre transaction was met with outrage and disbelief by the local population, whose homeland had been arbitrarily exchanged without their consent. This sense of injustice fueled unrest and resistance throughout Kashmir. The cries of Moha’id-e-Amritsar na- Manzour! (The Treaty of Amritsar is unacceptable!) reverberated throughout the skies.
This manipulative and exploitative treaty ushered in a century of ruthless Hindu rule. In Jammu, Gulab Singh was notorious for brutalizing Muslims. For geostrategic, political, economic, and military reasons, the British needed him and so simply ignored his brutality. Sounds familiar, right? This treaty also enabled the British Empire to indirectly incorporate this region. Gulab Singh’s authority as a colonial agent was limited, and British agents closely monitored and influenced his administration.
Scholars have wondered how two parties could sign a “sale deed” without any legal right to do so. The legal ownership of property — let alone a territory — is a prerequisite for selling, bartering, or forming territorial alliances. Whose land were they trading? Did they consult the real owners, the Kashmiris? Moreover, the Indian Independence Act of 1947 dissolved all agreements, arrangements, and treaties, including the Treaty of Amritsar, thereby invalidating any legitimacy derived from it.
Creating a buffer zone between the British and Russian empires minimized military risks and costs for the financially struggling East India Company. As both Russia and the Company secured their interests, Kashmiris’ daily lives changed dramatically. Gulab Singh levied heavy taxes, and inhuman forced labor caused economic and mental hardship, and Hindu culture was imposed upon the Muslims.
While guarding an unwanted and unscrupulous ruler, the British ignored the Kashmiris’ suffering.
Hari Singh, a descendant of Gulab Singh, took over the government (r.1926-47) and plunged Kashmir even further into the darkness of repression. Forced labor, prisons, torture, land confiscations, taxation, and police violence against protesters amplified.
During Partition in 1947 — a time of horrendous communal hostilities and the call
this Partition logic, Kashmir should have gone to Pakistan, as the state has a close to 77% Muslim majority (British Census of India of 1941, The Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of [British] India). In response, Hari Singh requested military assistance from the Indian government, then under Governor-General Lord Mountbatten.
As Jammu and Kashmir was an independent kingdom, Mountbatten refused to intervene. Taking advantage of the sit-
Scholars have wondered how two parties could sign a “sale deed” without any legal right to do so. The legal ownership of property — let alone a territory — is a prerequisite for selling, bartering, or forming territorial alliances. Whose land were they trading? Did they consult the real owners, the Kashmiris? Moreover, the Indian Independence Act of 1947 dissolved all agreements, arrangements, and treaties, including the Treaty of Amritsar, thereby invalidating any legitimacy derived from it.
India and Pakistan fought their first war in January 1948. At India’s request, the UN intervened, and a ceasefire was called. But all subsequent Indian governments have demonstrated their inflexibility by not holding a referendum despite UNSCR 47’s (1948) calling for one. India fears that a truly democratic free and impartial plebiscite will favor Pakistan; although by definition self-determination implies all possible options including independence.
The UN failures in Kashmir are akin to those in Palestine. It emphasizes human rights and international law, while the international community — often perfunctorily — advocates dialogue and diplomacy. As in the Great Game, geopolitical considerations and trade interests complicate decisive action.
This conflict has resulted in a dangerous deadlock. Pakistan perceives any compromise as a threat to its identity and water security, whereas India sees any concession as a threat to its national security. In this battle of two nationalisms, Kashmiris are exposed to human rights violations, economic hardships, psychological trauma, and attempts at identity erasure. Indian-occupied Kashmir is now facing the juggernaut of settler colonialism.
for a separate nation (Pakistan) — reached a crescendo. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs of both genders and all ages were killed in one of modern history’s most traumatic events. Characterized by violence and displacement, families were torn apart, causing irreparable economic and social damage. Thousands of Muslims were massacred in the Jammu Massacre of Oct.-Nov. 1947 (Khalid Bashir, “Kashmir: A Walk-through History,” 2018).
Under the Indian Independence Act 1947, all princely states were given the option of joining either India or Pakistan; Gulab Singh refused to join either. As a result, Kashmir remained an independent territory for a few months. Due to the Partition plan, Muslim-dominated parts became Pakistan, which led to Pakistan’s rightful interest in Kashmir.
To aid Kashmir’s oppressed Muslims, armed militias from northwest Pakistan entered the princely state. According to
uation, India coerced the maharaja to sign the “Instrument of Accession”. Mountbatten inserted a referendum clause, to which Indian leaders agreed, that any accession must be ratified by the Kashmiris. The original document, which India claims is untraceable, has been questioned for its legal or moral validity, whereabouts, and originality.
Alastair Lamb has convincingly demonstrated in his “Birth of a Tragedy: Kashmir 1947” (Roxford Books, 1960) that India sent its troops to Kashmir before the alleged document was signed. They also co-opted and later installed Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah (d.1982), a popular local leader, as prime minister to manufacture the people’s consent. Soon, his insistence on a referendum led to his dismissal on the flimsy excuse of losing his cabinet’s confidence and the equally false charge of the Kashmir Conspiracy Case (Aug. 8, 1953). He spent the next 22 years in prison.
This deadlocked conflict continues to have a widespread impact throughout South Asia, particularly in Kashmir, in terms of thousands of deaths, socioeconomic disruptions, limited and manipulated political representation, threats to cultural heritage, and strained sociopolitical relations.
Political territorial conflicts don’t just disappear, as we have seen in the Middle East and Ukraine. They endure. Unresolved conflicts cause prolonged suffering and instability and often lead to radicalization and violence. The international community’s benign neglect or Prime Minister Modi’s facile muscular nationalism is no substitute for an equitable and peaceful dispute resolution.
All that Kashmiris would like to see is an end to this zero-sum game. A civilized and just solution would be to determine what the people of Kashmir desire.
This self-determination is long overdue for us! ih
Tariq Ahmed is a freelance writer.
BY THE ISNA GREEN INITIATIVE TEAM
In its “Global Plastics Outlook,”
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimated that around 380 million tons of plastic waste is produced annually worldwide and 43 million tons of plastic come from consumer products that mostly end up in landfills. As such, plastic is an integral part of human life, but plastic waste is among the worst forms of pollution to the environment, human health, and/or to other animal species. No doubt some uses of plastic are unavoidable. There are many legitimate industrial and medical uses for the substance. For example, many medical procedures require plastic tubing and other uses of plastic material. Diabetic patients also require single-use plastics for insulin and plastic straws are cheap and convenient for those recovering from injury as well as those with a permanent physical disability. Because of the need for plastics in these vital medical procedures, going plastic-free would be impossible.
However, abuse and/or misuse of plastic as a convenience product produces waste at an alarming level. An example is the excessive use of plastic bags around the globe. The proliferation of single use plastic bags has caused severe environmental damage. They rip, tear, and float away in the slightest breeze and are a hazard for the environment and wildlife. They are not biodegradable and can therefore cause environmental toxicity for generations.
Between 75 to 199 million tons of plastic waste ends up in our oceans, damaging the marine ecosystem with possible long-term ecological consequences (Chloe Fisher, “Plastic Pollution in The Ocean — 2024 Facts and Statistics,” Dec. 30, 2023, Recycle Track Systems,). Improper disposal of plastic waste also results in soil contamination. Further damage is done when these plastics release harmful chemicals as they break down, affecting soil quality and harming plants, animals, and microorganisms. Sadly, most of this waste is generated in impoverished countries where garbage collections are
unreliable or non-existent. In these communities, most plastic waste is incinerated in homes or on streets or in small dumps without environmental controls. As with the manufacture of plastics, the burning of plastic waste produces greenhouse gases, releases cancer-causing dioxins, and causes particulate pollutants that are incredibly damaging to human health.
Domestic animals are often fed food embedded with plastic. In India, many cows and buffalos die every year eating discarded food wrapped in plastic bags (Chaitra Cheruku, “Plastic Pollution Is Killing India’s Sacred Cows,” Hindustan Times, Aug. 11, 2016). In September 2019, the New Delhi Zoo’s last cape buffalo died after eating a plastic bag (“Delhi Zoo’s Last Cape Buffalo Dies after Eating Plastic,” Sept. 5, 2019, Hindustan Times). Marine animals are also at risk as they can easily ingest or become entangled in plastic debris (G.G.N. Thushari, J.D.M. Senevirathna, “Plastic pollution in the marine environment,” Heliyon, Volume 6, Issue 8, 2020 ). Plastic pollution disrupts ecosystems by affecting the balance of various species and the frequency of their interactions. Overall, plastic debris in natural habitats leads to
changes in biodiversity, nutrient cycles, and ecosystem function.
Addressing an intergovernmental panel on Oct. 28, 2024, in Cali, Colombia, UN Secretary General António Guterres stated, “Plastic pollution is everywhere — all around us and even inside us — from our seas to our blood to our brains. We are choking on plastic.”
Plastics also exist as microscopic and nano particles released from larger products. They are invisible to the naked eye and are seen as a critical problem for climate change by many due to this lack of visibility.
Microplastics are defined as fragments smaller than 5 millimeters while nano plastics are smaller than 1 micrometer. Together, they are referred to by the acronym MnPs. Recent studies indicate that they are in the air and dust we breathe, the water we drink, the rain and snow falling from the sky, the food we eat, the paints we use, and the cosmetics we wear (Nicola Jones, “Microplastics Are Filling the Skies. Will They Affect the Climate?” Feb. 1, 2023, Yale Environment 360).
MnPs slough off from dental aligners, toothbrushes, food packaging, takeout
containers, plastic bottles, and in building infrastructure. They are also released from synthetic clothing, plastic fabrics, plastic carpets, and furniture. Other sources of MnPs include fertilizers, soil, irrigation, and food crops. Yearly, billions of vehicles worldwide shed an estimated 6 million tons of tire fragments, accounting for 28% of microplastics entering the environment globally (“Car Tyres Shed a Quarter of all Microplastics in the Environment — Urgent Action is Needed,” Nov. 27, 2024, The Conversation).
Scientific evidence shows that microplastics are accumulating in critical human organs, including the brain, human lungs, placentas, reproductive organs, livers, kidneys, knee and elbow joints, blood vessels and bone marrow. The health hazards that result from this accumulation are not yet well-known though recent studies are suggesting microplastics could increase the risk of various conditions such as oxidative stress which can lead to cell damage and inflammation, as well as cardiovascular disease (Douglas Main, “Microplastics are Infiltrating Brain Tissue, Studies Show,” Aug, 21, 2024, The Guardian).
In 2022, UN member states agreed on a resolution to end plastic pollution. An Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee was assigned to develop a legally binding instrument on plastic pollution to be finalized by the end of 2024. On Nov. 25, 2024, members of this committee met in South Korea to finalize this Global Plastic Treaty. Despite the deadline, no agreement was reached, and discussions were left to be continued in the coming year(s).
To get ahead of the game, many countries and some states in the U.S. banned plastic bags. In February 2024, Ireland introduced the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). The program levied a refundable tax on plastic bottles that is given back to consumers
Addressing an intergovernmental panel on Oct. 28, 2024, in Cali, Colombia, UN Secretary General
António Guterres stated, “Plastic pollution is everywhere — all around us and even inside us — from our seas to our blood to our brains. We are choking on plastic.”
once they return their empty containers. Similar initiatives have been adopted in many European countries, and the results are astonishing. For example, the recycling rate of plastic bottles in Norway is 97%.
HUID, a startup based in Oban, Scotland with support from the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland, is developing eco-friendly packaging made from onion skins. Onion skins have antimicrobial properties, meaning the packaging could help extend the shelf life of perishable foods. Though promising, this project is still in its early phases and it will take some time for it to become commercially viable.
In the U.S., on Oct. 28, 2024, Southwest Airlines announced that it was introducing a new cold cup consisting of 93% non-plastic materials containing a pulp blend of 75% bamboo and 25% paper with polyethylene lining. The airline expects to reduce in-flight single-use plastic by more than 1.5 million pounds annually.
“But waste not by excess: for God loves not the wasters” (Quran 6:141).
Considering the health and environmental hazards of plastic use, as Muslims we can take a moment to reflect on our own actions and explore ways to make Ramadan practices more sustainable and more eco-friendly. In the spirit of our responsible stewardship of the Earth, we should act to minimize carbon footprints and to preserve the blessings of nature for future generations. Small changes will make a positive impact by incorporating sustainable practices into daily life during and beyond the holy month of Ramadan.
Consider adopting the following steps:
➤ Avoid single-use plastics — utilize non-plastic straws, plates and cutlery alternatives, when possible.
➤ Rethink food storage; use stainless or glass containers, when possible. Do not use plastic baggies, plastic wrap, plastic storage containers, or materials such as Styrofoam.
➤ Use reusable shopping bags.
➤ Avoid using cosmetics that contain microplastics
➤ Use refillable water bottles instead of disposable, plastic bottled water.
➤ Use bars of soap instead of liquid shower gels, shampoos, conditioners, or hand soaps.
➤ Avoid microwaving food or beverages in plastic containers.
➤ Do not put plastic in the dishwasher.
➤ Recycle all plastic containers.
➤ Look at the recycling code on the bottom of product packaging to find the plastic type and avoid plastics with recycling codes 3, which typically contain phthalates.
The ISNA Green Initiative Team appreciates the minimization of the use of plastics to safeguard our collective health and protect the only environment we have. ih
BY TARIQ SHAH
The U.S. government’s response to the 9/11 attacks, while driven by national security concerns, helped cement a damaging stereotype of Muslims and Arabs as anti-American. This portrayal, amplified by mainstream media, fueled Islamophobia, hate crimes, and social exclusion. Hollywood, as noted in Jack G. Shaheen’s Reel Bad Arabs (Olive Branch Press; Updated edition, 2012), played a central role in vilifying Muslims.
Post-9/11, policies like the USA PATRIOT Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001) and the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) disproportionately targeted Muslim and Arab communities, reinforcing the idea of Muslims as security threats. Meanwhile, the threat posed by domestic groups, such as violent white nationalist militias, was largely ignored, highlighting the need for a more balanced approach to domestic security.
Law professor Caroline Corbin (University of Miami School of Law) identifies two false narratives: “All terrorists are Muslim,” and “White people are never terrorists.” These misconceptions distort reality, as they often morph into the damaging belief that “all Muslims are terrorists.”
The media’s focus on individual Muslims’ actions, painting entire communities or even Islam as responsible, perpetuates this harmful stereotype. The negative coverage of Muslims has a far greater impact on American social consciousness than any positive portrayals. It reinforces the false connection between Muslims and terrorism.
The media’s tendency to link Muslims and terrorism plays on the availability heuristic: vivid, negative portrayals o vershadow facts, leading to skewed judgments and fostering hostility toward Muslim Americans. To counter this, we must adopt an evidence-based approach
that acknowledges the diversity of Muslim experiences, challenges stereotypes, and promotes nuanced dialogue.
Islamophobia is a global issue. In Europe, mosques, Muslim-owned businesses, and individuals face rising violence, vandalism, and harassment. In India, the spread of Hindutva, an ideology of anti-Muslim hate, has sparked violent attacks on Muslims, deepening fears in a community already marginalized by racial hatred.
In 2017, a far-right gunman attacked a mosque in Quebec City, killing six. The community responded with vigils and calls for unity. In 2019, a white supremacist gunman killed 51 Muslims in Christchurch, New Zealand, prompting stricter gun laws and the launch of the “Christchurch Call” to combat online extremism.
Negative media coverage of Muslims has a greater impact than positive portrayals, creating cognitive dissonance, perpetuating stereotypes, and unfairly linking terrorism to Muslims.
The internet and social media have become major platforms for scapegoating Islam. Partisan outlets create echo chambers that reinforce harmful narratives, like the idea that Islam is inherently violent. Media outlets often perpetuate a double standard, emphasizing the religion of Muslim perpetrators while downplaying the affiliations of non-Muslim offenders. This selective coverage perpetuates Islamophobia.
To counter these stereotypes, we must promote media literacy, fact-checking, diverse sources, and inclusive representation. A 2017 GAO report found that since 9/11, far-right extremists have committed 73% of deadly extremist incidents in the U.S., compared to 27% by radical Muslim extremists (“Countering Violent Extremism: Actions Needed to Define Strategy and
Assess Progress of Federal Efforts,” April 2017, United States Government Accountability Office).
Yet, the media continues to focus on Muslim and black perpetrators, reinforcing racial and religious stereotypes. Researchers have repeatedly demonstrated the propagation of negative stereotypes and Islamophobic tropes by self-proclaimed and media-appointed “experts” (“Islamophobia in the Mainstream” CAIR’s 2021 Islamophobia Report).
When individuals are “othered,” they are unfairly blamed for the actions of a few. For example, stereotypes that link Mexicans to crime or Chinese people to the spread of COVID-19 ignore the diversity within these groups. Similarly, when Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu framed military actions in Gaza as a “divine mission”, the role of Judaism in these actions was questioned, yet the religion itself wasn’t blamed for war crimes.
White shooters, on the other hand, are often labeled as “lone wolves”, and their race, religion, or ideology is rarely emphasized (Allison E. Betus, Erin M. Kearns, and Anthony F. Lemieu, “How Perpetrator Identity (Sometimes) Influences Media Framing Attacks as ‘Terrorism’ or ‘Mental Illness’,” Volume 48, Issue 8, Sage Journals).
Joseph Czuba’s 2023 murder of a 6-yearold Palestinian boy was framed as a hate crime, but his religion wasn’t mentioned in news reports. The same is true for recent gunmen who targeted President Trump, where their race, religion, and political affiliations were largely omitted (Michelle Gallardo “Police: Illinois man killed Muslim boy, injured mother in stabbing driven by religious hate,” Oct. 16, 2023, KABC Television).
In July and October 2024, two Caucasian gunmen shot at President Trump over political disagreement. The media and police barely mentioned their religion, ethnicity, or political affiliations, only stating these were “unknown.” The New Year’s Eve rampage by Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. Army veteran struggling with PTSD, economic and personal issues, and isolation, was wrongly linked to his religion by the media. Why the double standard in how Muslim and non-Muslim perpetrators are framed? Selective demonization of Islam, especially when the perpetrator is Muslim, must end. Stereotyping Islam reinforces misconceptions, prejudice, and violence. It is crucial to recognize that crimes are committed by individuals, not entire communities, or religions.
In the aftermath of violent events, Muslims often feel pressured to defend their faith. This is a form of prejudice, not complicity. In Presumed Guilty: Why We Shouldn’t Ask Muslims to Condemn Terrorism, Prof. Todd Green argues that focusing on evidence, rather than assumptions, reveals that no inherent link exists between Islam and terrorism.
Combating Islamophobia requires amplifying diverse Muslim voices, consulting experts, and avoiding tokenization. Instead of retreating, we must engage proactively with media platforms to foster accurate, inclusive representation and inclusive storytelling (Gauri Manglik and Sadaf Siddique, “Lets Counter Islamophobia Through Stories,” August 22, 2017, EmbraceRace). Muslim youth, supported by imams and community leaders, can drive positive change, and help promote systemic anti-Muslim biases over sensationalism.
The Christchurch Call is an example of collective action against violent extremism online, promoting accountability through shared vision and multi-stakeholder collaboration. This framework offers a model for combating hate in the digital age (E. Sonnino, 2023. The Future of the Christchurch Call to Action, Christchurch Call. New Zealand).
Countering Islamophobia, and hatred of any religion, is a moral, ethical, and civilizational imperative. It is essential for building a just, peaceful society rooted in equality, justice, and mutual respect. ih
Abdul Rashid Piracha
Abdul Rashid Piracha, a heart and vascular diseases specialist, philanthropist, and an advocate for education passed away on New Year’s Day—also the first day of the holy month of Rajab (1446 AH)—in Northern Virginia.
The Pakistaniborn physician who earned his medical degree from Nishtar Medical College in Multan, immigrated to the United States in 1964 where he began a distinguished medical career.
In 2006, he was elected as president of the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America (APPNA). He also served as the chair of the Advocacy Committee of the APPNA-DMV (Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia) chapter and he was awarded the APPNA lifetime achievement award in 2022. Piracha also served as chair of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) Relief’s Northern Virginia advisory board and was the executive director of the Nishtar Medical University Alumni Association of North America.
Across all these prestigious postings, Piracha worked to strengthen the Pakistani American community. He put forth endless effort to meet the needs of Pakistani American immigrants, especially newly arrived physicians, and he helped to promote a feeling of community since he understood well the difficulties they faced in their new home.
Piracha helped establish free clinics and wellness centers across Pakistan and the U.S. These programs tackled urgent problems like mental health, diabetes, and cardiovascular health. Throughout his life and career, it was imperative to Dr. Piracha to help provide cheap or free health care to the needy all over the world.
Beyond his drive to improve access to health care, Dr. Piracha considered education to be of critical importance in helping people improve their lives. He facilitated innumerable children from low-income households to obtain a high-quality education and to realize their career aspirations
by providing financial aid and scholarships to vulnerable youth. As part of this personal initiative, he was deeply committed to The Citizens Foundation mission (TCF), and in 2019, he helped establish a TCF school in Karachi, Sindh. This school offers quality education to underprivileged children and carries forward his transformational dream.
Piracha also saw the value of political involvement in bringing about systemic change. Recognizing the difficulties minorities and immigrants faced, he used his personal resources to push for laws that supported representation, equity, and inclusion. To raise political consciousness among Muslim Americans, he arranged voter registration drives, raised money for progressive political candidates, and arranged for educational seminars covering topics connected to local and regional politics. A strong supporter of immigrant rights, Dr. Piracha met with state and local legislators to discuss access to health care, education equity, and immigration reform. Naturally, his profound comprehension of the difficulties encountered by immigrant populations was evident in his contributions to these policy discussions.
Dr. Piracha supported projects that addressed health care inequalities in impoverished areas across the globe by collaborating with international organizations across multiple continents. His support for international initiatives and his responsiveness to disasters demonstrated his lasting dedication to humanitarian causes. He was part of a medical team that visited Pakistan after the 2023 earthquake and was instrumental in securing resources for those most directly affected by that disaster. His efforts helped secure prompt assistance and recovery for thousands in these communities.
The qualities of empathy, vision, and an unflinching dedication to social unity characterized Piracha’s work and exemplified his leadership. He frequently emphasized the value of teamwork, encouraging others to make contributions towards society’s advancement. He will always be remembered for his sincerity, loyalty, and selflessness.
He is survived by his wife Hameeda Piracha, and sons Drs. Amir and Asim, and daughter, Samia Piracha. He was father-in-law to Adnan Sheikh, Reena, and Sara Piracha, grandfather to nine, and grandfather in law to their spouses: Humza, Hashaam, Noor, Zaina, Ibrahim, Aisha, Alinah, Mariam, Esah, Myra, and Qasim. ih
Abdul-Sahib Hashim, MD, popularly known as Dr. A.S. Hashim, an early proponent and father of Islamic textbooks of Muslim American children, passed away Dec. 14, 2024 at the age of 97 in suburban Maryland.
He was truly an icon in the history of Islam in the United States. The very active and energetic Iraqi pediatrician started his Islamic activities at the iconic Islamic Center in Washington, D.C., where his children would attend Sunday Islamic school. Every Sunday, he would drive 2 hours and 20 minutes (133 mile) one way to the Islamic Center, then the region’s only mosque, so his children could receive Islamic education.
From 1968 to 1985, he worked with the Muslim Student Association (MSA) to produce the Series of Islamic Books for Beginners, a compilation of of 20 educational books widely used in Muslim weekend schools. These books also provided educational insight for new converts to Islam and for Muslim children and adults alike. Due to his efforts, thousands came to learn about Islam. He is an icon in the history of Islam in the U.S. and the world.
He graduated from the College of Medicine University of Baghdad, then known as Royal College of Medicine, Baghdad, in 1951. He came to the U.S. in 1953 for medical training in pediatrics after serving a year as a physician in the Iraqi army. Between 1953 and 1955, he won residency and fellowship in pediatrics in three hospitals in Boston, and one in Cincinnati.
In 1955, he returned home to Baghdad. However, the following year, he came back to the U.S. and in 1957, secured a fellowship in pediatric pathology at the Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. In 1958, he started his medical practice in Cumberland, Md. Ten years later, moved to Rockville, Md., to be close to the Islamic Center, Washington D.C.
From 1966 to 1987 he served as the superintendent of the Sunday School at the Islamic Center. Family members, especially
adolescents— many of whom were Arab and Muslim ambassadors, diplomats, businessmen, and permanent residents— were taught Islamic Arabic, Quran, and the tenets of the Islamic faith every Sunday. Under Dr. Hashim’s leadership and with the active participation of the staff he selected, the number of students enrolled swelled from 26 to 241.
The school became so crowded that, as its principal, Dr. Hashim had to move part of it to Tilden Jr. High School in Rockville, Md., 11 miles from the Islamic Center of Washington, D.C., and close to where Dr. Hashim has been living then.
In 1976, as the numbers grew, the Sunday School rented rooms at Tilden Junior High school from Montgomery County to teach children of Muslim families in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia. From 1981 to 1986, Hashim managed to get 72,000 copies of the English translation of the meaning of the Quran by A. Yusuf Ali printed and distributed mostly to new Muslims converts serving prison sentences. This was the first time that the Quran was published in the U.S. by a private individual in coordination with other parties, after which the Quran was printed by the once MSA-owned International Graphics & Printing Service (IGPS) and distributed commercially.
Earlier, in 1985, Hashim, being a pediatrician, wrote “How to be Your Child’s Doctor, Sometimes” as a textbook to help mothers tend to their children at home. In 1992, he retired from his medical practice and in the next year, he completed writing of his SunniShi’i Dialog Pamphlets
In 1999, he was a founding board member of the short-lived Darul-Salam Center in Annandale, Va. (closed in 2006), which was supported mostly by Iraqi Shias, and served as their informal social center. Hashim was also a founding father of the Muslim Community Center (MCC) in 1977, in the Silver Spring, Prince George’s County in Maryland. The MCC started with a small building and soon upgraded to a larger space. Then a mosque was built, and a medical clinic was added. Most of its members today are South Asians of the Sunni school. Dr. Hashim was also among the founders of the Islamic Education Center in Rockville, Md. (1980)
He was preceded in death by his wife Nancy Hashim in 2013.
He is survived by his sons, Bruce and Mark, and his daughter, Janaan Hashim, along with several grandchildren. ih
Reenvisioning Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution in Islam
Qamar-ul Huda
2024. Pp. 326. HB $105.00
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Reenvisioning Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution in Islam examines the variety of strategic peacebuilding and conflict resolution activities conducted by Muslim practitioners and nongovernmental organizations in Muslim-majority communities.
Qamar-ul Huda explores how Muslim scholars, civil society members, and communities interpret violence and nonviolence, and contribute to peacebuilding and conflict resolution in an interconnected, globalized age by focusing on methods, practices, and strategies. He shows how a faith-based commitment to conflict resolution can empower effective social, political, and intellectual action that results in meaningful, global change.
The book sheds light on vital topics including how the state utilizes hard and soft power in global, religious diplomacy, how civil society organizations and NGO’s maximize networks engage in peacebuilding and conflict resolution, the role of civil society in soft power politics, and the disconnection between peacebuilding organizations and local Muslim cultures and religious customs. Qamar-ul Huda charts a vision of contemporary ethics of peacebuilding, pluralism, reconciliation, and dialogue.
SUMŪD: A New Palestinian Reader
Malu Halasa and Jordan Elgrably (eds.)
2025. Pp. 400, $24.95. PB.
Seven Stories Press, New York, N.Y.
SUMŪD: A New Palestinian Reader is an anthology celebrating the power of culture within the Palestinian resistance with selections of memoir, short stories, essays, book reviews, personal narrative, poetry, and art from the Markaz Review.
The Arabic word sumūd, often translated as “steadfastness” or “standing fast,” is, above all, a Palestinian cultural value of everyday perseverance in the face of Israeli occupation. Sumūd is both a personal and collective commitment; the Palestinian people will determine their own lives despite the environment of constant oppressions imposed upon them by Israel and its allies.
This volume, which spans the 20th and 21st centuries of Palestinian cultural history and highlights writing from 2021–24, honors the Palestinian spirit and its power in the face of dispossession and war. When governments around the world enable the genocide of a people and the utter destruction of a sacred homeland, the Palestinian people stand fast and resist. The fifty-eight contributions in this collection remind readers that just as love perseveres, so do the Palestinians along with their victories and defeats, their struggles, and their triumphs.
My Name Is Not Harry: A Memoir Haroon Siddiqui 2025. Pp. 472. PB $28.00 Dundurn Press, Toronto, ON Canada
Veteran Toronto Star editor Haroon Siddiqui, brown and Muslim, has spent a life on the media front lines, covering conflicts both global and local, and has tracked rising xenophobia.
There is no standard way of being Canadian, beyond obeying the law. Siddiqui shows how Canada let him succeed on his own terms.
Coming from India in 1967, he did not forget his past. Nor, did he change his name, dilute his dignity, compromise his conscience, or his dissident views. He championed immigration and multiculturalism when that was not popular. He upbraided his media colleagues for being Eurocentric, and/or Orientalist.
Siddiqui, who pioneered cross-cultural journalism, bridging divided communities, insisted that it was un-Canadian to use free speech as a license for hate speech. He strongly opposed the limitless American war on terror, the invasion of Iraq, and the long war on Afghanistan. He also exposed how liberals could also be narrow-minded and nasty.
In his memoir, which is now published in the U.S.,he shares such journalistic forays into the corridors of power, war zones, and cultural minefields. He also takes the reader along his personal journey from British colonial India to the evolution of Canada as the only Western nation where skin colour is no longer a fault line. ih
