From Partners

Deconstructing "Arab Rage"

During a two-hour talk in Paris last week, internationally acclaimed writer and Islam scholar Reza Aslan challenged the way we view violent protests against the "Innocence of Muslims" film in Libya, Egypt and elsewhere in the MENA. Aslan spoke at the Center for Political Research or Cevipof as part of a short tour hosted by the British Council, the European Policy Center and the Parliament in Brussels to talk about current affairs, namely the recent media exposure of "Innocence of Muslims" and the satirical cartoons then appearing in France.

Swimming and Other Wet, Awkward Moments

A few weeks ago, with the temperature reaching as high as 37 degree Celsius and the kids cooped up and restless, I decided to take them swimming mid-day. Before this conjures up a stereotypical image of a Muslim woman, who cannot swim, idly sitting poolside while the rest of the family splash in the water, I should point out that I was a trained lifeguard and a competitive swimmer in my early teens.

Men and Women as Equal in the House of God

Many people who have set foot inside mosques have noticed with great dismay that the space allotted to women is rarely equal to that of men. This is true in many different countries, including the United States. The largest Muslim organization in the country, Islamic Society of North America, issued a document titled: “Woman Friendly Mosques and Community Centers.”

National Security and Muslim Americans: Engaging with Government

The relationship between Muslim Americans and the U.S. government is oftentimes a distrustful one. This is reflected in the mainstream media’s well practiced theme of Muslims, terrorism, and security. Even in the wake of a bloody and senseless shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin last week, the media largely ignored the stories of the victims and the white supremacist assailant, choosing instead to explain how the Sikh faith is unlike Islam—as if to suggest that had the temple been a mosque, the shooting would be less of a tragedy.

A Story of Friendship: A Sikh and a Muslim

Reena and I have been the best of friends since the moment we talked 23 years ago. While she is Sikh and I am a Muslim, we both share a Punjabi ancestory. I consider Reena the sister that I never had. We are about the same height and size, and with rhyming names—Reena/Sheena—many confuse us for sisters.

How to Lose a Guy in 30 Days

Oh, Ramadan. How I have a love/hate relationship with you. I love you because it’s a month of spiritual cleansing and discipline. I hate you because I have to come up with answers for every question posed by non-Muslims about fasting. Usually, it’s something to the effect of “you really can’t eat from sunrise to sunset?”, “Is it hard?”, “Do you lose weight?”, “Can you just sleep all day?”

But one inquiry the other day caught me off guard, and to be honest, I felt like I was already at a cultural crossroad just based on the question alone: “How does Ramadan affect one’s dating life?”