Because I'm a religious minority, it is always surprising and pleasant when there is some sort of friendly acknowledgement of my existence in everyday life, outside of depressing news stories. Receiving a Ramadan Mubarak or Ramadan Karim or simply "Happy Ramadan" from distant acquaintances and classmates when I've disclosed I'm on my way to break …
Category: Islam
Disregarded Verses: Women as Examples for Men
They are actually proclaimed in the Qur'an as examples for people, but to this day they are considered to have been meant for only women when believing men should also accept them as an ideal to strive toward. Shoshie, Jewish feminist, writes,This shit happens a lot in Jewish commentaries. Women are erased. Exemptions for women …
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In Islam and the Qur’an: The Queen of Sheba
So tell the tale—perhaps they will reflect. (Qur'an 7:176)There are several different accounts of the Queen of Sheba--in Islam, Judaism, Christianity, and I suspect in religions and cultures outside of these--for she was an extraordinarily intelligent and open-minded queen regnant, who ruled by her own right a flourishing kingdom with expansive international trade, exceptional agriculture, …
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Ramadan 1432
That feels so strange to me. Originally I typed 2011, but the combination of an lunar month and a solar year looked almost laughably wistful. Regardless of how true it may be for me that I live in 2011 (is that even true?) and not 1432, I have an almost neurotic urge to pin things …
Things That Are Supposed to Make Me a Bad Muslim
In no particular order:Telling the imam he is wrongPraying on the men's side of the barrierWearing "alluring perfume"Refusing to eat mermaidsShowing off that I'm menstruatingMatching my bra straps with my lipgloss (overheard me saying this&actually came to lecture)Not wearing hi'jabNot putting hi'jab at the top of the listSinging/listening to music (you know they're just jealous …
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Faith After Death
Since the devil is scheduled to be locked up this August (rest assured, evil will not cease) I thought I would research the place he is destined to live. I am a little fascinated by the geography of Hell, because apparently it's probably made of the same stuff as Heaven, according to my interpretations. But! …
Patriarchal Distortions: The Wives of the Prophet
No one, in neither books nor sermons, dares disagree that the Prophet's wives were great women, of great intelligence, great generosity, and great accomplishments. But as it is the nature of patriarchy to belittle those women it has failed to completely erase, rarely is there an occasion in which the memory of the wives is …
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the fatal feminist 