I, Muslimah

Some Muslims are scared to acknowledge cultural traditions other than their own for fear that they will lose their Muslim identity. Well, I’ve got news for you: there’s a difference between culture and religion.

October brings with it another problem for Muslims: Is it all right for us to celebrate Halloween? On the blog GOATMILK, as part of its ongoing series of debates,  a guest blogger recently wrote an article about why Muslims should be allowed to practice Halloween. (See article here.) Basically her reasoning went like this: Other cultural practices lack an Islamic origin or a pure history, but have permeated into the fabric of our lives, and [...]

During Ramadan, we often pat ourselves on the back for fasting, or think obsessively about the food we can’t eat, or stuff ourselves when we break the fast. But what about those who have no choice, who have no food, who have no one to help them? What are we doing to combat real hunger in this world?

Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world (although it is second in number of adherents). This is partly because of the growth of Muslim families, but it is also because of an increasingly large number of converts. However, what many Muslims don’t realize is that many of these new Muslims leave the faith after months or even years of being converts. See this article, “Why Are New Muslims Leaving the Faith?” from Islam21c. [...]

Muslims don’t make it easy to learn about Islam. That’s because they have a schizophrenic attitude toward knowledge.

Muslims are constantly talking about the ummah, which means “community,” specifically the community of all believers. We’re proud of being a part of this community, but in actual practice we do little to foster a feeling of fellowship among its members. Sure, we all pray “together” five times a day and fast at the same time during the month of Ramadan. And there are mosques where we can gather for prayer and other events. But [...]