Surveying Muslims & Surveys About Muslims

Last week, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public life published the results of a survey titled “The World’s Muslims,” exploring the views of 38,000 Muslims from 39 countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa who were interviewed, in person, in …

Boston Marathon Catch 22: Reactions, Apologia and Narrating the Blame

On Monday April 15th, two blasts sent ripples of fear, panic and confusion across the faces and minds of thousands of people as the first group of runners approached the finish line at the Boston Marathon, one of the world’s …

Pathological Storytelling, Lies and the Medication I was Saved From

I used to love telling stories. As a kid, it was more than just a favorite pastime – it was my raison d’être. It was my way of channeling the unbridled creativity that comes with childhood, naïveté and exclusion. …

Battlefield Mosque: Patriotism, Space and Faith in American Mosques

Last week, in the first part of our series on Muslim-American religious spaces, we briefly explored the history and function of mosques. As the piece discussed, mosques were not just places of ritual worship but functional worship; they were the …

The Mosque: History, Representation and Role

The sacred architecture of Islam par excellence is the mosque which is itself but the ‘recreation’ and ‘recapitulation’ of the harmony, order, and peace of nature which God chose as the Muslims enduring house of worship. In praying in a …

Fifty Shades of Pray, an Islamic Harlequin

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I scowl with frustration at myself in the mirror. Damn my headscarf–it just won’t behave and damn the person who created such a horrible fabric that has subjected me to this ordeal. I should be applying for work, finishing …

Representing Women in the Arab Revolutions And Beyond

Two years ago, Mohammad Bouazizi’s self-immolation set an inferno across parts of the Middle East and North Africa, changing the course of the region’s assumed history. We know what happened and we know what has been happening since. Egypt, Tunisia…

Fajr Ruminations on Ramadan in the Middle of Nowhere

I’m in a weird place this Ramadan. Not just spiritually but geographically as well. Almost exactly a year ago I finished my MA thesis and moved back home: home being wherever so my parents were living, regardless of roots and …

Re-Engaging with the Other “Liberation Theology”

Complete with your standard extreme close-up of a hijab-clad woman confusingly looking at the voyeuristic lens before her, the Guardian’s “Comment is Free” section recently featured a piece by writer Nadiya Takolia, entitled: “The Hijab has Liberated Me From …