By Heba Abdel-Karim Imagine this scenario: You live in the same area with your Minnesotan Muslim neighbor. This person, his actions, beliefs, and practices seem a bit peculiar to you, as you have not encountered many Muslims. All you know about Muslims is what you hear others say, from the media and the like, but they are otherwise unfamiliar. You wish to get in contact with him or her—even with a simple “hi”—but you may subconsciously have second thoughts because of how Muslims are negatively labeled by others. This, along with some other reasons, makes it seem like the gap Read More …
Tag: diversity
Don’t define Muslim societies by their flaws
Fair criticism means looking beyond the faults and failings By Fedwa Wazwaz On October 22, The Minnesota Daily published my commentary “Islamo-Fascism a very racist concept.” On October 23 and 24, a couple of letters to the editor responded to my artcle. A common thread in the letters was the right to criticize Islam. Do people have a right to criticize Islam? Let me begin by quoting a couple of lines of Islamic poetry: “The eye of Love to every flaw is blind, While the eye of hatred reveals all flaws.”
Hijab and the city
By Corey Habbas “Look at any advertisement. Is a woman being used to sell the product? How old is she? How attractive is she? What is she wearing? More often than not, that woman will be…taller, slimmer and more attractive than average, dressed in skimpy clothing. Why do we allow ourselves to be manipulated like this?” So asks a Muslim teen, Sultana Yusufali, in an article she wrote for Toronto Star Young People’s Press. Her indignation is not unlike that which Muslims living here in the Twin Cities and elsewhere feel when they see women treated like commodities.
Religion vs. culture through the eyes of a newborn
By Heba Abdel-Karim Have you ever wondered why a newborn cries when he first sets eyes on our world?
The real beauty of Ramadan
Conquering the beasts of time and desire By Rawan Hamade Many non-Muslims are interested in knowing why we fast during Ramadan and how it helps us try to improve ourselves. Unfortunately, many receive shallow answers that may not reach the underlying point. Some non-Muslims are hurriedly told that we fast merely to sympathize with the poor, which is absolutely true, but that does not define the limit of this month’s beauty. Ramadan is a blessed time for Muslims in which they should carry out one of the most important functions of a human: learning.