Sofia is the author of the viral Facebook post “Letter to Non-Muslim Allies,” which is the starting point for this blog, where she continues to address non-Muslim allies and to answer the earnest questions of would-be allies. This blog is also a nest for her upcoming book, a combination of memoir and American history about how the migrations of bodies, particularly brown and black bodies, in America has, since its inception, been driven by white supremacy.
She is also a regular contributor to altmuslimah.com and her work and reprints have appeared in Tricycle, Cosmo.com, The Stranger, The Washington Post and several other outlets.
Sofia Ali-Khan is a writer and an accomplished public interest attorney. She has worked for Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, Prairie State Legal Services in Illinois, and the American Bar Association. She has practiced in the areas of welfare law, medicaid access, immigrant access to public benefits, immigration, zoning and licensing, and Language Access under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. She is a national leader in the area of developing institutional capacity for provision of language access; she developed and wrote the grant that funded the American Bar Association’s Standards for Language Access in Courts.
Sofia has served on the Board of Directors of the Council on American Islamic Relations-Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Immigrant and Citizenship Coalition, and the Board of Directors and the Advisory Board for the Liberty Center for Survivors of Torture (a project of Lutheran Children and Family Services).
Sofia is a second generation Pakistani American; she was born and raised in the United States and now lives with her family in Ontario, Canada. She continues to vote against hate in every election.
Please note that all of the writing on this site is © Sofia Ali-Khan. Reprints with direct written permission only. Thank you.
I am delighted a friend of mine posted your Blog comments on her FB page drawing attention to the issues of Non-Muslim vs Muslim’s in our global community.
I recently read Carla Power’s Book “If the Ocean’s Were Ink: An Unlikely Friendship and a Journey to the Heart of the Qur’an” which only wet my curiosity about the Myths & Facts about Muslims.
Your Blog continues to answer & clarify what was not covered in Ms. Powers book.
Can you explain the meaning of the title of her Book “If the Ocean’s were Ink”? I know it references a verse in the Qur’an, but I don’t fully understand it. Thank you. Irma Schneider
Thank you for your comment, Ms. Schneider. The book title is, I think a reference to this verse from the Qur’an:
SAY: “If all the sea were ink for my Sustainer’s words, the sea would indeed be exhausted ere my Sustainer’s words are exhausted! And [thus it would be] if we were to add to it sea upon sea.” – 18:109 (Asad translation) wherein Prophet Muhammad is instructed to tell his community that God’s wisdom is limitless. In the next verse, Prophet Muhammad is instructed to tell his community that he himself is just a person, given the message that God is One, and that those who wish to meet God should do good works and not make partners with God.
Hi Sofia, I saw some of your work on the Nextdoor app, and wondered if I may reprint the piece “Dear Non-Muslim Allies,” with due credit and a link to your site, of course. Please let me know. Thank you.
Hi Sofia, We’d like to have you as a guest on WHYY’s Radio Times. Give me call: 215-928-2445 Thanks, Elizabeth Fiedler
Thank you for your writings. As a psychotherapist and clinical social worker in Philadelphia, as well as a multi-denominational spiritualist, I support you and your work. Please let me know how I can help.
https://www.facebook.com/belfastnewsletter/videos/
Hi Sofia, so wonderful to read your articles and letters. Thank you for your great works! Much needed and valued. May your messages of deliberation, community, courage, and good cheer carry far and near!