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What's Headed for You
Mar 16, 2017 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
I'd like to point out that we've crossed well over the line into President Bannon's vision for destabilizing America. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, just google the key words from that sentence all together.) This isn't about racism or bigotry or misogyny. Or at least, not just those things.
The Executive Order and budget proposal calling for agencies to kill entire departments? I’d put my money on every Office of Civil Rights across the executive branch. But beyond that, these agencies govern every service and protection that ordinary Americans—every last one of the 99%--rely on every day. Schools, hospitals, roads, food: all of them are envisioned, researched, organized, funded and regulated by the executive agencies. This is a war...
The Executive Order and budget proposal calling for agencies to kill entire departments? I’d put my money on every Office of Civil Rights across the executive branch. But beyond that, these agencies govern every service and protection that ordinary Americans—every last one of the 99%--rely on every day. Schools, hospitals, roads, food: all of them are envisioned, researched, organized, funded and regulated by the executive agencies. This is a war...
Dear Beloved Resistance
Feb 19, 2017 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
Dear Beloved Resistance,
We now have a President and Cabinet who almost certainly have no interest in the safety or well-being of their people. Many of us marched in the streets last weekend in an awesome show of solidarity against Trump and all that he promises and stands for. It was, by several accounts, the largest global protest in history.
But in the hours and days following the march, we began to size each other up, tear each other down, and occasionally thoughtfully critique each other's politics and intentions. Donald Trump poses an unprecedented threat to all of us. It is true that some of us are more used to being targeted by the government than others of us. Some of us...
We now have a President and Cabinet who almost certainly have no interest in the safety or well-being of their people. Many of us marched in the streets last weekend in an awesome show of solidarity against Trump and all that he promises and stands for. It was, by several accounts, the largest global protest in history.
But in the hours and days following the march, we began to size each other up, tear each other down, and occasionally thoughtfully critique each other's politics and intentions. Donald Trump poses an unprecedented threat to all of us. It is true that some of us are more used to being targeted by the government than others of us. Some of us...
Time for Discernment: A Muslim Women Calls on Her Buddhist Cousins in Faith
Dec 12, 2016 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
To read at Tricycle: https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/a-time-for-discernment/
The last time I had worn a hijab, a headscarf, on the street was 11 years ago, when I was a practicing public interest attorney in Philadelphia. I’ve worn it for prayers since then, but this time I wore it to go to the grocery store near the small town on the Delaware River where I am raising my two young children. It was several days after our country elected Donald Trump, and I wanted to reassure myself that my world was still full of goodness and light. I wanted to watch others see past what I was wearing on my head. And because my local Trader Joe’s is in true-blue New Jersey, I got what I...
Didactic Syncast: Interviewed by Eric Piotrowski
Nov 28, 2016 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
I spoke to my long-time friend and podcaster, Eric Piotrowski about our lives since college, activism, and the election. Interview starts at about 17 minutes in. Have a listen here.
What Won't She Sell Out? The Opportunism of Asra Nomani
Nov 28, 2016 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
"...For some reason, Nomani has chosen this moment to stop walking that thin line, unapologetically aligning herself with President-elect Donald Trump. In this article, she lists her nonsensical reasons for supporting Trump: Obamacare and the president’s loan modification program, “HOPE NOW,” didn’t help her. Rural Americans in her hometown of Morgantown, WV are still struggling to make ends meet.
Nomani does not link a single one of these factors to any credible plan or promise Trump has to resolve these issues. That’s probably because there aren’t any such arguments to be made..." Read More
Nomani does not link a single one of these factors to any credible plan or promise Trump has to resolve these issues. That’s probably because there aren’t any such arguments to be made..." Read More
Anti-Muslim Extremists: The SPLC's Field Guide
Nov 28, 2016 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
"...You may remember SPLC’s astounding report, The Trump Effect: The Impact of the Presidential Campaign on Our Nations Schools. It provided the results of an online survey that found widespread anxiety in and increased harassment of Muslim students and other students of color. The report is an important tool for parents, educators, and activists who are on the front lines, arguing that the changes in their children’s school environments must be met with proactive anti-hate messaging, diversity training, and Islam education and awareness.
SPLC has just released their Field Guide to Anti-Muslim Extremists, which profiles 15 prominent anti-Muslim extremists....Read More
SPLC has just released their Field Guide to Anti-Muslim Extremists, which profiles 15 prominent anti-Muslim extremists....Read More
UNDOING TRUMP’S DAMAGE: TALKING TO OUR CHILDREN ABOUT THEIR BODIES
Oct 18, 2016 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
"It’s only a matter of time before what’s on every news channel and on every Facebook feed bleeds into our children’s consciousness, or those of their classmates at school. That makes it a good time to talk to our children about their bodies, boundaries, inappropriate touching, and sexual abuse.
Many of our families and communities enforce strict taboos on speaking about anything involving sexual contact at all, ever. There is a widespread sense that to speak about sexual contact is to encourage it. Let’s be clear: sexual abuse is not sex. It is violence, and, unfortunately it happens in Muslim communities as well as outside them. The goal is to give our children tools so that they can avoid being hurt...."...
Many of our families and communities enforce strict taboos on speaking about anything involving sexual contact at all, ever. There is a widespread sense that to speak about sexual contact is to encourage it. Let’s be clear: sexual abuse is not sex. It is violence, and, unfortunately it happens in Muslim communities as well as outside them. The goal is to give our children tools so that they can avoid being hurt...."...
When Pakistan is Safer than North Carolina
Oct 18, 2016 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
"Remember the clock kid, Ahmed? He was honored by President Obama for his ingenuity and scholastic achievement after he was put in handcuffs and arrested at his own school for the same. He lives with his family in Qatar now, because of safety concerns after he became a target of Richard Dawkins and other right-wing public figures.
There’s a recent story that is every bit as heartbreaking. In it, a cherub-faced first-grader named Abdul Aziz was beaten, punched in the face, kicked in the stomach and ended up with his arm in a sling. The seven-year-old was attacked by his classmates for being Muslim. They tried to force him to eat non-zabiha food, and when he refused, they made fun of...
There’s a recent story that is every bit as heartbreaking. In it, a cherub-faced first-grader named Abdul Aziz was beaten, punched in the face, kicked in the stomach and ended up with his arm in a sling. The seven-year-old was attacked by his classmates for being Muslim. They tried to force him to eat non-zabiha food, and when he refused, they made fun of...
Dear Neighbor: I Take Your Trump Sign Personally
Oct 09, 2016 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
"Dear Neighbor:
I want you to know that I take your Trump sign personally. I take it personally because I have a vagina, or as your favored candidate might say, a “p***y.” My daughter has one, too. And I figure if you’re okay with a p***y-grabber for President, you might just be one yourself. I assume you vetted the guy before you put that sign on your lawn, facing my home, in our safe and quiet suburban neighborhood. The latest news, I bet, reaches you before it reaches me, since we don’t have cable television at our house. But your loud, proud sign supporting a sexual predator for President is still out there, right alongside the quiet part of the block,...
I want you to know that I take your Trump sign personally. I take it personally because I have a vagina, or as your favored candidate might say, a “p***y.” My daughter has one, too. And I figure if you’re okay with a p***y-grabber for President, you might just be one yourself. I assume you vetted the guy before you put that sign on your lawn, facing my home, in our safe and quiet suburban neighborhood. The latest news, I bet, reaches you before it reaches me, since we don’t have cable television at our house. But your loud, proud sign supporting a sexual predator for President is still out there, right alongside the quiet part of the block,...
A Muslim and a Jehovah's Witness Walk into a School...
Sep 26, 2016 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
This year, as the 2016 election season heats up, I was increasingly worried about sending my young children off to their preschool and elementary schools. I could not imagine sending my children into the care of people I didn’t know in schools that were new to us in a broader national climate of anti-Muslim bigotry. So I did what many Jehovah’s Witness moms do before school starts each year. I emailed my children’s teachers and administrators and asked for fifteen minutes of their time...
Read the full article here:
http://www.altmuslimah.com/2016/09/muslim-jehovahs-witness-walk-school/
Read the full article here:
http://www.altmuslimah.com/2016/09/muslim-jehovahs-witness-walk-school/
Radio Spot on the Experiences of Muslim American Women
May 09, 2016 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
Guests: Fariha Khan, Sofia Ali-Khan, Kameelah Mumin Rashad, and Bina Shah
How do Muslim women feel about the way their religion is portrayed in the media, its place in American culture, and the ongoing presidential race? To get some answers, Radio Times producer Elizabeth Fiedler spoke with three Muslim women who live in the Philadelphia area about their lives, the surprising comments they receives about their appearance and religion, and about the term ‘forever foreigner.’ She spoke with FARIHA KHAN, associate director of the Asian American Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania, Muslim American public interest lawyer and writer SOFIA ALI-KHAN and KAMEELAH MU’MIN RASHAD, the Muslim chaplain at the University of Pennsylvania and founder of the nonprofit Muslim Wellness...
How do Muslim women feel about the way their religion is portrayed in the media, its place in American culture, and the ongoing presidential race? To get some answers, Radio Times producer Elizabeth Fiedler spoke with three Muslim women who live in the Philadelphia area about their lives, the surprising comments they receives about their appearance and religion, and about the term ‘forever foreigner.’ She spoke with FARIHA KHAN, associate director of the Asian American Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania, Muslim American public interest lawyer and writer SOFIA ALI-KHAN and KAMEELAH MU’MIN RASHAD, the Muslim chaplain at the University of Pennsylvania and founder of the nonprofit Muslim Wellness...
Is Your Passport in Order?
May 08, 2016 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
"...I have always known that I would need to prepare my children, as racial and religious minorities, to handle the kind of covert racism and ignorance I experienced with my teachers, and the hypocrisy I experienced with my childhood friend. Those experiences were not easy, but they were not crises. Through them, I developed the ability to speak loudly and clearly, to carry myself with dignity, to listen carefully, and to learn. They were the inevitable challenges of taking part in the great project of pluralism. In that project we are offered the divine opportunity to reach across gender and color, across nation, language and tribe “that we might come to know one another,” as the Qur’an describes.
But today’s Republican...
But today’s Republican...
An American Muslim Mom on Faith, Parenting and the 2016 Election
Apr 27, 2016 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
My latest piece on Huffington Post:
"...This is my Islam, this is my surrender. This is what it means to me to be a person of faith: to strive to understand the nature of myself as a human, and to strive to understand the nature of the world around me. To be in humble service wherever I can. And to steward what is my part firmly, gently when possible, as best as I can. Is there a place for my faith in America today?"
Read More Here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sofia-alikhan/an-american-muslim-mom-on_b_9786870.html
"...This is my Islam, this is my surrender. This is what it means to me to be a person of faith: to strive to understand the nature of myself as a human, and to strive to understand the nature of the world around me. To be in humble service wherever I can. And to steward what is my part firmly, gently when possible, as best as I can. Is there a place for my faith in America today?"
Read More Here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sofia-alikhan/an-american-muslim-mom-on_b_9786870.html
In My Prayers
Apr 21, 2016 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
You are in my prayers
such as they are,
which is to say imperfect,
bound together with a bit of biodegradable twine
and sprouted in a shovel full of compost
yearning like the veins
on a translucent yellow leaf
earnest but
not ever quite what the scholars imagined.
Neither the ecstatic precision of
a mystic on cosmic time
counting each sujood as an essential detail in the
unfurling of some great global lotus of prayer,
nor the hafizah who corrects the
timing of my salaam
seem to motivate the kind of
principled obedience I might
expect from myself.
It seems my heart has always some
stray hair
or unintentional caress
to dole out in exactly the wrong circumstance.
It seems I am always falling backwards
out of the parable, and onto the floor
unkempt and smiling.
such as they are,
which is to say imperfect,
bound together with a bit of biodegradable twine
and sprouted in a shovel full of compost
yearning like the veins
on a translucent yellow leaf
earnest but
not ever quite what the scholars imagined.
Neither the ecstatic precision of
a mystic on cosmic time
counting each sujood as an essential detail in the
unfurling of some great global lotus of prayer,
nor the hafizah who corrects the
timing of my salaam
seem to motivate the kind of
principled obedience I might
expect from myself.
It seems my heart has always some
stray hair
or unintentional caress
to dole out in exactly the wrong circumstance.
It seems I am always falling backwards
out of the parable, and onto the floor
unkempt and smiling.
Dear Fellow Americans (4)...
Mar 28, 2016 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
"...rhetorically, Cruz has moved us one step closer to a fractured democracy. While his words are certainly scary for Muslims, they pose a serious threat to all Americans. The Republicans’ inflammatory rhetoric this election cycle has done something remarkable to this country in a very short period of time: It has turned this country into a tinderbox." Read the full letter here.
Why Shariah Law Is Not Coming to a Courthouse Near You
Mar 23, 2016 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
Years ago, before I went to law school, I was thinking about getting married. I wanted to know what that meant, legally. I’m a pretty good researcher and I figured if someone could just point me toward the right books, I could work it out.
So I went to the local law school and found the library. I asked the librarian to point me towards the books on marriage and divorce. And the librarian very sweetly asked what exactly I was looking for, and then explained to me that the law didn’t work the way I imagined.
It turns out that to find American law that governs the family, you would have to look in many different places. You might have to...
So I went to the local law school and found the library. I asked the librarian to point me towards the books on marriage and divorce. And the librarian very sweetly asked what exactly I was looking for, and then explained to me that the law didn’t work the way I imagined.
It turns out that to find American law that governs the family, you would have to look in many different places. You might have to...
(3) Dear American Muslims and Non-Muslim Allies….
Mar 07, 2016 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
It is hard to believe that three months ago I thought Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric was a threat, but not his actual candidacy. That has changed. I want to tell you a bit about what led me to write that first letter in December. That evening, appalled by the media’s willingness to cover, and the Republican establishment’s willingness to enable Trump’s racist policy proposals, I did some research. I wanted to understand more about the unique position of Muslims in America. I learned that American Muslims make up nearly 1% of the adult population in this country. I also learned that this was the approximate proportion of Jews in Germany in 1933. I don’t now if that is sociologically significant. But...
Bandaging My Wounds: A Spiritual Journey Through Hijab
Feb 25, 2016 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
.......Hijab became my skin when I was skinless. As I wrapped an oblong scarf around my head each morning I felt as if I were securing it to my body, as if I were bandaging a wound. It was a constant reminder that in a world gone mad, and in the lonely process of making a new life in a strange city, I could exist in a state of grace. I belonged to my maker. I was liberated from the excesses of the world around me, both the personal excesses of individuals, and the violent excesses of nation states. It was the equivalent of finding a fixed point to focus on when your yoga teacher tells you to balance on...
Muslim-Jewish Solidarity
Jan 14, 2016 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
I recently got a message from someone who wrote: "I want to be the kind of person who stands up for Muslims as you say, but, here's the dilemma. Why is the Muslim community quiet when there is antisemitism, or terrorism by a Muslim Arab against Israel, or a Jewish community in Paris, or anti-Western hate talk? The non-extremist Muslim community is generally quiet."
Here is my answer:
Salam, Shalom, peace to you! I have a couple of thoughts on your question, so I'll try to tease them out here as best I can. I've actually seen quite a few instances of Muslim-Jewish solidarity. If you google Muslim Jewish solidarity, you'll see what I mean. Here are a few examples:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/2/18/1365174/-Young-Muslims-in-Solidarity-with-Norway-s-Jews
http://www.dw.com/en/uk-campaign-looks-at-muslim-jewish-stories-of-solidarity-and-compassion/a-14785145
http://www.tabletmag.com/…/1961…/pillars-of-cochin-community Really very inspiring and...
Here is my answer:
Salam, Shalom, peace to you! I have a couple of thoughts on your question, so I'll try to tease them out here as best I can. I've actually seen quite a few instances of Muslim-Jewish solidarity. If you google Muslim Jewish solidarity, you'll see what I mean. Here are a few examples:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/2/18/1365174/-Young-Muslims-in-Solidarity-with-Norway-s-Jews
http://www.dw.com/en/uk-campaign-looks-at-muslim-jewish-stories-of-solidarity-and-compassion/a-14785145
http://www.tabletmag.com/…/1961…/pillars-of-cochin-community Really very inspiring and...
Sofia Answers (2): Is the Qur’an Inherently Violent?
Dec 22, 2015 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
INTRODUCTION
The simple and incomplete answer is that yes, insofar as any book that describes battles or warfare from time to time is violent, the Qur’an is violent. However, the Qur’an forbids aggression and permits only defensive battle. It describes battle in the context of defending Islam in its infancy; it makes clear that pluralism is God’s design for humanity and directs us to compete in good works and come to know one another.
Remember that the Qur’an was revealed to Muhammad (peace be upon him) over a period of 23 years in the early 7th Century. At the time of revelation, there were very few individuals living as monotheists in the Arabian peninsula. Muhammad and his message represented an enormous threat to...
The simple and incomplete answer is that yes, insofar as any book that describes battles or warfare from time to time is violent, the Qur’an is violent. However, the Qur’an forbids aggression and permits only defensive battle. It describes battle in the context of defending Islam in its infancy; it makes clear that pluralism is God’s design for humanity and directs us to compete in good works and come to know one another.
Remember that the Qur’an was revealed to Muhammad (peace be upon him) over a period of 23 years in the early 7th Century. At the time of revelation, there were very few individuals living as monotheists in the Arabian peninsula. Muhammad and his message represented an enormous threat to...