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Jun 24 Transforming Your Reality Jun 17 A History of Muslim Americans’ Political Engagement Jun 17 My Brother is Gay: Navigating the Intersection of Religion and Family An interview with Imam Wesley Lebron Jun 10 Islam and the Romans: Early Muslim-Byzantine Interaction May 20 Reclaiming the Sunnah of Adoption and Foster Care: An Interview with Basmah Salam Apr 29 National Poetry Month: An Ode to Faith, Visibility, and the Conversations We Don’t Forget Apr 15 Beyond Ramadan: Taking Its Lessons Farther  Apr 15 The Power of Saying No: A Reflection on Boundaries

Tag: community work

  • Four Remarkable Muslim Moms Pursue Their Joys, Enhance Their Community

    Four Remarkable Muslim Moms Pursue Their Joys, Enhance Their Community

    Allah has given each of us unique talents and abilities. Oftentimes mothers set their passions to the side because their daily responsibilities seem so all-consuming. However, as these four Muslim women demonstrate, it is possible for busy mothers to carve out time for activities that invigorate them and benefit their community. These moms have discovered what brings extra joy and meaning to their lives and have found ways to explore their interests while enhancing others’ lives at the same time.

    Tara Olhoft – Swim Instructor

    Tara is an avid swimmer and certified lifeguard and swim instructor who used to dream of competing in the Olympics. She coached and swam competitively for several years, but then her life took an unexpected turn.

    “While working as a lifeguard, I would study the Qur’an during my breaks,” explains Tara. “Within months, I took my shahada. After I started wearing hijab, I could not swim laps anymore. This was pre-burkini, and no Muslim ladies that I knew did that.”

    Tara did not give up her passion indefinitely, though. “Fast forward 5 children and 15 years later, I again have the opportunity to teach swimming lessons,” she says. “The burkini is available, and I have confidence and access to a pool. I started with my own children alhamdulillah. It became clear to me that there is no one formula for teaching swimming. Now, when I have a new student, I pay close attention to their individual needs and tailor the lesson for them. I teach them how to use the water for their benefit.”

    Tara uses her love of aquatics and her keen understanding of different personalities and learning styles to customize her lessons, even for those who are fearful of the water. “Last summer I was traveling from pool to pool teaching children and ladies from all walks of life how to swim,” she says. “There are so many people who don’t believe they could ever swim, but when they begin lessons, they fall in love with the water.”

    For Tara, sharing her talents has been fulfilling for her and beneficial to countless others. “Alhamdulillah,” she says, “Allah has put me in a position to help my community members learn how to swim and grow in confidence in their abilities.”

    Maryam Yousaf – Writer and Blogger

    “My passion is to serve the ummah both online and offline,” says Maryam Yousaf, a writer and mother of four from Scotland. “I am a blogger on Instagram where I share faith-based posts and also help my followers with any questions or help they need.”

    In addition to blogging, Maryam has published several books. “I was inspired to write books after the positive response I received from writing inspirational faith-based content on Instagram and on my website. I decided to help more people by writing books about self-love, relationships, women’s empowerment via Islam, and fiction and non-fiction children’s books.”

    Maryam was driven not only by her interest in writing, but also by the lack of quality Islamic literature for an audience hungry for it. She says, “I realized that there was a need for this service therefore decided to take action instead of waiting and hoping that someone else would.”

    Maryam’s latest non-fiction book, Remarkable Muslim Women, will insha’Allah be published on Amazon in July. It is aimed at readers aged 10 and older and highlights positive Islamic role models. Maryam Yousaf, author and blogger, can be found on Instagram @Muslimatoday, on TikTok @Muslimatoday1, and via her website.

    Nina Obeid – Runner and Trainer

    For Nina Obeid, a mother of three in California, what started as a means of physical and mental self-care and losing postpartum weight has become a way to empower other Muslim women.

    “I am a runner and novice triathlete,” she says. “Having run 2 marathons, 13 half-marathons, 3 short course triathlons, plus obstacle course racing, trail running, and relay racing over the 10 years, I learned a few things along the way. I shared my passion and process via social media and was approached one day to coach a few ladies from the Muslim community in Orange County, California.”

    With the same energy and determination that she puts into her grueling workouts, Nina founded two clubs: OTG Runners and Off the Grid Sisters Social Hike Club. Currently over forty Muslim women participate in her popular programs.

    “I was really trying to convey that self-care, engaging in sports, health, and fitness, while being a hijabi Muslim female were not limiting factors, nor counter to Islam,” explains Nina. “Rather it’s in support of our worship of Allah SWT. We are encouraged to get out in nature. We are told our bodies have rights over us and are an amana to take care of. We have been prescribed to enjoin good and bring others to worship for His sake and build a community. Running and hiking was my way of doing it.”

    Nina Obeid — MSW; RRCA (Road Runners Club of America); USATF 1 (USA Track & Field) — can be followed on Instagram.

    Jennessa Durrani – Empowerment Coach and Islamic Center Council Member

    Jennessa Durrani, a mother of two, has harnessed her unique talents to give a voice to Muslim women in her community. “The two passions that I have that I use within my community and my business are therapeutic arts like zentangling, art journaling, and mandalas and gathering women together to make meaningful connections,” says Jennessa.

    “All throughout my life I have been the glue that brought people together,” she explains. “I am the type of person that hates small talk, but I can sit down and talk to anyone about their story for hours and hours. So, bringing women together to connect with themselves and each other through meaningful dialogue and art is the perfect marriage and definitely my passion.”

    As an empowerment coach, Jennessa helps women of all faiths and backgrounds, but as a Muslim she directs much of her expertise to her local masjid. “I have found through the years that our Muslim community has limited programming for women to gather for the sake of support, camaraderie, and connection,” she says. “It can also be difficult for the women in our community to provide their input into the programming and support that they need as a Muslimah, mother, wife, and daughter. As a result, when I was given the opportunity to be a founding member of the Shura Council at my local mosque, I jumped at the opportunity.”

    Her efforts on the Shura Council, while focused primarily on the needs of women and adolescents, enhance the community as a whole. “Over the past two years I have been able to create a sisters’ programming committee that is giving a voice to the women to find activities they can connect with. I’ve also created a youth development committee led by sisters that is doing monthly programming for teens to help strengthen their imaan.” Jennessa Durrani can be followed at on her website where she empowers mothers to see what’s possible for themselves without sacrificing their role as an amazing mom.

    Mothers who have latent talents or unexplored passions can look to Tara, Nina, Maryam, and Jennessa as role models. These women saw a need in their community and generously dedicated their time, energy, and God-given abilities to fulfill it. Along the way, they get to be the best version of themselves, honoring their strengths and using them to please their Creator.

  • Dawah Through Community Empowerment: A Latino Muslim Perspective

    Dawah Through Community Empowerment: A Latino Muslim Perspective

    Latino Muslims are no longer the novelty they once were in this country. Their number appears to be ris-ing but no extensive studies of Latino Muslims have been done to date, which is why we have no realistic assessment of the numbers of converts nor where, when, or why they converted. What we do know is that they, for the most part, are a disjointed group scattered in pockets across the nation, many, per-haps, yearning for a legitimate Islamic expression of their Latin identity. They have also become a much more diversified group over time, a pan-Latino phenomenon representing practically every Latin Ameri-can nation.

    Historically, as Muslims conquered new lands, they became rulers of large non-Muslim populations, at first Christian and Zoroastrian, and later Hindu and sub-Saharan animist. Due to the Quranic prohibition on forced conversion, these non-Muslims often retained their religious identity for many generations under Muslim minority rule. Yet, in the vast majority of cases, Islam eventually became the dominant religion of the masses. This was not accomplished solely through proselytization because the masses by nature tend to be cautious, distrustful, and wary of the new and unfamiliar. Words may or may not be understood, but actions speak clearly and eloquently.

    Rape, pillage, and murder were the order of the day for conquerors in the world the Muslims inherited. Yet the early Muslims defied all convention by eschewing barbarity and replacing it with a sense of justice and respect for the rights of others. The actions of those early Muslims, embodied in their manners, morals, and the institutions they established to secure societal peace and justice, had a profound effect. They were the impetus for the creation of a new and enduring generation of Muslims, touched by acts that went beyond words. These early Muslims saw justice and the welfare of mankind as the proper outward expression of the Quranic mission Allah and His Prophet (pbuh) had entrusted to them.

    Such was the case with 8th century Visigothic Spain, a land groaning under the weight of oppression and social decay. There, Muslim conquest and rule was transformative. The former injustices were replaced with just laws that empowered the people, most notably in land reform. The emphasis on public welfare was evident in their attention to health, hygiene, education, and urban and rural infrastructure. The Ibe-rian Peninsula became Al Andalus, a beacon of enlightened civilization. By the time Andalusia had reached its caliphal height, 70 percent of the native Iberian population had become Muslim.

    Now, a half-millennium later, the cultural descendants of that Andalusian civilization are returning to
    Allah and the religion that provided its life-altering strength. Yet this time we are not marching into Times Square or San Francisco Bay as conquerors, to display magnanimity from a position of power. We rule nothing, but are among the ruled in a republic whose representatives govern at the behest of
    exploitative, parasitic corporate and financial interests. Misery has spread throughout the country where half of the population is now considered poor, millions have lost their jobs and homes, one in four chil-dren live in abject poverty, and millions, disproportionately African-American and Latino, are behind bars working in legalized slavery for major corporations.

    In this context, what does a Latino Muslim, or for that matter any Muslim, stand for in 21st century America? When non-Muslims look at us now, what do they see? Do they see us standing up for the rights of the oppressed? Do they see us sacrificing our time and money to alleviate the suffering of the afflicted or aiding the needy in our society? Do they see us taking a stand against economic injustice and the brutality of an increasingly authoritarian police force? Or do they see us dispassionately walking by their homes on our way to the mosque, work, or home, seemingly unconcerned with their pain? Yet, the Quran tells us, “O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be [against] rich or poor, for Allah can best pro-tect both. Follow not the lusts [of your hearts] lest you swerve, and if you distort or decline to do justice, verily Allah is well- acquainted with all that you do” (4:135).

    This country’s past Islamic movements recognized that the Islamic expression of faith in Allah went be-yond the requisite prayers, fasting, and charity. They saw their efforts to correct injustices and inequity in their society as their way of emulating the great reformers of the past. Latino Muslims are a minority within a minority, yet we have the very real power to impress nuestra gente (our people) with the true essence of Allah’s deen, communicating through our actions what speeches, brochures, videos, and CDs fail to convey. Past groups like the Darul Islam Movement, the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood, the Is-lamic Party of North America, and Alianza Islamica galvanized their members around two uncompromis-ing propositions: proclaiming the word of Allah and speaking out against any form of injustice and op-pression. Allah says in the Quran, “And what is amiss with you that you fight not in the cause of Allah and of the oppressed among men, women, and children who say, ‘Our Lord, take us out of this city of oppressive people and appoint for us from Yourself a protector and appoint for us from Yourself a help-er?’” (4:74).

    Alianza Islamica was the first Latino Muslim organization to combine an effective dawah program with an equally vigorous social welfare program. On the West Coast, LALMA (Los Angeles Latino Muslim Associa-tion), reportedly inspired by their example, has been very successful with a similar approach, termed indi-rect dawah, by its founder Marta Galedary, for the past 16 years. However, it is important to note that a true Islamic movement faithful to its cause is not a career path. No one in Alianza, from the director on down, ever received a dime for their efforts. Alianza also avoided the temptation of creating self-identified, titled elites: no Shaikh Fulanos or Papo El Mahdis; no attention-seeking or ego-stroking was allowed. Focus was kept on serving the people and the community.

    I believe there is a need for this model to be taken up by a new generation of Latino Muslims who would improve on it, allow it to evolve, and adapt it to new circumstances and environments while remaining true to its revolutionary spirit. Maybe then, if Allah so wills, Islam can become entrenched in communi-ties where people are hurting the most. This society has saddled Latinos with a host of burdens: poor education, economic hardship, police brutality, and the quagmire of immigration. Above that pandemo-nium, we, as Muslims, must proclaim the oneness of Allah and the messengership of Muhammad (pbuh). For those unable to hear us beyond that cacophony, let them see Islam in action. Perhaps, if Al-lah so wills, through a combination of both approaches, the faint echoes of a long-lost Andalucía will be heard again and light will finally return after the long night.