People annoy me. There’s nothing new there, I’ve always been easily annoyed by people dumbassery, and, living in North America, and studying Islam, it seems I hear more dumbassery almost every day! Between my cousin sending me spammail to ban Islamic prayers on school grounds during lunches and breaks, and my uncles making fun of me for not eating pork anymore, I’ve had my fill of dumbassery in my own family, so when it comes to strangers passing their own comments on me, my boyfriend or other Muslims: puh-lease! I have started wearing Hijabs once in a while. On my … Continue reading You’re Muslim?! You don’t even look it!!!

“What is your religion?” We ask this as if anyone can have a religion. religion belongs to God and not to any individual. Those born into a religion often feel like it belongs to them, and want those who convert into it, to treat it with the same respect and abiding faith as they do. So what if your view of the religion doesn’t match theirs? I find this to be the most troubling part of studying Islam. I do not believe in the more extreme perspectives, I would even go as far as saying that I’m more progressive than … Continue reading The Convert Connundrum

I cannot even begin to explain how much I hate when arguments arise about the legitimacy of one religion over another. Let’s agree on this: everyone who follows a religion believe that their religion is the “better” religion… otherwise why would they follow it at all? Most religions follow the same basic principles of doing good rather than bad. Which means, all we are really arguing when arguing about religion is what is our definition of “good” and “bad”. That lays in much deeper than belief in the after-life, karma, or reincarnation. Religion is, afterall, a way to dictate a … Continue reading Holier than thou…

“God has prepared a path for everyone to follow. You just have to read the omens that he left you.” For some, this might sound like a quote from the Torah, the Bible, the Qu’ran or another scripture. However, that quote is from Paolo Coehlo’s The Alchemist. In his book, Coehlo speaks of a goal, a personal treasure, which each of us possess. God sets this goal for us but also puts obstacles to test our faith and our desire to achieve our goal. On the way to this goal, we are told it might be tempting to give up, … Continue reading The book that changed it all