For 55 years, Muslim children have been coming to Muslim Youth Camp in Northern California, the country’s oldest Muslim summer camp. In addition to the normal American summer camp activities—swimming, sing-alongs, roasting s’mores, and playing sports—campers attend classes designed to help them grow in their faith, build a sense of community, and, at a time of heightened anti-Muslim sentiment, learn how to deal with and respond to bigotry. According to Amira Quraishi, daughter of the camp’s late founder, Marghoob Quraishi, “My father, he saw Islam as a force for good, equality, social justice and pursuing knowledge… He saw that these were new Muslims in a new country and they needed to try to figure out how they were going to be Muslim in America… The way my dad described it is that he just started walking and then after 20 years looked back and noticed people were coming with him.”
Reacting to Charlottesville: What You Can Do
If the events in Charlottesville this past weekend have you rattled, here are some concrete, positive actions you can take to support inclusivity, local Charlottesville businesses, call out hate, and more. Click below for a comprehensive list!
Is There a Religious Way to Be Angry?
In our current political, social, and cultural climate in the United States, it can feel like outrages and injustice are coming at us from every side, be it an unjust new law, a rally in support of racism and hatred, or even simply national discourse that diminishes groups of people and calls into question whether or not they are a legitimate part of US society. If you care about social justice, it can be easy to feel angry at these events. Anger is a natural emotion, but what is the right way to be angry? Is there a way to express the emotion that honors our religious faiths? Read this piece below for an interfaith perspective on anger, and the importance of channeling the emotion toward action.
Interfaith Show of Support for Attacked Minnesota Islamic Center
After a bomb was thrown through the window of Dar Al Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomfield, Minnesota, hundreds of people of all faiths turned out in a show of support for the Muslim community, denouncing the attack with a poignant and important message: We are all one Minnesota. We will not let hate win. People also took action online, raising over $100,000 to help the Islamic Center rebuild. Dar Al Farooq community members have expressed thanks to their supporters, saying that the outpouring of support and friendship shows that there are far more good people out there than bad.
Art and Empathy
Issues of religion, gender, and ethnicity can often seem difficult to discuss or fully understand when not tied to our daily lives and concerns. Rohina Malik, a nationally-recognized playwright and performer, talks with us about how theater can spotlight these issues in an approachable and empathetic way. Her one-woman show, Unveiled, looks at the lives of five Muslim women from differing backgrounds and how they challenge, confound, and exceed the stereotypes placed on them by others.