I would love to know if this resonates with you! Let me know in the comments!

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Curious about what Muslim women might be talking about in this moment, I went to YouTube and searched up “Muslim Women Podcast.” Oh, dear God.

Is it just me or the algorithm?

My YouTube search brought up scary women lecturing me about my inadequacy in faith (based on patriarchal interpretations of our tradition); women who were fully covered in niqab (everything covered except the eyes); or pretty Muslim women who felt “performative” in their Islam, adopting some kind of “Islam-speak” or appearing “Islamically perfect,” i.e. the pietistic affectations1 that we often adopt the instant we enter a space with other Muslims.

Where are the relatable Muslim women? The ones that I can connect with, who I would love to be friends with, or have a coffee with to hold a deep conversation on life, God and what is happening in our world? Where are the inspiring, knowledgeable, justice-oriented, and fiery Muslim women that ANY woman would aspire to be?

I know they exist, because I know them in real life. But why is it that the Muslim women who appear on my feed — the ones that “look Muslim,” especially to the non-Muslim eye, are NOT relatable? Are “Muslim women” online only identifiable because of their hijabs?

With all due respect to my Muslim sisters making podcasts, as a convert, I cannot help but assess how we, Muslims, are doing through my own lens as a former non-Muslim. I am very sensitized to how we—Muslim women especially—present ourselves to the world.

Why is this important? Because in an Islamophobic world that thrives on convincing the Western populous that Muslims are “foreign” and “unrelatable” (and all that follows to dehumanize, “otherize,” marginalize, and ultimately, kill Muslims with impunity), it becomes an act of resistance to bring to the fore images and testimonies of Muslim women who do NOT appear “foreign.” Women who people would NOT imagine are Muslim. Muslim women doing amazing things. Muslim women who are proud to be Muslim and yet are completely inspiring to both non-Muslims and Muslims.

After all, according to God, Islam is a message to ALL of humanity, and Muslims are supposed to be inspiring to ALL of humanity. How can we be inspiring to humanity if we are seen as foreign, unrelatable and effectively reduced to a woman with a hijab, or worse, niqab (full covering with only a slit for the eyes), which appears to be the case on my YouTube feed.

And I must be honest that when it comes to women podcasters who wear the niqab, I am truly disturbed. I do not believe that God intended for half the population to be living fully covered with only their eyes showing through a slit. To find several women in this condition having conversations on YouTube is truly upsetting to me. Would humanity find this inspiring? That’s a hard NO, in my opinion. Does it feed into the harmful stereotypes of Muslim women? Absolutely. Should this factor into our decision-making, as Muslims, when we appear in public on YouTube? Yes, 100%.

For all the Islamophobic forces in our world that want people to believe that Muslims are foreign, exotic, and somehow NOT human, this matters and matters a lot. I have previously shared my journey on “Why I Don’t Wear Hijab and Why It Is NOT a Sin,” in which I explain why there is space in the Islamic jurisprudential tradition for women who do not wish to cover to do so without sin, contrary to popular Muslim conception. My intention was to lift the suffering of those women who have been told it IS a sin, and as a result, went into hiding, carry an undue burden, continue wearing the hijab out of fear, or worse, leave the religion all together. I have heard from women who fall into all those categories.

For any reasonable, thinking person, I believe it is clear that God expects us to use our God-given intellects to work through what it means to be an ethical and effective vicegerent of God in our moment. This is the duty of all Muslims in every moment in history.

I believe our moment in history calls for smart resistance, especially in the arena of public perception. Hijab or no hijab, I believe it is about being at the forefront of role-modeling excellence as a human being. In the realm of YouTube Muslim Women Podcasts, I believe it means being authentic, honest, confident in our faith and free to be ourselves. But let’s not be naïve about this moment. We need to show up in a way that our allies are inspired, not in a way where they see and deal with us as simply good objects of charity.

Because of the messages I get, I have come to the belief that there are many “relatable” Muslim women in hiding, who are similarly avoidant of the judgment and performative dynamics inherent to traditional and online Muslim spaces. I get it. It is scary, depressing and tiring to deal with the “well-intentioned advice (nasiha)” that comes at you for appearing “Western,” or less than perfect by some pseudo-“Islamic” standard.

Beautiful ladies, it is time to come out of the closet. It is time for us “normal,” relatable, reasonable, polite and otherwise conflict-avoidant Muslim women to claim our place at the front lines. Time to shine the dignity, ethical conviction, commitment to justice, and humane empathy for all people, inherent to being Muslim. Wear it with pride, speak it with articulation, and own it with your being. Why should we be silenced or marginalized by those who don’t know any better?

We are living in very dark times. Muslims are supposed to be at the leading edge of everything good and beautiful, according to our theology. At the forefront of justice. At the forefront of ethics. At the forefront of critical thinking and coming up with revolutionary solutions to human problems. We are supposed to be standing up to power, oppression and corruption with confidence, conviction and bravery.

Sadly, for so many important reasons, the Muslim collective has checked none of those boxes. We are silent and relevant to no one on the world stage. The so-called “Muslims” seated at the tables of power are complicit Pharoahs. And us, regular folk, are on the receiving end of decisions made by the upper echelons of power.

If there is anything we should understand from our faith, it is that it is time to rise up, resist, be a role model for humanity, and express the beauty of our humanness in a way that invites others to goodness. Every little bit helps.

The results of my impromptu YouTube search pushed me to get out of my zone of retreat and share a slice of my “normal” life to signal to others that we, “relatable” Muslims, exist! I am passionate about God, my faith, and my role in the world as an ethical Muslim. But just because I don’t wear a hijab, wear Islam on my sleeve, or act in performatively “Muslim” ways, it doesn’t make me any less authentically Muslim.

So for what it’s worth, here is me:

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Greetings of Peace Dear Friends,

Al salamu ‘alaykum and Ramadan Mubarak! I pray you are well as we enter into these blessed last days of Ramadan. It seems we can’t talk about Ramadan without mentioning how quickly it has passed and always passes, and how it seems to pass more quickly each Ramadan. This year is no exception, but when I think about all that has transpired during this month so far, it has been jam packed to say the least.

At the very beginning of the month, I received a message from a Substack friend who asked me for advice about how she could make Ramadan feel like something special given her health limitations - she would not be able to fast nor partake in taraweeh prayers nor volunteer nor do anything that would require leaving the house, staying up late or physical exertion. She felt FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), especially as a convert, in her state of being, feeling the weighty expectations that come with Ramadan.

I completely get the FOMO. Ramadan, especially to a convert, feels like it is supposed to be a certain way: taraweeh prayers every night, iftars every night, extra prayers every night, etc. All of those things are important, but what if you can’t?

In a nutshell, I told her that Ramadan should be a time for reflection and growing closer to God in whatever way she could do that. She could talk to God, journal, pray for whatever she felt needed more prayer, write, learn something new, or possibly strengthen herself through gentle exercise or stretching. Of course, I suggested that she could watch Project Illumine videos or read any of Dr. Abou El Fadl’s books and share her thoughts online! :) Any kind of bringing beauty or goodness into the world for herself, her family or her beloved pets. Choosing joy, especially in these dark times in the world. I reassured her that God knows her intentions and situation.

This Ramadan began for me with an intense engagement and focus on my beloved dog, Luda. Luda was diagnosed with cancer last year and in the days leading up to Ramadan, her decline became more pronounced. Luda was one of our most “human” dogs, with very sensitive and complex emotions. She was affected very deeply when I was not around. In the week before Ramadan, I was away visiting my elderly parents and in my absence, she declined to the point that we were worried she would not last until my return. She stopped eating and began isolating as dogs often do as they approach the end. I prayed that God would not take her until I returned so I could see her again.

Alhamdulillah (thank God), upon my return, she rallied back to life but she was still frail and not interested in eating. My first ten days of Ramadan, I barely left her side. She would teeter from the throes of death to relative improvement, but it was clear she would not return to health. Her days were numbered and I did not want her to face the end alone. I would not want to be alone if I were on my last days.

I recognize that many people might not share my perspective that dogs require that level of care or attention. But to me, this was a Godly duty out of love, especially given Luda’s heightened emotional sensitivity. Just because they can’t talk, doesn’t mean they don’t feel. And in fact, Luda, for all of her inability to speak, was extremely communicative. To my mind, tending to Luda in her last days was an especially blessed act during Ramadan. I constantly prayed for God to be merciful towards Luda, and merciful towards us, the family who would be devastated by her loss. Of all the dogs we have adopted and rescued over the years, Luda was a force and a presence like no other. For her to depart would be devastating.

God answered my prayers. What began as my plea to please not take Luda so soon eventually turned into prayers to please take her. My time spent with her as she slowly and gently grew visibly more weak gradually allowed me to also slowly and gently accept and let go. By her last day, we were all ready for her to depart by the mercy of God. God took her quietly and gently as I was FaceTiming with my parents as she lay by my feet. Eight minutes later when I hung up and looked down at her, she was already gone.

LUDA (2015-2026)

The same night that Luda returned to God, the war in Iran began. The second ten days of Ramadan became consumed with following independent media to stay abreast of the daily happenings. The outrageously evil and unprovoked lawless acts on full display, alongside the lies and senseless death and destruction were too much to bear—and they continue unabated with only escalation in sight. Some nights, all I could do was watch podcasts and take naps after iftar.

I decided that instead of feeling anxiety over not doing enough by way of Ramadan activities, I would allow myself to slow down, be more intentional and reflective, and let go of the feeling that somehow I was failing Ramadan. I felt that the point was to lean into the reality and gravity of the moment, while simultaneously asking God for guidance and connection. Staying God centered. I didn’t “pray more rakats for more blessings,” but I tried to connect with God more intently both during prayer and outside of prayer.

Feeling the impact of a kind of existential threat that I could never before have imagined — from the unfolding war in the Middle East to the undeniable fact that our world is controlled by satanic occultist pedophiles as the Epstein Files reveal to seeing the lack of hope in the cowardice, complicity and corruption of world leaders, juxtaposed with the heroic resistance, suffering and decimation of the people—what could the most apparent conclusion be for any believer except to recognize that the answer is to lean into God? Only God could understand and comfort me in a way that no human being could. Surrendering to God took on a new meaning, clarity and importance.

I decided that my resistance to the darkness and destruction in the world would take the form of creating something, like writing or bringing some kind of goodness into being. I can’t stop the world from ending, but I can still plant a seed, as the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) taught us.

Thankfully, I had been invited to speak at the Columbus School for Girls, a prestigious private school hosting their first iftar. I spent a lot of time preparing my remarks and then wrote about the experience on Substack:

Then last night, I managed to complete and publish a second Substack piece that I had begun writing last year, but which wouldn’t come to fruition until Ramadan for reasons I explain:

Creating feels good, and I pray I can do more before the month’s end insha’Allah (God willing).

Interspersed among these grand ups and downs were also many other ups and downs of a lesser scale. All felt more intense or more ethereal to me with the energy of the month. Perhaps it was the fasting, or the divine energy, or the bad juju from the demonic in the world. One thing for sure. The demons were certainly NOT chained nor restrained, rather they seem to have had the full run of the world for a while. What does that tell us about the truth of the lore that some Muslims hold dear?

It tells me that the clarifying, truth-telling work coming out of The Usuli Institute is so much more crucial than ever. During Ramadan, we continued filming Project Illumine Sirah episodes, held Q&As, and dialed up the heat in the khutbahs coming from the Prophet’s Pulpit. Every single khutbah during Ramadan was absolutely ON FIRE!! And if you missed this week’s khutbah on “Bleeding the Muslim Body: Modernity, Iran, and Neo-Colonialism,” by Dr. Abou El Fadl, watch it and get ready for unparalleled insight on what is happening in Iran today. It is an education not to be missed. I am so proud of the work we do to educate and empower people in these awful times.

As we enter these final days of the holy month, as always, it is bittersweet. Reflecting on the blessings, the tests, the learning, the miracles small and large, there is so much to be grateful for. This Ramadan was for me a chance to slow down, to ask for God’s constant presence, help and influence, and to let things unfold with no expectation. To trust in my efforts, my prayers and my surrender.

Did I go to nightly taraweeh? No. Did I attend nightly iftars? No. Did I try to focus on being God-centered in everything I was doing? Yes. Did I ask God to weigh in and bless whatever I was occupied with? Yes. Did I pray that God would forgive me for the things I could have done better during this month? Absolutely. This Ramadan for me was not about productivity or heightened activity, but one of presence, connection and intentionality.

I always find it curious that we talk about stuffing Ramadan with tons of extra activities and hope that something good remains for the rest of the year. What makes more sense to me is that we take this time to dial in and create a consistent, sustainable, and reasonable practice that is exactly what we maintain and build upon all through the year, every year.

I pray that you and your families will find much ethereal joy, deep love and Godly meaning in your final days of this blessed month. I pray that God will immensely reward and uplift our brothers and sisters who are suffering around the world. And I pray that by next Ramadan, we Muslims will be moving towards a much better place in our ability to serve and please God as God calls upon us to do. Ameen.

In Peace and Hope,

Grace

Executive Director, The Usuli Institute
grace@usuli.org

P.S. Please remember us in your prayers and in your giving in these last days! May God exponentially multiply your rewards and blessings for supporting our work! Take advantage of our $50K Ramadan Matching Gift Campaign to double your impact!

Join the Usuli Institute mailing list to receive our newsletters HERE.

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Please bear with me, as the unfolding is its own story.

My youngest son, Mido, is a junior in college. At the end of last semester, for his class on race and gender, he told me he wanted to interview me and his father on the topic of hope. He wanted to capture some of our stories for his final project. He wanted to create a video inspired by the book, If I Must Die, by the Palestinian poet and writer, Refaat Alareer, who believed we must share and live on through our stories.

Of course, his father and I were very happy to oblige. Days passed and the deadline was fast approaching. As Moms do, I started to worry. Kids procrastinate!

Rather than irritate him by asking and reminding him of the deadline, I decided instead to channel my worry into gathering my own thoughts about what I might say. I was pleased with myself that I crafted a short essay1 on the topic of racism and hope, and breaking the generational inheritance of racism. I kept it age-appropriate (or so I thought).

I was ready! I printed out my short essay and gave it to Mido as a memento. He was touched that I had gone to the effort of writing it, and my interview went fine. Next came his Baba. Whereas I might be “relatable,” his Baba was profound and deeply moving. It was special just to hear his answers to Mido’s questions.

Our interviews concluded after midnight and his project was due the next day at noon. Around 2 AM, Mido said he would start working on his script (yikes!). Again, I was worried. But how hard could it be for him to stitch together a couple of recordings of Mom and Dad opining on hope, right? I said a prayer for God to help him and bid him goodnight.

By the time I woke up, he had already turned in his video. Project done, start to finish in under six hours. Ok great, good job Mido! Excited to watch it! Thank God! If I am being honest, I was not exactly expecting a masterpiece considering how last-minute the whole thing was…

First, Mido’s video. I was blown away.

Let’s just say the gap between my expectation and the reality of what he created was actually stunning to me. I was thinking more along the lines of an upgrade from a last-minute high school video project. This was not that. For a bit of background, he is a Public Policy major with a focus on African American studies (he is interested in law and social justice and felt that to truly understand racism and oppression, he would be best served to learn about the Black experience in America). Smart kid. Take a look:

At the base Mom-level, it is hard to articulate the sheer awe in seeing this full-grown person—who for so long was wholly dependent upon you—now independently capable of creating beauty, reasoning and inspiring work that is completely new and fresh to you. His thoughts and reflections were fully formed, original and sophisticated—and they matter.

Seeing his personhood evolving in earnest confirmed to me that he has something important to contribute to the outcome of our world. I recognized in this video that Mido was given a gift, which if developed, could do great things. That at 20 years of age, he could literally whip out a video with the curiosity, empathy and articulation that he did is a sign of great potential. It is an opportunity that I pray he will capitalize upon. But nothing is guaranteed.

I was honestly surprised to find this video so engaging from the start and so smart. But it was also deep, inspiring and very hopeful at many levels. The first time I watched it, I have to admit that I was not fully present, juggling my worldly demands as usual. I told myself I needed to watch it again, but with the speed of life, it was not until the first days of Ramadan that I managed a second viewing. Ramadan afforded me a more intentional, focused and reflective watching, and then it truly hit me how meaningful this video was—far beyond just a cool final project by Mido.

When I was his age, I was clueless and incapable of contributing anything to the world beyond a continuation of my own brokenness from an ill-formed set of generational inheritances. Did I blame my parents? Yes I did, until years later when I realized they were just human beings like me and everyone else—full of positives and negatives—trying to do the best they could with what they had. Nonetheless, they had choices, some with colossal generational consequences. And so did I.

Their choices, for better and for worse, led me to seek after better in my own journey, which ultimately brought me to Islam. As a new Muslim, I worked hard to move beyond harmful generational inheritances, for myself and for my family. I was determined to do better.

Through Mido’s video, God allowed me to see that I had done better, thank God. Mido exuded a quiet authenticity, a light-hearted assuredness and an ease of being that would have completely eluded me at his age. He was free, not worried about appearing perfect, or concerned that his questions or assertions about hope seemed inadequate or unwarranted. He was genuine, calm and thoughtful. Upon reflection, I realized that Mido showed no signs of the generational trauma that I had inherited from my own ancestry: the racism, classism, materialism and even the ageism of treating children as not yet deserving of respect or dignity before adults. I had succeeded in not passing that dark inheritance on.

Then, I tried to reflect upon all the inputs that a 20 year old would need to arrive at this state of being—the quiet confidence, humility and even vulnerability. The ease and acceptance of self, the freedom to experiment and explore, and the ability to question for the greater good. He would have needed to feel safe, loved and accepted, without fear of making mistakes from the time he was a child. He would have needed what all of us humans need to thrive — healthy soil to plant roots and grow wild.

I was not raised this way. So the fact that I could raise someone this way is in itself a sign of hope. But this is not just about me. God had given me an insight into our future as Muslims. Imagine if all of our children could move beyond the generational inheritances of their Muslim parents, able to shed the baggage of past hurt, trauma and fear—and be free to be themselves?

Don’t get me wrong. Mido is not perfect and neither am I. Far from it. But in my moments of reflection, God allowed me to see the fruit of my efforts to change the generational inheritance—and to feel the weight of the importance of this accomplishment and the implications for the world. This was my Ramadan miracle.

Perhaps this is obvious: that when we, as parents, can create an environment where children feel the necessary love and respect to thrive—and are free to be their authentic selves—it is no small act of worship. It is both monumental and trajectory-shifting for us as a people. It is, in fact, the ultimate act of faith, justice and resistance in the face of darkness, so vital especially in the moment in which we live. What better (and more challenging) way to contribute to the future of the world than through the active development of great people—our children?

To drive the point home further, the following day, God illustrated for me a tragic contrast. I share the painful example that my dear friend, Shayan Parsai, shared in his Ramadan reflection published in our Usuli Institute newsletter. In it, he writes:

“…This brings me to another point. Last week, I was able to visit Jana in New York. One night we gathered with a number of her friends, all from Muslim families. As we were talking, the conversation somehow shifted towards abuse that they had suffered in their homes growing up. I have known a number of these friends for years, so I am familiar with their stories, but what was truly tragic was that this time the others that I did not know so well were also sharing stories of trauma and abuse. I suddenly realized that every single one of these eight friends had suffered physical, emotional, and spiritual abuse from their parents. I don’t mean to be a downer. I only raise this issue to make this point: our communities and our homes are woefully void of love. How could it be that our homes have turned into sites of abuse rather than sanctuaries of love…”

I was shocked. How can it be that in a group of well-educated, up and coming, young Muslim Millennials, there was a 100% hit rate of parental abuse of some kind? It is true that hurt people hurt people, but what does this portend for the future generations of Muslims? For Islam in America?

And for a religious tradition that has produced endless tomes and treatises on all the different kinds of love that exist in God’s beautiful world for humans to experience, how could it be that Muslims have forgotten the centrality of love in our tradition? It is ironic that Christianity is “known” for being about “love,” when Islam, before the austerity of our modern age, was the wellspring of love and all its variations. After all, how could Islam be at the height of civilization for so long without love at its core?

Yet as a Muslim convert, I was not drawn to Islam because I was aware of the tradition’s tomes on love, nor even Islam’s history in the world. My choices in my broken state as a young person led me to some very dark places and in reaction, I was seeking light. Mine was a sincere search for something better, cleaner and more intuitively right. My search led me to Islam and ultimately granted me the opportunity to rethink, relearn and reimagine what life could be—and pursue it.

But I must also be honest that God planned for me to find a different Islam than “mainstream Islam”—the version of Islam that manifests in the vast majority of American mosques today. The type of Islam that our Muslim Millennial youth were likely raised in.

In my first year as a convert, God allowed me to experience the effect of “mainstream Islam” and I found it confusing, intellectually suffocating and spiritually regressive, despite all of the kind and wonderful people I met in those spaces.

A year later, God arranged for me to meet and marry my life partner, the unicorn Islamic scholar of our time, Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl. Through him and his scholarship, my understanding of Islam completely changed me, my life trajectory, and my ability to emerge far beyond generational inheritances.

I was blessed by God to replace my generational inheritances with the message of Islam, and further refine my understandings of beautiful, reasonable and humanistic Islam from my teacher and life partner, whose vast scholarship and wisdoms are easily accessible online through our work at The Usuli Institute. My personhood and life were transformed (a mere six words that capture the decades-long remaking of a person).

But if I am the proof in my own pudding, Mido is the icing on the cake.

What God allowed me to see in Mido’s video was an affirmation of the power of beautiful Islam—the Islam that God planned for me to rebuild myself with—and the version we now teach at The Usuli Institute. That I started out broken and became something I was not raised to be is proof that change is possible. Terrible generational inheritances can cease and be replaced with much, much better.

As parents, it is a supreme act of worship to do all we can to ensure we are able to raise great people—to ensure that if we ourselves are hurt, that we try to heal ourselves so we do not hurt them and end up passing down our own dark generational inheritances.

Mido, his generation and all our Muslim youth hold the future of Islam in their hands. What they do for the world will determine what becomes of Islam, and what we give them now is our own lasting contribution to the future of Islam. Our children cannot and should not be broken, traumatized or abused. They must be nurtured, strengthened and allowed to thrive, and we must do everything in our power to see this happens.

And for those who find themselves alone in their journey of healing, let me reassure you from my own experience that God can heal all wounds. We know that “God is Beautiful and God loves Beauty.” I firmly believe that the version of beautiful Islam that God directed me to pursue is not only the path of healing, but the hope for the future.

In these last days of Ramadan, I pray that amidst the darkness of our world, we can still manage to recognize God’s gifts, blessings, and signs that point us to beautiful Islam. Change and healing are possible. I have experienced it in my life in miraculous ways. That God allowed me to see the fruit of beautiful Islam in Mido’s video about Hope is not only a Ramadan miracle for me, but I believe a sign of hope for us all. May God help us all.

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Nevertheless, it is the kind of challenge I like. I figured that maybe if I said something relatable enough, it might resonate with some of the girls. But at the same time, I realized I would probably be speaking more to the parents—non-Muslim and Muslim. For non-Muslims, this might be an opportunity to humanize Islam and Muslims, disarm some defenses, and hopefully plant some seeds of curiosity. For Muslims, I hoped my non-traditional approach would at a minimum be thought-provoking. In preparation, I made my usual prayer: “Please God, help me say what You want me to say…!”

What follows is my edited talk1, a short primer for Ramadan within the broader context of Islam. On a personal level, this talk also coincided with my 32nd anniversary as a Muslim convert. It holds fruit from my faith journey, which began many years ago as an earnest search for answers to some of my big, existential questions about life.

Good Evening! My name is Grace Song and I am the executive director of a nonprofit education institute, where we teach ethics, human rights, social justice, and critical thinking in the Islamic intellectual tradition. I feel very privileged to be able to talk with you tonight about Ramadan.

Let me start by telling you a little bit about myself. Yesterday was actually my 32^nd convert birthday. I converted to Islam on March 1, 1994 — eons ago! — also in the middle of the month of Ramadan. Ramadan is a very special time to make the choice to become Muslim because it is considered a very sacred month.

I was born and raised in America. My parents were Taiwanese immigrants. Choosing to become Muslim was difficult — and strange — especially as an American. It was very hard for my family and friends to understand.

When I was about 25 years old, I struggled with some big questions:

• Why am I here in this world?

• What is the meaning of life?

• What is my purpose?

• What happens to me after I die?

I believe every person grapples with these questions at some point in their life. Even children will ask: what happens after you die?

At that time, I was in business school, getting my MBA at Cornell University. I was surrounded by smart and accomplished people who were very concerned about making money and getting a great job, focused on all the material pleasures of life.

It made me ask myself: Is this really all there is?

That question set me on a faith journey. I had absolutely zero knowledge about Islam and learned everything from scratch.

ON ISLAM

In speaking about Ramadan, I first want to take a step back. Ramadan is one piece of the puzzle, and I think it is important to first get a sense of the bigger picture. Many people don’t know very much about Islam, so let me start at the beginning.

The religion is called Islam, and people who follow Islam are called Muslims.

What do Muslims believe? In a nutshell:

• We believe in One God, the same God that the Jews and Christians believe in. Islam is one of the three monotheistic faiths.

• We believe that Muslims received the same message from our Lord as the Jews and Christians.

• We believe in God’s Angels, God’s Books and God’s Messengers. We believe that the Torah, the Bible, and the Qur’an are holy books of God.

• We believe in all the Prophets of God, including the prophets Abraham, Noah, Moses, and other prophets that were the descendants of Prophet Abraham.

• We believe that Prophet Muhammad, also a descendant of Prophet Abraham, is the Final Messenger of God - the last prophet to receive revelation from God.

• The Holy Book of Islam is called The Qur’an.

• The Qur’an is a message to all of humanity, not just Muslims. It is a message based on justice, mercy, beauty and love.

It is a hard time in the world to be Muslim. If you follow the mainstream news, there is a very strong campaign to make people believe that Islam is all about terrorism and hate, and that it stands in opposition to the values of our Western Civilization. This is not true, but the Islamophobia industry is real and very effective. It is a necessary part of justifying being at war all the time, which is especially pertinent right now as we have just launched a war with Iran.

ON BECOMING A GREAT PERSON

I just recently learned about the Columbus School for Girls and it truly looks like an amazing place for girls to thrive. Everything you are learning and doing here is preparing you to be a great person out in the world.

But being a great person is more than being smart and capable out in the world. Something like faith — like Islam or your religion — is something that helps you to become a great person from the inside. What do I mean by that?

For Muslims, we believe that God wants each of us to thrive because of who we are on the inside. I believe that God wants each of us to really know and understand for ourselves:

• Who are we?

• What do we believe?

• What do we stand for?

• What kind of person are we?

• What kind of person do we want to be?

I believe that God wants us to develop ourselves to be the best kinds of people.

Who are the best kinds of people? People who are: kind, caring, loving, honest, trustworthy, patient, generous, positive, friendly, and welcoming. They are the kind of people you love and want to be around. The people who are often thinking of others and who go out of their way to do good things for the world.

These are divine qualities – Godly qualities. The qualities that God wants us to build and develop so we can be great people from the inside out. Islam teaches us how to be more divine and Godly in who we are. Muslims believe that God is loving and wants us each to be the best people we can be.

In our tradition, there is an expression: “God is beautiful and God loves beauty.” I believe this is at the heart of true Islam. Muslims believe that God wants each of us to be beautiful, moral, and loving people who bring beauty into the world. To do that, God wants each of us to thrive and be free to be our authentic selves as God created us – able to bring our unique gifts to the world.

ANSWERING THE BIG QUESTIONS

Returning to the big questions I was grappling with at the start of my faith journey, let me share with you the answers that I found in Islam that moved me to choose to become Muslim.

1. Why are we here and what is my purpose? Muslims believe that every person is created with a purpose and special gifts to achieve that purpose. Your job is to figure out what your gifts are, and your purpose is to use those gifts to create as much goodness in the world as possible.

2. What is the meaning of life? Life is a test and a journey. An opportunity to grow and learn. To explore, make mistakes, and develop – to learn to make good choices in your life to become the best version of yourself.

Each human being is born with a unique “package” of strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes and individual circumstances. Obviously, we don’t get to choose where we are born, who our parents are, the color of our skin, our gender, or whether we are healthy or handicapped, for example. Yet, regardless of our “package,” we are all created equal in worth, with an equal right to dignity.

Muslims believe that life is a test for God to see what you will do with what you are given. God wants to see:

• Who are the best people?

• Who did the best with what they were given?

• Who created most goodness?

In the Qur’an, God encourages people to compete in good deeds (Q5:48)2. Muslims believe that how you choose to live your life in this life will determine the answer to the next question:

3. What happens after I die? We are told in the Qur’an that there is a Hereafter, a life to come after this life, and that there will be Muslims, Jews, Christians and others who will have their reward with God.3 It is God’s business who makes it to Heaven, and God is the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate, the Most Forgiving and the Most Just. No injustice will go unaddressed. God will reward the best people. God tells us that we will be judged by our own actions and intentions. We will not be held accountable for the actions of others, or things that were out of our control.

God gives us the framework and the tools to become our best selves. God is always with you to help if you want God’s help. In my own journey, I have found that understanding the following foundations of faith have made all the difference:

1. Belief in a loving God. God is All Knowing, All Powerful, The Just, The Most Merciful and many other attributes. God wants us to build a close, loving, one-on-One relationship with God. We are never alone.

2. Knowledge and Understanding. The Qur’an, our holy book, teaches us what good morals and living a life of justice and beauty looks like. The Qur’an is an ocean of knowledge.4 The more we learn, the more we empower ourselves.

3. Meaning and Purpose. Our existence is not random or meaningless. We know we are here for a reason. There are no coincidences. Each of us matters—a lot.

4. Good versus Evil. God promises us that in the end, goodness will prevail over evil. Light over darkness. God sees everything and no injustice will go unaddressed, even if we don’t see it in our lifetimes. God always keeps God’s promises.

5. The Means to Developing ourselves as individuals. God will help us develop into the best versions of ourselves if we do the work. Rituals, like fasting during the month of Ramadan and prayer, are a means to an end.

Now with this backdrop, I can finally answer the original question:

WHAT IS RAMADAN AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT IN THE MUSLIM FAITH?

Ramadan is one of the most sacred months in the Islamic calendar, full of beautiful energy, multiplied blessings and even special Ramadan miracles! It is a month meant for introspection, spiritual growth, charity and community. We reflect on our lives, reset our priorities and commitments, and reconnect with or draw closer to God. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims around the world fast, meaning that they do not eat or drink anything (not even water!) from sunrise to sunset for about 30 days. It sounds harder than it is!

Fasting is one of the rituals that help us become our best selves. It is training for your body and mind to become strong, empathetic, kind, patient and disciplined. Fasting during Ramadan:

• Helps build character and mastery over the self.

• Teaches you to feel for others who have less than you.

• Shows you that you can overcome hardship.

• Helps you learn that you can control your feelings and emotions when you are “hangry,” irritable and impatient—you learn you can still choose to be kind, patient and loving.

Another important ritual in Islam is prayer, and during the month of Ramadan, Muslims increase their prayers in addition to other acts of worship, like charity, increasing good deeds and minimizing bad habits.

ON PRAYER

Prayer is another powerful tool for developing the self and developing a personal relationship with God. Muslims pray five ritual prayers every day during set periods of time throughout the day. Of course, everyone can talk to God anytime about anything, which also counts as prayer! But integrating the five ritual prayers into one’s daily life creates a spiritual practice that has numerous benefits, among them:

• Create a personal habit that develops discipline, mental strength and humility. God doesn’t need our prayers—we do!

• Build a close friendship with God and talk to God every day, multiple times a day. Ask God for help. Complain to God. Make God your best friend. Come to know and feel that you are never alone.

• Pause throughout the day to reconnect with God and remember the most important priorities in life.

• Regularly slow down, be present, be intentional.

• Regularly get up, move, be grateful and active.

• Show God that you are on God’s team, the side of light and goodness.

• Earn God’s blessings and gain the best Companion you could ever have.

Building a friendship with God, like any relationship, takes time, care and investment. Investing in a beautiful, consistent spiritual practice to become the best version of yourself is one of the best things you can do for yourself and the world. There are many more rich, deep and illuminating dimensions to Islam. These are only the basics.

ISLAM AS A REVOLUTION

Islam is a beautiful message for all humankind. It came as a revolutionary message in its time, which I truly believe has even more relevance today, given the state of our world:

• It called for justice in a time of extreme injustice.

• It called for equality in a time of vast inequality and rampant racism, classism, bigotry and misogyny. It gave women equal worth and rights when they previously had none.

• It told us that ALL humans are created equal in worth, ALL with an equal right to dignity.

• It told us that all human beings were created by God in love, each with unique gifts. It told us that diversity is a gift to creation and part of God’s divine plan.

• God wants each of us to be free, to thrive and to bring our unique gifts to the world to create beauty and goodness.

Everything begins with the individual. If each individual is moral, beautiful and empowered to create goodness in the world, imagine what a beautiful world we could create together as a result!

We certainly all need that right now. I truly believe that girls and women are the superpower of our world! Anything we can do to support and empower girls — and all human beings — is an investment in our collective future. Thank you very much.

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Call it synchronicity or coincidence, but I don’t believe in coincidences. I do, however, believe in signs, reminders and lessons from God that continue to come at you as you go about your day. What is the pressing message? The Truth Will Set You Free.

Lies abound and multiply in our moment, as does evil. It was amazing to me that shortly after I released this video, the latest tranche of the Epstein Files1 were released, exposing the utter depravity that rules our world. The lies behind what we once held in esteem (institutions, systems, revered people) are simply breathtaking.

The chasm between truth and lies is profound and distinct. Good and evil are visibly at war. Particularly during this blessed month of Ramadan, a time for reflection, renewal and reorientation, I believe the world is calling each of us to account: on which side of the chasm do we land? To remain neutral is to fall into the chasm.

EDITED TRANSCRIPT2:

Greetings of peace (al-salamu ‘alaykum). I hope you’re doing well. I want to talk today about truth and lies and good and evil, because I think that that is exactly what is becoming extremely apparent in our world. I think the polarization between the two extremes is so clear. Things that are becoming so apparent before our eyes—it is undeniable and I think that there is a lot of meaning in that.

Today, we had another man killed in cold blood by ICE on the streets in Minnesota. Three weeks ago, Renee Good was also shot dead by ICE. We have children being abducted and sent into American made concentration camps. We have horrific stories about ICE detaining US citizens, breaking into people’s homes. Just one lawless order after another from the Trump administration.

Just to give you a sense of where we are right now in the world: Trump just came back from Davos after a ridiculous speech in front of the world leaders. We are moving into a multipolar world. Trump has somehow set his sights on Greenland, although he can’t figure out if it is Greenland or Iceland. It just goes on and on. At the time of my last video, Sami Hamdi had been detained. That seems like eons ago although it was a mere two months ago.

And if you track every day how much is happening in the world, it feels like it is designed to instill fear and anxiety and give people, at least here in America, a sense that everything is in flux and up for grabs—that there is a fascist regime taking over. Quite frankly, we have to resist.

It has been very, very heartening to see what is happening on the streets of Minnesota, but at the same time, devastating. We know that what is happening there is a test case for what may come in other cities. There is so much to be feared — a state of insecurity and instability. That energy is just so damaging for everyone.

It is a perfect time to really think about what matters in our time.

All of it makes me reflect on the adage, “The Truth will set you free.” Things have reached the point where someone can be shot in cold blood while everyone is recording — people can see what exactly is happening. And moments later, your government leadership can tell you, “Don’t believe what you’re seeing, don’t believe what’s recorded.” They tell you the most outrageous lies to the point where everything out of their mouth is such a lie that you can measure truth by the exact opposite of what they are saying.

The chasm between truth and lies is very much in line with the extremity between cruelty and kindness. You see such kindness on the streets: people showing up in Minnesota, standing up for their community, standing up for the neighbors. And in the same frame, you see abject cruelty and evil as ICE agents take children, take U.S. citizens, take anyone based on their skin color, and haul them away to a concentration camp made by the United States. Or, worse yet, deported to points unknown, whether it is Uganda or South Sudan or El Salvador or whatever Trump-made concentration camp is benefiting monetarily.

The Truth Will Set You Free. This is such a powerful statement. In this moment, when everything is falling apart at the seams, what do we really have to hold onto?

Especially for those of us who are Muslim and religious, when it comes down to being tested, all of this is pushing us to reflect, confront ourselves and ask, “What do we stand for? What are we made of?”

When all is said and done, if everything is gone, what do we have left? We only have ourselves, our ethics, our actions, and our relationship with God. I think that that is a very humbling—but very beautifully honest— “reset” for how we can understand the world.

Oftentimes, as I am going through life, I feel like I keep seeing the same themes popping out at me. Let me call them signs. I understand them as signs that I am getting from God that reinforce lessons. And in the last week or two, I just kept feeling this recurrent reminder about truth, honesty, and truly seeing things for what they really are.

I wanted to share a few stories—the signs that came across my way. One was a reminder from literally 30+ years ago. Shortly after I became Muslim, my first corporate job was at Johnson & Johnson in brand management, and I worked with this really lovely woman named Kitty Hanes. (Kitty, if you are watching this video, please get in contact with me because I’ve been looking for you and I can’t find you!) Kitty was someone who really helped me out when I was just trying to figure out up from down in that corporate environment.

Kitty said something that has stayed with me until this very day. A group of us were talking one day and in the context of the conversation, Kitty stated very matter of factly: “I don’t lie.” The group, somewhat taken aback, began to tease her: “Come on, Kitty, everyone lies!” She doubled down: “No, I don’t lie.” There was something about the way she said it: with such quiet confidence, such conviction, and such calm that it was truly striking. It humbled me. I thought to myself, “I want to be able to say that! I want to be able to say ‘I don’t lie’ and mean it!”

Honestly, that incident was a game changer for me. I asked myself: if I live my life committed to being really honest—able to say, “I don’t lie” and actually NOT lie—what that would mean for my life? I made the decision to sincerely try.

And after 30+ years, I think I can for the most part, say that that is true. I really don’t lie. For one thing, I am not a good liar. I think lying is wrong, but I also think that when you are committed to the truth, it makes your life absolutely easy. Now, let me give some caveats.

If someone asks me, “Do you like my dress? Does it look good on me? Does it make me look fat?” I’m not going to lie about that, but I might say, “It’s not my favorite.” Or, “I like the flowers, but I think I might pick a different dress.” And actually, I have gotten much better about being able to say, “You know what? Honestly, I don’t really like it.”

Being committed to truth is a measure of your commitment to your own character, because making the mental commitment NOT to lie changed my understanding of myself and what I would allow for myself.

Now, when you say you are not going to lie, it has a universal, powerful impact on your life. You cannot say, “Okay, on these certain things, I can lie and those things I will not lie.” It has to be a one-hundred percent: “I don’t lie.” Reflect on that, because it is powerful.

And for me, it was a starting point for a new life that was very much aligned with my conversion. When I converted to Islam, it was because I was looking for a clean life, something beautiful, something truthful, something honest. And for that type of life, for me to say “I don’t lie,” was really at the foundation. So, I am proud to say that now, after all that time, I can still say that I don’t lie, and that the people who are closest to me know that I don’t lie. It’s a game changer.

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The second story I wanted to share has to do with a friend who has been dealing with family trauma. She shared with me that she felt her body was aware of a certain truth that she had been denying for a long time. She suspected that this truth had affected her entire life, and that now, this truth was coming more clear to her through her body.

[Trigger warning for anyone who does not want to hear about trauma or abuse.]

She shared with me that she realized after reaching her 30s, that she had been molested when she was a child. Her body knew it and was giving her signs.

She started working through it, coming to some very painful realizations. She recognized that by avoiding this truth her entire life, it caused her to live in a way that was quite damaging in a number of ways. Thankfully, God had put her through enough experiences that when the truth became more apparent to her, she was ready to see it, accept it and handle it.

Again, the idea of truth. The truth is undeniable. It is there.

She talked about how becoming aware of this truth set her free. It was extremely painful, but it allowed her to release fear and become more honest in her own life — and understand something that her consciousness could not handle until recently.

It was like the piece of the puzzle that was missing. Finally, that last piece fell into place. It opened up a lot of understanding, certainly a lot of pain, but it was one of those situations where you realize: this is the monster in the closet. You knew it was there. You were too scared to look in the closet. Now that you have let out the monster that you feared so much — and have confronted it with knowledge and honesty — you are actually stronger. The truth becomes something that empowers you, and you have the courage to look even deeper into that closet.

This is an experience that I, too, have had myself. In my 59 years of life, I have come to believe that the vast majority of us have had some kind of trauma that pushes some monsters in the closet. And honestly, the key to reclaiming the truth of ourselves — the authenticity of ourselves — is to confront those monsters and deal with the fear that we have been holding because of them.

Once you confront those monsters and realize, “Okay, I can do this, and now that I’m confronting you, I’m no longer afraid of you,” I believe it is a measure of your growth and ability to reclaim your authentic self.

I speak of all of this in very general terms, but hopefully people can relate. There are things that oftentimes we are afraid to confront about ourselves, whether it is our weaknesses or our experiences or things that might have happened to us. Those things cause anxiety and often hold us back from allowing us to become who we were intended to be.

The truth will set you free. I really do believe that when you have the courage to do the work to confront the truth about yourself, it sets you free.

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So, the last story, or anecdote, that I will share is maybe a little bit unusual. I don’t always do this, but I enjoy watching the podcaster, Candace Owen, from time to time. She is conservative and obviously controversial, but the thing that I actually really admire about her is — even though I may disagree with a lot of her opinions or not necessarily care that much about some of the things she goes down the rabbit hole about — I believe that she is driven by finding the truth. She is committed to seeking truth and I do believe from the many episodes that I have watched, that she is a God-fearing person.

Another example of a sign that God put before me: last week, I listened to a very interesting conversation that Candace had with Myron Gaines, another conservative podcaster. They were chatting about what she often talks about and what she often gets accused of. Myron asks her about the moment that she decided to speak up against Israel, despite how much it would cost her personally and professionally. Her answer was powerful and striking to me:

“I want to get into heaven. And I think people don’t realize that that’s real. Like, I think people who are atheists don’t understand that a part of this whole psych operation was to make you an atheist. Because if you knew for certain that when you die there is more—which there is—you would be living your life differently, right? I want to get into heaven. And so at the very moment that I know anything is true, I can’t tell a lie…”

She is the mother of four children and she cares about the world that her kids will inherit. By that, she has a vested interest in pursuing truth, especially when it comes to any issue that has to do with truth or goodness or morals or ethics; things like the fact that our world is led by pedophiles. She thinks it is absolutely wrong for pedophiles to be in charge. She believes very strongly that the demonic has a strong hold on our world, especially right now. I remember one episode from last year where she said she believes that in this moment, truth and evil are revealing themselves. I completely agree. Truth and lies are becoming so apparent.

I admire her commitment to God and her commitment to truth. Her comment about the afterlife is very much in line with what we believe as Muslims, which is that there is a life to come and, clearly, how you live in this life will affect what happens to you in the next. And I love the way she said what she said. She said it very matter-of-factly, very much like my friend Kitty Haynes! In essence:

There is a life to come.
There is truth and there are lies.
There is goodness and there is the demonic.
I want to go to heaven.
I want to do what’s right.
I am committed to truth.

I love that. And I think that that should be everyone’s commitment, especially in this time when it is such a clear challenge. Which side are you on? Are you on the side of truth and goodness and kindness? Or are you on the side of evil and cruelty and darkness? And, it is NOT okay to be neutral because to be neutral is, by definition, to be on the side of darkness.

*****

We are living through a very dark, demonic time right now. I spend a lot of my time reading articles, listening to independent media, trying to keep a pulse on what is happening. It can be a bit much because sometimes it leaves you paralyzed and feeling overwhelmed.

But there are two articles that I highly recommend for understanding what is happening at a grander scale: 1) “Swapping the Architecture” by and 2) “Protective Fictions” by . I read a lot of articles where people are pointing out what is missing, what we need in our time, and how things are not working right. (I tend to read things with an eye towards what I believe Islam warns about and prescribes.)

For example, one of the articles talks about the Constitution and how it was written: when it says that all men are created equal, it was not talking about all men, rather, all white men. The reality is that the Constitution is quite a beautiful document, full of potential if you read it with the sense of equality for all of humanity. Obviously not so much, if you read it as a protection for only white men’s rights.

But what strikes me, bringing it back to Islam, is that Islam is, in fact, premised on humans being created equal. Every single one of us, whether you are of any particular skin color, class status, wealth status, whether you are healthy or disabled — whatever your individual unique package is — you are just as equal in worth as the next human being. Every single human being has an equal right to dignity, an equal right to human rights, and an equal right to justice and truth. This to me makes Islam absolutely beautiful and pristine. Further, the Qur’an calls for building a society based on justice, for anchoring an individual’s commitment to justice and for creating a beautiful relationship with your Maker. The 1400+ year old Qur’anic message feels even more relevant now.

We live in a time where things are so broken across the board. People place their hopes in the Constitution, worried that if America goes the way of fascism, what is left? We, as Americans, are thinking: if we need to leave America because things get too difficult here — especially for Muslims — where can we go? Or, if the current system collapses, what will replace it? Can there be a society that can be beautiful, can be just, and can allow for humans to be equal and have an equal right to dignity? Maybe a place like that doesn’t exist right now, but the absolute framework and absolute ethical message at the foundation of that “just society” already resides in the Qur’an.

In some ways, it is heartbreaking for me to see that so many people are searching and dreaming of something elevated and that holds space for every human being, unaware that it does exist. People are hoping for some kind of model, for an answer to the injustices in the world. And yet, here we have it in the Qur’an, and it is not something that people are even aware of.

God’s call for a just society was absolutely undeniable, as we spent three years at the Usuli Institute doing ethical deep dives into every single chapter of the Qur’an in our series called Project Illumine: The Light of the Qur’an. I make these videos in hopes that I can extend the invitation to engage with our work. I believe that the Qur’an holds what all of us are looking for in terms of an elevated existence, in which all of us are equal and all of us have a right to beauty and dignity and virtue. And all of that just flows down the line: you have a right to food, you have a right to shelter and healthcare and kindness and all the things that every human being needs to thrive.

The message in the Qur’an and Islam is absolutely about truth, justice, and your relationship with God. These are the things that we will bring with us into the next life — and they are our lifeline right now. The demonic wants to pull us into fear and anxiety and instability. What we have to hold onto, as Muslims through our heart and our soul and through our Qur’an, is a commitment to beauty, truth, honesty, and God.

I believe this is something that we work on individually — building a deep relationship with honesty and truth. God gave you everything you need in your heart and soul to navigate what truth is: what it feels like, what it feels to be honest, what it feels to live an honest life. I think that is the goal. That truth is what will set us free, protect us in this very dark time, and keep us moving in the right direction towards God.

We are told in the Qur’an that when all is said and done, it will just be each of us, alone, with God. I oftentimes think we do not take enough time to reflect on that. Literally, all you will take with you to the next life is just you, what you have done, what you believe, what you stand for, and what you have invested in your relationship with God. That is it. So, that should be the most important priority.

And I think that taking the steps towards honesty and truth will get us to building that relationship with God. This is what I have been reflecting about in the last few weeks, because when life is just so dark and so crazy, you need to find your light and anchor. We all need that anchor in God right now.

Wherever you are, I am sending you lots and lots of prayers and warm greetings, especially from Ohio here as we are getting ready to get hit with a huge snowstorm. Hope you are well and look forward to seeing you next time. Take care. Greetings of peace (al salamu ‘alaykum).

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It has been eight months since I first released my video testimony on hijab. Interestingly, the reaction has ranged from extremely grateful to extremely threatened and everything in between.

Perhaps the most unfortunate is that many people reacted to the title and thumbnail picture of the video, formed their impressions and dropped their feedback, video unwatched.

Subsequently, people have assumed and attributed things to me that, had they been able to engage with the substance, would have been quite different than their first impressions. For example, well-intentioned viewers offered encouragement as if I am a new convert with little knowledge or experience; or those who were offended wrote to me as if I am calling for all women to stop wearing the hijab, or as if I am giving into my own preferences while trying to justify my “obvious sin.” One person even suggested that I am part of a U.S. imperial strategy to undermine Islam and Muslims in the West.

None of these impressions are true. I made this video in hopes of reaching women who are suffering under the belief that wearing the headscarf is an absolute requirement of Islam with no room for disagreement if one wishes to be a faithful, practicing Muslim. I disagree and explain why. Thankfully, those women watched the video all the way through, engaged the substance of the content, and reached out to me with gratitude. This made all of the blowback worth it.

Nevertheless, I understand that not everyone can sit and watch a lengthy video attempting to make nuanced arguments. And, in the grand scheme of things, debating a woman’s modesty should hardly take precedence over the larger threats confronting the Muslim community, including an ongoing genocide, rising Islamophobia, and the Trump Administration’s active strategy to designate American Muslim organizations as terrorist organizations in order to detain, deport and denaturalize Muslims.

But here is why I continue to bring this topic to bear: I believe the topic of hijab is effectively weaponized 1) as a wedge issue to divide Muslims (what issue brings more outrage and energy than the issue of the covering of women?); 2) to distract us collectively from the true threats to our community (Muslims are not taking to the streets over the Trump Administration’s daily attacks to our legal freedoms or protesting against the many unethical actions of so-called Muslim governments); and 3) as a means of promoting a worldview in which non-hijabi women are shamed into silence and hijabi women are told that their greatest, most “Islamic” aspiration should be that of a tradwife (the net effect is that women are quieted and removed from active participation in bringing their collective power to the world).

My interest is in empowering women through education, challenging the many dubious claims about “Islamic authenticity” with real knowledge,1 and sharing the many lessons that God curated for me in my journey as a 30+ year convert to Islam. As the wife of an eminent Islamic scholar and jurist, and distinguished American law professor, I have had the blessing of seeing and learning many things from a unique vantage point. Part of my personal mission is to share those stories, which represent hard-earned experience, insight and hopefully, wisdom.

I imagined that if more people had the opportunity to engage the substance of this video in written form, at a minimum, accessibility and accuracy would be increased. As I state in the video, those who care about this issue should do their own due diligence. I provide the resources that were instrumental in my own study. The rest should be between a woman and her God to arrive at the most ethical, reasonable and beautiful decision. Thus, I present the edited transcript of the video below. In full disclosure, in editing the text of the video, I endeavored to make the spoken word more readable and also clarified certain points.

My intention and hope in sharing this knowledge is to hold open more space for understanding, acceptance and respect for Muslim women to make decisions that empower them—all within the ethical framework of God’s message to humanity. Free will and diversity are part of God’s divine plan. Empowerment and liberation for each human being are the end goals.

The bitter irony is that unless we, as a community, work to find ways to overcome the issues that divide us, stop pouring our energy and attention into issues designed to distract us from real threats, and create space for those with whom we disagree, we might very well end up meeting one another as cellmates in a concentration camp somewhere. That is not a joke. We are in this together. Until then, I will continue planting seeds of knowledge, critical thinking and hope for liberation.

EDITED TRANSCRIPT:

Greetings of peace. In this video, I'm going to talk about why I don't wear hijab, the women's head covering. Many people have asked me why I don't wear hijab and over the years in my work as the executive director at The Usuli Institute, many people have pointed out that I should wear hijab; or commented that I was knowingly committing a sin by not wearing the hijab; or that I am a convert and so I need more time. Well, it has been 30 years!

I want to take you through the journey, share with you why came to the decision, but also use hijab as a case study for discussing how I approach my faith. This approach is something that is not just for the hijab, but for ethical issues in general.

Now, let me say at the outset, I know that there are a lot of people who might immediately say, “Sister! This is something where there is universal agreement across all Islamic scholars!”

And I just have to say that that is simply not true. If you are one of the people that thinks this is a cut and dry issue, that it is very straightforward and that there is no disagreement among scholars, then I would respectfully say, “It's fine. You can get off the train right now, because we are going on a journey where things are going to get a little bit complex and a little bit nuanced.”

And for any issue that affects women, our faith, our practice, and our identity—and how we are impacted in real life—these are things that we have to think about very carefully and take very seriously when it comes to God's word.

I would like to share with you some of what was really important to me in my journey in discovering what our tradition has to say about hijab.

And, I will share a little bit more about my personal story because I think it is important that when you address these types of issues, you understand the background of where the person is coming from: what their education is, what their experiences are. And in my case, it is really important that you understand that my position comes from 30+ years of study. This is NOT a situation where I am simply following what feels good or comfortable for me, without the backing of real knowledge.

My perspective arises from the journey that God curated for me: my experiences, the people that I met, the learning that I had the opportunity to engage in, certainly my husband, and my own faith journey. It has taken over 30 years to arrive at a point where I feel like I can speak about this issue publicly and point to the key issues that were really instrumental in arriving at the decision that I have made.

It is okay if you don't agree. This is my testimony, this is my experience, and I am sure that there will be many people who disagree. My position is based on a minority opinion (in our current moment), but minority opinions are valid. And I will share with you some of my experiences with regard to understanding Islamic law as well.

I have provided resources in the description of this video if you want to go down the rabbit hole of exploration yourself. And you absolutely should because it is important that we each come to our own decisions based on our own due diligence.

I do not want to go into the details of the Islamic law evidence, as the resources I provide will do that. I just want to share the highlights that were instrumental in my decision. If you need more evidence, more substantial knowledge, I would highly encourage you to check out the links that I have provided because this was the knowledge that was instrumental in my decision-making.

I really want to use the hijab as a case study for talking about my approach and my moral framework when I address most issues, hijab being a huge one. There are so many ethical issues that we confront today, and I believe it is vitally important to have a consistent moral framework. Ethics is indivisible. If you are going to be an ethical person, you cannot just be ethical on one thing; you have to be ethical on everything and you must do your best in trying to figure out the right approach.

Let me put some necessary caveats up front. First of all, this is NOT a call for all women to take off the hijab, even though I don't wear a hijab. This is a very important decision. It should be left between a woman and her God. It is not something for men to impose on women. It is not something for women to be shamed into.

It is something that should be arrived at with proper reflection, with proper prayer and due diligence. There are a lot of reasons why women wear hijab, and to be honest, I love seeing women in hijab. I love feeling that unity and solidarity, and I often say “Salaam!” to women and they look at me with surprise because they do not think that I am a Muslim.

However, as we will get into, in my opinion, it is not a requirement of the faith and there is space for women to come to their own decision about whether or not they want to wear a scarf. And it is NOT a sin. And I will explain why.

So for this issue, the importance of knowledge is absolutely critical. This is one of those topics that everyone has an opinion about. People can get very, very assertive and very confident that hijab is like the sixth pillar in Islam—as if women MUST cover and that it has always been this way; that there has always been universal agreement about this, and that just simply is not true.

If this is an important issue for you, it is very important that you take the time to do the proper due diligence. And thankfully, there are really good sources out there that are accessible and in English that you can work through yourself. Again, take a look at the links that I provide in the description to this video.

So, let me digress and tell you a little bit more about me, so you understand where I am coming from and how I approach this issue. When I converted to Islam back in 1994, one of the first issues that people raised with me was the need for me to wear hijab. And they would tell me, “It's okay that you are a convert. I know things take time. Sister, if you want to be the best Muslim you can be, then you absolutely should wear hijab.”

For converts, and especially for me in my situation, you question everything. You want to see the evidence, you want to ask: Why do we do this? And I certainly felt that way with hijab because I didn't really understand why it was so important; I did not see that in my readings of the Qur'an. I did not really feel the “importance of hijab” until I encountered Muslims at the mosque.

And interestingly, before I converted, I really just dug into books. I did not know many Muslims. And it was not until after I converted that I decided: “Hey, time to go meet my people! Let's go to the mosque!” And that is when this issue really came to the fore.

In my reading and understanding, the hijab was a call for modesty and modesty is contextual. It matters where you live. It matters where you are. It matters what the people around you are doing and what the people around you think is modest.2

What is modest in America is certainly going to be very different from what is modest in Saudi Arabia or what is modest in Egypt or what is modest in Japan. God created us as very nuanced individuals, and I certainly believe that religion has to account for that. People come and tell me, “This is a black and white religion sister, it's very easy. It's very simple. Why are you complicating things?”

We are all human beings. We are complex. We are not black and white. We are all kinds of shades of gray and all kinds of shades of every color, and that is how God created us. I believe that God created a religion that can account for that diversity. It is our job to use our God-given intellects to figure out what that means.

God has the capacity to be crystal clear on any issue if God wants to be crystal clear, and God also has the ability to be ambiguous. What I have learned is that when God is NOT crystal clear, that means there is room for interpretation. There is room for thinking about context or other extenuating circumstances, other things that affect a situation.

I have been a convert now for 31 years. I spent a year after my conversion on my own just getting to know what it felt like to be in the Muslim community. This was outside of Princeton, New Jersey back in 1994. About a year after I converted, I met my husband, Khaled Abou El Fadl, who is a world renowned scholar of Islam, Islamic jurisprudence and Shariah. He is a classically trained Islamic jurist and also a distinguished American law professor at UCLA. When we met, he was a graduate student at Princeton University.

Thank God, God knew that I needed to be married to someone who could handle the laundry list of questions that I would have—and be able to answer them to my satisfaction. And thank God, I met a wonderful, kind, patient man who also had incredible intellect and the encyclopedic knowledge to answer all of my questions, large and small.

I was extremely fortunate that from the time I met my husband forward, I was intimately involved in all of his writings and scholarship. It was such a blessing for me because in editing all of his books and articles and scholarly output, I just learned so much.

So, I have been a long time student. It has been three decades that I have been immersed in the scholarship of Khaled Abou El Fadl. He has dedicated his entire life to studying the Islamic tradition. He is “old school” and a book nerd, and we have a 100,000+ book library to prove it.

One of the first questions I had for him was about hijab: “Do I really have to wear hijab?” And the way he answered it was, “Well, let's go to the library!” He has one of the largest collections of Islamic law books (original Arabic texts) from all different schools of thought.

He took me to a section of the library and said, “Here is the magnum opus for one scholar,” pointing to a hundred-volume set. I wish I knew the name of the scholar. And he asked me, “How many volumes of this hundred-volume set do you think is dedicated to talking about the issue of hijab?”

From my impression of how big of an issue hijab was at the mosque, I told him, “Well, I don't know, maybe half a volume, maybe one volume?”

So he said, “Let's look it up!” So he pulled one of the volumes off the shelf and looked it up. It was literally half a page. And the only thing that it really said is that it is actually better if, while praying, a woman wears the hijab. That’s it.

My incredulous reaction was, “What??” And then he said, “Well, let's try this again with a few other scholars…”

We went to different volumes, different works, different scholars, and same thing—half a page at most. It was not at all about the scarf being a pillar of Islam; the discussions would appear under the category of manners (“Adab” is the Arabic word for manners). Essentially, it would be good manners to wear a head scarf in prayer. And I just simply did not understand: why the big to-do about women wearing a scarf?

At that point, he was able to start explaining to me the background story about colonialism, Wahhabism, power dynamics, about all the different things that are going on with Muslim communities. There is a whole history there.3 There is a political history, there is anthropology, there is sociology, there are all kinds of things that are embedded in this very nuanced topic. But the one thing that was very clear is that there was NOT universal consensus. There was not even a universal experience. There were many times in many places, and many circumstances where women were NOT wearing hijab.

And when you dig into the evidence about the call for hijab, it really comes down to an interpretive matter. There are verses in the Qur'an that refer to a head covering, and in a nutshell, it could be understood as: “Hey, that head covering that you're wearing…? Pull it over your bosom and cover your breasts for modesty.” Or, it could be understood as: “Hey, that head covering you're wearing…?” meaning it could be interpreted as a call to continue always wearing a head covering. But there are other side issues. Women who were slaves at the time were NOT required to cover. Why? Because they were working women. Head coverings were for the elite class.

So there is a whole history to dig into. But the long and short of it is that God was NOT crystal clear. It is an interpretive issue. Modesty is contextual. It is a very complex topic and perhaps it is a minority opinion in our day, but there are many, many things in our Islamic intellectual heritage that are minority opinions.

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So just a word on Islamic law. When I was an early convert, I really didn't understand very much about Islamic law or Shariah, or whether they were the same, or how I should follow Islamic law as an American. What was the relationship of Islamic law to American law for someone like me?

So Islamic law is akin to the joke that people tell about rabbis: If you have 10 rabbis in a room on any given issue, you will have 15 different opinions. Same for the Islamic tradition. And for Islamic jurists, it is even more so. There will be more than 15 opinions. Islamic jurists are like learned law professors who delve into God's law to try and understand: What is it that God wants for us? They write about all different kinds of moral and ethical issues. And the most important questions as individual Muslims must always be: What does God want from me? From us as a community?

Different jurists lived at different times and in different contexts, and that must be taken into consideration. But when all is said and done, what stays true are the timeless ethical moral values. Part of keeping our tradition alive is taking those timeless moral values and applying them to our day and age. When it comes to issues like modesty, it is important to remember that modesty meant something very different over different times and in different locations.

So, we need to think about: What does modesty mean for our time? For our context? At one time in Islamic history, there were well over a hundred different schools of thought—different ways of approaching or interpreting Islamic law. Today, we only refer to “the four major schools.”

Sadly, we have come a long way from having a hundred different schools of thought. But the point is that there are different interpretations, different approaches. There are different opinions. There are majority opinions and there are minority opinions, but as I have learned, minority opinions do matter. They are part of the full intellectual landscape. One of the very important lessons that I learned early on is that there are certain things that absolutely do have universal agreement among scholars—things like the oneness of God, things like the importance of prayer and fasting. But there are also so many different things where there are a plethora of opinions.

And even if there is a minority opinion, that minority opinion counts. I learned early on that if there is an issue where a minority opinion or several minority opinions exist, that means that there is room for interpretation, and hijab is one of those issues. And so I believe that there is room for women to choose either to wear a scarf or not to wear a scarf, and that they are within their right to do so and that it is not a sin.

Sometimes people ask, well, if women have to cover, why don't men have to cover? Well, fun fact, there are actually places in the world where men do believe that they have to cover and they do. Okay, so here's where I'd like to get into some real talk because it is very easy, especially for a man to come in and say, “Hey, God's law is really clear. You need to wear a scarf.” But the men are not the ones that are wearing the scarf. And for me, this is an issue where we have to think really careful about moral priorities—what is really important for God and what is it that God wants from us?

What I take issue with is when women are told that they have no choice, that wearing a scarf is God's law. I do not believe this is true. I have had the incredible blessing of being married to a scholar—one of the most learned scholars of our time—and being exposed to all kinds of knowledge that the vast majority of Muslims are not privy to. And with that, I have been able to see and expand my mind and expand my understanding. This is part of why I feel it is so important for me to share what I have witnessed, what I have seen, and what I have learned. So much of it is about helping people to thrive, to be free and to be liberated. We know from our tradition that there is no coercion in faith. We have free will, we have choices, but so much of that also depends on our knowledge.

And so when I know that the issue of hijab is one in which there is room for negotiation; there is room for alternative views; and that you are not sinning if you are not wearing a scarf, it just really breaks my heart when women suffer because they feel that this is an absolute requirement of the faith.

For someone who does not have an issue with that, who loves to wear hijab, who believes that that brings her closer to God, more power to you! But for the people who suffer, for the people who struggle: struggle with doubt, struggle with depression, struggle with feeling disconnected, this is a problem. And it is especially a problem when people choose NOT to become Muslim because they are told they cannot become Muslim (or be a “good” Muslim) unless they wear a scarf.

These are the times where you really have to think about moral priorities. What is more important: the scarf? or a woman turning away from finding Islam over a scarf? And how do we know that THIS is the struggle that God wants for women: wearing a scarf or not wearing a scarf?

To me, it is a much harder struggle to stand up for justice, to speak truth, to work on bigger issues. Not what you wear, not your appearance, but internally: turning inward, cleaning your vessel, elevating your soul. These things are of greater moral priority than what you wear. Substance is certainly more important than form.

We have to be real in our day and age. When women are coming under attack, they are losing jobs, they are getting discriminated against. Wearing a hijab is weaponized against them. These are real impacts. I cannot see how God would prioritize the necessity to wear a scarf over a woman's safety or over a woman's empowerment or freedom or sense of well-being and mental health.

Further, part of our role as Muslims is to be ambassadors for God, ambassadors for the beauty of God's message. Unfortunately, the hijab in many situations has become a symbol of foreignness and a convenient means for Islamophobes to discount Muslims as human beings. These are real issues that need to be considered.

It is a really important question for each individual woman to take into account: What is the moral priority? What is more important here? Again, this is something between a woman and her God and not something that a man should interfere with—or a woman for that matter. And, as a convert for 31 years, I have to respectfully say that we also have to examine our views of hijab within our community. As a woman who has NOT worn a scarf, there are many times where people try to shame me or I have been made to feel lesser as a Muslim because I do not wear a scarf.

I was told as a new convert that part of the reason that we wear a scarf is because we do NOT want to be judged on our beauty or on our looks, but that we want to be judged on the substance of our intellect. Interestingly, because I do not wear a scarf, I am often discounted for my intellect. I am told that since I do not understand the most basic requirement of women, which is wearing a hijab, that how in the world can I possibly teach anyone or say anything knowledgeable or speak on anything Islamic?

If I am NOT wearing a scarf, no one should listen to me because I have no credibility. So in fact, it is really NOT at all about the substance of my intellect. My intellect only matters if I am wearing a piece of cloth on my head. And I am really heartbroken when I receive correspondence from non-hijabi women who thank me for speaking out as a woman without a scarf because they feel silenced.

We should not be silencing ANY women, whether they wear a scarf or not. The point is about allowing women to find their empowerment regardless of what they look like, regardless of what they wear, as long as they are modest.

And again, back to the issue of modesty being contextual: it does not mean adopting wholesale, but rather, taking into consideration cultural norms. Navigating the complexity and nuance of these issues requires education, critical thinking, open-mindedness, and understanding the substantive ethics of our tradition.

Let me close with this last story. Shortly after my husband and I got married, I had a job in Texas, where I lost the job due to discrimination because I was a Muslim. I was not wearing the hijab, but it was such a traumatic situation and I was so upset that I decided that at my next job, I would wear hijab. I would actually not wear hijab outside of my work, but I would literally put on my hijab right before I walked into work and take it off immediately after.

It was such an interesting experience. I was used to working in a corporate environment, where you have to work with lots of people. You have to be sociable, you have to be a team player. People have to feel comfortable working with you. In this situation, when I was wearing the scarf, I was really isolated. People felt very uncomfortable. They did not want to talk to me, they did not want to work with me. They felt that I was a foreigner and they did not really quite know what to do. They would avoid me. The only exceptions were people who were more educated—the higher ups, who did not have a problem.

But with my coworkers, I was really isolated. I do not believe that this is what God wants for us, for the sake of wearing a scarf: to be put in a situation where you are at a disadvantage, where people do not feel comfortable working with you or do not want to talk to you or think of you as a threat. To me, that seems counter to what God would want for each of us. I believe that God wants us to be able to thrive, to be able to be free and liberated, and to be able to show up to be our beautiful selves.

We are supposed to be ambassadors of God. We should be welcoming, we should be friendly. If we recognize that the scarf has become an impediment to that, then that is very problematic.

Of course, it is really important to give due credit to women who wear the hijab out of conviction, persevering through struggle, feeling pride and believing that it is part of their moral responsibility. That is beautiful. This IS a hard test for the women who weather it, but I also believe that you have to understand the truth of the test and be allowed the space to decide based on your own convictions. If you choose to wear the scarf because you want to identify as a Muslim, more power to you. I really respect that.

But I have an issue with when women are told unequivocally that it is the requirement of God; that theologically, somehow our God wants to put us in these difficult situations because the scarf is so sacred and so necessary that it becomes the sixth pillar of Islam.

I also take issue with the fact that if you feel like you are committing a sin by NOT wearing the scarf, that you will effectively silence yourself. I know that if I believed I was committing a sin, I would silence myself. I would not speak up because I would be ashamed—the shame of feeling: “Okay, I can't wear a scarf. I know what I'm doing is wrong. I cannot show myself, I cannot show my face in a Muslim space without feeling the weight of that shame.”

In a more extreme case, it could be: “Well, okay, I'm not wearing a scarf. I'm already sinning anyway. I might as well just go ahead and wear whatever I want.” There are certainly a lot of examples of women, where they are not wearing the scarf but then do not worry about modesty either; you find Muslim women who are wearing very revealing clothing. So, modesty goes out the window. The power of shame over something that is arguably not a sin can be very damaging.

When we talk about actual sins, it is well-known that one of the biggest sins that God warns about is turning something that is halal (allowed) into something that is haram (not allowed). This means: if you take something that is actually allowable by God and make it perceived to NOT be allowable by God, that is actually a really huge sin. So, when you tell people that you are committing an absolute sin by not wearing the scarf, you are making something that is actually allowable according to some scholars into a sin. That, itself, is a huge sin. So that is one huge issue.

Secondly, if the point is modesty, modesty is contextual. That doesn’t mean you simply adopt wholesale the norms of context. It means that you take into consideration the cultural norms of the context. So in certain circumstances, like in America, I don't believe that you need to wear a scarf to be modest. You can be very modest without a scarf on your head.

It is also well-known that hijab was intended as a point of safety and protection. However, we know that wearing a scarf can definitely put you at risk of harm and make you a target. In our Islamophobic age, the hijab is also weaponized to turn Muslims into a racial category such that it is easier to dehumanize them. I would argue that that is not something that God wants for women.

And certainly, for women who are struggling with issues of depression or doubt and faith—or anything negative—if they feel like this is not part of their authentic identity, it is extremely problematic then to be forced and coerced into wearing something that is not a requirement of the faith.

As an ambassador of the faith, I know that by not wearing a scarf, I have had the opportunity to reach people, connect and bond and make friendships, and then come to have people really surprised to find out that I am Muslim—in a good way. And I have even had situations where I have spoken in groups where people did not know me, but as I identified as Muslim and talked about our faith and made people reconsider their perceptions of Muslims. One woman said to me: “I need to reevaluate my assumptions about Islam and Muslims because you don't look Muslim and you don't speak like a Muslim. And maybe there's something that I'm not getting.” Clearly, they had a bad impression of Islam and Muslims. That to me is the best part of educating and reaching out and being an ambassador of God. I think if I had worn a scarf in some of those situations, people would have been immediately closed off to me from the go. And that is important to me.

Again, when it comes to issues of moral priorities, it is interesting to note that people get very, very passionate when it comes to whether or not a woman wears a scarf, but when it comes to the big issues of our day, the big injustices, they stay silent or neutral. So, we need to think carefully about what God wants, not just for hijab, but for any issue. I know this is a very difficult and sensitive topic. This was difficult for me to talk about, but I hope that something here is at least helpful for starting a conversation or thinking more deeply about.

You do not have to agree with me. This was my journey. This is my testimony. To me, the journey is about enlightenment, empowerment, liberation, and freedom. And critical to that is knowledge. There are a lot of things in our world that are difficult to talk about—things that people think are an open and shut matter. And what we have learned in our tradition and in our work at the Usuli Institute is that what is timeless are the moral values. What keeps the Qur’anic message vibrant and relevant to our age is how we take those moral principles and apply them to our time and context and the reality of our world. There is a lot going on in our world right now. When it comes to hijab, here are so many nuanced issues to consider. It is not black and white, and each woman is in a unique situation. It is her right to decide what is best for her personal situation and context.

If you learn that whether you are wearing the hijab or not wearing the hijab—either case—is not a sin, and that it is up to you to determine what brings you closer to God, think about how liberating that is. You have the freedom to choose what is going to help you draw closer to God.

Are you committing a sin by not wearing a scarf? No, not according to scholars in our tradition and different schools of thought. It is not about whether you wear the scarf or you do not wear the scarf. It is about what you do with your life, with your gifts that God gave you, and why you were put on this earth. Ask yourself: What is holding you back? If anything is holding you back, then work on those things. The hijab should not be one of those things. If the hijab is something that you find empowerment in and you find closeness with God in, again, more power to you!

This is between you and God, and no one should be a party to that decision other than you and God. My purpose in talking about this issue is that I care very deeply about the empowerment of women. And whether you wear a scarf or not, what is most important is what allows you to build a beautiful, intimate, loving relationship with your Creator, with God, who can be your partner, your companion, your best friend, and your most important source of support and strength.

I believe God expects us to engage our world, to re-engage our tradition, to question, to re-evaluate. I believe God wants each of us to be enlightened and empowered and free to do what we were put on this earth to do. So anything that obstructs that purpose is something that should be subject to our interrogation and our reflection.

God wants what is best for us. God wants us to stand up for justice. God wants us to create goodness and beauty in the world. That is the most important priority, aside from building your own relationship with God. I hope that this was helpful for you.

And again, I know that many people will not agree with what I have said. And if you want to vent in the comments, feel free. But I probably will not engage you, and I will redirect you to the scholarly output that can address the details of this argument. This is my testimony, my due diligence. I encourage you to engage in your own due diligence, and may God guide each of us to the most beautiful path. And may God be pleased with our efforts.

I have learned in my journey that God rewards the search. If you are searching with an open mind, an open heart and with all good intention, that is worth a lot to God. God knows the right answer. On the Final Day, God will settle those differences between us. Thank you so much for listening, and I'll see you next time.

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RESOURCES:

VIDEOS:

• For an excellent discussion on hijab and more, see my conversation with Muslim scholar, Dr. :

• Our ground-breaking work on the Usuli Institute YouTube channel:
  Complete ethical exegesis of the Qur’an: Project Illumine: The Light of the Qur’an (The first direct-to-English Qur’anic Commentaries in over 40 years) playlist.

• We spent 15+ hours on Surah 33: Al Ahzab. You can find the detailed discussion of Verse 59 here. Timestamps in the pinned comments of the video.

• Also see Dr. and her excellent series on hijab here.

AUDIO:

• “Hijab: The Issues and the Evidence.” Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl delves deep into the historical evidence and issues surrounding the topic of hijab. Four-part series available on Soundcloud here.

READINGS:

• Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl’s non-binding legal opinion (fatwa) on hijab available here. Also see section on “The Hijab Discourses” here.

• The Search for Beauty in Islam: A Conference of the Books, especially Chapter 57 - “Corrupting God’s Book,” available online here. In the same book, Dr. Abou El Fadl discusses the issues of hijab, ‘awra, and khimar in several places, so you can find those references in the index if you have the hard copy of the book. This book is an absolute gem for engaging with the beauty of the Islamic tradition.

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Unfortunately, there is a long, colonial, orientalist and Wahhabi history to this reality that one does not become aware of without conscientious study. I often shudder when I think of what new Muslim converts might encounter when they naturally seek out their newly adopted Muslim community. As someone who approached her new faith with high expectations for elevated critical thinking, openness, and the practice of the divine ideals I found in theology books and longed for in community, I had to confront the reality that my Muslim co-religionists often did not share my same aspirations.

I came to the faith with a critical lens. I needed things to make sense to me reasonably, rationally, logically and beautifully. I needed to be sufficiently convinced through my critical mind and longing heart and soul that Islam provided the compelling answers I was searching for. I needed to believe that the path I was pursuing as a convert—one that I would ultimately sacrifice friends, family and everything I held as familiar over—was worth completely upending my life as I knew it.

Critical thinking is, was and should be the indispensable tool of every Muslim. God gave us an intellect and I believe God expects us to use it. It is what will help us navigate the stupid, the ignorant, the ugly and the oppressive when all is said and done. Our tradition tells us that God is beautiful and God loves beauty.1 Ethical beauty, moral beauty, virtuous beauty. We know beauty - and ugliness - when we see it. Shariah, the meaning of which is “the path to and from God,” is all about pursuing divine beauty in every act.

I created the video below with new converts in mind. I was recently asked about what advice I would offer new converts. After 30+ years, I have a lot to say, but one of the most important pieces of advice is to hold on to your critical thinking. It allowed you to overcome all of the obstacles in an Islamophobic world to find Islam. You will need to hang on tight to your critical mind to navigate what comes next - all the obstacles to staying Muslim.

EDITED TRANSCRIPT:

Greetings of peace (al-salamu ‘alaykum). I pray you’re doing well. I wanted to share some messages that I recently received that sparked some thoughts and ideas.

First, a man reached out to me on Substack who had seen one of my videos and write-ups and was interested in Islam. This was probably a year ago, I guess. I don’t know. It’s hard to keep track of time. But he had some questions because we are navigating a time where the Islamophobic rhetoric is so strong and so insidious that it is hard to avoid. And for someone who is touched by Islam in some way or considering becoming Muslim, it is really hard to navigate that. So I gave him my usual spiel about how Islam is beautiful and how it is about developing a relationship with God. I suggested some sources to read and check out.

For us Muslims, it is really an opportunity to just share when someone asks you. One of the things I love about Islam is that it is not about actively trying to convert people, but it is more about helping support and guide people, if they ask. And so over the course of a year or so, he reached out several times. Although we have never met, I could tell from his Substack that he was smart and accomplished and a great writer and held a certain vantage point. And so I suggested to him, “Take a look at these things…I think this will appeal to you...”

Not long ago, he reached out and he thanked me for my very gentle, hands off approach, and told me that he was going to take his Shahada (testament of faith to become a Muslim). I was so happy, on the one hand, because I felt that it is such a blessing if someone reaches out to you and you can help guide or support them. Because I have been through this journey before, I know how difficult it is and I know what a gift it is.

But at the same time, I was also just a little bit ... I don’t even know what the right word is. It is bittersweet. You are excited, you are happy…but then I think, “Oh my gosh. What will you encounter now, especially as you enter this Islamophobic world?”

I know that he will encounter Muslims who are extremely well-intentioned, but may give him all kinds of advice that is NOT learned, or is problematic (let’s just put it that way for right now!).

A lot of people who convert are looking for community, and I know from my own experience over the last 30 years as a Muslim that community is challenging to come by, especially for someone who comes to Islam through a critical thinking lens.

In this time, especially with what is happening in Gaza and seeing Islam in a way that people haven’t really seen it before, people are so moved by Islam. We see people in Palestine who have lost everything, but still have such unshakable faith in God. It makes you wonder, “What in the world do they believe in?” That is very inspiring, and we now know that there are many people converting to Islam from that starting point.

So as someone who is observing this dynamic, I feel such a bittersweet combination of emotions because I know how difficult it is going to be as a new Muslim. I always pray that God will guide people to the right influences and the right sources, and help them to navigate. And of course, I do believe that God guides people, especially when people open their hearts to God and to being guided. I believe that God will put you through whatever different experiences you need to help you on your journey.

But we also know that there are a lot of people who will fall off the journey because what they do encounter — the people or the messages — can be so challenging, uncritical, and so difficult.

So, I always wish and hope that people who convert will come and find the work that we are doing at The Usuli Institute because so much of what we are building is based on a foundation of critical thinking and true knowledge — what supports you as an individual, hoping for and seeking strength and empowerment, liberation, love, beauty; not harshness, not oppression, not more rules that will hold you back from becoming your authentic, beautiful self as God intended and created you with a purpose.

For me as a convert, the knowledge and outlook at The Usuli Institute has been absolutely life transforming and affirming in every way, but so many people don’t find it. They get lost in the woods. They start interacting with people who are very concerned about rules and oppressive approaches, let’s just say, and it is really difficult to navigate.

So, I was so happy for this person who reached out to me. And I’m also just praying that he finds his way and really fortifies himself with good knowledge. This is the same thing that I just keep saying over and over like a broken record: that you really just have to fortify yourself with good knowledge.2

The second message that I got was from a woman who had encountered our work at The Usuli Institute. She had a very fundamental question: “How can I worship God and live my life here in America as an ethical Muslim?” I’m paraphrasing her question, but at the heart of it, I think, is a belief that there is a dichotomy between worship and living your life normally. For example, if you are seeking to pursue a career, have a family and are busy engaging in normal life, that somehow that might be not worship. So I understood her question as: how do I integrate or orient my life towards worship in a healthy way, while balancing out the demands of our life here in this day and age in America? And in a nutshell, that is really what we talk about at the heart of our work at The Usuli Institute, which is in essence, how do you understand and apply the ethical message of the Qur’an to the modern challenges of life that we face today? And even just at a more personal level, how do you live being true to yourself and true to what God wants?

So, these two messages I received are connected for me — and what I wanted to reflect on, especially with the backdrop of the attacks that are taking place against Islam in our world.

Let me start by sharing another story that happened to me, shortly after Trump was elected. Many people were really up in arms about what to do. Some of the people that I follow on Substack, who are quite smart and brilliant, wanted to come together, push back, resist and figure out how help the world, knowing what was coming down the pike. So an open meeting of Substack writers from all different backgrounds, orientations, and expertise was organized and I joined.

We all had the opportunity to speak and share. Of course, I talked about what I do and being Muslim and what some of my ideas were. And here’s what was so striking to me: after I spoke, a woman said to me, “Hearing you speak and seeing you, you do not remind me of someone that I would think of as a Muslim. You do not look like someone that I imagine is a Muslim. And hearing you speak is making me question everything that I have been taught and know about Muslims and Islam.”

At that moment, I was really touched and excited because, honestly, this is one of the things that I enjoy encountering. I actually enjoy speaking and not presenting as what people imagine a typical Muslim would be. And it was such an important comment because in this moment, when so many lies are falling away, people are opening their eyes to the truth about the narratives that they have been fed, whether through mainstream media or elsewhere.

These are the narratives that were crafted and disseminated from the billion-dollar Islamophobic industry that took off after 9/11. People who are not paying close attention will just naturally and passively get the message that Muslims are scary, that Muslims are terrorists, that they are not human beings, that Islam is not compatible with Western values. These are the messages that were really promoted—even the story that Obama was a Muslim; messages that this industry invested in spreading. If you’re interested, you can look up Fear.Inc, an extensive report that was written after 9/11, which followed the money and the whole network of people that came together to create this fear-driven narrative about Islam.

And the reason was, obviously — or maybe not obviously — that powerful people wanted to justify being at war, in a constant wartime economy, because as we know from the way our world is, certain people will profit tremendously from weapons, and from this whole wartime economy. And for that, you need an enemy. And what better enemy than these backwards Muslims, who “have nothing in common with Western values”? It’s a whole manufactured narrative and hate industry.

So, I was really excited when this woman had the reaction from hearing me speak that, “Hmm, maybe I should reconsider everything that I ever thought about Muslims and Islam in the same way that I’m reconsidering all of these other things that are now proving to be untrue.”

So realistically, if you ask yourself: What is the one common narrative that cuts across partisan lines, i.e. it doesn’t matter whether you are a Democrat or Republican, who you are or where you come from. It feels like the one thing that everyone can agree on, if we are not paying close attention, is that: Muslims are scary, Muslims are terrorists, that Islam is scary, right? It is all part of this same narrative; it is so consistent and it is so pervasive.

So think about that. Everyone can agree on that “truth.” If you think in terms of the “truths” our world, what are the most important lies that you have always assumed were true that are now coming apart at the seams? If you think about some of the most commonly held beliefs in our world in America, for example, “Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East,” and that “we need Israel to keep Muslim countries at bay…” Now, in the age of gen*cide, how much of all of that has fallen apart?

When you start putting two and two together and you think, “Hmm, this ‘truth’ is the biggest thing that they want us to believe about Islam and Muslims.” Maybe it is actually the biggest lie and maybe we should challenge that.

Recently, a report came out that Israel realized that their reputation has been so damaged from their gen*cide and all of the evil that they commit, that their reputation is basically unsalvageable and that they need a new strategy. In order to continue with their gen*cidal plan, the best strategy moving forward is to convince people that the threat of Islam and Muslims is so much greater, such that they can continue doing what they are doing.

Drop Site News

LEAKED: Israel Is Considered a "Genocidal, Apartheid Country" Abroad, According to Israel’s Own Research

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs commissioned an American polling firm to perform a sweeping battery of surveys and focus groups, coupled with message-testing, aimed at rehabilitating Israel’s image in both the United States and Europe. The work remains ongoing, but a preliminary report from the firm was leaked to Drop Site News by a source with …

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a year ago · 714 likes · 35 comments · Ryan Grim

And if you are paying attention, you will see that Islamophobic messaging has increased. You can notice the rise in Islamophobic keywords and phrases like “Shariah,” “Muslim brotherhood,” or “foreign terrorist organization.” These are some of the things that you will start hearing more about on social media: people burning Qur’ans; ugly threats against genuinely good people. For example, Omar Suleiman, who is an Imam in Texas and who has always just been very kind and gentle and focused on social activism and education — he is coming under brutal attack.

These things are on the rise. We recognize that this is part of the strategy that Israel is putting into play, so that the downward spiral of their reputation can be offset and they can continue to justify their genocidal campaign — and continue to get support from America and whatever funding support that they get. Because if we, in America or the West, are convinced that Muslims and Islam are the threat and that Israel needs to be there to tame that threat, then maybe we can look past the genocide and all of these other evil things. There is definitely going to be more to come on that front.

Working in the Islamic education space that we do, I wanted to speak to the converts who are just trying to navigate their way. As I often say in so many of my videos, the antidote to confusion and hate speech is really good education. And I believe that the work that we do at The Usuli Institute can help fortify people from the foundations.

So when you start hearing things that are ugly or scary about the Qur’an or the traditions of the Prophet, we actually have spent a lot of time putting out content that addresses those things — taught by Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl, a learned Islamic jurist who has dedicated his entire life to studying the Islamic tradition and the Islamic legal tradition. He walks us through the Qur’an, he walks us through the traditions of the Prophet, and helps us create a really solid moral framework for understanding what is this message about and how to dismantle the Islamophobic narratives.

If you come to our YouTube channel, you will see that we have a gazillion videos. They are sometimes very intimidating because they are long—over 500 hours of content on going through every single chapter of the Qur’an. That is a big, daunting task. But I cannot overstate the importance of gently walking through that material. If you are really interested in rebuilding your foundations and addressing doubt, resisting, pushing back against all of this darkness that is being forced upon you every time you look at your phone or turn on whatever you listen to, the only way to really counter that garbage is to replace it with good knowledge.

I want to take a moment to share this bit of learning from one of the chapters of the Qur’an that we studied. This is something that I didn’t know after being a Muslim for 25 years, when we started this journey of going through what is called the Project Illumine: Qur’anic Commentaries. Completely eye-opening to me was learning about the equivalent of the Ten Commandments in the Qur’an, which is original to Dr. Abou El Fadl and this journey.

This is covered in our classes on Surah 17: Al Isra.3 These are the Muslim commandments, the Islamic equivalent of the Ten Commandments. And it is more than 10 commandments, but let me just summarize:

1. Worship one God.

2. Do not punish one for the sins of another. Accountability is personal and individual.

3. Honor your parents.

4. Take care of your blood relatives.

5. Take care of the destitute and the poor.

6. Take care of the refugees, the displaced, the dispossessed, the wayfarer.

7. Do not spend to excess and do not be miserly.

8. Do not kill your children.

9. Do not commit adultery or fornication.

10. Do not commit murder.

11. Do not usurp money or the money or the property of orphans.

12. Observe your obligations and promises. Don’t break promises. Keep your word.

13. Do not cheat. Do not cheat in measures, in trade, or commerce.

14. Do not speak about what you don’t know. Do not deal in hearsay or conjecture.

15. Do not be arrogant or full of hubris.

16. When you speak, speak kindly and only speak good. Do not spread rumors and do not slander.

Now, however you wish to number that, those are the principles. That is the ethical code that Muslims must live by. That is Shariah. That is at the foundation of Shariah. Shariah is an Arabic word that means “The path to God and from God.” And if you apply the same concept in any other religion—the path to God and from God—whether you are a Christian, a Jew, or of any other religious orientation, that means: the path to beauty, the path to the Divine, the path that will earn you favor with a loving, beautiful God. Anything that would fall under the purview of Shariah has to align with these principles in the Islamic context.

So when people start throwing around the term Shariah, it is so easy to hide behind this Arabic word that is completely unfamiliar and create a whole narrative around what it means. People who have invested a lot of money in creating a scary narrative will go way out of their way to convince you that Shariah means this or jihad means that. Jihad actually means struggle, e.g. if you are doing your homework so you can pass a test, that is actually jihad. But, in America, we are led to believe that jihad only means armed warfare or terrorism, and that is simply not true. But you would not know that if you were not educated or you were not paying close attention.

If you are not Muslim and have no interest in figuring out what is the truth about Muslims and you just hear typical messaging from mainstream media, then you will be subject to this fear-mongering, and be vulnerable to it.

But as Muslims and as Muslim converts, when we don’t take the time to learn our tradition and understand what’s really behind it—and build a beautiful, loving relationship with God so that we know in our hearts and minds that anything that we hear that isn’t beautiful, isn’t divine, and isn’t Godly cannot be from the Divine — we are left vulnerable. These are the things that are so important for us to build within ourselves.

A lot of people write to us at The Usuli Institute because they are suffering from doubt; they are suffering from faith crises. And quite frankly, I think probably 99.9% comes from Islamophobic narratives. Certainly, doubt is validated from this misinformation. And truly, the way to counter that is to build your relationship with God and to invest in knowledge.

I spend a lot of time, like so many other people, looking on my phone, looking on social media. Sometimes it is a reaction to just the state of the world. You feel like you want to either distract yourself or hear something that makes you feel better or maybe just stay on top of what is happening in the world, which can be quite traumatic. It feels like consuming junk food. I realized this week that I don’t really want to consume junk food anymore. It’s bad for me. It makes me feel bad. It makes me feel sad.

And so I went back and started listening again to some of our educational content at Usuli, specifically on the Life of the Prophet. We have a new series and have been dropping episodes for the last year. And re-listening even to things that I had already heard before, I felt like I was watching content that was nourishing for my soul. And it was at that point that I thought, “Oh my gosh. I see what I’m doing.” When I am reaching for my phone, looking on YouTube or Instagram or TikTok, it is like reaching for fast food to fill this empty feeling in my soul—where I just need something to distract me or make me feel better.

But when I actually engaged with content that is nourishing, that teaches me something, that grounds me in my tradition, that tells me something beautiful to think about, that engages my critical mind, and that resonates with my heart and my soul, that’s when I feel grounded. I feel better, I feel more connected, and I feel encouraged and empowered to create good, and do something to push back. I realized that I don’t want to consume all of that junk anymore. I don’t know if you are in that same boat with me, but I just thought I would share that in case it is valuable.

Even learning about Shariah and the Muslim commandments—so much of what we learned in that journey with the Qur’an for over three years at The Usuli Institute, was truly soul nourishing. Soul nourishing and strength building, confidence building. It transformed everything I understood about being Muslim and the Qur’an. I really want to encourage you, if you need some soul nourishment: go and find those videos on Project Illumine, either about the Qur’an or about the life of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

Pick any of them and just turn it on and see what you think. We have received many messages from people that say that once they start, they start binge-watching everything. And I understand that. And I also understand the hesitation. Sometimes people don’t want to start because they think: “Well, if I’m going to start learning about the Qur’an, I want to do it right. And I don’t want to start unless I can really commit to doing it.”

And no, just start. It is like exercise. Just start. Just try it out and see how you feel and just take one step and another step. And it will make a huge difference. Just to bring it back to what I’ve been doing recently, I started playing pickleball. I needed to get in shape and I needed to find something fun that would keep me going. I started to play and, of course, I was out of shape, and so it was hard. But then I realized, “Oh my God. This is so much fun.” And I kept showing up and showing up. And then slowly, I started to feel better and then it changed things. And I think it is like that with everything.

You just have to get past that initial inertia and just try it. And don’t create reasons not to. Just jump in and try it and it will make a big difference. And I think when it comes to our faith and our religion and where we are in the world and all of the attacks against Shariah and Islam and Muslims, part of our resistance that we can do every single day is just start watching nourishing videos that can help us learn something, undo something harmful that we understand or believed about our faith, and replace it with something really beautiful and empowering. And these things will answer the question of how to live as an ethical Muslim in our time.

And for converts, when you know so little about the tradition and you are so overwhelmed, it is so important to remember that critical thinking is key. Listen to everything. People are going to start throwing all kinds of things at you. You came to this faith with your mind, with your critical thinking skills—something that is, unfortunately, in short supply in our communities.

Converts often are attracted to the beautiful message of the theology and start getting tripped up when they start seeing how people practice. It is often because those practices are grounded in culture, which is not necessarily the same as theology. Oftentimes, people continue to do what they have always done or what their parents have always done out of habit, right? And aren’t we challenged in the Qur’an about just doing what our forefathers have done?

This tradition and this religion is about engaging your critical thinking skills and applying them to living as ethically and beautifully as possible as you can given our current moment.

There is so much to say. I really hope that people will take the time to check out these resources at The Usuli Institute. Now is the time to educate yourself and not fall into the trap of thinking that Islam is black and white. It is about a critical engagement. It’s about creativity. It’s about living your life engaged and thinking about how to please God and bring value to yourself, your society, and your world in the most beautiful way possible.

Lastly, I just wanted to point out that I’m wearing my German Shepherd scarf. Sadly, my dear, beloved dog, Doogie, my German Shepherd who you have seen in the past in the background, passed away very suddenly, shortly after my last video. And I’m so sad. His presence is greatly missed, but the memory lives on. I hope that I will see Doogie again someday in a much better place. So please say a prayer for Doogie. Thank you so much. Al salamu ‘alaykum. Peace be upon you.

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For my recommendations on a short course to build strong Islamic foundations, see my post:

Reflections of an unlikely Muslim convert

How to Detox, Refresh and Reconnect with Beautiful Islam: A Short Course

Greetings of Peace dear Friends…

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a year ago · 19 likes · 2 comments · Grace Song

EDITED TRANSCRIPT:

Greetings of peace, al salamu ‘alaykum. Time for another Muslim convert check-in. It feels like it’s been a long time since I’ve done one of these, but it’s really just been a little over two months. And it’s weird. I mean, time check, right? Trump has been in office for literally less than 10 months, but if you take a look at what’s been happening in our world, it feels like it’s been a lot longer. I think the whole relationship with time has been affected.

Just in terms of marking where we are right now for people watching this video later, let me share where we are in the world: The Gaza “Ceasefire” was supposed to have happened, but really didn’t, because the Israelis continue to decimate and bomb and kill with impunity as usual. Sami Hamdi last week was abducted by ICE. We are looking at satellite pictures of the killing in Sudan — UAE-backed absolute genocide, to the point where you can see the blood from satellite images.

Here in America, the attack continues on freedom of speech and human rights. We just had Halloween, which is a little bit ironic, because the world is just so scary and wicked, that you don’t actually need a holiday. But Trump held, of course, a Great Gatsby-themed gala on the night of Halloween, spent tons of money and showed off insane lavish wealth, while the food stamp benefits, the SNAP benefits have expired officially. So, while we have no problem starving our own children here at home in America and sending money to bomb children in Palestine, Trump is also thinking and talking about war with Venezuela and also Nicaragua, while asking our nuclear folks to start testing weapons.

It’s really insanity. I mean, this is just from this past week. That’s where we are today.

The good news is, this week we have an incredible election coming up in New York City and Zohran Mamdani, hopefully, is set to take that election insha’Allah (God willing). I think there are so many lessons to be learned from what Zohran Mamdani has been able to accomplish. There are lessons for all of us, for the world, for Muslims. And I’ve actually also written a piece on this in my Substack, so definitely check that out:

Definitely in the last couple of weeks, you wake up and look at the headlines and it’s all really devastating stuff, really emotionally depressing, very sad. And I have to admit, I have spent a lot of time hiding under the covers, just feeling sad and wondering where to find energy to get up and start the fight again. Sometimes you just realize that the world feels very dark and heavy and it’s really hard to push back. But thank God, I think God sends messengers, messages, signs, to help kick you out of bed and tell you: “All right, time to get up and start getting busy again!” So, I thought I’d share some of that, in case that is at all helpful.

We do some pretty cool things at the Usuli Institute, and among them is, we offer a membership on YouTube and hold a monthly live Q&A for members, where they can come and ask Dr. Abou El Fadl all kinds of questions. I’m really lucky because I get to learn a lot of stuff offline that doesn’t get shared. After the last Q&A, we got on a discussion about dark energy and the demonic energy that is in the world, and all of that sadness that we are all carrying and all feeling. Dr. Abou El Fadl reminded me that we live in a polarity. You’ve got God and the divine on one end of the polarity, and then you’ve got the demonic on the other end, and we are constantly getting pulled—it’s like positive and negative energy. You’re always getting pulled in one direction or another, either towards the divine or towards the demonic. [You are never in a neutral state, in fact, in inaction, you are pulled towards the demonic.]

And in our tradition, we understand that the demonic can flow through us like blood. We’re told in the Qur’an that the demonic is our avowed enemy. And yet we always have a choice. We always have the power to say no. And so, in just hearing that reminder, where you know that the darkness is trying to push you off the path to light and is always trying to influence you, [it is important to remember] that you always have the power to say no.

Dr. Abou El Fadl reminded me that oftentimes, when we give into sadness or we give into that darkness or that heaviness or anxiety, oftentimes we are actually closer to the demonic than we are to the divine. And of course, that is NOT to say that we are NOT supposed to feel sad, or that we are NOT supposed to feel anxious. It’s clear that obviously in these times, we do and there is just so much in the world that affirmatively, objectively will make you sad (if you don’t feel sad, there’s probably something wrong!).

But the point is, that we always have a choice to push back, to say “No, not today.” We’re not going to feel that or we’re not going to give into that. We can feel it, but we’re not going to give into that. We’re not going to just hide out in bed all day, as much as we might like to. (And some days, you actually have to stay in bed, if you’re not getting enough rest...you need to be kind to yourself!) But at some point, you have to make the decision: Am I going to get up and fight? Or am I going to give into my sadness? Obviously, God wants us to find it within ourselves to rise to the occasion and continue to grow and evolve and become our best selves. And in a time this, I’m sure God wants us to fight and do whatever we can to bring goodness into the world.

Interestingly, in this Q&A, Dr. Abou El Fadl shared some stories of when he was a young student in Egypt, coming up through the halaqa1 system where you are learning at the feet of scholars or shaykhs— how the students would often break up into groups, some would go out to talk to people, some would do other tasks, and some would stay back and just pray—pray that God would bless those efforts. There was a really large [belief and investment into] that divine energy, calling God to come and bless whatever it is that you are trying to do.

And so the idea of beautiful energy — blessed energy, getting called upon and sent out into the world — is something that was very real. And when you think about where we are now, there is just so much dark energy in the world. Dr. Abou El Fadl was sharing how Islamophobia is part of that, where you just feel that Islamophobia and that demonic energy is so rampant and so infectious, like a bad disease. And a lot of those traditions or investments in prayer, the power of prayer and beautiful energy, a lot of that [belief] has been dismantled from Islamophobia, from the fact that a lot of our institutions have crumbled.

As I am thinking about all of these things and trying to navigate this sadness, then of course, God has a way of coming in and telling you, “Hey! Pay attention!” So, literally within the next day or two, I saw a friend of mine at the gym. She is someone who I love seeing because, although she is not Muslim, she is a very devout Christian, very close to God, and really believes so much of what I believe in, which is in the power of God and that in building a close relationship with God, you have the ability to tap into your superpower.

So, we always get together and talk about some of the crazy things happening in the world and how they’re making us feel. And she reminds me that, sometimes you just have to say no to your sadness. You just have to say, “Nope, I’m not doing that today, I’m not feeling that today.” And I thought to myself, “Oh! okay, this was something that we were just talking about—having the power to push back against the darkness!”

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I admitted to her, “Yeah, I just feel like I’ve been hiding in bed a lot.” And she immediately tells me, “Nope, every single day, you have to wake up and you’ve just got to be grateful that it’s a new day and that you have all of these blessings! You’ve got to jump up with full energy and just start, whether it’s creating or fighting back. You can just say it out: ‘No! I am not giving into that today.’” And so that was really powerful.

My friend also believes so much in the power of prayer, the idea of putting that energy out in the world and feeling like you’re a warrior. She reminds me that we are all warriors and that we have to get up and fight every single day. My friend is one of these people that has just beautiful energy and lots of light, so, I felt like God was also telling me through my friend: “Yeah, you see what I’m talking about? See? What you were hearing about from your husband I am also validating through what you’re hearing from your friend.” So, that was very lovely.

And the other thing that my friend mentioned, which was very interesting was about some of her friends and family members who have not taken the time to deal with their internal demons. And again, I thought, “Oh my God! Okay, she’s saying another thing that has been on my mind!” She shared that: when you don’t deal with your own internal demons, then you make your “stuff” [your problems] the problem of those around you. And I thought, “Yes! Exactly! We talk about this all the time!”

Again, the whole idea of dealing with your own internal demons, turning inward, cleaning house, right? Taking responsibility for your own work. And then as you do that, then you can actually show up in the world in a much better place and able to contribute and do a lot more good.

So again, I’m thinking, “All right, God, thank you, I got the message.” Because God was literally checking off down the list of things that I was thinking about and my friend was just validating them for me. I’m like, “Okay, thank you, God!”

Oh, here comes Doogie. Hi, Doogie! Okay. So, Doogie just came into the room. If you hear a little bit of heavy breathing in the background, it’s Doogie, just giving me a little bit of moral support.

So, I was so happy this past week to also see that Zohran Mamdani released a video speaking about being Muslim and pushing back on this notion that it’s probably better if you’re running for public office or doing anything noteworthy, NOT to say that you’re a Muslim. And he really called out the fact that so many Muslims in New York City, but really everywhere, are haunted by the specter of Islamophobia, right? If you admit that you’re Muslim, it can bring you harm or it can prevent you from achieving whatever goals you want to achieve. And he basically said in his video: “No more!” because he obviously has come under a lot of attack as he has been getting closer and closer to, God willing, winning this election.

Election day is this Tuesday so let’s all pray for him. God, I really hope that he will win this election. But of course with it will come so much heat and more attacks. But it was really beautiful that he very confidently pushed back and said, “I am not going to change my name, my religion, the way I eat, the way I do things.” And he says, “I have the luxury of being the Democratic primary candidate, but so many other Muslims don’t have that type of protection.” But the fact that he just put that out in the world, that: “I am going to be unapologetically Muslim and no one should be subject to that indignity of having to hide their religion or hide anything about them anymore,” he pushed back with this beautiful energy…

I hope that that this is something that will really catch. This is something I really wish to support. When I’m speaking here in these videos, my mission and my goal is to give us Muslims pride and conviction and passion to be truly ourselves, to find that potential that God gave us, each of us, individually. I really do believe that each of us has a very specific gift and purpose for coming into this world. And that if you have the blessing, especially as a convert, of becoming Muslim, you have the potential for achieving something really beautiful and really great, something that God wants you to do. And so these videos, and our work at the Usuli Institute are all geared towards helping people achieve that full potential. That is my conviction.

For those who are not familiar, the Usuli Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit focused on education. But I think what sets us apart is a real focus and emphasis on critical thinking, starting from the foundations, learning the Qur’an in a way that you maybe have never learned before, and also the Sirah: the life of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. It’s like literally throwing out a lot of the baggage that you might have picked up along the way and starting anew with really beautiful, clean, ethically powerful, critical thinking based knowledge that helps you find that God is loving and beautiful and wants the best of you.

And this is in contrast to this idea that God is this distant, angry, judgmental force. We really believe that God is your superpower, can be your closest companion, your closest friend. God who knows everything about you, and wants you to build a life based on that conviction and knowing that God is right there with you. Same for the idea of understanding the life of the Prophet Muhammad.

And, this is something that has been very new for me, because for the vast majority of my 30 years as a convert, I really did not spend a lot of time studying the Prophet, peace be upon him. To me, the Prophet was a historical figure, and learning about the battles and the wars and the things that are in the Sirah felt like a historical exercise. And for me, I’ve actually been very historically challenged. This was my worst subject in school, and so, I think, to an extent, I was also quite intimidated by that.

But what has been really beautiful at the Usuli Institute, what we’ve spent a lot of time doing, is going through the entire Qur’an, and now the Sirah, the life of the Prophet. Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl has been sharing his lifelong learning, his research that is ongoing, and helping us to navigate what of that tradition was inserted by design, for political reasons, for nefarious reasons, to create doubt. Let’s go back to this idea of the polarity between the divine and the demonic. What are the tools that you have in order to navigate that polarity?

And so critical to your ability to navigate the polarity is your amount of knowledge and your investment in your relationship with God. What we try to do at the Usuli Institute is to, at least, provide the tools from a knowledge perspective, to help you create an ethical framework for understanding the Qur’an and an ethical framework for understanding the Sirah: how to identify what would be authentic or inauthentic to the tradition, because in a nutshell, anything that you hear in the hadith tradition or in the Sirah, has to align with the beauty and ethical message of the Qur’an. So, if you’re hearing something that is just simply ugly, simply unethical, or that leads to immoral outcomes, well, that was probably something that was inserted along the way in the hadith tradition.

And understanding the hadith tradition really takes training, specialized training. That’s why we are so blessed at the Usuli Institute to be receiving this incredible knowledge that is the fruit of this eminent scholar’s lifelong work. I am not going to be able to read classical Arabic sources. I am not going to be able to read a gazillion books or synthesize all this type of information that we receive so beautifully, so eloquently, and so consistently from someone like Dr. Abou El Fadl.

So, this really underscores the importance of good knowledge. And as an example of that, I really want to call attention to last week’s Friday sermon (khutbah) at the Usuli Institute entitled, “The Myth of Nation States: Why Gaza is a Watershed Moment”:

This was such a demonstration of the importance of knowledge and the importance of having that capacity [to read, synthesize and apply vast knowledge] if you’re a scholar. Obviously, not all of us can be scholars. But when you find people who you trust and have the capacity to literally ingest a lifetime or more worth of knowledge and then be able to present it to you in a time that helps you to understand the world that you live in, the time you live in, and what your role is as a Muslim, this is magical.

This Friday sermon (khutbah) was really masterful. I can’t do it justice here, but I can tell you that it was extremely powerful because it literally sums up the history of how we arrived at where we are today. He starts talking about where we started at the end of empires and how the world that was created after World War I and World War II resulted in nation states. He describes the premise of why the world was set up that way, how it is a fallacy, and how we are seeing today exactly why that fallacy is.

He describes how Muslim nation states have ended up as a result, how they have suffered, and how they have lost this idea of the sense of Ummah (a community of believers), the sense of connectedness, and the sense of a shared purpose. He talks about racism and the intentions of those who created the world, i.e. the white supremacists: what they thought, created, believed in, walked back, and where we are today. He tells us what it’s going to take for us as Muslims to create something very different and very new [i.e. something true to our divine principles].

It just struck me that it is like taking the entirety of history, wrapping it up in a red bow and handing it to us. [Someone else has done all the hard work and heavy lifting, and we just receive it for free.] This demonstrates the vast importance of mastery over the depth of scholarship and all of the hard work, talent and skill that is necessary to get at the greater understanding of our world, something that we, as individuals cannot do on our own, and why we need good scholars. And all I can say is, please go and watch it, take the time to really listen and learn, because Dr. Abou El Fadl just makes it so clear, where we are and what is so necessary. Part of that is taking our tradition seriously. Part of that is taking knowledge seriously. A huge part of that is investing where it matters.

Coming back to learning about the traditions of the Prophet (peace be upon him), when we go back and learn our history, I’m realizing that it matters a lot to understand what was the ethic in the fight—when the Prophet was going up against oligarchs, those in power, and living in a world that is NOT very different than the world we are living in now. Especially here in America, we see that many people are saying we have already fallen to fascism. Some people are saying that there’s still a little bit of time, there’s still a little bit of hope, but that the door or window is closing quickly. As Muslims, now that we have this awareness [of the similarities between our time and the Prophet’s time] and were given the message of the Qur’an and the example of the Prophet, it is really our loss and our folly if we do not embrace those examples and try to follow them.

Another thought-provoking fact that Dr. Abou El Fadl shared is that from so long ago, these forces that have created our racist, white supremacist world ALWAYS saw Islam as the enemy—from centuries ago. And so you have to ask yourself, why is that? What is it about the Islamic message that they were so threatened by? And clearly, we know as Muslims, that it’s this message of equality and dignity and human rights. It’s this divine message of how we are supposed to create society, how we are supposed to operate. And I think that, when you put it all together: taking a look at Zohran Mamdani, the sense of energy, the sense of the polarity between the divine and the demonic, for me, when I put it all together, I believe people are searching for something beautiful to replace the world that we are living in.

There are so many people that have no sense of Islam and no understanding of Islam, but are living Islamically—the people who show up every day and push back and fight back, because what they see in the world is happening is absolutely wrong. But what Islam offers (and what we teach at the Usuli Institute) is this very comprehensive moral framework that is rooted in the Islamic tradition. This is something that Muslims themselves have lost sight of, because we obviously are struggling with a lot of different issues as a community. People are focused on petty issues as opposed to really big issues.

But what we offer as Muslims, as people who hold the understanding of the Qur’an, is a very comprehensive worldview for humanity, something that makes sense, something that is timeless, something that is beautiful, and something that can fill the void of ugliness and darkness and the demonic that exists in our midst—the demonic, that is clearly taking hold in terms of energy, behaviors, and abject cruelty that seems to march on with impunity.

As Muslims who understand the Islamic message, seeing that the Divine is calling for us to show up and work really hard to fight all of that, I feel like this is a moment. And you see a lot of potential. For example, you see what Zohran Mamdani is doing in his neck of the woods. His powerful message, quite frankly is an Islamic message: affordability, uplifting the disempowered, human rights, dignity, equality…this is the Islamic message.

And look at what he has been able to achieve in a very short amount of time because he had the buy-in of people who were so impressed with this humanistic Islamic message. They probably didn’t even know it was Islamic, but as Muslims, we know that this is fundamentally what Zohran Mamdani is fighting for. And when he can mobilize so many people in New York City to the point where he can win an election, that’s a sign for all of us to take heed — to see what he was able to accomplish and see what we can do in our neck of the woods, and together. So, that to me is a sign of hope, and a sign of the necessity to step up and really work hard.

So, as individuals, I just want to say, the fight starts within, addressing our own internal demons, fortifying our knowledge, fortifying our ability to have confidence in ourselves and our belief and conviction that we have something beautiful to bring to this world.

And then aligning ourselves with others who have that same vision and that same conviction. And taking learning from those in our time, like Zohran Mamdani and others, to really make a difference. I think the hope is there, and I think that the time is now. And we always have the strength and the ability to say no to the darkness, no, to the demonic. To say “No, today I’m not going to be sad. Today, I am not going to give into my desire just to stay in bed all day. I am going to get up and do something creative. I’m going to do something that maybe pushes me out of my comfort zone. I’m going to speak for God in some way. I’m going to create something that might touch other people.” That is my hope. That’s why I showed up today to make this video after two months.

And I hope that I said something in this video that might inspire someone out there watching it to get up and do some good. So yeah, that’s it for today. More soon. Wherever you are, I’m sending you my warmest greetings of peace, love, and hope, that God willing, tomorrow we show up again and the next day and the next day, and we just make progress one step at a time and bring as much goodness into the world as we can. Okay, thank you so much for watching, and take care and hope to see you soon. Al salamu ‘alaykum, greetings of peace. Bye bye!

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Beautiful music in Outro by Wietske Merison: “Time,” on her album REMINDER:

The Usuli Institute is now on Substack sharing powerhouse Friday sermons (khutbahs) by Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl, edited by Dr. Josef Linnhoff on: .

For more of my videos, check out my YouTube channel: @justgracenow

If peace is the ultimate aspiration, in this genocidal moment, we are far from it. As the Israeli holocaust of Palestinians marches towards completion, we sit with our buckets of sadness, often feeling helpless. But it is another trick of the devil. We can take this moment to turn inward and focus on healing, strengthening and fortifying ourselves for the good, never-ending fight.

In my video below, I share my reflections in this dark moment about where we are in the world, where we are as a community of believers, and where we can make the difference as individuals. I share a couple of “Unmosqued” stories that sadly highlight the crisis of our youth running away from the mosque.

When there is so much in the world that we cannot affect, I believe the answer is to focus where we can affect change - in our hearts, minds and bodies, doubling down on our commitments to truth, ethics and a loving relationship with our Creator, the source of all beauty, goodness and liberation.

I share some gold nuggets from my journey of learning with the Qur’an and the life of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). The moment in which we live today parallels the time of corruption, oligarchy, racism and moral decay in which the Prophet Muhammad lived. He was charged with bringing a new message of equality, liberation and ethical elevation, which would change everything. Fast forward 1400+ years and we find ourselves, Muslims, at the nadir of civilization.

In the first three years of Islam, the Prophet and his small group of supporters and followers only had 10 surahs (chapters) of the Qur’an out of a total of 114.1 There was no Islamic law, no competing schools of jurisprudence, no jurists. Think about that.

In those first 10 surahs, what did God tell the first Muslims, all converts to Islam, what it meant to be Muslim? What would their new religion be about?

I believe that therein lies the answer for us today. Now is the time to do the hard work of relearning anew what this message was all about.2 As a convert, a “first Muslim,” in every sense, having had to learn everything anew from the beginning of my journey 30+ years ago, I believe that the key to our collective future is for all of us to adopt the view of a “First Muslim,” relearn our core values, our ethics and our priorities. May God guide us anew to the most beautiful path forward.

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For example, I regularly watch Krystal Ball (), host of Breaking Points, a popular independent news source. She proudly states that she is not religious. Yet, in two recent episodes, my ears perked up when she stated that 1) there is so much affirmative evil taking place in the world that she has found it helpful to assess the world in terms of understanding evil; and 2) that Americans are looking for ways to spiritually grapple with the evil taking place in Gaza.

For what it’s worth, here is my take.

It is clear to me that the genocide in Palestine created a redline for humanity. Are you on the side of bombing, mutilating and starving children—or not? It really is as simple as that. Each of us actively chooses which side of the line we stand on - even in our inaction. It is truly a litmus test for being human.

At this point, does it matter if you are Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Agnostic or Atheist? NO. I have seen some of the most ethical positions taken by atheists. I believe we will each be judged, not on our labels, but on what we stand for. By now, if you are NOT against the genocide, as far as I’m concerned you might as well have fallen into the chasm.

Yet, in this dark moment, one thing is clear: light cuts through like nothing else.

Take, for example, Zohran Mamdani.1 He is a superstar whose light shines very bright. He is everything we need in this moment, and everything the powers that be are terrified of. He just took on The Establishment - old politics, old money, corruption - and won. Establishment defenders on both sides of the aisle are losing their minds, viciously attacking Zohran with racist and Islamophobic slurs, and the typical charges of anti-semitism, terrorism and threats to “national security.”

Is it any coincidence that the people attacking Zohran are the same people standing on the wrong side of the genocide redline? Of course not. Good versus Evil. Light versus Darkness. The chasm widens and more people are recognizing it.

To me, Zohran Mamdani is like a neon sign from the heavens. But what color of neon - what the sign can mean and how you read it - depends on your vantage point. For New Yorkers, he is a sign of hope and relief for the working class, lifting real financial burdens. For the Democratic Party, he is a wake-up call for what excites and mobilizes the democratic base proving you CAN challenge the status quo and win.

And for The Establishment, Zohran symbolizes a cataclysmic threat. The fact that he could emerge victorious in New York with his pro-Palestine, pro-BDS2, pro-human rights message is EPIC. His win could be read as a stunning referendum against Zionism, its supporters, funders and benefactors—and for that, he is very dangerous.

Further, Zohran’s victory shines light on why The Establishment so desperately wants us to fear Muslims. If people can recognize that Muslims are human - and even inspiring - it will be hard to continue justifying:

• The well-funded narrative where Muslims and Islam are THE enemy;

• A constant war time economy, ie. spending trillions on “military defense”; and

• A blank check for Israel and its genocidal policies, despite breaking every law known to humanity.

In another incredible sign of the times, I just recently discovered Jennifer Welch and Angie “Pumps” Sullivan of the popular , two enlightened self-identifying “Karens” from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, deep in “red” territory. I was floored and unexpectedly thrilled to hear them speak about Israel and Palestine with such depth and clarity in a recent episode. They so aptly call out the hypocrisy and inhumanity of the genocide in Palestine funded by American dollars, and critically diagnose the cancer in the Democratic Party: AIPAC’s financial chokehold on Democrats to always prioritize Israel over America and hold us hostage to their narratives and aims.

To hear the outrage and righteous indignation expressed by these women over Israel, Palestine and AIPAC was indescribably satisfying. Listen to these two videos from start to finish. They powerfully articulate what a short time ago was common knowledge only to those who were personally invested, ie. Muslims, and the few ethical analysts who were paying attention. That these deep insights came from two educated, open-minded and ethical women from the heartland of America was in and of itself a massive sign of hope.

Yet for me as a critical-thinking Muslim convert, I see Zohran as a different kind of neon sign. To me, not only is he a sign for humanity, but he is nothing short of a Divine Reminder and Message for Muslims specifically. Let me break this down.

First, my critiques always come from the lens of someone raised outside of Islam who was so drawn to the universality, beauty and humanism of its core message that I completely upended my life as I knew it to BECOME Muslim.

Because of my own journey, the Islam that rings true for me is one that is universal, beautiful and humanistic. Full stop. I believe God gave each of us the tools to assess the world and everything in it according to those measures. The message of Islam is one of human thriving, justice, equality and dignity for ALL - even if you are NOT Muslim.

Enter Zohran Mamdani. His politics and messaging are all uncoincidentally aligned with these core Islamic ethics. To me, it is crystal clear. Zohran won the election BECAUSE OF, not DESPITE, his commitment to foundational Islamic values: justice, truthfulness, uplifting the disempowered AND being exceptional in character and action. His positions are pro-human, pro-human rights, and exactly what we, as Muslims, are duty-bound to protect for ourselves and for everyone else: dignity.

So let me say the quiet part out loud. Zohran’s Islam was front and center and on full display, and it was extremely … compelling and inspiring.

From where I’m sitting, Zohran Mamdani also very quietly just proved a point: that embodying the true essence of the Islamic message touches the sweet spot of ALL human beings, the part that desires dignity, justice and honesty.

Zohran’s stunning win is illuminating at so many levels. He himself is an example that inspires humanity to be better. He cares about ALL people - not just Muslims - and wants to improve their lives. He is humble, truthful, and authentic.

Despite everything the mainstream media has taught us to fear about Muslims and Islam, people love and connect with Zohran. His message is moving, his conviction is palpable, and his enthusiasm is contagious. And wisely, in our Islam-hating current moment, Zohran didn’t announce or promote his religious convictions. He demonstrated them.

In Zohran, I feel my own Islamic convictions. I chose to convert to Islam 30+ years ago. My life’s work since has been dedicated to elevating knowledge, ethics and critical thinking in Islam. Now, I head up an education institute focused on applying God’s timeless moral principles to our current moment.3 As a result, I am always scanning for signs of hope in the Muslim context. I am always searching for positive examples of Islam and Muslims.

I am drawn to expressions of the faith founded on ethics and justice. Substance over form. Action over talk. I don’t care about how you look, what you wear or how pious you appear or sound. I don’t care about your labels or where you come from. I care about who you are and what you do. What you stand for.

Does it matter if Zohran is a Shia Muslim? NO. Does it matter if he does not dress like an Arab? NO. Does it matter if his wife does not wear hijab? NO. He shows up, works hard and gets the job done in the best way possible. Is he inspirational for humanity and the world? ABSOLUTELY.

As a convert, I fell in love with Islam’s message of equality and diversity, and the call to the Divine in all its forms. It should inspire. It should make people love you for what you represent - truth, kindness, generosity, empathy and hope.

The same ethics and principles that drew me to Islam I recognize in Zohran. Yet examples of Muslims who stand as inspirations for the world are few and far between. Zohran Mamdani is one of these rare examples. And what he has done in New York proves the power of embodying the Islamic message in our times.

For us Muslims, Zohran is a wake-up call for what truly matters. He is a neon sign for how to get our priorities straight if we want to change our world, and also our condition as Muslims:

1. Be universally inspiring. Be inspiring at the human level.

2. Be exceptional at what you do. Know your context and your audience.

3. Uphold ethics and stand unwaveringly on principle.

4. Uplift the disempowered. Fight for everyone’s God-given rights.

5. Be brave, humble, truthful, your best self. Work hard.

6. Know your God-given gifts and use them to bring goodness to the world.

7. Expect that when you fight for justice and the rights of others, you will become the enemy of those with power, wealth and privilege. Plan accordingly.

These are essential lessons that we already know from our own traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), who confronted a society just like ours: oligarchy, extreme disparities between the rich and poor, classism, racism, tribalism, misogyny and oppression of the marginalized. In that backdrop, God sent a message of ethics and beauty that changed the world. God charged Muslims with being the best of humankind.

Sadly, too often, and for so many reasons (colonialism, Islamophobia, PTSD4), I believe our community focuses on the wrong priorities to the point that we have become irrelevant to the world. Instead of being at the forefront of human progress, we get lost in petty details and policing one another for less than “perfect” displays of religiosity: hijab or no hijab/beard or no beard? The command to “enjoin the good and forbid the bad,” is often used as justification for making harsh judgments against fellow co-religionists. This is inspiring to no one.

As a convert, I am often on the receiving end of patronizing judgments masquerading as well-intentioned “advice.” Don’t get me wrong. In general, I believe that Muslims are among the kindest, most generous people on the planet. Yet at the same time, there is a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde dynamic that comes to life when people enter a religious context. The eminent Islamic scholar and jurist Khaled Abou El Fadl coined the term “pietistic affectations” to aptly describe performative expressions of faith which favor superficial appearances over authentic, substantive ethics.

At the risk of vastly oversimplifying, I might suggest that we are all suffering from a serious trauma response: a self-protective predisposition towards perfectionism. After all, in this genocidal, Islam-hating moment, who as a group are more vilified, more dehumanized, and ultimately more traumatized than Muslims themselves? That we hold ourselves and each other to “perfection,” a state reserved for God, is self-defeating at every level.

We have forgotten what truly matters. It is not about the hijab, the beard, dropping Arabic phrases, and most certainly not the misogynistic control over our women. It is about being an inspiring example to humanity of justice, mercy, and human compassion. I think we have lost sight of the most important universally human measures of being Muslim.

What do we say when some of the best “Muslims” in our midst - if we are to judge by action, intention and ethics - are in fact NOT Muslim? For example, superhero Australian journalist , one of the most powerful voices against the genocide, has been publishing searing critiques DAILY since October 7, 2023. What do we do when, in contrast, so-called “Muslim leaders” remain silent? Most importantly, what can we do as a community or as individuals to check and reset our ethical priorities?

I believe the solution is to rethink the principles of our faith and apply them to our reality in 2025, as we do at The Usuli Institute (https://www.usuli.org/). What do mercy, justice, compassion and ethical action mean in our times? I offer as an example, our new study of the beginnings of the Islamic message at the time of the Prophet Muhammad.5

Set aside what you think you know. We investigate anew: What were the very first things that God wanted humans to know about what it meant to be Muslim? What was the core message of Islam? In the first three years of revelation, they only had the first 10 chapters (surahs)6 of the Qur’an to work with (out of a total of 114 surahs).

Imagine. In those first three years, there was no Islamic law or Sharia per se. There were no competing schools of thought or schools of jurisprudence. Just the core message from God. What was that message that would transform the world and make those early converts sacrifice everything: their families, their way of life, their lives? What was so inspiring and timeless that it would still resonate for humanity today?

Sometimes you have to return to the very beginnings to reclaim the purity of the message. Sometimes you truly lose the forest for the trees and end up fighting the devil in the details. For Muslims today, it feels like we are often lost in the woods and the devil has taken hold amidst the petty, oppressive, misogynistic details.

No hijab? Canceled. Music? Haram! Dogs? God forbid! Taking an ethical position against the “mainstream”? Crickets…

Zohran reminds us of what truly matters when it comes to living as an ethical Muslim in our times - a commitment to justice, bold action, uplifting the disempowered, using your gifts to create goodness in the world, bravely standing up to the wealthy and the powerful, being honest, being authentically yourself, being the best you can be, and doing it with a smile.

Is he a religious figure? No, he is a politician. Is he the perfect Muslim? None of us are. Is he “religious”? That’s between him and God. Not our business.

Yet in the world of politics in which he operates, he strives to be exceptionally effective and at the forefront for what is best for fellow human beings from a Godly perspective. His peer group is measured by excellence, not ethnicity, gender, nor even religion.

To me, Zohran Mamdani is a breakthrough example of what God calls each of us to do in our own respective worlds. He just showed us how to do it in his world, the world of politics.

He is a rare exception and exceptional. But so could we all be in our own respective worlds at this very moment, when humanity needs it the most. After all, isn’t that the point?

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I pray you are well in these darkest of times. I continue to believe that in this moment, one of the most important acts of resistance we can each individually engage in is healing, education and self-empowerment, especially when it comes to our faith convictions. I regularly receive correspondence from people around the world who struggle with doubt and crises of faith as Muslims who are navigating an Islam-hating world, the evil fruit of years of investment into an Islamophobia Industry. How else can we justify the live-streamed gen*cide and ethnic cleansing taking place in Palestine, funded by US dollars with the tacit complicity of the rest of the world?

When mainstream corporate media teaches the world that Muslims and Islam are the enemy, that Islam is backwards, oppressive and misogynistic; that Muslims themselves are all potential terrorists and adhere to the logic of violence and irrationality, the obvious conclusion is that they deserve to be eliminated.

As ethical Muslims, we have no choice except to do everything possible to stand up to injustice, fortify our knowledge and faith, and as I mention in my latest YouTube video, build our spiritual armor so that when we hear something ugly, irrational or backwards regarding our faith, our internal alarm bells will sound off. The more knowledge one holds in their reservoir, the louder and more distinct those alarm bells will be.

In my journey, I have found that there is nothing like the freedom and liberation that come with the conviction that Islam is truly beautiful. To arrive at that confidence requires an investment of time and energy into learning and questioning. In this video, I share a short course of study that was instrumental for me in gaining this conviction and confidence.

At the beginning of my journey as a young Muslim convert, I did not know enough to be able to discern good knowledge from bad. But God arranged that I would be introduced to (and eventually marry) one of the most learned Islamic scholars and jurists of our time. Over the course of our marriage, I edited and was actively involved in the publication of his scholarship and given the opportunity to learn Islam and Islamic law expansively and with great detail.

Among the most important outcomes of this real-time education was building my own intellectual foundation and moral framework for seeing the world as an ethical Muslim. Knowledge is power, but more importantly, it is liberation.

I believe that this knowledge base and vibrant ethical framework formed the spiritual armor I needed to protect and guard me against attacks upon my faith and my belief system. It allowed me to make sense of the Islam-hating world, and gave me the tools to navigate the misogyny, ignorance and quite frankly, the stupidity I often encounter from both non-Muslims and Muslims themselves.

More importantly, it created space for me to focus on my personal relationship with God, so I was not caught up in wondering how a loving God could possibly expect me to believe and follow an inconsistent, sometimes ugly, sometimes irrational, sometimes misogynistic faith. That ugliness comes from human interpretations, power plays and ignorance - not God.

At the heart of this understanding is the conviction that “God is beautiful and God loves beauty,” which is the premise of one book I discuss in my video: The Search for Beauty in Islam: A Conference of the Books by Khaled Abou El Fadl, one of the most important books on Islam in our day and age. The idea that anything that is morally ugly cannot, by definition, be of the Divine, is in itself the only heuristic needed for any human being to find God. The corollary is to know that the most direct line to God will always be the most morally beautiful path. One does not need intellectual study to understand this premise, only a vibrant heart and conscience.

In the video, I also discuss the other books I had the great blessing to edit, know and grow with. Each book was a new liberation. I also provide links to our Usuli Institute video journeys with the Qur’an and most recently, the life of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Spending three years delving into the ethical teachings of all 114 chapters of the Qur’an only cemented the conviction that God’s elevated message to humanity is beautiful, humanistic, sophisticated, nuanced, fully rational and consistently coherent. Our Project Illumine (Tafsir and Sirah) journey is the balm and the fire needed to calm and ignite one’s heart, soul and intellect anew.

For anyone struggling with doubt, crises of faith, confusion or sadness, I hope that this short course will make all the difference.

It pains me every day that I cannot do more to stop the gen*cide in Palestine. But I pray that making a video with the intention to hopefully, God-willing, help someone out there feel more empowered and liberated in their faith, can somehow make a difference. I pray that anyone who needs to watch this video will find it. May God accept and make it so. And, may we all do our part to stand up to injustice and create goodness in the world in whatever small way we can. Ameen.

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My last video entitled, “Why I Don’t Wear Hijab & Why It’s Not a Sin” created quite a stir and also a good deal of engagement in the comments sections of both my YouTube channel and here on Substack. To be honest, I knew I would get a lot of blowback for taking such a public position on this controversial topic. But as I had hoped, I also received a lot of heartfelt messages of appreciation from those who heard something that made a difference for them. Those were the people for whom I made the video. The range of reactions revealed so much about where we are as a community of believers and our attitudes towards knowledge, learning and critical thinking.

Many people simply reacted to the thumbnail associated with the video and proceeded to comment — sometimes quite harshly and condescendingly — making all kinds of assumptions without actually watching the video. Such is the nature of YouTube and the Internet. Yet at the same time, the comments sections opened a space for dialogue, a healthy development given the absence of any other such space.

For those with whom I engaged in the comments, I had the opportunity to further elaborate on my position, my outlook, and my reasons for putting myself out in the public crosshairs. I am neither a masochist nor a narcissist, which one would need to be to release such an inflammatory video, if it weren’t for the other possible reason - that I felt secure in my own convictions before God to offer such a testimony at the risk of whatever harm might befall me. As I have explained, my intention was to share my own informed journey with the women’s head covering in the event that it could help another woman struggling under the perception that NOT wearing a headscarf was unequivocally a sin, with no alternative viewpoint, as is a common understanding in our current moment.

I invited Dr. Sitara Akram, a UK-based Muslim academic, to join me in conversation about the Muslim reaction, as we both have publicly taken the same stand on the issue of hijab, and similarly, have had to deal with the negative reactions of fellow co-religionists. Dr. Sitara offers an excellent series of videos on hijab on her YouTube channel in which she delves into the history, textual evidence, anthropology, Islamic law discourses, interpretive approaches, political influences, and social practices of the veiling and seclusion of women over time, all of which provides a concise and clarifying education on this highly nuanced topic.

I knew Dr. Sitara would be the perfect person to engage, given the dynamics and subtleties raised by the issue of the hijab with regard to the broader context of Muslim realities today. Our lengthy conversation was rich, deep and deeply personal. Dr. Sitara herself wore the hijab for over ten years and discusses her own journey as a migration from dogma to informed knowledge. As an academic researcher, she explains how learning the methods of knowledge creation and interpretation (epistemology) was a game-changer, and a source of liberation and empowerment.

We covered a lot of ground in this conversation, far beyond the issue of the hijab. This is what two educated Muslim women in conversation about emancipatory interpretations of Quranic ethics looks like. We come together on an anti-regressive, forward-thinking approach to the faith, in direct conflict with the prevalent regressive views of our day. This is why we create a stir. We don’t subscribe to the idea that Islam is a “black and white” faith, where commands are clear and unequivocal. For more on this critical issue, please watch the video.

How we treat the hijab issue is indicative of how we treat all ethical issues, which is unfortunately, sorely subpar. As Muslims, we are called to do better, we CAN do much better, and we MUST do much, much better if we wish to emerge from our current status at the nadir of civilization.

I believe that in this video, Dr. Sitara and I give fuller effect to how expansive our conversations can and should be when it comes to issues of women’s empowerment and how to emerge from regressive approaches to our faith. I hope you will find this discussion as engaging as I did. May God guide and help us all to do much, much better. And God Knows Best.

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First, my apologies. Honestly, I don’t like giving oxygen to this topic, especially in light of all of the bigger moral priorities in the world, but I believe that in this moment of intense hardship in the world, change must begin at the granular level - at the individual level, especially among women. With individual empowerment will come collective empowerment, as we are the sum total of our individual parts and then some.

I made this video (below) because I care deeply about the empowerment of women. Talking about this issue in such a bold way is like throwing oneself face-first into a hedge of thorny rose bushes. Nevertheless, my testimony here is intended to lift a burden, and hopefully uplift, a woman who needs it. In a nutshell, I argue that it is NOT a sin for a woman to choose NOT to wear a headscarf, based on the fact that a minority opinion in Islamic law exists that the hijab, the women’s head-covering, is NOT mandatory. How do I know this? I am married to one of the eminent scholars of Islam, Islamic law, Shari’ah of our time, a distinguished professor of American and International law, and a classically-trained “old school” Islamic jurist. This is his research, not mine.

This awareness was life-affirming and liberating for me as a young convert over 30 years ago. In our life’s work of educating the public on beautiful and ethical interpretations of Islam, we have encountered more than our fair share of women who have suffered or even turned away from Islam under the belief that wearing the hijab was an unequivocal requirement of the faith. Those who chose not to wear the scarf carried the shame of feeling they were committing a sin.

As I played a visible role, speaking in public as the Executive Director of our non-profit Islamic education institute, I would often be told that I should wear the headscarf, that I was committing a sin for not doing so, and further, how could I expect anyone would listen to me when I did not follow this most fundamental requirement of women? Muslim women who also did not cover, thanked me for speaking out as a non-hijabi woman because they themselves felt silenced as such.

In these troubled times, I am firmly convinced that we must each do our part to share what God has gifted us in the service of others. I was gifted the opportunity to see, learn and experience Islam from a rare and privileged vantage point that empowered and liberated me. God curated a life journey for me full of deep learning, not the least of which includes our three-year-long intensive engagement at The Usuli Institute known as Project Illumine: The Light of the Qur’an — ethical deep-dives into all 114 chapters of the Qur’an, demonstrating that each chapter holds a unique moral message for humanity. My outlook is anchored in this knowledge and learning. And this testimony is not a whimsical, comfort-based attempt to “modernize” or “secularize” the faith, or justify my own sins, as I have been accused.

Within a short time of releasing this video on YouTube, as expected, the comment section became rich with nice and not-so-nice opinions, lively banter, and well-intentioned correctives from people who had obviously not watched the video. Interestingly, the dynamics in the comments mirrored many of my experiences in real Muslim spaces, well illustrating some of the points I make in the video. Some people commented that they refused to watch my video and unsubscribed, encouraging others to do the same. This video was obviously not for them.

This video is for the women who are suffering, have suffered, or have turned away from the faith because they have been told that there is a universal consensus (‘ijma) among all Islamic scholars that the hijab is an absolute requirement of Islam. This is simply not true.

I believe that as Muslims, we must take God’s Words seriously, embrace change and critical thinking, and strive to be at the forefront of learning, ethics and virtue in our world for every issue, not just hijab.

I present this testimony in the hopes that those who need to hear it will find it. I pray that it will be a source of insight, reassurance and belief that our loving, beautiful God of humanity will always place a much greater moral priority on the enlightenment, empowerment and liberation of each individual over the superficial or material trappings of appearance. And God Knows Best. May God accept.

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As we enter these blessed last ten days of Ramadan, I pray that you are finding strength, comfort and renewal in these dark times for the world. As so much is falling apart before our eyes between the renewed escalation of the genocide in Palestine and the rapid slide towards authoritarianism in America, I reflect on what my decision to convert to Islam meant to me 30+ years ago, and what it means to me now.

In this video, I share the big ideas that were important to me when I began my faith journey decades ago, and how prescient, enduring and even more relevant they are in this moment. Without the blessing of faith and the moral anchor of beautiful, virtuous Islam, the encroaching tides of chaos, uncertainty and darkness would be absolutely unbearable.

I share my thoughts and beliefs in hopes that they may be helpful, especially to anyone who may be struggling. I pray that they may be a source of comfort, reminder, and reconnection as we fortify ourselves for the challenges ahead.

I wish you and your loved ones much love, light, and spiritual nourishment as we savor the remaining elevated days of this most sacred month. May the Ramadan energy and spirit remain with us all, long after the month’s end.

In Peace and Hope,

Grace

P.S. If you like what I have shared, would you please help the video get noticed and shared by the YouTube algorithm with a LIKE, COMMENT, SHARE and/or SUBSCRIBE? Thank you so much and Ramadan Mubarak!

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I just wanted to share with you my latest video on my YouTube channel:

It’s got some hard earned wisdom, experience, humor and real talk. We have to be honest and truthful. Being a convert is hard, but nothing worth anything is ever easy.

Muslims are called to be at the forefront of everything good, forward-thinking, justice-oriented, and virtuous. We are supposed to be ambassadors for God and divinely beautiful examples for the rest of humanity in every regard. Everything begins with awareness and honesty. Then the hard work must begin. I humbly share my input here in hopes that it may be of help to someone on their journey in our collective mission.

Wishing you a blessed second-half (!) of Ramadan! I can’t believe how quickly time flies! May I ask a favor: if you enjoy my video and think others might benefit, please help the YouTube algorithm choose to expand its reach with a LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT or SHARE! Every engagement with the video helps! Thank you so much! :)

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I pray your first week of Ramadan has been blessed! After launching my new YouTube channel (@justgracenow) on the occasion of the start of Ramadan coinciding with my 31st convert anniversary, I experienced what I consider to be a Ramadan miracle. Starting from absolute ground zero with no views and no subscribers, in seven days, somehow the YouTube algorithm picked up my video and at this current moment, it has been viewed over 7,000 times and I have almost 700 subscribers! Among the 200 comments I have received, the vast majority coming from all corners of the world have been kind and supportive. Fewer than two handfuls have been less so, which is its own Ramadan miracle, lol!

All of it is a real-time learning experience for which I am grateful, and somehow, with the sacred energy of this holy month, I have managed to create and drop a second video. Definitely a third Ramadan miracle, I am certain. Here it is:

In it, I share my passion for my “convert tribe”, and also my belief that being a convert is all about a passion for truth and connection with God, whether you are new to Islam or a heritage Muslim (or neither!). I talk about why I believe converts are special, the challenges they confront, and what I have found to be the common traits that give converts the grit to make it - and stay the course. I also share a little bit about my own journey to Islam and a Ramadan miracle in my life that took 30 years to unfold.

Ramadan is a traditionally lonely time for many converts and I pray that this video will reach anyone who needs to see it. I wish you and your loved ones a blessed Ramadan full of Ramadan miracles!

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Greetings of Peace as we enter this beloved and sacred month of spiritual rejuvenation. None of us knows how many Ramadans we will meet in our lives, nor how many we have left before we return to our Lord.

I have the great honor that this year’s Ramadan commences on my 31st anniversary as a Muslim convert. To say that God has curated for me a most intricately nuanced life journey of discovery and growth is a massive understatement. God’s curriculum for me continues to unfold with greater richness, challenge, beauty, and expansion with every passing day. I cannot fathom the lessons yet to be learned.

Yet at this moment in time, I feel the weight of the gift received thus far and the burden and blessing of sharing what I have learned from my highly atypical vantage point. I am an American-born Taiwanese (immigrant parents) California-raised, Ivy-league educated Muslim convert married to a world-renowned Islamic scholar! As my Muslim classmate put it after we reconnected at our 10-year high school reunion shortly after my conversion, “You are the last person I would ever have expected to convert to Islam!” Ya, me too.

But there you have it. God extended the invitation and I accepted. But not without a lot of trepidation, struggle, and hard work. It would take two-and-a-half years from my initial intrigue with Islam to my actual conversion. In between, there was a whole lot of reading, praying, and talking to God on the one hand, and on the other hand, a lot of wrestling with the self, my identity, my value system and my belief structure. The path to conversion is lonely, confusing, exhilarating, relieving, clarifying, and hundreds more descriptors. It is a fundamental transformation of one’s worldview.

But the journey to conversion is only the opening chapter of a great book. The act of conversion itself demarcates the start of a completely new journey, a shift in the book’s narrative with a whole new set of characters, plot lines, and story twists. The first few years of new convert life can go well or not so well depending on a myriad of complex factors. Many converts don’t stay.

I honestly don’t know how many people make it past the three-decade mark and still maintain the passion of a convert. But I believe I have, and that it is nothing short of a miraculous gift. For all the social media posts and YouTube videos proclaiming new converts to Islam, I have not come across the same from any 30+ year converts who are not academics or scholars. I am neither.

In my own journey, I know that God directed my path so I would witness the Muslim convert experience in its full glory, first on my own, and then beginning a year later, alongside my life partner, an old-school trained Islamic jurist and Ivy League polymath who fled persecution in his native Egypt for daring to dream of democracy and human rights. There were perhaps no two more unlikely people to meet and marry than the two of us.

But we plan and God plans, and God is the best of planners. On this 31st convert birthday of mine, I look back and see that all along the way God was building up my knowledge, my confidence, and my voice, despite all of the hardships of conversion. This Ramadan in 2025, I recognize that God quietly granted me the gift of courage.

I have always wanted to speak to and about converts. This is where my passion comes alive. But the truth is, it is not about “converts,” or “reverts” (a term I absolutely abhor because it sounds like the conflation of “retard” and “pervert” and conveys backwards movement rather than forward motion, which is more consistent with the spirit of vibrancy, growth and human progress, which I believe to be inherent to Islam).

For me, being a convert means firing up your passion for doing a lot of good in the short time we are on this planet. You could be a heritage Muslim and still be a convert. In fact, I think every person should go through the conversion process to find that passion. I believe conversion is about passion for truth-seeking, for seeking God, and for being at the forefront of everything beautiful, virtuous and good to help humanity elevate towards the Divine. Call me a Divine Idealist, but I believe this is what every human being is called to do, everyone who cares about leaving the world better than when they arrived, that is.

Today, this lofty goal shows up in my world as the launch of a new YouTube channel with my first video. In my 30+ year convert journey, somehow my major attempts to try something new, creative and outside the box always happen to begin during the month of Ramadan. Not my plan but God’s! I don’t believe in coincidences but I do believe in Ramadan Miracles, so the fact that this first video came to life at the beginning of this blessed month I take as a hopeful sign, insha’Allah (God willing)!

God has given me so much. It feels like it is time to start paying back my debt of gratitude, which by definition can never be paid back. With my new Ramadan gift of courage, I begin this new challenge on my Ramadan convert birthday. The convert path is decidedly lonely and challenging, yet truly priceless if one can stay the course. I pray that I can share the jewels that I was given to help shine a light on the sometimes dark path that converts often must traverse alone. May we find our strength, passion and path to the Divine together, and may God accept during this blessed month and beyond.

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[Pause]

God: I know. Tell Me so you get it out.

Me: Kamala versus Trump? I know You are always sending us signs and seeing what we will do, but seriously? I mean, I knew that this election would be a stinker, but how could so few people fail to see the obvious?

[Pause]

God: What did you see?

Me: Unmitigated horror! We’ve been watching for a year on our phones! Babies shot in the head! Human beings starved, tortured, burned alive. Evil live-streamed! Could You have made it any clearer?? How could anyone with any shred of decency handle this?

[Pause]

God: What were you expecting?

Me: That more people would try to stop it! That more people would take a moral stand!

[Pause]

God: People do struggle with moral priorities.

Me: Yes! But God! Is it really that hard?? I get that most Americans are not personally invested - their family members have not been murdered or bombed by Israel. But what about those who are invested? How, in light of the overwhelming devastation we are witnessing, could anyone vote for the status quo in Kamala or Trump?

[Pause]

God: I gave everyone free will.

Me: I know. Thank You. But I thought live-streamed genocide would be the redline for more people! I was so encouraged by all the people protesting, standing up for Palestine, demanding an arms embargo. It felt like things were changing. But tonight. Why God?

I already knew that Kamala or Trump would win. But why did SO FEW PEOPLE vote for the ONLY anti-genocide, anti-war, pro-humanity, and pro-earth - Your Earth - candidate - the alternative to the status quo - Jill Stein? I get that people didn’t agree with everything she stood for, but seriously? Are we going to split hairs while unspeakable evil is committed before our very eyes, escalating 24/7, with no end in sight - all on our dime?? What has happened to our collective humanity?

I’m shaken. I’m really disappointed. You know that when I wrote my Letter to my fellow Muslim Voters, I set out my best case for the ethical vote, citing Your ethics and the imperative to stand on Principle. I found that many other ethical people - Muslims and non-Muslims - were making the same case, so I thought we were on to something!

But tonight’s voting results say that of all the people in America (roughly 350 million), less than 600,000 people (0.4% of the vote)1 cared enough to take a clear stand against genocide! And worse, in Michigan, where Muslims and Arabs could and should have stood loud and proud against genocide, the anti-genocide vote was only around 26,000 (0.5% of the vote)!2 How could that be? Is that small number of people all we have to unequivocally say NO to genocide, regardless of any other pragmatic calculus?

As Muslims, we had an opportunity to make a statement and register our dissent! But instead, we chose to stay home or lend our votes to the pro-genocide camps. We remain irrelevant and silenced, instead of standing up against injustice and being counted! Am I missing something? (Huge, frustrated sigh.)

[Pause]

God: What do you always ask me for?

[Pause]

Me, calming down just a little bit (I know what God is getting at): I always ask that You present whatever is best (even if it is not what I want or wish for).

[Pause]

God: I always answer your prayer.

[Pause]

Me: Ok I get it.

It’s like the story about the guy that keeps turning down the help You keep sending him through other human beings.3 We have to keep helping each other do the right thing, fighting and resisting evil in any way we can. That’s what we’re here for (big sigh…).

And the last time Trump was President [OMG we’re back here again??] Trump definitely got A LOT of people fired up to make serious change.

God: Exactly.

Me: Do we really have to do this again? It was so hard last time.

God: I never give you more than you can handle.

Me: Okay, fine. I will start recycling my resistance memes from 2020. God help us all.

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My Dear Fellow Muslim Voters,

Greetings of Peace (al salamu ‘alaykum).

If you are still considering voting for either Harris or Trump, as a question of voting for “the lesser of two evils,” or worse, planning NOT to vote at all, I kindly ask you to please consider what follows here.

As many of us struggle with the question of “What Can I Do?” in the face of a ferocious and escalating American-funded genocide, I believe real change begins with our own, individual moral choices. The upcoming U.S. election is a monumental example, given that the outcome may ironically hinge on Muslim votes in the swing states. There are no coincidences.

As ethical Muslims, we understand that God will not help to change our condition without our own proactive change. Casting a vote for justice is a critical act of resistance. It also signals to God that we are on God’s side as we humbly call for God’s help.

In these dark times when there appear to be no good choices and all roads seem to lead to devastation, now is the time to stand on principle. As individuals, we cannot control the outcome of the election or the genocide, but we can stand up and be counted in favor of Principle, which matters in God’s eyes and for our souls. I believe if enough of us stand up for Principle, it will matter in more ways than we think.

If you are unsure where you stand, these voices made a powerful difference for me:

One of the Most Powerful Palestinian Voices in Diaspora

I was deeply moved by this epic talk by Palestinian American and lawyer, Jana al-Akhras, on the occasion of the one-year anniversary of the genocide (Start 2:22).

I am beyond inspired and proud to call her my sister in faith and humanity.

Talk about putting things into perspective. Listen to this.

I found this impassioned illumination by Sami Hamdi on my Instagram feed. A heartfelt thank you to for hosting and sharing it. In the excerpt, Sami Hamdi expresses the anger, rage, and pain we have all been feeling, while exposing the fear-mongering propaganda being used to convince us that Trump is more scary than Harris. If you have time to watch the lead up to this segment, or better yet the entire interview, it is extremely powerful. But this exchange (Start at 1:12:20) is supercharged:

Sami Hamdi on stepping over dead Palestinian bodies to vote for Harris out of fear of Trump (28 September 2024).

Chris Hedges on the Difference Between Trump and Harris

Is Trump really worse than Harris? For a nuanced analysis, no one does it better than the brilliant . This quote sums it up:

“Pick your poison. Destruction by corporate power or destruction by oligarchy. The end result is the same. That is what the two ruling parties offer in November. Nothing else.”

The Chris Hedges Report

The Choice this Election is between Corporate and Oligarchic Power

Blood Bank - by Mr. Fish…

Read more

2 years ago · 648 likes · 80 comments · Chris Hedges

Which brings me to the point of my letter.

When everything on the ground looks dark and hopeless, what can we do except look up and do our part?

I believe our every action (or inaction) demonstrates whether we take God’s ethics and morals seriously or not. In this consequential election cycle, when genocide, climate disaster, and so much else is at the tipping point of destruction, despair is not an option. It matters if and how we vote.

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Allow me to put forth how I became convinced that voting for Jill Stein of the Green Party is the only choice we have as ethical creations of God, as humans, as Muslims.

1. Watch this clip of Breaking Points, an independent news media site where the hosts, Saagar Engeti (Republican) and Krystal Ball (Democrat) come together on Populist ideals. In this interview, Jill Stein discusses her Theory of Power, how to build an alternative to the two-party duopoly, and why voting for the Green Party is NOT a wasted vote (Start at 4:18):

2. WATCH this second interview which blows my mind for two reasons: 1) it begins with footage of Jill Stein being assaulted by the police and arrested as she stands with students on the front lines of a campus protest (!); and 2) she goes on to powerfully delineate her actions for her First Day in Office. Her action list is nothing short of an ethical wishlist.

3. I have always loved and respected Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now! for its decades-long fearless reporting and truth-telling. Watch this engaging segment highlighting Jill Stein (Jewish, raised as a Zionist) and her running mate, Butch Ware (Muslim), as they present their case for candidacy, address mainstream criticisms, and articulate their positions. For me, it was compelling and surprisingly impressive, especially Jill Stein’s responses to issues raised by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes and Noura Erakat; and her answer to the assertion that anti-Zionism is equal to anti-semitism.

Lastly, consider these interesting tidbits:

• Jill Stein is the only candidate that is anti-war and anti-genocide. Her campaign is climate emergency-driven, and her policies are pro-human.

  • If she can garner 5% of the popular vote in 2024, she will qualify for federal funding in the next election cycle and the Green Party movement can build serious momentum.

  • A vote for Jill Stein is a serious vote for an alternative to the two-party duopoly. It is an investment in the long game and our collective future.

  • The Dems are so threatened by Jill Stein that they are now paying for attack ads against her (we learn a lot from who the Dems consider to be their enemies).
    

• Frederick Douglass on power: “Power concedes nothing without a demand.”

  We must make our demands loud and clear and on the record. If you vote Harris or Trump, ie. the “lesser of two evils,” there is no record of the demand to end genocide. By voting for Jill Stein, our demand is on record.

• Alice Walker on power: “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.”
  We DO have power in numbers, if only we would realize it. When elections are won by narrow margins, consider the following:

  • 8 million environmental voters did not vote in the 2020 election

  • 1 out of 3 eligible voters did not vote in the 2020 election

  • The Muslim vote in this election cycle matters more than it ever has, given the swing state dynamics.
    

• Among the most effective propaganda campaigns suppressing our collective power:

  • “People are powerless.”

  • “Resistance is futile.”

  • “A vote for Jill Stein is a vote for Trump”

• All other candidates are unequivocally pro-genocide and pro-war.

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Jill Stein says she will end the genocide on DAY ONE in office. What more do we want?

In this moment, I believe we have no greater priority than to vote against the genocide. Everything else pales in comparison.

If a vote for Jill Stein results in a Trump presidency, so be it. It is a fair consequence for the evil genocide we, Americans, have been forced to pay for with our tax dollars. And, as Sami Hamdi powerfully points out, the Dems have already been doing what Trump threatens to do.

If the last Trump presidency is any indication, the silver lining of a Trump win is that everyone and their brother will come out of the woodwork to fight injustice. With Trump in office, Americans got active and busy making change - and the power of people was, in fact, realized. Conversely, once Biden took office, everyone stopped resisting - to our collective detriment. This is not an argument in favor of Trump, but recognition of a consolation of sorts.

Above all, as Muslims, we are not allowed to despair. We are called to act morally and ethically, even if we are the only ones in our orbit to do so. I am of the belief that one person with God constitutes the majority. So when we vote for the pro-human and pro-humanity candidate, I believe we are in the majority regardless of who wins the election. This is no small matter. To me, especially in this coming election, this is the start of real change.

* * * * *

Recently, my friend, who is one of the brightest, most ethical and social justice-oriented Muslims I know, texted me asking who we should vote for. She was deep in the quandary.

She had just seen my damning post on Facebook about Kamala - the horrific visual of Israel’s burning alive of Shaaban Al-Dalou superimposed with Kamala’s own words: “I will not put any conditions on Israel.”

Her text message:

“I just saw your post on Kamala. Trump appears far more harsh on Palestinians. I looked at my ballot and I see Kennedy is still on it (as an independent). He calls Israel’s actions a moral war 😡 then he says he’s cutting military budget by 50 percent…We have some tough choices.”

My response:

“I can’t vote for genocide. Full stop. I’m voting for Jill Stein. It’s a long game and it is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. My opinion is we need to start building for the future which means creating alternatives to the status quo. If Trump wins, maybe he will make things worse in the short term or maybe it will lead to the destruction of the current system faster. It is a fair consequence for all the evil from the current genocide. Kamala has no interest in doing anything to stop the genocide…”

Her answer:

“Thank you! Joining you!”

I hope you will join us too. May we all stand and be counted together for Principle in the pro-humanity, pro-human majority.

May God help us all. May God forgive us all. And God Knows Best.

I humbly ask my fellow Muslim writers on Substack to share this, if at all helpful. May God bless, protect, and empower us all. Ameen.

[Again, all opinions expressed here are my own. The Usuli Institute is a 501c3 nonprofit public charity and does not endorse any political candidates.]

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