As debate continues between those favoring and those opposing what has been unflatteringly termed “the ground zero mosque,” I find myself supporting its construction. A good deal of my opinion comes from my being a ...

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Last Friday before going to the mosque I stopped to buy some groceries. I was wearing a headscarf and talking to a friend on the phone in Spanish. When I hung up, a lady came ...

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Marriage is one of the most controversial issues in Islam, from forced marriage to polygamy. One of the biggest misconceptions is that Muslim women can be forced into arranged marriages. I’ve heard a lot of ...

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If you asked me about women in Islam a few years ago, I would have certainly replied as many would: using “Muslim women” in the same sentence with “oppression.” Since I was young I was ...

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The column I wrote two weeks ago generated lots of reaction. Different people e-mailed me, asking about my conversion. Some had difficulty understanding how I could choose a religion like Islam. Despite the fact that Islam has been “opening” to the Western world during the last decade, there is still a lot of...

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I was born in a Catholic family and converted when I was 15 years old, almost 4 years ago. I am the only Muslim in my family. When people see me walking around with my ...

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Recently, I got into an argument with one of my friends from high school. It seems that, even though we both think of ourselves as being feminists, each of us has a different definition of ...

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Grocery shopping last weekend, I saw a girl, twelve or so, with her mother. The mom was going to put some Nutella in the cart, when the daughter shouted, “Are you trying to kill me? ...

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In 2004, Franco-Colombian feminist-activist Florence Thomas wrote a column on beauty pageants and the depiction of women. In her article, she only listed words. Nearly 5 years after, I can now understand what she meant. ...

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As the chapel continues to be built, it began to dominate a lot of my recent conversations. Most of the people I talked to were basically against the chapel for different reasons. For some it ...

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Last Tuesday, I woke up feeling awful. I had difficulty breathing overnight, which persisted into the day. My head ached along with the rest of my body I called my mom and told her about ...

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What did 9/11 have to do with the war in Iraq? What was the link between Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden? Why should democracy be instituted with violence? Those are some of the questions ...

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Rushing for the panhellenic sororities this weekend, I found something very interesting going on. One of the girls in my group was from Trinidad, an international student just like myself. One day, talking about some ...

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This year, the University of Tampa will open its doors to hundreds of freshmen—including international students from more than 100 countries, who will have to face stronger changes than their American schoolmates.

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