Tag Archives: Muslim Faith

Voices

OPINION: Ramadan During a Pandemic

by Koloud “Kay” Tarapolsi

Imagine 30 days of Thanksgiving. A month of gathering with loved ones, related to you or not, around a table full of potluck scrumptiousness. The people, and food, around the table might change nightly, but for four weeks, you will not eat alone.

This is what Ramadan is like for many Muslims. Ramadan is the 11th month of the lunar calendar, and all 30 days are spent fasting during daylight hours, from sunrise to sunset. 

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Voices

Turning In to Turn Up During Ramadan

by Sabreen Akhter

Like many children of immigrants, it was rare that I would see my mother cry. She was made of that same earthen ore that so many recent immigrants are — setting out a path for herself, and then putting her head down and throwing every ounce into the effort of her new life in America. In the 1980s, when she was still early in her career, with two young children under her care, and a husband with an equally punishing schedule, there was little time to travel to see family, and even less opportunity to connect in the ways that we can today.  Long distance phone calls were prohibitively expensive, long distance flights even more so, and the intervals between seeing loved ones stretched over many years. 

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Community

Help Save the Historic Cherry Street Mosque Building, a Hub for Interfaith and Arts Community

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by Mark Van Streefkerk

The Cherry Street Mosque (CSM) building has been a hub of progressive, interfaith community in the Central District for decades. In-person services and events stopped last year due to the pandemic, but several faith-based and arts communities launched a fundraiser last fall to make necessary repairs to the 90-year-old building. Members of the newly formed Cherry Street Village have a vision to turn the building into an interfaith and arts space that will truly be one of a kind in Seattle — but first, the roof has to be fixed. 

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Voices

What Does it Mean to Be a Black, Muslim, Oromo Girl?

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by Fatra Hussein

(This article was originally published on the South End Stories Youth Blog.) 

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE BLACK?

It means that people hate you for your skin, your Afro hair, your style, for the way you walk, for the way you talk, for the way you live. You are hated for no reason at all. Being Black means seeing those you love gone at the hands of a police officer. Being Black means starting to fight for your justice when you’re only a kid. But being Black also comes with the amazing stuff like strength and beauty and our food. It comes with also learning that our skin color is our armor that protects us, so even if the world hates, we love back. Being Black means when the world pushes you down, you get right back up. It means fighting and never giving up. Being Black means having this amazing power that helps you push through everything the world puts you through. Being Black means seeing the worst but hoping for the best. But most of all, being Black means keeping your head up no matter what and NEVER EVER GIVING UP!!

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Voices

Lessons Learned From Celebrating Ramadan During a Pandemic

by Amina Ibrahim

What was once a month filled with community gathering, food and nightly congregational prayers now has an eerie sense of loneliness that has Muslims around the world mourning the loss of traditions held dear during the holy month of Ramadan. 

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