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5 (More) Questions about Islam & Other Things

by Corbin ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Q’s A-ed by Theresa Corbin

The need for answers is huge, as I discovered from last week’s Q&A post and from life in general.

So here are 5 more of your burning questions about Islam- and more- answered to the best of my ability.

Q and A 2

Q1: Why are there so many different opinions on whether it is OK or not allowed for a husband to beat his wife?

A1: When thinking about subject matter of such importance, you have to wonder whether people are allowing their inner most desires to influence there verdicts rather that the truth. To be sure, the opinions of modern day imams are not being influenced by their desire, we need to go back to what the early scholars of Islam took as the Prophet’s Muhammad’s (Peace be upon him) meaning.

Taking into account that the Prophet (PBUH) never hit any woman, expressly forbade people to do so, and that the verse stating it is allowed can be translated very differently; any sane person can come to the conclusion that beating one’s wife is forbidden. Read more ›

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5 Questions About Islam & Other Things

by Corbin ♥ 10 Comments

Written by Theresa Corbin

From the time I started blogging, I have always welcomed questions about Islam, Muslims, or really anything. I was naive. After spending years wading through horrifying emails and comments on this blog and other places, I have realized that many people are not looking for answers to their questions.

They may frame an intense insult, curse, or horrifying suggestion as a questions, but they are not asking anything. 

Q and A

Many askholes are simply looking to express or validate their hate and ignorance to which they so desperately cling. To these people, I would like to say, the best I can do for you is ignore you.

But every now and then a questioner comes along that I feel is sincere. And I want to celebrate those questions and questioners as the bright spot in my writing adventure because the more real questions you ask, the closer we come to understanding each other and building stronger bridges. 

So here are some real questions several different real people have asked in sincerity (edited for length) that I will attempt to answer to the best of my ability.

Q1: Why are you trying to convert everyone to Islam?

Read more ›

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Halalified Southern-Style Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallows

by ssiam ♥ 1 Comment

Written and Test-Kitchened by  Stephanie Siam

Being from the Southern United States, I grew up on certain staples that can be difficult to replace after converting to Islam: lots of processed junk food, questionable meat products and, of course, Lucky Charms. While my heart and gut are thankful for my (slightly) healthier diet now, it’s often hard to please my nostalgic taste buds when it comes to traditional family favorites.

halal marshmallow sweet potato casserole

 

Moving to the Middle East made it even trickier to reproduce these dishes due to lack of necessary ingredients. Sure, I can find halal items easily, but now I have limited access to brands I’ve grown up on.

Of course, the times when I get most foodly-sentimental are when I a) see a long-loved favorite in the grocery store that imports American items and b) around Thanksgiving. Sure, lots of expats (Americans living abroad) celebrate Thanksgiving over here in Oman.

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Halalified Sausage Balls

by ssiam ♥ 3 Comments

Written by Stephanie Siam

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I have to admit when I became Muslim, there were a couple of things I was not excited about giving up. Pork, on the other hand, was not on that short list. Unlike many, many Southerners, I never developed an affinity for “the other white meat”. In fact, when my mother would announce we were having pork chops for dinner, I would groan and mumble, “I’d rather eat tire rubber.”

Still, as a non-Muslim, you don’t realize how many products (i.e., delicious processed junk foods) have pork by-products in them. Marshmallows, Lucky Charms (darn you, Leprechaun!), Jell-O…….I could go on, but I won’t. No sense rubbing it in your face what you can’t have anymore. (Darn you, Leprechaun….again!)

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Islamophobia, Radicalism & Oz

by Corbin ♥ 4 Comments

Written by Theresa Corbin

So you might have noticed that I have been phoning it in lately. If you have noticed this, it was for a good reason. If you haven’t noticed, then forget I said anything. 😉 At the beginning of this month (Dec 2015), I travelled to a far away land (20 hours of hard-core plane travel away) to present my research on women in Islam at the 2nd Annual Australasian Conference on Islam.

ACI-2015-promo

It was an amazing experience filled with learning, meeting amazing people, and exploring Sydney, Australia.

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Oprah house at Sydney Harbour. Pic taken by the hubby

The thesis of my research (boiled down a ton) amounted to the fact that a form of Islamophobia, with misogynistic roots, exists within the Muslim global community.

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7 Questions to Ask Before Asking if Muslims Condemn Terrorism

by Corbin ♥ 3 Comments

Written by Hind Makki and originally posted on here on Patheos

In the last few days, several people have put their two cents in about whether Muslims are condemning ISIS, why these condemnations aren’t reaching those who need to hear it, and what Muslims can do to reach the media. A tumblr page has been created documenting instances of Muslims condemning things. This question, “Why don’t Muslims condemn terrorism,” is one that nearly single Muslim leader, activist, public intellectual, interfaith speaker, has had to answer multiple times, especially since 9/11.

nimn[…]
I’m frustrated because for years, Muslim writers/activists/leaders have endured our interfaith sisters and brothers, as well as media and politicians, telling us that we don’t denounce terrorism done by Muslims. Even though Muslim organizations, leaders, lay people have all constantly condemned terrorism in the name of Islam, consistently since 9/11. 

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My Muslims ID Badge

by Corbin ♥ 6 Comments

Written by Theresa Corbin

Right now I am on a plane to Australia on my way to speak at a conference about the failings of some Muslims to uphold the rights of women as the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) did. I am at once relieved and heartsick. I am relieved to leave an environment where tension follows me like bad B.O. simply because I am a Muslim. But I am also heartsick over the failings of some of my own country(wo)men to protect the rights of religious freedom as our forefathers would have us do.

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