Muslimah Mami

 " You see, Islam is the only religion that gives both husband and wife a true understanding of what true love is. The Western "love" concept you take it apart it really is lust. But love transcends just the physical. Love is disposition, behavior, attitude, thoughts, likes and dislikes- these things make a beautiful woman a beautiful wife. This is the beauty that never fades. You find in your Western civilization that when a man's wife's physical beauty fails she loses her attraction. But Islam teaches us to look into the woman, and teaches her to look into us. "

 I pride myself on being a black woman that stands in solidarity with other marginalized groups in America. I am a woman who stands with the LGBTQ community. I am a woman who stands with mental health advocates. I am a woman who stands with domestic violence and sexual assault victims! I am a woman who stands with other black women and all women of color. I am most definitely a woman who stands with the Islamic community and I want to focus on that community in this blog post. I attended an Islamic, private school from PreK to Third Grade,, and it was some of the most awesome five years Ive had in my life. My father was a practicing Muslim and so was my aunt and uncle. My younger cousins even have Muslim names. I have tattoos in the Islamic language of Arabic. I used to work at a black owned burger restaurant founded by Muslims and the Atlanta Islamic community would support the restaurant on Fridays after Jummah. I fell in love with a musician that practiced Islam and the relationship was incredibly transformative. The religion of Islam has had an incredibly positive impact on my life outside of Ifa. Attending an islamic private school gave me the ego of a Queen. I was surrounded by family, friends, staff and classmates that poured love into me. I learned about the importance of community and what that looked and felt like as a young black girl. With the harsh and controversial political climate surrounding Muslims, I must take a stand and counteract the negativity. Muslim life is beautiful, peaceful, and promotes the elevation of the black family. We can learn so much from Muslims about how to honor the black woman and man and about what self esteem reparation in the black community should look like. Ive seen entrepreneurship in the Muslim community. Ive seen marriage and healthy relationships in the Muslim community. Ive seen music and art and creativity in the Muslim community. Ive seen revolutionaries like Malcolm X in the Muslim community. The Islamic community has so much to offer. The Muslim ban as well as other prejudice charged comments about the Muslim community in America affect me on a soul level because its just not true and I have evidentiary support as to why its not true!  I love Muslims. I love Islam. And i will offer all my love, support, and passion for them in any way I can.