Prior to starting my job, I was warned by one of my Arabic teachers about the corporate world from an Islamic standpoint. I did not completely understand what the corporate world was like, but he worked in the corporate world for decades. He spoke about being careful about gender interactions and alcohol gatherings. I am… Read more »
Muslim World
A Broken Unity by Rabia Omar
They sang songs of unity, chanted words of brotherhood, took pride in diversity, stood tall in harmony……. but once the curtain drew closed, the lights dimmed, and they turned to one another, the walls that separated them were not weakened through acceptance but rather those walls were empowered through ignorance and rejection. They say that… Read more »
Introduction to the Muslim Task Force (MTF) by Mayesha Awal
Muslim Task Force (MTF) of Indiana When I was an undergraduate student, I returned back home to Indianapolis and moved in with my mother. On April 16th, 2020, as I was scrolling through my email, I saw a call for volunteers. I had some free time in my schedule, as I was no longer able… Read more »
Belly Dance in Islamic Worlds by Meg Morley
Most of the time, when someone unfamiliar with belly dance encounters me and my research on the changing belly dance industry in Egypt, they are surprised, confused, and struggle to even formulate the question they want to ask. What they want to know is something like, “How does a culture as conservative and repressive of… Read more »
Michelle Johnson talks about her book Remaking Islam in African Portugal by Hassan Bokhari
On December 1st 2021, Dr. Michelle Johnson, who is Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Bucknell University, gave an illuminating talk about her newly released book Remaking Islam in African Portugal. The talk was sponsored by the Center for the Study of Global Change, which directs the Muslim Voice project… Read more »
Farewell to Kabul: Afghanistan after the Withdrawal By Dr. Carter Malkasian (Naval Postgraduate School) by Ali Alsmadi
In light of the U.S withdrawal from Afghanistan and the aftermath of a war that lasted two decades, Dr. Carter Malkasian presented on March 3, 2022, a talk about the US’s recent experience in Afghanistan and the lessons drawn from that experience. Dr. Malkasian also discussed his recent book The American War in Afghanistan: A… Read more »
Tajikistan. Roof of the World by Cathy Raymond
This is an excerpt from a story I wrote about hiking in Badakhshan, the mountainous autonomous region of Tajikistan, and my experiences as a Fulbright Scholar in 2018. The full story is published in the Canadian adventure magazine Outpost: The air is cool, and I tighten the cords on my backpack and head into the… Read more »
Islam and Uyghurs by Mike Krautkramer
In 1929, a young Swedish librarian arrived in the Silk Road city of Kashgar. He was there to study a language and a people at the time both called “Turki,” which are now generally referred to as Uyghur. The librarian, Gunnar Jarring, would recount some decades later in his Return to Kashgar (Durham: Duke University… Read more »
An Interview with Ahmad Hayaniz
Music often gives expression to human experiences that are difficult to communicate. In times of war and national crises, artists harness music as a tool for community empowerment and healing. With this starting point, fifth-year Arabic students at Indiana University spent the fall semester looking at how the role of music takes form during… Read more »
Fieldwork in Palestine…. by Lydia Zakel
I would like to preface this post by saying a few things. The first is that this story is taken from my fieldwork in Palestine and is solely my own point of view and experience. I’ve also changed people’s names so that they cannot be identified. Finally, I know this story can be seen as… Read more »