The Hamline Controversy and the Real Threat to Academic Freedom [Al Jazeera]

Over the past few weeks, there has been much debate about academic freedom in the United States. It was sparked by the decision of Hamline University not to renew the contract of an adjunct professor who showed a famous 14th-century Persian painting of the Prophet Muhammad and Angel Gabriel in her art history class. The decision was made following the complaint of a Muslim student who felt offended. “We now find ourselves at the heart of a purported standoff between academic freedom and equity.” These words by Hamline University President Fayneese… Continue reading “The Hamline Controversy and the Real Threat to Academic Freedom [Al Jazeera]”

Truth and Lies: The Informant [ABC]

Professor Sahar Aziz was a featured expert in season two of the ABC podcast “Truth and Lies: The Informant.” In 2016, a group of men in rural Kansas started meeting in secret. They spent months forming a militia group and plotting what would’ve been one of the worst domestic terror attacks in U.S. history — if it hadn’t been stopped. “Truth and Lies: The Informant” tells the remarkable story of an ordinary man who infiltrated this dangerous group as an FBI informant and risked his life… Continue reading “Truth and Lies: The Informant [ABC]”

Why the 2022 Election was Historic for Muslim Women’s Representation [The 19th]

A record number of Muslim women ran for office in 2022 — and they won. The election cycle made history with 153 Muslim candidates on the general ballot, per a report released by Jetpac Resource Center and the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Sixty-one percent of Muslim women candidates won, compared with 56 percent of Muslim men. Mauree Turner, the only nonbinary Muslim in the midterm elections, won a second term in the Oklahoma legislature. It’s a notable shift in a country with a deep history of Islamophobia. Sahar Aziz, professor… Continue reading “Why the 2022 Election was Historic for Muslim Women’s Representation [The 19th]”

Egypt Isn’t Qualified to Host COP27 [TIME]

Climate change has no regard for state borders. Nor does a nation’s wealth or power immunize it from the annual rise in temperatures exacerbating extreme flooding, droughts, and storms. This reality is bringing together nearly 200 nations for COP27, to be held in Egypt—a nation highly vulnerable to climate change but antagonistic toward an essential stakeholder in the climate conversation: independent civil society. Indeed, the Egyptian government has given summit access only to local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that support the regime. With only 3.4% of its land arable and… Continue reading “Egypt Isn’t Qualified to Host COP27 [TIME]”

Teacher at Center of Hijab Uproar Sues Olympic Medalist for Defamation [New York Times]

A seconds-long interaction in a New Jersey classroom unleashed a national firestorm last October as it ricocheted across social media platforms. A 7-year-old girl had come home from school upset, telling her mother that her teacher in Maplewood, N.J., had tried to pull off the hijab the girl wears as an observant Muslim. Her mother recounted the story on Facebook, and Ibtihaj Muhammad, an Olympic medalist who fences in a hijab, immediately denounced it as abuse in an Instagram post that went viral. By the next day, Gov. Philip D.… Continue reading “Teacher at Center of Hijab Uproar Sues Olympic Medalist for Defamation [New York Times]”

Confronting Liberal Islamophobia [ACS]

Islamophobia, like other systems of bias, operates in both liberal and conservative spaces in American society, albeit in different ways. Islamophobia by conservatives is easily identifiable through hateful speech, hate crimes and support for state national security and immigration practices targeting Muslims.  The absence of such observable factors in liberal circles, however, does not make Islamophobia any less of a problem. To the contrary, the stealth of liberal Islamophobia arguably makes it more insidious. Liberals proudly boast their support for multiculturalism and pluralism, which purportedly includes Muslims.  Their discourse follows… Continue reading “Confronting Liberal Islamophobia [ACS]”

She was Fired for Being Publicly Pro-Palestinian [Philadelphia Inquirer]

“This particular case is going to the heart of the American fundamental right to politically dissent, to express your beliefs,” said Sahar Aziz, a Rutgers Law professor and author of The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes Religious Freedom. “And when you belong to a group that’s not afforded those beliefs at equal levels as everyone else, that’s evidence of discrimination against that group — but also a threat to those American values.” Flip the situation to a member of any other marginalized group speaking in support of human rights… Continue reading “She was Fired for Being Publicly Pro-Palestinian [Philadelphia Inquirer]”

The Curious Case of the Racial Muslim [EU Scream]

Legal scholar Sahar Aziz says people who identify as Muslim are often perceived in racial terms, like Black and Brown people, in White-dominated societies. That makes Muslims on both sides of the Atlantic the subject of similar forms of racism. She also says protecting observant Muslims in Europe may be more difficult than in the United States, where religious observance is more commonplace. In this episode: Sahar Aziz in conversation with the journalist and think tanker Shada Islam. Listen to the podcast here. Purchase your copy of the… Continue reading “The Curious Case of the Racial Muslim [EU Scream]”