Sexual and Reproductive Health

Want to host a conversation on abortion in Islam? Here are some guidelines

June 17, 2019 by The Heart Team Leave a Comment

At HEART, we are committed to ensuring that our Muslim communities have access to trauma-informed and accurate information regarding reproductive health and rights. Moreover, we also are committed to prioritizing the safety of those who may potentially be triggered by community events and conversations that are intending to address the timely topic of abortion.

In prefacing any conversation about pregnancy termination or abortion, we must acknowledge the following truths:

The abortion debate in the United States has historically been, and continues to be, rooted in gender oppression, and mostly led by white men in powerful government positions
The abortion debate in our Muslim communities in the United States has historically been, and continues to be, centered in male leadership and scholarship.
Recent legislation banning abortion will have the greatest impact on communities of color, including Muslim communities. Specifically, the laws regarding abortion have more to do with criminalizing black and brown women than with morality and have tremendous implications on the future of mass incarceration.
A person’s decision about abortion is deeply private and personal. The decision should remain exclusively between her and a healthcare provider. Her partner, and/or a spiritual guide, may also be involved, if she wishes.

By continuing to center male authority on this matter, those directly impacted in our communities – Muslim women – remain dependent on men, reinforcing the vulnerabilities of unequal power dynamics. The hardest part in uplifting the voices of the directly impacted is that it challenges the essence of male privilege and leadership in our communities.

The conversation on abortion is long overdue in our communities; in fact, it is critical for our communities to engage in open and honest conversation as pregnancy loss, termination and abortion is a daily lived reality for many Muslims. However, in order to ensure the safety, mental and spiritual well-being of those who are directly impacted, it is crucial to commit to having these conversations in a thoughtful, responsible manner. Because of the uptick in community conversations on abortion, we’d like to offer a guide for Muslim institutions and community members leading these conversations, to do so mindfully with the following recommendations:

Reconsider hosting events about issues that predominantly impact women without several, diverse female voices. This is to promote the basic premise that women should not be absent on panels or events, especially concerning topics that pertain to them and their bodies.
Remember that hosting conversations and events about issues that require expertise – must include an expert. For example, an event regarding abortion must include a clinician who can speak directly to the issue based on work experience.
Acknowledge that Muslim leaders and scholars are not experts on everything and therefore are not trained to discuss just any topic. It is CRUCIAL to partner with local institutions that already have done the groundwork, and have a framework to address these topics in a way that is accurate and trauma-informed.
Trust women to be the experts on their bodies and experiences. Trust women to be the experts on their bodies and experiences.
Replace shame and stigma pertaining to pregnancy loss, termination, and abortion with compassion, healing, and support.
Be mindful in who you invite to speak on the topic. Selecting an appropriate scholar means that an institution is choosing someone who is qualified to speak about the subject matter, has shown extensive history and knowledge regarding the subject matter, and is not being selected for merely being religiously trained as a scholar or identifying as a woman.
Be committed to hosting programs that are trauma-informed. At any given point, we may not know the negative impact that participants/attendees are experiencing regarding topics presented. Cultivating a space that fits their needs emotionally and psychologically fosters safety, trust, and openness in engaging with information. For example:

A trigger/content warning must be provided if images/photos are to be shown.
Always speak as if there are survivors of abortion and/or pregnancy termination in the space.
Practice RAHMA principles and responding with compassion and mercy.
When possible – provide a trained trauma informed clinician/counselor who can offer support for individuals who may be triggered during the event.

It is imperative that those that are directly impacted have ways in which they can access services holistically. If we want to be at the forefront of honoring our religious commitment to compassion as well as our duties to gender rights and humanity, we have to have these difficult conversations. The only way to do this is to center the voices of the directly impacted.

Faith and Reproductive Choice: The Abortion Debate

February 10, 2019 by The Heart Team Leave a Comment

by Nadiah Mohajir

Because HEART sits at the intersection of reproductive justice and faith, we understand the complexities of the current abortion debate, and the physical, emotional, and spiritual implications of having to make such a decision. More importantly, when this decision making takes part later in one’s pregnancy, we know that this process becomes even more complex.

We share this letter by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), written in response to the state of the union. The letter provides well-researched facts and statistics about abortion, particularly those in the second and third trimester. As an organization led by Muslim women, we are committed to bringing well-researched statements made by reputable organizations like ACOG to the communities we serve. We fully believe in a pregnant person’s right to accurate information, access to safe and affordable reproductive health services, and to make an informed decision about their body and pregnancy without judgment or feeling pressured.

“Women’s access to accurate, full information and care must never be constrained by politicians.”

In the past year, we have seen various articles and religious opinions about abortion circulating in Muslim communities. Many of these opinions contain inaccurate medical information and misleading statistics; the result is that ignorance about abortion is compounded.

This not only results in shame and stigma for those who’s lived experience includes having to make the difficult decision to terminate their pregnancy, but also perpetuates a silence and isolation around the issue, leaving many individuals to struggle alone.

To be clear, 55% of Muslims in the US believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases. One in four women in the US will have an abortion before the age of 45, seventy-five per cent of whom are low-income. Given how common abortion is, and regardless of what conclusions male scholars draw, we know that many Muslims have and will continue to seek abortion. Muslims, like all people, have unintended pregnancies, pregnancy complications, and other circumstances that lead them to the decision to have an abortion. While those who debate abortion are absolutely entitled to their own opinion and reasoning about why it is not an option for their families, it is a disservice to blur the lines between their personal opinion and (inaccurate) information and generalizations that they pass off as facts. The reality of abortion in the United States is that it is in fact very hard for those who are seeking abortion- especially communities of color and Muslims – to get an abortion safely.

That said, as we said above, we understand that those who are faced with the decision to have or not have an abortion may desire guidance regarding where their faith tradition stands. We support spiritual guidance that is committed to accurate information and uplifts the diversity of opinions in Islamic tradition. As such, for those who find themselves having to support a pregnant Muslim through navigating this decision, we recommend the following:

1) Gather information from clinicians – both in the obstetrics and pediatric fields. A Muslim clinician (although not always) may also be able to offer this information with the religious sensitivity and compassion that the patient might be looking for. These clinicians can help the patient understand the diagnosis, the implications on the mother’s health and the baby’s health, and what to expect with respect to quality of life, and what kind of financial and medical resources will be needed. These clinicians can also speak accurately about the actual procedure and correct any misinformation about process or statistics the patient may have.

2) Gather the diverse religious opinions on pregnancy termination. There is a wide difference of opinion on the permissibility of abortion in Islam. Regardless of where you personally stand on the abortion debate, it is a disservice to blur the lines between personal opinion and the diverse opinions out there. It is critical to uplift and celebrate the diversity of Islamic opinions, and offer the range of opinions using a nonjudgemental approach.

3) Consult specifically a clinician that is has studied the intersection of bioethics and Islamic law. Most likely, this person will be able to understand the full context in a way that many clinicians or religious authority won’t be able to, and can provide a nuanced answer specific to each particular case.

4) Consult laws specific to geography regarding abortion. Every state differs in the laws with respect to whether abortion is legal or not. If the person resides in a state where abortion laws are more restrictive, then access to safe and affordable services will also be something to consider. You can find an overview of these laws here.

5) If you do not feel equipped to provide this guidance, find someone who can. The most powerful thing you can say to a person who needs help is “I don’t know how to help but let’s find someone who can.”

We do not believe that this is a type of guidance that just *any* religious authority can provide. In fact, we’ve heard of too many cases where such guidance has done more harm than good. We also understand that access to trained health care professionals and religious authority is not a luxury most people have. This is precisely the reason our organization, HEART exists: to be able to provide people with the access to critical, accurate information and networks they need to make informed decisions about their reproductive health.

While uninformed arguments will continue to circulate, we continue to remain committed to making sure that all Muslims receive comprehensive, culturally competent, and trauma-informed sex education and reproductive health information. We will continue to make sure that all Muslims can access abortion, contraception, and all reproductive healthcare regardless of their income, immigration status, gender, race, or other identity. Most of all, we will continue to advocate for reproductive choice: the decision to have a child or not, should always remain in the hands of the pregnant person under the guidance of a trained healthcare professional.

We will continue to make sure all Muslims are treated with the respect, kindness, and dignity that Islam teaches us to uphold. The verses of the Quran were revealed at a time when certain individuals – especially women – did not have certain control over their lives, granting them that agency: where before they could be forcibly married, now it required their consent; where before they had no inheritance, now they had inheritance. Muslims deserve to be part of a faith community that honors the legacy and example of the Prophet of God, who made space for women to speak about their own reality, even when men tried to silence them.

Breaking Barriers in Dearborn, Michigan

November 25, 2018 by The Heart Team Leave a Comment

by Maliha Hussain

Earlier this year, a formal partnership was created between HEART and the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS). Located in Dearborn, MI, ACCESS is the nation’s largest community health center that serves the Arab population. In a series titled “Real Talk”, educational workshops on sexual health and healthy relationships were delivered across Southeast Michigan. Valuable research was collected from this partnership and presented at various academic conferences, including the 8th Arab Health Summit and the 2018 Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association.

As sexual health is often considered taboo in faith-based communities, this pilot study specifically focused on Muslim and Arab American women who attended the workshops. There were three major aims: (1) to evaluate a community-based approach to sexual health education, (2) to provide insight into the cultural context that influences information-seeking behaviors and utilization of health care services, and (3) to contribute to the paucity of literature on this understudied population. By employing a theory-based framework, the study intended to de-stigmatize this topic while facilitating more informed decision-making related to women’s health.

Over 50 women attended the workshops and majority of study participants were Middle Eastern/North African, specifically Lebanese. The age ranged from 18-44 year olds while most were single, second generation American, possessed a minimum of a bachelor’s degree, and identified as “religious” or “highly religious”. The research study involved mixed methods, analyzing both quantitative and qualitative results.

Pre/post data on sexual health knowledge was collected from 32 participants. The mean increase in post-workshop knowledge was over two points; this difference was statistically significant (p<0.001). There was also a statistically significant increase between scores collected pre-workshop and one-month follow up (p<0.05), although fewer participants responded to surveys one month after they attended the workshop. The pre/post surveys helped to identify low-scoring questions at baseline and after the workshop. These survey questions involved concepts of fertilization and reproductive anatomy, identifying potential improvements of workshop content and delivery.

The following findings are important to highlight:

40% of participants believed sexual health information is difficult to obtain. There are specific religious and cultural expectations that may hinder access to and retrieval of sexual health information; therefore, culturally-competent information may also increase the likelihood that such women access accurate sexual health information.
23% believed sexual education would increase sex practices. This alludes to the commonly-held concern that the provision of sexual education increases engagement in pre-marital sex. Perhaps the widely-acknowledged failures of abstinence-only education need to be better communicated to this population.
Only 8% reported that they would seek help from a religious leader if they had a problem or question about sexual health. This was contrary to the hypothesized potential influence of religious leaders in this population, given their knowledge on permissibility of certain issues like abortion. The most common selection for whom to seek information from was a qualified doctor (67%).

Sexual health self-efficacy, or confidence in the ability to perform positive sexual health behaviors, was also measured in this study since it is a key construct in health behavior change. Higher mean scores were reported for contraception than STI/HIV testing and self-breast exams. Cultural and religious expectations may explain this finding, since contraception is viewed more positively in Islam (it is permissible) while STI/HIV testing may elicit unfamiliar terminology and concepts that connote risky sexual behavior. Greater understanding of such clinical testing, from the cost and process to the confidentiality of testing, may improve sexual health self-efficacy in performing these positive health behaviors.

While the words “informative,” “educational,” and “helpful” were overwhelmingly used to describe the workshop, three themes emerged from the quantitative analysis. First, participants recognized the shift from traditional sexual education, citing discussions on consent and power dynamics as particularly beneficial. They also requested that the workshop be delivered to men, mosques, and schools. One participant noted, “This is a topic that is considered to be shameful and we need to change that. Education should be given to both the men and women.”

Second, the concept of stigma frequently surfaced as participants noticed the lack of educated discussion on this topic. As one attendee stated, “It is stigmatized to the point where we kind of should shun sexual experiences so it’s nice to be in an environment that is open with this information.” This highlights the third theme regarding environment and the importance of cultivating comfortable and representative spaces. “The workshop was very insightful and I’m grateful to hear it from another Muslim woman. I feel a lot more comfortable discussing it in this setting,” wrote one participant. Maintaining a women-only environment helped to foster openness, confidentiality, and light-heartedness. Suggested topics to address and expand upon included types of lubricant, female condoms, female genital mutilation, and non-heterosexual sex.

Limitations of this research study include small sample size, especially for one-month follow up data. There is low internal consistency of the knowledge scale as the workshop content and survey questions were developed separately. There is also a lack of generalizability to older/non-single women and lack of racial diversity in representing the Muslim community.

Overall, the study findings demonstrate the potential benefits of a community-based approach to sexual health education. Such findings may inform policy, funding, and support for preventative education in Muslim and Arab American populations. Educational health programs can help prevent social stigma about sensitive topics while promoting more informed decision-making. Public health efforts often pull strength from one of their greatest assets – the community. While communities may perpetuate certain norms leading to social stigma, they can also be the ones to end them. Access to sexual health education is a boulder on the road to health equity. It cannot be moved by one person; rather, it requires collective struggle to clear a path for all individuals attain the means to prosper.

Will you join me in Responding with RAHMA?

October 22, 2018 by The Heart Team Leave a Comment

Nadiah Mohajir receiving the 2018 Community Builder award from the El Hibri Foundation

Our Executive Director Nadiah Mohajir received the 2018 Community Builder award from the El Hibri Foundation. Imam Magid and Dr. Shariq Siddiqui presented the award to her. Below is her acceptance speech. You can watch the video here.

Bismillah-hir-rahman nir Rahim. Assalamu alaikum. May peace and blessings be with all of you.

Thank you Imam Magid, for your kind words and continued advocacy and work for and with survivors of violence. Thank you Shariq, for trusting us with your story. Disclosing and sharing your story public is never easy and I am grateful for your courage.

To the El HIbri Foundation, thank you for this esteemed recognition. Thank you to Farhan, and the entire EHF staff for all that you have done for this evening to celebrate the work of HEART, Professor Ganz and Amardeep. I am honored to be included with them and with all of you.

To my family and friends and most of all, my HEART family. You have been with me from the beginning. You have walked with me through all of our many successes and through all of our pain. This award belongs to all of you, for this work would not be possible without your tireless commitment and continued support. It is a pleasure – a life-saver – to be on this journey with you. Thank you.

I began in the name of God, the most compassionate, the most gracious. I repeat these words multiple times every day. Over and over again, I am reminded that the greatest of God’s qualities is His Compassion. His Mercy. His Graciousness. This is what I want to talk to you about today.

Many, many years ago, a man by the name of Muhammad, enjoyed solitude and deep contemplation. He was married and he belonged to a large tribe of people, but we know that he often retreated alone to a cave called Hira during the month of Ramadan. One day, an angel appeared before him and hugged him tight. So tight that he felt he could barely breathe. And the angel said to him, an illiterate man, “Read. Read in the name of your Lord.”

This was the first revelation that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) received from God. And even though we glorify this story – it was truly a miraculous and divine moment in our history – we often forget that the Prophet was shaken to his core.

And so, he ran home to seek comfort in his wife. Khadijah, may God be pleased with her, received her shaken husband with compassion and warmth. She held him close and covered him up as his body was shaking. She did not know what was happening, nor had she experienced what he had, but she listened.

This is what we in the movement call – holding space.

She modeled a rahma that not only embodied empathy, but a sincere belief in his agency and ability to do great things. SHE BELIEVED HIM even though what he was saying was completely unbelievable. He had no evidence. He had no pictures. He had no witnesses. Yet SHE BELIEVED HIM and she believed IN him. And later, when he was calm, she took him to someone she believed to be a resource*.

These timeless religious narratives serve as inspirations for many of us. Eight years ago I submitted our first grant application for HEART. That same morning, I rushed to the hospital with my 18 month old baby. She had a high fever and could no longer walk. I sat in the hospital room, machines whirring and beeping, feeling completely helpless as I gazed upon my little daughter in the hospital crib. Every moment, we had specialists name dropping terrible diagnosis after terrible diagnosis. She was sedated multiple times, and underwent numerous invasive medical exams.

Even though I was surrounded by family and friends, I felt completely alone and afraid. I questioned every decision I had to make. Thankfully, my aunt stepped in. She is a gifted pediatrician and equipped me and my husband with the proper medical language we needed to advocate for our daughter, and most of all, she taught me to believe in myself and listen to my gut. Thankfully, we did. We discharged our daughter after a five day stay and took her home to recover. Our daughter is now 10 years old.

It is no coincidence that HEART’s work began that same year and its greatest strength lies not in its programming, but what it offers to people: to be a non judgmental community space that provides people with the resources, knowledge, and self efficacy they need to navigate the complexities of reproductive health and sexual assault. We quickly developed our RAHMA principles, a very simple but fundamental framework for those who seek help from us.

RAHMA is holding space with the woman who struggles silently with pregnancy loss, while fielding questions from community about when she and her husband will be starting a family. RAHMA is listening, and offering resources and support to the woman who struggles being intimate with her partner because she experiences debilitating pelvic pain. RAHMA is believing the person that comes to you with her story of teenage sexual assault, at a party; and feels she needs to come forward now and expose her perpetrator as he attempts to be a Justice of the highest court in our country.

It is something we all in this very room have practiced with our loved ones, as they share with us their stories that are far too common yet remain to be spoken. It is about replacing judgment and disbelief with compassion, support, and healing. It is that simple.

There’s no denying this work is controversial and uncomfortable because it challenges people to reconsider how we think about gender, sexuality, and sexual violence. Trust me, we have *a lot* of critics. There are many days we have wanted to give up, exhausted and emotionally spent. But there are also days when we are reminded of why we do this work when those who are most impacted share their stories of healing.

And so, we will not stop. We are the daughters of Khadija, may God be pleased with her. She taught us this path, and we honor her by following in her footsteps.

I invite you to join us and practice responding with rahma. We all can reflectively listen and affirm those who come to us in crisis. We all can honor their context and maintain their privacy. And we all can assist with providing resources.

*credit to Zawar Jafri for sharing this reflection with us.

How to have a Period-Free Hajj

July 24, 2018 by The Heart Team 1 Comment

by Dr. Sameena Rahman

Woman sitting on dock near lighthouse — Photo by Ifrah Akhter on Unsplash

“As-Salaam-alaikum Doctor, I’m wondering if I can get your advice. I’m planning to go for Hajj (Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca), and I want to make sure I don’t get my period while I’m there. What are my options?”

For the last few weeks, I’ve been bombarded with patients making appointments to seek my guidance as they prepare to embark on this journey of a lifetime. I have a private gynecology practice in downtown Chicago, where a number of Muslim patients seek my care as an unapologetically Muslim woman. Usually, patients visit my office for routine care, contraception, or gynecologic issues. However, immediately following Eid-al-Fitr, my office fills with patients who have decided to perform Hajj, fulfilling one of the five pillars of Islam, and wondering whether or not they’ll be on their period at that time. I decided to write this article in order to provide additional guidance to my audience as they venture out to their own gynecologist or other health care provider to seek menses suppression.

However, this article is not meant for the utilization of a universal treatment paradigm for all readers, as each patient should be considered within the context of their medical and family history. Additionally, this is not meant to provide religious guidance or reflect any fatwas or decrees from religious authorities about whether or not it is permissible to take medication, modify menses, or enter sacred areas when menstruating.

That being said, for a woman with normal monthly menstruation to obtain optimal results, I recommend seeking medical advice from a gynecologist 2-3 months prior to the trip. For premenopausal women, attempting to eliminate menses can be successfully achieved with a combination oral contraceptive pill containing both estrogen and progestin components. Please speak with your health care provider if you have any contraindications to estrogen administration, including previous thromboembolic events or strokes, a history of estrogen-dependent tumors, active liver disease, undiagnosed abnormal uterine bleeding, or any comorbidities, such as simultaneously being over 35 years old, a cigarette smoker, and obese.

For my patients, I usually recommend a monophasic combined oral contraceptive pill, meaning that there is a consistent amount of progestin and estrogen delivered everyday throughout the cycle. This monophasic option comes in a pack of 28 pills per cycle, with the last 7 pills being the placebo, or “sugar pill.” In order to prevent getting their period while on Hajj, I advise my patients to skip the placebo pills and start the next pack of contraceptive pills immediately. I also advise my patients to take an extra pack of pills with them on the trip. For some, the mental and physical stress that comes from traveling and performing the rites of Hajj can cause intermittent bleeding. Because of this, I usually avoid low-dose monophasic pills. My preferred prescriptions include ethinyl estradiol doses of at least 30-micrograms and a variety of progestins, such as Ocella, Zarah, Yasmine, Ortho-cept, Ortho-cyclen, Apri, Microgestin. The pills should be taken around the same time daily, as missing one or two doses can lead to breakthrough bleeding and irregular spotting, often causing some panic and distress for female hajj participants. Another viable option is Seasonique, a pack of 84 active hormone tablets, which is specifically utilized for extended elimination of menstrual flow. However, unscheduled bleeding often occurs during the first few months of use, and therefore it might not be ideal for women preparing just a few months prior to Hajj.

Other options include the transdermal contraceptive patch, Xulane, which is applied every week for 3 weeks, and the vaginal contraceptive ring, NuvaRing, which is inserted vaginally once every 3 weeks. Both of these are combination estrogen and progestin methods and can be utilized continuously to prevent menstrual flow, rather than skipping a week of placebo pills to achieve the same effect. However, the transdermal patch is known to produce higher levels of estrogen in blood circulation, so it is generally avoided for the potential risk of blood clotting in the extremities or lungs. The data on the effectiveness of using the vaginal ring continuously is conflicting; however, I have had many patients utilize the ring continuously with great success and no unexpected bleeding on their trips! Some of my patients are uncomfortable inserting or leaving a contraceptive ring in their vagina, and so It is not always my “go-to” treatment option.

For those who are unable to take estrogen pills, taking a continuous dose of the progestin-only pill can reduce their flow, but limited success is seen in eliminating breakthrough bleeding. This can be discussed with your physician on a case-by-case basis. There are also progestin-only intrauterine devices, like the Mirena. In high enough doses, or if inserted early enough, approximately 6 month prior to Hajj, these can be helpful in eliminating menstrual cycles. While careful guidance regarding the risks and benefits of the device and its long-term use should be discussed with your physician at length, it is a great contraceptive method and menstrual suppressant when inserted in advance. Many women have uterine pathology such as fibroids or polyps, or medical conditions, such as Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), or other diagnoses that lead to heavy or irregular menstrual flow. This should be evaluated and discussed before attempting menstrual suppression with standard methods. In these situations, menstrual suppression can still be obtained, but other methods or a combination of medications or procedures may be needed in order to achieve a bleeding free interval during your pilgrimage!

I believe that if you convey to your gynecologist or health care provider that you are embarking on a special, once in a lifetime experience and ensure a full evaluation of any abnormal bleeding problems, one of the options above could be the right choice for you.

Dr. Sameena Rahman is a gynecologist-obstetrician in Chicago.

My Inherited Grandmother, MLK, and the Pursuit of Social Justice

January 18, 2017 by The Heart Team Leave a Comment

*This is the written text of a recent speech given at an MLK Shabbat

by Nadiah Mohajir

I wanted to begin by sharing the story of the grandmother I inherited more than nineteen years ago. I met her when I was just seventeen years old at my friend Tariq’s home. I had imagined meeting a traditionally dressed, Urdu speaking, Pakistani elderly woman, – you know, the picture of a Pakistani grandmother. Instead, I met an outspoken, English speaking, cheerful, energetic vibrant career woman. She was simply known to all of us as Amma, a term of endearment in Urdu typically given to the matriarch of the family. Unable to contain my excitement, all I could remember saying to Tariq, in typical 17-year old bubbliness was “OMG, your grandmother even wears PANTS!”

I eventually married Tariq, we spent many days and nights with Amma, listening to her tell childhood stories of my husband and his brother. I watched her beam with pride as she met each of her great grandchildren, three of whom are my own children. But what I will remember most about Amma is her ability to make you her own the minute she met you. Our Amma was never stingy with her love and affection – no matter what your identity, gender, race, social class. Amma always connected with you on shared humanity. I remember the first time she met my own grandmother, she embraced her tightly and told her they were sisters.

Two years ago, at the age of 83, our beloved Amma returned to her Creator. In the days leading up to her death, we as a family convened around her, remembering her in all the ways she impacted us. It was during those precious conversations that I learned the details of her incredible journey to America.

Amma was born into a generation and in a country where education and career opportunities were limited for women – marriage and family were prioritized. Despite this, she never complained but rather quietly pushed through with her own feminism.

In 1974, Amma excitedly approached her husband with a wild dream – “We are going to America.” Her husband, our Pappa, bless his heart, chuckled at her – this was an inconceivable idea. Pappa asked her to return to reality – preferably in time for dinner. Kindly ignoring him, Amma persevered with critical hope – dreaming of this unfamiliar land, this promise of opportunity, and requested her brother to sponsor her. Mere months later, Amma was on a plane headed to Chicago, Pappa and her children to follow soon after she settled, secured employment and was able to sponsor them. She landed on a snowy day in Chicago, and our beloved Amma was just as determined as before.

After arriving at her brother’s house, she immediately asked him to teach her how to use the el train, so she could look for work the next day. For a second time, Amma was teased for being naive. “It doesn’t work that way,” she was told. “You can’t just learn the transit system just like that, let alone get a job the day you land.” This didn’t stop our Amma. She was on the brown line the next day, navigating the Chicago transit systems with just a map and limited English skills. That night, she came home and proudly declared that she had secured her first job in America, a mere 24 hours after she landed. Amma’s American dream was becoming a reality sooner than anyone anticipated. This American dream, that many others have also come searching for, including my own father, had been made possible by the struggles, the hard work, the many “firsts” of our American ancestors such as Dr. Martin Luther King.

Today we are gathered to commemorate the legacy of Dr. King. While we all know that Dr. King’s legacy is much more than his infamous “I have a dream speech” speech, these words are repeated over and over to our children as a cornerstone of American history and represent much of what he was fighting for, during a time when many believed it all to be inconceivable.

Dr. King had a dream that America would be a certain way: that a little black boy or girl could one day have the same opportunities as their white neighbor, attend the same schools and sit on the same buses. This dream inspired many around him: Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Rosa Parks, Mahalia Jackson, and many others to continue to push to demand equality, dissolve segregation, and build the America we know today. From civil rights to medicine to even going to the moon, many of the advancements that we know of in America today are because of our African American brothers and sisters and the foundation they laid for all of us.

And, more personally for me, Dr. King’s vision also facilitated that a woman, our Amma, could also dare to dream an inconceivable dream. It enabled her to come from a highly patriarchal society with limited opportunity, and instead be emboldened by her own conviction and belief in a better life for her own family, and with hard work and determination – actually achieve it – singlehandedly mind you.

And so, my family is the children of immigrants. We are doctors and lawyers and engineers and teachers and activists and entrepreneurs. We are the beneficiaries of the sacrifices and struggles made by our grandmothers, who came in the 1960s and 70s in search of opportunity. The promise of opportunity that their Muslim, brown skinned, headscarf wearing grandchildren and great grand children would have the same opportunities as their White peers. But we must never forget that we are also indebted to the struggles and resistance of the many Black slaves and civil rights activists – many of them also Muslim – that paved the way for our immigrant grandmothers to seek these very opportunities. It was through their fight for civil rights that America became the America that our Amma came searching for.

This same America, where today, my children learn Quran and about their faith in a beautiful mosque built by Muhammad Ali, on the South side of Chicago, the very roads that giants like Muhammad ali, Malcolm X, and Dr. King himself – led their movements. And it is on these same roads, where my house sits, that inspired me seven years ago to have my own version of daring to dream as I embarked on my social justice journey: building a nonprofit called HEART Women & Girls, which creates spaces for Muslims to learn about their bodies, sex, and sexual assault, in a way that is safe, accurate, free of shame, but also inspired by our faith tradition. We work alongside Jewish and Christian communities to build alliances, and address sexual violence together. We dream of a world where women and girls are valued for their character, and not for their skin color, body type, or what they wear. We dream of a world that women are free of guilt, shame, oppression, and violence, so they are able to make informed and empowered decisions about their sexual health in a way that aligns with their values.

And as with any social justice work, there are hard days. There are days when this work seems impossible, and just simply exhausting. Yet, the meaning of my social justice journey beginning on the very same roads these great Americans walked is not lost on me. To be surrounded by their histories and legacies, the institutions they built and movements they ignited, is nothing short of God’s plan for me: my family came here in search of opportunity, for a better life, but also as God’s greater plan for us to continue this search for Truth and Justice.

Dr. King’s search for Truth and Justice were founded on a simple principle that many faith traditions share: that all men and women are created equal, despite differences in the color of their skin, religious identity, social class, or gender and that we all have a right to belong. His entire movement was founded on this concept of shared humanity, and he once wrote, “As brothers in the fight for equality…. Our struggles are really one: a struggle for freedom, for dignity and for humanity.”

Perhaps the greatest lesson he taught me is about compassion, which also happens to be a core value in Islam. Compassion that I believe, goes hand in hand with Justice, another core value in our faith traditions.

You see, compassion isn’t just about being kind. It’s about seeing the other person’s shared humanity, something that both Dr. King and Amma modeled effortlessly. And when you see that shared humanity, calling out for justice when you see oppression comes naturally. And so, compassion and justice are fundamentally linked – without compassion, there is no justice. Without justice, there is no compassion.

These values sit at the core of both our faith identities and our American identities. And while our unique identities might be different from our neighbor, it is our diversity that gives us strength collectively. God tells us in the Quran: “We have created you into many nations and tribes so you may know one another.” Likewise, an important theme in the Hebrew Bible is hospitality, and caring for others, as is noted in the Hebrew Bible: [God] loves the foreigners who live with our people, and gives them food and clothing. So then, show love for those foreigners, because you were once foreigners.

We must look past skin color, the headscarf, and the yarmulke, and build deep relationships based on our shared humanity, hope, and determination. We live in a time where xenophobia, islamophobia, anti Semitism, and racism are at peaks that they haven’t been in many years, but giving into these fear and threats is giving up our privilege of daring to dream: I for one, am not ready to do that. Not as Amma’s granddaughter. Not as a Muslim woman. And certainly not as an American.

So let us know one another and come together – on this blessed day and those that we will have together in our future – in critical hope, in compassion, and in justice. I ask you to join me as we stand together in solidarity, and continue to fight for the dreams that our grandmothers dared to have and our forefathers died protecting.

Reflecting on 2016, Looking toward 2017

January 18, 2017 by The Heart Team Leave a Comment

As Co-Founder and Executive Director of HEART Women & Girls, I am pleased to share our growth and impact over the years through our annual report. Through this report, you will see just how exponentially we have grown in the last three years, with a primarily virtual and volunteer staff.

With your support, we have had an incredible year and have accomplished so much, including:

Expanded our programming to college campuses across the country, reaching five times as many participants than previous years,
Developed publications, toolkits, and fact sheets which have been downloaded more than 25,000 times,
Presented at eight national conferences,
Offered one on one support and advocacy to dozens and dozens of survivors,
Provided professional development training to approximately 120 professionals representing numerous organizations, including Planned Parenthood, Rape Victim Advocates, and Title IX coordinators at local Universities,
Built a national staff of accomplished, diverse Muslim women who are experts in public health, medicine, mental health, and reproductive justice,
Attended two White House events, and
Raised over $60,000 just this year alone.

Our work plays an integral part in offering the community accurate sexual health information and in supporting survivors on their journey toward healing and justice. But, we need your continued help. Given the political climate, our work is more important than ever. Unless we take action together, it is likely we will see less federal support for reproductive and sexual health education and sexual assault awareness. For the last seven years, we have been working to dismantle the shame and stigma around sex and sexual violence, and we have made incredible inroads despite a small budget and limited resources.

In the next three years, we hope to:

Expand our programming to reach up to five additional cities
Train 250 leaders and reach 3,000 more participants
Double our number of publications
Hire our first paid, full-time staff members

We remain more motivated now than ever to continue this work, promote gender equity, and advocate for reproductive justice for all. We invite you to join us in this timely effort. Please browse our annual report, learn about our work, and make your gift today.

With Eternal Gratitude,

Nadiah Mohajir, MPH
Co-founder & Executive Director
HEART Women & Girls

Islam, Sex, and Community Conversations

November 18, 2016 by The Heart Team Leave a Comment

by Nadiah Mohajir

Sex is described as many things: it can be an act of passion for some, physical gratification for others, a necessity for procreation, an act of worship for people of faith, or some combination thereof. It is also a word and experience that is often loaded with many emotions: joy, love, and all too often, fear, shame, and stigma.

One of the challenges of beginning this conversation is that historically, sex and sexuality have been seen as uncomfortable subjects across most racial, ethnic, and religious communities. In Muslim communities, the strong notions of privacy and modesty are often conflated with the shaming of feeling sexual desire, which creates an environment hostile to open discourse, let alone operating outside of religious code. This lack of open, nuanced conversation has long-term consequences: it instills shame and unhealthy attitudes toward sex, which many women carry into their sexual relationships, both within the framework of marriage and outside of it. Read more here.

Sexual and Reproductive Health

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