Over the years, as a singer/songwriter/activist, and as a progressive Muslim woman, I am often confronted about the ugly injustices perpetuated in the name of Islam. The questioning, challenge and the conflation of “what Muslims do is therefore Islam,” is totally understandable given Allah-hu-akhbar (God is great) is often a precursor to an awful deed. Fact is, that proclamation by a Muslim is no more weighted than your average Christian exclaiming, “Jesus Christ!”

I am born into the Sunni tradition, where we supposedly don’t allow for a religious hierarchical structure. But all the characteristics, rituals and laws of Sunni Islam point upwards, to an ambiguous testosterone dominated hierarchy. It’s time we call out the many Pope-wanna-bes.

As many of you may know, I run a progressive Muslim organization called Muslims for Progressive Values (MPV). The best perk of being in this position is how I am surrounded by like-minded progressives of all religious and non-religious stripes. On the dark side though, is the personal exposure to the radicals, both Muslims and non-Muslims. The similarities between Muslim extremists and their counterpart Islamophobes are uncanny. Both extremists use the Quran and hadith to promote their concept of Islam from an ideology of hate.

In many societies, a Muslim is like a bird whose feathers are covered in black oil — oil that cripples its ability to fly, suffocates it and makes death a welcome relief.

There is an Islamic revolution underway. Not the violent kind, but the quiet surge of inclusive prayer spaces where all of God’s children are treated as equals.

Islam’s holiest city of Mecca is going through another development phase — one a la Las Vegas. To make space, its historical sites are being destroyed. With the exception of a few outspoken critics, primarily the Saudi-based Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, the Muslim world has been largely silent.

Saudi Arabia claims to be the custodian of Islam’s holy sites in Medina and Mecca. As such, it has given itself a cart blanche in how it administers and manages the sites and the pilgrimage process. The 57 member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is never consulted; and as Muslims, this is essentially our city. The OIC doesn’t dare speak out against Saudi Arabia’s destructive plans.

As a Muslim, I believe that God created us with the capacity to make decisions for ourselves. We are responsible for the decisions we make, but in order to be able to make healthy decisions, the full range of choices — and the freedom to choose — must be made available. The American Constitution protects women’s reproductive rights simply by offering us the freedom to make those choices.

Dear Museum of Tolerance,

I am an American Muslim. Lately there has been a campaign of assaults — both verbally and physically — directed at Muslims. The far right fringes of Christian and Jewish faith communities carry out these attacks.

A few weeks ago I highlighted the similarities between the ideologies of Taliban and the Republican Party. Last week, I wrote about the radical theology that is being introduced in some Islamic schools and the accessibility of those books commercially in America. Extremist theology has filtered into mainstream Islam.

Like many faiths, American Muslim parents are keen on ensuring that their children get a good religious education. Some prefer the full time Monday through Friday religious schools whereas others prefer the Christian model “Sunday’ school,” which provides young ones with the basic religious foundation for a few hours on a Sunday.

The problem for us Muslims parents is we are sometimes unaware of the type of religious education to which we are exposing our children. Religion is interpreted in a variety of different ways by different people and Islam is no different. And because Islam is not supposed to have an official theocratic leadership like the Vatican for example, some say there are as many ways of interpreting Islam, as there are Muslims. We are, according to the Quran, all vice-regents of God, here on earth.