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N.Y.P.D. Will No Longer Force Women to Remove Hijabs for Mug Shots

Alan Feuer

November 09, 2020 |

The New York Times |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Two Muslim women arrested on minor charges and forced to remove their hijabs for mugshots sued the New York Police Department and won a settlement that changes the department's policy. The women said they were humiliated and shamed by having to bare their heads in front of male strangers, which is against their religious teachings. The NYPD agreed to allow religious head coverings in booking photographs under most circumstances. The NYPD had attempted to modify its photo practices in the past, but had not officially changed its main policy manual, which it will do now.

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Ismaili, Ahmadi Muslims push national voter registration efforts

Aysha Khan

October 26, 2020 |

Religion News Service |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Muslim civic advocacy groups Emgage and Ismailis Rise Up have partnered to engage a more diverse Muslim population in the 2020 election. They added thousands of contacts among new Muslim voters in six states, trained volunteers in electoral organizing and countering voter suppression, use personal connections to encourage people to vote, and will staff the Election Protection Hotline, where voters can get help in their native language. They also published videos about voter registration and mail-in voting in languages commonly spoken by Ismaili families and held virtual events aimed at mobilizing seniors.

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In San Diego, Black Muslims are working to expand voting access in jails

Aysha Khan

October 14, 2020 |

The GroundTruth Project |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, California

Pillars of the Community hires people incarcerated in local California jails to register new incarcerated voters and conduct civic engagement education behind bars. Pillars, a faith-based criminal justice advocacy group led by Black Muslims, registers hundreds every year, many of whom did not know they were eligible to vote and did not know how to register on their own. Those voting in 2020 will be able to vote on state referenda concerning expanding voting rights for people with felony convictions and on ending cash bail.

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The Forgotten Stones That Still Inspire Turks to Help Their Neighbors

Jennifer Hattam

August 24, 2020 |

Atlas Obscura |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Turkey, Istanbul

Building on a history of anonymous charity, a mosque in northern Istanbul started a pop-up communal food bank to help those most impacted by the pandemic. The initiative is one of several mutual aid efforts underway in the municipality, with each paying homage to the nation's historical use of a charity stone - a place where "people who had money would leave some on top of the stone, and those who didn’t would take some, according to their need."

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How a quarantine matchmaking project for Muslims found itself navigating anti-Blackness

Aysha Khan

August 10, 2020 |

Religion News Service |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Covid-19 has closed the places young Muslims go to meet potential spouses so two Muslim women created Eye Meets Soul, a virtual matchmaking service for US Muslim millennials where pairs first chat online without seeing each other. Initially, 10 potential couples led to 3 matches, with one continuing to thrive. However racial biases quickly surfaced, with many participants unwilling to date outside of their ethnic background. Muslims of African heritage report this as a common occurrence with Muslim dating services. Moving forward the co-founders will prescreen people for openness to all racial backgrounds.

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Need a Quran teacher? There's an AI for that

Aysha Khan

May 20, 2020 |

Religion News Service |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

An AI app is potentially eliminating the need for Quran teachers by offering precise feedback to those who are learning to recite or memorize the holy book of Islam. Tarteel uses machine learning technology to enable speech recognition, allowing it to test users' knowledge of the Quran and to receive feedback on recitation without a teacher. The tool can identify mistakes and has a memorization mode, only revealing words as they are recited. Building such an accurate tool "requires a vast data set to train a deep neural network" so users who opt in are crowdsourcing the data set needed to power Tarteel.

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New York City Muslims work to build food security during Ramadan

Aysha Khan

April 28, 2020 |

Religion News Service |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

The coronavirus pandemic has caused mass shutdowns of businesses and organizations around the world, and in New York City that includes mosques which typically offer nightly "communal iftar meals" during Ramadan. Knowing that many in the city rely on those free meals, New York City Muslims have begun collaborating and creating mutual aid programs. One such effort includes distributing gift cards from Arab, South Asian and Muslim-owned businesses, which helps both the individual and community.

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During Ramadan in isolation, Muslims get creative to preserve community

Aysha Khan

April 23, 2020 |

Religion News Service |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Minneapolis, Minnesota

As the Ramadan season begins, Muslim communities around the world are making adjustments to how they observe it in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Minneapolis, the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood is broadcasting the call to prayer by speaker and in the U.K., the National Huffadh Association has created an online toolkit on how to pray at home. With connection and community a key part of Ramadan, a Reddit thread has started, connecting people for a Secret Santa-style Eid gift exchange, and a Minneapolis programmer has started an online service matching people in time zones to break fast together.

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Halal donations start for Muslim medical front-liners

Jhesset Enano

April 20, 2020 |

Philippine Daily Inquirer |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Philippines, Manila

Alzaky Foods is providing free halal meals to Muslim medical workers in metro Manila. Many Muslim frontline workers were surviving on fast food, crackers, or chips since food donations were not halal. Alzaky has provided more than 2,400 halal meals to over 60 government and private hospitals across the city. The company provides some of the funding in combination with external donations. Identifying Muslim medical workers is a challenge. So far they have identified 200 doctors, nurses, and other medical staff, which they believe is only about 20-30% of the actual number.

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The law of generosity combatting coronavirus in Pakistan

Aysha Imtiaz

April 01, 2020 |

BBC |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Pakistan, Karachi

In Pakistan, where many citizens earn a daily wage from street businesses that have now been forced to close due to the coronavirus pandemic, Pakistanis are continuing to contribute zakat, "the traditional Muslim charity tax." The contributions – regarded as "one of the most important religious duties for Muslims" – are used to create packages containing basic grocery items and anti-bacterial soap for the daily-wage workers.

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