(RNS) — When she was not allowed to play in her second volleyball game of the season, 14-year-old Najah Aqeel never thought her pushback would knock down nearly every obstacle in her way, like a bowling ball knocking over pin after pin.

Last September, the ninth-grader at Valor College Prep in Nashville, Tennessee, was pulled from the court after an official pointed out that her coach had not provided a waiver for her to play while wearing her hijab, or religious headscarf. When she was told she couldn’t play, Najah started crying. She received support from her family and...

In the summer of 1863, newspapers in North Carolina announced the death of “a venerable African”, referred to, in a paternalistic manner, as “Uncle Moreau”.

Omar ibn Said, a Muslim, was born in 1770 in Senegal and by the time of his death, he had been enslaved for 56 years. In 2021, Omar, an opera about his life, will premiere at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina.

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Imam Mohammad Yasir Khan has made history for his appointment as California’s first Muslim chaplain in the state Legislature.

Imam Khan was chosen by Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) to serve as the Assembly’s chaplain for the 2021-2022 session. 

As the new chaplain, he will be in charge of saying a prayer at the beginning of each session. However, he says leading California’s lawmakers in prayer was never part of his plan.

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It’s hard to imagine that one of America’s greatest tragedies — the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the backlash against American Muslims — would lead to the formation of an empowering grassroots organization in Dallas-Fort Worth, the Texas Muslim Women’s Foundation.

As the nonprofit celebrates 15 years of championing interfaith sisterhood and providing social services for thousands of vulnerable women and children, it’s also paying a farewell tribute to its retiring co-founder and a beloved community leader, Hind Jarrah.

A reflective Jarrah remembers those early years...