Beenish Ahmed
RSS

Beenish Ahmed

Beenish Ahmed recently served as a Fulbright Scholar to the United Kingdom. She is a writer and social justice activist.

Recent Articles

Muslim and American

Living under the shadow of 9/11

Beenish AhmedAug 23, 2011

One morning, my uncle arrived at his family medical practice in Toledo, Ohio, to find threats on his answering machine. A muffled voice greeted him with a string of expletives before warning that there would be consequences if he didn't "get the hell out of here." In the 30 years since Uncle Doctor, as I called him, had emigrated from Pakistan to the United States, he had never been singled out for his nationality or religion. It was September 12, 2001, and the dust still hung heavy in Lower Manhattan. A similar message was waiting for him at home.

Detroit's School for Young Mothers to be Closed

Beenish AhmedJun 09, 2011

Fighting School Closures in Detroit

Young mothers in Detroit fight to keep their unique school open.

Beenish AhmedMay 03, 2011
From left, Bryanna Douglas, Tiffini Baldwin, Ashley Rodgers, and Adrinne Minter look over a vegetable garden they tend at the Catherine Ferguson Academy in Detroit, in July 2010. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

The award-winning Catherine Ferguson Academy in Detroit, which educates young and expectant mothers as well as their children, boasts a 100 percent college acceptance rate in a district where only two out of three students can expect to graduate at all. Not only does it offer free child-care services but the school, in the middle of the city, is even equipped with a full-scale farm. The one-of-a-kind institution was the subject of an award-winning documentary, which debuted last year. It has also been lauded as a success story by Oprah and Rachel Maddow.

Intimidating Muslims One Sharia Ban at a Time

Sharia bans in 15 states are unconstitutional and unnecessary -- and they misunderstand Sharia altogether.

Beenish AhmedMar 03, 2011

Last week, Tennessee state Sen. Bill Ketron introduced a law that would prosecute any practice of Sharia law -- defined as a "legal-political-military doctrine" that promotes spread of "homegrown terrorism" -- as a felony, punishable with a minimum of 15 years of jail.

In no unclear terms, the law equates the practice of Sharia -- the oft-debated guidelines of the Muslim faith -- with treason. "Knowing adherence to Shariah and to foreign Shariah authorities is prima facie evidence of an act in support of the overthrow of the United States government -- with the aim of imposing Shariah on the people of this state," it reads.

Revolutionary Women

The most remarkable thing about the Egyptian protests might not be the size and scope -- but that women are able to take part in the first place.

Beenish AhmedFeb 10, 2011
An Egyptian protester and her childern wave a giant Egyptian flag in front of the Egyptian Parliament in Cairo, Egypt, February 9. (AP Photo/Ahmed Ali)

Asmaa Mahfouz -- a 26-year-old Cairo University graduate -- starred in video appeals widely circulated on Facebook that helped spur the latest protests in Egypt and turn them into a mass public uprising. It's not only remarkable that social media was so effective in a country where dissent has for decades been driven underground: It's perhaps most remarkable that Mahfouz is a woman.