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﷽ It always amazes me how quickly the times change, Subhan’Allah. When I was hired to be the editor-in-chief and as I began planning for what the year would look like, I had no idea that it would be riddled with so much collective grief and trauma. Yet, there have been these revolutionary undercurrents of our strengthening faith in Allah’s (SWT) justice and mercy, our inspiration to lean into resilience through our community and our ability to come together to hold space for each other. There is no healing without dialogue and even though we planned to go in one direction when we began the academic year, Allah’s (SWT) plans triumph over all of our imaginations. This space is for you—a platform to have your voice amplified, to share your experiences, reflections, journeys and to contribute to the collective Muslim Experience. We welcome all blog posts, taking whatever form of writing that best expresses your stories, to share and create a shared narrative. This can include recommendations, reflections, reviews and any tale that you would be willing to share from the vantage point of The Muslim Experience. As a first year Masters of Social Work student, I am finding that the way I think about the world is changing. We need to create spaces where we can show up holistically. We may all be leading our own personal legends (The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, anyone?) and taking our own paths but we are on this journey together—my hope is that our blog platform can reflect that In Sha Allah. Below, I present to you my wonderful team members who will be monitoring blog post submissions, editing and connecting your voice to our platform: As the associate editor, I look forward to connecting with you—your thoughts, your emotions, your interests, your humor—through your blog posts. I believe that writing offers a window into one’s soul, and is a mirror that reflects our diverse realities. Oftentimes, readers see their own reflection in the words of others. Though we may all come from different ethnic, cultural, and academic backgrounds, there will always be something in someone else’s writing or (Muslim) experience that we can relate and/or connect to, and that is a beautiful gift from Allah (SWT), who swore “by the pen and what everyone writes” (Quran 68:1). I hope that all of you will be inspired to share your experiences and views with us. In doing so, I hope we can inspire others and strengthen the bonds within our community. As blog co-director, the blog to me represents a space for Muslims at UofT to express themselves on any topic that happens to fascinate and vitalize them at the moment. Sometimes, it may simply be a book we’re reading that we want to talk endlessly about (as I have felt about certain books). Other times, it may be a personal story from which we want to share important, valuable lessons. Further still, we may wish to touch on global events and give our own reflections upon them. All of these are welcome and appreciated, and I look forward to reading submissions and tuning into The Muslim Voice. At this stage of my life, everything is new. Just as I begin to find my footing, I am hurled back down by the collective pain of the Ummah. As I anchor my response in allyship, solidarity and strength, I call upon students who belong to the UofT community to share their stories. I can only speak to my case and in acknowledgment of that individuality and as the second blog co-director, I invite you to share yours. The TMV blog wishes to compile the plight, insights and experiences of the student body in the blog. We have a lot to learn from each other and I implore you to be a part of the learning process. We thank you for reading this blog post and for trusting us with any of the words that you choose to share through us. We continue to pray for the healing and wellness of our entire community and Ummah—Ameen! Sincerely, Heba Khan (Editor-in-Chief, MSW Student), Soundous Louardiane (Associate Editor), Zoyeb Ehsan (Blog Co-Director) & Yumna Khan (Blog Co-Director) We cannot wait to read your blog posts! Please submit here: https://tinyurl.com/TMVBlogs
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