Popping the Marks on Vice

Editing Homophobia out of the “Islamic Tradition”

Slave rape, marital rape, and plural marriage might be unpleasant to consider as part of Islamic sexuality, but they are deeply embedded in our established sources. But I do not believe that Islamic tradition is frozen in stone. Every translation is an interpretation, and every interpretation is a choice. Full story

Popping the Marks

The Problem with White Converts

You’d think that two white guys embracing Buddhism and Islam in the age of colonialism could have become champions of antiracism. But no. They treated their new religions like other white men treat entire nations: they marched in and claimed to own it. Full story

Popping the Marks

I Tripped with Allah and Wrote a Book About It

Ayahuasca drinkers report experiencing the divine in female form. They choose to interpret this in different ways, depending on their backgrounds. As a Muslim, I decided that I would drink with the intention of having a visionary encounter with Fatima, daughter of the Prophet Muh… Full story

Lifting Up My Skirt

Last week, after I wrote on “Lift Up Your Skirt,” Lord Jamar’s homophobic diss track against Kanye West, Five Percenters started bombing me on Facebook and Twitter. Over the course of being harassed by internet gods, I faced the notion that I am exiled from the community. After a… Full story

Popping the Marks

Lifetime’s Assassination of Malcolm X

In the Lifetime Original Movie 'Betty & Coretta,' they present cardboard versions of what I like to call "Early Malcolm" and "Real Malcolm." But Early Malcolm and Real Malcolm are not real. They are both fabrications that serve to oversimplify a complex human being. Full story