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Colonialism is often referred to as a period of history in which European powers subjugated and exploited nations throughout the rest of the world, resulting in our collective experiences of discrimination and displacement. Though the physical chains of imperialism may have been broken and a sense of liberation is felt, another form of occupation has proven to plague our society; a mental colonisation. There is no doubt that many of us have internalised inferiority complexes that value the oppressor over ourselves, from beauty standards to scholarly academics.
This colonial mindset is especially manifested in our responses to black struggles and causes, cultural segregation within religious spaces and even in the faces of representation we choose. We cannot continue to live in the illusion that racism does not exist within the Muslim community when racist jargon and anti-black vernacular is still prevalent and while proximity to whiteness is commemorated. Our racial dynamics repeatedly set the precedent for our political identity which determines so many of the values we choose to align ourselves with.
There is no time like the present to re-develop and re-build our knowledge systems from the colonial carnage and piece together our identity and narrative as a Muslim ummah, one that embodies divinely ordained lessons of love, empathy and brotherhood. The journey to healing ourselves, our elders, our descendants and ancestors is not unidirectional. Freedom is a persistent struggle but we must find emancipation in the words of our beloved prophet: “O people, be certain that Your Lord is One and your father Adam is one” [Ahmad]
This edition will be taking a magnifying glass to the internal tensions afflicting the Muslim ummah and exploring the different experiences of individuals, families and communities; across all cultures and races, in an attempt to decolonise our minds.
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