"Muslims are people too."

Yea, I received a reply! Thank you, Sr. Safiyyah.

That's a great point. People seem to imagine Muslims as strange creatures. Covered and veiled women. Men with accents who keep shouting "Allahu akbar." Strange languages, dress, food, you name it.

But we're people. Most of us marry and have children. We all have feelings. Sometimes we laugh, sometimes we cry. When we bleed our blood is red. And we do say Allahu akbar because we glorify Allah, who created us.

And we like to read. It's nice to read stories in general, but it's better to read stories about us. Finding characters with the same approach to life. Revealing that Muslims are never perfect. (As Ismail said in Echoes, "Being a Muslim doesn't mean being perfect. It just means you try.") Discovering characters who struggle with life here in the U.S., just as we do. And learning Islam from Muslim characters.

Thank you again, Sr. Safiyyeh, for your great comment. I don't know where everyone else is. But those of us who do show up need to keep it up.