Ulaa Kuziez

🎊🎊 Happy Texas Primary Day yall! I’m celebrating by tracking whether far-right candidates continue a years long electoral hot streak. A 🧵🧵 of storylines I’m watching, replete with all the color and wackiness you’d expect from our most colorful and wacky state:

“I just bought an elementary school, and that’s kind of crazy,” Mohamad Altabaa said at the start of each video, all of which have since gone viral, with more than 1 million views and 100,000 likes on one video alone.

Shooting incidents unsettle Muslims as Ramadan begins Muslim advocates have warned that recent Islamophobic rhetoric from national political leaders can make targets of community members and their houses of worship.

Imam Shuaib Din of the Utah Islamic Center told @rns.org he is nearly certain the shooter targeted him.

“He knew where I lived, he knew my schedule, knew the make and model of my car, and then he came after me,” Din said.

religionnews.com/2026/02/25/s...

“The lessons of Ramadan are most relevant this year because of the fear and despair,” Imam Abdisalam Adam said. “So definitely, people are tapping into their faith for grounding.”

After ICE raids, Ramadan in Minnesota is somber, but some hope it offers healing Interfaith leaders across the Twin Cities are organizing dinners rooted in solidarity with Somali Americans and the Muslim community.

“The lessons of Ramadan are most relevant this year because of the fear and despair,” Imam Abdisalam Adam said. “So definitely, people are tapping into their faith for grounding.”

religionnews.com/2026/02/20/r...

New GOP caucus signals resurgence of anti-Shariah movement (RNS) — In the Obama era, anti-Islam conservatives sought to block mosques and claimed Islamic law was about to take over America. Now, members of Congress and legislators in Texas and Oklahoma are tr...

Back in 2010, a group of activists warned that Muslims were going to take over America and said Muslims have no right to freedom of religion. The courts disagreed, and these groups faded. And now the fear of Sharia law is back

religionnews.com/2026/02/13/s...

New GOP caucus signals resurgence of anti-Shariah movement In the Obama era, anti-Islam conservatives sought to block mosques and claimed Islamic law was about to take over America. Now, members of Congress and legislators in Texas and Oklahoma are trying to ...

Good @rns.org piece by @ulaakuzi.bsky.social & @bmietana.bsky.social on anti-Shariah politics in DC, Texas, & Oklahoma: religionnews.com/2026/02/13/s...
This form of Islamophobia also popping up elsewhere. Last month, I testified against such legislation in Missouri: www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5_c...

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed another lawsuit in Collin County related to a planned Muslim-centric development with ties to the East Plano Islamic Center. https://bit.ly/3ZFIR32?utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky_ 

Leqaa Kordia returned to ICE detention after lawyers say she was 'disappeared' (RNS) — Lawyers for Kordia say the Department of Homeland Security denied multiple requests asking where she was hospitalized, raising concerns about the agency’s transparency and medical care.

Via @ulaakuzi.bsky.social: Leqaa Kordia returned to ICE detention after lawyers say she was 'disappeared' —> religionnews.com/2026/02/11/p...

This morning at @propublica.org, we published a pair of stories about the children held at the immigrant detention center for families in Dilley, Texas. www.propublica.org/article/life...

For some St. Louisans living on the street, frostbite can cause lasting harm People without a stable place to live are more likely to suffer from frostbite, a potentially debilitating condition for those in precarious housing situations.

Heartbreaking reporting on amputations and frostbite this winter in St. Louis by STLPR's Sarah Fentem:

“Sitting at these bus stops, waiting, I'm wearing two packs of warmers, three pairs of gloves, just trying to save my fingers...I think they’re unsavable now because I've lost the feeling.”

Minneapolis Native communities fight fear of ICE with traditional ritual and prayer (RNS) — In Minneapolis, many Native people say they are reluctant to leave their homes for fear of being detained by federal ICE agents.

Via @fiona-murphy.bsky.social: Minneapolis Native communities fight fear of ICE with traditional ritual and prayer —> religionnews.com/2026/02/07/m...

Big thanks to @ulaakuzi.bsky.social for this interview with @annapiela.bsky.social and I - check it out, and support our work to build a pluralistic democracy.

Tornado victims lose hope as St. Louis programs deny relief to hundreds Nearly nine months later, St. Louis programs aimed to help people impacted by the May 16 tornado are only getting started. City officials say they struggled to get the aid programs running.

My latest on tornado recovery in North St. Louis.

“There's so much red tape, and nobody knows what they're doing... Everybody is falling through the cracks.”

www.stlpr.org/government-p...

Epstein bought Kaaba covers. What does the sacred Kiswah cloth represent? (RNS) — The black, gold-embroidered cloth that shrouds Islam’s holiest site in Saudi Arabia is a revered artifact that carries spiritual meaning for Muslims worldwide.

NEW: Epstein may have had a mosque on his private island.

He bought Kaaba covers valued at $11K, mats and Arab-style sofas btw 2016-17. The items seem to have been used in the mosque, emails between a Saudi man and Epstein's associates show.

religionnews.com/2026/02/03/e...

A Muslim-owned thrift shop blends modest fashion, faith and sustainability NEW YORK (RNS) — Modify Thrift, which opened last May, aims to offer modest, stylish outfits while debunking stereotypes about Muslim women.

I went to a thrift store in Harlem that sold modest clothes. The owner told me she offers street wear and cultural pieces that debunk stereotypes about Muslim women.

“Muslim women are some of the most fashionable people out there,” Kadjahtou Balde said.

MORE: religionnews.com/2026/02/02/a...

“The black piece was touched by minimum 10 million Muslims of different denominations, Sunni, Shia and others,” UAE-based businesswoman Aziza al-Ahmadi wrote to Epstein in 2017, nearly a decade after he first served time for sex crimes.

It's unclear why Epstein was interested in the Kiswah cloth.

Here in Minneapolis, hundreds of clergy from all over the country have been deployed into the streets to participate in ICE/DHS watch.

The hail from a range of religious traditions, and have come from all over.

This particular group is in a heavily immigrant neighborhood.

Yo aspiring journalists in Texas: want to intern for @rns.org AND the @texastribune.org AT THE SAME TIME?!

Then check this awesome initiative out:

“Unabashed bigotry”: GOP’s Tuberville sparks backlash with anti-Muslim messages Sen. Chris Van Hollen said the Alabama Republican's anti-Muslim message represents “a stain on our Congress.”

Anti-Muslim rhetoric is too common among too many congressional Republicans, but Tommy Tuberville is taking this to levels that deserve to be seen as a scandal.

@vanhollen.senate.gov said the Alabaman’s bigotry represents “a stain on our Congress,” which was exactly right www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Oklahoma mosque project voted down after weeks of anti-Muslim pushback, zoning debate (RNS) — Over 1,000 people packed a nearly four-hour-long Broken Arrow City Council meeting on Jan. 12, which ended with a council vote of 4-1 to stymie the project.

Via @ulaakuzi.bsky.social: Oklahoma mosque project voted down after weeks of anti-Muslim pushback, zoning debate —> religionnews.com/2026/01/13/o...

Interfaith leaders stood in solidarity with Muslims against hateful rhetoric spewed at public hearings in recent weeks such as:

“I don’t want somebody trying to behead me when suddenly there’s an Islamic majority," and "They are here to conquer and kill us."

CAIR-OK says lawsuit is possible.

Imad Enchassi, a professor and imam, said “unfounded fear” spreads quickly around proposed mosques.

“It’s the same Islamophobia cycle that comes every once in a while,” he said. “I see a pattern in which people are being fed lies and misconceptions.”

MORE: religionnews.com/2026/01/13/o...

The Frillback’s feathers indeed look like curly noodles. Cool story Danny!

The Tulsa-area mosque will not move forward after the council denied its rezoning request by a vote of 4-1.

The council said the proposal didn’t meet standards for land use.

Close to 70 people spoke during the nearly four-hour meeting, with a majority opposing the rezoning.

The North American Islamic Trust bought the land in 2014. The Islamic Society of Tulsa has now requested to rezone the property, which was approved by The Broken Arrow Planning Commission in Dec. Oklahoma AG is investigating into the project, citing concerns about "public safety and security."

Hundreds are at a Tulsa suburb city council meeting tonight weighing a proposed mosque that has faced Islamophobic pushback from some residents.

One speaker worried about "the incursion of Islam." Others concerned about traffic. Several interfaith leaders speaking in support. Context below:

In Minneapolis, George Floyd-era faith networks reignite after Renee Good's killing by ICE MINNEAPOLIS (RNS) — The faith-based networks, which developed organizing infrastructure and relationships during the Floyd era, are joined by newcomers as resistance efforts have intensified following...

NEW from me: In MN, George Floyd-era faith networks have reignited after Renee Good's killing by ICE.

They often partner w/others: last night, a church, brewery & bookstore hosted an event.

If you showed up w/a whistle (to warn people of ICE), you got a free drink. religionnews.com/2026/01/11/i...

A thing I noticed reporting in Minneapolis today: if DHS was under the impression the events of this week would discourage ICE observers from continuing their work, that, uh, doesn't appear to be happening.

Salsabeel Cafe in Kansas doesn’t appear to be an exclusively religious place—and that’s by design.

It’s one of a growing number of mosque cafes meant to attract young Muslims who feel disconnected from their religious communities.

MORE: religionnews.com/2025/12/11/4...

(📸 creds: Kit Doyle)