Aysha Khan

Aysha Khan is a Boston-based journalist reporting on American Muslims and millennial faith for RNS. Her newsletter, Creeping Sharia, curates news coverage of Muslim communities in the U.S. Previously, she was the social media editor at RNS.

All Stories by Aysha Khan

On July 5, Uighurs remember 2009 violence that set Chinese crackdown in motion

By Aysha Khan — July 3, 2020
(RNS) — The uprising of July 5, 2009, and ensuing ethnic violence charted the way forward for China’s mass suppression of Uighurs over a decade later.

Muslim groups decry ‘excessive’ prosecution of lawyers charged with torching police car

By Aysha Khan — June 29, 2020
(RNS) – Thousands of organizations and individuals have signed onto statements in support of the minority lawyers, who face possible life sentences over charges of setting fire to an empty police vehicle.

From farm labor to food trucks, Sikhs adapt langar to serve the masses during a pandemic

By Aysha Khan — June 26, 2020
(RNS) – Across the country, Sikh gurdwaras are finding new ways to carry out a tradition as old as their religion.

After arrest, teenage Muslim protester and volunteer medic made to remove hijab for booking photo

By Aysha Khan — June 23, 2020
(RNS) — Civil rights advocates are accusing Miami correctional officers of violating the teen’s religious rights.

Solidarity, not charity: Why mutual aid reemerged in the pandemic, and is flourishing amid protests

By Aysha Khan — June 23, 2020
(RNS) — Through mutual aid, activists and faith leaders argue, communities can bring to life a better world — one that is free of hierarchies.

Justice Department sues Virginia county for blocking Muslim cemetery

By Aysha Khan — June 19, 2020
(RNS) — The Justice Department argues that Stafford County violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act by imposing overly restrictive regulations on the Muslim graveyard.

As Trump signs Uighur human rights law, Bolton book claims he supported Chinese camps

By Aysha Khan — June 17, 2020
(RNS) — The law’s signing comes amid explosive allegations by former national security adviser John Bolton that Trump told Chinese President Xi Jinping to continue building the prisonlike camps.

In Minneapolis, a Somali-owned mental health clinic seeks to heal its community

By Aysha Khan — June 17, 2020
(RNS) — Healing Path Wellness Services in South Minneapolis burned down during protests. But the Somali community the mental health clinic serves needs it more than ever.

Floyd’s death spurs debate on how immigrants should run stores in black neighborhoods

By Aysha Khan — June 10, 2020
(RNS) — Muslim communities are debating the ethical duties of immigrants who own businesses in black neighborhoods, from using caution in calling police to creating healthier food ecosystems.

Mosques across America dedicate Friday sermons to confronting racism, police brutality

By Aysha Khan — June 5, 2020
(RNS) — George Floyd’s killing was the final straw for thousands of Americans pushing for racial justice. It may also be a tipping point for non-black Muslim communities.

Facebook, Instagram unblock #Sikh hashtag amid 1984 massacre remembrance

By Aysha Khan — June 4, 2020
(RNS) — After nearly three months, Facebook and Instagram have unblocked the #Sikh hashtag, saying the block occurred ‘mistakenly’ after a user reported the hashtag in March.

Near Boston, a Friendly’s-turned-Hindu temple serves holy offerings to go

By Aysha Khan — June 4, 2020
BOSTON (RNS) — The Hindu temple has been using its ice cream takeout window, left over from the facility's past life as a Friendly's restaurant, to serve socially distant holy food offerings.

Indianapolis Muslims call for hate crime investigation into mosque shooting on Eid

By Aysha Khan — May 28, 2020
(RNS) — While there were no casualties in the shooting at Masjid-E-Noor, one bullet entered the mosque window and nearly struck the few worshippers within.

What Muslim digital community organizers learned from a remote Ramadan

By Aysha Khan — May 27, 2020
(RNS) — Re-creating the experiences of communal iftars and reflection circles virtually ended up adding something participants say they don’t want to forfeit when their mosques reopen.

Uighur activists celebrate religious freedom agency’s first Uighur commissioner

By Aysha Khan — May 26, 2020
(RNS) — Uighur activists say lawyer Nury Turkel’s appointment to USCIRF is a clear signal to the Chinese government that the U.S. government will not tolerate human rights violations in Xinjiang.
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