2025 was an eventful year; for the world, our ummah, and surely our own personal lives – alhamdulillah for both the ups and (what we see as) downs.

Here at MuslimMatters, we published around 250 articles and podcasts: from timely current affairs pieces to community updates from across the world, from Islamic book reviews to investigative articles, from deep-dives into Islamic history, to of course, faith-led discourse around various modern-day themes.

Just in case you missed out – or even if you wouldn’t mind a re-read! – we’ve put together a roundup of articles that most piqued our readers’ interests over the past year.

We give you: The MuslimMatters Readers’ Choice Most Popular Articles From 2025:

 

THE TOP THREE

1.

Over 85 Muslim Scholars, Leaders And Institutions Say Muslim Nations Can Take “Concrete Action” To End Gaza Genocide

 

2.

Pro-Israeli Dating Company Quietly Buys Out Popular Muslim Marriage App

3.

The Fiqh Of Vaginal Discharge: Pure or Impure?

Islam & Spirituality

The Perspective of Khalwa from the Quran and Sunnah: Advice For Modern Day Interactions

My Rabb Will Never Abandon Us: A Personal Journey Through Love, Loss, And Tawakkul

The Muslim Woman And Menopause: Navigating The ‘Invisible’ Transition With Faith And Grace

Society

MuslimMatters Still Stands With Imam Nick

Beyond Badr: Transforming Muslim Political Vision

The Expansion Trap: Why Mosques Are Struggling Despite Fundraising

 

Life

Money And Wealth In Islam : The Root Of All Evil?

Is Your Temu Package Made With Uyghur Forced Labour?

10 Lessons After 10 Years Of Marriage

Culture

The Promise of SAIF: Towards a Radical Islamic Futurism

A Prayer On Wings: A Poem Of Palestinian Return

K-Pop Demon Hunters: Certainly Not for Kids

Current Affairs

The Elon Musk Anti-Islam Crusade

American Patriotism and Israel – How Should Muslims Navigate the Two?

Is Syria’s New President The Type Of Political Leader Muslims Have Been Waiting For?

Podcasts

Podcast | Happily Ever After (Ep 2) – What Are The Limits Of Wifely Obedience?

Podcast: Is Harry Potter Haram? Islamic Perspectives Of Poetry And Literature With Sh. Shahin-Ur Rahman

Podcast: Manifest(ing) Shirk – Zodiac Signs, Crystals, And Manifestation | Shaykha Aysha Wazwaz

Special Mention

In the midst of everything else that we published, a special shout-out has to go to Moonshot: the riveting and beautiful Islamic short story series (by our very own Wael Abdelgawad!) that saw us through the year, having us eagerly waiting for Sundays for the next chapter to be published.

Moonshot: A Short Story [Part 1]

And finally, a great, big jazakAllahukhair to all of our readers, both loyal and new. Please do keep commenting, sharing, and of course, reading!

 

Related:

The MM Recap – 2024 Reader’s Choice Articles

The MuslimMatters Ramadan Podcast Playlist 2025

The post MM Wrapped – Our Readers’ Choice Most Popular Articles From 2025 appeared first on MuslimMatters.org.

Democratic socialist mayor led historic push to lead New York, speaking on immigration, Trump and subway burritos

Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist who is now mayor of New York City, ran a campaign known for its soaring political rhetoric, its viral memes and its candidate’s witty quips.

Here are some of the quotes that came to define his historic push to lead one of the world’s most important cities:

New York will remain a city of immigrants: a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and, as of tonight, led by an immigrant. So hear me, President Trump, when I say this: to get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.

What I don’t have in experience, I make up for in integrity. And what you don’t have in integrity, you could never make up for with experience.

No more will New York be a city where you can traffic in Islamophobia and win an election.

It’s pronounced ‘cyclist’.

I am young, despite my best efforts to grow older. I am Muslim. I am a democratic socialist. And most damning of all, I refuse to apologize for any of this.

I don’t think that we should have billionaires because, frankly, it is so much money in a moment of such inequality, and ultimately, what we need more of is equality across our city and across our state and across our country.

I hear you. I see you. And if you’re a burrito on the Q train, I eat you.

If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him. So, if there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power. This is not only how we stop Trump, it’s how we stop the next one. So, Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: turn the volume up!

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Israel continues to use blockade on shelter materials, food, medicine and fuel as tool of genocide.

I have no interest in defending his social media posts, but calls to strip the newly freed activist of British citizenship pile torment on top of torture

What is the proper punishment for hateful social media posts? Should you lose your account? Your job? Your citizenship? Go to jail? Die? For the people who have launched a campaign against the British-Egyptian writer and activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, no punishment is too great.

I have no interest in defending the awful tweets in question, which Abd el-Fattah posted in the early 2010s. Many are indefensible and he has apologised “unequivocally” for them. He has also written movingly about how his perspective has changed in the intervening years. Years that have included more than a decade in jail, most of it in Egypt’s notorious Tora prison where he faced torture; missing his son’s entire childhood – and very nearly dying during a months-long hunger strike.

Naomi Klein is a Guardian US columnist and contributing writer. She is the professor of climate justice and co-director of the Centre for Climate Justice at the University of British Columbia

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

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