American Creations

BERKELEY — Given her family history, Salma Arastu may be one of the last people you’d expect to be helping to modernize Islamic calligraphy. Her Hindu parents fled their home in Pakistan, resettling in India during the nightmare of mob violence between Muslims and Hindus when the two countries gained independence from Britain in 1947. Arastu…

The market for halal food is expanding rapidly. But where some see opportunity, other see an attempt to reduce religious faith to a marketing buzzword. Sameer Sarmast’s adventurous appetite long ago moved beyond his mother’s South Asian cooking. He likes spicy enchiladas, Jamaican jerk chicken, Texas-style barbeque, and Philly cheesesteak sandwiches. But one thing hasn’t…

Looking for a sense of belonging in an era when Muslims often face suspicion and prejudice, Farah Rishi stepped across the threshold to another world, one of fantasy and scientific wonders.  In the pages of a novel by Octavia Butler, an African-American woman whose science fiction writings expressed her frustrations as a woman of color,…