MPV Newsletter
May 2022

President's Note

We hope you had a wonderful Eid celebration with your dear ones. If it wasn’t for the warm, civil, and welcoming Eid
reception on May 2 at the White House with President Biden, Dr. Jill Biden, and Doug Emhoff, where the President underscored
that it is our diversity that makes America great, I would have probably spiraled into a slight depression upon hearing about
the leaked draft Supreme Court decision on abortion rights.

I have been enraged and have written repeatedly over the years about America’s shift toward theocracy. I called it Christian
Sharia law, because just like its Muslim equivalent, human beings legislate repressive and oppressive laws, in the name of
God, pretending to be God themselves. In the Muslim world it has resulted in oppression, violence, hopelessness and death
being a better option than life.

America, when you take away peoples’ right to freedom, liberty and happiness, you take away their zest for life.

At the Women’s March in Los Angeles in 2021, I spoke ( [link removed] ) about the The
Declaration of Independence which states: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they
are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness.”

The usurping of a woman's reproductive rights, her right to bodily autonomy, HER life, HER liberty and HER pursuit of
happiness by the fanatics is the demise of the idea of America, the idea that has made America exceptional.

The fanatics of America are winning the day, and they are because many of us have been sleeping at the wheel. Just like the
fanatics of the Muslim world, they are the minority, but they yield fear and power. Similarly, in America, Gallup Polls ( [link removed] ) show Americans’ support for abortion in all or most cases are at 80% as of May 2021, but the fanatical minority in America
have unleashed their abusive power.

While we struggle against the fanatics, I will hang on to the memory of the reception at the White House, one that represents
the real America, the America at its best.

Onward and upward…

Ani Zonneveld
Founder, president

National Updates

Check out our new store ( [link removed] ) and for national and chapter events, check our calendar here ( [link removed] ).

Progressive Islam In Practice Series - Reproductive Justice

Over the past few month’s MPV has been committed to making information about Progressive Islam more accessible to our
community. The Progressive Islam in Practice Series is a manifestation of this campaign and as a result, we’ve helped to
educate the community on topics from feminist readings of the Qur’an, abortion rights in Islam, issues of child and forced
marriages, to the acceptance of sexual diversity in Islam.

In addition to sharing the series on social media, we have built up an entire page on the website dedicated to the
Progressive Islam in Practice Series entitled Quick Learns. ( [link removed] )

This month, we’re featuring our Family Planning in Islam Series, our latest Progressive Islam in Practice Series. Featured
below is Part I of the series, which details the permissibility and promotion of family planning in Islamic Jurisprudence,
including the Qur’an and the Hadith. At MPV, we are unapologetic in our belief that women should be in complete control of
their thoughts, expressions, bodies, and sexuality, rather than the current gradient that silences the voices of women and
obstructs their right to control and maintain autonomy of their bodies and their sexuality.

To learn more about the work that MPV does to promote reproductive justice across the world, visit our newest webpage ( [link removed] ).

Support MPV

If you appreciate the work that we do, please consider making a monthly donation to support MPV ( [link removed] ).

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