I became [Muslim] nearly four years ago, not long before I was married. It’s true that I likely never would have converted if my wife wasn’t Muslim, but that doesn’t mean that my conversion was merely symbolic. I wanted to join her life and her family, and since being Muslim is so central to who they are, that meant joining Islam.

…This year, though, as July approached, I had stopped looking an escape clause. I knew that it would be the first Ramadan I’d try to fast for the full thirty days…. 

Continue reading Rollo Romig’s, “Confessions of a Ramadan Rookie”: http://nyr.kr/NJFgnT

The Photographer and the Islamist

We commissioned photographer Rena Effendi to photograph Egyptian politician Ahmed Khalil Khairallah, a hard-line Islamist, for last week’s profile by Wendell Steavenson.  Read commentary on her experience and see a selection of her photos here.