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Celebrating Muslim Life
emel is unique for more than just a missing capital letter. It’s Britain’s first Muslim lifestyle magazine. Glossy, well-written, with punchy design and visuals, its appeal crosses over from Muslims to curious non-Muslims.
“The name comes from pronouncing the letters m and l, as in ‘Muslim life,’” says editor Sarah Joseph. The resulting sound also echoes the word amal—“hope” in Arabic. “The word has deep roots,” she says. “It means not only ‘hope’ in the simple sense, but also ‘longings,’ ‘desires’ and ‘aspirations.’
And those aspirations, says Joseph, are “to humanize, to be positive and to celebrate Muslim life. People link into that feeling, that passion.”
Drawing on a small staff and numerous free-lancers, all driven more by “that passion” than money, emel covers current affairs and lifestyle topics in a way that is neither hesitant nor limited to Muslim-only points of view. “We try to give a Muslim perspective,” says Mahmud al-Rashid, Joseph’s husband, who is a full-time trial lawyer as well as the magazine’s volunteer publisher and editor-in-chief.
“In everything Mahmud and I do, we try to eradicate the misconceptions that became increasingly prevalent after 9/11,” says Joseph,
“Muslim people do normal things, live normal lives.” —Sarah Joseph“You have to make sure that people know about Islam and Muslims in a positive way”. For more log on to www.emelmagazine.com
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