Why Anwar Hadid's Instagram Post Matters to Young Muslims

The overwhelmingly positive response to Hadid’s post reflects a larger and palpable shift in pop culture around Islam in the U.S. and the Global North, particularly among younger demographics. The reasons are multifarious: a shifting zeitgeist that has more tolerance, appetite or curiosity for minority experiences, including those of Muslims; or, more recently, the swell of pro-Palestinian support that has engendered solidarity for Muslims, particularly among a younger subset of the population here in the U.S. and across the world. But a large part of this shift can also be attributed to how younger Muslims, especially those in the spotlight, are reclaiming the religion on their own terms. ...

So seeing Islam being woven into popular culture so beautifully and the swell of solidarity offsetting this climate of Islamophobia is encouraging, to say the least.