WATCH: Amani Al-Khatahtbeh on ‘The Muslim Girl' Reckoning

CairoScene

7 hours ago

'We lost a lot of sponsorships and partners that claimed to be allies after October 7th,' the Muslim Girl's founder shares.
For over a decade, Muslim Girl has been the internet's loudest answer to a simple, loaded question: What does it mean to be a Muslim woman online? Founded by Palestinian-American Amani Al-Khatahtbeh at just 17, the platform has grown into a living archive of Muslim identity in the digital age.
'The most powerful thing about social media and being online is that it completely removes the borders between us,' author, activist, and Muslim Girl founder Amani Al-Khatahtbeh tells CairoScene.
She knows those borders well. Raised in New Jersey with Palestinian roots, Amani experienced firsthand how Western media distorted her sense of self. 'I grew up through a lot of media propaganda trying to shove down my throat who I was, where I came from.'
Being a visibly Muslim girl in the West, the platform was born from a deep need to see herself reflected in media, to find other girls like her. Muslim Girl became more than a blog; it became a communal space and a cultural record. 'We created a real-time chronicle of the evolution of our identities from the past decade,' she reflects.
Today, Amani is not just a founder; she's a media force. Named a media titan by The New York Times, she leads what is now the largest platform for Muslim women in the U.S.
But everything changed after October 7th. In the wake of Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza, Muslim Girl took a firm stand, centring Palestinian human rights. That choice came at a cost.
'We lost a lot of sponsorships… partners that claimed to be allies suddenly took a step back,' Amani says. 'It created a very big reckoning for us, about what our values and priorities as a company really are.'
The censorship, defunding, and corporate silence didn't quiet her; they sharpened her. Amani is now leading Muslim Girl into a new era, one rooted in justice, international law, and lasting advocacy.
'We live in a world where we have international court cases using social media and blogs as actual evidence for the first time… We are setting new precedents.'
What started as a personal blog is now a legal tool. Once laughed at for referencing it in job applications, Amani is now using that same blog as the foundation for her academic work, currently earning a degree in international human rights law at Oxford University. She's interrogating policy, one post at a time.
'I'm excited about entering into this new era,' she says, 'where we can really strengthen the advocacy work… and push for the sanctity of our communities moving forward.'
With over 1.5 million followers across platforms, Muslim Girl has become a global voice for Muslim women. And as narratives shift and institutions are challenged, it stands firm in its day-one ethos: to represent—and become—that Muslim girl, both online and on the ground.