Unpacking #MuslimMaleAllies

March 24, 2014 By amina

Earlier this month, Shaykh Abu Eesa Niamatullah wreaked havoc on International Women’s Day (IWD) after posting a series of painfully sexist comments on Twitter and Facebook. Reactions were virtually instant and plentiful. Among the more interesting responses, Hind Makki started using #MuslimMaleAllies on Twitter. That the hashtag became widely popular raises questions about the expectations (or lack thereof) we have for Muslim men within our communities. For those that haven’t been following, here’s the quick recap: Abu Eesa is a... Read more

Friday Links | March 21, 2014

March 21, 2014 By anneke

The recent case of a teenage German girl travelling to Syria to allegedly actively join the “jihad” has German experts worried about the threat that men, and increasingly (often very young) women, involved in such activities can present to German society. France has indicted two people for aiding another teenage girl who has allegedly travelled to Syria too to fight alongside rebels. Recently two prostitution networks exploiting Syrian minor girls in Lebanon have been caught by authorities; the “low price” of... Read more

“Alice in Arabia” Sounds Like a New Drama That’s Going to Tell the Same Mind-Numbing Story

March 20, 2014 By Sara Yasin

Cross-posted from Tumblr. We don’t know much about ABC Family’s new drama, “Alice in Arabia”, but I already have a feeling that it’s going to be pretty terrible. The network, which targets a younger crowd, has ordered three drama pilots, and one of them follows the story of a “rebellious American teenage girl who, after tragedy befalls her parents, is unknowingly kidnapped by her extended family, who are Saudi Arabian.” The show will apparently follow the title character in her fight... Read more

Mata Najwa: A Rare Glimpse of Real Journalism in Indonesia

March 19, 2014 By afia

Sometimes I don’t know where to start when it comes to critiquing Indonesia’s media, especially television programs. There is so much gibberish that comes out of the TV screen – and increasingly so – these days that sometimes I feel my head is heavy with rants after watching just one program. Having seen so much disappointing content in the media, I found it extremely refreshing when my husband switched on the television a few nights ago and Mata Najwa was... Read more

Muslim Anti-Racist Collaborative Centres Black Muslim Voices

March 18, 2014 By sharrae

Black Muslims took to Twitter last month in light of Black History Month, which is celebrated in February in North America. The Muslim Anti-Racist Collaborative (MuslimARC), a collaborative of diverse Muslims dedicated to combatting anti-Black racism, discrimination and exclusion within the Muslim community, launched a Twitter campaign that has opened the door to discussing anti-black racism within the Muslim community. In an interview over email correspondence, Margari Hill, a member of MuslimARC, said that discussions began in 2013 about creating... Read more

Rediscovering Noor Inayat Khan and the Good Muslim

March 17, 2014 By tasnim

I will confess that I first became aware of Noor Inayat Khan, also known as Madeline, only quite recently, that is, during the campaign in 2011 to commemorate her, before it was discovered that she had already been commemorated. I remember looking up her story at the time and coming across her biography, Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan by Shrabani Basu. I did plan on reading the book, but reviews at Goodreads, which complained about the amount of... Read more

Friday Links | March 14, 2014

March 14, 2014 By anneke

March 8 was International Women’s Day and, as usual, there was a sudden rise in news items that feature women, some of which will be featured in this week’s Friday Links. At the same time, women around the world were involved in protests. A few dozen Iraqi women took to the streets to demonstrate against the new draft law, that would permit the marriage of girls as young as nine and automatically give child custody to the father. Thousands of... Read more

Countering the “Musulmacho:” Drawing the Line between Humour and Inappropriate Commentary

March 12, 2014 By eren

A few months ago I was invited to like a Facebook page called Memes Feministas Islámicos. The page targets mostly Spanish speakers, and it claims to be countering Muslim patriarchies online. Their “About us” page reads: “Nos sumamos a la tarea de contrarrestar el machismo en el cyber espacio y al igual que nuestras compañeras feministas del mundo, nos reímos mientras desmantelamos Patriarcado en el Islam.” “We aim to counter macho-like behaviours online, and just like our feminist comrades around... Read more

MMW Roundtable: Responding to Randa Jarrar’s “Why I Can’t Stand White Bellydancers”

March 11, 2014 By Azra

Last week, Salon published Randa Jarrar’s “Why I Can’t Stand White Bellydancers” as part of their “feminists of color” series curated by Roxane Gay. The response to her post has been overwhelming, including responses from dudes at the Washington Post and The Atlantic to G. Willow Wilson’s response at her blog. We’ve been exchanging emails back and forth here ourselves at MMW. The following is our edited take on events: Fatemeh: Have you seen Randa Jarrar’s “Why I Can’t Stand... Read more

Not in Our Name: Muslim Women and the Quebec Charter

March 10, 2014 By Krista

A few weeks ago, I spoke as part of a panel at the University of Ottawa about the Quebec Charter of Secularism, speaking both as Editor-in-Chief of Muslimah Media Watch and as a founding member of the Collective of Muslim Feminists of Quebec. This is an edited version of my talk, updated to reflect shifts in the political context in the time since it was first presented (notably the announcement last week that Quebec will be holding provincial elections on... Read more