Comments on: The Veil Does Not a Prison Make

By: Dana

Dana — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 01:03:00 +0000

I’m coming real late to the conversation on this one, but Modern Muslimah, you can’t paint Western feminists all with the same broad brush any more than you can Muslimahs. I really wish more people who criticize feminism would read more about it. There are lots of us who’ve noticed Western culture is very woman-hating. Right down to the media ads, yes. We’ve noticed. Oh boy have we noticed.That’s not to say there isn’t a segment or three of Western feminism peopled by individuals who act as you describe. I ran across one’s blog the other day. Apparently I am stupid because I’m an at-home mother, and you ladies are all passive and oppressed because you veil. And this came from a Neopagan feminist priestess who claims to have had good clergy training. More of that sort of “training” and attitude, they certainly don’t need. They have enough problems.

By: Ethar El-Katatney

Ethar El-Katatney — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 19:24:00 +0000

I think my blood pressure just hit the ceiling. And I haven’t even read her posts. But can I just say that is is a wonderful rebuttal. Hats off to you.

By: RandallJones

RandallJones — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 04:40:00 +0000

Why doesn’t Danielle Crittenden say anything about the fact that the United States takes trillions of dollars of investment money from the Saudis? It also sells millions of dollars worth of sophisticated weaponry to Saudi Arabia; the Saudis don’t even have the qualified personnel to operate the weaponry, which is why they are dependent on the United States to defend it. Why doesn’t Danielle Crittenden put her money where her mouth is and demand that the United States stop accepting money from the Saudis and stop selling weapons to the Saudis?Why does Daniel have nothing to say about the fact that while Western countries preach human rights and democracy, they engage in regime change and support brutal dictators and kings that do their biding? They do this not only in the Middle East, but also in South America, Asia, and Africa.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 19:46:00 +0000

I came away from this series feeling that Crittenden must have been completely unaware of how much her editor HATES her to publish these pieces that are so packed-full of inaccuracies, insensitivities and insults. On second thought, it horrified to me to think that whomever proofread these pieces also did not see anything WRONG in them! It would take me weeks to pull out every bit of mis-information in there and respond to them all. I am only refraining from slurring insults here as a show of respect to YOU my sis.Love and Peace,~Brooke

By: Umm Layth

Umm Layth — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 19:08:00 +0000

as Salamu ‘alaykumUmm Zaid stole the words right out of my m..fingers? The problem with us is that we do things without remembering Allah. If death is so near, and if we acknowledge that this life is a test for the mu’min, we should be working on our deeds being solely for Allah. We don’t.The issue isn’t really if niqab is necessary or not. It’s about who is ready to take steps to come closer to Allah. Some sisters need to take the step of wearing their khimar for Allah. Others need to abandon the makeup when they go out, for Allah. Others need to decide if wearing khimar has a point if they are going to wear tight clothes. We are all at different stages in our journey. But it doesn’t matter who does what if it isn’t done for Him. That doesn’t mean we aren’t human, but it means that we at least try.Nice response. I wanted to just call her an extremist the minute I saw her wear it in her home. If you are going to experiment, experiment right.

By: Umm Zaid

Umm Zaid — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 11:51:00 +0000

Salaam ‘AlaikumThe link to the ABC news story didn’t work for me. ://I worry that some men are wanting their wives and daughters to wear niqab without thinking of the implications. //This can be true of anything, though. I don’t know about the UK, but in the US (and in Jordan and ME, for that matter) there are fathers (and mothers) who want their daughters not to wear hijab without thinking about the implications. Either way (niqab, no hijab, hijab, pants, only black clothes), if one’s intention isn’t pleasing Allah, or at least asking oneself, “Is this pleasing to my Lord?” then it’s probably being done without thought for true implications or the larger picture.ramble bramble

By: Emily

Emily — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 19:53:00 +0000

An excellent post. I was so frustrated and put off by the first few lines of Crittenden’s racist, orientalist, misogynistic, and just plain stupid diatribe that I had to stop reading and focus on the smart critiques that have thankfully been written by several fantastic bloggers. More than anything, I feel sorry for Crittenden, who is obviously beyond ignorant about Islam, American Muslims, especially Muslimahs, Arabic language (e.g. ‘burka’ instead of the correct English rendering of the Arabic characters, and even the difference between the many different styles of hijab, niqab, jilbab… she doesn’t seem to realize that she is the one in her own figurative prison, locked behind orientalist, islamophobic bars. And thankfully, though she falsely identifies her ideas (if we can call them that) as feminist, they don’t have any bearing to speak of on the progressive, comparative, non-eurocentric, non-orientalist, postcolonial theory and work that is being done by feminists in many different global social spheres… she is recognized for the conservative, racist, orientalist misogynist that she is in every alt. media outlet that matters.

By: Baraka

Baraka — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 04:43:00 +0000

“A North American ‘healthy lifestyle’ and Islam do not go together very well.”Is she referring to Americans, AKA, the Most Obese People on Earth?An intelligent and funny smackdown!Cheers,Barakawww.rickshawdiaries.wordpress.com

By: Hekateris

Hekateris — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 03:05:00 +0000

Isn’t that article just the biggest bunch of bull ever? It’s just such an outrageously poor piece of ‘journalism’ that I find it hard to understand how anyone could read it and believe there’s much truth to it beyond ‘some muslim women wear this when they leave the house’.Oro

By: idyllicmollusk

idyllicmollusk — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 22:20:00 +0000

Zeynab- GREAT post! Thank you for taking Crittendon to task.Amusingly, conservative commentators often take Western feminists to task for not criticizing Muslim women enough. I’m sure we all remember the College Republican’s “Islamo-fascist Week” with their suggestion of sit-ins at college women’s studies departments because they don’t “speak out” enough about the treatment of women in Islam.Barf.