Friday Links — November 21, 2008

Salam waleykum, readers! The Friday Links are back, but not with much of a vengeance. It’s sort of a mish-mash of all the links I saved up from before I left on my trip, so there may be some old news here, as well as a half-assed attempt at more recent news (I got really lazy after missing a week of links…it was so much easier to just not do them!). So if you have news that you don’t see up here, post it in the links. This rule goes for all Friday Links–just a reminder.

• GlobalComment writes about Taslim Solangi’s horrific murder. More from Feministe.

• iFeminists clues us in to dangers that Afghan mothers face, a threat from the “mother of suicide bombers”,

• Islam in Europe reports that forced marriages are less common in Amsterdam, two Muslim girls were attacked for “going out” with non-Muslim boys, that male victims of forced marriages have few aid programs to help them, marriage immigration drops in the Netherlands, female imams in Germany, and a debate about classes for Muslim women in a Danish church.

• Islam On My Side reports on the first female Muslim representative’s election to the Michigan state legislature. Barikallah! More from Izzy Mo.

• Schoolgirls in Afghanistan have been attacked with acid on their way to school. May Allah give them justice. More from ProgressiveIslam, Raquel Evita Saraswati, and The New York Times.

• Sand get in my eyes reminisces on the fire that claimed the lives of 14 Saudi girls because the morality police would not allow them to leave the burning building without their abayas.

• Achelois explains why it’s dangerous to claim that Muslim women aren’t oppressed.

• A school in Saudi Arabia is requiring young girls to be completely covered, which baffles parents. Via PM’s World. More from ProgressiveIslam.

• ProgressiveIslam discusses the recent protesting of Mary Rogan’s article on Aqsa Parvez, which Sobia covered earlier this week.

• The Feminist School alerts us that some women’s activists in Iran have been sentenced and the death of a young doctor becomes even more mysterious and suspicious.

• Jezebel talks about the prosecution of Sudan’s president for many things, including rape as a tool of war.

• A Muslim deli owner sues New York police officers over their harassment since 9/11.

• The United Arab Emirates receives its first female marriage registrar. More from Shahrazad.

• Nujood comes to New York to claim an award from Glamour magazine.

• Global Online Voices reports that, in Egypt, mother has been incriminated in a case of female genital cutting, a sexist beer commercial is stupid (which Ethar also covered this week), the First Lady thinks there is no sexual harassment in Egypt, and the horrific story of a woman’s death,

• The New Afghanistan discusses Fawzia Koofi’s role in Afghan politics.

• Jordan’s Queen Rania wins YouTube’s first Visionary Award.

• kameelahwrites profiles a Muslim woman in China being forced to have an abortion by authorities.

• Iranian actress Niki Karimi slams Iran’s censorship.

• Dubai swears in its first female prosecutors.

• Shahrazad highlights Saideh Ghods, an Iranian woman who appeared on The Wall Street Journal’s list of “50 Women to Watch.”

• A new bank in Dubai caters only to women.

• IslamCrunch profiles a new foundation for Muslim women. Via DeenPort.

• Professor Mona Siddiqui became the first Muslim to give the annual Pope Paul VI lecture on Monday. Via DeenPort. She also wrote a piece for The Guardian that’s a good read.
  

• Someone else agrees that the fatwa to allow beating one’s husband in self-defense isn’t good enough.

• Khaled Diab ponders on the patriarchy in surnames.

• Hadeel al Shalchi writes that she “wears the hijab because I believe in non-conformity.” Via Hijab Style.

• Nuseiba writes about “the oppressed Afghan woman.”

• Al Arabiya reports that Bahrainis who veil are finding more work in television.

• The Hijablog keeps us up-to-date on the Islamic Fashion Festival.

• The Guardian profiles Rachida Dati.

• ProgressiveIslam shares his views on our posts on honor killing.

• Muse writes that a certain kind of gender equality isn’t possible in Islam.

• Dubai’s kick-ass female police force. Via Izzy Mo.

Here’s an interview/debate I did with the host of Deadline 22.30 on Danish TV:

• A Cairo woman lost everything in a recent rock slide. May Allah keep her.

• Kuwait Times examines wacky wedding rituals.

• A 13-year-old girl killed at least 31 people in a recent suicide bombing in Iraq. May Allah give the victims peace.

• A Muslim woman went online to find a husband and ended up writing a book.

• Sisters in Dubai are doin’ it for themselves.

• An interesting article about Muslim women and the mosque in Australia.

• Iranian woman Helen Sepahi was disqualified from the 19th World Karate Championship in Tokyo on Friday because she refused to remove her headscarf. Boo!

• Al Arabiya reports that Libyan women suffer sexism despite reforms.

• Egypt conducts a huge crackdown on sexual harassers, arresting 550 men for harassing schoolgirls.

• A father in Jordan has been sentenced to only 13 years in prison for sexually assaulting his daughter.

• Social workers in Saudi Arabia complain about difficulties they face while touring around residential neighborhoods.

• Al Jazeera covers Amal Soleiman, the first female marriage registrar in Egypt.

• MidEast Youth praises a commercial that brings the plight of domestic workers to light.

• An Egyptian minister disses the niqab.

• The Los Angeles Times profiles Iranian activist Nazanin Gohari.

• France struck down its highly publicized (and criticized) ruling on virginity. More from the BBC.

• On punk rock Muslim girls.

• More on Shari’a in the U.K.

• The Muslim women fired for wearing long skirts in Canada have reached a settlement with their employer.

• In the Philippines, a Muslim women educates other women about their rights in Islam.

• Moving forward for Muslim women’s empowerment in Malaysia.

• The Middle East Times reports on how women’s rights become casualties of war.

• Malaysia’s threat to ban yoga as “unIslamic” finds a skeptical audience.

• Friends remember their joyride in Riyadh 18 years ago and lament that the driving ban still remains for women.

• A report in Australia accuses imams of denying Muslim women rights. Via Progressive Muslima News.

Women in Ethiopia perform salawat for the Prophet.