- Xpress News profiles traditional Emirati burqa makers (and wearers). Via Izzy Mo.
- The New York TImes interviews a Saudi rock band–made up of girls. Rock on, ladies! Via Progressive Muslima News. More from MidEast Youth.
- On women’s fashion in Malaysia.
- And speaking of Malaysia, the Sisters in Islam of Malaysia is pushing back against a fatwa by Malaysian clerics against tomboys. More from Malaysia Today.
- An Australian sheikh argues that men and women should pray together. More from The New Straits Times Online.
- Azal Faiz Ahmed of Oakland, California, is missing. May Allah keep her safe.
- A woman opens a women-only hair salon in the U.K. to cater to women who veil.
- A rape case in Detroit falls apart after a 16-year-old girls’ testimony.
- The Vancouver Sun prints a personal tale of gratitude for Aga Khan.
- Indian Muslims examines the increasing education of Indian girls from Azamgarh.
- PC Magazine rates the best Islamic websites for women. Unfortunately, we’re not on it. Anyway, I think they meant best Arabic websites for women. Funny that, eh? Apparently the magazine thinks those two adjectives are synonymous.
- The GW Hatchet profiles Merve Kavakci.
- The Women’s Media Center clues us in to anti-women legislators in Pakistan, steps to ensure more female candidates in 2009 Indonesian elections, reports on Tuesday’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and a woman who is the victim of America’s war on drugs.
- Hijab Style gives information on how to help a sister do some demographic research so that she can open her own business.
- The Hijablog posts pictures from Kuala Lumpur’s annual Islamic Fashion Festival.
- Achelois begins an interesting series critiquing the book Daughters of Arabia: part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4.
- Indonesian HIV and AIDS patients may face having microchips implanted inside of them. WTF? Via ifeminists.
- ProgressiveIslam profiles Sada’s debut in Bollywood.
- Al-Ahram reviews the latest book on Oum Kulthum.
- A man who abused his wife and daughter has been arrested.
- An Israeli human rights group released a tape of an Israeli soldier head-butting a Palestinian woman.
- From The Guardian’s Comment is free, two viewpoints on polygyny.
- Al Jazeera reports that several women died in suicide blasts in Baghdad. May Allah give them peace.
- What the hell, Nagla Al-Imam?!
- A woman and her mother spent the night in jail after attempting to report her being sexually harassed by a police captain. Via Global Online Voices.
- New Omani housing law amendments offer land to women without discrimination.
- A two-day conference on gender and economic development was held in Dubai last weekend.
- IslamOnline profiles the gradual acceptance of religion within a very secular Turkish party.
- The Feminist School gives us a roundup of Iranian women’s news.
- A man tries to educate people about sex via Facebook.
- The Muslim News reports that divorce rates among Saudis studying abroad are rising.
- Ten men have been arrested in connection with the acid attacks on Afghan schoolgirls. More from the New York Times. One of the schoolteachers injured in the attacks wants the men to be hanged, after they’ve had acid thrown on them. Via Jezebel.
- Maybe Malaysia would like this yoga instead.
- Iran sets up free consultation phone lines to help combat the spread of HIV through sexual contact.
- An interview with a dancer and women’s rights activist Sheema Kermani. Via Global Online Voices.
- The Soulful Puritan shares a new campaign against honor killing. Via DeenPort.
- Middle East Online reports that a U.N. expert believes that “Iraqi women subjected to violence.” Uh, where has this expert been all this time?
- Menassat interviews Sihem Bensedrine, the editor-in-chief of Tunisian website Kalima.
- Manal Chaaya tells a personal side of her prison coverage in Syria.
- A case currently under review in the U.S. may clarify legal standing for women seeking sanctuary from female genital cutting.
- The Christian Science Monitor reports sobering stories of Iraqi rape survivors living illegally in Jordan. Via Women’s Media Center.
- The Federation of Muslim Women in Mississauga, Canada, celebrated its tenth anniversary.
- The arrest of 76 women in Kenya has riled up Muslim leaders.
- Women in Minnesota begin an interfaith feminist group.
- Members of the Organization of Islamic Countries meet to discuss the implementation of female empowerment policies in their respective countries.
- Muslim women in Ghana attended a workshop intended to educate about domestic violence.
- altmuslim’s Rafia Zakaria writes a great piece about the misogyny inherent in sexualized Western pop culture and its connections to violence against women in Pakistan.
- Sabria Jawhar writes of Saudi women’s sacrifices during their studies abroad.
- A woman is among those executed in Iran this week. Via Arabisto. More from AKI.
- A Friday chuckle: Al Arabiya’s article is mistakenly worded “UN launches violence against women campaign.” See? Feminists laugh, too. Sometimes.
- The Netherlands plans on banning face veils from university campuses. More from IslamOnline.
- The Khadija bint Khuwailid Center held a workshop for women, entitled “Employees’ Rights and Responsibilities,” to inform them of their rights.
- A sports and recreation center for women will be established at Princess Noura bint Abdulrahman University in Riyadh.
- MidEast Youth interviews one of the men behind a new campaign for domestic worker’s rights in the Middle East.
- Iran’s taxi service exclusively for women. More from National Geographic.
- KABOBfest profiles Kuwaiti celebrity Halima Boland.
- A 14-year-old bride in Turkey casts national attention on underage brides. Via ifeminists.
- An Iranian man who attacked a woman with acid is sentenced to be blinded with acid himself.
- Afghan women make “mini-burqas” for wine bottles as part of the Women of Hope Project.
- Zainah Anwar’s response to Malaysia’s threat to ban yoga. Via SaudiAmber.
- Eboo Patel envisions an American Muslim woman going through a political process similar to the one Obama went through.
Hey Fatemah, great link-up, just one small clarification:
It’s a male, his name means “lion” in Arabic.
Aw, shit. I fixed it. Thanks!
Another award for Elham Shaheeen’s film “Khaltit Fawzyeh”
http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/egypt/238176
hey girl, thought u might be interested in this if u haven’t seen it yet: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/28/opinion/edartyk.php
also, LMAO re: the “islamic yoga” ! haha. actually i always compare yoga and muslim prayer– because no non-muslim would ever do muslim’s spiritual practice for excersize, even though our prayer incorporates a lot of similiar moves and it’s good for u too.
also also, i was really sad to read that story from detroit … i work with a lot of youth from that community and had overheard bits and pieces of the story here and there (mostly on kid’s facebook walls) but didn’t know the whole thing.
thanks fatemeh for all the great work you do. i appreciate u girl, u are building new worlds for muslim girls.
@nosnowhere
Great article, thanks for posting the link.
The whole question about whether or not yoga constitutes a religious practice has been brought up in the USA, too. Some Christian parents want yoga class banned in public schools because they say it violates the separation of church and state:
http://fitnessbusinesspro.com/schools/ban-yoga-new-york-high-school-1008/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27008935/
hahahaha @ the yoga thing. My grandfather’s been doing yoga with Islamic chants/words since he was a teenager. This was when India and Pakistan were still one country and was able to learn from a Hindu yogi. Its not anything new really. I’m sure there are lots of Muslims in South Asia who put an Islamic twist on yoga.
And yoga is an ancient tradition shown to have benefits. I know I believe in it after seeing my grandfather doing it.
Huh. When I told my hubby about the Australian sheikh arguing men & women should pray together he got very angry, saying that it’s totally against Islam and it’s not right … that people are trying to “change” Islam, blah blah blah. When I tried to explain to him that there’s nothing wrong with women praying behind the men, he goes off on a tangent about women always praying in a balcony or separate area in the mosques in Turkey.
I wonder how many men think that way????? He’s not a woman (obviously), so there’s no way he’s going to see it from a woman’s point of view.