- Daily Nation profiles the gender issues that a Muslim woman man has been living with since he was born.
- Islam Online gives us the story of a Parisian niqabi whose life will be affected by the burqa ban.
- Parveen Abidi believes that the All-India Muslim Women’s Personal Law Board isn’t taking Muslim women’s concerns or needs seriously.
- The Buffalo News remembers Aasiya Zubair Hassan. So does The Guardian.
- The Arab Women Organization has announced several grants for young researchers in women’s studies.
- Global Voices Online exposes the fake hymen hoax and the firing of a Radio Netherlands reporter.
- Mideast Youth has an article about niqab–by a woman who wears one!
- Gulf News covers the lingerie boycott in Saudi Arabia. So does The Los Angeles Times.
- A Turkish mosque is currently being designed by a team of female architects, and keeps the needs of women and the differently-abled in mind.
- According to a U.N. body, any agreement made with the Taliban must be mindful of women’s rights.
- Hijabis rock, according to Remona Aly for The Guardian.
- During U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit in Saudi Arabia, no one talked about women’s rights.
- Today’s Zaman reveals that much of Turkey’s cultural history is the work of wealthy Ottoman women.
- PressTV reports that a Saudi poet has been murdered for expressing support for non-Wahhabi sects of Islam. May Allah give her peace and justice. Also, can anyone find Arab sources for this?
- An Emirati designer is changing the face of Arabic fashion by creating abayas based on trousers rather than the traditional dress.
- The new Turkish member of the European anti-torture committee says she will bring a gender perspective to the activities of the committee, which monitors detention and imprisonment conditions.
- Hijabtrendz interviews Houston-based fashion photographer/paparazzi Nicole Queen.
- Gülsüm Tatar is the first female boxer to represent Turkey at the Olympics.
- Spain is Europe’s newest spot for headscarf debates, following the alleged threats against a Muslim women who stopped wearing her headscarf. Via Islam in Europe.
- Today’s Zaman reports that Medine Memi, the teenager killed by her father and brother, repeatedly sought police help and received none. May Allah give her peace and justice.
- In Belgium, Fatima Zibouh is now on the board of the Center for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism.
- In Egypt, judges voted to bar women from ruling in an influential court which advises the government. More from The National and Bikya Masr.
- Fátima Hamed has been chosen as the second in command of the UDCE, an Islamic party in Ceuta.
- Mariam Darwish is the first Emirati woman to work in a car maintenance shop.
- Sveriges Radio International highlights a shelter for men suffering from honor-related violence. Via Islam in Europe.
- Fatemeh Karroubi, the wife of one of Iran’s opposition leaders, accused Iran’s Supreme Leader of allowing violence and abuses to crush opposition supporters, including the alleged beating of her son during last week’s protests.
- At The Huffington Post, Elie Mikhael Nasrallah blames Arab women for not being more interested in politics. Constructive.
- The Guardian highlights a U.K. doctor who is one of only a handful of doctors trained to treat and “reverse” female genital cutting.
- Transsexual women in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, will participate in a beauty contest.
- The New York Times reports that Iraqi women are seeing more political influence.
- “Hijab Gate“: the political jokes write themselves. More from The Guardian.
- Arab News interviews artist Hanan Al-Faisal.
- The Christian Science Monitor tells us why the West Bank won’t crown a Miss Palestine.
- An increasing number of female law graduates in Saudi Arabia are facing difficulties securing training at Saudi law firms.
- BankMuscat is offering key support to female development programs.
- The French government is planning to stipulate new immigrants to sign a contract recognizing that the face-veil is banned in the country.
- Six women in Saudi Arabia face lashes because they are all married to the same man. Arab News has the latest.
- The Jewish Journal writes about why burqa bans are contradictory to women’s rights.
- The New York Times reports that about 1,200 Iranians signed a statement against a bill that would further curb women’s rights.
- Deepak Chopra writes for BeliefNet about a practical approach to discussing honor killing.
As always, if there’s news about Muslim women that we haven’t included, feel free to include a link in the comments!
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PressTV reports that a Saudi poet has been murdered for expressing support for non-Wahhabi sects of Islam. May Allah give her peace and justice. Also, can anyone find Arab sources for this?
The article itself claims an Arab source for this, but I haven’t gone directly to the source (which may be in Arabic…)
Normally, PressTV articles are fairly OK. This was the worst I’ve read from them. The article is loaded with anti-Saudi sentiments, beginning with:
“the Kingdom’s official religion of Wahhabism…”
I don’t think it’s cool to label Mr. Shukria as a “woman.” It’s obvious from the article he has never been a woman at all. Think how oppressive it would be to an individual to be forced into the wrong gender. Please don’t label him the wrong gender as it would be to perpetuate the injustice done to him.
About Bilqis being murdered, I found a bunch of news stories on Iranian sites. There are a lot of her poems and stories on various Arabic sites. Search for “بلقيس ملحم”
There is also the piece she posted on arabicnadwah.com about her daughter’s support for Nasrallah — http://www.arabicnadwah.com/articles/nasrallah-balqis_melham.htm — and the same site has one of her poems. I couldn’t find anything in Arabic about her murder, those articles are all in Persian. Arab news blackout, or what?
I got nowhere trying to search for her name in English, because there are a hundred different transliterations for each Arabic name and it’s often impossible to predict which spelling any given site will use. People make the transliteration of Arabic so haphazard, when it could be easy if they used standardized transliteration. If Chinese can be so systematically and efficiently transliterated using Pinyin, why does it have to be so hard for Modern Standard Arabic?
I’m surprised that the well-known fact of Wahhabism being the official sect of Saudi Arabia could be seen as controversial. Wahhabism was the whole basis for the kingdom of Saudi Arabia coming into existence in the first place.
This link “Six women in Saudi Arabia face lashes because they are all married to the same man. Arab News has the latest.”
Only mentions the man facing lashings and not his wives. Unless I misread the links.
@ Jannah: Thank you for pointing out the incorrect label. The fault is mine for labeling Mr. Shukria, and since the article was about the fact that he’s been incorrectly labeled his whole life, you’d think I’d have done a better job of being sensitive.
I’m glad Jannah brought that up about the first link – I was going to mention it too. Fatemeh, I know you don’t normally edit posts after you’ve posted them, but can you change the language around this as it appears here (with a note that it’s been edited, to address transparency concerns)? As Jannah said, continuing to refer to this person as a woman is perpetuating an oppressive label, and it’s especially jarring when it’s listed right at the top of the page as the first link.
I’m surprised that the well-known fact of Wahhabism being the official sect of Saudi Arabia could be seen as controversial.
It may be the de facto standard, and the whole history of the religious establishment is heavily influenced by Wahhab’s teachings, but it is not official. The Saudi government has repeatedly insisted in just being “Sunni”, and occasionally the Saudi scholars will admit a strong Hanbali bias.
Put this way. If it’s official, you should have no trouble finding an official Saudi source/document stating this.
There’s a big difference between what people consider obviously true, and what is official.
Tasmiya; I noticed the same thing and still reread it – its not there.