Friday Links

Friday Links July 31, 2015

Seven Muslim women from around the world are bicycling across Iowa as a way of “promoting female sports participation as a fundamental right“. The 470-mile ride, featuring 8,500 cyclists, began July 19 and finished July 25.

 

In the last year and a half, as turmoil in Ukraine has dominated the news media’s attention, a group of young Moscovite Muslims saw a new window of opportunity to change perceptions by making Muslims the “trendsetters in fashion.”

 

Adila Matra writes about her own experience as a Muslim woman wearing Hijab in Delhi, and how appearance by Hijabi women in particular rings the alarm/ panic button.

 

A survey made through an Egyptian Facebook page shows us that many of the stereotypical assumptions about Muslim women might not be very accurate, writes Ahmed Ezz Eldin. He says: “They demand more freedom in the private than the public sphere.”

 

Flexing her muscles in defiance of the Gulf’s conservative cultural stereotypes, bodybuilder Haifa Musawi has lost all hope of pumping iron for Bahrain, so now is looking elsewhere for recognition.

 

Many Egyptian women say they are facing a difficult summer season as Hijab-free zones seem to have soared in popularity, as more restaurants and high-end resorts enforce a de-facto ban on wearing headscarves.

 

Authorities in Niger’s Diffa area, on the border with Nigeria, have banned the full Islamic veil following suicide attacks, in order to prevent more attacks by Boko Haram.

 

“She Who Tells a Story” is a photography exhibition that manages to pose some nuanced questions about political conflict and personal identity in the Middle East. It features 12 women from the Arab world and Iran.

 

Russian women dupe ISIS fighters into sending over money after creating fake profiles and pretending they wanted to become their jihadi brides in Syria

 

Gina B. Nahai reviews the book “Jewels of Allah” by Nina Ansary, which talks about Iranian women, and how their role in society has changed through Iranian history.


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