Combat Garb: Pictures of Muslims Wearing Things

November 1, 2010 By Sara Yasin

Recently, NPR analyst Juan Williams was quoted as saying, “…when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous.” on The O’Reilly Factor.

As a response, “Pictures of Muslims Wearing Things” was created, shattering the stereotype of what “Muslim garb” looks like. It is a site dedicated to showing the diversity of Muslim “garb,” where users submit pictures of normal Muslims dressed in different ways (including our very own Sana Saeed).

I really loved this website. It is the type of refreshing, smart and thought-provoking response that I think can best fight the irrationality of Islamophobia. Williams’ comment touches on a struggle that I think many Muslims in the West face, how our fashion choices connect to our value of religion. Muslims Wearing Things features individuals wearing hijab, basketball jerseys, more urban styles or risqué high fashion, the common denominator being a pride in being a Muslim. While the purpose of the site is to challenge and counter an outsider stereotype of what a Muslim may look like, it made me think about the necessity of a dialogue challenging how we view dress as an Islamic community.

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Filed Under: Politics, Web Tagged With: , , ,

Black Polyester: Nuance and Niqab?

October 27, 2010 By tasnim

“I wanted to own the article of clothing that was being talked about,” Jonas Otterbeck says, explaining his reasons for buying a niqab. Otterbeck, who teaches Islamic Studies at Lund University in Sweden, spoke of his view on the niqab on the documentary Black Polyester, the sixth in a sixteen part series broadcast on SVT1 dealing with issues of power and politics.

In the hour-long program, the presenter Lina Makboul addresses (but doesn’t attempt to resolve) the question of whether the current ramped up debate about niqab is a result of real fears from a threat or fear-mongering driven by political populism. Along the way, she interviews women who wear the niqab, questions Muslims and non-Muslims on their views, and does a Europe-wide niqab-count as a way of assessing how many women would be affected by numerous proposed bans. In Sweden, Makboul notes, the number is thought to be about 200.

In the beginning of the program, Makboul points out that “a lot of people talk about women that wear niqab but few speak for themselves,” and in the course of the program she interviews Marianne and Hanan, two women who wear the niqab. Jonas Otterbeck, who has worn and even lectured in a niqab to experience the effect it has, believes that “wearing it means paying a rather high price. One becomes a kind of non-human in society.”

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Free Samar: Saudi Bloggers Rally for Samar Al Badawi

October 19, 2010 By emanhashim

When 32-year-old divorcee Samar Al Badawi went to Jeddah court to challenge a “filial ingratitude” complaint filed by her father, the judge rejected her claims and ruled in favor of her father. And despite documented physical abuse, previous court rulings to lift her father’s guardianship, and even a royal order to send her to an abused women’s shelter from governor of Mecca Prince Khalid al-Faisal, the judge sent her to prison. This was a year ago, and Al Bawadi has not been released or seen her son since.

She commented:

“The judge thinks a woman must submit to her father, regardless of how abusive he is, conservative judges hate the government’s women’s shelters because they empower women. They call them brothels.”

Waleed Abu Alkhair, Badawi’s lawyer, says:

“Keeping her in prison violates Saudi law. She is in prison without trial, let alone sentence, and is stuck indefinitely because only her father as guardian can check her out.”

Naturally, bloggers have gathered around Samar. She has a blog dedicated to her freedom, as well as a Twitter hashtag, a Facebook page, and a CrowdVoice campaign as well. Saudis are standing up for Al Badawi in every possible way, putting “Free Samar” designs on their webpages.

Sabq newspaper has published the details of the report that was prepared as per the Prince of Mecca’s orders to a special committee, which recommended that she be moved to a shelter for her safety. This was based on the fact that her father physically abused her. Not to mention that her dad used the fact that she co-signed a petition to give the women the right to drive 2 years ago as a sign of her “disobedience.”

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