Earlier this year, South African Muslim media was abuzz with the story of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, an American-educated Pakistani cognitive neuroscientist who was convicted and sentenced to 86 years in prison for assault with intent to murder her U.S. interrogators in Afghanistan. The media campaign served to raise awareness about Siddiqui’s alleged abuse at the hands of the U.S justice system, and to assert her complete innocence. Her story is a difficult one, spanning the vastness of two continents and the complexity of terrorism politics in both of these. This post is not meant to cover the Siddiqui case, or to make any judgement claims as to her innocence or guilt. I would like to add that I sincerely advocate for justice for Siddiqui, who has no doubt suffered tremendously – whatever her political inclinations.

The focus of this post is the treatment of Siddiqui’s case in recent South African Muslim media. I am often accused in my community of unduly and unnecessarily vilifying the Muslim media, so I must add a disclaimer – that pointing out discrepancies in the media’s treatment of Muslim women or issues pertaining to gender is not an attack on all the work of an organization, but meant to create dialogue on how Muslim women can be better represented. The groups I speak of articulate a certain kind of gendered ideology, and it is their right to propagate this discourse. I do, however feel that, living in the multicultural and vibrant democracy of South Africa, alternate expressions of Islam and Muslim women need to be put forth. [Read more...]