A recent documentary has outed the breast-baring, Ukrainian “sextremist” group Femen as being founded and controlled by a man, Victor  Svyatski, who hand picks “the prettiest girls because they sell more papers.” Femen gained notoriety earlier this year for their Topless Jihad Day, in support of Tunisian feminist Amina Sboui, who had been arrested for posting topless photos of herself, proclaiming that she alone owns her body. In April, Femen’s sextremists took to the streets, demonstrating – typically with crude,... Read more

Orland Park is a well-to-do suburb of Chicago that is coming to terms with its diversity. The local library boasts manicured lawns, high-tech facilities and a robust community engagement credo. There have books and resources in Spanish, Polish and Arabic and capitalize on  “history” months as teaching moment for their diverse patrons. Diversity was not always embraced; in 2004 there was an effort to block the building of a mosque by outraged citizens, scared that the it would become a... Read more

Earlier this summer, riots broke out in suburban Paris, sparked by a police check on a Muslim couple. The woman was wearing niqab, which is illegal in France, and the confrontation between the police officers and the couple escalated violently. Unsurprisingly, the government supported the police officers; Interior Minister Manuel Valls said,”Police did their job perfectly. The law banning full-face veils is a law in the interests of women and against those values having nothing to do with our traditions... Read more

We slip the note in under the imam’s closed door and run away from his office like our lives depend on it. Our hearts thunder in our ears and we gasp for breath, silently sprinting through the lobby, down the stairs and out the doors into the now-gone playground adjacent to the mosque. A few minutes pass. We straighten our ankle-length, pleated, navy blue and forest green plaid school uniforms and finally, my friend and I are able to speak.... Read more

Some Muslims are fasting from social media this Ramadan, but many others are not. Here’s a roundup of the news and views that Muslims have been talking about: US Muslims and Trayvon Martin In the days after the Zimmerman verdict, many US Muslim commentators lamented the lack of a loud public response from national Muslim leaders. Later that week, Trayvon Martin and injustice were the subject of a handful of Friday sermons, including from some of the most prominent US... Read more

Muslims around the world sing songs of devotion to God and celebrate our Prophet (PBUH) through song and music. While there are many people who believe that musical instruments are sinful, devotional singing is an unnecessary innovation, and that women’s voices should not be heard in public, I am not one of those people. I’ve collected many of my favorite devotional Muslim music from around the world and since my original list heavily reflected my personal affection toward North African... Read more

The authors of this piece, Shereen Yousuf and Hind Makki, first met in 2007 while we were working at an interfaith organization. We became friends and quickly developed a mutual respect for our respective practice of Islam; our friendship, you might say, was post-denominational. Through the years, we asked each other Shia-specific and Sunni-specific questions, clarified points of misconception and spent hours discussing how we can help build intrafaith relationships among Muslims in our local Chicago communities. The latest sectarian... Read more

The conversation on gender, women, self-esteem and representation is an ongoing one and one which cuts across racial, ethnic, religious and economic lines. I came across some disturbing pieces of media regarding women and girls this week. How the media portrays Muslim women (info graphs) Spanking for Jesus (WARNING: explicit language) – a look into the world of dominating husbands and submissive wives in some Christian communities Number 1 single reinforcing rape myths – Where Robin Thicke objectifies violence against... Read more

3 weeks ago, Danish Muslim activists Inaam Abou-Khadra and Alaa Abdol-Hamid started a campaign to support a Muslim woman who was denied a position working in Netto, a Danish supermarket. Netto is part of a larger supermarket chain, all of which banned women who wear hijab from working in public positions. This time, the rejection created a media furor after a Muslim lawyer, Safia Aoade, wrote an article to express her discontent with the situation, which catalyzed Safia, Inaam, Alaa,... Read more

A round-up of news, views, and videos of last week’s brutal, fatal attack on British soldier Lee Rigby in the London neighborhood of Woolwich and the subsequent public conversation on national identity, security and the roles that government and the British Muslim communities should play in preventing violent extremism. What Happened Soldier hacked to death in London (not graphic) Muslims condemn Woolwich attack Cameron’s new terror taskforce MI5 offered job to suspect Adebolajao family send condolences to victim’s family Woolwich... Read more