Friday Links — March 28, 2008

• The New York Times and Women’s eNews look at an often-profiled woman and her women’s shelter, the City of Hope, in Dubai. May Allah bless her for the work she does.

• Muslim women in India rally to push the government into implementing recommendations for improving Muslim issues made by a committee over a year ago.

• The Yemen Times looks at popular opinions on the niqab.

• Angola will host a beauty pageant for survivors of land mines.

• Ruth Marcus gives her take on the Harvard Gym Shebangabang.

• The New York Times examines the issues surrounding home-schooling in the Muslim community in the U.S.

• A court in India upholds the decision that a woman is entitled to maintenance from her husband—who is also her sister’s husband.

• Afghan feminists use the Qur’an as it was intended—to give them the rights that are taken away from them. Barikallah! Don’t miss the video at the bottom.

• Maria Khani uses her role as educator and speaker to promote a “traditional” gender role for Muslim women. I can feel myself getting uppity; I might write more on this later.

• A women’s-rights group in Singapore tries to attract more male members in order to spread the message of gender equality.

• According to the U.N., violence against women in Afghanistan has reached endemic proportions.

• The U.A.E. gets its first female judge. Barikallah!

• In Germany, a comic book featuring a Muslim youth who fights against religious extremism features a female Muslim sidekick named Ayshe.

• Mideast Youth looks at Irshad Manji’s “Moral Courage Project,” and also rips Dr. Wafa Sultan a new one.

• Women in the Saudi workplace don’t want flowers, gifts, or invitations to dinners. They just want to do their job.

• Uganda’s government banned a workshop that would teach sex workers about their rights under the law.

• Saudi women participate in awareness-raising and volunteer-planning workshops put on by the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer foundation.

• While I understand Islamophobia in the U.S., I don’t believe that this is it. It sounds like good, old-fashioned comeuppance to me.

• Natasha Fatah gets hassled by Indonesian officers because her headscarf isn’t tight enough.

We at Muslimah Media Watch would like to thank all of our readers who sent us in news tips! Since I was on vacation all week, I didn’t have time to comb all my news sources every day. If you see a news story about Muslim women, or have a story idea you think we should check out, let us know at muslimahmediawatch@gmail.com.