Friday Links — September 24, 2010

• Tajik women who dress in hijab and niqab face pressure from authorities.

• Hijab revival in the Maghreb region: fashion, religion or strategy?

• In Mangalore, India, allowing Muslim women to offer prayers inside the Noor Masjid in Hampanakatta got ugly.

• Our guest post about Marie Claire is featured in Mother Jones.

• In the Netherlands, the National Ombudsman has ruled that Muslim women who are arrested and required to remove their headscarves when they are detained in a cell should not be confronted by male police officers.

• Salon looks at Australia’s own “burqa battle.” Australian women hold a rally condemning the burqa ban. More here.

• Female doctors leaving their practices to get married is having a serious effect on Pakistan’s doctor availability.

• In Kitchener, Canada, a local women’s group is organizing a series of workshops.

• In Malappuram, India, The Muslim League will enforce a code of conduct for its female candidates contesting in the local body elections.

• A Muslim women’s group in Australia is fighting against another ban…on bikinis!

• Roxana Saberi is in Qatar to sign books and get publicity for being imprisoned in Iran.

• A story about a beautiful friendship.

• A Californian woman experiences road rage + Islamophobia.

• Muslim Fashion Week to open in the Russian region of Tatarstan for the first time.

• Insurgency in Thailand turns Malay-Muslim women into leaders.

• Qantara.de interviews Ziba Mir-Hosseini about Islamic Feminism and “old dogmas.”

• In the aftermath of violence in Kyrgyzstan, women are jump starting peace talks across ethnic lines—and taking the security of their country in their own hands.

• An Iranian court has sentenced prominent female human rights activist Shiva Nazar Ahari to six years in prison on various anti-government charges.

• On gender-bending and cross-dressing in Afghanistan.

• Discussions are underway to establish the first Council of Female Islamic Scholars in South Africa, which would recognize the intellectual ability of female ulema.

• Rayana Khasi, a 23-year-old Muslim woman in India who is a qualified aeronautical engineer,  has refused to wear the burqa and received threats because of it. May Allah keep her safe.

• BAOBAB, a Nigerian non-governmental organization, uses Shariah law to assist Nigerian women.

If we’ve missed any news about Muslim women this week, feel free to leave links in the comments!