Friday Links | December 17, 2010

• The Correctional Service of Canada has hired its first female Muslim prison guard, and her hiring has garnered mixed reviews.

• Last weekend, hundreds of Muslim believers gathered outside Azerbaijan’s education ministry to protest a ban on hijab, which police broke up. More here and here and here.

• MuslimMatters deconstructs an Islamophobic chain email that claims Islam is harmful to women.

• The Urban Literature News Magazine profiles Maysoon Zayid.

• Surprise! Muslim women bear the brunt of stereotyping.

• Ahmadiyya Muslims in Ghana are lectured on the importance of marriage.

• A French court has ruled against a woman who sued a private child-care center that fired her for wearing an Islamic headscarf and cloak to work.

• The Muslim Identity Collection (MID) recently organized an international Islamic fashion show in Abuja, Nigeria.

• A Muslim woman who was arrested after she refused to remove her headscarf in a west Georgia courthouse has filed a federal lawsuit.

• Following a high-profile case in Colorado, the Boulder sheriff’s office will allow a Muslim woman to wear her headscarf in a jail booking photo.

• Dutch Muslim women are having difficulty finding husbands.

• A French court has annulled a fine imposed on a Muslim woman for wearing an niqab while driving. More from Reuters.

• New bogus criminal charges have been brought against detained Iranian human rights lawyer and women’s rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh.

• AltMuslimah’s Shazia Kamal refutes Baher Ibrahim’s piece about the phenomenon of young girls wearing hijab.

• ILLUME highlights photographer Sadaf Syed’s work.

• The Jakarta Post profiles women who wear burqinis.

• The Australian presents Sakineh Ashtiani’s case, as told by her former lawyer.

• Mona Eltahawy writes about how personal stories make for good classroom discussions.

• On Syria’s personal status laws and domestic violence.

• How Bikya Masr is creating a platform for women’s voices.

• ABC Queensland interviews an Muslim Australian burlesque performer.

• A Muslim teacher in Chicago is suing her school district for failing to allow her to take a leave for Hajj.

• The National Geographic writes about Afghan women.

• elan magazine profiles Nadia Al Dossary.

• The Los Angeles Times talks to a young emo punk girl in Iraq.

If we’ve missed any news about Muslim women from this week, please post links in the comments!