Friday Links — October 31, 2008

• Roksana Bahramitash speaks on a panel about Muslim women and artwork at the University of Southern Mississippi.

• A lively discussion about Muslim marriage and divorce oversights in Kerala, India.

• MR Zine interviews Nawal El Saadawi.

• More on Esha Momeni’s detainment from AFP, the BBC, the LA Times, and from the president of California State University (where Momeni is a graduate student).

• A girl in South Africa dreams of pink headscarves and breast cancer awareness.

• The News gets its news wrong. I think this is what they meant to say.

• The Telegraph reports on a national conference of Muslim women in India.

• Islamic courts have been given permission to deal with divorces in the U.K.

• Hawaria Fattah is Europe’s first female imam.

• A 17-year-old Palestinian girl was wounded when Israeli troops opened fire on her school. May Allah give her strength.

• Women in Uganda have pledged to support Muslim leaders to ensure that Muslim women’s rights aren’t violated.

• Al-Khemiyya reviews Crooked Rib’s art exhibit in Melbourne, Australia.

• Baroness Warsi believes that government groups for Muslim women are “patronizing.”

• The BBC covers the Third International Congress on Islamic Feminism.

• A woman in Somalia has been executed for adultery by stoning. May Allah grant her peace. More from Al Arabiya and WLUML.

• In Niger, a woman who was sold into sexual slavery has won a landmark case against her government, which a regional West African court found had failed to protect her. Barikallah! More from The Guardian.

• A cleric in Indonesia has caused outrage by taking a 12-year-old girl as a second wife, which violates several Indonesian laws; more from Al Arabiya. Another cleric in Indonesia backs him up.

• Egyptian police have arrested a couple accused of “wife-swapping.” More from Al Arabiya, Global Voices Online, The Guardian, and Asharq Alawsat.
  

• Malaysia’s Prime Minister says that Shirin Ebadi should be allowed to speak at the Malaysian university that she was just dis-invited to.

• The BBC examines how imams fail women when it comes to sex abuse.

• Al Azhar issues a fatwa declaring that women can use force against their husbands if their husbands use violence on them.

• Sexual harassment from her supervisor forces a successful businesswoman to resign from her job.

• A divorced woman pleads to stay in Saudi Arabia to see her children. May Allah grant her justice.

• On Moroccan director Habiba Belkacem. Via Global Online Voices.

• In Pakistan, a newlywed 17-year-old girl meets an unspeakably horrific death at the hands of her husband’s family. May Allah bring her peace and justice. More from Yahoo! News and the BBC.

• Other bloggers react to Egypt’s first jailing for sexual assault.

• Cycads writes a brief history of Malaysian womanhood.

• The Feminist School reports that Nahid Keshavarz is summoned to Iran’s Revolutionary Court (again).

• A 14-year-old girl’s marriage to a 70-year-old man has been annulled by a Saudi Arabian court following a complaint by the girl.

• On religious extremism’s effect on women’s sexual and reproductive health rights.

• Islam in Europe examines the practice of some Muslim immigrants returning to countries of origin for fertility treatments, Sweden’s democratic party supporting a headscarf ban, and an imam in the Netherlands gives advice about polygyny that contradicts Dutch law.

• IslamOnline interviews Okolo Rashid, the woman behind the International Museum of Muslim Cultures in Jackson, Mississippi.

• Arab women’s magazine Al Hasnaa features an interview (in Arabic only, sorry) with MidEast Youth Editor Esra’a.

• A man gives his [essentialist] judgment on women’s desire and attraction.

• Hesham Hessaballah writes about the Muslim mother who moved Colin Powell.

• Menassat covers Dima al-Joundi’s documentary about domestic workers in Lebanon.

• The home of an Iranian women’s rights activist Parastoo Alahyaari has been searched and property detained, reports Payvand News.

A Halloween-themed comic by R. Stevens. Via Islamify.

• The Dawn reports that, in Baluchistan, 38 women have been murdered in the past three months under the pretext of honor. May Allah give them all justice. Via Progressive Muslima News.

• Nigar Ataulla writes about how dialogue within the Muslim community can improve things for women.

• Sand gets in my eyes ponders on education and Saudi girls.

• A’isha M. R. Hils writes about the difference between what the Qur’an says about female infanticide and what the reality is.

• Islamic feminist and novelist Cihan Aktas discusses her novels and the headscarf. Via ifeminists.com.

• Shahrazad reports on new regulations for marrying Iranian women.

• Egypt’s first marriage conducted by a female registrar took place this week.

• Of the 44 candidates running in the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry elections, three are women.

• A groundbreaking ceremony was held for The Riyadh Women’s University this week. This university plans to be the largest university for women in the world. More from Al Arabiya, Reuters, and Arab News.

• A Pakistani woman is accused of murdering her husband.

• IslamOnline reports on classes that teach women’s empowerment through the Qur’an. More from the Christian Science Monitor. Via Progressive Muslima News.

• Middle East Online examines the majority held by women in Tunisian universities.

• The Feminist School gives a rundown on Iran’s intensification of political pressure on women’s activists.

• Contraception use increases in northern Nigeria.

• The Telegraph reports that two Muslim women accuse their employers of discrimination.

• Cycads gives her definition of Islamic feminism.

• CNN profiles female Muslim Nigerian novelists and Sand gets in my eyes applies it to Saudi Arabia.

• A Norwegian police superintendent thinks that headscarves will be a “usual” part of police uniforms a few years from now. Good news for Muslim policewomen who want to wear it.

• A woman who escaped from prison in Saudi Arabia has been recaptured.

• Afghan women are pissed that President Karzai is considering talks with the Taleban, and worry that all they’ve gained since the 2001 overthrow of the Taleban will be lost.

• The British gallery that is showcasing Sarah Maple’s artwork has been attacked, and she has received death threats. Via DeenPort.

• Indonesian lawmakers have passed the anti-pornography bill. More from the BBC and IslamOnline.

• The News covers a demonstration for the release of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, as well as countless unnamed family members, in Pakistan.

• Today’s Zaman profiles Turkish pioneer Fatma Aliya Hanim.

• Dalia Mogahed will speak at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota next week.

• Yvonne Ridley has lots to say about the arrest of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui.

• The lawyer for Noha Roshdi, the first Egyptian woman to put her sexual harasser behind bars, has abandoned her after finding out that she carries an Israeli passport.

• The Associated Press covers the increased numbers of Muslim women on U.S. ballots.

• In India, the Iqra Foundation will organize a conference for Muslim women at the beginning of November.

• MidEast Youth covers a technology program for women in Iraq.

• The woman in Algeria who was accused of damaging a Qur’an and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment has now been acquitted.

• Khola Hasan gives her thoughts on Dr. Amina Wadud’s leading prayer.

• A Jordanian woman was stabbed to death by her brother. May Allah give her peace and justice. Via ifeminists.

• The Islamic Center of Pittsburgh in Oakland will hold its first women’s conference.