Muslimah Media Watch
- A proposed retail ban on hejabs causes some serious uproar, agreement, and outright refusal. In response, The Brisbane Times puts forth an “educational” article about hejab, a Muslim woman tries to explain the differences between headcoverings, and anti-discrimination groups advocate against the ban.
- The Queens Tribune profiles ICNA’s Temporary Housing for Women program.
- The Deccan Herald gives us the tale of Shah Bano.
- On the marriage choices Yemeni women may have to make.
- Organica ponders the treatment of women without headscarves.
- More on Rachida Dati and French Muslim women. And another story about her influence on maternity leave. Via ifeminists.
- Muslim women in Hyderabad, India, join together to help at-risk youths.
- Jizan, Saudi Arabia, will begin the establishment of a girls’ protection house.
- Muslim and Jewish women hold interfaith clubs for peace and speak out about Gaza. More from Voice of America and SF Gate.
- Interreligious marriages between Muslims and Russian Orthodox Christians are received differently by both groups.
- Hijab Style profiles Aida Begić, a Bosnian film director.
- Aafke has an interesting (and funny) take on men and hejab. Via Achelois.
- Hijabtrendz interviews Brooke Samad, the designer behind Maraboo fashions.
- Two sisters’ death sentences have been withdrawn: they will be freed from prison, alhamdulillah.
- According to the United Nation Children Fund, eight women die every day in Yemen due to pregnancy and childbirth complications.
- France has its first Muslim women’s magazine. Via Hijabtrendz.
- The Saudi Human Rights Commission is taking steps to end marriages involving minors. More here and here. Meanwhile, Feministe takes on the Saudi cleric who’s down with child marriages.
- Hospital workers in Odense, Denmark, don’t want headscarves on hospital premises.
- Women’s eNews examines a book club in Mumbai.
- Paula Lerner’s photography documents the lives of Afghan women.
- Pedestrian lauds Jackie Salloum’s Slingshot Hip Hop.
- Shari’a police in Nigeria block a planned rally by women to protest treatment of divorced women. Via ProgressiveIslam.
- Two teenage sisters go to the police after their father and uncle attempt to marry them to men they don’t want.
- Saudi Jeans writes an open letter to Amna Fatani, who is attempting to protect heritage sites for Saudi Arabia.
- Crypto-Muslim shares some thoughts about Dr. Mattson’s giving a prayer at Obama’s inauguration.
- Muslim and Jewish women in the U.K. protest against the media’s self-censorship of the Gaza crisis.
- MR Zine interviews Islah Jad, a professor at Bir Zeit University in the West Bank.
- On Pomegranates and Myrrh, a film about interreligious love in Palestine.
- Saudi women aged 18 years and older will be allowed to apply for government land grants soon.
- The Taleban in Pakistan’s Swat valley have banned school for girls and threatened terrible repercussions for girls caught attending schools. More from The Independent. Since this threat, militants have blown up closed girls’ schools.
- A new project that aims to revive traditional Turkish toys will also employ a large number of housewives as toy manufacturers.
- A beautiful love story blooms in a San Francisco mosque.
- The first National Conference of Yemeni Businesswomen will be held the last week of January.
- The Saudi Gazette examines domestic violence in the kingdom.
- A Moroccan film about how the headscarf fits in some women’s lives has whipped up controversy before its release.
- The International Parliamentary Union has praised the Arab Women’s Media Strategy launched by Shaikha Fatima of the U.A.E.
- The number of Yemeni citizens who married people from abroad rose last year.
- Saudi women will organize a boycott of lingerie stores that refuse to employ women. More from The Muslim News.
- A young girl travels halfway across the world on an interesting journey. Romantic? Impetuous? Downright stupid? You decide.
- Hurriyet Daily News profiles Şafak Pavey, a woman whose disability has enabled her to put challenges in perspective.
- Five Algerian women and their children have been repatriated to Algeria from Gaza.
- The casting of a Bollywood actress to play a Kashmiri women’s leader Asiya Andrabi irks Andrabi, who’s filing a lawsuit. Via ProgressiveIslam.
- Some military families in the U.S. launch an item drive to benefit Iraqi women and children.
- Young women are the U.A.E.’s business future.
- A Turkish court comes down hard on family members who assisted in the honor killing of a young girl. Uh, ’bout time.
- Iran’s first lady asks for help from Egypt for Gazans.
- Nashwa Al Ruwaini aims to tackle Arab stereotypes.
- Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate has put together a female sufi chorus.
- An interesting book aims to meld Palestinian and Jewish identities together for a young girl.
- The U.A.E. plans to set up entertainment centers for women, with a focus on sports facilities, within the next two years.
- After an acid attack on a young woman, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting warns that her attackers will be brought to justice. Enshallah.
- Yeşim Ustaoğlu’s movie Pandora’nın Kutusu (Pandora’s Box) has received wide international acclaim, and will run in Turkish theaters soon.
- Kuwaitis express unhappiness with rising wedding costs.
- A happy story about a Bahraini woman’s chance to attend Obama’s inauguration after working hard to campaign for him.
- News Blaze profiles the Sidab Women’s Sewing Group of Oman.
- A Bahraini woman with no means of support has allegedly been refused help by the Labour and Housing ministries.
- Births delivered in hospitals in the eastern Anatolia region are increasing.
- Monireh Hashemi, an Afghan playwright and actress, continues to write and act despite opposition. The Times of India loves her so much, they wrote another article about her.
- A cleric in Australia raises national ire when he states that wife-beating is Islamically permissible. O RLY? More from the BBC, The Muslim News, and IslamOnline.
- Somalian businesswomen continue to meet and support each other in war-torn Mogadishu.
- Pakistan’s child and maternal mortality rates are among the highest in South Asia.
- A Saudi woman has lodged a complaint with a human rights group, accusing a Madina judge of favoritism.
- A girl’s father threatens her and she’s the one being accused of less-than-good intentions. Via ProgressiveIslam.
- Pakistani author Muneeza Shamsie speaks on Pakistani women’s writings.
- More on the Iraqi quota law for women in elections. And more still.
- The Times of India reports that more Pakistani women are being trained in terrorist camps along with men.
- A bridal show in Abu Dhabi took place this week.
- Spain has recruited 16,000 Moroccan women to work as seasonal laborers in agriculture.
- Saudi Jeans highlights a short film about domestic violence by a Saudi film student.
- A Maltese-Palestinian woman gathers aid and leaves to offer help in Gaza.
- Port Sudan women’s development associations receive loans from Oxfam to build their communities and economy.
- A writer for the Saudi Gazette discusses sexual harassment of women, including hypotheses about causes and solutions.
- Canada’s decision to legalize gay marriage may pave the way for polygamy to be legal as well: two polygynous men are taking their case to Canadian courts. Via ifeminists.
- The murders of three Turkish women illustrate that “falling in love can justify honor killings in some communities.”
- A woman whose mother has been detained in jail for eight years lobbies the Saudi Human Rights Commission to release her.
- A look at why the controversy surrounding The Jewel of Medina wasn’t as big a deal as everyone thought.
- Clerics in Saudi Arabia oppose “modernist” fatwas, such as those in support of female imams or assisted reproductive technology.
- I discuss why a Portugese cardinal’s statements warnings against marrying Muslim men are offensive to both Muslim men and women.
- A Saudi woman dies in a car crash in Bahrain. May Allah give her peace.
- A man who was blackmailing a young woman has been arrested.
- Kamin Mohammadi reminisces on her childhood in Iran.
- MuslimMatters reviews From Somalia, With Love, by Na’ima B. Robert. Via DeenPort.
- Ozrah Jafari becomes Afghanistan’s first female mayor!
- IslamOnline examines the cooperation among Liberian women of different faiths to end violence in the country.
- Iranian women’s rights activists Nasrin Sotoudeh and Jelveh Javaheri have been summoned to court.
- Afghan migrants in Iran have little awareness of HIV.
- Kobra Najjar’s sentence has been converted to 100 lashes from stoning.
- Bahraini women’s rights activist Ghada Jamshir is the target of a continual harassment campaign.
- WLUML covers Halal TV.
- Iranian poet Simin Behbahani wins the Simone de Beauvoir prize for Women’s Freedome. More here. And here.
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