Friday Links — December 11, 2009

• Mariam Sobh, the woman behind Hijabtrendz, was featured in Turkey’s Zaman.

• A supermarket in the U.K. has apologized after it forced a woman to remove her headscarf to enter the store.

• Jordan jails a man for 15 years because he murdered his daughter. May Allah give her peace and justice.

• ProgressiveIslam criticizes the USA Today’s article on honor killing.

• WorldFocus examines self-immolations in Afghanistan.

• Lama Suleiman was elected as the first female deputy chairperson of the board of directors of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

• Iranian authorities arrested the “Mourning Mothers of Iran” before an opposition rally last weekend.

• Watch CNN’s slideshow from Dubai Fashion Week.

• After Obama’s troop surge in Afghanistan, everyone wonders what will happen to Afghan women.

• KABOBfest weighs in on the Barbie Burqa brouhaha. So does the USA Today.

• The New Republic hints that increasing radicalization in Europe is Muslim women’s fault. Uh…huh.

• Women representatives from 16 Arab countries met to shed more light on violence against women in the region and discuss ways to fight against the issue calling for wider role of women in the Arab states.

• Two Liverpool hoteliers are on trial for the “religiously aggravated harassment” of a guest who wore hijab; they asked her whether she was a terrorist. The USA Today reports that they were acquitted. Boo!

• A high school teacher in Kazakhstan is battling to wear her headscarf when she teaches.

• Khabrein profiles Maulvi Mumtaz Ali, a nineteenth century advocate of women’s rights.

• Miss Arab World wasn’t enough: the first Miss Palestine will be held on December 26 in the West Bank.

• Zahra Rahnavard, the wife of Iran’s former presidential candidate Mousavi, has come under threats recently.

• Honor-based violence has risen 40% in London, according to the Daily Mail.

• Tunisia’s first lady won an award based on her social service initatives.

• In Today’s Zaman, Nazıfe Şışman writes about how the backlash against minarets is playing out against Muslim women in Europe.

• Nine men are awaiting trial in eastern Spain after allegedly sentencing a woman to death for adultery in an unofficial Islamic law court. May Allah keep her and give her justice.

• On Egypt’s “ladyguards.”

• Sexual abuse in Senegal prompts legal reforms.

• The International League of Muslim Women hosted a special shopping day in Florida’s Miami-Dade county.

• The book Muslim Women and the Challenge of Islamic Extremism, published by Sisters in Islam, was banned by the Home Ministry because it was prejudicial to public order.

• The Bracknell branch of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Women’s Associaion donated duvets, mugs, flannels, footstools and more to the Heathlands Care Home in the U.K.

• Muslim women in New York City are defying stereotypes through activism.

• The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that a divorced Muslim woman is entitled to receive maintenance from her husband as long as she does not remarry.

• The Feminist School charts seven ways that the Iranian government has moved to crush the movement opposing violence against women.

• A man gets 10 years in prison for raping his stepdaughter. May Allah give her peace and justice.

• Female presenters on a conservative Saudi Arabian TV show are going against tradition–by wearing niqab on the air.

• Muslim women in Selangor will receive a minimum dowry from prospective husbands. The Selangor Islamic Religious Department said the move was aimed at giving a better impression and elevating the status of women in the state.

• A Muslim women’s association is donating toys to a U.K.-based charity Little Heroes.

• An Iranian university has introduced a scholarship to support Muslim women who have been banned from studying in European universities for wearing headscarves.
  

• A Chicago woman says she was hassled by a security guard when she walked into a bank because of her headscarf. CAIR gets on it.

See something about Muslim women in the news that we didn’t? Post it in the links!