Following a long trial, this month Aafia Siddiqui was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and attempted murder of U.S. soldiers and FBI agents while being held in custody in Afghanistan in 2008. Known as “Lady al Qaeda,” she was identified in 2004 as the only woman among seven most wanted al Qaeda operatives. The media coverage of her trial has made much of her extensive psychiatric testing, which eventually concluded that she had faked her mental illness. Doctors... Read more
In Malaysia, where we are swamped with mixed messages from religious authorities and pop song lyrics, those of us lucky enough to find love are bound to run into trouble. Just a week short of Valentine’s day, three women and three men were caned under Shariah law for committing “illicit sex.” This marks the materialization of a long threat to punish Muslim Malaysians for moral crimes – prior to this, no one had been caned for unlawful sexual behavior. Curiously,... Read more
Daily Nation profiles the gender issues that a Muslim woman man has been living with since he was born. Islam Online gives us the story of a Parisian niqabi whose life will be affected by the burqa ban. On the difficulty and danger that female Gazan journalists face. Parveen Abidi believes that the All-India Muslim Women’s Personal Law Board isn’t taking Muslim women’s concerns or needs seriously. Two Emirati Women Scale Mount Kilimanjaro! The Buffalo News remembers Aasiya Zubair Hassan.... Read more
Sahrawi activist Aminatou Haidar has recently been awarded the first annual International Jovellanos “Resistance and Freedom” Prize, bestowed by the governments of the Spanish regions of Asturias and the Balearic Islands, in order to “acknowledge the civic values of people from anywhere in the world who have distinguished themselves through their struggle for freedom and human rights and in particular, of persons who have unjustly been the object of persecution, or are undergoing or have undergone detention, sentences or punishment... Read more
Based on his über-liberal political views, I assume Bill Maher has an open mind, and therefore understands that fashion transcends cultures. But for the sake of being a douche, he pretends like he doesn’t in his parody of niqabi women in a skit called “Muslim Dior,” part of his But I’m not Wrong comedy show. He also ran the skit on his television show, Real Time: I think it’s hard to argue with this statement: All women wear clothes and... Read more
This was written by M. Lynx Qualey and originally appeared at Arabic Literature (In English). After all the kerfuffle about how many Arabic Booker nominees use the girls’ room instead of the boys’ (and how this is proof of literary discrimination), I appreciate Syrian author Abeer Esber, writing on Qantara: “In my view, this gender discussion has nothing to do with good literature.” Well, perhaps not nothing, but the links are certainly more complicated than “fewer women on your prize... Read more
In February 2009, Aasiya Hassan, co-founder of Bridges TV, was murdered by her husband. Thanks to a groundswell of community organizing in remembrance of her life, Ms. Hassan’s story continues to be told a year after her death. Domestic violence is one of the last taboos in the American Muslim community. Too often shrouded in silence within the community because for many domestic violence is tantamount to “airing dirty laundry,” outside the community, domestic violence committed by Muslims is shrugged... Read more
Abdul Malik Mujahid, a prominent imam and community activist in the Chicago area, has written a 9-point plan for ordinary muslims (based on a khutbah he will deliver today) to take concrete steps against domestic violence. I am reprinting the document in its entirety with permission: 1. Organize “In Memory of Aasiya: Domestic Violence Awareness Day.” Get together a couple of Imams, leaders, mosques and Islamic centers in your city and organize a city-wide “In Memory of Aasiya: Domestic Violence... Read more
One year ago, Aasiya Zubair Hassan was brutally murdered by her husband. Since then, Muslim communities around the United States have been working to eradicate domestic violence and striving to remember Aasiya and others like her. Below is a list of events on domestic violence taking place in the United States in the month of February. This list was put together by the team at AltMuslimah. If you have additional • Hadayai Majeed, of Baitul Salaam Network Inc, has organized... Read more
Hi, all. I am Tasnim, a new contributor. I have been a guest contributor a couple of times, and an avid reader since I first discovered MMW, so I am looking forward to writing as a member of the team. As I live in Sweden, I hope to focus mainly on Islam and the representation of women in Scandinavia. There’s more about my background on the contributors page. Read more
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