Speak Your Mind: Mona Eltahawy’s Advice on Media

Last updated on: May 26, 2009 at 12:05 am By Krista

I spent this past Sunday morning at a brunch hosted by the Canadian Council of Muslim Women to honor “Women Who Inspire.” Five Canadian Muslim women were presented with awards recognizing their contributions in the fields of politics, education, and community activism. Also present was Mona Eltahawy, a U.S.-based journalist who gave a speech about media representations of Muslims. She had some interesting reflections that I thought I’d share here on MMW. Eltahawy began her talk by suggesting that the... Read more

Radical Reform: Tariq Ramadan’s Latest Book

Last updated on: May 25, 2009 at 12:00 am By safiyyah

With much anticipation, I awaited the arrival of Tariq Ramadan’s new book, “Radical Reform”, in the mail. A few weeks ago, it finally got here. It is difficult to hide my obvious appreciation for the book, but I will attempt objectivity. Ramadan is known in the Muslim world, as a revolutionary, tolerant and forward-thinking scholar by some, and by others he is thought of as too liberal and “westernized”. In the non-Muslim world, Ramadan is also a well known figure,... Read more

Friday Links — May 22, 2009

Last updated on: May 22, 2009 at 12:00 am By fatemeh

Facebook and other social networking sites have increased Egyptian women’s political activism. On Frozan Fana, a female candidate for Afghanistan’s presidency. A girl in Swat Valley shares her story with the BBC. The U.N. finds that few nations are truly serious about stopping sex trafficking. Gyms for women are doing a world of good in Saudi Arabia, but are still in danger of government shutdowns. The Guardian asks whether Iran’s next president will be female. The LA Times reports on... Read more

“Be Beautiful and Vote” or “Be Intelligent and Vote Blank?”

Last updated on: May 21, 2009 at 12:00 am By Guest Contributor

This was written by Alexandra Sandels and originally appeared on Menassat. A billboard advertisement calling on women to “Be Beautiful and Vote” in the upcoming Lebanese parliamentary elections has caused a fury among women’s rights activists in the country, who are denouncing the ad as sexist and offensive. In response, one group of activists launched an online campaign, remaking the ad with the slogan “Be Intelligent and Vote Blank,” and “No one cares about your rights.” It’s election season in... Read more

Always an Unregistered Wife, Never a Bride

Last updated on: May 20, 2009 at 12:00 am By faith

When I first read the BBC’s article on Tajik women who are left destitute because their Islamic marriages (nikaah) were not recognized by the secular government in Tajikistan, I have to admit that I cringed and felt a bit defensive. Here was another story portraying Muslim women as poor victims of Muslim men but, even more importantly, of Islam itself. The headline reads “Legal limbo for Tajik Islamic brides (emphasis added)”. Throughout the article, there is the constant reference to... Read more

Nahid Persson’s “Prostitution Behind the Veil”

Last updated on: May 19, 2009 at 12:00 am By Guest Contributor

This post was written by Farah Banihali and originally published at Nuseiba. For another perspective on Persson’s documentary, check out Alicia’s article from a few weeks ago. Iran has always been a country I’d love to sit down and read up on. When I first started university, I wrote a (terrible) essay on the causes of the Iranian Revolution and I got too caught up in names, dates and places and I never really learned anything. So my knowledge of... Read more

Non-Issue or New Islamist Threat? Headscarves and the FFQ

Last updated on: May 18, 2009 at 12:00 am By Krista

The Fédération des femmes du Québec (Federation of Quebec Women; abbreviated as FFQ) recently had a special assembly in order to clarify its position on whether headscarves should be permitted for people working in the public service. (The question of “reasonable accommodation” for minority groups has been the subject of intense debate in Quebec for the past few years; see here for one overview of a major report that was produced on the subject.) This assembly was held after the... Read more

Friday Links — May 15, 2009

Last updated on: May 15, 2009 at 12:00 am By fatemeh

The American Prospect discusses a not-often-heard perspective on female genital cutting. AltMuslimah interviews Dalia Mogahed. Female Kuwaiti biker enthusiasts unite! Forty women in Afghanistan were confirmed as police officers last weekend. More coverage of the Saudi “inner beauty” pageant. The Christian Science Monitor speaks on the importance of small gains, with a regrettable title. (eye rolling) On women’s rights in Iran. Kuwaiti parliamentary candidate Aseel Al Awadhi supports a Kuwaiti bailout. Iran has prohibited Shirin Ebadi and Narges Mohammadi from... Read more

The Astonishing Case of the Shrinking Muslim Woman

Last updated on: May 14, 2009 at 12:00 am By alicia

It’s become common belief that Muslim women, particularly those wear the hijab, are liberated from the media-driven standards of beauty that values the thin and the willowy. But it’s a belief that couches on the idea that head-coverings and modest clothes provide little incentive for showing off a great looking body in public. In other words, Muslim women are supposed to live blissfully unaffected by media and social pressures that both distorts our body image and damages our self-esteem. So... Read more

The Sound of a Broken Record: Alibhai-Brown’s Essay for The Independent

Last updated on: May 13, 2009 at 12:00 am By faith

Reading Yasmin Alibhai-Brown’s commentary in The Independent reminded me a bit of a group of people that Khaled Abou El Fadl mentioned in his introduction to Amina Wadud’s Inside the Gender Jihad. The group of people I refer to are “self-hating Muslims” with “tormented soul(s)” who seem all too eager to assuage the bigoted view of hateful Islamophobes when it comes to Muslim women and Muslims in general. Perhaps self-hating is a strong term for Alibhai-Brown, but reading her commentary,... Read more