News We Can Use: the BBC’s Look at Gender and Class in Egyptian Mosques

Last updated on: March 17, 2009 at 12:05 am By Krista

A recent BBC News article has provided an astonishing suggestion that, far from being the monolithic oppressed group that many readers of mainstream Western media have come to expect, Muslim women can come from a wide range of possible experiences and backgrounds. Who knew? Journalist Christopher Landau begins his article by telling us, The role that women play in mosques varies substantially around the Muslim world. Visits to two mosques in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, show just how different women’s... Read more

The Other Half of the Sky: Inheritance in a Tunisian Film

Last updated on: March 17, 2009 at 12:00 am By sobia

Tunisian filmmaker Kalthoum Bornaz’s film Shtar M’Haba (The Other Half of the Sky) was recently discussed in Lebanon’s The Daily Star. As it turns out, Bornaz was the only female director to enter the official competition at Ouagadougou’s Pan-African Film and Television Festival earlier this month. The Daily Star tells us that she was not successful, but the message of her film has resonated with audiences. As The Daily Star points out, the “movie tackles the sensitive subject of what... Read more

The Age of Innocence: the Mistreatment of an Elderly Woman in Saudi Arabia

Last updated on: March 16, 2009 at 12:05 am By ethar

The internet is abuzz with talk of Khamisa Sawadi, a 75-year-old Syrian widow living in Saudi Arabia who was sentenced to 40 lashes and 4 months in jail for the crime of khalwa, being alone with a man who is not her relative. The verdict, issued on March 3rd, also demands that Sawadi be deported after serving her sentence. Sawadi’s husband was Saudi Arabian. According to Arab News: The elderly woman met the men […] after she asked one of them to... Read more

The Commercialization and De-Politization of IWD: A giant leap backwards for woman kind

Last updated on: March 16, 2009 at 12:00 am By Guest Contributor

This was originally published at Hurriyet Daily News. The author is unknown. In a Fethiye beauty salon window, I saw an advertisement suggesting customers celebrate International Women’s Day, or IWD, by getting a manicure and a new hairdo. I received messages from my bank wishing me “Happy Women’s Day.” And then there were the ads on TV: “Buy a diamond for your darling on World Women’s Day!” I was confused. This wasn’t my idea of what this globally recognized day... Read more

Friday Links — March 13, 2009

Last updated on: March 13, 2009 at 12:00 am By fatemeh

A prominent Tunisian academic, Amel Grami, calls for ijtihad. Rafia Zakaria writes for Pakistan’s Daily Times about the Pakistani Taleban’s increasing violence against women in Swat and elsewhere, despite Zardari’s pledges for women’s rights. IPS jumps in about what Pakistani women are doing to resist the violence. Dubai’s mufti declares that women can issue fatwas if they have attained sufficient knowledge of Islamic teachings. New York domestic violence organizations object to NOW’s Marcia Pappas’ statements on Aasiya Hassan’s death. Yemen... Read more

Assimilation Frustration: a Review of AmericanEast

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

A longer version of this article appears on altmuslimah, while this version appeared at Racialicious. I finally got around to watching AmericanEast this weekend. Full disclosure: I had originally read Tariq Nelson’s review, which was a pretty good rundown. AmericanEast is an attempt at mainstreaming American Muslims and attempts to portray the struggles Muslims face in the United States. In my opinion, they overdid it and never established a coherent plot. And on top of that, I found that the... Read more

Putting All Their Eggs in One Basket: Sports Illustrated Profiles Star Basketballer’s Headscarf

Last updated on: March 11, 2009 at 12:00 am By faith

One of the most common questions that the media, and maybe even non-Muslim in everyday life, have for women who wear hijab is “how do you do [insert whatever said activity here] in hijab?” It is probably also a question that Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir gets often, since she is a star high school basketball player in Massachusetts. It’s a question that you would expect to be answered fairly, quickly, and straightforwardly. However, Bilquis’ hijab was the focus for a recent Sports... Read more

Journalist Missing the Mission: Sally Armstrong and Afghan Women

Last updated on: March 10, 2009 at 12:00 am By sobia

The following has been cross posted at Muslim Lookout. For a while now Sally Armstrong has been documenting the situation of women in Afghanistan through her books and documentary. She recently spoke at the University of Guelph fundraising breakfast and Guelph, Ontario’s Guelph Mercury covered the talk given by Armstrong – a journalist, it seems, on a mission. Now anytime the idea of a non-Afghan, Western/Northern person trying to save Afghan women is presented, I can’t help but wonder if ... Read more

Announcing the Arrival of altmuslimah and Muslim Lookout

Last updated on: March 9, 2009 at 12:10 am By fatemeh

Salam waleykum, readers! I have lots of announcements! altmuslimah, a kind of “sister” site to altmuslim, launched today. It’s a wonderful site that discusses gender and Islam in an intelligent, thoughtful way, and it’s put forth by many of the same people who are behind altmuslim, with one notable addition: me! I’m serving as associate editor to the site. I’ve also written a piece for the website’s launch. It’s a review of the movie AmericanEast. Be sure to check altmuslimah... Read more

Fitna Flop: Daisy Khan and Irshad Manji Discuss Geert Wilders’ Film on CNN

Last updated on: March 9, 2009 at 12:05 am By yusra

On Thursday, February 26, Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) welcomed Dutch Parliamentarian Geert Wilders and sponsored a viewing of his short film Fitna. Muslimah feminists Irshad Manji and Daisy Khan were on CNN commenting on the issue, specifically whether or not Geert Wilders should be welcomed by our government and how it impacts Muslims. You can see the movie here. We have two Muslim women on CNN, commenting on something that is not the headscarf! We have two Muslim women speaking... Read more