The price women leaders pay

Last updated on: January 21, 2012 at 2:10 pm By Guest Contributor

Salam waleykum, readers! Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to put together Friday Links for this week because I’ve been traveling and have some serious jet lag. But here’s a great article instead! Try not to be too disappointed, mkay? Friday Links should return next Friday, enshallah. This was written by Bina D’Costa and originally appeared in The Daily Star. A little respect, please! Photo: Munem Wasif/ Drik News Is the global media completely oblivious to the gendered semantics of the... Read more

Third International Congress on Islamic Feminism

Last updated on: January 21, 2012 at 2:10 pm By Guest Contributor

This was written by Sahar and originally published at Nuseiba. The third International Congress on Islamic feminism is underway in Barcelona. Muslim women from around the world have gathered to discuss the pressing issue of women in Islam and the Muslim world. Events like these and the debate which ensues – both from women and men–can often be heated and emotional. Just the very mention of Islamic feminism seems to arouse criticism. Too often there is a tendency to discredit... Read more

Saudi women bridge the gender gap

Last updated on: December 8, 2011 at 11:34 pm By Muslimah Media Watch

A U.A.E.-based newspaper, The National, published a story yesterday about increasing numbers of Saudi women entering the workplace (read here). While this isn’t the first story written about Saudi women in the workforce, it is one of the best written ones I’ve seen. There is no presumption of Western superiority in regards to women in the workplace, something seen far too often in stories about women in the Muslim world, and cultural attitudes aren’t confused with Islamic norms, something also... Read more

Truth or Scare: Raheel Raza’s Fear Mongering

Last updated on: January 21, 2012 at 2:10 pm By sobia

She’s at it again. No too long ago Krista covered Raheel Raza’s critique of a supposed Islamist* threat in Canada. Well, Raza’s published another piece, but this time in the right-wing American Thinker. And this time her claims have become even more questionable, and to be honest a little ludicrous. Now it seems Raza, through her piece in the American Thinker, is trying to warn Americans of the Islamist threat to the north, here in Canada. In the process she... Read more

Unpacking the “culture” argument

Last updated on: January 21, 2012 at 2:10 pm By Krista

I wrote a few weeks ago about the effect of a fictional white character’s Muslim identity on possible constructions and understandings of Islam and Muslim; this week I want to look at a couple non-fictional women in similar positions. On Open Salon, a network of bloggers, this weekend’s top story was written by Sara O’Connell, an American woman of Irish descent who has been Muslim all her life. (In case you’re wondering, no, I’m not going to engage with her... Read more

Friday Links — November 7, 2008

Last updated on: January 21, 2012 at 2:11 pm By fatemeh

Salam, dear readers! I’m traveling this week, so I didn’t have time to do a lengthy link list. But here are the spoils from this week: Last week, we reported that a woman in Somalia had been executed for adultery. New reports show that she was 13 years old and had been raped. Via ifeminists. More from the BBC and Aziz from City of Brass. The NYU Arab Student Associate held a runway performance for Islamic relief. Via The Hijablog.... Read more

Made in Sweden: Halal-TV

Last updated on: January 21, 2012 at 2:10 pm By ethar

Muslimah Media Watch thanks Shaista for the tip! A couple of days ago, a new TV show about Muslim women in Sweden, Halal-TV, aired its first episode on Sveriges Television (SVT), a Swedish television channel. As expected, the show, which features three young Muslim women as hosts, was stirring up debate before it even began. A Kurdish-Swedish author, Dilsa Demirbag-Sten, pointed out that 23-year-old host Cherin Awad had said, at age 18, that stoning a woman to death was an... Read more

The Struggle to Wear Hijab on Egyptian TV

Last updated on: December 8, 2011 at 11:34 pm By Muslimah Media Watch

Ghada El-Tawil (pictured below) is an Egyptian anchorwoman who just recently returned to television. Six years ago, she was pulled from television after she began wearing a headscarf. The BBC has published a new story about El-Tawil in which she discusses her legal battle, why she wears hijab, and the struggles for Egyptian hijabis in the media. El-Tawil is not the only woman in Egypt who was pulled off the air after deciding to wear hijab. Her story highlights issues... Read more

Islamic Feminism Around the World

Last updated on: December 8, 2011 at 11:34 pm By Muslimah Media Watch

As an academic, I must admit I enjoy conferences. Alright, not all conferences nor everything about them, but I do enjoy the prospect of learning new things, expanding my mind, and meeting new people. Last week saw two conferences on and for Muslim women. One was held in Barcelona, Spain, and the other in New Delhi, India, and both with very different agendas and attendees. Unfortunately the MMW team weren’t able to attended neither, but we thought we would highlight... Read more

Equal-opportunity domestic violence?

Last updated on: December 8, 2011 at 11:34 pm By Muslimah Media Watch

Like last week’s article on Britain’s apparent condemnation of the entire system of Islamic law, it was the ridiculous headline of this article that got me first. “Al-Azhar backs women’s right to beat husbands“? Hardly. Scholars from al-Azhar University in Cairo have affirmed that a woman who is being abused has a right to fight back in self-defence against her husband’s violence, which is, well, not exactly the same thing as having a right to beat her husband. What on... Read more