The Birmingham Posts’ Roshan Doug recently blogged about a frustrating experience he had at a retail outlet. Many of us could relate as many of us have been in similar situations. Therefore, I understood much of his frustration throughout the post until…… The clerk he was dealing with was a Muslim woman in a hijab. He mentions this early in the piece. I did wonder why he had mentioned this until I read in his explanatory blog entry which followed... Read more
TIME magazine released its “100 most influential people” list this week. Of the 100 people, only one is a Muslim woman. Madeeha Hasan Odhaib of Iraq (pictured right) carries the honor of being the only influential Muslim woman of the year. An Iraqi seamstress-turned-district council member, she employs 100 women, and is cited as an activist and heroine in the mini-profile written by previous winner Queen Rania of Jordan. Odhaib is accompanied by 10 other Muslims, all male, who span... Read more
This was written by Susan, and was originally published at Humble Musing. Apparently being a pop singer in the Arab world is enough to tag you with the adjective “raunchy” (Also here, and again here). Haifa Wehbe is supposed to perform in Bahrain around Labor Day, and the Parliament is considering whether to forbid her from doing so. Her dress and dancing is “sexually provocative” and a violation of Bahrain’s traditions. But there is a mitigating circumstance, according to the... Read more
Readers, I’m not a masochist. I know there are some very Islamophobic media outlets who actively try to spread misinformation about Muslim and Islam for their own purposes. FrontPage Magazine is one of those outlets; this is why you won’t see it on MMW often. I know that critiquing and engaging these people is useless. But, every now and then, I see something in one of these outlets that boggles my mind with how offensive, inaccurate, and just plain wrong... Read more
NPR in the U.S. covers fighting for women’s rights in Sudan. On Morocco’s female clerics (the Mourchidat). The New York Times compares-and-contrasts Irshad Manji and Ayaan Hirsi Ali. A Muslim on Louisiana State University’s campus asks non-Muslim women to wear headscarves for one day. Here’s how it went. The New York Times looks at the long road that Debbie Almontaser has been on. May Allah bring her justice. This is an oldie but a goodie. Laila Lalami writes about how... Read more
Last week, I was introduced to Chay magazine – a brand new Pakistani magazine (just about to publish their first issue) that covers the topics of sex and sexuality in Pakistan. The first of its kind in the country. Their mission statement states: Having observed in Pakistani society, a disturbing tendency towards fear and shame around issues of sex and sexuality – that is to say, around a normal human interaction – the founders of Chay Magazine feel that sex... Read more
Last month we wrote about the introduction of a Muslim character on the popular American soap opera As the World Turns. Ameera Ali Aziz, arrived freshly from Iraq, faced deportation unless she married Noah, who was already in a relationship with boyfriend Luke. In the episodes since the wedding, the plot has thickened as the difficulty of maintaining a marriage of convenience has set in. Additionally, Ameera’s gone through a few changes. The most immediately noticeable is her dress. Ameera... Read more
Muslimah Media Watch thanks Krystina for the tip! Swindle magazine is a “pop culture and lifestyle publication,” that features “luscious fashion spreads, artist profiles or social & political issues around the globe,” according to its website. Their newest issue (#16, “The London Issue”) looks at Muslim women on London. In “London’s Muslim Girl Power,” written by Naomi Colvin, she explains that, although Muslim women in London are perceived as voiceless and passive, in reality this is a very active group... Read more
Last Wednesday, the BBC’s World Service radio program World Have Your Say discussed the topic, “Do Muslims treat women badly?” in light of the recent report from Human Rights Watch on the status of Saudi Arabian women. Peter van Dyk from the show graciously invited me to speak on the program; however, due to scheduling conflicts, I was unavailable. So I’ll do the next best thing: critique! I was incredibly pleased that all the speakers were Muslim and at least... Read more
A Yemen Times editorial that looks beyond the story of Nujood (the eight year old girl who was forcefully married and successfully took her own case to court to obtain a divorce) to the vulnerability of girls in Yemen. The Independent discusses ways that women’s rights can realistically come about in Saudi Arabia, and Women’s eNews looks at Saudi women’s rights activists who are doing just that. Muslim women in India are given the chance to tell their stories and... Read more
Muslimah Media Watch
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