September 3, 2007

Forbes.com’s article entitled “Muslim Women in Charge” crows proudly that “Despite the barriers, 10 women executives from the Middle East made our World’s 100 Most Powerful Women ranking this year.” Except not all of them are Muslim or from the Middle East. Vidya Chhabria, #97 on Forbes’ list, is originally from India. She also isn’t Muslim (why does Forbes think that Muslim = Middle Eastern?). Imre Barmanbek (#88) is from Turkey—while I’ll always consider Turkey part of the Middle East,... Read more

August 31, 2007

If you look at the Muslim Girls website, it features the current month’s cover, as well as past covers. The covers all look like this: a happy, smiling young lady in modest dress. The difference among the covers? Some of them feature a girl with a headscarf, and some don’t. Now, looking on the website at the features within the magazine, it appears that there is an equal distribution of women with and without headscarves, and an equal distribution of... Read more

August 31, 2007

Books give me an overpowering thrill: something about knowledge in a portable, substantial form makes me feel secure. Chunks of time just slip through my fingers whenever I’m in a bookstore. But it’s not because I’m browsing books and reading chapters…it’s because I’m rearranging shelves. I frequent the religion and world history sections, interested in what’s being said about the Middle East and Islam. And, if you analyze these topics by looking at a Barnes & Noble shelf, then you’d... Read more

August 29, 2007

With the new season of Little Mosque on the Prairie coming back to the Canadian Broadcasting Network (CBC) soon this fall, I think it’s time I spoke my piece. First, I am thrilled that there is a show that is doing its best to show the humanity and positivity of Muslims. I am glad that the cast is pretty diverse by television standards (a Nigerian, several Pakistanis, an Arab, a white Canadian, AND a biracial Canadian!!!), I wish they had... Read more


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