The daughter of a close friend recently turned 10, and I went to a children’s book and toy store to look for a gift. I made my way past the picture books, marvelling at how fast the time has gone since I was buying her a Scaredy Squirrel book for her sixth birthday, and stood looking at the chapter book display, which was fairly small. It had none of my own childhood favourites, but one title did catch my eye: Girls... Read more
“I can’t follow the news anymore, it’s too much.” Over the last two years, I’ve heard this sentence over and over again from friends and family who no longer live their lives to the soundtrack of Arab satellite channels, from local variants like Libya Al-Ahrar to the pan-Arab channels Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera. It has become too much. When they say this, they’re talking about car-bombings in Iraq, drones in Yemen, militias in Libya, the “second revolution” in Egypt, and most... Read more
The last few months have witnessed an uproar in my home state, Kerala, surrounding the government’s release of a circular legalizing the registration of marriages of Muslim women younger than 18 years old and Muslim men younger than 21 years old. India, though a secular country, allows Muslims to follow the Muslim Personal Law in all civil matters. This is one of the reasons why a Muslim man can legally marry up to four wives, and can divorce his wife... Read more
A female suicide bomber attacked a bus in southern Russia last Monday, killing six and injuring dozens. Naida Asiyalova, the alleged bomber, is from the region of Dagestan, and her husband, an ethnic Russian convert to Islam, is currently on the run. An online “halal” sex shop has opened in Turkey. While some welcome the concept, other reactions are more critical and even ridicule the enterprise. At time of writing, 61 Syrian women were released as part of a hostage swap by the... Read more
Editor’s note: Malala Yousafzai has been extensively covered in media lately, and several MMW writers wanted to weigh in on the way she is being portrayed. This is the final post about her; see also Amina’s and Nicole’s posts from earlier this week. Malala Yousafzai has figured in MMW’s posts since the Taliban attempted to kill her due to her activism, which was discussed by Merium last year. In another post, guest contributor Ossob described the difficulties that Malala’s figure posed... Read more
Continuing our tradition of sharing reflections on Eid (see our posts from Eid-ul-Adha last year, in two parts, and from Eid-ul-Fitr this year), today we’ll be posting four reflections from Eid last week, written by Eren, Izzie, Krista, and Shireen. This Eid-ul-Adha was the first one I have not attended salah. Due to recent knee surgery, attending the huge gathering in a sports complex didn’t seem like a smart move. Thousands of people were being ushered in and out quickly, to accommodate the... Read more
Continuing our tradition of sharing reflections on Eid (see our posts from Eid-ul-Adha last year, in two parts, and from Eid-ul-Fitr this year), today we’ll be posting four reflections from Eid last week, written by Eren, Izzie, Krista, and Shireen. It’s becoming a tradition for me to travel from Montreal to Toronto each Eid. The women’s spaces in mosques here in Montreal aren’t great, with few options for people who want to listen to a khutba (sermon) in English or French (not Arabic)... Read more
Continuing our tradition of sharing reflections on Eid (see our posts from Eid-ul-Adha last year, in two parts, and from Eid-ul-Fitr this year), today we’ll be posting four reflections from Eid last week, written by Eren, Izzie, Krista, and Shireen. All my life, I have enjoyed Eid. As a child, it used to be about waking up early and getting dressed in my brand new dress. Once I became an independent adult woman who realised she in fact could go to the mosque,... Read more
Continuing our tradition of sharing reflections on Eid (see our posts from Eid-ul-Adha last year, in two parts, and from Eid-ul-Fitr this year), today we’ll be posting four reflections from Eid last week, written by Eren, Izzie, Krista, and Shireen. I have a love-hate relationship with Islamic holidays, and this Eid was no exception. While I am often encouraged by other fellow Muslims to get into the “spirit” of Eid, I always find that the holidays do not completely satisfy... Read more
Editor’s note: Malala Yousafzai has been extensively covered in media lately, and several MMW writers wanted to weigh in on the way she is being portrayed. Yesterday, Amina wrote about portrayals of Malala as an exception, and today Nicole Hunter Mostafa looks at the focus on Malala being a child. Stay tuned for a final Malala post by Eren later this week. Are you tired of hearing about Malala Yousafzai yet? If you type “Malala is” into Google (at least, here... Read more
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