When I was a teenager, my dad and I used to enjoy looking at the graffiti painted all over Mexico City. While my dad was a critic of the graffiti that was just scribbles and swear words and obscene signs, we enjoyed those graffitos that were not only truly artistic but also political. Graffiti was, and continues to be, widely spread through Mexico as political and economic turmoil were the themes of the 90s and the early 2000’s. Graffiti, which... Read more
In Part 1 of this post, I introduced to you activist, artist and documentary filmmaker Red Summer. She along with the women in her upcoming film Al Nisa: Muslim Women in Atlanta’s Gay Mecca have been creating intentional spaces of community for Black Lesbian Muslims, where they can share and connect without negotiating the multiple and complex parts of themselves. My conversation with Red continues as we explore what does it mean for Black Muslim Lesbians to live in the... Read more
Oppression works in strategic ways. When we think of who is the oppressor and who is the oppressed, as Muslim women in “the West” we often automatically think about the white liberal feminist who speaks on the behalf of “Third World” women, women of colour and Muslim women. However, what about the level of social hierarchy within Muslim communities themselves? Last year, Chelby Marie Daigle wrote a post with the title “Black History Month, a challenge to my fellow Muslims”... Read more
Mainstream media often incites rebuttals from Muslim women defending themselves against vapid stereotypes and negative portrayals. Ostensibly, these include “We are not oppressed,” ”We play sports,” “We are educated and have choices,” “We have agency and support those who do not,” and so on and so forth. Muslim women writing about inspiring feats of Muslim women are exposed to veil puns to highlight our achievements. Anything accomplished is “beyond the veil,” “from behind the burqa” and numerous other overused cliches.... Read more
For more than 20 years there has been a continuous stream of bad news where Somalia is concerned with images of war, famine and piracy. Now with Al Shabaaab driven out of Mogadishu, and the Somali Transitional Government and African Union in control of the capital, Somalia seems to have joined the Africa Rising tide, and interestingly the image of Somalia’s new era of a peaceful future seems to be largely women. Indeed, a dominant narrative in rebuilding Somalia seems... Read more
The Afghan parliament has failed to pass an important women’s law which would ban violence against women, as many members of parliament deem this particular law to be “un-Islamic.” Two women made the news this week conquering Mount Everest: Samina Baig is the first Pakistani woman to do so and Saudi Raha Moharrak was the first female from her country to accomplish this. Last week the report Narratives of Conversion to Islam in Britain: Female Perspectives was launched by Centre of Islamic... Read more
I recently came across a publication by Cordaid, a Dutch development organisation, called “Looking for That Other Face: Women Muslim Leaders and Violent Extremism in Indonesia” (available here). This publication recounts the stories of six quadragenarian Muslim feminists from three islands of Indonesia (Aceh, Java and Lombok): Ibu Umi Hanisah (Meulaboh), Badriyah Fayumi (Kota Bekasi), Enung Nursaidah Ilyas (Tasik Malaya), Inayah Rohmaniyah (Jogjakarta), Nyi Ruqqoyah (Bondowoso), and Aini Masruri (Lombok). Their life histories, focusing on how they oppose patriarchal dominance and... Read more
In 2007, when Iranian president Ahmadinejad declared that ‘we don’t have any gays in Iran’, he was met with widespread media criticism. Yet, much of the world seemed content to believe in the crux of what he was saying: that according to conventional wisdom, there is no space for homosexuality in Islam. As the West’s issues with homophobia have been publicly examined and challenged by a gay rights movement, gay people in the Muslim world have not had the same... Read more
Movie stars have always fascinated me. We follow their dressing sense, emulate them, secretly envy them and even the most polite among us feel obliged to pass snide remarks on them as if they belong to each one of us. In this email interview, Pakistani actress Saeeda Imtiaz, who portrays the role of Jemima Khan in the upcoming movie Kaptaan, gets candid about her career aspirations and what it’s like for a newcomer in the Pakistan film industry. 1. What... Read more
Reports about Syrian refugee women getting sold in marriage in Jordan remain rampant, especially young girls are considered to be desirable. In Egypt too, Syrian refugee women are often singled out by Egyptian men with propositions of marriage. Last weekend were the elections in Pakistan, for some women it was the first time in half a century that they were able to vote, but even days after the elections agreements by political parties emerged that barred women from voting. A glimmer of hope in... Read more
Muslimah Media Watch
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