Hijab in Sport and Unhelpful Media Biases

Last updated on: March 19, 2013 at 10:30 am By Guest Contributor

This post was written by guest contributor Shireen Ahmed (@_shireenahmed_). One of the most exciting aspects of the Olympic Summer Games 2012 was that every participating nation sent in women athletes as part of their delegations. Media faithfully reported on the successes and stories of “hijab-clad” women participating in the London Games, the most prestigious sporting event the world of athletics has to offer. Women who cover having a choice to participate in sport and represent their countries is definitely a... Read more

Why I Sing

Last updated on: March 17, 2013 at 11:28 pm By Guest Contributor

This post was written by guest contributor Yasmin N. Ali. The sounds of violin spun around an increasingly frenzied melody of sitar, tabla and the loud, confident vocals of the lead singer. He danced and spun around his band mates, all of whom were jumping to the steady beats pouring from the drummer. The result was electrifying. That was two years ago, at one of my first concerts. That first wave of real, live music had hit me in the... Read more

Friday Links | March 15, 2013

Last updated on: March 14, 2013 at 8:49 pm By anneke

Last week was International Women’s Day, and a lot of news items this week were related to this event. In Kazakhstan, this day is marked with Miss-competitions and a call by the president for classes to teach mothering skills. RFE/RL marks this day by featuring the stories of several working mothers, from countries like Tajikistan, Pakistan and Azerbaijan. Syrian refugee women in Lebanon share their stories and feelings connected to International Women’s Day. In Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan, women (and men)... Read more

Telling the Stories of Street Children in Cairo

Last updated on: March 14, 2013 at 9:41 am By Guest Contributor

This post was written by guest contributor Yasmeen Nizamy. The most basic rights: that’s what we will be talking about here. Forget about the flashy statements of the declarations of human rights, for the people I’m discussing are not recognized as humans to begin with. I’m talking about street children. But, who are street children? They are known in Colombia as “the plague” or “dirty faces”. If you are Indian you’d be calling them “Sadak Chap,” while in Brazil the... Read more

Unmasking Unmosqued: Finding a Space for Women

Last updated on: March 12, 2013 at 11:04 pm By sana

As many of our loyal and long-time readers are well aware of, we’ve often covered the issue of women’s space and place in mosques. Whether we were looking at Chinese female imams and all-women mosques or the effect of mosque space on women’s love lives and, well, humanity, we’ve explored the various issues of gender, sexuality and politics found between the walls of many mosques. Mosques, much like any other space, are complicated meeting points of identity, belief, and mores,... Read more

‘Real’ Dutch Muslimas Tackle Migration and Islamophobia

Last updated on: March 12, 2013 at 11:01 am By syahirah

From this year onwards, wearing a niqab is officially an offence in the Netherlands, with “stiff fines” as the punishment. In 2012, interior minister Liesbeth Spies and the Freedom Party (PVV) of Geert Wilders pushed for a ban on dual nationality, which received mixed support within Parliament. What do wearing a face-covering veil and having another nationality have to do with each other? According to Liz Fekete, author of A Suitable Enemy: Racism, Migration, and Islamophobia in Europe, before September 11th 2001... Read more

Strictly Soulmates: The Trials and Tribulations of British Muslim ‘Singletons’

Last updated on: March 11, 2013 at 11:08 am By Guest Contributor

This post was written by guest contributor Maria Salman. Marriage: The one word on the tip of the tongue for many young Muslims. The difficulties in searching for the elusive One experienced by the Muslim diaspora is a phenomenon that is well documented. Google the phrase “Muslim marriage crisis,” and a substantial number of hits comes up – especially about the dearth of eligible Muslim bachelors and the struggles of over-30 professional Muslim women in finding a suitable mate who... Read more

Friday Links | March 8, 2013

Last updated on: March 7, 2013 at 11:47 pm By anneke

Morocco’s Penal Code has undergone some minor changes since the death of Amina Filali last year, but Amnesty International says that there is still a bias in the Penal Code, which puts women and girls at risk. A report in India on minority groups and education shows that in secondary school, Muslim girls increasingly stop attending school and disappear faster from the system than any other minority group; the report cites as the main causes for this phenomenon poverty and apathy by the state. In Turkey, a group of... Read more

Inspiring Beauty? A Critique of Wardah Cosmetics’ Ad Campaigns

Last updated on: March 5, 2013 at 11:46 am By Guest Contributor

This post was written by guest contributor Afia R. Fitriati (@AfiaRF). The gaffes in the latest ad campaign of Indonesia-based Wardah Cosmetics are as clear as daylight – so clear that a student in my marketing class had raised an issue with it even before I had the chance to see the commercials. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7Css9izUYY “If their selling point is halal – and thus Muslim-friendly – cosmetics, then why do they promote skin-lightening products? Isn’t it discriminatory to promote lighter skin as prettier... Read more

Mosques and Marriages: Manifestations of Patriarchy and Misogyny in the Western, Muslim Context

Last updated on: March 4, 2013 at 6:40 pm By Guest Contributor

This post was written by guest contributor Amina Jabbar. As I was sifting through the internet, blogger A Bengali in T.O. caught me with a personal question: “Where are the Girls in this Mosque?” The women’s prayer space at the mosque he was visiting was completely separated, with no direct view of speaker in the main prayer hall, only connected via a set of speakers and a monitor. In reflection, he aptly noted, “This is the problem, the big problem,... Read more