I first heard about the film The Source via a Mark Kermode film review. Put simply, it is a story set in a remote North African village (the country is not named in the film). The village depends on income from visiting tourists and the there is little work for men there, unless they move to the city. This poverty also means that the village does not have a central water supply. Instead, they rely on a water source atop... Read more
About two weeks ago, my bulging eyes nearly met my falling jaw when I came across a flood of tweets in my feed about the Saudi Industrial Property Authority, “MODON,” building an all-woman city to boost the country’s economy and productivity all while ensuring that no one gets a hickey from the opposite sex in the process. I’m not going to lie or even attempt to hide the fact that I was extremely excited at this prospect; the possibility for... Read more
In exploring the intersection of digital life and Islam over the last couple of years I’ve come across a number of projects and articles examining Muslims and the metaverse, from virtual hajj tours and Islamic sacred spaces in Second Life to academic articles on the concept of “e-hijab,” which the author describes as Muslim women whose avatars wear the e-hijab as a clear visual manifestation of religious identity. I was reminded of the idea of e-hijab in looking at images... Read more
Somali runner Samia Yusuf Omar, who competed in the 2008 Olympics for her country, has drowned off the coast of Italy earlier this year. According to an earlier profile by Al Jazeera, Samia had been looking for a trainer in Ethiopia to compete at the London Olympics, but had met a lot of obstacles and resistance. Italian newspapers suggest that she was trying to get to Europe and to find a trainer there, so she could compete at the Olympics. May she be granted with eternal peace. The ongoing conflict... Read more
Since the anti-burqa law (or whatever you want to call it, I can’t anymore) was passed in France, women with “full cover” can be cited for non-compliance, and can be stopped for identity checks. We all remember the story of the polygamous butcher and his many niqab-clad wives gleefully committing welfare fraud. One of his wives was stopped while driving, and it was argued that she was pulled over, not for a traditional traffic offense, but because she was driving with... Read more
Now that Ramadan is over, I can get it out of my mind and scream hard on how women were portrayed in the Egyptian TV throughout the whole month. Women are seen as sex objects: there’s no better way to put it than this cliché; it is as simple, as shallow, and as degrading as it has always been. One would think that the so-called Arab Spring would make some difference, after people had watched women side-by-side with men, playing... Read more
This review was originally published at Muslim Views. Research in the areas of Islamic and Gender Studies often overlap when it comes to the question of women in the Islamic spiritual tradition. What does Sufism offer to men and women seeking out paths of equality and egalitarianism? How does maleness or femaleness influence spirituality, and is the notion of the un-gendered soul a tenable one in the context of a hyper-gendered legal tradition? Is it possible to go beyond socially... Read more
I hope you enjoyed MMW’s Ramadan series this past month! If you missed any of the pieces, go to this post and scroll down to the bottom for a list of all of our Ramadan writings. Of course, we weren’t the only ones writing about Ramadan. Below are excerpts from some of the other reflections on Ramadan by Muslim women this month. Please feel free to share your own favourites in the comment section! We’ll start off with wood turtle... Read more
The MMW team wishes you all the best this Eid. May God accept all of your fasts, prayers, and good deeds. Thanks to those who commented on or shared our Ramadan posts! We’ll be back with our normal media analysis coverage this week. Read more
Bismillah. Originally intended to be posted in the start of Ramadan, this post has taken an unusually long time. The first draft was cathartic, yet it took longer to go into depth and dig deeper. I am left in a position where I unapologetically want to share my truth – a truth that may, with Allah’s will, resonate with another person in Islam or in humanity, and help them feel okay good about the spiritual state where they finds themselves.... Read more
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