Shahrazad and Dhat al Himmah: Epics, Storytellers and Warrior Women

Last updated on: April 9, 2012 at 8:46 pm By tasnim

The Thousand and One Nights is by far the most famous collection of Arab popular narratives. Its heroine Shahrazad has become the symbol of the complex interactions of gender and power as they relate to the region, from those who see her as a positive agent of change, as in Suzanne Gauch’s interestingly titled Liberating Shahrazad, in which ”A long-silenced literary figure speaks for modern Muslim women,” to the negative, such as Joumana Haddad’s I Killed Sheherazade, or Hisham Matar’s... Read more

Reactions to Hasna Kandatu’s Protest: Shaking the World or Sensationalism?

Last updated on: April 8, 2012 at 11:05 pm By Guest Contributor

This post was written by guest contributor Christly Palacio. Some Philippine news outlets, such as rappler.com, recently reported on the sole Filipina featured in Newsweek’s list of “150 Women Who Shake the World”. A short biography is offered on the project website: “Daily unrest on the Philippines island of Mindanao, ongoing since the early 1970s, had made business life impossible in the small village of Dano; the women couldn’t sell goods at the market for fear of violence, and the main... Read more

Friday Links | April 6, 2012

Last updated on: April 5, 2012 at 12:48 pm By Krista

Anneke’s still in the process of moving, so I’m sorry for the shorter-than-usual list of links again this week! Looking forward to having her back next Friday, insha’Allah. Palestinian Hana Shalabi has ended her hunger strike, but will be exiled to Gaza for the next three years. Some human rights groups argue that this is simply a new form of imprisonment. The Indonesian religious affairs minister’s recently declared that miniskirts are “pornographic.” In response, the head of the national commission... Read more

Fashion Designers, How Not to Study Gender, and More on Iran’s Women Ninjas

Last updated on: April 4, 2012 at 9:13 pm By Krista

An eclectic round-up of some articles of interest elsewhere on the internet: A Muslim participant on Project Runway Philippines was recently eliminated. MMW reader Sumaya writes that, “Just as quickly as I found out about the first Muslimah to be on Project Runway in the third season of Project Runway Phillipines, sadly I found out she was recently eliminated in the last rounds. Fatima Guerrero, a 21-year-old fashion student from Nueva Ecija,is still awesome in my books.” From Guerrero’s writing... Read more

What Killed Shaima Alawadi?

Last updated on: April 3, 2012 at 11:00 pm By Guest Contributor

This post was written by guest contributor Maheen Nusrat. On March 24th, 2012, a 32-year-old Iraqi-American woman, Shaima Alawadi, passed away. She been found three days earlier by her 17-year-old daughter, brutally beaten in her home with a note next to her that said, “Go back to your country, you terrorist.” The story made national headlines, and drew many parallels with the story of Trayvon Martin, a young black man from Florida who was also recently killed for reasons involving... Read more

First Lady Dictators Are Not Sexy Headlines

Last updated on: April 3, 2012 at 8:37 am By sana

Exactly a year ago on March 15th, the official day of Syrian uprising, I wrote about the Vogue feature on Syrian first-lady Asma al-Assad, which glamorized the haute couture-clad co-dictator while painting a painful picture of a woman genuinely fighting, on her own terms, for “democracy” in Syria. The piece itself could not have been scheduled for a more opportune time: the so-called Arab world was, at the time, experiencing a wave of uprisings challenging old but adamant self-appointed kings... Read more

The Truth about Shad Begum

Last updated on: April 1, 2012 at 11:33 am By merium

When I first considered writing about Pakistan’s Shad Begum, one of the recipients of the 2012 International Women of Courage Award, I was quick to label the event as yet another attempt by American authorities to politicize women’s rights issues in self-serving ways. Undoubtedly, politicization of Muslim women not only has a colonial legacy but is also increasingly prevalent in Islamist politics in predominantly Muslim nations, making my assumption about the purpose of the award understandable. After a glance at... Read more

Friday Links | March 30, 2012

Last updated on: March 29, 2012 at 1:05 pm By Krista

Anneke’s traveling this week and next, so I’ll be writing up the lists of links. My apologies in advance for lists that will be shorter and less comprehensive than usual (and many thanks to Anneke who sent most of these links to me despite how hectic things are!) The murder of Shaima Alawadi, an Iraqi-American woman who died last Saturday after having been brutally beaten in her California home four days earlier, was a major news topic. A note left... Read more

Book Review: Desperate in Dubai

Last updated on: March 28, 2012 at 1:43 pm By safiyyah

Desperate in Dubai, a cheeky exposé novel based on the original blog written by Ameera al-Hakawati (a pseudonym), revolves around the lives of four women who live, love, and labour in the sparkling Gulf city of Dubai. I recently had the chance to catch up with al-Hakawati in Dubai, to chat about her book, her faith, and the politics of anonymous writing as a Muslim woman. British-born Al-Hakawati says she knew she had to write a book about Dubai the... Read more

Which Muslim Women Should Every Person Know?

Last updated on: March 27, 2012 at 8:54 pm By Krista

In a recent article for the Huffington Post, titled “10 Muslim Women Every Person Should Know,” Fazeela Siddiqui writes: “[I]n recent years, due to the global socio-political climate, the phrase “Muslim woman” might conjure an image of a demure un-empowered woman sheltered by her burqa. Yet this image is not what our history records or what our present reflects. For example, the current Prime Ministers of Bangladesh (Sheikh Hasina Wazed) and Mali (Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé) are Muslim women. Similarly,... Read more