NPR looks at how religious leaders in Pakistan are misleading women about birth control and family planning: Zakaria says being poor should in no way limit having babies. Referencing the Quran, he says, “God will provide the resources and no one will starve.” “There are clear instructions in the Holy Quran, in which Allah says, ‘We give you food, and we will also give food to your children. Food is not your responsibility, but God’s,’ ” he says. The mufti... Read more
I was really looking forward to reading this book, as I still love young adult fiction and was intrigued to see what a Muslim take on the genre would read like. From Somalia with Love focuses on 14-year-old Safia who lives with her Mum and two older brothers in the heart of the Somali community in East London. She spends most of her time with her extended family, writing poetry or with her best friend, Hamida. Then her father comes... Read more
I found it refreshing to see pictures of a young Iranians taking part in a water pistol fight in Tehran in The Guardian. Until I realize that every single picture is of soaked women. Anyone else feel weirded out by this? That’s the kind of side-eye I’m talking about, sister. Image via Amir/Demotix/Corbis. I’m confused as to why only women are featured (with the exception of one picture showing a man dumping a water bottle on a woman), since there... Read more
We’re exploring a Friday Links format here at MMW. It’s different than our usual. Let us know what you think in the comments! And, as always, feel free to include links to news about Muslim women from the past week in the comments! News coverage of Muslim women in New Zealand is rare, but the Herald on Sunday ran a great piece on local Muslim women. It was supported by the hard work of Anjum Rahman and a great editorial... Read more
Fatima Mernissi’s book The Forgotten Queens of Islam is a historical study that analyzes women’s place in the public sphere and their relationship with power. Her book explores the ironies and oxymora of women and power through Islamic history. Mernissi transcends the historical to discover the bits and pieces of the situations surrounding political women in today’s Muslim societies. Starting off through the example of Benazir Bhutto, Mernissi argues that despite religious leaders’ rejection of her access to power, Bhutto... Read more
Ahdaf Soueif’s novel The Map of Love, published in 1999, tells the history of Egypt through two parallel plots, set at the beginning and at the end of the 20th century. During a conversation with Egyptian intellectuals, one of the characters argues, familiarly, that: we live by slogans. We take comfort in them: the great Egyptian people. The peaceful, patient nation that when it is aroused shatters the world. Shatters the world? Tell me when in all of history did... Read more
In June, a small business lawyer and politician named Farha Ahmed was in a run-off election against Harish Jajoo for a city council seat in Sugar Land, Texas. In the final hours of the election, an anonymous mailer was sent around the town proclaiming that Ahmed is connected to Al-Qaeda. The “concerned citizen” links her to Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a woman branded as “Lady Al-Qaeda” in the media. She is also questioned for her connection to CAIR. While these mailers... Read more
Salam alaikum, readers! We’d like to wish all of you a blessed and peaceful Ramadan! Read more
This great picture from Kawdess is one reason why MMW needs to exist. Thanks to Sabina England for the tip! We’re going to go on a little vacation until Ramadan starts. We’ll miss you a lot, but we’ll see you again next week! Read more
This was written by Kubra. In Turkey and beyond, it is a common misconception that struggle for women’s rights is a new phenomenon. This struggle is thought of as not organic to the Muslim world, but imported from “the non-Muslim West.” This particular misconception has not only nurtured the neo-colonialist rhetoric of “liberating Muslim women,” but has also played an important role in the debate surrounding whether women’s rights or feminism can ever be “Islamic.” Unfortunately, little has been done... Read more
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