Wiam Wahhab is the leader of the Tawhid Movement in Lebanon. A former MP and journalist, he is also a close ally of Syria. In a rant against Syria’s rival, Saudi Arabia, Wahhab compared Saudi women to “garbage bags,” in reference to the black niqab that is common in the country. Sparking the anger of protesters, Wahhab eventually retracted his statements, clarifying that his comments were not meant to insult the veil, but rather the lack of human rights afforded... Read more
A few weeks ago, Jonah Goldberg wrote an op-ed claiming that feminism’s work in the West is “mostly done” and that’s it’s time to take feminism “overseas” to Muslim women. We disagree. Diana: Where do you begin in tearing apart Jonah Goldberg’s “Talking feminism overseas?” I can almost see Gayatri Spivak shaking her head as she waves her finger back and forth, saying as she has before, “white men saving brown women from brown men.” So much for novelty in... Read more
In Nigeria, women in purdah vow to vote. The Huffington Post talks about Daisy Khan and her work with WISE. Amid protests, Syria has lifted the ban on niqabs in classrooms. Tunisian women will be allowed to wear hijab in their ID cards. More from Bikya Masr. Muslim women in Canton, Michigan, gather for a community panel on Islam. A program in Lundu, Malaysia, creates crafting interests that enable women to venture into small business. U.S. servicewomen currently have a... Read more
This was written by Chally and originally published at Feministe. Last month, Women Deliver – a fantastic organisation dedicated to improving women’s and girls’ health and wellbeing globally – released the Women Deliver 100. It’s a list of inspiring people, well, delivering for girls and women in all kinds of areas: health, politics, the media, and so on. Out of all those people, there was one I very badly wanted to interview, and her name is Imane Khachani. She’s a... Read more
This post was written by W.B. Abdullah. I remember when I first heard the title of the movie, Mooz-lum. It made me cringe, mispronounced by non-Muslims to the point of putting a muzzle on it. I wouldn’t see it–why were my trusted Facebook friends suggesting a movie to me whose name had prejudice written all over it? Shouldn’t they be cringing, too? But then I found out that it’s the premier work of a Muslim director, Qasim “Q” Basir, so... Read more
On March 26, Eman al-Obeidi burst into the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli and told reporters that fifteen of Gaddafi’s militiamen had detained her for two days and raped her. She named one of them as the son of a high-ranking official, and pleaded for her friends, who she said were still held captive. After a scuffle with journalists who tried to intervene, government security forces bundled al-Obeidi out of the hotel against her will and drove her away. At this... Read more
Eman al Obeidy’s family speaks out about her rape, her detainment, and Libya’s regime. Al Obaidy has now been charged for defamation. The National profiles other women who are working against Qaddafi’s regime. Women will not be allowed to vote in Saudi Arabia’s long-delayed municipal elections. A 14-year-old girl was raped and then died during lashings she received as punishment. May Allah give her peace and justice. Over 70 Lebanese and Saudi women have filed a lawsuit against Tawhid Party... Read more
Recently, the South African Justice Ministry opened the latest draft of the Muslim Marriages Bill (MMB) up for public comment and called for submissions on the bill’s contents. Along with this came the media furor over the Muslim community’s reaction to the idea of the government recognizing Muslim marriages as Muslim marriages and providing legislation for Muslims according to both constitutional gender equality and the dynamism of fiqh. The point of this post is not to assess the Shar’iah compliance of the... Read more
Salam, readers! Some of you may know that both Krista and I attended the Muslim Voices: Rescripting Islam conference at Indiana University last Thursday. You may not know, however, that this was the first time Krista and I had ever met in person! It was really wonderful to connect with her and with our other panelist, Mona Eltahawy. They liveblogged our panel on Muslim women in the media, and you can enjoy the discussion here: Muslim women in the media... Read more
Coming on the heels of a seemingly endless surge of anti-Muslim bigotry in the U.S., CNN picked the most opportune moment to air its special on Muslims, titled “Unwelcome: The Muslims Next Door” with reporter Soledad O’Brien. After having been glued to the news in the last couple of weeks, following Rep. Peter King’s hearings on Muslim extremism in the United States and the recent display of anti-Muslim bigotry to hit the community of Southern California, I cringed at the... Read more
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