Control and Sexuality: The Revival of Zina Laws in Muslim Contexts

Last updated on: January 25, 2011 at 12:00 am By merium

The Violence is Not Our Culture (VNC) Campaign and the Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) network recently launched a new publication on zina (illicit sex) laws and their tentative (re)introduction in some predominantly Muslim nations. “Control and Sexuality – The Revival of Zina Laws in Muslim Contexts,” is an attempt by civil society organizations across various countries to address the historical and present-day cultural, legal and political motives that have led to the reemergence of these controversial laws. The... Read more

Semra Çelebi’s Double Trouble with Hijab

Last updated on: January 24, 2011 at 12:00 am By tasnim

Semra Çelebi’s Facebook page “I took off my hijab” shares her decision to remove her headscarf after 16 years of wearing the hijab. According to Çelebi, the page was created “to gather stories and experiences of all those women around the world who stepped out of their traditional social environment and chose to live their own lives” and is dedicated to “all those women who struggle and have struggled to live their own lives.” Both statements, inclusive and nonsectarian as... Read more

Friday Links | January 21, 2011

Last updated on: January 21, 2011 at 12:00 am By fatemeh

Maheen Haq was benched from her basketball game because of her headscarf. She was given a religious exemption and played the second half. Rahela Choudhury reviews Mixing It and deconstructs Aladdin’s Jasmine. A young woman is harassed by her cousin because of her decision to stop wearing a headscarf; she has taken legal action against him. Women in South Sudan are hoping for a chance at civic participation with a new government. A new law in Albania forbids headscarves in... Read more

Book Review: Rula Jebreal’s Miral

Last updated on: January 20, 2011 at 12:00 am By sana

Despite some memorable characters and moments, as well as the (ultimately brief) acknowledgment of Hind Husseini's work and life, the books fails to be anything more than, as the Omar El-Khairy notes in a review of the film, "Palestine as Hollywood fantasy." While the film is markedly different from the novel in many ways, El-Khairy's critiques remain as relevant as for the book as they do for the book. The book is written to be a film seemingly more about sexually adventurous, politically aggressive and unorthodox Palestinian Muslim women... Read more

An Interview with Abdulaziz Al-Qahtani

Last updated on: January 19, 2011 at 12:00 am By Sara Yasin

Last week, we profiled Abdulaziz Al-Qahtani’s “An Intimate Geography” exhibit at the Lahd Gallery. This week, we sat down for an interview with the artist himself. Sara for MMW: I noticed that you never explicitly mention Islam in your work. Was this intentional? Abdulaziz Al-Qahtani: I wanted to move away from Islam, because I do not like to classify based on religion. I do this because I feel as though everyone is spiritual, and that is the best way to... Read more

Swiss Miss: Temps Present’s Mixed Bag of Information

Last updated on: January 18, 2011 at 12:00 am By nicole

The Swiss political and media landscape is charged with loaded images of Muslim women. The French side of Swiss media (namely, in newspapers like Le Temps) usually presents a balanced view of Muslim women, and television shows are of a decent quality, especially compared to television in the U.S. So I had no reason to be anything but excited for the December 16th episode of “Temps Present” on the TSR. But the show fell short, starting out with a reminder... Read more

Women in Tunisia’s Revolution

Last updated on: January 17, 2011 at 12:00 am By tasnim

On Friday, the President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia fled his homeland as it was engulfed by an uprising, sparked by the suicide of Mohamed Bouazizi, an unemployed university graduate who had taken to selling fruit in Sidi Bouzid. When authorities confiscated his wares for not having a license, Bouazizi set himself on fire in front of a government building. Protests followed, as thousands took to the street in a movement fueled by rage over corruption among the elite. Anger in... Read more

Friday Links | January 14, 2011

Last updated on: January 14, 2011 at 12:00 am By fatemeh

Muslim women in Uganda are pushing for condom use to prevent HIV infection. Divorced single mothers in Malaysia may receive advance alimony payments if their husbands fail to pay. U.S. Secretary of State declares that a dress code should not be enforced on Muslim women during her visit to the Gulf. Azerbaijan un-banned the hijab. The Sydney Morning Herald examines female Australian converts. The U.S. urges Iran to release Nasrin Sotoudeh. Muslim women in Uttar Pradesh, India, converged in Lucknow... Read more

Gender Bender: Abdulaziz’s Al Qahtani’s Lahd Exhibition

Last updated on: January 13, 2011 at 12:00 am By Sara Yasin

Abdulaziz Al Qahtani is a Saudi Arabian artist based in London. His first exhibition, “An Intimate Geography,” is at the Lahd Gallery. It examines the contradictory relationship between Middle Eastern women and Western society. The exhibition is comprised of a series of twelve images that aim to show the complexities of life in the Middle East. There were three main themes in the photographs; critiquing gender inequality, consumption, and individuality. Through examining the contradictions within these themes, he critiques the... Read more

Masking the Problem: Afghanistan’s “Niqab” Program

Last updated on: January 11, 2011 at 12:00 am By sarahaji

Just when I thought we were past discussing the experiences of Muslim women in dichotomies and distorted imagery, CNN pulls out this gem about Afghanistan’s most talked-about talk show: “Niqab.” “The Mask,” as American media have translated it, features “Afghan women [who] dare to speak out on [the] taboo subject of abuse by husbands.” This time, the women televised are, in fact, masked—half the mask “pale blue, the color [of the burqa] symbolizing the oppression of women; the other half... Read more