Headscarves are the hot talking point in French politics again. But on this occasion, we aren’t talking about girls getting kicked out of high school or women getting kicked out of mayors’ offices. No, the latest uproar comes about Ms. Ilham Moussaïd, a candidate from the New Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA) in France’s upcoming regional elections who dares to “visually” identify herself as a Muslim and stand for election. Feminists and politicians are up in arms. While not the first candidate with a headscarf, the buzz around Moussaïd’s candidature is something new. (0 comments)

The one I wanted to wrap in my arms and bring home was Nebras. I didn’t even know her name when I went back to Iraq, shortly after the assault on Baghdad. I was armed only with a photo of a beggar touching her nose with her tongue. I had met her a few months before, when I’d traveled to Iraq with a women’s delegation, just five weeks before the U.S. bombings and invasion. Unfazed by impending disaster, the little girl, old enough to be in primary school, had begged for handouts in a popular market. (1 comment)

“No, sister, you can’t go in that way! There’s a back door around the corner.” I can’t tell you how many times those words were said to me over the years as I tried to enter through the front door of many a mosque around the United States. There seems to be this unwritten, yet nationally recognized and practiced, tradition of leaving the worst space for the separate women’s prayer hall. From collecting funds to replace the soiled carpet and repaint the chipped walls, to silently walking in the front entrance and ignoring the disapproving glares as they make their way to the balcony rather than submit to the back prayer room turned childcare, through the years I’ve seen women protest against this dismissive treatment in a variety of ways. (16 comments)



“Who here has read Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s book Infidel?” For the first time in three years, not a single person raised their hand. At book club meetings, church gatherings, women’s groups, and Islamic presentations across this country, countless hands usually shoot up in the air in response to my question. My predominantly non-Muslim American audiences love to embrace Hirsi Ali’s experiences as applicable to Muslim women the world over. Why are they so quick to believe one ex-Muslim woman’s autobiographical tale? (9 comments)

There are few concepts in the Muslim psyche that paint an image as vivid and forceful as the era of the Jahiliyyah, the Period of Great Ignorance, that preceded the advent of Islam. It is considered by Muslims to be a dark, ungodly, forsaken time when men and women believed in many deities, lived lives of tribal partisanship and warfare, showed immense racism, inflicted oppression on the poor and meted out gruesome treatment to women. (4 comments)

For far too long Muslim women have been the recipients of proposals, rather than the instigators. A friend of mine broke it down for me the other day in a brutally honest statement: the men go and find wives and the women sit at home waiting for husbands to find them. However much the defiant teenager in me argued against this, I have to admit, my friend was right. At 22, I am not exactly a veteran of courting á la Muslim, but I will unashamedly admit that I have been husband-hunting since the age of about minus seven. Not because I am obsessed with the prospect of getting married, but quite the opposite. (3 comments)

On February 12th, 2009 and the days following it, we – as Muslims, as Americans, and as citizens of the world – were shocked and overcome by profound grief when informed of the brutal murder of Sister Aasiya Zubair Hassan, general manager and co-founder of Bridges TV. We learned, incredulously, that her husband – a man who made it his career goal to dispel negative images about Islam – decapitated his wife of many years. (6 comments)

Tahmena Bokhari is a Muslim, a Canadian, a feminist, a social worker, an educator and holds the title Mrs. Pakistan 2010 (not to be confused with Miss Pakistan World). Bokhari’s accomplishments are as varied as they are impressive, and perhaps seem contradictory to many. She holds a Master’s degree in social work and has worked at a number of women’s shelters and on a series of humanitarian initiatives. She currently teaches social work at two different colleges, and also acts as a diversity consultant, all the while competing in beauty pageants. (1 comment)

“I often have to wonder [what] my great grandfather, who converted to Islam from Sikhism in Delhi, would [say if he were to] see all this. He broke from his family, lured by the egalitarian and authentic message of Islam. How would he feel if he knew, generations later, [that] his son would be confronted by educated, religious Muslims who are obsessed with skin color?” (0 comments)

On Mar. 10, alongside philanthropist Melinda French Gates, human rights activists Panmelo Castro from Brazil and Rebecca Lolosoli from Kenya, three Muslim women were honored by Vital Voices Global Partnership, a Washington, DC-based organization that works to empower women around the world. The need to recognize the work of Muslim women is important. Type the search terms "Muslim women" or "women in Islam" online and chances are that a majority of English-language hits will consist of stories relating to what Muslim women wear on their heads or how women in Muslim-majority countries are subjected to physical abuse, or subjugated under the false pretext of religious principle. (1 comment)

Muslim screenwriters are still a rarity in Hollywood, but that may soon be changing. I recently conversed with the quick-witted Sameer Asad Gardezi, winner of the Writers Guild award for his work on ABC’s Modern Family. His previous projects include writing for the groundbreaking Aliens in America on the CW network, which sympathetically portrayed a young Muslim immigrant. The USC film school graduate shares with us his perspective on identity politics, the unique opportunity Muslims have in reshaping representation, and his advice to aspiring Muslim writers and artists. (5 comments)

Like any other social media platform, Facebook hosts a wide range users, some looking for intellectual stimulation, and some others looking to seek companionship. One has to be no less careful with Facebook friends than with next door neighbors, perhaps more so given the 400 million active users that it boasts about. You could waste your time uploading doppelganger pictures onto your profile or fill your status bar with the meaning of your name from urbandictionary.com. (1 comment)

When I accepted Islam in July 2006, I was welcomed with open arms by the diverse Muslim community in Atlanta. However, as I learned more and more about this beautiful deen, I also began to feel troubled by the intolerance and narrow-mindedness of many in the local and national community who chose to concentrate only on certain areas of social service, especially those that made them “look good.” Meanwhile, fellow Muslim men, women, and children are still crying for help, but being avoided and neglected by their Muslim neighbors, brothers and sisters. (0 comments)

In thinking back to my school days, perhaps my scariest (and simultaneously most amusing) memories have to do with gym class. Yes. Gym class. Always the last to be chosen on every team, I not only was one of the worst players, one of the last to finish the mile run, and definitely NOT a favorite of my gym teachers, I also was the awkward and funny looking “brown” girl wearing pants underneath her shorts because her religion called for it. How’s that for a prescription for low self-esteem and self-image? (1 comment)

The aftermath of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui’s conviction nearly two weeks ago in a New York courtroom has seen several protests in her home country of Pakistan. On February 13, students from universities all over Islamabad congregated at Aapbara Chowk and demanded her release, while pointing out the silence of human rights groups. A day earlier, Lahore’s Liberty Chowk saw students and faculty members of several educational institutions come together to protest against Dr. Aafia’s continued detention. Many other protests have been witnessed since the verdict was announced. (2 comments)

The prophet (saw) said: “The sun and the moon are two signs from amongst Allah’s signs and they do not eclipse because of the death or life of anyone.” Although October was designated as Domestic Violence Awareness Month back in 1995 by leading organizations across North America, for Muslims February seems to be a pivotal month for raising awareness of the presence of Domestic Violence in the Muslim community. The tragic death of sister Aasiya Zubair Hassan on February 2009 served as a catalyst for the birth and rebirth of programs and organizations addressing this social evil. (1 comment)