By Afsheen Mehmood This summer I was blessed with the opportunity to visit and pray in Masjid Al Aqsa, the third holiest site in Islam. To say that I was anxious about this trip would have been an understatement. For years I had thought that given the political troubles in the region, visiting Masjid Al Aqsa would be completely out of the question. In addition, … Continue reading To Palestine & back: Tourism will not save Al-Aqsa
A Muslimah writes Wife beating, discrimination, imprisonment, inferior, seclusion from society, subjugation, enslaved to men, second-class citizen. Put these words together and the title “Islam and women” would probably come to the minds of many. So when in 2011 the multi-faith organisation, Faith Matters published the findings of its report that of the 100,000 British converts to Islam that live in the UK, almost two … Continue reading Why are Western women turning to Islam?
By Aisha Hasan When one looks back at historical depictions of Muslim women, one will usually find typical orientalist tropes, presenting the women of the East as full of mystery and exoticism. Other than the few female Westerners who were able to fully document the huge contribution of women to the Islamic state, students of colonial studies otherwise pictured women as belly dancers, dressed in … Continue reading We need to talk about the sexualisation of Muslim women
In part 1 of 2, Nura S. discuss how the Muslim community should perceive the American Dream. First, in the economic sense: Can the American dream constitute life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all? I have witnessed American Muslim leaders invoking the “American Dream” as their common denominator with the rest of American society multiple times. Their attempt is reasonable given the American … Continue reading American Dream 101
By Zeynep Celik Hijab; what the modernist sees as a tool of self-imposed religious piety and what the islamophobe claims to be a tool in the degradation of women. Although the contrast of these perceptions is quite stark, and despite supposedly being rooted in “good intentions” , these approaches ultimately lead to the same outcome: the alienation of women who wear hijab. Of course islamophobes … Continue reading On the celebration of not wearing hijab
