This week, a call for more Muslim women to lead prayer, a terrorist suspect leaves Yemen, Indonesia is hit with a sex tape scandal, five American women who wear the face veil are interviewed, and a Chicago mother struggles with her daughter’s decision to wear the head covering.
This week, an author for The Guardian commented on the need for more Muslim women to begin leading prayer and taking other leadership roles in their religious communities. The article came in response to the second attempt by a woman to lead prayer in the UK. Professor Amina Wadud first lead a congregation in prayer in 2008 and Canadian Raheel Raza became the second Muslim woman to do so at the Muslim Educational Centre in Oxford last week.
The AFP reports that Yemen deported an Australian woman with ties to Al Qaeda. Yemeni and Australian officials decided to deport the woman, a convert to Islam, and her two children.
The New York Times reported on a celebrity sex tape scandal unfolding in Indonesia, a Muslim-majority country . Tapes of pop star Nazril Irhamand with his girlfriend and a married television producer have circulated widely over the internet. Officials doubted that the tapes would give rise to pornography charges, but did speculate that there could be adultery charges filed against the individuals depicted in the tapes.
The NYT News Service interviewed five American women who wear the face veil, or niqab. Among those interviewed were sisters Hebah and Sarah Ahmad, children of Egyptian immigrants. All the women decided to put on the face veil while they were single, all say that they face as much scrutiny for their choice from their religious community as from society at large, and many believe that their choice helps break down stereotypes of Muslim women in face coverings as oppressed and uneducated.
Noreen Ahmad-Ullah wrote a story for the Chicago Tribune detailing her own struggle when her daughter chose to wear the headscarf, even though Ahmad-Ullah also covers . Initially, Ahmad-Ullah was hesitant, wanting to protect her daughter from the negative backlash that she herself had experienced after 9/11. But, realizing that her daughter would make her own choices, Ahmad-Ullah is slowly trying to accept her daughter decision and became more hopeful when her daughter’s friend stood up for her to fellow classmates.
Rabea Chaudhry is an Associate Editor with Altmuslimah.
