No performance in recent memory did more to spark dialogue on women’s empowerment, misogyny and sexuality than Beyoncé’s Super Bowl Halftime show this past Sunday. The mixed reactions show how Beyoncé’s seemingly conflicting messages can be a conundrum for many. For those whose religious traditions place an emphasis on modest clothing, it can seem that Beyoncé is wholeheartedly buying into the woman-as-object form of marketing and consumption.
Read MoreWhile it was not surprising that rabblerousing websites such as RadicalIslam.org or India’s Daily.bhaskar.com disseminated false reports that a well-known Saudi cleric issued a fatwa encouraging sexually frustrated rebels in Syria to gang-rape Syrian women, it was very surprising that Salon.com, and similarly well-reputed Alternet.org, were quick to publish this story as well, although they subsequently issued retractions and apologies as well. What can explain these two respected websites’ lapse in editorial judgment?
Read More“If God made everything, the sun, the trees, the Earth, then … who made God?” “Where was I before God made me?” Zaynab, my five-year-old daughter, has been asking questions about faith, God and her purpose in the world at an ever-increasing rate. She is at that amazing, tender age where her universe of possibilities is expanding at lightning speed.
Read More
When you hang out with single people, and happen to be single, the conversation inevitably comes around to the “marriage process.” I started to notice a pattern in the sorts of things guys complained about while using online services like http://www.halfourdeen.com or even e-harmony. While I am writing from a guy’s perspective about what Muslim men perceive as challenges when they search online for a potential mate, I firmly believe the advice applies equally to both women and men.
Read MoreOn the basis of the idea that American Muslims should participate in the cultural and political debates of wider society, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, along with Christian collaborator Robert P. George, co-wrote a piece on pornography in early July. Yusuf and George published an open letter to members of the hotel industry asking them to consider not offering pornography in their hotels.
Read MoreWho better than Dr. Kecia Ali to open the afternoon session with the topic of Gender Justice in Islam? An Associate Professor of Religion at Boston University, and published author of Sexual Ethics and Islam: Feminist Reflections on Qur’an, Professor Ali started by acknowledging the weighty responsibility that comes with framing questions.
Read MoreWhen I first heard about Shaykha Fest, I, a seeker of knowledge, could not wait to sit at the feet of my learned mothers. Featuring Muslim female scholars from Germany, the UK and America, Shaykha Fest was born out of a need to revive female scholarship by setting and giving the stage to contemporary scholars, activists and thinkers, while simultaneously bridging the gap between different schools of thought and sects.
Read More
Terrorist. Jihadist. Misogynist. Brown. Bearded. Un-American. These are the terms and images often associated with Muslim men in America. A compilation of autobiographical essays by Muslim American men, All-American: 45 American Muslim Men on Being Muslim, presents a series of personal accounts that counter these assumptions and stereotypes.
Read More
I opened All-American: 45 American Men on Being Muslim, the second publication in the recently unveiled I Speak For Myself series, fully expecting to roll my eyes at trite complaints about airport security or defensive rants against terrorism. Instead, I was quickly humbled by the realization that I, myself an ‘All-American Muslim man,’ was just as in need of an introduction to these 45 men as the presumably intended audience, non-Muslim Americans.
Read MoreIt has been three months since my story, Why Yes, I’m an Islamophobe, was published. The response to this article, has actually, become a matter of great concern for me now because I did not think there would be rishtas (proposals) from families of men pouring in from the US, UK, Canada and Europe, as my mother quoted to one of my aunts, recently. My mother could not handle the situation because “lesbian”, “gay”, “queer” are terms that are beyond her vocabulary. Her classical response to my relatives is, “Well, you know Fakhra,” followed by a quiet that is frustrating. Additionally, since I lost my job recently and have few prospects – most of which are from my “ex-rapists” – to my mother, rishtas seem like the most logical solution to “save my face” whereas for my father, I have no updates on my job status.
Read More