Mosque

Community, Mosque

Part 2: What a difference a kasrah makes

<< From the AltMuslimah Archives >> Now, whenever I come across something within early scholarship on the Qur’ān that calls for liberating women, I usually brace myself for someone who will come along and try to undo it. I naturally assumed, after reading al-Farrā’, that Ṭabarī was going to sell us out. But he doesn’t. He doesn’t! He affirms his predecessor’s reading: “This reading, with the kasrah on the qāf, is the one I consider to be most correct, for, if it is from waqār as we have chosen (‘alā mā akhtarnā), then there is no doubt that the reading must have a kasrah on the qāf.”

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Community, Mosque

Part 1: What a difference a kasrah makes

<< From the AltMuslimah Archives >> One of the most titillating of post-Ottoman Turkey’s “modernization” efforts was the institution of the beauty pageant. The pageants were one way to show that Turkish women were not locked up in their houses; Turkish women were educated, modern, stylish and HOT! If the Muslim “establishment” today had a scholar pageant, Muḥammad ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī (d. 923) would walk away as Mr. Universe. We wouldn’t want to dislodge the turban with a crown, of course. However, the great sage would definitely win at least a sash – “Mr. Sunnī Universe.”

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Community, Culture, Mosque

Why I chose to take off my hijab: Four women speak (Part II)

What are Muslim American women concerned about today? When I polled my Muslim girl friends, they unanimously voiced their interest in better understanding why an increasing number of their peers are choosing to take off the hijab (here defined as head scarf). As a hijabi for twelve years, I relate to the rewards and challenges of wearing hijab but have no specific answers as to what drives this decision. So I sought to seek a few, through four women I interviewed, who were gracious enough to discuss why they made this decision and how it affected their lives. We continue our interviews here in Part II.

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Community, Culture, Mosque

Why I chose to take off my hijab: Four women speak

What are Muslim American women concerned about today? When I polled my Muslim girl friends, they unanimously voiced their interest in better understanding why an increasing number of their peers are choosing to take off the hijab (here defined as head scarf). As a hijabi for twelve years, I relate to the rewards and challenges of wearing hijab but have no specific answers as to what drives this decision.

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