Culture

Culture

Menses’ non-sense: Menstruation and the Muslim Woman’s “Red Tent”

Muslims love to brag about how the status of women was elevated from the backward practices found in earlier Judaic and Christian societies with the revelation of the Qur’an. Plenty of comparisons between Islam and Judeo-Christian traditions are available, highlighting categorical differences on divorce, inheritance, property ownership, education, and much more. However, as a revert from Catholicism, it is almost as if with the melodious utterance of the declaration of faith, menstruation became a monthly preoccupation, and every four weeks MC Hammer’s lyrics “You can’t touch this” began to play in my head.

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Culture, Extremism

“Honor” killings and political correctness

The debate about whether Canada’s “Shafia murders” were “honor killings” or “domestic violence” seems like an argument about whether “■” is a square or a rectangle. Beneath the surface, however, much more than semantics is at stake. Critics who reject all mention of “honor” have legitimate grievances about the language we use to discuss these crimes, but their reaction is misguided. We should not blame violence against women on culture alone, nor should we ignore the role that culture plays in enabling it.

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Books, Relationships

An anthology of love—Muslim style

It is a universal truth—although not universally acknowledged—that we all share the desire to love and be loved for who we are. We see ourselves reflected in love stories, regardless of how far removed in time and place they might be from our lives. The perennial popularity of period romances—“Downton Abbey” anyone?—shows that beneath the robes or corsets, the heart flutters in ways that we instinctively recognize even today.

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Culture

A Muslim view on respecting life

Adapted from remarks made in the Princeton University Chapel for Respect Life Sunday. Life’s fragility should remind us of the greatness of God, and the goodness of God’s creation should inspire us to respect life. In a world preoccupied with material wealth and convenience, the gift of life is often minimized and sometimes forgotten altogether. Modernity encourages us to view “unwanted” life as a burden that will hold us back. For Muslims, however, just as for many in other faith traditions, life must be acknowledged, always and everywhere, as a true blessing.

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Culture, Extremism, Politics

‘Honor killings’ - What do we do now?

On Sunday January 28th, a jury in Kingston, Canada returned a guilty verdict against Mohammed Shafia, a 58 year old Afghani immigrant, his wife and their 21 year old son in the murder of Shafia’s three daughters and first wife. Shafia was married to both women at the time of the murder.

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Culture, Television

Everyone is “crazy” for Humsafar

Humsafar, a show that has provided an endless source of pop culture joy for the Urdu/Hindi speaking world, is coming up on its finale in two weeks. But what messages and impressions does it leave behind for its viewers after nineteen episodes?

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Books, Culture

The Gandhi Files: Arsalan Iftikhar talks about his new book, “Islamic Pacifism”

At a time when Islam is often equated with violence, attorney and author, Arsalan Iftikhar, is trying to shift the discourse with his new book, Islamic Pacifism: Global Muslims in the Post-Osama Era. Waving high the flag of non-violence, Iftikhar aims to equip a new generation of Muslims with the tools and ideas that promote pacifism within Islam. This is what Iftikhar had to say about the rich history and peacebuilding power of Islamic Pacifism.

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Culture

Many layers: Examining the complex meanings of hijab

<< From the AltMuslimah Archives >>
Writer Fatima Ayub examines perspectives on veiling in Muslim majority and minority contexts, both in the United States, where she grew up, and in Afghanistan, where she has lived and worked. She finds a surprising number wear it due to a combination of social expectation and cultural habit, rather than solely a religious act, illustrating the diversity of thought and behavior that surrounds the hijab.

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Culture, Television

The role of women and social class in Pakistan’s “Humsafar”

No less than seven people told me that I had to watch the television show Humsafar. My Pakistani-American cousins and friends, who have so overlooked the cultural exports of their motherland in the past, seem to have attached themselves to this particular drama. Indeed, it has taken the Urdu-speaking world by storm. Not only are Pakistanis obsessed with it, but also with the help of YouTube, it has gained tremendous popularity in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

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Culture

‘The secret love lives of American Muslim women’

The American perception of Muslim women is sadly narrow: We imagine heavily cloistered beauties, submissive to their male counterparts who, we assume, they married because of an agreement between parents rather than love. To expose readers to the true spectrum of Muslim American dating experiences, Ayesha Mattu and Nura Maznavi compiled “Love, InshAllah: The Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women,” [$15.95, Soft Skull Press] an anthology of romantic relationships, gay and straight, arranged and spontaneous, monogamous and not.

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