In her book Fresh Lipstick: Redressing Fashion and Feminism, Linda Scott writes “the ability to control what is fashionable is the power women wield over each other”. In this sense, a fashion week, with designers, buyers, watchers, tweeters, bloggers, models, photographers and telecasters, promotes a certain notion of women’s place…
Read More
When I accepted Islam almost two decades ago, I accepted more than five pillars. I also embraced the possibility of a manhood informed by Islamic ideals. The project of becoming a Muslim was therefore inseparable from the project of becoming a particular kind of man. This was no easy task:…
Read More
Question #1 Dear Salma, I have a teenage daughter and am concerned about how to explain interfaith marriage to her. We have a growing number of Muslims in our community–both men and women–marrying outside of Islam. She and I will talk about these sorts of things and I’ve explained to…
Read MoreFirst things first: this is not an attempt to reconcile the Qur’an, Prophetic tradition, or classical Islamic thought with the cause of LGBTQ rights. Others more qualified than myself are doing that work. In fact, my argument depends somewhat on such a project being impossible. Let’s take for granted that Islam has no room for the accommodation of homosexuality – ignoring not only the efforts of reformist scholars, but also the numerous queer Muslims who are at peace with their bodies, hearts, and Creator. For a moment, let’s pretend that these intersections do not exist.
Read More