“No, sister, you can’t go in that way! There’s a back door around the corner.” I can’t tell you how many times those words were said to me over the years as I tried to enter through the front door of many a mosque around the United States. There seems to be this unwritten, yet nationally recognized and practiced, tradition of leaving the worst space for the separate women’s prayer hall. From collecting funds to replace the soiled carpet and repaint the chipped walls, to silently walking in the front entrance and ignoring the disapproving glares as they make their way to the balcony rather than submit to the back prayer room turned childcare, through the years I’ve seen women protest against this dismissive treatment in a variety of ways. (9 comments)

Like any other social media platform, Facebook hosts a wide range users, some looking for intellectual stimulation, and some others looking to seek companionship. One has to be no less careful with Facebook friends than with next door neighbors, perhaps more so given the 400 million active users that it boasts about. You could waste your time uploading doppelganger pictures onto your profile or fill your status bar with the meaning of your name from urbandictionary.com. (1 comment)



“Who here has read Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s book Infidel?” For the first time in three years, not a single person raised their hand. At book club meetings, church gatherings, women’s groups, and Islamic presentations across this country, countless hands usually shoot up in the air in response to my question. My predominantly non-Muslim American audiences love to embrace Hirsi Ali’s experiences as applicable to Muslim women the world over. Why are they so quick to believe one ex-Muslim woman’s autobiographical tale? (9 comments)

When I accepted Islam in July 2006, I was welcomed with open arms by the diverse Muslim community in Atlanta. However, as I learned more and more about this beautiful deen, I also began to feel troubled by the intolerance and narrow-mindedness of many in the local and national community who chose to concentrate only on certain areas of social service, especially those that made them “look good.” Meanwhile, fellow Muslim men, women, and children are still crying for help, but being avoided and neglected by their Muslim neighbors, brothers and sisters. (Zero comments)

There are few concepts in the Muslim psyche that paint an image as vivid and forceful as the era of the Jahiliyyah, the Period of Great Ignorance, that preceded the advent of Islam. It is considered by Muslims to be a dark, ungodly, forsaken time when men and women believed in many deities, lived lives of tribal partisanship and warfare, showed immense racism, inflicted oppression on the poor and meted out gruesome treatment to women. (4 comments)

In thinking back to my school days, perhaps my scariest (and simultaneously most amusing) memories have to do with gym class. Yes. Gym class. Always the last to be chosen on every team, I not only was one of the worst players, one of the last to finish the mile run, and definitely NOT a favorite of my gym teachers, I also was the awkward and funny looking “brown” girl wearing pants underneath her shorts because her religion called for it. How’s that for a prescription for low self-esteem and self-image? (1 comment)

For far too long Muslim women have been the recipients of proposals, rather than the instigators. A friend of mine broke it down for me the other day in a brutally honest statement: the men go and find wives and the women sit at home waiting for husbands to find them. However much the defiant teenager in me argued against this, I have to admit, my friend was right. At 22, I am not exactly a veteran of courting á la Muslim, but I will unashamedly admit that I have been husband-hunting since the age of about minus seven. Not because I am obsessed with the prospect of getting married, but quite the opposite. (2 comments)

The aftermath of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui’s conviction nearly two weeks ago in a New York courtroom has seen several protests in her home country of Pakistan. On February 13, students from universities all over Islamabad congregated at Aapbara Chowk and demanded her release, while pointing out the silence of human rights groups. A day earlier, Lahore’s Liberty Chowk saw students and faculty members of several educational institutions come together to protest against Dr. Aafia’s continued detention. Many other protests have been witnessed since the verdict was announced. (2 comments)

On February 12th, 2009 and the days following it, we – as Muslims, as Americans, and as citizens of the world – were shocked and overcome by profound grief when informed of the brutal murder of Sister Aasiya Zubair Hassan, general manager and co-founder of Bridges TV. We learned, incredulously, that her husband – a man who made it his career goal to dispel negative images about Islam – decapitated his wife of many years. (6 comments)

The prophet (saw) said: “The sun and the moon are two signs from amongst Allah’s signs and they do not eclipse because of the death or life of anyone.” Although October was designated as Domestic Violence Awareness Month back in 1995 by leading organizations across North America, for Muslims February seems to be a pivotal month for raising awareness of the presence of Domestic Violence in the Muslim community. The tragic death of sister Aasiya Zubair Hassan on February 2009 served as a catalyst for the birth and rebirth of programs and organizations addressing this social evil. (Zero comments)

Tahmena Bokhari is a Muslim, a Canadian, a feminist, a social worker, an educator and holds the title Mrs. Pakistan 2010 (not to be confused with Miss Pakistan World). Bokhari’s accomplishments are as varied as they are impressive, and perhaps seem contradictory to many. She holds a Master’s degree in social work and has worked at a number of women’s shelters and on a series of humanitarian initiatives. She currently teaches social work at two different colleges, and also acts as a diversity consultant, all the while competing in beauty pageants. (1 comment)

Western and Eastern authors have historically painted a picture of the Muslim world as one in which the sexuality of Muslim women flourishes behind closed doors. It seems that in these secluded spaces a secret is passed from generation of women to generation of women about how to actively create a vibrant sexuality within the private sphere. In light of the public-private distinction that is the essence of this sexual presence, I often wonder about the health of Muslim women’s sexuality here in America, where the social distinctions between private and public are disappearing in the face of reality television shows and social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. (3 comments)

I recently spoke with “HijabMan”: a persona, a brand, and a recognizable part of the tapestry that is the Muslim community. He was recently named one of the world’s 500 Most Influential Muslims, in addition to having his designs appear on Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report. I asked HijabMan about his story and had him reflect on the meaning of manhood for Muslims today. (11 comments)

How important is a Muslim American cultural imperative? Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah says, “identities that are rooted in deep cultural contradiction are easily thrown into states of confusion and doubt.” He suggests a “sound cultural nexus” is needed to remedy this identity crisis. The media (and sometimes even us consumers of the message) like to focus on the fringe as the only ones confronting singular expressions of faith. While the former expressions are one patch in the quilt that makes up the dynamic nature of the Muslim American community, they shouldn’t receive a disproportionate amount of attention. (3 comments)

To the victor go the spoils is the concept that has been used over history to legitimize wartime rape. This tradition of objectifying women during conflicts has not ceased during modern times. Despite the introduction of modern laws of warfare, armies exploit sexual violence systematically as in the cases of the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and the current situation in Darfur. (Zero comments)

Something decidedly medieval is in the air in Saudi Arabia. Fears of black magic and curses cast by Indonesian domestic helpers have spread across the country, and Saudi employers increasingly feel the need to hire private investigators to check their domestic workers for suspicious behavior and evidence for witchcraft. Investigators, mostly foreign women from neighboring countries, are paid to search for photographs, hair, or clothes belonging to the employers before the domestic helpers are repatriated, reports Arab News. The employers do not do this themselves because they feel it is immoral and something Islam prevents them from doing. (Zero comments)

The HEART Women and Girls Project, in conjunction with Altmuslimah, is committed to empowering women and girls from faith-based communities by teaching them to connect a healthy mind, body, and soul to achieve an overall sense of well-being. In the first installment of a new monthly column, HEART Director Ayesha Akhtar explores the issue of Vitamin D deficiency in Muslim women. (11 comments)

Muslim women have often used literary works, paintings, or other forms of artistic expression to paint a deeply sensitive and intimate portrayal of how Islam, culture, and society impact their realities. “Breaking the Veils: Women Artists from the Islamic World” is an art exhibition organized by the Royal Society of Fine Arts in Jordan and the Pan-Mediterranean Women Artists Network of Greece, to dispel the negative stereotypes surrounding women throughout the Islamic world, including Indonesia, Yemen, and Morocco. The showcase consists of 72 art pieces by 51 women representing a spectrum of religious beliefs in over 20 Islamic countries. (Zero comments)

Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times, and his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, have recently published an extraordinary book entitled "Half The Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity For Women Worldwide." The book is a call to action, primarily to Westerners, to become, at the very least, armchair philanthropists aware of the global plight of women. With a blend of research, personal relationships, and relevant narratives, the couple proves they have a deep understanding of the injustices occurring around the world, and an even deeper desire to educate others on the issues they are so passionate about. (1 comment)

Muslim American communities have undertaken many efforts to add nuance to the public’s impression of Muslims. The Brooklyn Arts Museum held their Muslim Voices series last summer, and Boston recently held a Muslim Film Festival, and Altmuslimah itself has established a regular photographic campaign. For good reason, much of the energy in these projects is used to show the beauty and diversity of Muslims; however, there is definitely room to show the messiness within the Muslim community, and Michael Muhammad Knight is one writer filling this gap. (22 comments)

Liaison Dangereuse, a German online lingerie store, recently released a new video advertisement. With Arabic-sounding music in the background, a woman is shown getting out of the shower (we can see, from the back, that she has no clothes on), putting on her make-up, then walking (wearing nothing but high heels – to each her own, I suppose) to her dresser, where she puts on her underwear, bra and socks, all the while looking at herself in the mirror. Last (anyone see where this is going yet?), she puts on a burqa. The final scene is of her face at a window, with this phrase showing up: “Sexiness for everyone. Everywhere.” (12 comments)

Women in American mosques are loud and messy. They allow their children to run free. They socialize and chatter during khutbas. They rush out after the prayers and don’t participate in cleaning or re-organizing the space. They wear inappropriate clothes, allowing their scarves to slip off their heads, and dousing themselves with strong perfumes. They insist on coming to the mosque while menstruating, and pollute the consecrated space with their unclean presence. These stereotypes about women in mosques are commonplace and especially prevalent in American mosques. (52 comments)

One of the travesties of living in a colonized environment is that the inferior, or oppressed, aspire to win admittance to the Western world. There seems to be an emerging trend of this type of appeasement, where submission has replaced the revolution. The introduction to spectacles, like the breaking of a Guinness record for the largest plate of kanafeh and the search for a national beauty queen, are just two examples of how absurd practices are coming to be seen as normal in Palestinian cities. (13 comments)

A quiet Muslim community known as the Hui that has long been buried among China's Buddhist majority has recently been receiving attention for its nu ahong - female spiritual leaders. While the spotlight is new, the concept is not. As early as the late Ming dynasty (around the 17th century), the faithful set up Muslim schools catering exclusively to young females and by the arrival of the late Qing dynasty in the 19th century, these schools had transformed into mosques operated by and serving women. In the coming decades, the practice of female Imams, if you will, permeated all Chinese Muslim societies. (6 comments)

Like most ideas, this one did not have a single genesis. I’ve been thinking, and to some extent writing, about feminism for many years and in many guises. The word itself is controversial, with some damning it as the force that destroyed the family and others defending it as the movement that freed a gender. It is one of those terms that starts simply and rapidly gets tangled: if you look around the world and think there are inequalities between the genders, and that those inequalities are not biological and are unfair, you are probably a feminist. And that’s where the arguments begin. (Zero comments)

At a time of fear and hostility toward Muslims, ID documents offer bigots a simple way to wreck the socio-economic mobility of religious minorities (that Sikhs, Jews, and others might be impacted is usually an afterthought). The act of redefining photo ID standards by law to slam religious minorities has an economic dimension, but it also constitutes a form of dehumanization. For the faithful, religious headcoverings are not merely articles of faith but also integral and inseparable components of their identities as human beings. They are a source of self-definition and strength. (1 comment)

Prophet Muhammad (saw) said, in the hadith narrated by Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri (ra): “You will certainly follow the ways of those who came before you, span by span, cubit by cubit, until even if they were to enter a lizard’s hole, you would follow them.” We said, “O Messenger of Allah, (do you mean) the Jews and Christians?” He said, “Who else?!” (1 comment)

The Muslim Public Affairs Council said I misrepresented their argument in my critique of their article on child brides featured on Altmuslimah. I noticed that their rationale for demanding an Islamic prohibition on child marriages is the exact same rationale used by Muslim scholars who advocate for child marriages: that a young girl does not have the mental maturity to make such an important decision. Muslim scholars who advocate for child marriages would then assert that since the young girl lacks mental maturity, the decision for her marriage is given to her father. (3 comments)

Rare is the day that my Facebook homepage doesn’t tell me about a link uploaded by another single Muslim to a story that details the newest facts and figures of sex. On the days when the links do show up, I have to fight the urge to respond to these posts, in all caps, that YOU SINGLE FOLKS SHOULD REALLY START DOING IT AND ENJOYING IT SO THAT YOU CAN STOP INTELLECTUALIZING IT. With all the talk of sex that single twenty and thirty-something Muslims engage in, I wonder why they aren’t doing more of it. (12 comments)

Muslims throughout the world are fierce in their love and respect of Muslim religious scholars, whom Allah (swt) and His beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw) have so strongly praised in the Qur’an and ahadith. Endless are the narrations on the excellence of those who seek knowledge and teach it, those who memorize and recite our sacred scripture, and those who sacrifice their lives in the pursuit of knowledge. (Zero comments)

I shouldn’t take this any further. Apart from not being true, it’s a diatribe that obfuscates something deeper (just as the parallel, but unnervingly more standard retreat, "Where are all the good Muslim men?" does). The degree of intelligent, sincere, socially conscious, and admirable Muslim women I meet is staggering, many of whom in a previous life I wouldn’t have hesitated asking out to dinner to get to know better. Yet, I find myself simply put off by Muslim women. (39 comments)

Omer Subhani seems to largely miss the point of the Muslim Public Affairs Council piece on child marriages, which was posted last week here on Altmuslimah. Especially considering that both MPAC and Mr. Subhani staunchly oppose the horrendous practice, it would be immensely more productive if we could channel that agreement to defeat injustices in our communities. Our intent with this report is to shine a light on the issue as one that we must all confront head-on. (3 comments)

“He is educated, Mashallah ...a lawyer, and the age difference is just right. I talked to his mother, too. She was absolutely delightful, she agreed with me on everything! She is sending his picture through the e-mail right now.” Barely able to contain her excitement, my mother grabs her reading glasses and positions herself before the monitor. It is the Moment of Truth. (9 comments)

For the 50th anniversary of the Barbie doll, Italian designer Eliana Lorena created over 500 Barbies for an auction hosted by Sotheby's for Save the Children. The dolls were fashioned to represent women from all over the world; three are meant to be from Islamic cultures, and are covered to varying degrees – one wears hijab and full-body covering, while the other two wear face- and full-body covering (niqab and burqa). (4 comments)

Looking into the mirror, I stare at the reflection of my chai-colored forehead; I pause and consider the shades of color slowly descend down my face. Peeking through the brown, a soft pink highlights my cheekbones and the dimples around my crooked smile. The protected skin around my eyelids is the much coveted milky cream color that incites the unwelcome thought of discontent at the shade of my skin. (12 comments)

The Muslim Public Affairs Council spoke out against the practice of child brides in the Muslim world in a December 9th article, “The case of an eight year-old Saudi bride,” published here. This is an area of jurisprudence that has caused contentious debate in both the Muslim and the Western worlds. Many Muslims argue that the issue of child brides is directly related to the life and practice of the Prophet Muhammad (may God’s peace and prayers be upon him). (9 comments)

On December 13, 2009 at 1:00PM EST, a virtual meeting about domestic violence, featuring several gender rights activists, will occur right here on Altmuslimah. Join us for this important event - the instigator for what Altmuslimah and partners hope will be fresh perspectives, solution-oriented discussion, and an active campaign against domestic violence in the Muslim community. (5 comments)

Our journey began with the intention of ihram: “I’ve made my skin, my hair, and my nails sacred for You, Allah.” I had prayed to be enveloped by enough light to lead me all the way to Mecca from my bedroom in hilly Amman, Jordan. Qibla-bound, we first stopped in Jeddah. I tried to remain indifferent to the lavishness of the glitzy port-city. Instead, I was excited by the prospect of completing umrah under the clear, starry nights of Mecca. (2 comments)

Several cases of child marriage in recent years have brought the issue of children’s rights in Islam to the forefront. Of significance is the case of an 8-year-old Saudi bride, which surfaced on the international stage in February 2009. The girl’s father gave her in marriage last year to a 47-year-old man to repay a debt. Her mother opposed the marriage and appealed to local courts to grant her daughter a divorce. (Zero comments)

The Islamic definition of zina, with the consensus of all schools of thought, is the process of sexual penetration in an unlawful relationship. The manifestation of a pregnancy does not serve as evidence that a woman or a man has committed zina. In this regard, the application of hudood laws represents an extreme misapplication of Islamic law. (3 comments)

What the Taliban employ is an authoritative form of rule called taazeer. Proponents say that if a crime is not provable beyond a doubt by using criteria outlined in Islamic law, it falls to the governing forces to decide the punishment. This allows cultural or social norms to influence judgment, and most commonly affect weak and vulnerable groups. (5 comments)

Muslims face many a challenge when forbidding evil, and often lack the wisdom and sincerity to do so effectively. We might be quick to judge the new sister in our community who does not wear hijab, but fail to admonish the veteran sister who attends the study circle and backbites. Or we might stand against the brother who sells liquor, but will not speak up against the religious leader who commits wrongdoings. (11 comments)

The existent double standards that occur when polygyny is practiced, particularly when it is kept secret from the other wife or wives, make it acceptable and praiseworthy for a Muslim man to marry (or marry more than one wife) to guard his chastity, while when a Muslim sister marries for that reason only, she is considered lewd and desperate. (2 comments)

Last month Muslim women from around India met at the third annual convention at the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) – the Indian Muslim Women’s Movement. The BMMA exemplifies the reality that women’s rights movements face in addressing the numerous issues and challenges of both the struggle of women and the upliftment of entire communities to which women belong. (2 comments)

Recently published for public consumption, The 500 Most Influential Muslims (PDF) is already causing a stir throughout the web. While many are satisfied with the list’s contents or happy to have made the cut, others are shocked by the absence of particular names. Generally, however, most people are simply confused by the peculiar selection of the list’s 500 names. (3 comments)

When both the White House and U.S. Army advised everyone not to jump to conclusions on the Fort Hood shootings, many government officials and journalists claimed that political correctness should not impede the truth. Some said the Muslim community was not condemning the incident vociferously enough. Others claimed that the Muslim community was overcompensating by being too apologetic. Talk about mixed signals! (Zero comments)

Washington DC's Muslim Public Service Network (MPSN), a summer public service fellowship program, and DC Green Muslims, a community Islamic environmental group are two examples of activism in co-gender Muslim environments. We speak to two young activists to find out how this type of activism works within an Islamic framework and why it can be one way to promote healthy gender interactions while working for the common good. (4 comments)

Mosques need to be more inclusive of Muslim women. We should encourage our sisters to be leaders in our communities, as Imams, scholars, educators, directors, activists, artists, and so on. These ideas do not stem from “Western liberalism” or “Western decadence,” but rather these values of gender equality and inclusiveness are rooted in Islam. If we do not actively oppose the sexism and misogyny in our communities, they will become permanent features of the practice of our faith. (20 comments)

Muslim male privilege is a reality that cannot be denied. It is not as simple as Muslim men enjoying greater space, comfort and accessibility in the mosque; the ramifications extend further. Muslim men dominate the leadership positions in the mosque and in the world of scholarship and can abuse their power to preach sexist interpretations of Islamic law and tradition in order to further control women. (19 comments)

After the murder of Sitara Achakzai, I didn’t want her death to go unnoticed in the West. I contacted several media outlets to let them know I had an audio recording of Sitara telling her life story. After a radio piece aired on PRI's "The World," I used the audio as they had edited it and added still photos to create a multimedia feature titled, “The Life and Death of Sitara Achakzai.” In honor of Sitara’s memory, we now present this feature here on Altmuslimah. (6 comments)

The Prophet has stated, "The greatest sin amongst all sins in the eyes of God is of a person, who marries a woman and divorces her once his needs have been fulfilled and also usurps her dowry in the process…" (Al-Hakim and Al-Bayhaqi Ibn Umar). In the last couple of decades, the American Muslim community has unfortunately witnessed a growing trend in which respectable, well-known Muslim men marry and then divorce Muslim women in a secret, serial manner. (31 comments)

I want my kids to be aware of what happens in society, where the dangers lie, what we expect of them, what Islam expects of them, and the fact that other families (both Muslim and not) might have different rules. I understand that this might mean resisting peer pressure, but when has that been a bad thing? It builds character and strength. (7 comments)

The Muslim cleric and the village women in India who recently labeled five widows as witches played the role of self-appointed judge, jury and executioner, condemning their victims to a savage beating. Widows are popular targets because they may possess money or property, however paltry, which their neighbors have a covetous eye on. And the law fails to protect them, leaving their fate to be determined by local patriarchal interpretations of tradition, custom, and religion. (2 comments)

Unlike The Vagina Monologues, which brought private subject matter into public discourse, Hijabi Monologues is actually taking the hijab from the public news and media discourse back into women’s personal lives. Even further, the play seeks to re-capture the voices and identities of Muslim American women for themselves. Regarded as an experience that will challenge both outsider and insider understandings of a distinctly American Muslim community, HM takes the viewer on an emotional roller coaster with issues rarely discussed in public space. (1 comment)

In two recent reviews of an interview with Seryan Ates about her book, "Islam Needs a Sexual Revolution,"one reviewer found Ates' suggestion that the Muslim world could mimic the West’s sexual revolution both inaccurate and implausible. The other felt that Ates should fall back on more than just her personal experiences when trying to persuade the reader of the imminence and importance of a sexual revolution. (2 comments)

In August, four scholars and a small group of Jewish and Muslim emerging religious leaders met to discuss the story of Joseph in the Qur’an and in the Bible. Here are four reflections, by two Muslim women and two Jewish women, about the significance of Zuleikha in the story and in their respective traditions. (12 comments)

Islamic women in sports appears to be a contradiction in terms - at least this is what many people in the West believe. The conviction that women in Islamic countries either cannot, will not, or may not take part in sports (or at least in competitive sports) is partly borne out of the fact that Muslim immigrants, especially women, scarcely take any active part in sports. However, we should be aware that interest and the engagement of Muslim women in sports are increasing. (Zero comments)

Our Stories, Our Lives is an anthology of a diverse group of women in Bradford, England, offering a glimpse into their lives and their struggle to reconcile their Muslim identities with their British ones. With the media’s daily onslaught against the image of Muslims, coupled with the assumptions about so-called conflicting alliances (Islam versus the West), a “proud British Muslim” would sound like an oxymoron to many. But it isn’t, and talking to many Muslims in Britain will tell you just that. (Zero comments)

Promoting women's rights from any perspective is requisite. An Islamic perspective is just one of many avenues. But for Muslim women's rights, this avenue is crucial, because Muslim women need to know that their religion gives them rights that their patriarchal culture often takes away. Malaysia's WISE conference, which gathered Muslim women activists from around the world, is helping demonstrate this. (1 comment)

Carolyn Baugh, a native of Indiana who is in her fourth year of the Ph.D. program in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania, writes in her new book The View from Garden City (Macmillan) about an unnamed American woman studying at the American University in Cairo who engages with several of Cairo's women, learning more about their heartbreaking, fascinating and inspiring stories. (Zero comments)

Stories about polygamy tend to surge and ebb in the media, but they never fail to intrigue people. Recently in South Africa, a Zulu man married four women–all at once–making the most popular story on the BBC news website. In the video, a male wedding guest gives a thumbs-up to the marriage(s), claiming that monogamous marriages across the world are breaking down as a result of adultery. (1 comment)

A new "virginity device" sold from China and marketed to Muslims in Egypt and elsewhere has conservative clerics up in arms. But what should be discussed is the hypocrisy that burdens women with proof of virginity while the men involved are ignored. Because of this, thousands of widows, divorcees and rape victims in countries like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are forced to live lives at the very margins of social acceptability. (60 comments)

For all those politically correct folks who wonder whether it’s OK to ban Muslim women from wearing the face veil, consider this headline in Pakistan's The Daily Times: “Al-Azhar Plans to Ban Face Veil.” Yes, indeed, the news spreading through the Muslim world is this: Al-Azhar University, the Harvard of Islamic theology in mainstream Sunni Muslim circles, is planning to ban its female students from covering their faces with the face veil, commonly called the niqab. (12 comments)

The next morning I called a Muslim sister to tell her of it. She urged me to write it down in a journal as it was still fresh in my mind. I did. She reminded me of the loss of her own mother and comforted me, "You have been blessed with meeting her in your dream." I also called another Muslim sister for advice. Through her resources I was told this dream was an indication of 'Taqwa', or consciousness of Allah. (1 comment)

Along with the first two parts discussed in Part 1 of the Modesty Primer (featured on Altmuslimah on Wednesday), these are the four parts of the social contract you enter by being part of our clothed society. The first two, Crotch and Midriff coverage, apply at all times. The others, Thighs and the whole Boob-to-Shoulder zone, have flexibility in certain contexts, but keep them tastefully covered when it’s work (or study) not play (or exercise). (1 comment)

Preachy as she is, Aunty Mohja is not out to convert you to traditional Islamic dress, only to that root of its ethos that’s a basic right and blessing for all. Her to-do list is pragmatic, tailored to a secular American populace. Observant Muslims, be prepared that her Rules will not, therefore, be up to hijab standards. And to the midriff-baring girls Aunty Mohja sees at the Mecca Mall in Amman, Jordan, don’t throw the baby (of basic decency) out with the bathwater (of the veiling you choose not to do). (1 comment)

A new film, Bronx Princess, provides audiences with a fascinating and beautiful portrait of what it’s like to grapple with personal growth - to be at one moment headstrong and in the next, humbled. It follows Ghanian-American Rocky Otoo on her journey from home to university to meeting her estranged father in Ghana after two years. And it doesn't beat you over the head with a Muslim angle or with bizarre tribal customs. (1 comment)

Teen dating: What demented dunce invented it? Aunty Mohja wants to know. What possesses U.S. consumerist culture to promote it as the norm? Let’s send a boy and a girl, their horniness joyfully newfound but woefully untamed, into the dark of a theater or the back of a car, unsupervised. Let’s urge them to contort their emerging personalities around what makes them pleasing to the other they wish to attract. (35 comments)

Journalist Christina Asquith's new book Sisters in War: A Story of Love, Family, and Survival in the New Iraq tells the story of four women, their internal growth and external accomplishments, all of which give the reader a balanced, multifaceted look into the realities of post-war Iraq, including the failures, incompetency, oversights, and hubris involved but also the small successes and the opening of new opportunities. (1 comment)

There is obviously no single definition of masculinity in Islam, due to the diversity of cultures and contexts in which the religion is practiced and interpreted. It remains nebulous which precise aspects of the Muslim world’s image of masculinity come from Islam and which are rooted in culture. What counts is what constructions of the Muslim male people perceive to be Islamic. (5 comments)

In the years since 9/11, Muslim men and women have responded to nativist hate mongering by working within the American legal framework. Muslim women have made the hijab a civil rights issue; similarly, the fight for the human rights of detainees has been going strong for some time. An additional response – one that is more nuanced to the gendered aspects of the problem – is to use gender and Muslim notions of femininity and masculinity as the focal point of cross-cultural dialogue. (11 comments)

President Barack Obama's national call to service was heard and answered by many Muslim organizations and communities to re-capture the American spirit in the post 9/11 era, to stimulate interfaith activities to be more action-based, and to help re-build local economic landscapes in the wake of the recession. Although these are signs of charitable maturity within the Muslim community, it is still essential that all Muslims catapult these issues to the forefront of their human service agendas. (Zero comments)

Along with first-hand accounts and statistics, husband and wife team Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn offer practical solutions to alleviate the multiple obstacles that women face in their new book, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. With a multi-pronged approach to enhance the state of women, their proposals draw from various disciplines, including education, health care and law. (5 comments)

Until the Western world stops obsessing about the clothing choices of Muslim women, we need to continue explaining the social and religious reasons for the hijab. The fact that a noted American feminist like Naomi Wolf wrote an article on the issue is highly encouraging. Now let us hope that many more will follow in her footsteps, and include the nuances of these issues so that the arguments can be truly persuasive to a highly skeptical Western audience. (10 comments)

The choice to divorce requires us to ask difficult and legitimate questions, and listen to each other’s honest answers in order to make a decision about what to do when they have run out of ideas to repair the relationship. These questions reflect the difficulty of the decision, and its effect on the multiple areas of their lives. There are no easy answers, and sometimes no perfect solutions, when these dilemmas are on the table. (7 comments)

When my husband finally makes his way down the stairs, my frustration abates and he and I sit across from each other and share our early morning meal. We speak intermittently and keep one eye trained on the clock to ensure we finish our food by the time dawn prayers begin. Despite the sparse conversation and the hurried meal, I enjoy the feeling that we are both beginning our obligatory fasts together, as a unit. (11 comments)

Although we should consider all parties innocent until proven guilty, the most likely culprit in the case of Rifqa Bary, the 17 year-old who ran away from her Ohio home in fear of her father, is the Xenos cult, a group that specifically emphasizes Biblical verses where Jesus tells the disciples to leave their family, disown their loved ones. Xenos tears families apart. (14 comments)

There are multiple levels of victimization expressed in Marie Claire’s coverage of Muslim women, ranging from self-victimization (Islam as the answer for desperate, lost souls and only those souls), to falling prey to female weaknesses (Islam as attractive to only stupid, career-barren women), to being the inevitable victim of the ominous Islam of one’s family, society, and government. All of this adds up to Marie Claire’s distorted view of Muslim women. (14 comments)

Non-Muslim women who desire to build a sense of solidarity with Muslim women need to know that it is absolutely possible to speak out against gross human rights violations within global Muslim communities, and yet avoid the multiple traps of cultural reductionism that we are so bombarded with in the mainstream media. Judy Bachrach’s article, Twice Branded: Western Women in Muslim Lands abounds with examples of what not to do when striving for an authentic sense of sisterhood. (1 comment)

By recognising the nikah as legally valid, subsequent links in the marriage chain will be forced to deal with legal protection issues with higher standards and in line with legal norms, thereby respecting the religious wishes of the Muslim woman, and at the same time affording her full protection in the law. (8 comments)

Wajahat Ali’s play, The Domestic Crusaders, is an incredible contribution to American Muslim literature, and one that our communities will benefit from for years to come. Set to premiere in New York on September 11th, Ali’s play appeals to a mass audience while staying true to its goal of providing a groundbreaking, honest, and beautifully human portrayal of what it means to be an American Muslim. (Zero comments)

While the stated intent of a recent CNN article appeared positive, its actual content is misleading and unpersuasive. If this piece had run in a high school newspaper, it would not have been a cause for such alarm. That it ran as a headline article on CNN.com under the guise of dispelling myths about the hijab is troubling. (7 comments)

As part of our exploration of relationships and the quest to find a mate, Altmuslimah presents a fictional story based on one woman's real life adventures in her search for a husband in the late 1980's, before the internet and online dating services. The men - introduced through friends, Muslim families, and letter-based marital services - are actual, the conversations factual. The names have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent. (4 comments)

The British soap opera EastEnders is breaking new ground on gay issues by exploring what happens when Muslim boy meets boy – but marries girl. BBC television's first gay Muslim, especially his first kiss, has been causing quite a stir. Although the love affair has not created the expected level of controversy, it has upset some Muslims. (7 comments)

“Kalam Nawaem,” a sixty-minute Middle Eastern talk show based on the American TV show "The View," has capitalized on the popularity of satellite television to reach the nearly half of women in the Arab world who are illiterate, offering viewers, particularly women, an opportunity to listen to sharp discussions on salient issues. (6 comments)

As part of Altmuslimah's efforts to explore gender themes that Islam has in common with other faiths, the star of ‘Blossom,’ Mayim Bialik, reflects here on how her Jewish faith and its concept of modesty (tzniut) changed the way she dresses. (24 comments)

While Muslims in the West are slowly coming to realize that honor killings are not just a geographical issue for our brothers and sisters in South Asia and the Middle East, anti-Islam pundits, bloggers and intellectuals are using this recent rash of honor killings to link the religion of Islam to the murders. (3 comments)

The battle of the sexes - love gained and lost, marriages failed and personalities mistaken - was raging long before the demonization of Muslim men became fashionable. Choosing a spouse with religion in mind is not always a mistake, especially if your heritage and your faith are important parts of who you are. The trick is recognizing a good thing when you see it and never mistake the bad for something more. (10 comments)

An apparent defense of women from sexual harassment in the UAE is encouraging - until you notice that it is directed at the lower class immigrants who make up the bulk of the Emirates population. Richer Arabs harass women too, and should be called out on it. (3 comments)

AK Comics has potential to bring something new to the comic book industry, especially with its two female characters, Jalila and Aya. But the writers need to break away from imitating mainstream American comic books and give Jalila and Aya their own identities as Middle-Eastern/Muslim super-heroines. (5 comments)

Naif Al-Mutawa's The 99 offers us arguably the best depictions of Muslim female characters to have ever appeared in comic books. One would hope that its realistic portrayals of Muslim women will help inspire more positive depictions of women in mainstream comic books. (2 comments)

In the male-dominated world of comic books where female characters are depicted with large breasts and skimpy skin-tight clothing, it’s interesting to examine whether or not Dust, a Muslim female member of Marvel Comic's X-Men since 2002, and other Muslim super-heroines, escape the sexual objectification and sexism that women often suffer in comic books. (6 comments)

A new policy by the Obama Administration has provided an opportunity for abused women, including those under threat of death from karo kari, to claim asylum in the United States. Concerns about notions of Western patriarchy should be seen in the context of the lack of options that hundreds of thousands of women, from Mexico to Pakistan, currently have. (1 comment)

While dolls like Fulla and Razanne do offer an alternative to Barbie in Muslim societies, the dolls remain inherently consumerist and construct their own discourse of femininity. The Western concept of beauty, first introduced though Barbie, remains unchanged in these ethnic dolls. In the end, it’s about Barbie done differently to sell more stuff. (1 comment)

Wrongly interpreting idribu to mean “beat” instead of “go away” has turned at least two realities that the Qur'an has given women into myths. The reality is that a husband who wants to divorce his wife cannot hold her back by injuring her, and this protects a wife who wants to be set free. The Qur'an gives her this right to not be injured. (4 comments)

We have to ask ourselves, why did the Prophet not beat his wives even though it was a command in the Qur'an? It appears from his behavior in the same type of situation that he did not consider it to mean “beat them". It may be because the Qur'an uses three other words for "strike" or "beat". (2 comments)

Jurists have created a contradiction that is not in the Qur'an by encouraging divorce and discouraging marriage. In other words, a Muslim woman who wants a divorce must be set free without using force against her, but a Muslim woman who wants to remain married does so under the threat of being beaten. What woman would want to stay married under such circumstances? (5 comments)

By flogging women for wearing trousers, the Sudanese government has shown its fear of challenges to the status quo. As with all self-declared Islamic governments, what a woman wears becomes no longer an issue of religious modesty but one of audacity and defiance to a regime's raison d'etre and authority. (Zero comments)

The role of women cannot be underestimated in interethnic crisis occurring between Uighurs and Han Chinese in western China. They are protesters, leaders, and they reflect the unique development of Uighur society. And more broadly, these personalities have emerged from social and political marginalization. (Zero comments)

Despite the murder of Marwa el-Sherbini in Germany, Muslims still benefit from European hate speech laws, in contrast to blasphemy laws which restrict freedom of conscience in Muslim countries. In one scenario they are offered special protection; in other, they are more vulnerable to persecution. (21 comments)