Everybody loves to complain about Facebook. A constantly changing layout and interface. An addictive waste of time. And, most recently, Facebook has provoked an outcry from users over the complicated and ever-changing privacy settings. Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg responded recently to these latest complaints in a Washington Post op-ed, and in his defense of Facebook, articulated the “few simple ideas” upon which it was built. “People want to share and stay connected with their friends and the people around them... If people share more, the world will become more open and connected. And a world that’s more open and connected is a better world. These are still our core principles today.” (14 comments)

The depiction of women in the media has been the topic of countless articles; deliberators have filled many pages of text since the first person flipped on their television set and saw June Cleaver vacuuming in pearls. Some take the stance that there has been a drastic change since then, that we have come a long way with powerful characters such as Xena and MacKenzie Allen, the first woman president of the United States from the television show, Commander in Chief. Others conclude that with prime-time hits like The Bachelor, we’ve only moved backwards. Susan J. Douglas, author of Enlightened Sexism - The Seductive Message that Feminism’s Work is Done, posits a third opinion that is wrapped in the concept of enlightened sexism. (2 comments)

Most definitely. I’ve been husband sharing for 18 years. I’ve been married both monogamously and *polygynously, and I prefer husband sharing. *(Polygyny - marriage of one man to more than one woman - is the only form of polygamy that Islam allows.) The view that husband sharing is immoral, inherently inferior and dooms at least one of the parties involved to a lifetime of grief and hardship, is considered an undisputed fact by those who believe monogamous marriages are the only path to happiness. Unfortunately, most Muslims today have adopted this opinion. (133 comments)

It was 5 years after the events of 9/11. I was working as an architect and my current project had taken me to Seattle, Washington. For several months I had been out in the “Emerald City” and had gotten the opportunity to get to know the Muslim community through the iftars during Ramadan. During one of the fundraising iftars, the local community leaders asked me to be their architect for their new Islamic Center. (2 comments)

It’s another evening in one of the red light districts of Pakistan. It never seems to be quiet here except for the very early morning hours when the customers are home with their families or at work. The rickshaw drivers pound impatiently on their piercing horns, people shout at one another in Urdu or Punjabi, while stray, emaciated dogs bark and Bollywood music blares from the mujra dance halls. The humidity is relentless even though the sun has set several hours ago. (2 comments)

Since the beginning of time, women have been unequivocally blessed with the ability to share in the creation of the human race, and have been revered for the tremendous responsibility of carrying life within their wombs. In tandem, some women have pondered on the undisputable weight of this responsibility, and instead have chosen “the road less traveled,” deliberately shying away from motherhood and foregoing its glory altogether. For women, witnessing how life grows within and nurturing that life from the time of conception can be the ultimate spiritual experience. It not only intrinsically ties women to the Divine, but indeed makes paradise itself lie at her feet. (13 comments)

I attended a Salman Rushdie lecture with a made-up mind about him, hoping that he’d be able to somehow prove me wrong despite all that I had read. And during the lecture itself, he grew on me. He was quick, charming, and eloquent. But I left feeling completely to the contrary, completely disappointed with Salman Rushdie. Not as a writer, talented as he may be, but as a person. (2 comments)

In laying the groundwork for productive discussion on dating, it is essential to pay close attention to how we communicate with one another. Four panelists kick start a discussion on the communication divide between Muslim men and women, and how it must change on both the individual and communal level (Anas Coburn’s recent article also takes an in-depth look at this issue). This is the beginning of a complex and multi-faceted conversation that will expand throughout the Dialogues, and so we encourage readers to sustain it by sharing their own perspectives and questions. (17 comments)

I recently had the opportunity to interview Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah, Chairman of the Board & Scholar-in-Residence at the Nawawi Foundation, a non-profit educational foundation based in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Abd-Allah offered me his insights into the growing phenomenon of Muslim women taking off their headscarves. The first part of the four-part interview can be read here, the second part of the interview can be read here, and the third part of the interview can be read here. The fourth and final part of the interview follows: (12 comments)

I recently had the opportunity to interview Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah, Chairman of the Board & Scholar-in-Residence at the Nawawi Foundation, a non-profit educational foundation based in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Abd-Allah offered me his insights into the growing phenomenon of Muslim women taking off their headscarves. The first part of the four-part interview can be read here and the second part of the four-part interview can be read here. The third part of the interview follows: (33 comments)

I recently had the opportunity to interview Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah, Chairman of the Board & Scholar-in-Residence at the Nawawi Foundation, a non-profit educational foundation based in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Abd-Allah offered me his insights into the growing phenomenon of Muslim women taking off their headscarves. The first part of the four-part interview can be read here. The second part of the interview follows: (26 comments)

I recently had the opportunity to interview Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah, Chairman of the Board & Scholar-in-Residence at the Nawawi Foundation, a non-profit educational foundation based in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Abd-Allah offered me his insights into the growing phenomenon of Muslim women taking off their headscarves. The first part of a four part interview is published here: (24 comments)

Several Altmuslimah articles have examined the struggles of developing healthy marital relationships in Muslim communities, provoking passionate responses from readers. An ongoing conversation has emerged among writers and readers who are eager to discuss ways to improve our collective social well-being. The Dating Dialogues project is an expansion of this conversation that aims to explore topics such as gender relations, courtship, marriage, divorce, and sexuality in an honest, engaging, and constructive manner that will help both individuals and communities. (4 comments)

There is an unprecedented global shift in gender relations taking place. Until our communities recognize and respond to this shift, the critical task of deconstructing the accepted rules of masculinity will remain undone, and the difficulty of finding suitable marriage partners will continue to frustrate us all. (13 comments)

Hebah Ahmed, an American Muslim who heads a Muslim girls youth group, was recently featured in a New York Times article about the challenges that American Muslim women can face. While she does not claim to speak for every Muslim, man or woman, Hebah does insist upon all Muslims’ voices being heard in the fray on the veil and niqab legislation currently taking place all over Europe and advocates a new discourse that is neither gender or religiously exclusive. (1 comment)

When my husband and I leave for work together every morning, we have completely different experiences. I keep thinking that I am making a choice to go to work and leave my child. My husband walks out with the satisfying knowledge that he is fulfilling his duty as a father and husband by going out to provide for his family. (24 comments)

Chances are you’ve been staring at your computer screen for hours already. If not, then you may later on today. Have you ever considered how much TV and computer screen time we expose ourselves to? Often children are exposed to many more hours of screen time than recommended; the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children recommends no more than two hours of screen time daily. Stipulations of this sort are part and parcel of the campaign to lower rates of overweight children and obesity in adolescents. (Overweight is generally used for children and adolescents ages 2-20, while obesity is used for adults 21 and older). (0 comments)

Somewhere in the back of a dress shop, a heap of lace, buttons, and silk sits quietly on a table. Over the next couple of months, it will come together by the delicate hands of seamstresses to become the dress I will wear on my wedding day. I am having my dress handmade, because I discovered that finding a modest bridal gown is a rather impossible feat these days. After looking at dress after dress online and pushing back hanger after hanger at every nearby bridal store, I got the message: strapless and plunging are in, covering up on one’s wedding day is not. (1 comment)

Shahzad Iqbal is Manager of Finance for the Kashf Foundation, a Pakistani organization offering microfinance products to women. Clients have received over $200 million in microloans over the last fourteen years. Kashf has been the recipient of a number of accolades, most recently the Global Leadership Award from Vital Voices. Their work was featured in New York Times bestseller Half the Sky. In this third interview I conducted during the 2010 Skoll World Forum, I spoke to Iqbal about Kashf's history, future, and how gender is an important consideration in his work. (1 comment)

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.” (22 comments)