Friday, September 03, 2010 | 24 Ramadan 1431  
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Abbas Jaffer
Abbas Jaffer is currently pursuing a Master of Theological Studies at Harvard Divinity School, where his interests lie in Islam and masculinity. Previously, he was Muslim Fellow at the Buxton Initiative, a Washington, DC-based interfaith organization. He is a graduate of the University of Denver, where he majored in international relations and worked on efforts to prevent violence against women.

Financier Shahzad Iqbal
“Microfinance [in Pakistan] has developed dramatically”
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)

Activist Sakena Yacoobi
“I have a hundred stories to tell you”
Sakena Yacoobi is the founder and director of the Afghan Institute of Learning, a social venture in Afghanistan, which aims to bring education to women and girls. Operating since 1995, the organization has served over 7.1 million Afghans. Yacoobi has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship and the Gleitsman International Activist Award. I spoke with her at the 2010 Skoll Word Forum on her work and its impact. (3 comments)

ARZU CEO Connie Duckworth
Weaving empowerment in Afghanistan
Connie Duckworth has created a compelling model of social business for others to emulate. She is the founder and CEO of ARZU STUDIO HOPE, a textile enterprise operating in Afghanistan and selling to markets worldwide. To date, the organization employs over 600 weavers and provides services to several thousand people in Afghanistan. I sat down with her recently during the 2010 Skoll World Forum at the University of Oxford. (2 comments)

Masculinity
Muslim, man, HijabMan: An interview
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)

Book "Journey to the End of Islam"
Don’t homogenize my hajj!
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)

China crisis
Women take charge in Uighur protests
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. (No comments)

Photographer Paula Lerner
“Without balance, we get a very skewed picture”
Paula Lerner has been reaching out to the women of Afghanistan ever since the overthrow of the Taliban in 2002. As a photographer and activist, she has seen the unique challenges and triumphs of women's rights activists there. I asked her about her involvement in Afghan women's development, as well as her views on the recent Sitara Achakzai murder and the dangers Afghan women face when advocating for broader rights. (No comments)

Author Dalia Mogahed
“We’re all working for a more well-informed citizenry”
Dalia Mogahed, Executive Director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, helped oversee the largest surveys of the Muslim world, co-authoring Who Speaks for Islam: What a Billion Muslims Really Think in the process. Now, Barack Obama has tapped her to join his Faith Advisory Council. Here, we speak to Mogahed about her new position of influence. (6 comments)

Domestic violence
Holding Muslim men accountable
The spirit and the letter of Islamic law prohibit acts of relationship violence. Are we willing to hold our brothers, fathers, and sons accountable for domestic violence at work, at home, and at the mosque? (2 comments)

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Asma T. Uddin

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Zahed Amanullah

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Associate Editors
Sarah Jawaid
Anjum Malkana
Zehra Rizavi

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Fatima Bahloul

Contributing Editors
Fatemeh Fakhraie
Abbas Jaffer

Events and Publicity
Shazia Riaz

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NISI Fashion (Anisa Noormohamed , April 10, 2010)
Episode Four: Headscarf (Crystal Quallo, March 19, 2010)
Fashion Week: Malaysia (Vincent Thian/AP Photo, November 15, 2009)


News briefs for week of August 23, 2010 - This week, A Bangladesh court ruled that people cannot be forced to wear religious clothing, a youth organization in Massachusetts urges officials for more comprehensive cultural sensitivity training of teachers, Emirati women frequent hair salons less during the month of Ramadan, and the Christian Science Monitor describes the pro-women's rights stance of one of the leaders behind the proposed Islamic center near ground zero. (August 24, 2010) (0 comments)

News briefs for week of August 16, 2010 - This week, the government of Afghanistan releases statistics on alarmingly high suicide attempt rates by Afghan women, and an Islamic theologian recounts his experience on a nudist beach that led to his conversion to Islam. (August 17, 2010) (0 comments)

Ramadan: A wife’s perspective (and a husband’s) - 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. (August 13, 2010) (1 comment)

News briefs for week of August 9, 2010 - This week in the news, why pregnant women exempt from fasting still fast, Taliban responds to TIME's cover story on Aisha, Satirist claims he is not joking about his plans to open an Islamic gay bar next to Cordoba Mosque, and a young American Muslim man abstains from alcohol and dating for the month of Ramadan. (August 10, 2010) (0 comments)

News briefs for week of August 2, 2010 - Brazil offers asylum to Iranian women sentenced to death by stoning, veiled women pass through Canadian airport checkpoint without being checked, Malaysian reality show crowns its champion imam, and a few British gay Muslims find support from their local imams. (August 3, 2010) (0 comments)

News Briefs for the week of July 24, 2010 - This week, Saudi clerics seek more Muslim maids and say its okay for women to uncover their faces in the presence of burqa bans. Two French women in burqinis were refused entry into a pool, and two Muslim women in England are not allowed onto a public bus. (July 27, 2010) (0 comments)

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Founder & Editor-In-Chief
Asma T. Uddin

Executive Editor
Zahed Amanullah

Publisher
Shahed Amanullah

Associate Editors
Sarah Jawaid
Anjum Malkana
Zehra Rizavi

Multimedia Editor
Fatima Bahloul

Contributing Editors
Fatemeh Fakhraie
Abbas Jaffer
Events and Publicity
Shazia Riaz
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