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By Jehanzeb Dar, January 19, 2012
<< From the AltMuslimah Archives >>
I always find it disturbing nowadays when I hear someone, female or male, say, “Be a man.” It is an expression that is not only commonly used in our language, but also rarely confronted.
“Women are dumb,” Bryan* said, “they already have a thousand things going on in their mind about you, so when you ask her out, set a specific date and time; don’t leave it open-ended.” I think I almost choked on my dinner as I heard him advise my friend, Dave.*  ( ) |
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Devotees mark 738th anniversary of Rumi’s death By Fahad Faruqui , December 19, 2011 |
Jalaluddin Rumi is famed as much in the west as in east for the tradition of whirling and an assortment of devotional poetry. His death anniversary on Dec. 17 is known as Wedding Night, or Seb-i Arus in Turkish. Like every year, dervishes and devoted fans across the world, especially in his final resting place Konya, Turkey, whirl like a spinning wheel to pay tribute to their beloved Mevlana, meaning Our Master. Others read his poetry in gatherings or in solitude to reflect on the intended message. ( ) |
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“Manhood” and the mosque By Moein Khawaja, December 13, 2011 |
<< From the AltMuslimah Archives >>
It is jummah and I’m right on time, ready to listen to the entire khutbah. Today I’ve chosen to sit in the middle, closer to the back, hoping to remain inconspicuous. I’ll soon regret this decision. The khutbah begins, and ten minutes later, Abdullah saunters in. As luck would have it Abdullah plants himself right in front of me, obstructing my view of the imam and leaving me to crane my neck if I want a peek at our speaker. ( ) |
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Dude, where’s my masculinity? By Anas Coburn, December 12, 2011 |
<< From the AltMuslimah Archives >>
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. ( ) |
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Masculinity in the Muslim world By Anwar Darwish, December 9, 2011 |
<< From the AltMuslimah Archives >>
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. ( ) |
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Pornography and national security By Jennifer Bryson, August 23, 2011 |
We need to go beyond the surface level of what terrorists want us to believe about themselves and delve instead, to the extent possible, into the deepest levels of their actual lived reality. Last week a federal grand jury indicted Army soldier Naser Jason Abdo, age 21, on three charges related to a plot to attack soldiers near Fort Hood, Texas. Much of the attention on this case so far has focused on Abdo's religion- Islam. Any effort to make sense of this troubled young man will need to include an understanding of how he chose to approach and interpret his religion. ( ) |
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Developing Muslim gentlemen of quality By Imam Khalid Latif, August 19, 2011 |
More often than not, when we hear lectures around gender roles and responsibilities in Islam, these pertain to women. In the very few instances that we hear a lecture dealing with men or male responsibility, it's done in a way where there is criticism, but no discussion of solution. We're really good at pointing out the problem, but not so good at dealing with it. ( ) |
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The Role of Men in Religious Terrorism By Asma Uddin and Michael Vicente Perez, July 29, 2011 |
Since the capture of Anders Behring Breivik, the Oslo terrorist and murderer, at least two critical issues have emerged. The first is his sanity, or lack thereof. The second is that Breivik's assaults may have been ideologically motivated. According to Breivik's logic, the murder of 76 people was necessary to challenge the Muslim takeover of the West. It was also an act directed at some of the people who, in his mind, were making the conquest possible: liberals or, more specifically, the Labor Party. ( ) |
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Are Muslim men scared of professional single Muslim women in their thirties? By Jalees Rehman, May 15, 2011 |
A recent article on altmuslimah.com entitled “Searching for Khadijah: A boy’s perspective” by Sajid Hassan garnered quite a bit of attention as evidenced by the long string of passionate comments it received, far more than most other articles on Altmuslimah. The article described the pressure that professional Muslim American women face from their families and their social circles to get married in their early twenties, because it becomes much more difficult to find a partner once they hit their thirties. ( ) |
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A boy’s perspective By Sajid Hassan, April 17, 2011 |
Even in these modern times, our community does not support the older generation of unmarried Muslim women who are struggling to find compatible spouses. These women are calling the community to account for this problem, and as a young man who sympathizes with them and seeks to marry one of them, I have encountered the same extremely negative attitude from the community. ( ) |
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Lessons in manliness By Yasser El Hadari, February 22, 2011 |
As I sit writing this, I look back at the past days, and have come to a conclusion: the Egyptian revolution has made a better man of me. Every stage I spent, from sitting at home watching the news and discussing the revolution, to guarding my neighborhood then actually participating in the protests, have taught me real-life lessons in being a better man. ( ) |
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The role of masculinity in the Egyptian uprising By Annie Rebekah Gardner, February 16, 2011 |
During Egypt’s Great Communications Blackout of 2011 - I am hesitant to assume that this government orchestrated counter-attack is over as I have yet to send or receive text messages, save pro-regime propaganda - my dear friend Max Strasser was able to fill readers in on the large role that women have played in Egypt’s uprising, and indeed, many media outlets have followed suit. ( ) |
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A call to men By Tony Porter, December 11, 2010 |
At TEDWomen, Tony Porter makes a call to men everywhere: Don't "act like a man." Telling powerful stories from his own life, he shows how this mentality, drummed into so many men and boys, can lead men to disrespect, mistreat and abuse women and each other. His solution: Break free of the "man box." ( ) |
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Eradicate Masculinity By Jehanzeb Dar, October 5, 2010 |
Advocating for the eradication of masculinity is not reactionary, nor is it self-hatred. It is a diligently honest and critical examination of the fundamental concept and construct of masculinity, how it is defined, particularly in mainstream North American societies, and how its normalization in daily life and culture is interrelated with homophobic, sexist, racist, classist, and oppressive social structures in white heteropatriarchal capitalist states. ( ) |
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Muslim, man, HijabMan: An interview By Abbas Jaffer, February 8, 2010 |
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. ( ) |
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Islam and manhood By Anwar Darwish, December 25, 2009 |
The infamy of Islamist terrorism over the past decade has created an image of the Muslim man as intrinsically prone to violent behavior, even if directed toward the self rather than the other. The image of the angry, flag-burning, chanting Muslim man has come to symbolize male violence. However the photos fail to explain that, firstly, the anger, in many instances, is justified, secondly, that the chants rarely spill over into to physical violence, and thirdly that violence is not exclusive to Muslim men. ( ) |
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