http://www.altmuslimah.com Both sides of the gender divide en-us asma.uddin@altmuslimah.com Copyright 2012 Halalfire Media 2012-05-17T00:54:18+00:00 http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/children_are_people_too_child_abuse_in_pakistan/ http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/children_are_people_too_child_abuse_in_pakistan/#When:23:54:18Z As a student in Karachi, I met a 10-year-old boy who I’ll call Ali. Ali was a disruptive student; generally what we’d call a problem child or a nuisance. I believe that he came from an abusive home. Though we never talked about the physical abuse, he would occasionally come to school with fresh bruises on his arms and legs, and once even a black eye. The school administration was aware of the alleged abuse and they never took any action to address it; they did, however, hesitate to call Ali’s parents regarding disciplinary issues. 2012-05-16T23:54:18+00:00 http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/dead_muslim_women_as_opportunities/ http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/dead_muslim_women_as_opportunities/#When:20:18:01Z In April of 2011, 20 year-old Jessica Mokdad was allegedly gunned down by her stepfather Rahim Alfetlawi. The media uproar over the murder was immediate and, unsurprisingly, cloaked under the sensationalized trope of “honor killing.” While Mokdad’s family, including her biological father, stressed that Alfetlawi had issues of control and was not acting out of some religious convictions, the use of “honor killing” continued and served, also, most poignantly as a source for protest against even attempted popular normalization of Muslims a la TLC. 2012-05-15T20:18:01+00:00 http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/social_media_strategist_jamiah_adams_to_lead_media_training_in_skopje_maced/ http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/social_media_strategist_jamiah_adams_to_lead_media_training_in_skopje_maced/#When:02:48:02Z 2012-05-13T02:48:02+00:00 http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/asma_uddin_at_national_press_club_series-_religious_liberty_in_2012_still_t/ http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/asma_uddin_at_national_press_club_series-_religious_liberty_in_2012_still_t/#When:02:37:31Z 2012-05-13T02:37:31+00:00 http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/happy_mothers_day_to_me/ http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/happy_mothers_day_to_me/#When:00:54:12Z Today is Mother’s Day and I have given serious thought to what I want as a present. I have pointed out things that I need and things that I don’t, but want anyway, to my progeny and their father. And I have a gorgeous white lace dress and a beautiful pair of five inch platform pumps hidden away in my laundry room - my Mother’s Day gift to myself. 2012-05-13T00:54:12+00:00 http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/hijab_and_havaianas/ http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/hijab_and_havaianas/#When:09:50:31Z I am someone who defies convention. I converted to Islam shortly after 9/11. But that didn’t mean I would become a conventional Muslim. I wanted to know God in a way that made sense to me. Every time I pick up the Quran, I’m in awe and feel even more sure that this revelation is how God wanted me to become closer to Him. But that epiphany is far from beautiful and inspiring for the majority of non-Muslims and Muslims I meet. There’s a simple explanation: I don’t wear the hijab (headscarf). My decision not to wear it is not out of defiance, but because it doesn’t work for me. 2012-05-10T09:50:31+00:00 http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/fear_not_weekend_at_bernies_is_haram_after_all/ http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/fear_not_weekend_at_bernies_is_haram_after_all/#When:21:20:29Z Two weeks ago news outlets began circling a story about the Egyptian parliament considering a law that would allow a husband to have sex with his deceased wife’s corpse up to six hours after her death. The news of this so-called ‘Farewell Intercourse’ law was first reported by Egyptian state-run al-Ahram newspaper and Egyptian ON TV, and was then picked up and analyzed by Al Arabiya English a day later. Immediately after, the international media jumped on the story. However, news outlets began to retract the story once it became clear that there was no evidence to confirm that a necrophilia law ever existed or was even under discussion in the Egyptian parliament. Svend White writes: 2012-05-08T21:20:29+00:00 http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/does_radical_feminism_advance_arab_womens_rights/ http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/does_radical_feminism_advance_arab_womens_rights/#When:00:45:58Z Last week, Mona Eltahawy triggered a polemic firestorm with her blanket assertion that Arab men's hatred of women explains the abysmal gender inequities found in the Middle East. Many Arab women are perturbed that her article "Why Do They Hate Us?" in Foreign Policy has received so much attention while millions of women leaders throughout the Middle East are reduced to a footnote by Western media. These women are the unsung heroes in the trenches struggling to shed the yoke of patriarchy infiltrating the crevices of their lives. 2012-05-05T00:45:58+00:00 http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/who_is_mona_speaking_to/ http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/who_is_mona_speaking_to/#When:11:42:16Z Mona Eltahawy’s article, “Why Do They Hate Us?,” catalogues the abuses against women in the Middle East and demonstrates how Arab countries fall in the lowest levels of world’s standards. She awakens readers to one of many horrors; arguably, the most shocking of which is that 90 percent of married women in Egypt have had their genitals mutilated. Her sensational writing style goes right for the jugular, and it would have provoked a healthy dialogue in the Arab world had her article been published in an Arabic media outlet. 2012-05-03T11:42:16+00:00 http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/the_good_muslim/ http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/the_good_muslim/#When:00:15:34Z Written by Tahmima Anam, The Good Muslim is the story of an educated, “modern” woman who loses her brother to Islamic fundamentalism. And perhaps this storyline is why the book has garnered so many rave reviews and literary awards—because Western critics and audiences enjoy literature that confirms their worst suspicions about Muslims. 2012-05-02T00:15:34+00:00 http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/a_false_analysis_of_islam_and_feminism_by_muslims_and_non-muslims/ http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/a_false_analysis_of_islam_and_feminism_by_muslims_and_non-muslims/#When:01:41:42Z “Gender is not the study of what is evident, it is an analysis of how what is evident came to be,” said Maya Mikdashi at her recent 10-point reminder on studying gender in the Middle East. Unfortunately, an influential strand of observers remains steadfastly deaf to her admonition, peddling Orientalist stereotypes as insight instead. Orientalism, the academic and literary depiction of Arabs and Muslims that sustains the West’s stereotypes of this region and its people, provides a ready framework to confer both heroism and blame to the Muslim world. 2012-04-30T01:41:42+00:00 http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/why_do_they_hate_us/ http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/why_do_they_hate_us/#When:09:48:22Z “Why Do They Hate Us,” asks Arab journalist, Mona Eltahawy, in her essay for Foreign Policy magazine. Eltahawy goes on to describe her perception of the treatment of women in the Arab world and ascribes all related mistreatment to systematic sociopolitical misogyny and patriarchy. The title of her essay is featured on the cover of the magazine with a photo of a nude woman painted in black with only her eyes showing, as if she were wearing a painted niqab and the caption under the title reads, “The real war on women is in the Middle East.” Nadia Mohammad 2012-04-27T09:48:22+00:00 http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/zahra_lari_an_example_for_women_of_faith/ http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/zahra_lari_an_example_for_women_of_faith/#When:00:46:56Z She’s been called the “Ice Princess in the Hijab.” And I think she rocks. Zahra Lari is a 17-year-old Olympic figure-skating hopeful from the United Arab Emirates. And you can’t miss her because she wears a black hijab instead of sparkly hair clips and nylon pants instead of the characteristic shiny nude tights. I love seeing a Muslim woman as a competitive athlete. I just love it. I was crushed when the Iranian women’s soccer team was disqualified from the Olympics because of their headscarves. 2012-04-26T00:46:56+00:00 http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/on_islamophobia_myopia/ http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/on_islamophobia_myopia/#When:09:40:19Z It has been three months since my story, Why Yes, I’m an Islamophobe, was published. The response to this article, has actually, become a matter of great concern for me now because I did not think there would be rishtas (proposals) from families of men pouring in from the US, UK, Canada and Europe, as my mother quoted to one of my aunts, recently. My mother could not handle the situation because “lesbian”, “gay”, “queer” are terms that are beyond her vocabulary. Her classical response to my relatives is, “Well, you know Fakhra,” followed by a quiet that is frustrating. Additionally, since I lost my job recently and have few prospects - most of which are from my “ex-rapists” - to my mother, rishtas seem like the most logical solution to “save my face” whereas for my father, I have no updates on my job status. 2012-04-25T09:40:19+00:00 http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/10_muslim_women_every_person_should_know/ http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/10_muslim_women_every_person_should_know/#When:13:20:55Z Contrary to popular belief, Muslim women have served as revolutionary and heroic leaders. However, in recent years, due to the global socio-political climate, the phrase "Muslim woman" might conjure an image of a demure un-empowered woman sheltered by her burqa. Yet this image is not what our history records or what our present reflects. For example, the current Prime Ministers of Bangladesh (Sheikh Hasina Wazed) and Mali (Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé) are Muslim women. Similarly, the current President of Kosovo, Atife Jahjaga, is the world's youngest female president, as well as her country's first female Muslim president. 2012-04-23T13:20:55+00:00 http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/the_evolution_of_insults/ http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/the_evolution_of_insults/#When:01:19:44Z Western etiquette dictates that there are three topics never to be discussed at a dinner party – personal finances, politics and sex. Somehow my Indo-Pakistani /Muslim compatriots missed the memo on the first two topics. At parties I am routinely asked what my husband makes and how much we paid for our house. Fostering an air of ditziness (which, worrisomely, my questioners find eminently believable) I evade their nosy inquiries. The third topic of sex rarely arises. 2012-04-20T01:19:44+00:00 http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/khadija_the_first_lady_of_islam_an_interview_with_maxine_meilleur/ http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/khadija_the_first_lady_of_islam_an_interview_with_maxine_meilleur/#When:08:31:35Z Khadija, The First Lady of Islam, is a recently published jewel of Islamic historical fiction that eloquently narrates the entire life of one of the most honored women in Islam--an exquisite testimony to her life and her contributions to the religion. Delicately crafted by Maxine Meilleur, this comprehensive, well- researched work is a must-have for Muslim and non-Muslim history buffs, book lovers, and Khadija admirers. 2012-04-17T08:31:35+00:00 http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/the_case_of_the_missing_cultural_identity/ http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/the_case_of_the_missing_cultural_identity/#When:09:53:08Z I was born in Pakistan, grew up in the United States, lived in Canada, then shifted to the U.S., only to return to Canada and now I’m back in the good ol’ U.S.A. (for now). That’s quite a mouthful when someone asks me where I am from. To avoid the detailed geography lesson, I give them the cliff notes version, replying I’m from “here” (here being where ever I happen to be at the moment).That response earned me quite the evil eye from a corpulent ‘auntie’ the other day. Her chins quivered and arms jiggled as she knowingly bellowed so everyone in the room would catch her remark, “Oh, so you’re one of THOSE girls, haan?” One of those girls? Umm, sure. 2012-04-16T09:53:08+00:00 http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/sex_and_islam_do_mix_but_not_in_america/ http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/sex_and_islam_do_mix_but_not_in_america/#When:01:32:40Z America's contradictory and passive-aggressive dalliance with sexuality is reflected within its Muslim communities. For some, it is difficult to believe that sexual organs function the same whether they are hidden behind a burqa or a bikini. As a Muslim man, I can verify that Muslims experience the same universal awkwardness of finding "hair in new places" as any other pimpled adolescent; the onslaught of puberty is precisely the time when parents need to have the "birds and the bees" talk to facilitate open lines of communication guiding them through these changes. 2012-04-12T01:32:40+00:00 http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/shaima_alawadi_beyond_hoodies_and_hijabs/ http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/shaima_alawadi_beyond_hoodies_and_hijabs/#When:01:39:04Z The perplexing circumstances surrounding the brutal murder of a young mother, Shaima Alawadi, has had the Muslim American community abuzz recently. As her daughter purportedly found Alawadi’s body with a note stating, “go back to your country, you terrorist,” many rushed to label the incident as a ‘hate crime,’ even attempting to demonstrate a link between her death and that of Trayvon Martin, the 17 year old shot by neighborhood watchman, George Zimmerman. Nadia Mohammad 2012-04-11T01:39:04+00:00