Politics

Barely a day goes by without a headline related to Islam or Muslims in British media. Despite the many rational and unbiased reminders by intellectuals and political figures to avoid an over-simplified, generalized image of Muslims, the various mainstream media sources do not always heed that advice. Indeed, it is much more sensational to portray the Muslim community as violent, extremist, and backward, and to highlight incidents showing Muslim women to be oppressed and subjugated. Islam continues to be represented as the exotic and potentially-dangerous “other.”

Hissa Hilal, a master of language, has inspired an exchange of words around the world. For the past several Wednesdays, Hilal has risen to the podium on Abu Dhabi TV’s Million’s Poet (also known as Poet of Millions) – a televised poetry contest in which people of all walks of life compete for $1.3 million. Hilal recently gained unprecedented attention throughout the world for one of her recent original poems, The Chaos of Fatwas, a 15-verse poem about religious clerics who are “angry and blind.”

After years of critique from local female activists, why did one of the most powerful media platforms for women’s empowerment, Tina Brown’s The Daily Beast, preclude the more meaningful ways to understand the complex lives of women in Afghanistan and Pakistan? Their recent summit in New York City featured a discussion titled “On the Brink: Women in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” which embodied longstanding critiques of how gender and women’s oppression in areas of strategic U.S. interest are problematically framed within western contexts. A deeper analysis can help ensure that their messages are not overlooked.

Headscarves are the hot talking point in French politics again. But on this occasion, we aren’t talking about girls getting kicked out of high school or women getting kicked out of mayors’ offices. No, the latest uproar comes about Ms. Ilham Moussaïd, a candidate from the New Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA) in France’s upcoming regional elections who dares to “visually” identify herself as a Muslim and stand for election. Feminists and politicians are up in arms. While not the first candidate with a headscarf, the buzz around Moussaïd’s candidature is something new.

The one I wanted to wrap in my arms and bring home was Nebras. I didn’t even know her name when I went back to Iraq, shortly after the assault on Baghdad. I was armed only with a photo of a beggar touching her nose with her tongue. I had met her a few months before, when I’d traveled to Iraq with a women’s delegation, just five weeks before the U.S. bombings and invasion. Unfazed by impending disaster, the little girl, old enough to be in primary school, had begged for handouts in a popular market.

Like any other social media platform, Facebook hosts a wide range users, some looking for intellectual stimulation, and some others looking for 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.

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.

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.