Reading classical texts on hadith (the words and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad), he kept running across women’s names as authorities. He decided to do a biographical dictionary—a well-established genre in Muslim scholarly culture—that included all the women experts of hadith. “A short book, then?” I teased. “That’s what I…
Read More
I listened to a woman recite Quran recently. I did a show at an all-girls college over the weekend, and like at many Islamic events, someone got up to recite Quran to start the event on a blessed note. But this time it was a girl (gasp! dun dun dunnnnnnnn!)…
Read More
Muslim Masculinity in the West in the 21st century is largely understudied. And to date, no research has looked at the ways in which uprisings in the United States have affected Muslim masculinities. Muslim Americans are comprised of various cultures and traditions, each describing masculinity and gender roles differently. Despite…
Read More
Each Year, Yale University hosts a banquet to celebrate the Muslim holiday Eid Ul-Adha commemorating prophet Abraham and signaling the end of the pilgrimage. … The women took charge and it was life altering. Their aim: to make waves as minority women at a top tier institution….
Read More
In her latest piece for Aeon, Rafia Zakaria asks: Why do empires care so much about women’s clothes? In 1820, in the Indian city of Benares, an English Baptist missionary named Smith helped to save a woman from the Hindu practice of sati, the burning of widows. He described…
Read More
A few hours after hitting its all-time stock price high today, Netflix has announced a new program for all employees. In a blog post, the company outlined its unlimited maternity and paternity leave program. Its Chief Talent Office, Tawni Cranz, said: At Netflix, we work hard to foster a “freedom and…
Read More
On a daily basis, countless stereotypes about Muslim women are circulated on and offline. Richard Dawkins, the famous evolutionary biologist and prominent atheist, recently tweeted: “Islam needs a feminist revolution. It will be hard. What can we do to help?” Angered by Dawkins’ comments, many Muslim women responded. However, Dawkins’ comment is,…
Read More
On Sunday, the Muslim Women’s Council had a public consultation on proposals for a women-only mosque in Bradford. It follows the opening of a women’s mosque in the US earlier this year. There are also plans for something similar in India. You would think that in a city where there…
Read More
When a major company pollutes a city’s water with toxic chemicals and won’t clean up its mess, Nicki Minaj will be there to call them out. Or, at least her songs will be. Minaj’s “Anaconda” was the inspiration for Indian rapper Sofia Ashraf’s video spotlighting Unilever, a consumer products company that polluted…
Read More
Canadian Muslim visual artist Noor Al-Mosawi has created a captivating series of self-portraits based on Mark Gonzales’ new book In Times of Terror, Wage Beauty. A freelance wedding photographer, Al-Mosawi wanted to return to her passion for visual narrative. She started with a project entitled Beyond A Label, a series…
Read More