Trigger warning: This essay contains graphic descriptions of domestic violence and spiritual abuse. “And when the female infant buried alive is asked. For what sin she was slain.” Qur’an (81:9–10) I dug my nails into the green carpet of the bedroom floor to drag my stiff, red marked body toward…
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For Sidrah Ahmad-Chan, the moment felt surreal. Listening to a Muslim psychologist speaking about patterns of abuse while on stage at the American Islamic College on Saturday (Jan. 11), she pulled up Twitter. “First panel discussion and I am already reeling,” typed Ahmad-Chan, a Toronto-based researcher studying gender-based violence and…
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Uber is a popular ride-hailing app, but numerous criticisms of passenger safety have come to light over the past few years. For example, at least 103 Uber drivers have been accused of sexually assaulting or abusing passengers in the last four years, a report by CNN found. Uber safety is therefore naturally…
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A Texas imam was shuttled from mosque-to-mosque for years despite known sexual abuse, then exposed publicly with no consequences, and finally sued by a victim of his abuse–and just days ago, a court issued a judgement against him. Yet, except for a few corners of Muslim social media, the Muslim…
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Earlier this week, a Muslim American rights activist brought up the issue of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) to Representative Ilhan Omar at the inaugural convening of the Muslim Collective for Equitable Democracy in DC. Ani Zonneveld, founder of Muslims for Progressive Values, asked a question regarding a recent case in…
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Let’s End Female Genital Mutilation Jennifer, a member of the evangelical community in Kentucky, shared her testimonial as a survivor of Female Genital Mutilation(FGM) earlier this week. Jennifer is a white, Christian, American – not the usual face of an issue that is often framed as a faraway cultural practice restricted to…
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In the first federal case on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in U.S. history, a district judge in Michigan recently ruled that the federal ban was unconstitutional. Nine girls were transported across state lines (from Minnesota and Illinois) to Michigan to be cut in a Detroit clinic, after-hours. They were tricked…
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It has taken intense intellectual fighting and scientific research on the part of a few to convince the many that women’s brains are not significantly different—read “weaker”—than men’s. (Our corpora collosa tend to be larger actually, but who’s measuring? Oh, yes, centuries of patriarchal thought patterns.) The most infamous example…
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Sex is described as many things: it can be an act of passion for some, physical gratification for others, a necessity for procreation, an act of worship for people of faith, or some combination thereof. It is also a word and experience that is often loaded with many emotions: joy,…
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The sharp, buzzing noise woke me up around 3 a.m. I rolled over in bed and grabbed my BlackBerry. As a journalist living in Dubai at a time when the Arab Spring was igniting all over the Middle East, a late-night text message was particularly ominous. I put in my…
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