ISLAMIC FEMINISM: OXYMORON OR REALITY? BARCELONA CONFERENCE 2006.



The tarnishing of Islam’s image the world over that took on an unprecedented dimension with 9/11 has brought Muslims face to face with the bogey of Islamic extremism. The topic of Islam is no longer confined to personal reflection; it has entered into the political and universal public arena.

An appeal to Muslim women: "Reject the Niqab"



ecently, there has been controversy around the veil worn by some Muslim women to conceal their faces. Many have viewed this as a conflict between Muslims on one side and the "Islamophobic" west on the other. Not so. The debate is being waged primarily within Muslim society and is part of the battle for the heart and soul of Muslim communities from Tunisia to Turkey, Indonesia to India, and right here in Canada. To begin with, the veil is not required by Islam. None other than Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the Qatar-based Islamic scholar, stated in a Friday sermon that "it is not obligatory for Muslim women to wear the niqab [full face veil]." He added, "The majority of Muslim scholars and I do not support the niqab in which women cover their faces."

Assaults



By Mona Eltahawy When a mob went on a rampage of sexual assaults in downtown Cairo during the recent Eid holiday, the State-controlled media studiously ignored the issue for days. Two long-marginalized sections of Egyptian society shook that blithe blind...

Tell It Like Mama James



string of shots broke through the silence. I heard metal ricochet off of metal: not a careless accident between cars and nothing romantic like knight-swords clashing in a fight to win over some lady. But I saw Dante's car, stalled at the intersection, engine humming and two of his friends hauling around the corner so they could make it out before the sirens came looking for them, guilt left behind in the skid marks of his tires.

MUSLIM WOMEN LEADERS LAUNCH GLOBAL MOVEMENT



Manhattan, New York - Over one hundred Muslim women religious leaders, human rights activists, scholars and artists from around the world will meet in New York City on November 17th to 19th to launch WISE: The Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equity to empower Muslim women to play a greater role in their societies worldwide.

A Remembrance Day Prayer



Last week saw Remembrance Day in Canada: the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month, when we remember those soldiers who never made it home. We're taught never to forget them, nor the places where they died, the glorious battlefields of Europe, Asia, Africa. We watch on TV as veterans shed tears for their friends they'll never see again, and politicians wear poppies, and successive generations of children read "On Flanders Fields," with its grizly rhythm:

Horde Storms Compound of the Mufti of Mecca Demanding an End to Mandatory Niqab



“Men! They’re insane! If I had my way, they’d be required to stay out of our business and let us decide for ourselves what we want to wear, or what to study or where to work. It’s not like women are children, needing to have every decision made for them!”

In appreciation of the radical imams of the West



Let us appreciate the radical imams of the West. As a liberal Muslim woman I am generally loathe to express gratitude to conservative men, but the more these imams perfect the ability to say something stupid - often in Arabic, thinking that no one will find out - the more attainable they make my goal: to show that these men do not represent all Muslims.

Clothes Aren't the Issue



However, the kidnapping and killing of my friend and colleague Daniel Pearl in 2002 forced me to confront the link between literalist interpretations of the Koran that sanction violence in the world and those that sanction violence against women.