- Belgium moves towards public ban of niqab and burka after a city bans headscarves and drafts a law against niqabs. More from GetReligion and the Telegraph.
- A young Yemeni girl escapes her abusers after years of physical and sexual abuse. May Allah keep her and give her justice. Meanwhile, the debate about legal marriage age is polarizing Yemeni society.
- For her project The Taxi Takes on Terror, freelance documentary filmmaker Vandana Sood interviews a female Muslim taxi driver in Mumbai.
- Two female homicide bombers blew themselves up on a busy subway in Moscow this week, renewing Russia’s terrorism fears, especially regarding “black widows.” May Allah give the victims of the bombings peace and justice. More at Salon and the Los Angeles Times.
- At Bikya Masr, Ruqaya Izzidien comments on the desire for whiteness in Egypt.
- In Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Health is considering a law that will allow female pharmacists and opticians to work outside of hospitals.
- The Herald Sun reports on Belgium’s “Shariah-compliant” online sex shop just for Muslims. So does the Times Online.
- Hadeel al-Salchi comments on her experiences living and working in the Middle East after she’s had some time to reflect.
- The women’s center at the Al-Jazirah newspaper in Saudi Arabia creates a space for women to excel in journalism.
- Mah-Soltan Rabbani, wife of the late Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, died last week. May Allah give her peace. Her funeral was swarmed despite heavy government presence.
- A court in Kuwait has sentenced a woman to death for starting a fire at wedding celebrations in which her husband was taking a second wife.
- Finance Minister Raya Haffar Hassan called for adopting women’s quotas in the political, economic, educational, and media sectors.
- NDTV looks at the popularity of taxi services for women in the Middle East.
- The Saudi Gazette runs a three-part series about women’s unemployment in Saudi Arabia.
- Babylon & Beyond highlights a novel by one of the Arab world’s most high-profile male-to-female transsexuals.
- Kartika Sari Dewi Sukarno will not be caned for drinking beer; she will perform community service instead.
- Mphutlane Wa Bofelo takes down men who want to “keep African Muslim women in their place.”
- AltMuslimah looks at how American Muslim women balance work and family life.
- The Daily Times reports on the launch of Fawzia Afzal Khan’s book Lahore With Love: Growing up with Girlfriends, Pakistani Style.
As always, if there are stories about Muslim women from this week that you don’t see on our roundup, feel free to post them in the comments!