One of the most common questions that the media, and maybe even non-Muslim in everyday life, have for women who wear hijab is “how do you do [insert whatever said activity here] in hijab?” It is probably also a question that Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir gets often, since she is a star high school basketball player in […]

Gallup released a new study on Monday examining American Muslims. Some of the results: Muslims are highly educated. More so than most of the American population. Muslims are only second to Jews in educational attainment. American Muslims are an incredibly diverse group comprised of 35% African Americans, 28% whites, 18% Asians and 1% Latinos. American […]

Two women, Khuloud Faqih and Asmahan Wuheidi,  have become judges in Islamic courts in the West Bank. This is such a great milestone, not only for Palestinian women, but for Muslim women, too. We often have our ability to be judges questioned because we’re seen as too emotional and irrational to be judges. This bias was evidenced by […]

NPR did a piece on the “honor killing” of Sandeela Kanwal on January 26, 2009. Kanwal was the daughter of Chaudry Rashid, a Pakistani immigrant who lives in a suburb of Atlanta. The police in Clayton County (where Kanwal and Rashid lived) say that Rashid killed his daughter because she wanted to divorce her husband and Rashid […]

In spring 2006, I was in a Barnes & Nobles in downtown Philadelphia looking for a book to read, when Minaret caught my eye. It was in a display of books recommended by the staff. The front cover wasn’t that intriguing (usual woman with a veil on her face that often shows up on books […]

Xpress News profiles traditional Emirati burqa makers (and wearers). Via Izzy Mo. The New York TImes interviews a Saudi rock band–made up of girls. Rock on, ladies! Via Progressive Muslima News. More from MidEast Youth. On women’s fashion in Malaysia. And speaking of Malaysia, the Sisters in Islam of Malaysia is pushing back against a […]

Recently, there has been much discussion in the media over the use of the term “honor killing”. Is the term racist? Does it implicate Islam for killings that are not religiously sanctioned? Are “honor killings” really domestic violence that is no different from domestic violence that occurs in every society? The National Post published a […]

What’s the first image that comes to your mind when you think of a Muslim woman? Is she Arab or South Asian? White or maybe Afghan or Indonesian? Notice that I haven’t mentioned African American (and also Latina). The media depiction of Muslim women usually does not include African American women. Often, Muslim women are […]

Normally, whenever I see anything with the phrase “Behind the veil” I automatically cringe and get myself ready for Orientalist stereotypes and generalizations about Muslim women. Na’ima B. Robert’s “Behind the veil: the online diary of a British Muslim woman” isn’t quite so bad. Although at first glance it does seem that way, especially considering […]

Fashion designers are now starting to see head scarves as the latest hot fashion trend. In an IslamOnline article, various designers were quoted about this new trend. Two words that came up often were”modesty” and “chastity”. Apparently, fashion designers want to show that modesty, chastity, and elegance are not mutually exclusive. Although the designers said […]