From this year onwards, wearing a niqab is officially an offence in the Netherlands, with “stiff fines” as the punishment. In 2012, interior minister Liesbeth Spies and the Freedom Party (PVV) of Geert Wilders pushed for a ban  on dual nationality, which received mixed support within Parliament. What do wearing a face-covering veil and having another nationality […]

This post was written by guest contributor Amina Jabbar. As I was sifting through the internet, blogger A Bengali in T.O. caught me with a personal question: “Where are the Girls in this Mosque?” The women’s prayer space at the mosque he was visiting was completely separated, with no direct view of speaker in the […]

This post was written by guest contributor Rana Nazzal. I had the honour of speaking with three local Ottawa artists about their identity as Muslim women in relation to performance arts. A few years ago, I noticed a dramatic increase in the presence of Muslim women on stages in Ottawa, particularly in the fields of […]

On December 30 of last year, someone wearing a niqab threw acid in the face of 20 year old Victoria’s Secret shop assistant, Naomi Oni as she returned home after a late shift work one night. As Naomi Oni approached the flat she shared with her mother in Dagenham, East London, she caught a glimpse […]

This post was written by guest contributor Nur Laura Caskey. Once upon a time, back in the 90’s (so long ago for some, I know), there was a band called Salt ‘N Peppa that performed the song “Whatta Man.” The opening lyrics started with “I wanna take a minute or two/ and give much respect […]

Celebrity marriages always come with a lot of public anticipation, and this was the case with the wedding of Saif Ali Khan and  Kareena Kapoor, who after five years of  a very public courtship, married on Oct 2012. However, the speculation surrounding the relationship didn’t end post-marriage. Apart from being India’s heartthrob, Saif Ali Khan […]

What do you think when you hear the word Latin? Or Latina, to be more exact? Spicy? Or perhaps “loud,” “flamboyant” and “sexy”? Maybe the word just inspires images of women like Salma Hayek and J-Lo. Many of us are, sadly, very familiar with the image of what “Latinas” are supposed to look like. Just […]

Editor’s Note: This post was written by Yasmin Ali.  I apologise for not including her name when this was originally posted. – Krista I recently attended a symposium on Islamophobia at American Islamic College titled “Facing Religious Intolerance: Islamophobia in the 21st Century .” Panel members included Nathan Lean as well as Ahmed Rehab and Dr. […]

In recent months, Indonesia has been appearing in the Asian media every time there is a non-Muslim celebration. I first noticed this with the debates on wishing “Merry Christmas” by Muslims to Christians, on Christians holding Christmas mass, and the accounts of violence done to churches in December 2012. A few weeks ago, the same debates were repeated on the […]

Last week, several major news outlets in Minnesota reported St. Paul police officers dressed as Somali women wearing hijab (I’ve included links here from Minnesota Public Radio; the stories also received coverage in local newspapers The Star Tribune and St. Paul Pioneer Press). Pictures of the police officers were found on Twitter and initiated a […]