Editor’s Note: This piece was  originally posted by AltMuslim and written by Guest Contributors Nahida S. Nisa (@haraammermaids), Shehnaz Haqqani (@qrratugai) and Darakshan Raja (@DarakshanRaja). For past MMW pieces on Asra Nomani, see here, here, and here. After accusations of rape were made against Tariq Ramadan, Asra Nomani wrote an article for the New York Times parading an […]

In a recently aired Saturday Night Live skit, comedian Kenan Thompson played host to a gameshow called Should You Chime in on this? In it, contestants (caricatured as having little intellect and even less of a personal connection to the topics presented) had to refrain from weighing in on recent news items. Even when knowing […]

Saba Ahmed, the founder of the Republican Muslim Coalition, appeared on Fox News in an American flag hijab. See the BBC news article here (as I refuse to link to anything going to Fox News) and if you want to buy her hijab, Forbes has let us know it is ten dollars and can be […]

A few weeks ago, I was meeting a friend of a friend for the first time. Now usually, my name gets transformed into Tamsin, or Tasmeem, or Tasmeen (the last two have quite unfortunate meanings in Arabic). In this case, the person I was introducing myself to said “Oh, like that creepy ISI woman.” I […]

How to keep a hijab on when skydiving in Dubai? A Canadian female skydiving instructor discusses how Muslim women can experience all the excitement in the emirate of Dubai.   What made a young Australian lady defend a Muslim woman against a racial rant? A viral video shows a Muslim couple as victims of a […]

Veena Malik is a Pakistani actress with a special flair for controversy. She first made major headlines after confronting a Mullah who accused her of inappropriate and vulgar behavior while participating on the Indian reality show ‘Bigg Boss.’ Her confrontation was praised by many, as she took a stand against general double-standards thrown at men […]

When an act of bigotry or prejudice occurs, it is often accompanied by an insidious denial that an act of bigotry is even occurring. You would think that cancelling advertising during the reality television show All-American Muslim because showing Muslims as ordinary people apparently equals doom to the US – as the company Lowe’s (and […]

In a recent article by heralded Muslim Feminist Mona Eltahawy in the ever-tabloid Toronto Star, asks to be allowed to confuse you, the reader, by virtue of the apparently contradictory label self-assigned to her socio-political and religious beliefs. The point of article, as it become somewhat clear-ish in the last few sparse paragraphs, is to shed light on how despite her unorthodox views on Islam, and particularly gender in Islam, the faith “belongs” to her as much as to any other Muslim, more orthodox than her or not. This perspective frames her support for the Mosque near Ground Zero in New York City, Park51; a support caught between ” [televangelist] Bill Keller’s right wing: bigoted and xenophobic [..and] the Muslim right wing, which uses Islam…to fuel its misogyny.”

Whenever I encounter Asra Nomani’s works or see her in an interview, I usually wonder,“What is her point?” I don’t say this derisively. Is she trying to speak about gender inequality among the ummah? Is she trying to deal with gender norms in her own South Asian community? These questions formed in my mind as […]

I have begun to read Khaled Abou El-Fadl’s Speaking in God’s Name: Islamic Law, Authority and Women again. My first attempt was about two years ago while I was still finishing my Bachelor’s. The book is not easy to get through and the first time out proved to be a massive failure. This time is […]