This post was written by Guest Contributor Aisha Jamal. Aisha is a former features editor of the Saudi Gazette, and graduate of the London School of Economics. Last year, Saudi Arabia announced that it was finally going to allow Saudi women to drive. It was hailed as a watershed moment, the result of Saudi female […]

On September 26, the government of Saudi Arabia issued a royal decree announcing that Saudi women will be able to acquire drivers’ licenses and drive legally in the near future. Although the specifics of the policy and legal shift have yet to be released (Saudi women are not yet driving),  the announcement has been well-covered […]

Ilhan Omar, a 34-year-old, hijab-wearing Muslim-American woman, has become the United States’ first Somali-American legislator after winning a seat in the Minnesota House of Representatives. A group of women in Jordan are defying gender roles for a career on the road. While it’s not easy working in a male-dominated sector, the country’s female taxi drivers […]

Saudi Arabia announced it will be sending four female athletes to Rio Olympics. It follows separate release about male squad amid ongoing sensitivity about the issue in the Gulf kingdom. Indian Muslim women defy tradition and men to be judges. The year-long program aims to produce a steady stream of female “Qadis” across India. She […]

At the recent three-day Film & Comic Convention in Dubai, I was struck by the number of young, female collective art groups from the Gulf region. One example of such a collective, Light Studio, has members who travel from Saudi Arabia to attend conventions such as this in order to sell and promote the work […]

Author’s Note: Quotes are taken from an uncorrected proof. The Green Bicycle is the debut novel by Haifa al-Mansour, based on her movie, Wadjda. Both the movie and the book tell the story of free-spirited 11-year-old Wadjda who enters a Quran competition to raise money to buy a green bicycle. Wadjda reminds me a lot […]

Saraswati, a make up artist from Malaysia, has captured the attention of thousands on Instagram, after using her hijab to help transform herself into popular Disney characters. Under the name Queen of Luna, Saraswati has shared over 300 posts with her 27,000 followers – each of them incredible and accurate recreations of different cartoons and […]

This week’s Friday Links were compiled by Eren and Samya.  Australia Racism and sexism is creating a toxic mix for the hundreds of thousands of Muslim women living in Australia, says Dr. Mehreen Faruqi as they have become the most likely targets of those retaliating and venting their anger in the aftermath of terrorist incidents. Dr. […]

Afghanistan In Afghanistan, half of all deaths among women aged 15 to 49 are because of pregnancy and childbirth. A video by The Guardian titled, “The imams, the Taliban and the condoms” follows two imams’ project to raise awareness about birth control methods and women’s health. Australia Susan Carland, an Australian academic, who regularly receives […]

Afghanistan Afghan rights activist Aziza Rahimzada has been nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize – an award previously won by Malala Yousafzai – and, like her Pakistani counterpart, hopes to spread her message of universal education and fundamental rights for Afghanistan’s youth. Australia A man attacked a 21-year-old Muslim woman outside the State Library […]