I moved to Singapore 4 months ago, after living in the US for 3 years. However, if only I had a dime for every time someone was shell shocked about what they call a “reverse” move. Especially when I tell them it was my conscious decision to move, not because my H1B visa expired, not […]

In the article “Domestic violence is more than just physical abuse” published in Malay language newspaper Berita Harian on December 1, 2017, the executive director of local ulama (religious scholar) organisation Pergas, Mohd Yusri Yuhbi Mohd Yusof, looks at several aspects of abuse and neglect in Muslim families: financial, psychological and emotional, physical, sexual and […]

*A note on Malay naming conventions: President Halimah is being called “President Yacob” is Anglophone media outlets. From a Malay perspective this is is odd because “Yacob” is  her father’s name and not a family name. Therefore, it is more appropriate to use Madam Halimah or President Halimah. Click here for more information on Malay naming […]

Editor’s note: This is the first of two MMW reviews of the book Muslim Mothering: Global Histories, Theories, and Practices. This article looks at chapters 4, 10, and 11 from Muslim mothering: Global histories, theories, and practices (2016), edited by Margaret Aziza Pappano and Dana M. Olwan. I chose to look at these three chapters […]

Trigger Warning: This post contains discussion of underage rape and of transophobia Four months ago, the Singaporean newspaper The Straits Times ran a few articles on a case involving Malay Muslim transgender man Zunika Ahmad, 39. He had been charged with 20 counts of sexually penetrating a girl, a minor who was between the age of 13 […]

One of the biggest problems that Muslim women face today is the need to deconstruct and reconstruct narratives of ourselves in the media. (That’s why Muslimah Media Watch exists, amirite?) A recent interview of  Professor Jackie Ying, a Chinese Muslim scientist in Singapore, by a Singaporean Malay language news channel shows that this need can […]

“How is your situation with attending the mosque?” begins a video by Kuwaiti preacher Mishary Al-Kharaz, before he introduces us to his “friend in Yemen”. The video shows Kamal, a young man with a “handicap”, as he enters a mosque, prays sitting on a chair and then goes up to the second floor after the […]

The recent debates on Quebec’s Charter of Values and on hijabis in Singaporean workplaces remind me of a woman that I know. Her name is Dr. Lailiyya. She was born in a small town in Java, the youngest girl of twelve children. When she was little, she suffered from polio. Her poor parents were unable […]

In Singapore, the hijab is more commonly referred to with the Malay word ‘tudung’, which simply means a covering. In October this year, a petition was started on Avaaz.org by a “Syafiqah K.” to allow Muslim women in Singapore to wear tudung (hijab) in the workplace. It aimed to reach 20,000 signatures, but was closed […]

A few months ago, I came across an article about how more Burmese domestic workers in Singapore were running away from exploitative conditions. The caption of the photo told me a lot about how the mainstream media in Singapore (heavily controlled by the government) viewed these domestic workers as as causing a ‘commotion.’ This reminded […]