The pledge below, a collaborative effort of Orbala, myself, Zahra Khan, Laury Silvers, and Saadia Sultana, among other Muslim feminists, seeks to boycott panels, anthologies, conferences, etc. where at least half of the speakers are not women until this cute, unIslamic trend is eliminated entirely. We advise that only men should sign the pledge, as women are presented too few opportunities to partake in the boycott.

This is a pledge for men with a sense of morality to sign. By signing below, you are agreeing to the following:

I agree and acknowledge that women are our community, and their voices, struggles, authority, and experiences have been ignored for centuries. I not only condemn this but am willing to commit everything in my power to correcting this gender imbalance so that it does not continue. I pledge not to participate in, attend, or otherwise support any panels, conferences, meetings, events, etc. where a fair representation of women does not exist; ideally, the number of women present in such meetings should be at least that of the male contributors. Similarly, I will decline to contribute to any anthologies and edited volumes with an unfair or no representation of female contributors. I will recommend possible female panelists so that the organizers can contact them instead. I also pledge to attentively address the concerns of female authors, panelists, speakers, leaders, and scholars who are participating in a male-dominated environment that they are unable to boycott due to too few opportunities. Finally, not only will I withhold my support of these meetings and books, but I will also openly condemn them so that the men in charge understand that their discrimination against women is unequivocally unacceptable and has to end yesterday.

Of course, if this petition were truly “Islamic” as patriarchal scholars have come to understand, we should require two female speakers for every male speaker.

Please sign and, most importantly, pass along. Be aware that once signing the pledge, you will be held accountable for upholding your promise.