And the Patriarchy Lunges: the Purpose of the Wali

Dear readers, there are few "Islamic" [?!] practices that I reject entirely (actually I can only think of this one), but if I were to toss out any--any at all--it would be the practice of "giving away" the bride. Fuck that noise, seriously. This is one of those things that is mandated nowhere in the …

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On the Mosque Reconstruction: An Update

Your wonderful messages seem to have gotten some attention--if you remember from this post, the mosque in my area is in the middle of a (very long) reconstruction process, and recently they've announced that they were going to "fix something" about the discrepancy in the space allotted to women compared to men, because there have …

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Islamic History and the Women You Never Hear About: Zaat al-Khaal

The very earliest of the Umayyads did not keep harems of jawari (or slave women, if I can translate roughly for a moment), but instead a woman’s power was rightfully her own, and her nobility was measured by her defiance. Among the women who demonstrate this are Sakina bint al-Hussain and A’isha bint Talha, both …

Continue reading Islamic History and the Women You Never Hear About: Zaat al-Khaal