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 …
Continue reading And the Patriarchy Lunges: the Purpose of the Wali
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 …
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
If it isn’t clear already, I am not a hijabi. But while other young Muslim women would express disapproval (in a not-so-keen patriarchal tactic of pitting women against each other) at the trope of the hijabi who goes clubbing with her friends and wears vivid makeup while simultaneously donning a “modest” persona, I would almost …
Most people, especially most religious people, are not aware that they are not living in a vacuum. They aren't aware that their words and actions are politically charged, or of the wider implications and interpretational consequences. They think they are just being religious. They think they are just being religious and living their lives even …
Continue reading When ordinary Muslims say things in the media (and it sounds outrageous)
I have probably written more posts on this over-scrutinized practice than I had ever intended to write or would ever read from myself (I sincerely thank you all for tolerating them with magnificent patience.) While I usually approach the dynamics of determining what is or isn’t modest from the oppressive claims of patriarchal men (and …
Dear Readers, Last night I had planned to attend Taraweeh at my favorite mosque. It is a mosque on the hills overlooking higher mountains. At night the lights in the mountains are enchanting. There used to be an elevated extension—sort of like a tree house—before the (much smaller) women’s area was built. The mosque itself …
the fatal feminist 