Gender Issues and the Hijab/Burqa
On ballots this November: More Muslim American women
While many things have changed for Muslim Americans since the September 11th terrorist attacks, one remarkable and positive change is currently unfolding – more Muslims, particularly Muslim women, are running for political office. Agha Saeed, founder of the American Muslim Alliance, has tracked Muslim candidates for over a decade. Before September 11th, less than 5…
Mixed-Gender Swimming Worries Swiss Muslims
A recent Swiss ruling against exempting Muslim students from compulsory, mixed-gender swimming classes has sparked debate over respect of the religious belief of minorities. On October 24, a Swiss court turned down a request by a Muslim father to exempt his two sons from taking part in mixed swimming classes. The ruling stated that equality…
Europe’s First Woman Imam
The Al-Sahaba mosque in the northern Belgian city of Verviers has granted female Muslim professor Hawaria Fattah to fulfill the position of imam at the mosque. The move is the first of its kind both in Belgium, and in greater Europe. Fattah, along with two male imams, will supervise the preaching activities for women at…
Met’s most senior Muslim woman ‘ostracised’
A Muslim woman responsible for upholding racial and religious diversity within the Metropolitan police claims she was so marginalised that she was not even allowed to make the coffee. Yasmin Rehman, 42, the force’s director of partnerships and diversity, is taking her bosses to an employment tribunal claiming she was bullied because of her colour…
Johann Hari: Dare we stand up for Muslim women?
While we’re addicted to oil, governments will put petroleum before feminism: “It’s the smell I remember. Shahnaz’s face – what was left of it – reeked of a day-old barbecue, left out in the rain. Her flesh was a mess of charred meat: her skin, the soft flesh of her cheeks, and the bones beneath…