HU

Muslim women's study group

One that I'd happily join, for once.

posted by koonj at 22:49 |

Honor Killings

"Shaykhspeara" blogs on honor killings, which now seems to be including a few boy victims as well...

posted by Leila M. at 23:44 |

Gustavo Mustafa over at Progressive Islam Org

"Adaab" silences Rape in a Muslim family

Harrowing. Personal. Truth.

posted by Leila M. at 18:43 |

Essay by Na'eem Jeenah over at Hot Coals

FYI- we need more content from South Africa here!

Let the angels sing. That’s our culture

Two quotes, to give you an idea as to content:

I’m wondering whether allegations of sexual harassment in South Africa will soon become ‘normal’, like stories of murder, rape and armed robbery. Will we all become desensitised to it to the extent that we yawn when we see yet another story of accusations of sexual harassment against some or other politician.

and also:

After all, isn’t Islam (or, if you will, “Islamic culture”) often used as a justification for the hateful (and, in fact, unIslamic) manner in which many Muslim women are treated – including the ways they are sexually treated in the bedroom? Indeed, many Muslim men use much more powerful religio-cultural arguments to get what they want from women than the vague resort to “Zulu culture” or “Xhosa culture” which is more easily disputed. And this theology of misogyny is fast becoming part of the popular culture of Muslims in South Africa and around the world.

posted by Leila M. at 19:51 |

Interesting article on Lebanese Shi'i women

and political/religious participation:


Lebanese Shia Women: Temporality and Piety

PDF article

posted by Leila M. at 19:46 |

Bethlehem Soccer Players

For Palestinian women soccer players, a field is a dream

Excerpt:

BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK - It's a chilly late afternoon in Bethlehem. Along quiet streets, grocers are hastily packing away vegetable stalls; colorful Christmas decorations glint in shop windows. And, on a steep hill at the edge of the Bethlehem University campus, a group of 12 young Palestinian women are braving the cold for a precious once-weekly ritual: soccer practice.



The women, between the ages of 14 and 22, make up the majority of the Palestinian Territories national women's soccer team, which meets on an improvised concrete soccer field every Wednesday, rain or shine. Currently, they are working hard in preparation for their next tournament, despite lingering questions over whether they will be able to attend.

"We hope," says Samar Araj Mousa, Bethlehem University's athletic director who founded the team in 2003, "that we will play at the second Arab Women's Football Championship in Abu Dhabi in January." Tight travel restrictions and severe financial difficulties may keep the team from competing for their homeland.

The girls, under the eagle eye of volunteer coach Emil Hilal, a sports teacher at a nearby high school and a one-time local soccer star, form a line on the playing field, their breath billowing clouds in the cold air. They begin ducking, weaving, dribbling, and shooting, as Mr. Hilal yells instructions. An excited cheer goes up as goalkeeper Nadeen Khaleeb throws herself fearlessly to the ground, successfully defending her makeshift goal posts.

"They're doing their best," says Hilal, "but they don't have the facilities or the equipment to be as good as they could be."

While the Palestinian Authority pays for the national men's soccer team, which trains abroad in Egypt with salaried players, the women's team mostly fends for itself. Continuing governmental and local authority financial shortages make it increasingly unlikely that money for a women's soccer team, even a national one, will be a priority soon.

But the hurdles are not just financial. Several girls have been hurt playing on the concrete practice field.

Click article link to read more...

posted by Leila M. at 03:27 |

Muslim Street

UmmAli is going to be hosting some radio shows at Pacifica radio Houston. Title of the shows: Muslim Street. Looks VERY interesting, so check it out!

Tentative Program:


Listen to The Muslim Street on KPFT 90.1FM every Monday at noon from December 11 to January 22.

Program Schedule*

December 11: Heroes or Terrorists? Who is Hizbollah?

Host UmmAli talks to Ibrahim Mousawi Al Manar TV’s Chief Editor of Foreign News about Hizbollah’s emergence as a force in Lebanon’s democracy and the U.S.’s. role in Lebanese politics.


December 18: Islam, Terrorism, Resistance and Just War

Host Sami Hijazi talks to Ali Barakat and Crescent International’s Zafar Bangash on Islamic rules of engagement and concepts of just war and terrorism


December 25: Demographics: Who are American Muslims?

Host UmmAli talks to Dr. Ihsan Bagby author of “The Mosque Study” as well as Dr. Liyakat Ali Takim about American Muslims, who they are, what they believe and how they live.


January 1: The “War on Terror” Prejudice and Psychological impact on the Muslim community.

Host UmmAli talks to Dr. Mona Amer, author of a study on Arab mental health post 9/11 and Sami Hijazi.

January 8: Femperialism
Host UmmAli speaks with Mohja Kahf, Saba Mahmood
and Itrath Syed on Western representations of Muslim women and how U.S. feminism has been used to further
American imperialist aims.

January 15: Islam, Human Rights and Social Justice
Host Sami Hijazi and guests explore the concepts of human rights and social justice from an Islamic perspective.

January 22: Internment Camps of Bangladesh
We speak with author Lorraine Mirza about the stranded Bihari community, stateless people of Bangladesh.

*Programs may not air on these exact dates. Missed programs can be heard on KPFT archives online @www.kpft.org

posted by Leila M. at 19:44 |

Helping a Sister in need

Salamun Alaikum

Otowi has just blogged about a sister I know out in Denver, who has recently lost everything she owns in a fire. I've met with this sister several times in the past, and while I didn't get the chance to know her well while I was living in Denver for two years, I have always marked her absolute beauty as a Muslim woman. She is one of the more pious, sincere, and caring individuals I have met, and it is rare to come across someone who strikes me suchly, and immediately so.

She is also a widow and the mother of three children, the young is twelve. Otowi suggest people sending her well-wishing cards, but I'll take that further and just be pushy and suggest that they also help out financially if they can. Even if it's a ten dollar gift card to a store, believe me, this will make a huge difference.

If anyone remembers a while ago that Sister Ginny, another American Muslim sister, also lost everything in a housefire as well. Happily, there was a good turnout in terms of aid and support by the online Muslim community. This help crossed the boundaries of sect as well as aquaintance, as many who didn't even know her tried to do what they could. I would really like to see something like this happen again for Sister Marzieh, who not only has herself to worry about, but also her three children. Remember the Quranic injunction to help orphans in need. Remember our obligation to help each other in times of crises. Remember other people, and Allah will most definetly remember you.

Help, even if it is just moral support, can be sent to Sister Marzieh here:

Care of:

Melanie Franklin
13173 East Bethany Place
Aurora, Colorado 80014

posted by Leila M. at 02:54 |

Sign the Petition

Muslim Women's Freedom of Dress adressing the Muslim community at large (as well as non-Muslims of course)

Please sign it if, after reading the statement, you happen to agree.

And pass the word around via e-mail and your blogs.

posted by Leila M. at 21:15 |

She Said No

EDITOR'S NOTE
In June 2001 Christopher K. McCarthy, 22, of Concord, New Hampshire, US soldier stationed in South Korea was convicted of killing Kim Song-hui, 32 and sentenced to eight years in prison. He paid about $100 with a credit card for sex with the woman, she refused.



I want to know how that feels
rampant power, blind entitlement,
all wrapped up in six
starred and striped
inches of bludgeoning penis.

Korean waitress equals
receptacle for GI sperm,
sewer for American relief,
what made her think
she could choose?

She said no
so I hit her
I hit her again
and she fell so I kicked her
I kicked her again
and I want to know how that feels:
rage rises
fist in groin,
torpedoes belly,
pythons intestines,
sprouts two wings
like god’s own angels,
thunders bullets
through hands and feet.

I want to know what it takes
to beat a woman to death.

Did she count her savings that day?
Promise her son: tomorrow
if I catch enough tips, tomorrow
we’ll buy your schoolclothes,
and yes, maybe this summer
we’ll go see your grandparents
in the village……
Duh. I forgot
she’s nameless,
faceless, voiceless.
Breasts, hips, vagina.
Slick black hair and
slick red mouth
and open legs and – hang on:
she refused
to have sex with him?
She
refused?

Did the earth stop turning?
Did the sun go out?
Did the stars and stripes
freeze on the flagpole,
shatter in the darkness?
She was a gook!
You know the plot - why
do I have to repeat it?

He has a name.
She has none.
He has a rank, a gun,
family, church, hometown,
high-school girlfriend,
He’s the hero!
She’s a walk-on.
So he had to kill her.
What else could he do?
She was changing the story.

I want to know how it feels,
when the story is you: roots
in your groin, flowers
up your belly, tendrils
your intestines, blossoms
two wings like
god’s holy angels,
testifies righteous bullets
through hands and feet.

Bring in the scales:
Six years for McCarthy,
Thirty one years of her life.
Wait! I’ll put more on her scale:
the dream she had last night,
the ache in her feet from high heels,
strip of blue silk at her window,
history books by her bed,
incense she burns daily
for her grandmother, stitches
her mother had
after her birth -

the scale says: Sorry.
She was only a bar girl
who didn’t know her lines.

I want to know how it feels, McCarthy,
when the story falls apart,
the slick red mouth
says no,
the faceless
grow eyes
that stare into yours.

Does it explode your groin,
slice a bayonet
up your belly,
strangle your intestines,
spawn two monstrous wings
like god’s avenging angels,
shrapnel KILL
through hands and feet?

Because the story
must be restored, the story
cannot be changed, the story
is about
you.
And how did she imagine,
Asian bar girl, yellow void,
where did she get the idea
she could say no?


Copyright Shailja Patel, 2001

posted by UmmAli at 19:11 |

More WISE stuff

Ani's take on the conference

posted by Leila M. at 03:40 |