Getting a life

Quer(y)ing Muslim marriage, and the limits of faith-based feminism

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 20:10:48 +0000

I’ve been watching the debates over at muslimahmediawatch.org about the question of whether Muslim women should be free to choose to marry non-Muslim men if they wish. And I must say, I haven’t been impressed with either the level of analysis, or most participants’ evident lack of willingness to ask critical questions. Or, at the [...]

Pride 2009

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:23:20 +0000

Just came back from Toronto’s Pride celebration.  On balance, I’d say that it was awesome, despite the downpour (which fortunately stopped a bit after the parade began, so that onlookers’ ability to see wasn’t impeded by a forest of umbrellas). The parade marshall this year was El-Farouk Khaki, a well-known Toronto activist. Salaam was out [...]

Asra Nomani, Umm Zaid, and why I don’t go to mosques anymore

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 04:24:46 +0000

Recently, I found out about the PBS doc, “The Mosque in Morgantown.” So far, I haven’t been able to watch it, except for the clips on the film’s website. I watched the clips, and felt that old, familiar pain of being torn in two, opposite directions. I read the review of the film at muslimahmediawatch.org, and felt even [...]

Is there any detox for Muslim homophobes?

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 04:25:28 +0000

Muslimlookout.org comments briefly on an article about a Canadian Muslim man who claims to be able to “detox” extremists-in-the-making, and asks for readers’ comments. With pleasure… A most fascinating development in North American Muslim communities post-9/11 has been the emergence of men (yes, they’re nearly always men rather than women) who claim to hold the key [...]

What would a retelling of the Prophet’s life by a genderqueer person look like?

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 03:56:54 +0000

I have just read Kamran Pasha’s response to Uzma Mariam Ahmed’s review of his novel, Mother of the Believers, over at www.altmuslimah.com. The novel is a fictionalized retelling of the life of A’isha (hence the title). Pasha responds to Ahmed’s criticism of the novel for portraying A’isha as nine when she was married, and also for [...]

Of Christian right-wing extremism and (racist) disavowal

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 03:20:08 +0000

Scrolling down Antonia Zerbisias’ blog today, my eyes lighted upon the title, “American Taliban.” Something about an American Muslim extremist, I surmised—but, I was wrong. She was in fact blogging about the murder of a well-known doctor in Wichita, Kansas. Nowhere does Zerbisias indicate what connection this tragic event has to Muslims (extremist or otherwise), the [...]

The state of my inbox: androcentric junkmail, and I’m so tired of being a pawn

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 01:10:58 +0000

First, the junkmail folder: An email entitled, “FW: Your academic qualification has expired.” Out of morbid curiousity more than anything else, I opened the email, only to find that it promised that “anyone with sufficient work experience can get a bachelor’s, masters’ or even a doctorate” from their company—if they are willing to pay, of course. Wow. So, [...]

Tiptoe through cyberspace (May 17, International Day Against Homophobia)

Sun, 17 May 2009 22:10:11 +0000

First of all, today is the International Day Against Homophobia. Yup, LGBTQ people exist everywhere, in every nation, race, ethnicity, occupation, religious community… including conservative Muslim communities and organizations. So, on that note… Parvez Sharma’s documentary, Jihad for Love is now finally available on DVD! Imam Siraj Wahhaj has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and a number of [...]

Ch. 1: Ending and beginning

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 03:10:55 +0000

Sumayya sat in the sun-warmed sand at the water’s edge, staring at the deep blue lake without really seeing it. The water lapped around her feet. Her attention was momentarily caught by a gull, swooping down several metres away from her. She watched absently as the bird expertly caught a minnow, and then quickly rose up into the azure sky. It [...]

Open letter to Mohja Kahf

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:43:45 +0000

I saw the op-ed written by Mohja Kahf in the Washington Post (thanks Muslimahmediawatch!), and got the mad urge to write her an open letter. Dear Dr. Kahf, Salaam. I saw your op-ed yesterday, as well as some commentary on it. First an article by Sobia at Muslimahmediawatch, then over a hundred (mostly hostile) comments, following your [...]

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