Un voile, Un certain moi de juin is the story of French artist Bérengère Lefranc’s decision to wear a “burqa” (although she hesitates to define it as such) for one month and write about it.  I was skeptical about this book after reading an initial review of it in Swiss daily Le Temps. Not normally […]

In early February, a story broke about a briefing being given to Belgian soldiers departing for Afghanistan. In this briefing, the speaker notably made the following points, as related by the Belgian newspaper Le Soir: “[Having a] girl to a Muslim usually means that the man has poor sperm quality. I’m not joking. Manly men make […]

Headscarves are the hot talking point in French politics again. But on this occasion, we aren’t talking about girls getting kicked out of high school or women getting kicked out of mayors’ offices. No, the latest uproar comes about Ms. Ilham Moussaïd, a candidate from the New Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA) in France’s upcoming regional elections […]

In February 2009, Aasiya Hassan, co-founder of Bridges TV, was murdered by her husband.  Thanks to a groundswell of community organizing in remembrance of her life, Ms. Hassan’s story continues to be told a year after her death. Domestic violence is one of the last taboos in the American Muslim community.  Too often shrouded in […]

Yet another Muslim woman has been denied the right to play sports while wearing a headscarf. Last summer, a young Swiss Muslimah from Luzern, Surah al Shawk (pictured left), attracted the attention of the Northeastern Swtizerland Basketball Association, ProBasket, when she started playing in second division games in Luzern. Unfortunately, it wasn’t her amazing skills […]

Editor’s Note: Salam waleykum, readers! I’m traveling this week, and haven’t had much access to internet (you’ve probably noticed if you’ve tried to submit a comment…), so I haven’t been able to put together a Friday Links this week. But instead, I’ll leave you with a new face at MMW to get to know! Until […]