This post was written by guest contributor Maria Salman. In 1992, a young woman gathers the courage to pen a deeply personal journal entry for a teacher. She finally breaks the silence over an earth-shattering secret that she is the survivor of childhood sexual abuse committed against her by two male family members. Fast forward […]

This post was written by guest contributor Afia R. Fitriati (@AfiaRF) In a similar manner that social media helped to catalyze the Arab Spring, Indonesians are increasingly using social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to reach out to others, build awareness of social issues, harness support and eventually create positive changes that the […]

Last week on Maundy Thursday, Pope Francis I washed the feet of inmates in Rome, Italy, one of whom was a Muslim woman. The government of Kerala state, India has decided that women cannot go on hajj alone, after Aminakutty Mohammad demanded a court order so that she could perform the pilgrimage with a female […]

This post was originally posted at wood turtle’s blog. Two years ago, Mohsina Nosarka contacted me asking for feedback on an Islamic book series she was in the process of writing and illustrating. As I’m always on the lookout for new and exciting children’s Islamic literature, I gladly obliged. And since our initial contact, I’m thrilled […]

This post was written by guest contributor Amina Jabbar (@AminaJabbar). Amina Jabbar, Twitter handle: @AminaJabbar In a recent article, “Muslim women are caught in the crossfire between bigots on both sides,” Sara Khan thoughtfully maps the spaces that Western Muslimahs negotiate. Muslim women, on one end, are more likely to experience Islamophobic violence than Muslim […]

In Egyptian writer Ahdaf Soeuif’s novel, The Map of Love, there is a scene that describes the statue Nahdet Masr (Rise of Egypt), a statue of a peasant woman unveiling as she stands next to the Sphinx: “The statue of Nahdet Masr rises before her: the statue at whose feet they had gathered in the […]

Last week in Algeria, women went to the streets to defend their local tradition of wearing the white religious garb, the haik, claiming that black religious clothing is inspired by Saudi Arabia and alien to Algerian culture. Gambia’s Isatou Touray has been campaigning against female genital mutilation (FGM) for about 25 years, and even went to prison […]

This post was written by guest contributor Nur Laura Caskey. This article is not meant as a statement, but as a question. A very long, multidimensional question, but one that I feel is pertinent and needed.  It is also meant partly as a supplement to my own fear-driven inability to act in the moment to […]

When I was a kid, I must confess, I used to love to watch Miss Universe on TV. Despite my mom’s dislike for the show, she would let me watch it (not without swearing at the TV once in a while). Beauty pageants in the 90’s gained popularity in Mexico after Lupita Jones won the […]

Breastfeeding may seem like the most natural thing in the world, but for a percentage of women it can be terribly challenging — especially if they cannot produce enough milk or refrain from breastfeeding due to medical reasons such as severe illness, accident, HIV infection, or taking certain medications that can harm the baby through breast milk. […]