This post was written by guest contributor Deonna Kelli Sayed. Media technology and the Muslim world are interesting collaborators.  Cassette tape propagation of Ayatollah Khomeini’s sermons provided important precursors for the Iranian Revolution. Likewise, Facebook and Twitter offered political leverage in the Arab Spring developments. For observers, social media, in particular, is potentially changing the […]

Who comes to mind when hip hop and Islam are mentioned in the same sentence? Maybe hip hop and rap icons like Lupe Fiasco or Napoleon. The music genre and the religion have a long and intimate history; however, how many female artists come to mind? In the U.K., a duo of women called Poetic […]

Through the years MMW has had the opportunity to analyze Muslim women’s role in fashion in a variety of contexts. Some of our articles have discussed fashion in the context of in Mali, Russia and Chechnya, and a piece by Sharrae featured what is thought to be the only Muslim Model agency: Underwraps. Underwraps is famous not […]

A story about a female sniper in Aleppo, Syria speaks to the imagination, but articles about the terror Syrian women have to endure are more common. Inside Syria rape and sexual assault is rampant; an initiative by Columbia University hopes to track rape inside Syria by following social media. Khetam Bneyan has been out of Syrian jail […]

I once asked my mother why boys had to be circumcised, but girls didn’t. Growing up in Singapore in the 1990s, it was more common for boys to be circumcised at the age of 7 or 9, where it resembled more of a rite of passage. They were not allowed to eat certain foods, had […]

I have been hearing about Taslima Nasrin from the time I was a child. The Muslim Bangla woman was accused of writing blasphemous anecdotes about Islam in her 1993 novel  Lajja, which drew a number of protests, including at least one group calling for her death and offering a reward; Lajja was banned in Bangladesh […]

This post was written by guest contributor Shireen Ahmed. A version of this post was previously posted on her blog. Every year there are a group of women who celebrate, support and participate in World Hijab Day. This year February 1, 2013 marked the day where women all over the world would be “invited” to […]

A parody of Sex With Egyptian Women (According to “Mike”).  Hat tip to Sara Salem for her more straightforward takedown of the same article. Sometime ago I was twiddling my thumbs, waiting for a cab, in Luxor. As the wind pushed against me, I was reminded that I had missed lunch. I needed to eat […]

While the city of Timbuktu, Mali, is celebrating the end of the Islamist rule, one woman recounts her ordeal, as she was tortured after being caught in public with her boyfriend. In another interview, three Malian women share their experiences under the Ansar Dine regime. Bangladeshi women from the impoverished village of Basatpur have been travelling for two […]

Let’s face it: there has been many a cringeworthy attempt at capturing the funny side of being a Muslim in the West. Apart from the brilliant 2010 film Four Lions, I always struggle to think of Muslim-themed comedies that actually make me smile. I was pleased to hear about Lena Khan’s project – The  Tiger […]