Questions answered by Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad

What is jihad? How does Islam define apostasy? What are the rights of women in Islam?

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What would you do if you were subjected to extreme physical, sexual, and emotional abuse by the one who claimed to love you? What would you do if your husband came home one night drunk and abusive? What would you do if he sexually abused you coz you accidentally burnt his shirt?

What would you do if your husband thought it was ok to use you as a punch bag for ten years? Would you accept your fate? Or would you be provoked into hurting your husband the way he hurt you?

These were some of the dilemmas faced by Aishwarya Rai when she played the role of a victim of domestic violence in the film �Provoked�. Directed by Jag Mundra, the film is loosely based on a true story. (Read More and comment)

By Hafsah bint Sayeed al Awlaqi

I would never have thought a piece of cloth could cause so much fuss. But Jack Straw decides to pull a publicity stunt, Holland does away with the Human Right’s Act, and the next thing you know, pictures of veiled women are plastered across the front pages of almost every newspaper in England. According to Mr. Straw, those of us who choose to wear the niqaab make “better, positive relations” between communities “more difficult”.(Read More & comment)

A month after ex-foreign secretary Jack Straw suggested that Muslim women who wear veils over their face can make community relations harder, what do people within the Muslim community in the UK think of his remarks? Jack Straw’s comments on veils have been good news for the owner of The Hijab Centre in the MP’s constituency of Blackburn.

Nadeem Siddiqui tells me he is selling more veils than he did before his local MP made his controversial remarks. (more…)

“Oppression”

“They have to walk 10 steps behind their husband”

“They can’t even work”

Yeah yeah, heard it all before and probably a lot more. What is it with people thinking Islam treats women as second class citizens? Don’t tell me, you sometimes wonder that too? Well STOP THERE, because you’ll be surprised just how many rights women are given in Islam. (Read more and comment)

Fareena Alam, editor of the Muslim magazine Q-News explores the impact of Jack Straw’s views on women wearing the veil, in a special 30-min documentary for BBC Radio 4.

Fareena travels to Blackburn and speaks to Mr Straw’s constituents. Many of her preconceptions about life for Northen British Muslim women are tackled.

Among the people she talks to is Sheikh Abdul Hakim Murad, a lecturer in Divinity at Cambridge University. (more…)

It is not true that two female witnesses are always considered as equal to only one male witness. It is true only in certain cases.

There are about five verses in the Qur’an that mention witnesses, without specifying male or female. There is only one verse in the Qur’an, that says two female witnesses are equal to one male witness. This verse is Surah Baqarah, chapter 2 verse 282. This is the longest verse in the Qur’an and deals with financial transactions. (more…)

The Glorious Qur’an contains specific and detailed guidance regarding the division of the inherited wealth, among the rightful beneficiaries. The Qur’anic verses that contain guidance regarding inheritance are: (more…)

Voices on the Veil: Is the Veil Oppressive or a Celebration of Identity?

When the Taliban lost control of Kabul last November, the world waited for Afghan women to immediately shed their burqas, or all-encompassing robes. But it didn’t quite happen that way. (more…)

By Fawzia Malik

Wearing the Hijaab isn’t just a matter of simply putting a piece of cloth on your head, it is an attitude, a way of thinking and behaving, and accepting yourself for who and what you are. (more…)

By Naheed Mustafa, The Globe and Mail Tuesday, June 29, 1993 Facts and Arguments Page (A26)

MULTICULTURAL VOICES:

A Canadian-born Muslim woman has taken to wearing the traditional hijab scarf. It tends to make people see her as either a terrorist or a symbol of oppressed womanhood, but she finds the experience LIBERATING. (more…)

By four Danish women

That the veiled Muslim woman by all means should be regarded as oppressed is a myth that ought to be killed. Many people are scandalized by the veil, but only few seek an explanation from the Muslim woman herself; her voice is often overheard in this matter. If she is asked, on the other hand, the veil represents freedom and dignity. (more…)

By Sharrifa Carlo

As a non-Muslim living in Western society, the idea of modesty was not exactly foremost in my mind. Like all other women of my generation and mind-set, I thought such ideas were antiquated and excessive. I felt pity for the poor Muslim woman who had to “wear all that junk,” or “walk around in bed - sheets” as I used to call it. (more…)

by Farhat Lal

Hijab is a very important aspect of a Muslim women’s life. The word, as generally understood nowadays refers to the women’s Islamic dress.

The impression of Hijab is that only the head should be covered by a scarf or other suitable garment. The fact that there is more to Hijab then clothes is over looked, the Islamic dress code should be accompanied by the correct Islamic behavior. (more…)

In Islam there is no difference between men and women in regards to their relationship to Allah; they are both promised the same reward for good, or punishment for evil conduct. (more…)

From Soundvision

The discussion at the Islam Awareness Week exhibition started out nicely enough. We talked about women’s rights, domestic violence, sexual abuse, heavy, heavy issues. It was interesting, she was a feminist, and I, a Muslim woman. But we connected. (more…)

What is the Hijab?

The word itself comes from the arabic word “hajaba” meaning to conceal or hide from view. Hijab is the modest covering of the head and body of muslim women. (more…)

By Sultana Yusufali, 17, a Toronto high school student, Toronto Star Young People’s Press

I probably do not fit into the preconceived notion of a “rebel.” I have no visible tattoos and minimal piercings. I do not possess a leather jacket. (more…)

The Hijab Experience of Canadian Muslim Women

by Katherine Bullock

The furor over the expulsion in 1995 of Quebec high school students who refused to remove their head scarves, with some people declaring the Hijab might not be considered proper “Canadian” dress, demonstrates that the West has not yet transcended the negative stereotype (more…)

An act of obedience

The hijab is an act of obedience to Allah and to his prophet (pbuh), Allah says in the Qur’an: `It is not for a believer, man or woman, when Allah and His messenger have decreed a matter that they should have an option in their decision. And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger, has indeed strayed in a plain error.’ (S33:36). (more…)

Q. What are the requirements for Muslim women’s dress?

A: Rules regarding Muslim women’s (and men’s) attire are derived from the Quran, Islam’s revealed text, and the traditions (hadith) of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). (more…)

Kathy Chin, A Non Muslim Woman Experiments with Hijab

I walked down the street in my long white dress and inch-long, black hair one afternoon, and truck drivers whistled and shouted obscenities at me.

I felt defeated. I had just stepped out of a hair salon. I had cut my hair short, telling the hairdresser to trim it as she would a guy’s. (more…)

Western women are turning to Islam in rapidly increasing numbers. KAY JARDINE discovers why they are so keen to become Muslims.

Bullying, depression, and insomnia made Kimberley McCrindle’s teenage years particularly difficult. (more…)

Today people think that women are liberated in the West and that the women’s liberation movement began in the 20th century.

Actually, the women’s liberation movement was not begun by women but was revealed by God to a man (more…)

by Marc Ramirez
Seattle Times staff reporter

Amira Atan came to the U.S. in 1978 from Vietnam, where her family had fled from Cambodia. These days, her harrowing past is belied by a direct, self-deprecating manner. She says: “People ask me, ‘Are you the boat people?’ I say, ‘I don’t know! I took Northwest Airlines here!’ ” (more…)