I’m on a ranting roll!!!!
I found a lovely website tonight. It’s an e-zine blog about us Muslim women.
It’s called The Muslim Woman (Original title, huh?)
In fact, The Muslim World e-zine blog would prefer that you aren’t Muslim. After all, they don’t want you slipping in something troubling…like the facts! As Dawud mentioned, why bother with seeking out Muslima authors and writers when you can pull crap from out of thin air? The “About” page is even funnier. There’s no discriptions about the writers or what the main focus of their online publication seems to be (other than ragging on us Mozzie women).
And after a brief look at the contributing writers’ blogs, a lot of these writers aren’t even women!!!!!!
Upon closer inspection (take a gander yourselves), the writers all appear to have Hindu names and they are primarily located in India. Nice way to improve Hindu-Muslim relations, huh? No, wait, there is this happy picture of a blonde, non-Indian writer who has been in the trenches against jihadism since…well, read on. But the fact that her last name is Chadha, well, should I assume that she married an Indian Hindu?
So, thank God! Thank Allah subhana wa ta’ala that these plucky writers have the courage to speak for you. Should you feel compelled to comment on their site, you better say something nice. Because apparently, you have to register to leave a comment.
The funniest thing on the website is that there’s an ad for Instablog and how this service provides for people to have multiple points of view–a concept totally lost on the writers of The Muslim Woman.
Sisters….please….write and publish your own stories! Are you itchin’ to write? Do it. Keep writing until the glorious lines of your work completely undo this stupidty parading around as academia and activism.
So since they’re getting away with this blog, I’m going to start own my blogzine called The Amish Man.
I’m not Amish. I’m not a man but who gives a hoot! I gonna start blogging about their supposed terrible conditions and how oppressed and brainwashed they are because they reject electricity and live simple, hardworking lives. I can talk about how their positive can-do spirit and adherence to the Bible is a breeding ground for terrorist group-think. Behind those smart blue dresses and straw hats lies an underground network of Amish fighters plotting to overthrow the US. They want us to live in world of no reruns, Britney Spears and McDonalds. After all, can you trust any 21st American citizen who builds his own house and makes his own butter and cheese? It’s downright suspicious and unAmerican, don’t you think?
Look out for The Amish Man, coming soon from me, the Muslim woman (who is really off her rocker, tonight). 
Aaminah said,
March 26, 2008 at 11:41 am
Asalaamu alaikum.
LOL, just the fun kick start I need this morning.
I found that site a while ago because they have some really great pictures of women in hijab and niqab. I was floored when I started reading it though. I didn’t go as far as you did in finding out who was doing the writing because it sounded like a bleeding-heart-liberal-western-so-called-feminist to me.
“Sisters….please….write and publish your own stories! Are you itchin’ to write? Do it.”
Allow me to add: Sisters, you have a voice, please use it. Maybe you don’t think of yourself as a writer, maybe you don’t have time to write on a blog every day. That’s okay. Even if you only put up one well-thought-out post monthly, or it’s just that you write a letter to an editor somewhere, or a lengthy comment on someone else’s blog in response to their post, whatever, please know that your voice is valuable and valued by your sisters who will lift you up, inshaAllah. More voices make for a deafening boom that cannot be so easily ignored.
Umm Zaid said,
March 26, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Salaam ‘Alaikum
They just bite those photos off the ‘net and they’re out of context anyway. In one of the honor killing stories, the victim pictured wasn’t Muslim. In another one, where the headline is about deprived Arab women, it’s actually a photo of (I’m not joking) Michael Jackson. If I may be a little gauche, I think people like this get their boats floated by images of women in black face veils. This blog, which I have read in the past, constantly equates the hijab with the niqab and uses the terms interchangeably.
This blog has, in the past, been linked to and linked out to some of the most obnoxious right wing blogs (and in the past, had an American woman contributing who had her own really, really disgusting blog). I wouldn’t be surprised if these are followers of BJP or something.
Manas Shaikh said,
March 27, 2008 at 3:12 am
As-Salamu alaikum
I am sort of worried because the url they have chosen is very very search engine friendly.
From inside India, I can tell you that the situation here is dangerous. A big chunk of the problem is, as a friend puts it- “they (Hindus) think they know Islam.” Even many “Muslims” in India don’t.
The Muslim mass is mostly illiterate and poor lot. The leaders are looking for emotions to tickle. Iraq war, Saddam Hussain, Palestine, Cartoon all are of gravest concern to them- only they are just as sincere as that enough to rally the mass behind them. All the issues that they can do nothing about.
I am not saying that these issues are unimportant. I am saying that they never address the issues that they can handle. The local issues- the dwindling iman (honesty, simplicity, truthfulness), the illiteracy, the joblessness.
Add to that widespread communal distrust among Hindus- who hold most of the power (politics) and money (business) in India.
And the Muslim leaders are least concerned to actually solve these problems- except to use these to instigate people. Causing more mistrust.
Many of the Hindus here- because of upbringing and the society (and the media) have deep deep deep mistrust and hatred for Islam and Muslims. Some openly say- we want to wipe Islam out of India. We want to follow the Spanish model. Biggest problem is- saying that sort of thing in India (in some parts) can earn you votes and not jail. Ever heard of Narendra Modi? The chief minister of Gujarat in India?
Ankit said,
March 27, 2008 at 10:59 am
But still not able to understand the headline “Muslim Women Writers Need Not Apply”. Where did you find that on ” The Muslim Woman Blog”. Oh I got it, its a way to make your sensational headline more attention grabbing.
Anyways we are looking for some writers (religion, we don`t care) for Muslim Woman Blog. If you are passionate about the subject, please apply for the writer’s post on the blog.
And religion fanatics, please excuse us. You can be Christian, Hindu. Muslim, atheist. Whatever is your religion, its your personal matter.
izzymo said,
March 27, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Walaikum salaam Aaminah, Umm Zaid and Manas
Aaminah: Thank you for reinforcing this effort to get more sisters writing. So many things, like a lack of confidence and shyness, stop us from putting our voices out there. There are people, Muslim and non-Muslim, who want to hear our stories from us, not through the filters of someone who doesn’t even know what Islam. Thanks
Umm Zaid: Yeah, that picture of MJ has been floating around for a while now. I think I saw it first in JET magazine.
And their interchanging of the words hijab and niqab displays their basic lack of knowledge about Islam. They can’t even get our clothing right. The blog also seems to be a mish-mash of article grabbed from all ends of internet. It’s not the blog contributors writing thought-provoking essays on their own. Quite sad.
Manas: Yes, brother I have heard of him. An Australian news crew did a documentary of the Gujarat slaughter. To think, people (Muslim and Hindu) were literally, hacked…to…death. There was one man in particular who was brimming with pride as he described how he had killed a man. No remorse. Absolutely no remorse. If I was living in that part of India, I would very cautious. I love Palestine as much as the next person but as you stated, they have their own level of poverty and illiteracy to deal with.
Everytime I feel the urge to complain our situation here in America, I remember one sister. In one documentary, Sister Fatema talked about how they hacked her husband to death. What justice is there for her? The so called leaders, Muslim and Hindu, don’t care. So yeah, the right-wing neocons get on my nerves but at least there are laws to protect my rights. It’s too bad because I’ve known some very kindhearted Hindus–unfortunately they aren’t the ones in power.
What makes their website (he Muslim woman site) so problematic is like you said, they have title that can easy be found on the blog. I wonder if I can get Azizah Magazine and Nisaa’s links to come up with people type in “Muslim women” so that people can get a broader range of opinions?
Ankit: Yeah, that title is sensational, isn’t it? What’s even more sensational is having a website about Muslim women with little to no Muslim women actually contributing to it.
As far as I religion, I don’t care either. There are great non-Muslim writers who intelligently about Islam and plenty of Muslims respect them for that.
But just as I wouldn’t pontificate on Hinduism or Mormonism because I’m not an expert on either one of these religions, any writer who wants to be taken seriously should do the same. Religion fanatics? If you mean, we get annoyed with people putting words into our mouths, I guess I am a fanatic.
Thanks but no thanks. I’ll save my writings for websites and publications like this….
Nisaa
Azizah Magazine
Islamica
AltMuslim
Aaminah said,
March 27, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Asalaamu alaikum.
It is not “fanatic” to say that Muslim women don’t need to be talked *about* by non-Muslims who have a clear campaign to smear Islam. Muslim women are quite capable of speaking for ourselves. That’s not fanaticism, that’s fact. We don’t need someone else claiming to speak for us who thinks they know something about us.
Ankit said,
March 27, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Neither me nor any of the writers on the muslim woman blog is putting any words in your mouth. If that would have been the case, we could have just shielded their identity.
The blog idea was pitched by someone, who later due to some reasons wasn`t able to continue. Now we do have few applications who wants to write on it. But as I told you earlier, we don`t judge writers by their religion.
If we will find some suitable writer, we will definitely ask him/her to take up the blog.
>>We don’t need someone else claiming to speak for us who thinks they know something about us.
Not correct necessarily. We received an application from a woman who practices Christianity, but has been in Pakistan for 5 years helping woman with social injustice. And I believe she knows the subject very well.
izzymo said,
March 27, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Ankit:
You haven’t addressed the issues.
You’re talking about Muslim women but you’ve got a picture of Michael Jackson (a non-Muslim man and celebrity) on your blog, representing an Arab woman. At first I thought it was a joke. Here’s a link to the article about him right here with the black clothes and all. http://today.ccopinion.com/michael-jacksons-new-look/
You don’t find that odd? I wish I could feel that your efforts were sincere but with stuff like that, how can I?
All this proves to me is how much work we as Muslim women have to do to because if you can’t even get hijab and niqab right, if you can’t even name simple basic what-the-average-Muslim-knows stuff about Islam, than how can you expect any fair minded Muslim on non-Muslim to take you seriously?
Aaminah said,
March 27, 2008 at 2:45 pm
“We received an application from a woman who practices Christianity, but has been in Pakistan for 5 years helping woman with social injustice. And I believe she knows the subject very well.”
Not necessarily. It only means she THINKS she knows the subject. She is still an outsider, with her own opinion and beliefs that are at odds with ours and will always color her ability to be objective.
That said, I’m not saying anything about any particular author of your blog. The entire blog is written ABOUT Muslim women BY non-Muslims. Simple fact: none of you know anything about being a Muslim woman because you’re not Muslim women. You can claim you are open to Muslim women writers, but it doesn’t change the number of non-Muslim women writers you are promoting. It would not be hard to find Muslim women writers if you wanted them. You don’t. Because we are telling you that what you have posted on your blog is untruthful and stereotyping, absolute ignorance. Why should we want to write for someone whose other posts spew such garbage about us?
musulmana said,
March 27, 2008 at 3:27 pm
assalamu aleikum wa rahmatulahi wa barakatuhu,
I have not seen this website, but I have read Izzymo’s post and Aaminah’s comment.
I will say I wholeheartedly agree with Izzy and Aaminah. Just because you “help” Muslims in Pakistan, doesn’t make you a “Muslim Woman”.
Does that woman mind the clock worrying that she might miss a fard prayer?
Does she do wudu (or ghusl) before she leaves her home because she does not know where she’ll be when prayer time comes and she wants to be ready?
Does she make sure she doesn’t do things and say things like” knock on wood’?
Does she worry whether or not her intention to help these ladies will please Allah (SWT) and do right by Islam, or is she a missionary trying to convert these true believers of the One God to Trinitarianism?
Does she worry if her kids will grow up as proper Muslims and pray for her?
I think the blog in question is the fanatic one. Don’t come to another person’s house when yours is not in order….
Who will take them seriously, anyway?
They are also using their one Christian missionary woman contributor as “the token ‘monotheist’ “.
Short story: On one of occasions that I was interviewed by the local news in my community post-9/11, the reporter spent ONE WHOLE HOUR interviewing me, and about another hour interviewing two other colleagues. She kept pushing in th edirection of my saying something horrible about being a Muslim woman. When she didn’t get the news she wanted, guess what showed upi as a three-part “special report” on our local news? Not the countless number of Muslim women she had a chance to interview, but the ONE Christian lady who lived in Saudi Arabia and hated Islam! Yep! I was appalled. It is her opinion, bu the reporter did not use any Muslim woman’s experience.
I finally am at the point in my life where I am not surprised at the stuff that is deemed “newsworthy” anymore. And I have a degree in Communications.
musulmana said,
March 27, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Oh Izzy, I obviously chose to comment on only one aspect of your post- the response about their contributor who helps Muslim women.
I would need to get my own blog to comment in support of much of your response to this blog’s existence….
Blog Carnival - Muslimahs Speak Up! « Aaminah Hernández said,
March 27, 2008 at 4:15 pm
[...] Carnival – Muslimahs Speak Up! 27 03 2008 Anyone else think we really need a Muslimahs Speak Up! Blog Carnival [...]
Aaminah said,
March 27, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Asalaamu alaikum Musulmana, hey I want to read your blog! Where are you?
musulmana said,
March 27, 2008 at 8:25 pm
BTW,
I thought of registering on instablogs in order to comment.
I never read the small print on the “terms of agreement”, but this time I did.
They “reserve the right to charge fees…”
Just read the print guys.
We may be oppressed (ROFL), but we sure are educated.
meghan rose said,
March 28, 2008 at 3:48 am
Salaam,
Wow…I have not seen this before. I really enjoy reading your blog, though – I hope it’s okay that I’ve linked you. Thanks for the heads up about this…it scares me how often non-Muslims seem to think they can speak accurately and adequately about Muslims and issues Muslims face. Or that men can speak adequately and accurately about what it is to be a woman. People are ridiculous.
Ankit said,
March 28, 2008 at 6:30 am
Anyways we found one more writer, who is a Muslim as well a passionate writer. She will start soon.
But still we will have the other writer, who has been in Pakistan for last few years helping women there. Don`t pull her writings down even before you have seen her. Just let her post some of her opinions first.
And we do reserver the right to charge fees, but thats an attorney language. Trust me we are not going to charge the fees for reading or commenting on the articles.
izzymo said,
March 28, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Aaminah: Don’t worry about it, sis. According to Ankit’s logic, you would totally justified in starting a blog about Jewish women featuring….no Jewish women! Of course, if you did such a thing, others would wonder if you should be carted off to the loony bin.
Musulmana: You see, that’s exactly what I’m talking about. Some people are not interested in truth. They are looking for an angle. You know what, I think I remember that story. Was it on Channel 4 or 8? I wasn’t Muslim at the time but that story really ticked me off. It was so biased. Would they look to talk to a lady I know who’s sister lived for 20 years in Saudi Arabia as a nurse and professed how much she loved it?! The funny thing is that I didn’t ask this woman to tell me about her sister. She saw me and the artwork I was mailing overseas to Saudi Arabia and she gave me that info herself. That’s right! A young, blonde, non-Muslim woman admiring the Kingdom of Evil….ooops, I mean the KSA. I know you what to blog, Musulmana, but you’re busy being supermom. LOL
Meghan: Sure, and thanks for the link.
It’s really nutty, isn’t it? It’s like watching a film about Irish Americans and all you see is a bunch of African-Americans talking about their experiences. It just doesn’t fit. As I told Aaminah, would anyone trust a blog run by Muslims talking about the lives of Jewish, Hindu or Christian women? I think not.
Ankit: Finally. The Muslim Woman blogzine has…one Muslim woman. I hope she can add some balance and actual, well, facts, to your blog. We’ll see. After all, you still haven’t made the correction about the Michael Jackson photo on your blog.
Ankit said,
March 28, 2008 at 3:39 pm
First of all its not Chanda, its Chadha
Chadha is a surname. And the girl you are questioning and calling a blonde, is a a famous writer who has written a book on “Jihad and International Security”.
She is not a writer on the Muslim Woman blog. In fact one of the blog writers has interviewed her.
Before spitting so much venom, please get your facts straight.
izzymo said,
March 28, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Well
1) She’s a woman, not a girl. Let’s start taking women writers seriously by refering to them as…women writers.
2) Yes, she is blonde, isn’t she? No, it’s not a bad thing to point out. It’s a description. Just as I described her picture as being “happy”. After all, she is smiling.
3) She is in fact a writer, isn’t she?
4) You still won’t admit that photo is a ruse?
Before you correct me on facts, correct the many, many, many mistakes on your blog.
Aaminah said,
March 28, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Ankit, before complaining about “venom” maybe you should just stop perpetrating. Your site is junk. It doesn’t matter if you just brought on one Muslim writer. It doesn’t matter that your other one has “worked in Pakistan”. It doesn’t matter what Chanda’s name is or what she wrote. I mean, judging by the title of the book, I am already turned off. Famous or not means nothing to me. You intentionally created a site that spreads lies and trash and stereotypes about Muslim women. You intentionally named it in such a way that most people who get it assume it is written with some authority. You know that none of you have any business writing a site ABOUT Muslim women. We can write our own sites and don’t need any of you to write for us. But clearly your intent with the site is to spread your lies.
You have come to someone else’s site. She has every right on her own blog to spew as much venom as she cares to. But that’s not even what she is doing. Instead she is very politely informing her readers of the lack of quality or authority on your site, giving a different perspective from a genuine Muslim woman who has more right to write about her own people than you do. Perhaps instead of getting ill-mannered on her site, you should just go back to your own and do what you do.
JDsg said,
March 29, 2008 at 3:25 am
@ Ankit: “Before spitting so much venom, please get your facts straight.”
Physician, heal thyself! And while you’re at it, get a clue.
Manas Shaikh said,
March 29, 2008 at 4:15 am
“I wonder if I can get Azizah Magazine and Nisaa’s links to come up with people type in “Muslim women” so that people can get a broader range of opinions?”
Right. I shall do that at the least on my blog, IA.
Izzy Mo said,
March 29, 2008 at 4:46 am
Aaminah: It’s like you said, people aren’t used to Muslimas speaking their minds and being assertive. That’s why the words “fanatic” was used. Hah!
Manas: How can we go about getting that done?
gess said,
March 29, 2008 at 4:13 pm
As’salamu Aleikum all,
Excuse me for jumping in too late this discussion.
Manas, your first comment was one of the best I read for quite long time, Jazak Allah Khair.
It seems a lot people care for Muslim women’s riight. wow!
Rob Wagner said,
March 29, 2008 at 10:48 pm
By the way, Chadha writes for Frontpagemag.com, an anti-Muslim website supported by the rabid anti-Muslim Jihad Watch. That should tell enough of where The Muslim Woman stands.
Aaminah said,
March 29, 2008 at 10:55 pm
AH HA! Leave it to Rob to do the research… thanks man!
izzymo said,
March 30, 2008 at 1:49 am
Rob: “Ah! And the plot thickens..”
So we have a group of what looks like, BJP-lovers, neo-conservatives, and Christian missionaries speaking on behalf of Muslim women. Good…grief.
JDsg said,
March 30, 2008 at 5:04 am
Perish in your rage, Ankit.
Manas Shaikh said,
March 31, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Izzy
You mean many links with the words “muslim woman” pointing to Nisaa and Azizah? Honestly, I don’t have a plan myself. No wait- what about having a group that will coordinate online struggles like this?
BTW, your article at the iffeministe was quite pertinent. May Allah bless you for your noble efforts and ease the Straight Path for you.
Gess
JazakAllah khair sis. But the situation actually is very worrying. The situation is like burning charcoal. Not much smoke.
Muslimah Media Watch said,
April 9, 2008 at 1:17 am
I’m glad someone else wrote about this too. We wrote about it last October:
http://muslimahmediawatch.blogspot.com/2007/10/misinformed-or-malicious-non-muslim.html
The website really busts my ovaries: we can speak up for ourselves, thank you!
What bothered me especially was that it would always come up in the “established links” in the Google search; you know, the ones that are ALWAYS there. UGH!