Albert Einstein said that there are two ways for understanding life: One, to believe nothing is a miracle; the other, to believe everything is a miracle. I think life is a bit of both. There are experiences that result from… Read More ›
Islam
Dr. Debbie Downer Discourses on the Lives of Early Pious and Sufi Women by Laury Silvers
I’ve been called a downer because I take what seems like a jaundiced perspective on the early history of pious and Sufi women. There is a tendency in some scholarship, and nearly all contemporary popular treatments of these women’s lives,… Read More ›
We Rose for the One Billion on V-Day by Jameelah X. Medina
Every February I gear up to participate in local V-Day 1 Billion Rising events where activists rise up to end violence against women and girls. This year’s theme was the journey to justice, and there were two local events. I… Read More ›
A Not So Ideal Deal: Perspectives On Sexism In “Islamic Marriage” by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente
One topic that emerges from the discussions I have with other Muslims and people in general relates to marriage. Starting with, I don’t agree with marriage. Not because I think married life is negative but because, under the prevailing patriarchal… Read More ›
Why I Don’t Believe in Female Pastors by Andreea Nica
It may come as a surprise to those who identify as both feminists and religious practitioners that I don’t believe women should be pastors of any dominant religious congregation. This includes most religions which, I assert, are rooted in and… Read More ›
Moving In by amina wadud
After 52 days of homelessness—or more precisely as I heard it called “sofa surfing”—sleeping between the sofa and air mattress in my children’s homes, not eating their food unless invited, contributing to their upkeep, including cleaning bath tubs and dishes… Read More ›
Slavery and God/dess by amina wadud
Well the Golden Globe awards have been handed out. I don’t have a television, so I didn’t actually watch, but a quick google search gives the results. Highest honors go to a movie about blacks as slaves and whites as… Read More ›
The Winding Road of Life by Jameelah X. Medina
A while back my family and I went up to the mountains to Lake Arrowhead Village. My metaphorical thinking took me on a fantastic mental voyage replicating our way up the mountain. I give thanks to Allah for the power… Read More ›
Vipassana 3 by amina wadud
I really learned a lot from my Vipassana experience. I embraced the challenge to meditate for 10 hours a day and to keep noble silence in between. These were par for the course. However, in this last blog, I will… Read More ›
Creating Space: Mosques Affirming All Bodies, Minds, and Hearts by Laury Silvers
In my first blog for Feminism and Religion, I discussed the cognitive and embodied dissonance that some Muslims experience as a result of historically (not eternally) gendered ritual forms. I ended with a promise to share with readers the ways… Read More ›
Ar-Rahman, Ar-Rahim and Ar-Rahm by Jameelah X. Medina
[The Most Compassionate, Beneficent, Ever-Merciful and the Womb] In the Islamic tradition, there are numerous Names of Allah of which 99 are said to be known. Of these 99 Names or Attributes of Allah, two open the Qur’an in the… Read More ›
Nelson Mandela to hell? by amina wadud
As I am transiting back into America from Asia, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela made his final transition from our collective human lives to the next dominion. (I mention my transition only to apologize for not continuing with the third installment on… Read More ›
THANKS-giving by amina wadud
Last week was that most contested U.S. family holiday, Thanksgiving. No, I’m not going to revisit the numerous points of contestation. I’m hoping we’ve heard them all and maybe even participated in support for or against some of the contests…. Read More ›
A Reflection on Feminist Theology and the Real Woman by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente
The XVII Conference of Latin American Religious Alternatives is being held this week in Porto Alegre, Brazil. This event will bring together scholars and researchers from across the continent to talk together about religion, integration, and identity. I will be… Read More ›
Men, Men, Everywhere by Kecia Ali
I recently published an essay in the British quarterly Critical Muslim. In it, I chose books on Muslim thought and reform by three prominent, well-regarded male scholars and I counted mentions of individual women in their indexes, their texts, or… Read More ›
Size Islam: Where do I fit in? by Jameelah X. Medina
Size Islam: Where do I fit in? Reading Laury Silvers’ recent post caused me to reflect upon not only how my body is gendered in worship as a Muslim woman, but how my body is displaced, inconvenient, and often seen… Read More ›
Saudi Women Drive by amina wadud
Saudi Women Drive So what’s the big deal in that? Thanks for asking. I have been actively spreading the word, giving support and showing my enthusiasm for the Saudi women’s initiative to be permitted to drive their own cars. I… Read More ›
Peace of mind vs Dogma and Capitalism by Oxana Poberejnaia
When I said in my response to Carol P. Christ’s comment that on one level Goddess spirituality and Buddhism are about the same thing, I am afraid it could have sounded shallow. What I wanted to express is that for… Read More ›
Hajar: of the desert by amina wadud
This week the Islamic pilgrimage or Hajj was completed. For those not gathering on the dusty plains of the desert in Arabia, we have the celebration of the Feast of the Sacrifice, commemorating the exchange of a lamb for the… Read More ›
Muslim Ritual Prayer, Social Submission, and Embodied Dissonance by Laury Silvers
Websites run by Muslim scholars typically offer advice columns for those seeking legal rulings and religious guidance on personal concerns. One young Muslim woman wrote to a site about her doubts that wearing hijab was connected to being a good… Read More ›
Muslim Feminism: On Finding Meaning in the Struggle by Jennifer Zobair
I threw Catholics under the bus at a book reading. I didn’t mean to and, as a former Catholic, I felt awful about it. I was promoting my novel, Painted Hands, about dynamic, successful Muslim women in Boston. During the… Read More ›
Letter to Allah by Jameelah X. Medina
Would we eat without the pangs of hunger? Would we drink without feeling thirst? Would we sleep without feeling fatigue or drowsiness? Would we cry without feeling sorrow? These are some questions I’ve asked myself when I wonder why so… Read More ›
Religion is Good Counsel by Kecia Ali
Last week I received an email out of the blue about a book I published seven years ago. The greeting was polite. The body of the email managed to be simultaneously critical and vague. The writer began by noting that… Read More ›
When Some People Say “Religion” They Mean “My” Religion by amina wadud
I came to live in India after having already lived in other parts of Asia. Naively, I anticipated that the best of my Asian living experiences would be manifest in India and this centered on a dynamic encounter with diverse… Read More ›
Forgiveness (is a two-way street) by amina wadud
I don’t know why this came to me as the discussion I want to have in blog form today, but here you go– Imam al-Ghazzali (d. 1111) said that Allah (God) only stops forgiving when the believer stops asking for… Read More ›
Why I Try to Stay Away From the Media by amina wadud
Recently a controversy broke out surrounding a University talk I was to give in Tamil Nadhu, here in India. That visit was to include a workshop and several meetings, including one with the all women Jamaat or STEP – the… Read More ›
Why I am an Islamic Feminist by Shehnaz Haqqani
While Islam has undoubtedly granted women many rights—some of which were radical for much of the world in the 7th century, such as the rights to divorce, consent in marriage, education, and financial independence—many Muslim women around the world are… Read More ›
Tug-of-Warring over the Female Body (Part 2 of 2) by Jameelah X. Medina
Cover up! No, get naked! Haraam [Sin]; cover yourself! Be free; show some skin! AstaghfirAllah [seeking forgiveness from God]; aren’t you ashamed?! Damn, aren’t you hot in that?! The Muslim woman’s body feels like a battleground with essentialized feminism on… Read More ›
To Blog or Not to Blog? Is That Even a Question..? by amina wadud
I just want to introduce myself to this blogging forum Feminism and Religion. I will join and then try to keep some kind of pace, so before I jump right in on this that or the other personal and or… Read More ›
They Don’t Know Me by Jameelah X. Medina
A spoken word piece… They think I’m uneducated, relegated to the sidelines of life, desecrated and infected mind with cultish, hocus pocish, dogma of misogyny; my worth based solely on my progeny!?… They think I’m silent, ruled by a tyrant,… Read More ›
