No, Mahr Does Not Make Women the Object of a Transactional Marital Relationship

No, Mahr Does Not Make Women the Object of a Transactional Marital Relationship

In Muslim circles, it has been appalling to hear people assert that the concept of Mahr – which is a compulsory marital gift that a groom must give to a bride – makes women the object of a transactional marital relationship. In other words, the husband purchases the bride in exchange for sexual and domestic services as well as unconditional obedience to him. If this is not a deliberate distortion of the true spirit behind the Mahr to pander to misogynistic cultures, then I do not know what it is.

Protests, Race and The Realities of Being a Visibly-Muslim Woman

Protests, Race and The Realities of Being a Visibly-Muslim Woman

As a Muslim, I try my best to talk about Islam in the way I believe it to be true and not in the way that the media would like to portray me as. I remember somewhere in the conversation, she mentioned how when she went to Dubai, couples were not allowed to hold hands and how she found that to be backwards. I told her, it is their culture and it is their country and if you did not like it, you do not have to go there.

On the Agency of Muslim Women: Visiting the Life of Aisha Bint Talhah bin Ubaydullah

On the Agency of Muslim Women: Visiting the Life of Aisha Bint Talhah bin Ubaydullah

In our modern world, this incident would have an entire community swearing and condemning a woman for daring to leave her marital home in a state of anger, let alone staying at her aunt’s for a period of four months. Muslim women today, are told that to step foot outside their matrimonial home without their spouse’s permission is tantamount to stepping into the fire of hell. There is a lot of oppression and spiritual blackmail going on in our communities against women and if these issues are not addressed, they’re going to have a devastating effect on our ummah.

Muslim Feminism in Rokeya Shakhawat Hossain’s “Sultana’s Dream”

Muslim Feminism in Rokeya Shakhawat Hossain’s “Sultana’s Dream”

The utopia unfolds to reveal an entirely flipped gender duality, with women at the frontiers of productivity, science, and innovation, and men tucked away in the oppressive comfort of their homes with little agency. Destruction of the binary rather than this reversal can seem more mature on the surface, but what is mature is rational, closer to the cognitively acceptable. It is in the unapologetic and blatant reversal of the gender hierarchy, then, instead of a meek and sober dissipation into equality, that we are estranged from the real-time and space of the narrative in a classic science fiction motif.

Advice to Young Girls from an Unapologetically Black Muslim Feminist

Advice to Young Girls from an Unapologetically Black Muslim Feminist

Women within the system of patriarchy have internalized the trauma of sexism, and have generations after generations, had to adhere closely for their own limited participation, approval, survival, and recently a point of anti-Western cultural rhetoric, to the extent that they then become fierce gatekeepers of what has become facts of life.

I Believe Our Stories Hold Power: Why Our Voices Matter as Muslim Women

I Believe Our Stories Hold Power: Why Our Voices Matter as Muslim Women

It had been my dream for years, to create a space where Muslim women could be seen and heard; where our pains could be felt and our shoes left empty enough for others to step in and see just how or how not it fits. I wanted to create a platform where Muslim women could be the diners at the table and not the menu on the plate; a space where we could be in charge of our narratives and take back our agency.

In Conversation with Katie Haseeb: Art, Empowerment and Spirituality

In Conversation with Katie Haseeb: Art, Empowerment and Spirituality

Muslim women telling our own stories is empowering and necessary, since we’re all aware of the perverse misrepresentations that can occur when our stories are told by others. If you look at the great cultures and societies throughout the history of the Islamic tradition, you will find a strong history of artists, craftspeople, and distinct artistic styles.