Local authorities in London on Wednesday defended plans to build arches described by critics as “hijab gates” at the ends of London’s famed multi-cultural Brick Lane. Tower Hamlets council, which is due to consider the plans this week, says the arches will boost the economy and celebrate diversity in the area — famous for its [...]
Yasmine al-Mehairy did not even really want to be there. She had been invited to a friend’s birthday party at an upmarket nightclub called 35, in the Four Seasons hotel. She was parked illegally but only planned to hand over a bouquet and spend ten minutes inside. But when the bouncer pointed at her headscarf as the reason she could not enter, Ms al-Mehairy decided to fight…
Quebec’s movement to expel the niqab from much of civic life struck some Canadians as pure intolerance – a hunt more common to the pitchfork-wielding redneck anxious to preserve his cultural domination. But in Quebec, opposition to allowing the niqab in government services expands far beyond the ranks of the usual bigots. In fact, the [...]
The French parliament is to vote on a proposal to ban the face covering known as the niqab or burqa. BBC Wales reporter SELMA CHALABI looks at what is happening in France and finds out how Muslims in Wales are responding. These days it is quite common to see women walking around the part of [...]
Industry is estimated to be worth more than $96b by conservative estimates Dubai: Thanks to years of steady acceptance and growing support from top fashion icons, Arabic and Islamic fashion is set to continue its influence on the global fashion industry, according to French Fashion University Esmod Dubai, a fashion institution in the Middle East. [...]
Marjan Kalhor’s green knit toque is pulled down low on her forehead. Her hair is neatly tucked beneath the toque, which is embroidered with a single word: IRAN. She’s wearing a white ski jacket with a high collar and green ski pants. On her slim wrist, there’s a yellow plastic bracelet that says: Believe. Last [...]
A Scottish law firm has become the first in the country to offer clients “conventional” legal representation alongside advice on sharia law. Hamilton Burns, based in Glasgow’s south side, has teamed up with an eminent Muslim scholar who will counsel clients on the Islamic aspect of civil law cases, while solicitors give advice under Scots [...]
If my women friends lived in Malaysia, and we happened to be Muslim, we’d – with a few exceptions – be badly battered and bruised. Our bodies would be red raw from constant thrashing. I wonder if we’d wear those lashing marks with pride. Or would the pain and humiliation of official caning eventually break [...]
Los Angeles, California – International Women’s Day on 8 March provides an opportunity to raise awareness of the work women are doing to combat gender inequality. Violence and inequality affect women around the world, including women in Muslims societies who, like their non-Muslim counterparts, are engaged on a day-to-day basis to improve their environments for [...]
Most Malaysians accept the caning of women under the country’s Shariah courts, Islamic Development Department (Jakim) director general Datuk Wan Mohamad Sheikh Abdul Aziz said on Wednesday.“Jakim held a seminar to discuss caning long before it became an issue among Malaysians. The outcome was encouraging because the participants understood the whys and hows of it,” [...]
