Tag: Linda Sarsour

  • #MuslimWomenCrushWednesday – Which Muslim Woman Inspires You Most?

    #MuslimWomenCrushWednesday – Which Muslim Woman Inspires You Most?

    #MuslimWomenCrushWednesday

    I’m gonna start off with the first Muslim woman that popped into my head. She’s a Speaker of Parliament, lawyer, unionist, daughter, mother, wife, mozlem, patron for the destigmatization of the mentally ill, hijabi (very confidently with her own unique style yo!), makcik bungkus2 (always spotted at a void deck happily helping fellow makcik and auntie grassroots with menial but necessary tasks like packing food), yishun-er (yes despite it’s increasingly ghetto status, she still lives in a humble hdb there), and most of all, i is so #fangirl over her cos she is a #sayitasitis-er!

    “And then she said, set your own goals. If not, other people will set your goals for you, and you will become just a tool for other people to achieve their own goals. And don’t expect people to give you extra points just because you are a woman. Life is not golf; it doesn’t and shouldn’t work that way. #sayitasitis”

    #MWCW
    #yourturn

    *We’re starting a hashtag movement! 1. Entitle your post “Muslim Women Crush Wednesday”. 2. Write (read: fangirl) about your favourite inspiring woman (Singaporean or otherwise) and 3. End it with #MWCW. Simple. You’ve got 24hours before Wednesday ends, go! And by you i mean YOU! Yes YOU, including the brothers who love their mothers.*

     

    #Fangirling
    She said that in Islam, women get to keep their own property after marriage, while under the common law, women’s property goes into the common property of the marriage. And then she said, so ladies, you don’t have to contribute a single cent to the household if you don’t want to. You are not obliged. But don’t go home and tell your husband that Mdm Halimah said this; this is what Islam says. But if you redha and you want to give to help your family, then Alhamdulillah, i think this is good. #truth

    And then she went on to talk about Prof Ying and Mdm Zuraidah before talking about her own accomplishments. Well sort of really because she talked more about the work rather than HER accomplishments. #humility

    And then she said, set your own goals. If not, other people will set your goals for you, and you will become just a tool for other people to achieve their own goals. And don’t expect people to give you extra points just because you are a woman. Life is not golf; it doesn’t and shouldn’t work that way.#sayitasitis

    And then she said, actually ustaz, i had hoped more bapa2 come for this conference. Maybe next time if you have such a muslim women conference, we can get more of the men to come. (…) And i hope there will continue to be more women on masjid boards. And don’t just have the women there to tolong buat kopi…give them more diverse and significant roles. #amikkau

    (Ok so it seems like fate has it that my fb (and hence perhaps your newsfeeds) will continue to be filled with awesome Muslim women this week. Enjoy! *and yes, i generally truly enjoy sitting behind pillars*)

    #MuslimWomenConference

    Source: Nur Khairiana

  • Muslims Must Find Allies Among Non-Muslims In Fight Against Islamophobia

    Muslims Must Find Allies Among Non-Muslims In Fight Against Islamophobia

    Possible lessons from the Linda Sarsour episode:

    (For those who are unaware, she is a Palestinian-American and a social activist who participated in the women’s march held a few days ago. She gave a rousing, inspiring speech. Unfortunately, but predictably, she was slammed by many people; those on the far-right, but also, some Muslims.)

    1) Some men just cannot stand strong women, who have loud voices and are not afraid to articulate their opinions. This is regrettably still true, and it is really futile to pretend that it is not.

    2) As long as Muslims do not conform to certain expectations held by others, there will be efforts to ‘reform’ Islam and ‘modernize’ it. Can’t help but feel there would be fewer criticisms if she had not donned the hijab, or if she was a self-styled Muslim ‘reformer’.

    3) We should always challenge terminologies that are put forth by others. When others use the term ‘moderate’, or ‘progressive’, or ‘conservative’, do not let that slide, or worse, embrace them uncritically. This is not a matter of being an ‘academic exercise’; rather, it could have real-life implications.

    In this case, the term ‘anti-Semite’ was bandied about casually. Is she anti-Semitic because she is Palestinian? Aren’t Arabs Semites in the first place???

    Do not let others define the terms of discourse for us.

    4) Muslims should be aware that many of those who are defending Linda are those from other/no faiths. Yes, in the Western world, there are plenty of Islamophobes who wish to see Islam disappear from the face of the earth, and/or want Islam to be changed wholesale.

    At the same time, there are many who are allies and potential allies, who have stood up and will continue to stand up for us. It is crucial to recognize this.

    Muslims hate it when people paint us with the same brush. We, of all people, should know not to do that with ‘people in the West’, ‘Jews’, ‘the right’, and the like.

     

    Source: Walid J. Abdullah