The myth says that Malinche, an Aztec princess, betrayed her people, her culture and faith, for the love and the desire to be loved and accepted by the foreign Spanish conquer, colonialist and exploiter. Her name, said with contempt, is… Read More ›
Islam
Progressive Islam: A Critical View from Latin Muslim Feminists by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente & Eren Cervantes-Altamirano
Progressive Islam(s) in the West, particularly in Canada and the US, have been defined as movements that primarily encompass Islamic feminism(s), LGBTQI affirming movements, anti-Conservative theologies, feminist theologies, women-centered liturgies, etc. From within this umbrella, we have seen calls to… Read More ›
The Fringe is Our Stronghold by Oxana Poberejnaia
Recently I have come across several stories of women’s fringe spiritual movements or practices. This made me think about the role of outsiders’ or minority views in religions and society. Patriarchy pushes women and their issues to the margins of… Read More ›
Reconstructions of the Past 8: Hafsa bint Sirin (My Story of Her Life 3) by Laury Silvers
As discussed in earlier blogs, the sources tend to paint pious women as recluses for any number of reasons. No matter the intention, the message transmitted over time–in so many ways–is that pious women should restrict their social lives, especially… Read More ›
Have You Seen These Muslim Women? by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente
The photo that accompanies this article, or others similar, have been posted, shared and commented through social networks as expression of the inherent misogyny of Islam, with descriptions such as “DAESH taking women to sell in the concubine’s market” or… Read More ›
A Crisis of Faith-We’re Not Listening by Karen Hernandez
Orlando. Syria. Sandy Hook. Belgium. Somalia. Ethiopia. Venezuela. Paris. After the shooting in Orlando I was numb. In fact, every time a mass shooting occurs now, I am numb. I think we all feel that way, but we all handle… Read More ›
Khutba “A Call to Radical and Angry Women of Faith” by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente
I am grateful to the Interfaith Group of Feminist Theologians and Women of Faith for remembering my spiritual affiliation and giving me the opportunity to lead this service in this fully of blessings month of Ramadan and share with you a reflection… Read More ›
I am a Suicide Attempt Survivor by Karen Leslie Hernandez
In the past year, I have several friends that have lost loved ones to suicide. The statistics are real, raw and all too sobering. In the United States, an average of 117 people choose to end their lives every day…. Read More ›
Mawada, Rahma and Sakina by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente
Last year I thought, seriously, of getting married. I know, it may be hard to believe, given my image of cranky feminist. But I still have an engagement ring in art-deco style with a bright ruby to show this was true. He… Read More ›
Reconstructions of the Past 6: Hafsa bint Sirin (My Story of Her Life) by Laury Silvers
In this sixth reflection on the life of Hafsa bint Sirin and in blogs to follow, I will be emphasizing that her much praised great piety was not incompatible with social engagement, or even sometimes a good dose of family… Read More ›
Islamophobia is Gender Violence and a Feminist Issue
The case of Larycia Hawkins, an African-American Christian, Associate Professor of political science at Wheaton College in the United States, who published a photo on Christmas day on Facebook wearing a headscarf in solidarity with Muslim women victims of Islamophobia,… Read More ›
Declaring a Theological State of Emergency: Trump’s Ignorance Must Not Be Ours by Mary E. Hunt
On CNN’s State of the Union, Donald Trump reiterated his call to bar Muslim immigration to the U.S. and predicted that his fellow presidential candidates would soon come around to his position. This prompts me to declare a theological state of emergency…. Read More ›
Reconstructions of the Past 5: Hafsa bint Sirin (“Women’s Withdrawal in the Literature”) by Laury Silvers
As I mentioned in the last entry, the textual idealization of women’s pious withdrawal extends to secluding women from public exposure in the texts themselves. Sufi and pious women were mentioned in very early sources, then dropped almost in their… Read More ›
The Pilgrimage We Need Is Not To Mecca by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente
Many people have been writing about the Hajj from a critical perspective, telling Muslims it is a time to reflect seriously and deeply about what is happening there in Saudi Arabia with our sacred places and rituals. I am here… Read More ›
Invisible Giants: On Women, Mosques, and Radical Activism by Juliane Hammer
At times, being ignored, erased, and made invisible, is more hurtful than open debate and disagreement. Such silencing and marginalization render the energy, activism, and work of so many people mute and, ultimately, they do not serve the communities and… Read More ›
Offering My First Khutba: On Imaan & The Divine Presence by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente
For the last 6 weeks, I’ve been living in Cape Town, South Africa. This has been a blessed opportunity to grow, to gain more knowledge, and to reach outcomes that are beneficial both for my work as an activist and… Read More ›
Slouching Towards Justice by Esther Nelson
Kecia Ali, one of the contributors to this Feminism and Religion blog, recently wrote an excellent article titled, “Muslims and Meat-Eating Vegetarianism, Gender, and Identity,” (Journal of Religious Ethics, Volume 3, Issue 2, June 2015). In her article, Kecia Ali… Read More ›
Feminism and Faith by Judith Plaskow, Rosemary Radford Ruether, and amina wadud
“Feminism saved my faith” is the concluding phrase of one of the writers in Faithfully Feminist, and though not everyone would say it that way, most of these women have found feminism and faith vibrantly interrelated. The contributors to this… Read More ›
Sappho, Frankincense, and Female Spirituality by Stuart Dean
White Howjary Frankincense (photo: Trygve Harris (www.enfleurage.com)) Sappho is the first Greek author to attest to the usage of frankincense. The word she uses to refer to it (libanos) is what comparative linguists call a ‘loan word,’ in this case… Read More ›
Learning from the Nation by Jameelah X. Medina
One thing about the Nation of Islam (NOI) mosques that I have always enjoyed in comparison to mainstream Islamic mosques is that the gender separation is side-by-side rather than front-to-back with the women always in the back on the same… Read More ›
Women Fighting Patriarchy … Against Each Other by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente
It is painful to find out the lack of understanding among feminists when controversial issues are discussed, to the point that it seems we have failed in achieving a key factor: transforming the way women perceive and interact with each other…. Read More ›
Reconstructions of the Past 3: Hafsa bint Sirin (“Hafsa’s Hadith”) by Laury Silvers
If you’ve read Part 2, then you know we’ve been talking about how the literature demonstrates that there were attempts in the early period to bar women from mosque attendance and even attendance at the prayers for the two `eids…. Read More ›
Reconstructions of the Past 2: Hafsa bint Sirin (“Women’s Mosque Attendance”) by Laury Silvers
There is significant historical scholarship demonstrating that women’s public lives were coming under increasing restriction during the first few hundred years of Islam. Despite the differing modes of analyses and conclusions of such scholarship, there seems to be agreement that… Read More ›
Islam Is Out There, Among Women by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente
Last week I was touring the capital of my country, Chile, for conferences and workshops on Islam, Gender and Human Rights. One of the issues I address there was the tyranny of stereotypes Muslim women carry with us and the… Read More ›
The Evil Powers are Well at Work and I’ve Lost My Spirit… by Valentina Khan
It has been over a year now that I haven’t been actively a part of my interfaith community. I find that especially odd since I graduated last May from the Claremont School of Theology with a Masters in Religious Leadership…. Read More ›
Reconstructions of the Past: Hafsa bint Sirin (“Introduction”) by Laury Silvers
This blog and those to follow will be taken from an academic talk I gave on the life of the early pious worshipper, scholar of Qur’an, Hadith, and their legal meanings, Hafsa bint Sirin (d. ca. 100/800). I used some… Read More ›
The Religion of My Rape by Jennifer Zobair
Whenever the epidemic of rape in Egypt makes the news, I am destined to think of Joyce Carol Oates. Last summer, the author took to twitter to question whether Islam was responsible for the widespread incidence of sexual assault in… Read More ›
Oh, Yes! On a Sexual Revolution in Islam by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente
For centuries, religions have controlled sexuality. They have defined the legitimate options with regard to gender, sexual orientation, how to make love and its purpose. The religious discourse on sex imposes patriarchy, binarism, marriage, monogamy, motherhood and heterosexuality as sine… Read More ›
Islam, Ali, and Reformation by Kile Jones
Does Islam need a reformation? The ever-controversial Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s new book Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now argues that it does. Do you agree with her? Or do you find problems with the way Ayaan Ali frames the… Read More ›
Nature: The Best Muslim and My Favorite Muse by Jameelah X. Medina
Now that spring is upon us, it started me thinking about the beach. I love the ocean. Like me, lots of people get that back-to-the-peaceful-womb feeling when looking at the ocean. As I thought about the ocean, I realized I… Read More ›