Drifting
Faith
I know that my writing lately has been much more scare than usual. I was never really a regular blog poster but these past few months have been especially bad in that regard. I would apologize but then I think "why am I apologizing and to whom?"

It hasn't been quite a year since I moved and it has been over a year since I graduated from college and I feel so different. I have honestly been wondering how to apply all the social theories I learned to my real life and I have not been very successful. This has affected my writing or lack thereof. I just have not been in the mood for writing. I have to go back and figure out how to make the theoretical real. Writing, I have learned, does not do that. I don't want the blog to just become a collection of rants and raves. I don't want to just rant and rave. I want my writing to mean something meaningful. Since I feel I have nothing meaningful to say or write at the moment I won't.

I also need time to just enjoy things like reading novels. I just finished North and South about a week ago and it has piqued my interest in classic literature. So for now I just want to read and ruminate over my books and life. When I get like this it usually means that I have little interest or energy in writing. I'm sure I will become interesting in writing again but for now I just need to think over life, drift a bit and come back into focus.
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The Sticky Issue Known as Spousal Support
Faith
Last evening I was talking to my mother about some Muslim gossip from my hometown and we got into a discussion-ok, it wasn't really a discussion but mostly my mother telling me about an Ustadh's opinion-about spousal support and brothers who sue their wives for it. For those of you not familar with traditional Islamic family structure or at least the idyllic version of it, men are supposed to maintain women and their families and this extends to divorce. If a couple gets divorced, the mahr or dowry that a couple agreed on when they got married comes into play. The husband has to give this to his wife except for extenuating circumstances. This arrangement works fantabulously in a patriarchial society or social structure.

It doesn't seem to work out as well in a matrifocal society such as African American society. After talking to my mom, I wondered why she, the Ustadh as well as other black Muslims took such an issue with men getting spousal support when in a lot of situations, the wife makes more than the husband? My mother made more than my late stepfater. Some of the women we talked about over the phone made more than their husbands. Yet, my mother asserted that a husband in this situation, in case of divorce, shouldn't ask for spousal support and should move on with his life.

This type of situation doesn't lend itself to black/white or haraam/halaal analysis. On the one hand, you have the Qur'anic prescription for the husband to take care of the wife. However, if you're in a marital situation where this hasn't been the case all along, is it fair to expect this to change during divorce?

More importantly or at least more interesting to me, is whether the views of some African American Muslims in regards to spousal support goes back to ideas of what masculinity should be. I have the feeling that to some Black Muslims, giving a husband spousal support further accelerates a perceived emasculation of Black men. I wrote previously on the blog that I felt one of the reasons why some African Americans convert to Islam is because it restores a traditional idea of masculinity that can be attractive. Spousal support for husband would definitely contradict this idea of masculinity. I guess the question that has to be asked though is if this construct of masculinity has existed for a lot of black men and whether it's right or wrong if it hasn't. For black Muslims especially and perhaps maybe for all Muslims, maybe we have to be more flexible when it comes to certain gender norms.
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Recognizing an achievement for what it is
Faith
I recently wrote a critique of a Sports Illustrated (SI) article about Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir for Muslimah Media Watch. To summarize the post and give context to this one, I wrote that SI still otherized Abdul-Qaadir by constantly focusing on her hijab instead of her basketball skills. Her basketball skills only became "spectacular" because she wore hijab. To my honest surprise my post was listed in the best of the web section of Comment is free from The Guardian's website as well as a feature piece on Jezebel. That was cool. However what was not cool were some of the comments that I read on Jezebel with the same basic theme of "well, Muslimahs should be happy for the 'positive' coverage they get". 

At first glance this statement may seem to make sense. Muslims do get a lot of negative coverage in the media and this piece does seem to break the mold. I should take the SI piece as a compliment of what Muslim women can do right? The answer is no, I shouldn't because while the article may appear to have a positive spin on it, what it ultimately does is make Bilqis seemextraordinary not because of her skills but because of her faith.  

Think of it this way. When Sidney Poitier won the Oscar for Best Actor, people were aghast because he was the first black actor to win the award. When Denzel Washington won, the reaction was similar because it had been so long since a black actor won that award. However, when Jamie Foxx and Forest Whitaker won the same award a few years after Washington, the feeling was much different. There was a focus on their actual performances moreso than their race. 

As a black woman, I felt like actual progress was being made because now Hollywood is finally beginning to recognize black actors for their skills and whenever a black actor gives a praiseworthy performance the reaction isn't "wow! [insert name], a black actor, gave an amazing performance" but "wow! [insert actor] gave such an incredible performance!" This isn't to say that racism still doesn't exist in Hollywood but progress is finally being made for black actors. We are getting to a point where the otherization of black actors is starting to decrease. 

However, this same progress has not occurred for Muslim women yet. Which is why we get a Sports Illustrated story about Bilqis's hijab and how it just so awesome for Muslim women that she is a star basketball player. We don't have the privilege of simply being appreciated for whatever skills we have. I think that is the point that some of the commentators on Jezebel missed and that so many people miss. I'm happy for anyone's achievement but what I want is to finally get to a point where people's achievements are recognized in and of themselves and not simply because of someone's race, religion, abilities, etc.. That is real progress to me. 
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OH NOES! Hijab will make you sick!
Faith

Originally posted at MMW.

The results of a new study on Arab women in Dearborn, Mich., have been released. The study revealed that women who wear “traditional clothing” (code word for hijab) are prone to lower levels of vitamin D because of less exposure to sunlight. Two articles on the study (here and here) read like, “Oh noes! Those poor hijabis who get no sunlight will get so sick!” This recent study is just the latest in a line of studies on hijabis in various parts of the world which all have the same result: hijabis don’t get enough sunlight and hence don’t get enough vitamin D. We’re told of all the risks of not getting enough vitamin D: increased risk of cancer, diabetes, Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis, heart disease and infections.

I am highly skeptical of these studies and the way they’re framed in the media. Not because of the results (if hijabis aren’t getting enough vitamin D, then we need to go about other ways of getting it), but because they all seem to have the same message: hijab is making you sick! There are many ways to get vitamin D, with exposure to sunlight being just one of them. You can also get vitamin D through diet. However, what is stressed in the two articles about the study is that hijabis don’t get enough vitamin D compared to non-hijabis despite the fact that the study also found “There was no difference in rates of health problems linked to vitamin D deficiency, such as bone or joint pain or breaks, or muscle weakness” between women in the study who wear hijab and women who don’t. In the Scientific American post, we’re given multiple quotes about how hijabis can’t enough vitamin D even from diet.

While heavy doses of vitamin D are available in supplements, the body manufacturers the most through sun exposure (admittedly in short supply in early spring in Michigan, when the study was done), Hobbs says. The vitamin naturally occurs in only a few foods, including mackerel, tuna, salmon and eggs, and it’s added to milk in the U.S. To get the recommended 1,000 International Units of vitamin D a day (or no more than 2,000), you’d have to drink 20 glasses of milk daily, or eat 80 eggs, Hobbs says. Spend a few minutes in the sunshine, though, and your body will make 10,000 to 20,000 units, he says.

So what am I or any other hijabi suppose to take away from this study? That unless I take off my hijab I’m not ever going to get enough vitamin D? That makes me feel very hopeful.

What was also troubling was that the study was only done on Arab American women. The Muslim community in the U.S., even in the Detroit area, is really diverse. Why were only Arab American women used in the study? Why weren’t women from other ethnic groups who wear hijab also used? This is troubling to me because it once again reinforces the idea that Muslim=Arab. The way the Freep.com article and Scientific American post were framed reinforced this idea. The titles of the articles are “Vitamin low in Arab women” and “Does modest dress among Arab-American women promote vitamin D deficiency?”, yet the bulk of both articles focus on hijabis. The article itself says that vitamin D levels were higher in women who didn’t wear hijab and since the study was done on Arab women, I assume that the women who didn’t wear hijab were also Arab. Also, there are Arabs who aren’t Muslim. Yet the articles are framed in such a way that equates Arab with Muslim.

So while it’s good to know that I should be conscious of my vitamin D intake, I also know that studies like these aren’t perfect.

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Judgment Day: Muslim Women Earn Judge Appointments in West Bank
Faith

Cross posted at Muslimah Media Watch

Two women, Khuloud Faqih and Asmahan Wuheidi,  have become judges in Islamic courts in the West Bank. This is such a great milestone, not only for Palestinian women, but for Muslim women, too. We often have our ability to be judges questioned because we’re seen as too emotional and irrational to be judges. This bias was evidenced by a quote in the Associated Press article, from a woman no less:

“I’d like to see her, but I think that men do this job better, they are less emotional,” said Eziyeh Yousef, who was finalizing her divorce papers.

In many Arab societies, traditions have long held that only men can be Islamic judges because women are too weak and sensitive.

Judge Khuloud Faqih. Image via AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen.

Judge Khuloud Faqih. Image via AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen.

I find this idea to be very ironic, especially in an Arab context, because it not uncommon to see Arab male politicians cry or deliver very emotional speeches on TV. I’m not sure why being “emotional” is seen as a liability for women but not men. What’s even more ironic about thinking that women cannot excel as Islamic judges is that Faqih and Wuheidi aced the Islamic law exam, “beating dozens of other, mostly male, applicants”.

Despite the prejudice of some, there also seems to be support for the two judges as well. Sheik Taysir Tamimi, who is responsible for the appointment, said he urged Faqih to apply. Additionally, Palestinian women rights activists are happy with the appointments as well.

The Associated Press release on the appointment does a great job of covering the various issues facing the judges without resorting to usual stereotypes about Shari’ah. They get the opinion of one women’s rights activist, Dima Nashashibi, who thinks that the appointment won’t have much effect for Palestinian women because she thinks that Islamic law is still unequal when it comes to treatment of men and women. It is a legitimate point that still has to be grappled with by Islamic feminists. Yet, we also hear from the judges themselves and how they feel that having more women judges in the court will help women for a variety of reasons.

But the female judges say they can help their sisters obtain their rights under Islamic law. They say a sense of shame surrounds women speaking to men, especially about intimate family relations.

Wuheidi gave the example of a woman seeking divorce because her husband was impotent but who was too shy to divulge details of her sex life to the male judge. In Islam, a woman can ask a judge for a divorce if she is not sexually satisfied.

“When a woman speaks to another woman, it’s easier for her to speak,” Wuheidi said.

This is a legitimate point as well. For a lot of women, it is much more comfortable to speak about certain issues with another female and having more female judges will definitely help more women to feel comfortable in court. I would also like to think that women judges will generally try to be fair and egalitarian towards women petitioners, although I also realize that this may not always be the case.

Still, this is a great milestone for Palestinian women and Insha’Allah (God willing), this will pave the way for more women judges, as well as a leading to further examination of Islamic law and how it can benefit Muslimahs.
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Prince Anus
Faith
Via Diary of an Anxious Black Woman

So Prince William has once again shown how culturally insentive and stupid *cough*racist*cough* he is. *rolls eyes* I'm not surprised about this latest incident considering that he likes wearing swastikas. 
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Shamless plug for my latest blog
Faith
My newest blog is Real Fit Muslimah. It's a blog for me to write my thoughts about being more fit and healthy. Please check it out!
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