In the post 9/11 world, where everyone loves to fall back on a clash of the civilizations explanation for Why We Don't Get Along with "The Muslim World," one group of people tend to get a lot of attention in the midst of the cultural debate: veiled women. They have become the focal point of countless debates on Islam,…
Just in case y'all were wondering, today is "World Hijab Day," a day meant to celebrate a woman's right to wear hijab. First created back in 2004 in response to the start of Sarkozy's war on covered ladies in France, it has become a day to make a statement against bans on veiling — particularly in the West.
Some of you may remember former Disneyland employee Imane Boudlal, who filed a discrimination complaint
Saudi judo champion Wojdan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shaherkani will wear a hijab after all when she takes part in the Olympic Judo competition. A Saudi National Olympic Committee spokeswoman said that the IOC and the International Judo Federation had settled on a version of the headscarf for Shaherkani to wear that was…
The growing trend for Iranian women to wear Western fashions prompted Iran's reactionary "morality police" to raid 87 coffee shops on Saturday. Tehran police official Alireza Mehrabi explained that the coffee shops "were shut for not following Islamic values, providing hookah to women, and lacking proper licenses," and the …
TLC draws in viewers by offering a glimpse into the lives of unusual people. There are the Duggars, Freaky Eaters, Hoarding: Buried Alive, The Little Couple, the saving-obsessed ladies of Extreme Couponing, and, of course, the makeup-spackled youngsters of Toddlers & Tiaras. But last night, All-American Muslim…
In 2006, Souhair Khatib went to a jail in Orange County, California to ask for more time to complete her community service. She wound up being jailed for several hours, and deputies made her take off her hijab, though she told them it's against her religious beliefs to remove her head scarf in public. Her case was…
The Staten Island boy charged with a hate crime for trying to rip off a classmate's hijab apparently had an accomplice — a 13-year-old girl also charged with a hate crime. The girl — and her school — have a history of infractions.
A 12-year-old Staten Island boy has been charged with a hate crime for attacking a girl and trying to rip off her hijab. But his school apparently tried hard to get police to drop charges.
Next time you are having dinner with a Bahraini dignitary, don't embarrass yourself by confusing the Queen's abaya with a burqa.
Recently, Maryland seventh-grader Maheen Haq was forced to sit out during the first half of her basketball game, after league officials cited concerns over her hijab as a safety hazard.
A woman who was arrested for refusing to take off her hijab at a Georgia courthouse is suing. She says, ""I hope that no person of faith will ever have to experience the type of egregious treatment I suffered."
An Australian court has ruled that a woman cannot wear her niqab to testify in court — but the decision may be more about prejudice than legal necessity.
A Muslim woman announced today that she'll be filing a discrimination complaint against Disneyland because her bosses there sent her home for wearing her hijab.
Every time news about another hijab/niqab/burqa ban hits the press, editors rejoice: this is their chance to coin THE ultimate veil pun. Problem is, there's simply no such thing as a good veil pun.
An Abercrombie & Fitch employee in northern California is alleging she was fired for refusing to remove her hijab, or headscarf marking her Muslim observance. Abercrombie's pursuit of a homogeneous army of "perfect" employees appears to have snared it again!
A Muslim woman was jilted at the altar after her husband pulled back her veil and "discovered" that she didn't exactly look like her picture. The always-classy Daily Fail notes "a divorce was inevitable" for the bearded bride. [Daily Mail]
"'You have to wear a hijab,' my husband told me shortly after we got married. 'Don't argue with me over this issue.'" So begins writer Dalya Hassan's somewhat disquieting account of "wearing a headscarf in Iraq":
Yesterday, NPR's All Things Considered visited the shop of Iraqi entrepreneur Ali Mohammed who specializes in clothes for the "modern Iraqi woman." The shop - and the women who frequent it - reveal much about the country's shifting social norms.
• Two teens from Indiana have brought a lawsuit against their school after they were barred from participating in school activities following the discovery of some racy pictures they posted on MySpace. •
• Jamie McCourt, baseball's highest-ranking woman, has been fired from her position as the Dodgers' chief executive by her estranged husband Frank McCourt, who is the team's owner. Now she's believed to be trying to regain control of the team.
Hailey Woldt is part of an anthropological project, led by American University Islamic studies professor Akbar Ahmed, to document what it is to be Muslim in America after September 11th. Her assignment: wear an abaya.
Remember Jameelah Medina
A Muslim woman in Douglasville, Georgia was arrested yesterday after a judge found her in contempt of court for refusing to remove her hijab. Was it an example of religious intolerance?
Since 2006, the guerrilla street artist "Princess Hijab" has been "hijab-izing" Parisian ads, covering pictured women's faces and bodies with spray paint and marker and pasting original "hijab ads" around the city.
Perhaps you have already let out a long woebegone sigh re the news of the two Obama volunteers who barred headscarf-wearing Muslim women from sitting near him at a rally in Detroit on Monday so as not to generate any more photographic fodder for the insane wing conspiracy. I would say this was a low point, but that…
