Rafia Zakaria
|  |
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Rafia Zakaria
Indianapolis, Indiana USA
Rafia Zakaria is the first Pakistani American woman to serve as a Director for Amnesty International USA. She is a lawyer and the Director of the Muslim Women's Legal Defense Fund for the Muslim Alliance of Indiana/The Julian Center Shelter representing victims of domestic violence. She is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at Indiana University, currently working on her dissertation entitled "Negotiating Identity: Sharia, multiculturalism and Muslim women." She was the John Edwards Fellow at Indiana University for 2007-2008 which is the highest academic honor that can be achieved by a graduate student at Indiana University. Rafia writes a weekly column for the Daily Times in Pakistan and her work has appeared in the New York Times, Arts and Letters Daily, the Nation and the American Prospect. She is the only Pakistani American woman recognized by a joint resolution of the Indiana House and Senate for her work on women's rights. | |
|
|
|
|
 | | | The Burj Khalifa | |
Behind the glitz By Rafia Zakaria, January 15, 2010 The very dynamics of the architecture of the tallest towers and their historical symbolism suggest acts of defiance. Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, now the world’s tallest building, takes the act of rebellion against physical limitations to new levels — literally.  ( 3 comments) |
|
 | | | Radicalization | |
Climate of suspicion By Rafia Zakaria, December 18, 2009 As the fever for establishing a connection between AfPak and American security rises with the recent arrests of Americans in Pakistan, American Muslims must contend with the burden of increased scrutiny and a tragic political silencing. ( 31 comments) |
|
 | | | Virginity devices | |
A woman’s burden of proof By Rafia Zakaria, October 14, 2009 A new "virginity device" sold from China and marketed to Muslims in Egypt and elsewhere has conservative clerics up in arms. But what should be discussed is the hypocrisy that burdens women with proof of virginity while the men involved are ignored. Because of this, thousands of widows, divorcees and rape victims in countries like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are forced to live lives at the very margins of social acceptability. ( 60 comments) |
|
 | | | Afghanistan | |
A military failure (or a moral one)? By Rafia Zakaria, September 30, 2009 As the McChrystal report demonstrates, the stagnation and moral dilemmas surrounding US policy in Afghanistan, exploited by groups like Al Qaeda, pins the United States in a military and political pigeonhole. ( 20 comments) |
|
 | | | Women and the law | |
Of caning, flogging, and starving By Rafia Zakaria, August 24, 2009 In three different Muslim countries, a series of unrelated legal rulings appear to reflect the desire on the part of the Muslim public to have the State as a stand in for the conscience of the individual believer. ( 51 comments) |
|
 | | | Clothing bans | |
Beyond the burqa By Rafia Zakaria, June 29, 2009 Curbs against some types of womens' religious attire - such as the proposed burqa ban in France - often have little to do with commitments to the emancipation of women and much to do with using women’s bodies as a platform for varying political agendas. ( 125 comments) |
|
 | | | Iran crisis | |
Leave Iran alone By Rafia Zakaria, June 22, 2009 Despite the cacophony of mock-solidarity echoing from all echelons of the US neo-conservative establishment, when it comes to doing what’s best for the Iranian people and indeed for the world, the US must do nothing at all. ( 14 comments) |
|
 | | | Obama's Cairo speech | |
The value of words By Rafia Zakaria, June 4, 2009 For all the ensuing media chatter on the necessity of following his beautiful words with beautiful deeds, President Obama deserves credit for his overtures to Muslims around the world in his groundbreaking speech in Cairo. ( 16 comments) |
|
 | | | The Taliban | |
A response to modernity By Rafia Zakaria, April 13, 2009 In its rigidity, the Talibanised society mimics an authenticity that sounds and feels truly pure and Islamic and is greedily imbibed by a population that is hungry for answers.
( 83 comments) |
|
 | | | Reviving feminism | |
Making a needed connection By Rafia Zakaria, November 24, 2008 Feminists have remained silent and unwilling to make the connection between exhibitionism of flesh and subjugation of flesh, a commonality that should be a rallying cry.
( 41 comments) |
|
 | | | Religion and the state | |
Burqa and citizenship By Rafia Zakaria, July 22, 2008 To first exclude a minority through racism and xenophobia and then turn around and castigate those same immigrants for the "failure to assimilate" seems like a redundant and malicious policy ( 33 comments) |
|
 | | | Women's rights | |
The perpetual minors By Rafia Zakaria, May 23, 2008 The Saudi veil of piety hides behind it a monarchical state with little respect for the dignity and equality of all human beings so firmly advocated by Islam.
( 11 comments) |
|
 | | | Iran Elections | |
A worn out utopia By Rafia Zakaria, March 16, 2008 In evaluating the course of Iran’s path since the 1979 revolution, one must ask why a revolutionary force has became as administratively inept, increasingly repressive and suspicious of dissent as the order against which it mobilised?
( 3 comments) |
|
 | | | Women in politics | |
The women on top By Rafia Zakaria, January 28, 2008 Feminists should not hold real examples of female leadership, such as the late Benazir Bhutto and Hillary Clinton, to a stricter standard than that applied to men who have the same aspirations ( 4 comments) |
|
 | | | Bhutto assassination | |
Mourning an icon By Rafia Zakaria, December 29, 2007 Even though Benazir Bhutto was helped along by the political legacy of her father, her continued commitment to democratic politics and to the women of Pakistan demonstrated that silence and submission are not the only choices for Pakistani women. ( 13 comments) |
|
 | | | Karachi suicide attacks | |
Not the same Pakistan By Rafia Zakaria, October 19, 2007 Violence and death are no strangers to Karachi. Yet, this act, come as it did at a time when national reconciliation is on the table, suggests the re-aligning of Pakistani politics along a paradigm different from in the past. ( 8 comments) |
|
 | | | Book “Banat al Riyadh" | |
The subterranean life By Rafia Zakaria, August 25, 2007 Is Western feminism is truly applicable to women in Muslim countries? Raja Alsanea’s book “Banat al Riyadh” (Girls of Riyadh) explores this issue through the eyes of four Saudi women. ( 2 comments) |
|
 | | | Labor & Economy | |
The tower that slaves built By Rafia Zakaria, July 31, 2007 Skyscrapers and fancy malls exist all around the world, but the Gulf States are unique in creating a system of labour exploitation where workers are treated as mere chattel. ( 13 comments) |
|
 | | | Suicide Terrorism | |
Lives less worthy? By Rafia Zakaria, July 23, 2007 Perhaps the world can come to realise that the real war is between those who believe in the ultimate sanctity and value of a human life and those who do not. ( 37 comments) |
|
 | | | Pakistan's Lal Masjid | |
The cult and the crisis By Rafia Zakaria, July 13, 2007 The Lal Masjid debacle raises the question of what exactly the relationship is between Islam and Pakistan, and between the state and the citizen. Is Pakistan a secular or a sacred state? ( 45 comments) |
|
 | | | Honor Killing | |
Saving Banaz Mahmod By Rafia Zakaria, June 14, 2007 The case of Banaz Mahmod shows that some segregated immigrant communities exert draconian control over women in order to act out the frustration of feeling helpless in a foreign land. ( 4 comments) |
|
 | | | Human Rights | |
Evil Guantanamo, but what about Evin? By Rafia Zakaria, June 3, 2007 Iran's Evin prison is the sordid site where hundreds of Iranian human rights activists, philosophers, journalists and student leaders are being imprisoned under chilling and ghastly conditions. ( 3 comments) |
|
 | | | Human Rights | |
Righting Muslim women By Rafia Zakaria, May 29, 2007 The American Right follows the condescending strategy that naïve Muslim women will somehow forget the tragedies unleashed on them when thrown a few comforting words. ( 7 comments) |
|
 | | | Human Rights | |
Criminal silence on Darfur By Rafia Zakaria, May 15, 2007 Because of the intra-Muslim nature of the conflict, the suffering of the Darfuri people has failed to become the subject of religious sermons in the Muslim world. ( 16 comments) |
|
 | | | Muslim Economies | |
Saudi Arabia’s schizophrenia By Rafia Zakaria, April 10, 2007 While economic prosperity and its attendant manifestations have come to Saudi Arabia relatively easily, religious, socio-cultural and political reform continues to be rejected. ( 11 comments) |
|
 | | | Secular Islam Conference | |
The great pretenders By Rafia Zakaria, March 9, 2007 The speakers at the "Secular Islam Conference" reduced the necessity of dialogue between Muslims and Westerners to a profiteering activity that cashes in on fear and intolerance. ( 57 comments) |
|
 | | | Pakistan's Hudood Ordinance | |
Veils and jails By Rafia Zakaria, September 1, 2006 The Hudood Ordinances of Pakistan expose how Generals past and present have used the regulation of female sexuality to their strategic advantage. ( 2 comments) |
|
 | | | Honor Killing | |
Crime & abetment By Rafia Zakaria, August 9, 2006 European Muslims continue to remain silent on horrific crimes within the community, citing fear of fuelling Islamophobia as the reason. This should not be an excuse. ( 17 comments) |
|
 | | | Commentary | |
Islam and reform By Rafia Zakaria, June 10, 2006 Unless any recipe for reform is able to win a constituency in the hearts of those that must change, it is likely to die an unceremonious death on the shelves of Western bookstores. ( 1 comment) |
|
 | | | Hijab in Europe | |
Veil and a warning By Rafia Zakaria, February 10, 2006 The mysterious death of Norwegian politician Samira Munir is a chilling deterrent to Muslim women who speak out about the violence against women in their communities. ( 2 comments) |
|
|
|
|
altmuslim this week - february 1, 2010 - This week, a controversial autopsy report on the killing of Imam Luqman Abdullah raises questions, the trial conviction this week of Aafia Siddiqui in New York raises even more questions, and a report in Harper's alleges that suicides at Guantanamo were cover-ups and raises yet more questions. Enough questions. Who has answers?
|
Win tickets to see “Journey to Mecca” in London - Voting for the Brass Crescent Awards has begun and for our British participants, we're offering five pairs of tickets to see a special IMAX screening of " Journey to Mecca," a documentary that tells the story of Ibn Battuta and the hajj (November 16, 2009)
Treachery at Fort Hood - American Muslims, particularly those serving in the US Armed Forces, should consider the killing of soldiers at Fort Hood an act of betrayal and treachery, regardless of the political sphere surrounding America's wars overseas. (November 5, 2009)
|
|
| |
|
altmuslim review 032 - Muslim writers everywhere! We speak about the new wave of Western Muslim literature and interview two authors with recently released books. Our own Irfan Yusuf talks about his memoir, Once Were Radicals and Reza Aslan tells us more about his second book, How to Win a Cosmic War (June 11, 2009)
altmuslim review 031 - Oh, Bama! What does the election of Barack Obama mean for American Muslims, who were both courted and shunned during a long campaign? We speak with American Muslim Democratic activists who were gathered in Washington for the historic inauguration. (March 5, 2009)
|
|
Recent and upcoming talks and offsite articles by altmuslim contributors
Al-Awlaki, a new public enemy, Zahed Amanullah, The Guardian, Comment is Free, December 30, 2009.
Islamophonic: Review of the year, Riazat Butt, Zahed Amanullah and David Shariatmadari, Cif Belief (The Guardian), December 18, 2009.
Fort Hood has enough victims already, Wajahat Ali, Comment is Free (The Guardian), November 6, 2009
The pitfalls of filming Muhammad, Shahed Amanullah, The Guardian, Comment is Free, November 4, 2009.
Children of Dust (published by HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollins), the first book by longtime altmuslim.com contributor Ali Eteraz, is released in the US, Canada, and the UK on October 13, 2009.
Shahed will be attending the m100 Sansoucci Colloquium in Potsdam, Germany, September 14-16, 2009. He will be moderating a panel discussion on the Danish cartoon crisis with Denis MacShane MP, Jasim Al-Azzawi (Al Jazeera English), and Flemming Rose (Jyllands Posten).
Associate Editor Wajahat Ali's play "The Domestic Crusaders" is having its premiere at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in New York City, NY, September 11, 2009. The play will continue through Sunday, October 11, 2009.
Shahed will be moderating or participating in three panel discussions at the Islamic Society of North America's annual convention, including Muslim Journalists: The View from the Inside, Supporting Social Entrepreneurs and Civic Leaders, and Blogistan: Muslim Americans on the Web in Washington, DC, July 3-6, 2009.
State-sponsored Sufism, Ali Eteraz, Foreign Policy, June 10, 2009.
Pushing the Envelope Without Breaking It, Shahed Amanullah, The Mosque in Morgantown, June 2, 2009.
Obama in Egypt: Let the unsaid be said, Zahed Amanullah, Patheos.com, May 28, 2009.
Zahed will be a panelist at Divan 2.0, a debate on the future of the Muslim internet sponsored by the Radical Middle Way at the London School of Economics in London, England, May 22, 2009.
Once Were Radicals (published by Allen and Unwin), the first book by Associate Editor Irfan Yusuf, is released in Australia, May 4, 2009.
Shahed and Wajahat will be speaking at the 3rd Annual Leadership Summit presented by the Council for the Advancement of Muslim Professionals in Princeton, NJ, May 2, 2009.
Shahed will be leading a workshop on Media Strategies & Techniques at the Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow conference in New York, NY, April 24-25, 2009.
Bringing it all back home, Wajahat Ali, The Guardian, Comment is Free, April 9, 2009.
Zahed will be conducting a two day workshop on Blogging and New Media for Italian students at the United States Embassy, Rome, Italy, April 8-9, 2009.
Crusading for Modern Islamic Art, Shahed Amanullah, Beliefnet, March 26, 2009.
Wajahat will be speaking at the Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow conference in Doha, Qatar (January 16-19, 2009)
Finding the middle ground, Hesham Hassaballa, Philadelphia Inquirer, January 8, 2009.
|
|
Media appearances and analysis featuring altmuslim editors
Muslims say new security rules unfair, ineffective - ''Muslims are doing their duty. Muslim parents are being attentive. It's the TSA that's not being attentive. It's the TSA that's not doing its duty," said Shahed Amanullah, an editor at the Web site altmuslim.com. "There's nothing more that Muslims can do than turn in their own families." (January 7, 2010)
US Muslims & media… Lost love - "We have a big problem; it’s that other people are shaping the story about us," Shahed Amanullah, editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com, told IslamOnline.net. (December 16, 2009)
Moves to Seize Mosques Spark Outrage - "I'm extremely skeptical that the link between these mosques and this organization is so strong as to merit the seizing of a considerable amount of assets that do a lot of good for the Muslim community," says Shahed Amanullah, a prominent Muslim blogger based in Austin. "The government better be prepared to make a very good case, because this is unprecedented." (November 17, 2009)
Muslim Prayer Day Illustrates Dynamics of Free Speech in U.S. - "Some popular commentators and bloggers, such as Zahed Amanullah of the Web site altmuslim and Aziz Poonawalla of the blog City of Brass, were critical of its timing, coming so close to the end of Ramadan and Eid celebrations." (October 23, 2009)
O’s Fall Reading Guide - Children of Dust - "Ali Eteraz's memoir, Children of Dust, describes this ardent young Muslim's picaresque journey from a brutal Pakistani madrassa (oddly reminiscent of a British boys' school) to America's Bible Belt ("Allahbama," in his devout but increasingly modern eyes), where he braved the sexual fantasyland of AOL and zealously warded off temptation in miniskirts... his adventures are a heavenly read." (October 14, 2009)
|
|
