Written by Ramsey Tesdell

On the eve of the World Cup final I witnessed an incident that struck me - a Christian and non-Jordanian Jordanian (my mother can’t pass on her citizenship to me) living in a decidedly Muslim country - as particularly odd and humbling.

I went with a group of friends to a local pub in Amman to watch the game. I received an odd call, asking if a friend could join. “Of course” I said yes, no problem. He then said, but she’s covered, will they let her in? I responded, I’ve never heard of a covered woman being NOT being allowed in.

But that night, an argument ensued. The woman arrived and was promptly told she could not come in. Luckily, a strong-willed friend and a firecracker all the same, fought with them...

Written by Farida Farouk

In my religion and spiritual search, I happened to come across literature for authors, especially women who have influenced my interpretation and understanding of Islam. For a long time, I refused to read anything written by Muslim men since they had dominated the conversation for far too long. But through the work of scholars such as Nasr Hamed Abu Zeid, Mohammad Arkoun and Abdullahi An-Naim I learned that some men could be as feminist as the best of us! On March 18th 2005, a scholar of Islam and a feminist by the name of Amina Wadud became the first woman on record to lead a public, mixed-gender Friday prayer where she led the same number of men and women in prayer. Both women and men were standing side by side, praying together, not...

Islam has had an enormous positive impact on life, culture, and thought around the world. Yes, despite this rich history, Farida Farouk argues that recent “rediscoveries” of Islam are leading the world’s fastest growing religion down a dangerous path. Governments and autocratic regimes need to change and adapt a secular policy in order to modernize and become more democratic.

Written by Farida Farouk. After independence in the 20th century Arab countries have been ruled by authoritarian regimes. In that same period, Fundamentalist Muslims rediscovered Islam. Hassan Al Banna set up the Muslim Brotherhood in the late 1920s as “the path” for development. He stated that Islam was the...

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Written by: Farah El-Sharif I am inclined to respond to Farida Farouk's article 'Lower Thy Gaze?' as it appeared on 7iber on March 2, 2010.  In her piece, Farouk uses ample Qur'anic sources to differentiate between concepts such as hijab, khimar and jilbab to show that "hijab" as we know it today is somehow misunderstood to have become a "purely political issue, promoted by the Muslim Brotherhood movement" and a reminder of "the Muslim resistance to what the West might stand for such things as modernity, secularism, feminism and globalism."  While I agree that there have been many negative (and positive!) cultural, social and even political dilutions to our understanding of any scriptural source, I am wary that approaching subjects such as these with pure speculation rather than sound knowledge might risk making gravely false claims about Islamic...

Picture by Ranoush. Written by Farida Farouk In recent times, there is a growing connection that the hijab has become as much a symbol of Islam as the Crescent. The hijab worn by some Muslim women has become an issue between Muslims and non-Muslims and between liberal Muslims and traditional Muslims. The hijab has also become an issue of conflict between contemporary and traditional interpretations of Islam. It is important to state that the hijab is a purely political issue, promoted by the Muslim brotherhood movement. For some, the hijab is a symbol of Islam's predominance in the world, while for others it is a reminder of the Muslim resistance to what the West might stand for such things as - modernity, secularism, feminism, and globalism. A complex issue,...

Written by Farida Farouk Ibn Rushd, also known as Averroes, was one of the best Islamic philosophers. He became known in both the East and West as a commentator and explanations on the works of Aristotle. Ibn Rushd's ideas affected much of the philosophical ideas in medieval Europe. He became an example of how religions are dynamic and evolving traditions. No character in the history of Muslim philosophy can represent the glory of rational thinking than Ibn Rushd. Throughout the centuries most Muslims have only been provided with an explanation of religion no other than what was explained to them by the enemies of logical reasoning and free thought, initiated by Ibn Hanbal some centuries ago to the start of the Wahhabi-Saudi state in the Arabian Peninsula in seventeen hundreds by...

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Written by Moamer Khalaileh I felt obliged to write something concerning a recent fatwa (religious ruling) by Al Azhar prohibiting the use of Facebook. Their reasoning: The use of Facebook may lead to illicit relationships between men and women. The Azhar scholars cited a survey that indicated the social networking site was responsible for 1 in 5 cases of divorce in Egypt due to unlawful relationships between married partners and others. My initial reaction to the fatwa was anger and indignation. Objectivity is important, so I waited until my temper was more manageable before contemplating the religious ruling and I advise the reader to suspend any frustrations they may have and allow us to display both sides of the argument fairly. Argument for: Facebook makes connecting with other people easier, especially in more conservative societies where relationships between men...

Written by Hend Fayez Abuenein Amid the growing debate about narrowing the gap between genders and how we’ve climbed up the scale of narrowing gender-discriminating practices, a number of questions emerge about gender related legislation in Jordan. Being members of the Organization of Islamic Conference, we draw our definitions of human rights, from Islamic Shari’a law, hence our reservations about the CEDAW convention. Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women faces barriers in our religion, as well as our paternalistic mindsets. But unlike matters regarding women’s single accommodations and solo traveling, there are some articles in our laws that are inexplicably discriminating, and cannot be referred to any clear part of the Shari’a, but rather rely on male-empowering customs. One of the least discussed of these laws is article number 165 of the Jordanian Civil Code Law. This article states that if after divorce a male child opts not to...