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Qandeel Baloch: A Trailblazing Non-Conforming Woman

20th July 201630th September 2017 admin

By Arshia Malik There are many women who are non-conformists and Qandeel Baloch, aka Fouzia Azeem, was one of them. Sticking two fingers to a deeply misogynistic, patriarchal society, she lived life the way she wanted. It is not an easy life to live — carefree and not bothered about the judgement and constant berating, ridicule and putting down from other compatriots, especially women. There has to be a strong sense of injustice to go against the very grain of your own family, peer group, tribe or a ”collective conscience”. Her marriage…

The Dating Difficulties of an Ex Muslim

19th July 20168th May 2017 admin

By Aliyah Saleem Like millions of people around the world, I use online dating. As a Pakistani woman with a Muslim name and a banging nose ring, I attract attention from some Muslim men. Dating is hard in the best of circumstances but if you are an ex-Muslim, it’s downright depressing. A lot of us try and stay in the closet because of the taboo for as long as possible. It’s okay when you are single but the prospect of a serious relationships and having children puts ex-Muslims in…

Women like Qandeel Baloch must not die in vain

18th July 20168th May 2017 admin

By Iram Ramzan Yet another woman’s life has prematurely been taken in an ‘honour killing’. Pakistani internet sensation Qandeel Baloch was strangled by her brother on Friday night while at her family home in Multan, Punjab. After going on the run, her brother Waseem was later arrested. In his confession video, he expressed no regret. “I am proud of what I did. I drugged her first, then I killed her,” said Waseem.”She was bringing dishonor to our family.” Qandeel’s posts were considered to be controversial in Pakistan. She rose to fame…

Hunting Season

15th July 20168th May 2017 admin

By Jalebi There’s a time in every Muslim’s life where your parents think you’re old enough to go into the concrete jungle and find yourself a mate. But like any true ‘coming of age’ story, every young hunter will face his or her obstacles. I feel slightly Neanderthal-ish when people say I need to make more effort in dating. I imagine myself dragging my knuckles, grunting something resembling a mating call with a spear in my hand. And like those simple cave man days, as soon as I see him I aim…

Everything is Double Standards: On Brexit, Sharia and Hypocrisy

7th July 20168th May 2017 admin

By Mo Dawah I totally condemn the death threats that were received by Sedaa magazine which were traced back to my e-mail address following my debut article for them, after they refused to allow me to publish another contribution of mine. Death threats can never be justified except when they can. And I totally condemn the person who traced them back to my e-mail address for faking them against herself. This provoked more death threats which coincidentally only ended after they agreed to let me take them hostage…

Only secularism can guarantee religious freedom

5th July 20161st November 2020 admin

By Ammar Anwer A secular system is one where people occupy more importance than any centuries-old scripture and where their fundamental human rights are guaranteed. In a secular state there is no discrimination amongst citizens on the basis of their faith. All citizens are treated equally in the eyes of law. As much as it may hurt most conservative Muslims I don’t have one iota of doubt that without secular values a state can never progress. Why can’t a nation progress without secularism? Well, it is not quite difficult…

Muslims: reform your religion

4th July 20168th May 2017 admin

By Saima Baig Orlando, Istanbul, Bangladesh and now one of the worst attacks in Iraq. The last few days of Ramzan have seen more bloodshed and less peace and love from the caretakers of Islam. Of course, we had widespread global condemnation, followed by the usual blame on western foreign policy by some, certain people fearing that this makes Islam look bad, and the overall placing of blame firmly on all Muslims by others. And most importantly, there was the complaint of why the attacks on Muslim countries did not…

The War for Secularism

27th June 20163rd July 2020 admin

By Arshia Malik It is not easy to promote democracy, secular and liberal values in a population that insists on being regressive, mostly by men with patriarchal agendas and their conditioned female counterparts. Often those very “empowered better halves” trumpet their liberation by announcing the acceptance of regressive practices just because they want inclusion and acceptance in the frat boys club. One cannot ignore the fact that it is a battle between the progressive West (which by the way has Muslim-dominated countries too) and the regressive East (which includes…

Why I can’t be both gay and Muslim

17th June 20168th May 2017 admin

By Azurewolf I have always known that I am gay. For years I tried to reconcile this with being a Muslim by simply trying to be the best Muslim (and I interpreted ‘best’ as trying my best to do things by the book) I could be. This became somewhat trickier when I fell in love. But somehow I managed to put the two sides of me into two very separate boxes and continue as a devout Muslim, who transgressed every now and then; well none of us are perfect are we? Indeed, it was…

Turks are learning the harsh lesson of staying silent on Erdogan

15th June 201613th August 2018 admin

By Sofia Demirturk Living in the age of political correctness, we place more emphasis on not hurting anyone’s sentiments, rather than analysing the world revolving around us. We try our best to not to be named as an Islamophobe, anti-Semite, homophobe etc — thus, stating our minds has become a bigger challenge than it was historically. Whenever a question is raised that touches on race or religion, we get lost in discussing what are the right terms to use, rather than the actual problems, and every argument seems to get…