Lena Khan, a filmmaker who is working on her first feature, is one the women who has been profiled on Muslimah Montage. Courtesy Lara Solanki
Lena Khan, a filmmaker who is working on her first feature, is one the women who has been profiled on Muslimah Montage. Courtesy Lara Solanki
Lena Khan, a filmmaker who is working on her first feature, is one the women who has been profiled on Muslimah Montage. Courtesy Lara Solanki
Lena Khan, a filmmaker who is working on her first feature, is one the women who has been profiled on Muslimah Montage. Courtesy Lara Solanki

On Muslimah Montage Muslim women take charge


  • English
  • Arabic

Jessica Holland

When The Huffington Post linked to the results of a poll on Twitter recently with the words "How should Middle Eastern women dress in public?" the sarcastic responses came quickly: "indoors", "to music", "clothes right-side out".

To Sabina Khan-Ibarra, the creator and editor of a new website called Muslimah Montage, the question was emblematic of the way that Islam and women's bodies are discussed more widely in the media, whether it's in the West or the East, among Muslims or non-Muslims. "It just seems to be a subject that other people are always talking about," she says over the phone from her home in Berkeley, California. "And Muslim women are not really part of the conversation. I think everyone should have a chance to tell their own story."

Muslimah Montage was launched in November as a place for these stories to be told. Each week, a different Muslim woman, one who is prominent in her field, is interviewed about her life, ambitions and beliefs.

Zainab bint Younus runs a blog called The Salafi Feminist, in which she describes herself as "a young Canadian niqaabi with a bad case of Gothic fashion [and] punk feminist attitude". On Muslimah Montage, she outlines her idea of "the ideal Muslimah" as a woman who is courageous, idiosyncratic, intelligent and, most importantly, imperfect. She quotes verses from the Quran and hadith to back up her points.

Among other contributors are Zainab Ismail, a Puerto Rican convert and fitness trainer; Zahra Noorbakhsh, an Iranian-American stand-up comedian; and Nia Malika Dixon, a Baltimore transplant to Los Angeles who writes and directs films and who is currently being mentored by the Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke. There’s variety in the type of religious practices represented, but, Khan-Ibarra says, “we all draw strength from the faith”.

Khan-Ibarra herself was raised in a religious household to Pashtun parents from Pakistan. She became a human resources manager, but gave it up to bring up her two small children, and to write and edit. The idea for the site came to her last year when she was working on an anthology called Hijabulous and had trouble finding a network of female Muslim public figures to contribute. (The book has since been put on hold.)

To launch Muslimah Montage, she hosted a “tweet party” on Twitter, asking questions such as “What’s the dominant narrative of Muslim women?” and retweeting the answers. Respondents talked about the idea that there was “one right way to be a Muslim woman”, the overemphasis on clothing, and the way that Muslim women were painted in the media as victims.

One woman with the Twitter handle @Margari_Aziza added a new level of nuance to the debate by tweeting: “Sometimes in dispelling certain myths about Muslim women, we downplay realities of inequality in our community.”

The site has received some less thoughtful responses, too. One Twitter user told Khan-Ibarra that the Prophet didn’t like women and would disapprove of what she was doing; another who wrote to her in Pashto said that Khan-Ibarra brought shame on her people for being so visible. “It shook me up,” Khan-Ibarra says of the latter. “It took me a day or two to recuperate, and I reflected and thought, this is why I need to do this. I need to prove that Muslim women don’t need to be told by other people what’s right and what’s wrong.”

In the future, Khan-Ibarra would like to set up “some sort of a mentorship programme”, so that the women featured on the site can help others to fulfil their aspirations. Her ultimate dream? “Just to be seen as a regular human being. One who has flaws, one who is learning, but one who knows what she’s doing and is making choices willingly and thoughtfully.”

www.muslimahmontage.com

While you're here
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UFC Fight Night 2

1am – Early prelims

2am – Prelims

4am-7am – Main card

7:30am-9am – press cons

ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

Opening Premier League fixtures, August 14
  • Brentford v Arsenal
  • Burnley v Brighton
  • Chelsea v Crystal Palace
  • Everton v Southampton
  • Leicester City v Wolves
  • Manchester United v Leeds United
  • Newcastle United v West Ham United
  • Norwich City v Liverpool
  • Tottenham v Manchester City
  • Watford v Aston Villa
ALL THE RESULTS

Bantamweight

Siyovush Gulmomdov (TJK) bt Rey Nacionales (PHI) by decision.

Lightweight

Alexandru Chitoran (ROU) bt Hussein Fakhir Abed (SYR) by submission.

Catch 74kg

Omar Hussein (JOR) bt Tohir Zhuraev (TJK) by decision.

Strawweight (Female)

Seo Ye-dam (KOR) bt Weronika Zygmunt (POL) by decision.

Featherweight

Kaan Ofli (TUR) bt Walid Laidi (ALG) by TKO.

Lightweight

Abdulla Al Bousheiri (KUW) bt Leandro Martins (BRA) by TKO.

Welterweight

Ahmad Labban (LEB) bt Sofiane Benchohra (ALG) by TKO.

Bantamweight

Jaures Dea (CAM) v Nawras Abzakh (JOR) no contest.

Lightweight

Mohammed Yahya (UAE) bt Glen Ranillo (PHI) by TKO round 1.

Lightweight

Alan Omer (GER) bt Aidan Aguilera (AUS) by TKO round 1.

Welterweight

Mounir Lazzez (TUN) bt Sasha Palatkinov (HKG) by TKO round 1.

Featherweight title bout

Romando Dy (PHI) v Lee Do-gyeom (KOR) by KO round 1.

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Specs

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How to invest in gold

Investors can tap into the gold price by purchasing physical jewellery, coins and even gold bars, but these need to be stored safely and possibly insured.

A cheaper and more straightforward way to benefit from gold price growth is to buy an exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Most advisers suggest sticking to “physical” ETFs. These hold actual gold bullion, bars and coins in a vault on investors’ behalf. Others do not hold gold but use derivatives to track the price instead, adding an extra layer of risk. The two biggest physical gold ETFs are SPDR Gold Trust and iShares Gold Trust.

Another way to invest in gold’s success is to buy gold mining stocks, but Mr Gravier says this brings added risks and can be more volatile. “They have a serious downside potential should the price consolidate.”

Mr Kyprianou says gold and gold miners are two different asset classes. “One is a commodity and the other is a company stock, which means they behave differently.”

Mining companies are a business, susceptible to other market forces, such as worker availability, health and safety, strikes, debt levels, and so on. “These have nothing to do with gold at all. It means that some companies will survive, others won’t.”

By contrast, when gold is mined, it just sits in a vault. “It doesn’t even rust, which means it retains its value,” Mr Kyprianou says.

You may already have exposure to gold miners in your portfolio, say, through an international ETF or actively managed mutual fund.

You could spread this risk with an actively managed fund that invests in a spread of gold miners, with the best known being BlackRock Gold & General. It is up an incredible 55 per cent over the past year, and 240 per cent over five years. As always, past performance is no guide to the future.

The Lowdown

Us

Director: Jordan Peele

Starring: Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, Shahadi Wright Joseqph, Evan Alex and Elisabeth Moss

Rating: 4/5

FIXTURES

Thursday
Dibba v Al Dhafra, Fujairah Stadium (5pm)
Al Wahda v Hatta, Al Nahyan Stadium (8pm)

Friday
Al Nasr v Ajman, Zabeel Stadium (5pm)
Al Jazria v Al Wasl, Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium (8pm)

Saturday
Emirates v Al Ain, Emirates Club Stadium (5pm)
Sharjah v Shabab Al Ahli Dubai, Sharjah Stadium (8pm)

Gulf rugby

Who’s won what so far in 2018/19

Western Clubs Champions League: Bahrain
Dubai Rugby Sevens: Dubai Hurricanes
West Asia Premiership: Bahrain

What’s left

UAE Conference

March 22, play-offs:
Dubai Hurricanes II v Al Ain Amblers, Jebel Ali Dragons II v Dubai Tigers

March 29, final

UAE Premiership

March 22, play-offs: 
Dubai Exiles v Jebel Ali Dragons, Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Dubai Hurricanes

March 29, final

'How To Build A Boat'
Jonathan Gornall, Simon & Schuster

Generational responses to the pandemic

Devesh Mamtani from Century Financial believes the cash-hoarding tendency of each generation is influenced by what stage of the employment cycle they are in. He offers the following insights:

Baby boomers (those born before 1964): Owing to market uncertainty and the need to survive amid competition, many in this generation are looking for options to hoard more cash and increase their overall savings/investments towards risk-free assets.

Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980): Gen X is currently in its prime working years. With their personal and family finances taking a hit, Generation X is looking at multiple options, including taking out short-term loan facilities with competitive interest rates instead of dipping into their savings account.

Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996): This market situation is giving them a valuable lesson about investing early. Many millennials who had previously not saved or invested are looking to start doing so now.