Issues

The Killing of A Muslim Teen Ignites Protests in France

Protests have broken out in France in response to the murder of 17-year-old, Nahel. He was fatally shot in the chest, point-blank by the French police. Unsurprisingly, Muslims and other minority groups are repeatedly victims of police brutality. Outrage sparked on social media as news of the killing circulated on major news outlets. Here’s what…

Identity
Instagram, @bytamanna

This Is What the Muslim Girl Army Says About the French Hijab Ban

In case you missed it, France kicked off 2022 by cementing its status as a global epicenter of Islamophobia by passing yet another hijab ban. This time, France is banning Muslim women from wearing hijab in sports competitions. We asked the Muslim Girl community to sound off on the latest French hijab ban. Needless to…

Issues
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Why Israel Uses Pinkwashing In Attempts to Legitimize the Occupation of Palestine

Pinkwashing under the Israeli apartheid is evident through its Tel Aviv pride festival, Rainbow Generations tour, and utilization of a transgender Israeli officer. Whereas, pinkwashing in the United States is visible under the Trump administration’s decriminalization platform, its alliances with anti-LGBTQ nations, and its initiatives to further isolate the LGBTQ community. Thus, I argue pinkwashing…

Issues
A woman wearing a headscarf joins a demonstration organised by "Stand up to Racism" outside the French Embassy in London on August 26, 2016 against the Burkini ban on French beaches. France's highest administrative court on Friday suspended a controversial ban on the burkini by a French Riviera town after it was challenged by rights groups. In a judgement expected to lead to bans being overturned in around 30 towns, the State Council ruled the measure was a "serious and clearly illegal violation of fundamental freedoms". Several mayors in southeast France on Friday said they would maintain their bans on the Islamic burkini swimsuit despite a ruling by France's highest administrative court to suspend the measures. / AFP PHOTO / JUSTIN TALLIS

Why I Fled France as a Muslim Woman

It has already been almost two years since I left France, and this is was the best choice I have ever made as a Muslim woman. When I look back, it is as if I fled.  I currently reside in the United States, in San Francisco, California. I was born and raised in Lille, France,…

Issues

Is France “Fighting Islamist Separatism” or Silencing Islam?

Tensions are rising between France and the Muslim world after President Emmanuel Macron expressed his plans to fight “Islamist Separatism” in early October.   Macron believes Islamic Separatism is a threat to France’s values of keeping the state and religion apart. This is not a first, France has previously domineered freedom of religious expressions for Muslims…

Identity

French Politicians Force Boycott of Decathlon Sports Hijab

Earlier today, the French sports store, Decathlon, announced its intention to cancel plans to put out a sports hijab in response to threats of a boycott by French politicians. Shockingly, several bouts of criticism came from ministers in President Macron’s centrist government. Agnès Buzyn, the current Health Minister in Macron’s government, stated [about the sports hijab]:…

Issues

Muslim Women’s Day Is Taking Over France – With Good Reason

By Selma Bouledjouidja We, the members of Lallab , want to thank the team behind Muslimgirl.com for having launched, just one year ago, the first ever #MuslimWomensDay. Their creative and innovative leadership gave a voice to the Muslim woman’s narrative – and it inspired us to launch our very own Muslim Women’s Day in France….

Identity

France’s ‘The Voice’ Contestant Harassed for Pro-Palestine Stance

Mennel Ibtissem, a contestant on France’s edition of “The Voice,” stunned judges with her Arabic rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”. Soon after her cover went viral, the French media uncovered Ibtissem’s tweets which voiced her support for Palestine and criticized the French government. After these tweets came to light, she was dubbed a radical, far-right, anti-France terrorist…

Issues

LOL. Look Who’s Leading France’s Free Speech Rally for Charlie Hebdo.

France held a historic rally on Sunday, in which an unprecedented 3 million people took to the streets to advocate for freedom of speech and honor the 17 murdered in the deadly Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris. Unfortunately, the powerful message behind the French rally was clouded by an immense fog of hypocrisy. France itself…

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French Muslims on the Frontlines of Islamophobia

A woman protests in Paris, with a sign that says, “The veil covering your eyes is much more dangerous than the veil covering my hair.” Insults and physical aggression; a climate of fear ignored by, if not created with the full complicity of, law enforcement; Islamophobia: that is the reality in many non-Muslim countries. While…

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The Umayyad Era

Muawiyah bin Sufyan was seen as the most qualified caliph to take power after Ali, which began the Umayyad Era. Muawiyah was a great and capable man who governed of Syria and led the strongest military force in the Muslim world. He was admired for his impeccable self-restraint – he had said, “I apply not…