Muslimah Media Watch

North American Muslim Women, Post-Divorce

March 21, 2013 By Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

This post was written by guest contributor Deonna Kelli Sayed.

Divorce is a growing challenge for North American Muslim communities, as well as in Muslim societies around the world.  Part of that challenge is a lack of understanding regarding Muslim female experiences post-divorce.

Thoughtful, researched dialogue exists concerning legal issues impacting divorce among Muslims in North America, for example, as there are unique legal, social and cultural realities impacting these communities.  Women are often the primary focus of public discourse on such matters, and for good reason – a 2012 study, “Understanding Trends in American Muslim Divorce and Marriage,” conducted by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding  (ISPU), revealed that the majority of divorce narratives came from women. This is most likely because women “are required to be more proactive than men in obtaining permission to divorce.” While there is nascent attention focusing on rising divorce rates, there is scant dialogue on the multiple challenges and various realities facing Muslim women after ending a marriage.

Spurred by the 2003-2005 debate on sharia in Ontario, the report aimed to study the how Muslims in North America contextualize marriage and divorce. Qualitative data was gathered primarily by direct interviews with Muslim couples in the United States and Canada.  A total of 212 individuals were interviewed between 2006 and 2010 and reflected an extremely diverse and educated group, on par with demographics of the larger North American Muslim community.

The report suggests that current divorce discussions among Muslims in North America centers on negotiating the civil court system and the implications of sharia-based endeavors in Western societies. The latter component focuses on how to bring imams and other Muslim community organizations into the dialogue. These are important and welcomed developments. [Read More...]

Creating Spaces of Reconciliation: Queer Muslims Congregate

March 20, 2013 By sharrae Leave a Comment

Queer Muslim. These two words appear to be incongruent terms in many contexts; however, there has been a real commitment recently to creating a discourse that allows for queer Muslim voices to be respected and validated. It is tiring to be caught in conversations when the various parties cannot accept each other simply for their differences and instead resort to admonitions of an individual’s or a group’s connection to the Most High, based on their sexual identity. It can be emotionally and spiritually draining for a queer or LGBT person to try to act as a bridge within the broader Muslim community without the support of straight Muslim allies to communicate their feelings of isolation and expulsion from mosques, prayer places and other Muslims spaces. Similarly to a person of colour having to explain to a person holding white privilege about racism, to be queer is sometimes to be stuck in a conversation that continually happens to hit a wall.

Connecting to other queer/gay/lesbian/trans*identified people who also are Muslim and are trying to remain a tie to a spiritual tradition can be essential for a person’s emotional, physical and spiritual survival.  In fact, it can provide a source of reassurance and self-acceptance that they can indeed be a practicing Muslim who is loved by their Creator. In the testimonials from a LGBT Muslim Retreat that takes place in Philadelphia, Mahmoud Anwar said of his experience:

“Since the retreat in 2011 was so phenomenally beneficial to me in so many ways… I brought along my partner of 11 years… (to the 2012 retreat)… and he was also completely blown away by the dedication, love and mind-boggling energy of the organizers & attendees alike Alhamdulillah.

This retreat was heaven sent to most of us and is proven beyond any doubt, extremely needed thus growing exponentially.

May God bless all & everyone involved in this noble endeavor.” [Read More...]