Arab Female Directors in Spotlight at UK Film Festival
New Age Islam News Bureau
17
Jul 2020
• Shamima
Begum Known as Daesh Girl Can Return to Fight for UK Citizenship
• Pakistani
Girl Saved from Forced Marriage in Gujrat Awaits Her Return to Italy
• Young Woman
Reveals Her Life of Attack and Flogging in Iran
• Arab Women Festival
for Creativity to Honour Saudi Journalist Al-Bitar
• ‘Saudi
Daughter’ Najd Fahd Crowned World E-Football Champion
• Muslim Woman
Says Gun Range Ordered Her to Remove Hijab
• Muslim Women
Authors Are Building New Worlds Through Sci-Fi And Fantasy
• Saudi
Arabia: Five children found killed in new house
• Two
Pakistanis make list of finalists for ‘Women Building Peace Award’
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/arab-female-directors-spotlight-uk/d/122397
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Arab female
directors in spotlight at UK film festival
July 17, 2020
Only Silence,
Katia Jarjoura, (2017). Supplied
-----
LONDON:
Liverpool Arab Arts Festival (LAAF) is currently underway, taking place on a
digital platform in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. One of the program
highlights is a showcase of female filmmaking — a collaboration between LAAF
and the BBC’s Arabic Festival. “Female Directors from Today’s Arab World” is
curated by SheymaBuali, director of the BBC Arabic Festival. “There’s a double
process,” she explains of her role. “The first is calling in all the films and
going through them. We do a big campaign so that we get as many submissions as
possible from anyone in the world doing work that reflects the political and
social situations in the Arab world.”
Buali
estimates that there are around 350 film submissions each year, which is
narrowed down to 20 entries. Winners are selected in a number of different
categories. “The judging panel was mostly my doing,” Buali tells Arab News. “We
try to have a fair cross section of media, journalism, film, London-based and
Arab representation. And then, of course, male and female, more- and
less-experienced. It’s a matter of being as well- rounded as possible in terms
of representation.”
Seeking out
submissions that actively engage with sociopolitical issues, and films that
provoke discourse to that end, comes with its own set of challenges, however.
“One of the gaps that we have — and we’ve had this all along — is stories from
the Gulf, because we are very socially political, and poltically heavy,” Buali
says. “I find that Gulf filmmakers are quite politically shy.”
There are some
interesting insights to be gleaned too, she adds, particularly with regards to
female directors.
“Female
representation (is) quite low, but what is interesting is that most of those
women who make it into the group of 20 win. They were few, but their work is
really powerful,” she says. “I think that’s a challenge: How do you reach the
people that you really want to reach to fill those gaps in representation? In
terms of the stories, and of the content, there’s not much we can do. But we
see trends in the stories.”
The interest
in female filmmakers’ work has led Buali and the BBC Arabic Festival to prepare
a special showcase of films for this year’s LAAF, taking place until July 18.
The two organizations have a well-established relationship that, in 2020, will
see four movies screened as part of “Female Directors from Today’s Arab World.”
The quartet —
“One Minute” by Dina Naser, “Only Silence” by Katia Jarjoura, “Rupture” by
Yassmina Karajah and “The Calling” by MariakenziLahlou — explore the effects of
war on individuals and their families, albeit in strikingly different ways.
Some take a more abstract approach to the horrors and fallout of war, while
others use fictionalized narratives to reflect the experience of living in a
war zone.
But all are bound
together by a unique, forthright and personal take on life in conflict zones.
And the program highlights the progress being made in terms of Arab cinema
produced by female directors. “I think part of that is because the arts, and
filmmaking, was never really taken as a serious occupation,” Buali explains.
“There was this attitude of, ‘She can go ahead and play around with a camera,
that’s really cute and sweet.’ And so more women did, and now they’re telling
really awesome stories. So there’s this sort of inverse sexism — women who have
been empowered by disempowerment.”
Buali is
encouraged by the impressive work coming from female directors, but would like
to see greater progress made in other areas behind the camera. “I’m interested
in seeing women in editorial positions where they can empower other women.
Positions such as grant givers, the people who make those kinds of decisions,
the programmers. It’s all connected, there’s a kind of domino effect.”
Developments
such as female appointments at major arts and cultural institutions, Buali
believes, signify that progress is being made. “I’m really happy that, for
example, the CEO of the Doha Film Institute is a woman,” she says. “The head of
AFAC (the Arab Fund for Arab Culture) is a woman. These two organizations, I
think, are the biggest independent funders of film in the Arab world, and the
heads are women. I think that’s a fantastic place to be for us all.”
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1705951/lifestyle
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Shamima Begum
Known as Daesh Girl Can Return to Fight for UK Citizenship
Karim
El-Bar
16.07.2020
A file photo
of Shamima Begum./Image Credit: AFP
-----
LONDON
A British
court ruled on Thursday that Shamima Begum, a woman who joined Daesh/ISIS as a
teenager, should be allowed to return to the UK to challenge the government’s
decision to revoke her British citizenship.
Begum, now 20,
was one of three London schoolgirls to leave the UK in February 2015 to join
the terror group in Syria.
After spending
three years in Daesh-controlled areas, she was found in February 2019 in a
refugee camp in Syria.
She was nine
months pregnant at the time and her child subsequently died in the camp.
Begum was
stripped of her British citizenship later that month.
She launched
an appeal against the decision, claiming it was illegal because it made her
stateless and exposed her to a real risk of death or degrading treatment.
The Special
Immigration Appeals Commission ruled that the decision was legal as Begum was a
“citizen of Bangladesh by descent” and was not stateless.
Her request to
come to the UK to pursue her appeal was rejected.
On Thursday,
the British Court of Appeal ruled that “the only way in which she can have a
fair and effective appeal is to be permitted to come into the United Kingdom to
pursue her appeal.”
“Fairness and
justice must, on the facts of this case, outweigh the national security
concerns, so that the leave to enter appeals should be allowed,” read the decision.
It said the
“national security concerns about her could be addressed and managed” if she
returned to the UK.
“If the
Security Service and the Director of Public Prosecutions consider that the
evidence and public interest tests for a prosecution for terrorist offences are
met, she could be arrested and charged upon her arrival in the United Kingdom
and remanded in custody pending trial,” the decision further said.
A spokesperson
for the Home Office said: “This is a very disappointing decision by the Court.
We will now apply for permission to appeal this judgment, and to stay its
effects pending any onward appeal.”
“The
government’s top priority remains maintaining our national security and keeping
the public safe.”
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/daesh-girl-can-return-to-fight-for-uk-citizenship/1912672
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Pakistani Girl
Saved from Forced Marriage in Gujrat Awaits Her Return to Italy
Waseem Ashraf
Butt
17 Jul, 2020
Isra, 16, was
being forced by her father to marry her 10 year old cousin at Nagrianwala
village-Creative Commonms/File
-----
GUJRAT: A
16-year-old Italian national girl of Pakistani-origin, who was saved by police
from a forced marriage with her underage cousin, on the intervention of Italian
embassy, has been living in a public shelter and wants to go back to Italy.
The family of
Isra Khan, 16, had been living in Cravelcore, Bologna, Italy, before returning
to Pakistan. On their return, Isra was forced by her father to marry her
10-year-old cousin at Nagrianwala village in Kunjah police around three weeks
ago.
However, the
girl somehow managed to inform the Italian embassy in Islamabad about her
plight. The embassy informed the authorities concerned in Pakistan’s ministry
of foreign affairs as well as Gujrat police about the situation, sharing Isra’s
contact details, whereas she had also been in touch with the deputy head of
Italian mission in Islamabad.
As per the
report submitted by District Police Officer Syed Touseef Haider to the ministry
of foreign affairs last week, the girl Irsa Khan told Kunjah police that her
father had been forcing her to marry his nephew who was only 10 years old.
She said when
she refused the proposal, her family threatened to kill her.
Due to these
circumstances, the girl in her statement recorded at the police station, said
she wanted to go back to Italy since she was facing death threats and did not
want to marry against her will.
The police
produced her in the court of area magistrate who ordered to send her to Darul
Amaan (government shelter) and she had been living there since then.
The issue of
Isra’s forced marriage was also raised in the Italian parliament after which
the diplomatic channels were activated and the girl was rescued.
The Italian
embassy was also informed by Gujrat police that the girl’s travel documents had
also been destroyed by her family to thwart any attempt by her to travel
abroad.
The interior
ministry and the Punjab government’s home department had also ordered necessary
action and sought a detailed report on the issue from the Gujrat DPO and the
deputy commissioner.
The officers
have dispatched their respective reports to the authorities concerned in Lahore
and Islamabad.
Gujrat
Additional Deputy Commissioner (general) Tauqeer Ilyas Cheema told Dawn that
the girl could only leave the Darul Amaan with the permission of area magistrate
concerned who was currently her custodian.
Earlier, in
April 2018, a 26-year-old Italian woman of Pakistani origin, Sana Cheema, had
died mysteriously near Mungowal area in Kunjah police precincts.
Her body was
later exhumed on court orders and her father, uncle and a brother were arrested
on murder charges. However, the suspects were later acquitted by a court on the
basis of weak evidence in 2019.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1569452/girl-saved-from-forced-marriage-in-gujrat-village-awaits-her-return-to-italy
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Young Woman
Reveals Her Life of Attack and Flogging in Iran
16 July 2020
Iranian woman
Mary Mohammadi, 21, in Tehran. (Supplied)
-----
A young woman
sentenced to flogging in Iran said she will not stay silent even if it allowed
her to avoid the punishment, in an exclusive interview with Al Arabiya English.
Mary
Mohammadi, 21, was condemned in April to 10 lashes and three months in prison
for participating in a demonstration against the Iranian Revolutionary Guard
Corps (IRGC)’s downing of a Ukrainian civilian airliner in January.
Mohammadi told
Al Arabiya English the Islamic Republic of Iran is denying her basic human
rights, including the right to education.
“The Islamic
Republic is in total conflict with human rights and has demolished any hopes
for human development in this country,” Mohammadi said.
Imprisoned in
Iran
Iran’s
Ministry of Intelligence first seized and arrested Mohammadi two years ago for
practicing and sharing her Christian faith.
Mohammadi was
sentenced to six months in Evin prison. US President Donald Trump mentioned
Mohammadi's case during a speech earlier this year at the National Prayer
Breakfast in Washington, DC.
After serving
her first six-month sentence, Mohammadi was released – only to be attacked
shortly thereafter while riding a bus in the capital city of Tehran.
Attacked over
a headscarf
Mohammadi said
she was sitting on a public bus “on one of the hottest days of summer” in 2019
when her headscarf slipped down. A fellow passenger noticed.
“Suddenly, I
was faced with a screaming woman in chador who was shouting at me to put my
scarf back on,” Mohammadi said, adding that she ignored the woman’s repeated
calls.
“Eventually
she attacked me and made my face bleed, to the point that my blood was under
her nails,” said Mohammadi.
When the
police became involved, it was Mohammadi who was detained for several hours
instead of the alleged attacker.
The woman
acted violently “because she knew the regime is a hundred percent behind her,”
according to Mohammadi. Since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, the government
has mandated head coverings in public places for all women.
Education
denied, advocacy begins
Universities
in Iran have refused to accept Mohammadi as a student, a rejection she said is
due to her religion and related activities that led to her initial arrest.
“From childhood,
having higher education was one of my biggest dreams, but the Islamic regime
has officially deprived me of this right,” she said.
Now Mohammadi
funnels her passion for education into spreading knowledge about human rights
in Iran.
“In Iran,
every second of the news cycle brings about a new form of injustice,” according
to Mohammadi.
Arrested over
protest
In January,
Mohammadi saw a headline she couldn’t ignore: Iran's Islamic Revolutionary
Guards Corps admitted to downing a Ukrainian civilian airliner, killing all 176
passengers on board.
She joined an
evening gathering on January 12 in protest of the downing in Tehran’s Azadi
square. Mohammadi said police officers arrested and severely beat her.
Mohammadi was
subsequently charged with “disrupting public order by participating in an
illegal rally.”
“When the
interrogators called for me, the officers were telling the person on the other
line what to say – purposefully speaking loudly so I would hear them talking
about my religion and previous arrests,” she said.
Fighting for
future generations
The judge at
trial handed down the sentence of flogging and jail time that Mohammadi now
faces.
“I might still
have to endure the punishment in light of my current activities,” she said,
adding that she is motivated to continue speaking out about human rights for
“our future generations.”
“I believe
that if we don’t fight for humanity our lives would be meaningless and futile,”
she said.
“When the
interrogators called for me, the officers were telling the person on the other
line what to say – purposefully speaking loudly so I would hear them talking
about my religion and previous arrests,” she said.
Fighting for
future generations
The judge at
trial handed down the sentence of flogging and jail time that Mohammadi now
faces.
“I might still
have to endure the punishment in light of my current activities,” she said,
adding that she is motivated to continue speaking out about human rights for
“our future generations.”
“I believe
that if we don’t fight for humanity our lives would be meaningless and futile,”
she said.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2020/07/16/Attacked-Jailed-Sentenced-to-Flogging-Christian-woman-reveals-her-life-in-Iran.html
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Arab Women
Festival for Creativity to Honour Saudi Journalist Al-Bitar
17 July 2020
RIYADH — The
fifth edition of Arab Women Festival for Creativity will honor next Monday
famous Saudi woman news anchor Julnar Al-Bitar with the "Creative Media
Award for 2020".
Al-Bitar is
currently working with Al-Ekhbariya TV channel as a political news anchor.
The honoring
ceremony will be held in the presence of SheikhaSuhaila Al-Sabah, the guest of
honor, Festival Director Dr. Amal Ibrahim, and a number of ministers,
ambassadors, diplomats, academics, businessmen and businesswomen, cultural
figures and media persons.
Dr. Amal said
that Al-Bitar deserves it. The award is in appreciation of her outstanding
contributions as one of the best female television broadcasters and
professionals, and in recognition of her excellent performance in presenting
news and programs.
Al-Bitar
recently presented a working paper on “Digital Transformation and Media
Challenges during COVID-19,” she noted.
On her part,
Al-Bitar said that this honor is considered as an incentive to continue her
work. “This is also an appreciation for the creativity and excellence among
Arab women in general and Saudi women in particular,” she added.
These were the
details of the news Arab Women Festival for Creativity to honor Saudi
journalist Al-Bitar for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving you
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https://alkhaleejtoday.co/saudi-arabia/5020284/Arab-Women-Festival-for-Creativity-to-honor-Saudi-journalist-Al-Bitar.html
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‘Saudi
daughter’ Najd Fahd crowned world e-football champion
July 17, 2020
JEDDAH —
Hailed as “Saudi Arabia’s daughter”, Najd Fahd was crowned world champion after
beating Brazilian Cristina Batista Pereira 8-0 in the finals of the FIFA 20
e-Football World Championship on Thursday.
The event
organized by the International Federation of University Sports was the first
Playstation electronic championship.
The
championship got underway on July 6 with the participation of 44 participants —
32 men and 12 women from all over the world.
Male
participants were divided into eight groups with each group having four players
while females were divided into groups with each having six players.
Najd Fahd, the
Saudi universities’ team player, was in Team B with five other teammates from
different countries.
The objective
of the competition, in addition to encouraging sport and competitiveness during
these times of social distancing, was to provide a platform for university
students to have fun and make connections between themselves.
https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/595597/SAUDI-ARABIA/Saudi-daughter-Najd-Fahd-crowned-world-e-football-champion
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Muslim woman
says gun range ordered her to remove hijab
July 16, 2020
BELLE PLAINE,
Kan. (AP) — A Missouri gun range violated the civil rights of a Muslim woman by
not allowing her to shoot unless she removed a religious head covering, an
advocacy group said Thursday.
The Council on
American-Islamic Relations asked the U.S. Department of Justice in a letter for
a civil rights probe into the denial of services by Frontier Justice during an
incident earlier this year at one of their gun ranges located in the suburban
Kansas City, Missouri, metropolitan area.
“The law
demands equal access to public accommodations regardless of your race, color,
religion and national origin," said CAIR attorney ZanahGhalawanji. “So
Frontier Justice has disregarded and violated the civil rights protections by
actively excluding Muslim women who wear the hijab from their business.”
The company,
which touts on its website its core values of “Faith, Family and Freedom,” has
facilities in Lee's Summit, Missouri, and Kansas City, Kansas. It said in an
email that head coverings are a safety risk because they could catch the hot
brass when firing a firearm.
“It saddens us
that anyone would say we are not inclusive, given that we serve all races and
religions every single day in all of our stores,” Frontier Justice President
Bren Brown said in a statement. “We pride ourselves on this fact, and we
strongly believe in America and the second amendment that is for every single
American.”
Rania Barakat
recounted during a Facebook Live news conference Thursday an incident that
unfolded on Jan. 1 at the Frontier Justice gun range in Missouri when she went
with her husband there to shoot.
The couple
waited in line for an hour that day, she said, and when they approached the
cashier to pay she was told that she must remove her hijab in order to use the
facilities. Barakat said she had shot at other gun ranges without having to
remove her hijab.
Frontier
Justice employees cited the company's dress code policy, which is posted on its
website: "Hats, caps, bandanas, or any other head covering will be removed
in the facility, except baseball caps facing forward.”
Barakat said
she was told by the range's manager that it was “a safety issue." She said
they left when it became clear they weren't going to let them shoot.
“I've
encountered racism before, but it was never to the point someone told me I had
to remove my scarf in order to enter a facility or do any type of activity like
this,” she said. “It was very shocking to both my husband and I.”
She later
discovered online reviews about Frontier Justice that were written by other
Muslim women who had also been told they needed to remove their hijabs to
shoot.
“To have this
happen to me personally, it was very sad and, you know, frustrating,"
Barakat said. “And I would never want anyone to go through what I went
through.”
Moussa
Elbayoumy, chairman of the CAIR's Kansas board, said the local chapter had
received a number of reports around the same time about that same facility from
other Muslim women who were also told they had to remove their hijabs to shoot.
He contended
the range's policy is not based on any legitimate safety concerns, but is meant
to exclude Muslim women.
“Frontier
Justice, you know, says they value faith, family and freedom,” Ghalawanji said.
“That appears to be their motto, but, however, their actions tell us that they
have shown otherwise.”
https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Muslim-woman-says-gun-range-ordered-her-to-remove-15413902.php
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Muslim Women
Authors Are Building New Worlds Through Sci-Fi And Fantasy
July 16, 2020
Aysha Khan
(RNS) — When
blogger Umairah Hussain asked her readers if they would join a book club for
science fiction and fantasy novels by Muslim authors, she was overwhelmed by
the enthusiastic response and suggestions for additions to the club’s reading
list.
But there was
something unusual about two dozen authors on the reading list Hussein compiled
for the club, including the writers behind her favorite series, “An Ember in the
Ashes” and “The Daevabad Trilogy.”
“Almost all of
them were actually published by women in the past few years,” said Hussain, a
sci-fi fan who blogs at Sereadipity.
In the past
few years, Muslim women have quietly taken the speculative fiction publishing
industry by storm, earning rave reviews with fantasy and science fiction
narratives that upend both the genre’s historic lack of diversity and popular
depictions of women and Islam.
Last year
alone, mainstream publishing houses released at least 13 fantasy and sci-fi
books written by Muslim women in English, from Farah Naz Rishi’s debut “I Hope
You Get This Message” to Karuna Riazi’s middle-grade novel “The Gauntlet.”
At least
another dozen, including sequels to Hafsah Faizal’s instant New York Times
bestseller “We Hunt the Flame” and Somaiya Daud’s award-winning “Mirage,” are
in the works.
That’s a
change from the past, when speculative fiction was dominated by stories that
drew on Norse, Christian and Arthurian sagas and mythologies.
“You always
hear, ‘This field has been done to death, what else is there left?’” said
author AusmaZehanat Khan, whose book “The Bladebone,” the final installment of
her fantasy series “The Khorasan Archives,” is due out in October.
“Well, here we
are.”
Many of these titles
have earned critical acclaim, with several making it to bestseller lists and
earning national and international literary awards. At least two television
adaptations have been announced. Fan fiction, fan art and fan Twitter accounts
abound.
“My sense is
that the ability of Muslim voices to come through so strongly is part and
parcel of the new intersectional movement that’s happening,” said Noor Hashem,
a Boston University lecturer who has taught courses on Muslim science fiction.
She's working on her own manuscript about faith in contemporary Muslim fiction.
The uptick in
Muslim speculative fiction publishing “corresponds to a general trend in
speculative fiction publishing which is taking more seriously the contributions
of people of color and minority communities, especially after critiques of the
whiteness of the genre,” Hashem said.
A trickle
becomes a flood
The rise of
science fiction and fantasy literature by Muslim women in the U.S. and other
English-speaking countries began with a slow trickle over a decade ago.
In 2007, G.
Willow Wilson — then a journalist writing on the Middle East and religious
affairs, now a top comics writer most known for co-creating Kamala Khan,
Marvel’s first Muslim character to headline her own comic book — published the
magical-realist thriller “Cairo.”
The dense
urban fantasy played with Islamic and Arabic mythology, from jinns to flying
prayer rugs to Arabian Nights, while also commenting on Arab-Israeli politics.
The graphic novel was named one of the year’s best by Publishers Weekly, School
Library Journal and the American Library Association.
In 2012,
Wilson’s cyberpunk thriller “Alif the Unseen” earned rave reviews, won the
World Fantasy Award for Best Novel and the Middle East Book Award for Youth
Literature, and was featured on NPR and The Washington Post’s lists of the
year’s best books.
In 2015, “An Ember in the Ashes,” a debut novel from
former Washington Post foreign correspondent Sabaa Tahir, became a New York
Times and international bestseller. The dystopian fantasy inspired by ancient
Rome “was greeted with such breathless accolades before its April release that
it seemed unlikely it could live up to the hype,” according to the Times.
And yet, the
Times noted, “The hype appears justified.”
The hit novel
spawned an acclaimed fantasy series, which will end in December with the
publication of “A Sky Beyond the Storm,” as well as a stand-alone graphic
novel. Paramount purchased film rights for the series in a seven-figure deal.
Such early
successes — as well as “Throne of the Crescent Moon,” the Locus Award-winning
2012 novel by Saladin Ahmad, one of the few prominent Muslim men writing
speculative fiction — helped pave the way for the authors who followed.
“Those
successes whet the appetite of publishers and editors, making them more willing
to look at those kinds of projects,” Hashem said.
By 2019, when
Wilson returned with another fantasy novel — the critically acclaimed “The Bird
King,” which unfolds in the final days of Muslim-ruled Granada — she was joined
by at least 10 other Muslim women authors releasing books through prominent
publishing houses.
In this world,
and imagined ones
As a science
fiction editor, Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali says her biggest grievance was seeing
stories about imaginary worlds where only white people exist.
“It really
bugs me to see a far-off future-flung store, and everyone is white, and
everyone is assumed to be Judeo-Christian or atheist,” the World Fantasy
Award-nominated editor said. “Because we are in this world. I don’t believe that
100 or 200 or 400 years in the future, we will cease to exist, yet we don’t
show up in stories about the future.”
Author Intisar
Khanani agrees.
“Whenever I
read something, it was white European fantasy, which was all the publishing
industry was in the 1980s and 1990s,” said Khanani, whose fairy-tale retelling
“Thorn” was republished by HarperTeen in March after she released it
independently in 2012.
When
Muhammad-Ali and Khanani began writing their own work, they were intent on
changing that paradigm.
“It became
very important to me as I was learning to be a writer myself, to write worlds
where the people I loved and the cultures I find beauty in were present and
real,” Khanani told Religion News Service. “Because we have the right to take
up space in this world, and in our imagined worlds.”
A new wave of
Muslim speculative fiction writers is chipping away at outdated notions of what
belongs in the genre. Their stories often feature strong Muslim women
protagonists and integrate themes from Islamic theology, folklore and history.
S.A.
Chakraborty’s historical fantasy “Daevabad Trilogy” is set in Daevabad, the
capital city of a hidden jinn world facing deadly tribalism, religious
fanaticism and civil war. Her protagonist is a talented con woman who swindles
Ottoman nobles in 18th-century Cairo.
Chakraborty’s
use of such themes was a smash hit.
Her debut
novel landed on multiple best-of-the-year lists and nabbed nominations for the
World Fantasy Award, Locus Award, British Fantasy Award and other prestigious
prizes. Soon, the trilogy will be adapted for Netflix.
She’s already
announced her next project, a second HarperVoyager trilogy pitched as an adventure
heist set in the 13th-century Indian Ocean — a sort of “Sinbad the Sailor meets
Oceans 11.”
Or take Khan’s
“The Khorasan Archives.” The series follows the Companions of Hira, a group of
mystical women scholars and warriors, in its quest to defeat an oppressive
patriarchal group called the Talisman that has come to power. The militia,
which not-so-subtly parallels the Taliban, has suppressed all forms of
knowledge and corrupted the Claim, the sacred scripture and magic in the land.
Like the Quran, the Claim’s magic functions through oral recitation.
“I chose this
word to reflect the fact that these women are claiming their history and their
traditions to themselves and refusing to be erased from it or suppressed in
this world,” Khan said. “I wanted to take the Islamic tradition and put it in
the hands of women and have them be its defenders.”
Speculative
fiction has allowed a space for many Muslim women to develop such feminist
themes.
“The genre
allows them to break forms, imagining these utopian spaces where women can have
certain kinds of power, often magical or otherworldly powers, that we can see
as ciphers for a kind of critique or a reflection on women’s empowerment,”
Hashem said.
And by drawing
on Islamic history and culture in their settings and characters, Hashem argued,
many Muslim authors implicitly rebuke anti-Muslim ideas of Islam as backward,
while also critiquing notions that speculative fiction was born out of the
European Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution.
Indeed,
speculative fiction has a long and largely overlooked history in Muslim
societies, from the Arabian Nights to Bengali educator RokeyaSakhawat Hossain’s
1905 “Sultana’s Dream,” one of the first works of feminist science fiction.
Many writers
say invoking elements of their faith into their speculative fiction is a
natural fit.
“There’s
really something special about weaving in Islam, with so many unseen beliefs
and fantastical tales that are pivotal in this religion,” said artist
SafiyahCheatam, whose monthly podcast, “Obsidian,” serves up speculative
fiction rooted in Afrofuturism.
Cheatam said
both Black and Muslim communities often have an innate connection with the
“imaginative” natures of both science fiction and the Afrofuturist movement.
“Oppressed
people are primed to imagine what things could look like if they were not the
victim of so many different systems of oppression,” Cheatam said. “I think we
see a wider range of what futures could be available to us.”
https://religionnews.com/2020/07/16/through-sci-fi-and-fantasy-muslim-women-authors-are-building-new-worlds/
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Saudi Arabia:
Five children found killed in new house
July 17, 2020
Samir Salama
Abu Dhabi: A
father found his five children, a university student and his four sisters aged
between 14 and 22 years, killed in their new apartment in Al Shuabah
neighbourhood, in Al Ahsa, the largest governorate in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern
Province, police said.
“Investigations
are still ongoing by the competent authorities to find out the reason and who
is behind this crime,” police added.
The uncle of
the victims, Ismail Khalifa Al Saleh, told Okaz that the crime occurred when
the parents and children went to view their new apartment in the Al Shuabah
neighbourhood of Al Ahsa Governorate.
“The parents
left their children in the apartment and went to the market. On their return in
the evening, they knocked on the door, but the siblings did not open and the door
was locked from inside,” the uncle said.
After several
attempts, the father forcibly opened the door to find the five children dead.
The father reported the crime immediately to the police.
Blood samples,
fingerprints and other evidence were gathered from the crime scene and the
bodies taken to the forensic medicine department. The autopsy report will be
submitted to the Public Prosecution, police said.
Al Saleh said
the son, Moayed, is a university student who specialises in English language at
King Faisal University.
https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/saudi/saudi-arabia-five-children-found-killed-in-new-house-1.72641059
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Two Pakistanis
make list of finalists for ‘Women Building Peace Award’
Myra Imran
July 17, 2020
Islamabad :
Two Pakistani women, Asia Jamil and Tabassum Adnan, have succeeded in making
their place in the list of ten finalists for the inaugural Women Building Peace
Award announced by the US Institute of Peace (USIP).
The award
recognizes the vital role of women who are working in fragile or
conflict-affected countries in pursuit of peace. USIP will announce the first
recipient of the $10,000 award during a virtual ceremony on September 15.
The 10
finalists for the 2020 Women Building Peace Award include Ángela Maria Escobar
(Colombia), Asia Jamil (Pakistan), Beata Mukarubuga (Rwanda), Irene M. Santiago
(The Philippines), Julienne Lusenge (the Democratic Republic of the Congo),
Odette Habonimana (Burundi), Rita Martin Lopidia Abraham (South Sudan), Rosa
Emilia Salamanca González (Colombia), Tabassum Adnan (Pakistan) and Victoria
Nyanjura (Uganda).
USIP received
over 150 nominations of women peacebuilders from 51 countries. The 10 finalists
were selected by USIP's Women Building Peace Council, an 18-member group of
experts and leaders in the fields of gender and peacebuilding, for their
exemplary commitment and leadership as peacebuilding practitioners and their
key roles in ending and preventing violent conflict. Collectively, they
represent eight countries and an intergenerational group of peacebuilders.
“USIP is
honoured to use our platform to amplify the important and urgent voices of
women who are building peace in their communities and countries. As we struggle
to navigate a global crisis and an increasingly complex world, these 10 women
stand out as courageous beacons of hope and strength. We hope this award shines
a light on the indelible contributions of women peacebuilders everywhere and
inspires future generations,” said Nancy Lindborg, USIP president and CEO in a
press release.
The Women
Building Peace Award builds on 10 years of USIP's existing work to empower
women, elevate their voices, and support their roles in local and national
peace processes. "These are women who have persevered under some of the
toughest circumstances. They are inspiring figures and extraordinary models of
collaboration, leadership, courage, and commitment," said Marcia Carlucci,
co-chair of the council.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/687804-two-pakistanis-make-list-of-finalists-for-women-building-peace-award
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