Muslim Club in Canada Gives Women of Color Special Running Zone
New
Age Islam News Bureau
30
September 2020
• Portland Woman, Zehra Abukar, Crowned Miss Muslimah USA
•
Young Afghan Female Mountaineer Plans Next Summit To 'Show The World What We
Can Do'
•
Lebanon: Shia Woman Says She Will Be Targeted For Expressing Her ‘Free Opinion’
•
Uproar over suspension of Pakistani schoolteacher for bringing baby to work
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/muslim-club-canada-gives-women/d/122996
--------
Muslim Club in Canada Gives Women of Color Special Running Zone
September
29, 2020
Islam
promotes good health and fitness and encourages both men and women to engage in
physical activity to maintain healthy lifestyles.
-----
SHAFAQNA-
Islam promotes good health and fitness and encourages both men and women to
engage in physical activity to maintain healthy lifestyles. But, for Muslim
women, Islam is a fundamental aspect of their identity and their approach to
sport is often determined by religious, cultural, and ethnic factors. For
Muslim women, religious beliefs and values determine the ways they structure
and approach their life.
Though
Fatma Ramadan, a 24-year-old Muslim woman from Toronto, practiced different
sports, running on the streets was always a challenge she could not overcome,
The Canadian Press reported. She had participated in other sports such as
horseback riding and volleyball. Her sister, also a Hijabi, has told her she
had that same feeling going out for a run, saying it was difficult “to take
that first step, in front of everyone.”
This
is why Ramadan created ‘A Women’s Run’ club, providing a welcoming running
space for women of color in 2019, About Islam reported. For example, Hijabi
Ballers, a local organization that supports Muslim women in sport, stepped in
to help with funding and promotion.
Britt Hern, a trainer who Ramadan asked if she could write up a training
plan for the group, also volunteered to train the women in person.
Around
the world, Muslim women are defying stereotypes to compete and excel at the
highest levels of sports. This includes football, fencing, weightlifting,
basketball, ice hockey and more. In 2016, 14 Muslim women medaled in the Rio
Olympics, including American fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first Muslim woman to
represent the United States on the podium.
https://en.shafaqna.com/172415/canada-muslim-club-in-toronto-gives-women-running-zone/
--------
Portland
Woman, Zehra Abukir, Crowned Miss Muslimah USA
Sep
29, 2020
PORTLAND,
Maine —
Zehra
Abukar won the crown Sunday at the 2020 competition in Detroit, Michigan.
-----
Zehra
Abukar won the crown Sunday at the 2020 competition in Detroit, Michigan. This
was the fourth year for the pageant.
The
Miss Muslimah Pageant USA was created to provide a pageant in which Muslim
women can compete without foregoing their religious beliefs.
Abukar's
talent for the competition was a dance.
Abukar
grew up on Portland's East End and speaks several languages.
Portland
Police, congratulating Abukar on Facebook, wrote that she has been instrumental
in the life of one of its officers "as both an elder in Kennedy Park and
as a translator for the many languages she speaks. Thank you for representing
Maine and the City of Portland so well. Congratulations on your win!!"
https://www.wmtw.com/article/a-6-year-old-texas-boy-died-from-a-brain-eating-amoeba-his-mom-wants-others-to-know-the-symptoms/34213658
--------
Young
Afghan Female Mountaineer Plans Next Summit To 'Show The World What We Can Do'
By
Orooj Hakimi, Hameed Farzad
SEPTEMBER
30, 2020
Members
of Hikeventures mountaineering team, Adiba Juya 26, (L) and Fatima Sultani 18,
(R) walk during an exercise in a mountain on the outskirts of Kabul,
Afghanistan, on September 4, 2020. Reuters
-----
KABUL
(Reuters) - Eighteen-year old Fatima Sultani gazes at the peak of a mountain
near Afghanistan’s capital Kabul after completing a morning climbing session,
considering her next challenge.
She
and her team of nine young Afghan mountaineers, including three women, are
hoping to climb Afghanistan’s Mir Samir Mountain and after that travel to Nepal
to summit the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest.
“My
main goal is to show the world that Afghan women are strong and can do the most
challenging work that men do,” she told Reuters. “When I became aware that
women from foreign countries come here to conquer high peaks I thought ... why
can’t we Afghan women conquer these peaks?”
Sultani
has continued climbing throughout the coronavirus pandemic, in August making it
to the summit of the 7,492 metre (24,580 feet) Noshakh Peak in the Hindu Kush
mountain range in northern Afghanistan, becoming the youngest woman in the
world to do so.
But
as the Islamist Taliban hold peace talks with the Afghan government in Doha,
many women in Afghanistan worry the militant group may exert its influence
through formal political channels.
When
the Taliban ruled the country between 1996 and 2001, they banned education for
females and barred women from leaving the house without a male relative.
The
group says it has changed but many women remain sceptical.
“When
I got into sports, I knew that I would face some problems in the future, for
example, one of the issues was that maybe the Taliban would hinder sport for
women, but still I’m ready to face the challenge,” Fatima said.
When
she’s not training in the mountains, Fatima lives in Kabul with her parents,
younger sister and cat. Her father said he will continue to celebrate Fatima’s
achievements but has lingering concerns about her safety.
“I
am worried about this, (the Taliban) oppose women’s sports,” Abdul Wahed
Sultani said. “(But) I told Fatima that you are free to do whatever sport you
want to, even mountaineering, and I will support her as much as I can.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/afghanistan-women-mountaineering/young-afghan-female-mountaineer-plans-next-summit-to-show-the-world-what-we-can-do-idINKBN26L0DY
--------
Lebanon:
Shia Woman Says She Will Be Targeted For Expressing Her ‘Free Opinion’
Leen
Alfaisal
23
September 2020
A
video of a Shia Lebanese protester criticizing the government went viral on
social media after she claimed that she will be targeted for what she said as
soon as she returns to Dahieh, a predominantly Shia Muslim suburb south of
Beirut.
“As
soon as I arrive in Dahieh, I will be subjected to many things because of my
free opinion – shame on them,” the protester told Sawt Beirut International.
“You
are Shia and you’re protesting against us,” the woman predicted she would be
told. “I am Shia and I would protest against my mother if she usurps the rights
of the people,” she said as a preemptive reply.
For
all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Lebanese
across the country have raged at the country’s sectarian leaders who have
failed to form a government since the last cabinet stepped down in mid-August
after the massive explosions at the Beirut port. The country is currently in
the midst of its worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war, and
around half of the population now lives below the poverty line.
Bringing
her children with her to protest, the woman said that every politician in
Lebanon is a “dictator” and a “war criminal,” adding that the country doesn’t
need these parties, but rather needs one brave president.
Lebanon
has been governed by the same ruling elite since the end of the civil war when
former warlords turned in their arms, becoming politicians – Hezbollah
refrained from turning in its weapons.
Emmanuel
Macron, president of Lebanon’s former colonial power France who has led international
efforts to offer support, also rebuked politicians after his initiative
faltered when Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib, a Sunni Muslim named on
August 31, stood down amid sectarian squabbling for ministerial posts. The
ruling elite have yet to signal how they will solve the crisis in a nation
where politics relies on power-sharing between Christian and Muslim sects.
Adib’s
efforts to form a cabinet of non-partisan ministers ran into the sand after
Lebanon’s two main Shia groups, the Amal Movement and the heavily armed,
Iran-backed Hezbollah, demanded that they name several ministers, including the
finance post.
With
politics deadlocked and the economy crushed by debt, Lebanon’s pound took a
further dive, adding to the pain of citizens, many of whom have struggled to
make ends meet since the economic crisis erupted last year.
People
are “dying of hunger” and “being tricked into staying silent,” the woman said,
referring to the people of Dahieh, in which Iran-backed Hezbollah has the
biggest influence. “Some of them can’t even afford a house,” she added.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/09/29/Lebanon-Shia-woman-says-she-will-be-targeted-for-expressing-her-free-opinion-
--------
Uproar
over suspension of Pakistani schoolteacher for bringing baby to work
September
29, 2020
Sana
Jamal
Islamabad:
When a female schoolteacher in Mianwali city of Punjab lost her job allegedly
for “bringing her baby at work” it caused a social media uproar and sparked a
strong reaction from Pakistani educators after which the teacher was promptly
restored.
Ms
Ishrat Sattar, who teaches at Government Higher Secondary School (GHSS), in
Harnoli, Mianwali, was suspended over “inefficiency and misconduct” after “she
was found playing with her child” the notification read. Punjab Education
Minister Murad Raas said on Twitter that the tutor was suspended for “not
attending to the teaching activities” and not observing “COVID-19 regulations”.
He added that the school CEO has been asked “to restore her with a warning” but
“If this happens again, action will be taken.”
Debate
on rights of teachers
The
incident stirred up a debate on social media over the rights of teachers and
inadequate facilities at schools under the hashtag #FemaleTeacherSuspension.
Citizens as well as educators supported the schoolteacher and said that working
parents should be allowed to bring infants to work. Pakistanis cited the
examples of Pakistan’s former premier Benazir Bhutto who was the first world
leader to give birth while in office and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda
Ardern who recently attended the United Nations General Assembly with her baby.
“Such
teachers deserve appreciation not suspension who didn’t take leave for her
child and performed her duty of being a teacher as well as mother at the same
time” wrote Syed Qasim Raza on Twitter. “Teachers are also human beings. Treat
them with kindness and respect” said an account titled Punjab Educators that
shared photos of Pakistani women legislators and bureaucrats who brought their
kids to work.
Day
care centres
Some
teachers demanded to establish day care centres in every school and workplace
to encourage women, who comprise of over half of Pakistan’s population, to join
the workforce. Many teachers who are parents need childcare options to take
care of their new-borns and young children. Both public and private schools
must offer day care centres to support new parents,” Salma Khalid, an
Islamabad-based junior class teacher, told Gulf News. “It will also ease the
burden as teachers working in private schools cannot afford day care centres in
paltry salaries.”
Maternity
benefits
Article
37(e) of Pakistan’s Constitution directs the state to ensure “maternity
benefits for women in employment” while Punjab Maternity Benefits Ordinance,
1958 mandates that “commercial and industrial establishments” provide their
female employees 12 weeks of full-paid maternity leave. However, many
organizations particularly in the private sector violate the rules. Most
companies do not have day-care services for infants and do not allow flexible
work hours or paid leave for mothers.
https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan/uproar-over-suspension-of-pakistani-schoolteacher-for-bringing-baby-to-work-1.74217108
--------
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/muslim-club-canada-gives-women/d/122996
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism