So I am a good month and a half into my Spanish 101 class and I am excited to share the news that I am going to be able to sing a Spanish love song of epic proportions by the time I finish the first semester! Its going to woo my soon to be wifey where ever she is.
Check out them pointy heeled shoes! (and the socks, those became a aristocratic fashion symbol too!)
Fashion is all about leaning forward. Designers do their thing by pushing the limits and this post is almost a stream of conscience reaction to men’s fashion because I highly doubt one day we will have practicing Muslim males showing up at masjids wearing mini skirts and high heels and the while sporting burly beards.
Did you think high heels were only a women thing? If so you are completely wrong! In fact, thanks to Persian (Muslim Safavid) fashion, heels made their way into European court (Shah Abbas’s diplomatic missions to Germany, Russia and Spain). Soon enough, heels were all the rage amongst the aristocrats from Vienna to Westminster (until Napoleon banned them, I wonder what complex he had against them since it would only have helped him!). What Persians had worn out of necessity, the heels helped them control their stately steeds in battle, were soon to be regulated into the world of women’s high end fashion, Jimmy Choo’s, anyone?
But the current trend in fashion for androgynous fashion- the mixing of masculine and feminine characteristics (think Prince, Marilyn Manson, Annie Lennox, Boy George, Steven Tyler…). Basically its the ideal of either having no gender value, or having some aspects generally attributed to the opposite sex. I would say would be the idea that in Europe little boys could not wear pants during the Victorian era because those garments were the exclusive dress of grown men. So women wearing pants during that time was unthinkable (interestingly enough Paris just took off the ban on women wearing pants but the Hijab is not permitted!).
Well bringing back the blog to relevancy, I was perusing through Pinterest’s collection of Men’s Fashion pins and came across the JW Anderson collection, I was immediately reminded of the many men’s fashion restrictions placed by the Prophet. JW Anderson has created the perfect line of boy’s dressed in mini skirts and I cringe at the thought that his design might influence other men’s designers to follow suit, happily though, this whole thing is a blurb that history will allow us to laugh at, or maybe not… Judge for yourself:
So besides this being the bane of fashion and totally a FML moment, I wondered what the Prophet had to say about this, because he had a lot to say about men’s fashion and not just about women’s fashion (i.e. the Hijab) yet we barely hear about that in our culture wars. For instance in one Hadith the men who shave their beards were seen to be to be outside the realm of mercy from Allah (as Reported by Ibn Abbas (R.A.) in Tibrabi). (Apparently beards also keep you healthy, go figure!)
In one variant, “The Messenger of Allah cursed men who made themselves look like women and women who made themselves look like men.” [al-Bukhari]
Also:
Abu Hurayra said, “The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, cursed any man who wears women’s clothes and any woman who wears men’s clothes.” [Abu Dawud]
…if heels aren’t your thing, then try this pair of mary jane shoes!
The whole thing is just fascinating to me because it seems to me the projection of societal norms is leaning towards this androgynous fashion. Pop culture is thriving on this norm, within the fashion industry this style of gender neutral clothing has been raising itself in one form or another since the 1990′s. The acceptance of skinny jeans, and even women’s jeans worn by teenagers (sometime rock stars) is increasingly becoming acceptable.
I do then wonder how Islam will cope with this trend. Women wearing jeans, at least in the West, is now a settled fashion question. Though from what I understand girls can’t wear trouser type things during prayer therefore they will don long flowly garbs.
Clearly cross dressing by men is prohibited in Islam but what about androgynous or “genderless” dress, or transgenders in general in Islam?
(Curiously enough is there a “necessity clause” for instance in the case of Mualana Abdul Aziz of Lal Masjid standoff fame, who was caught trying to escape arrest while wearing a burka?)
In my search for this I ran across this article on Transgenderism and Islam, where I found a translation of renowned Hadith scholar An-Nawawi.
I unfortunately can’t share due to copyright restrictions. which makes me hate JSTOR, may God rest Aaron Swartz soul and allow his mission be accomplished!
But the what I can share I am pulling from Wikipedia just to avoid any sanctions or what have you:
“A mukhannath is the one (“male”) who carries in his movements, in his appearance and in his language the characteristics of a woman. There are two types; the first is the one in whom these characteristics are innate, he did not put them on by himself, and therein is no guilt, no blame and no shame, as long as he does not perform any (illicit) act or exploit it for money (prostitution etc.). The second type acts like a woman out of immoral purposes and he is the sinner and blameworthy.”
While the whole thing requires more reading on my part, I will leave you with this. In the same country as the Burka Wearing Mullah, the Pakistani Supreme Court ruled that the government must take proactive steps to protect transsexuals from harassment and discrimination, although no legislation in the area of gender identity exists. Pakistan officially protects ‘Third gender’ discrimination back in 2010. Which is not to say that the actual protection occurs, but if you ever visit Pakistan, its totally an open secret that no one officially wants to recognize.
The last thing to remaining untouched in this post on fashion is the elephant that never leaves the room- Hijab- and well, on that account I will borrow the Nobel Peace Prize Tawakkul Karman, the mother of Yemen’s revolution, response to a question by a journalist on how the hijab is not proportionate with her level of education and intellect:
“Man in early times was almost naked, and as his intellect evolved he started wearing clothes. What I am today and what I’m wearing represents the highest level of thought and civilization that man has achieved, and is not regressive. It’s the removal of clothes again that is a regression back to the ancient times.”
Screw the Bowl, the COMMERCIALS are where its at. Or maybe the Bowl experience is enhanced by the commercials. Well regardless, the really cool thing about the Bowl for me this year was seeing the Audi commercial “Prom” and hearing “Can’t Win ‘Em All”
So why you ask is it all that amazing, well beyond the fact that its for Audi, it features the song “Can’t Win ‘Em All” that is savagely addictive and like a motivating drug or something. The song is by, you shall never guess it… Hanni El Khatib a Palestinian Filipino American who grew up in San Francisco, rooting for the Niners, and an avid skateboarder.
Keep kicking ass bro, the song rocks and the Audi commercial for the Superbowl is like getting recognition after the fact.
Tattoo’s are haraam in Islam. Haraam being that the act is strictly forbidden. It will lead you to hell, but it isn’t necessarily your ticket to hell, for that there really is the ONE unforgivable Sin. The Sin of Sins that you can’t repent from, and getting a tattoo is not one of those. If you happen to be Shia Muslim, tattoo’s are not haraam for you then. But as a Sunni, of Hanafi school of thought, a tattoo just is out of the question. Unless of coarse you find yourself a “Halal Tattoo” Parlor (see below) then its significantly less haraam, maybe, but don’t take my fatwa for it baby.
I just got this shit emailed to me. I can’t believe this is real, is it one of those Church messages where people can insert “Racist-ass shit here” to appear on the back of a random GMC truck with a license plate?
Haidar with the U.S. Surgeon General, Regina Benjamin, October 2011
While in 2008 I didn’t follow the Presidential elections, I did get a chance to attend President Obama’s inauguration and it was inspiring. Reflecting back I believe strongly that President Obama performed well given that he inherited the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, two wars that had no end in sight and a international community that no longer saw America as a leader but rather a bully and in some instances an aggressor.
Given the state of our nation, I am thankful that President Obama was re-elected for a second term. I think this election highlighted the role American Muslims can play in national politics; especially what Muslim college students can contribute as well.
Many Muslim organizations encouraged political engagement through voting. For example the California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations released their voter guidebook, which was a means of helping Muslims see how Congressional represented voted on key legislative areas that reflect the communities interest. Similarly, the Muslim Student Association, West regularly communicated to the thousands of students across the West Coast about voting, various propositions impact to student life as well as basic information found in voter guides.
The future of American Muslim political organizing will remain consistent with past election cycles because the overall national issues are predominately focused on the continuing economic challenges.
While the American Muslim community desires to organize around political issues like closing Guantanamo and ending the unprecedented use of drones in Pakistan and Yemen, it would seem impractical.
However, with the large number of young college age Muslims becoming politically engaged there will be an impetus for national organizations to gain political maturity in order to engage and stay relevant to this new crop of activists.
Read other perspectives here.
Haidar Ali Anwar is a third year undergraduate student at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) studying Political Science. He is the MSA West President which is a non-profit organization representing the Muslim Student Association across the West coast of the United States. Haidar is also a Senior Field Organizer for the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR)- Greater Los Angeles Area chapter.
President Obama has won a second term and people may have felt that he had not achieved enough during his first term. It is important to remember that President Obama had his hands tied in his first term because of the Republican majority in the House refused to cooperate with him. Even in that environment he delivered on health care reform, a major political coup and one that benefits all Americans.
Americans should expect that President Obama’s second term will be much different than his first term given the political bi-partisanship in Congress and the Republican majority in the House.
Given that environment, President Obama will likely be more active on foreign policy issues, especially with regards to Syria and the Middle East without engaging us in any other military entanglements.
Thus far, the US has been pretty hands off with the move toward democracy in the Middle East. Which may be a good because the people of the region need to determine their own destiny. Where the American Muslim community can play an active role is to make sure that American foreign polity is geared toward providing assistance in building their democracy.
Given that the process of change is not over, as witnessed by developments in Jordan, our policy stance will have an impact on how the rest of the people in the Middle East will perceive the US stance if they choose to make demands for certain rights and freedoms, particularly people in Saudi Arabia.
Read other perspectives here.
Souheila Al-Jadda is a senior editor at The Islamic Monthly and a member of USA TODAY’s Board of Contributors.
President Obama, since 2008, has been able to move forward on important progressive legislation like the Lilly Ledbetter Act and the Affordable Care Act, while simultaneously working with the public and private sectors to bring the U.S. back from the brink of financial disaster. He had an ambitious set of goals when he started, and while he didn’t accomplish everything he set out to do in his first term, I think the country is a better place after four years of his leadership.
Like most American Muslims, Guantanamo Bay is more then troubling. While Congress takes part of the blame for keeping it open, President Obama campaigned on the promise to close the facility when he was elected in 2008, and I can’t help but be disappointed that this wasn’t accomplished during his first term.
In his second term President Obama administration willis going to continue focus working on the financial recovery of the nation. He’ll also take a hard look at ways to update our domestic infrastructure and explore alternative energy sources. These issues might not seem pertinent to American Muslim concerns focus on human rights and civil liberties challenges or ignored by various branches of government.
It is important for American Muslims, regardless of our individual issues of interest, we all need to stay vigilant to make sure the government does exceed constitutional limits.
The level of organization seen in this past election, by the Muslim community, for all levels of government, was impressive and mature. The community a broad range of perspectives and this election was a clear indication of our diversity. With the next Presidential election in 2016 this range of voices will give us a unique opportunity to engage all political spectrums and push our solutions and policy concerns for the challenges we face as a nation.
Read other perspectives here.
Amanda Quraishi is a blogger, interfaith activist and technology professional living in Austin, Texas. She currently works full time for Mobile Loaves & Fishes, a non-profit organization that addresses the issue of homelessness in the U.S. She regularly contributes to online journals Tikkun Daily, The Religious Left and ILLUME, as well as blogging about religion and politics on her personal blog muslimahMERICAN.com
What did Obama promise back in 2008? He promised Hope and Change. It became the mantra of elected officials across the land; even I used this within my inaugural address. That hope, in policy terms, was a new direction in terms of healthcare, foreign policy, and most importantly the economy.
I do not see how any President can ever deliver on all their promises no matter how noble. American Muslims have to understand that the political arena is more analogous to a marathon than the 100 meter dash.
The community sentiment is that over the next four years we will see an Executive that shows more of a “backbone” because he does not have to seek re-election. However, what is missing from the equation is that the Executive is part of a political party and that for the next candidate of that party to successfully run for that position the current Executive has to work with his party. Therefore, no executive is independent but rather they are beholden to the internal politics and future survival of their party.
As the American Muslim community has engaged in politics there has been exponential maturing in the four yeas since 2008.
They are more vocal on key policy issues that resonate with not only the Democratic Party but with all Americans no matter what side of the aisle they fall upon. This will result in a snowball effect in 2016 where you will see a stronger and more vibrant campaign coming out of the Muslim community that may be unprecedented due to the evolving nature of elections in this digital media age.
Read other perspectives here.
Salim Patel is the President of the Passaic (NJ) Board of Education and he serves as Chairman on the board of The SMILE Organization which is dedicated to providing thousands of bags of food to a food pantry focused on serving the low income and the under privileged in the Paterson and Passaic county’s in New Jersey since 2008.
