New at AltMuslimah: Men and Matrimony

(CNN) — Countless streets across the Islamic world are currently alight with ornate festive lanterns. Part of a tradition dating back over 800 years, the Ramadan lanterns, or “fanoos,” have become one of the most popular and enduring symbols of the month-long festival. Believed to have originated in Egypt — where the lanterns are most prevalent — it is almost impossible to know how the tradition began. Legends are numerous and varied, but one of the most popular features Egyptian Al Hakim Bi-Amr Illah who ruled over the North African Shiite Moslem Fatimid dynasty in the 10th century. He was…

The Hijab Alternative | KABOBfest. Perhaps, instead of covering every part of a woman’s body less her eyes, it would be more effective to just cover the man’s eyes. That would really solve the problem once and for all. Chastise the man who removes his blindfold in public, then no woman would ever be called a disobedient whore for stepping a foot outside her house. Here is a novel idea: How about the ultra-religious start teaching their kids that it is not OK to be publicly perverted, instead of teaching them that women who walk around without a head cover…

Remembering the Heroism and Ethic of Hazrat Ali (a.s.) in the Persian New Year «. Some months ago when I first wrote this piece, I was thinking about the beginning of Ramadan. Today, a few months on I am thinking about the beginning of Navroz, the Persian New Year. There are beginnings everywhere. The Qur’an begins with the fatihah. There is a tradition that the entirety of the knowledge of the Qur’an can be found in the fatihah; the entire fatihah is contained in the first line, bismillah ir-rahman ir-rahim, everything in that phrase is found in bismillah; all of that knowledge is…