The sixth annual Brass Cresent blog awards are here! The last two years, Muslimah Media Watch has received honorable mentions for Best Group Blog and Best Female Blog–maybe this year we can get an actual award, enshallah.

If you’d like to see my baby up there as much as I would, go here and nominate us!

I have been absent for awhile, friends. Many apologies!

The Chesler vs. Wolf dust-up happened immediately on the heels of The Guardian’s series “Can Western feminism save Muslim women?”

Coincidence? Perhaps.

Dripping with irony? You betcha!

But the Guardian series included some very valuable viewpoints, many from Muslim women and Western feminists themselves. I blogged about it over at AltMuslimah.

Phyllis Chesler and Naomi Wolf have gotten themselves into a battle royale over…the veil.

And everyone seems to be concerned what two privileged non-Muslim white ladies think about this subject. Funny, considering Chesler picks fights all the time, and no one seemed to be interested in an actual debate she had with Dorchen Leidholdt a few months ago about Islam and women that was actually informed and somewhat rational.

What’s most interesting about this “debate” is that neither women have qualifications that make their opinions hold weight. Phyllis “Feminist Hawk” Chelser is a notorious Islamophobe, and Naomi’s experience with the veil came from putting on Pakistani clothing (“shalwar kameez”) in Morocco. Uh-huh.

Furthermore, neither of them seem particularly interested in what actual Muslim women who wear any type of hijab think. Natalia Antonova put it best:

The publicity must be pretty good for both Wolf and Chesler right about now … but if I was a Muslim woman watching all of this, I’d probably feel as though I was in a room full of people who were telling me to be quiet when the adults are talking.

I’d say that’s about right.

Last weekend, my baby turned two years old.

Muslimah Media Watch, the website that I founded in 2007, has now been around for two years. It feels like much longer, perhaps three years at least, because this blog has created so many wonderful things in my life, and the site itself has undergone so many changes.

In late August of 2007, I was the website’s sole contributor, writing all the content. It was easier then, because I was in graduate school, and found the website to be a welcome distraction from my thesis or a wonderful place to apply all the feminist theories I was learning. I had found no place for myself mainstream feminist media, and realized how easy it would be to carve out a space for myself in the blog world.

But it was more than that. I knew there were other women like me: Muslim, feminist, and seriously pissed off at being misrepresented. I knew that we might not have much else in common, but I created MMW for all of us.

On MMW’s one year anniversary, I had expanded: six or so contributors and a steady posting schedule.

This year, MMW boasts twice as many contributors and faithful readers. Oh, and a Twitter account and a Facebook page. Our contributors are from all over the globe, helping me to realize my vision of global MMW domination.

Maybe next year.

In the meantime, it is a both a pleasure and an honor to work with my contributors. They are smart, they are fierce, and they are adding their voices to a mounting refusal to be stereotyped or mis-characterized in media.

And I am so happy to be a part of it.

I have been accepted to the 2009-2010 American Muslim Civic Leaders Initiative program!

I am incredibly thrilled to be one of 23 participants for this “faith-based leadership training and civic engagement program”, and look forward to getting to know the other participants over the six month period.

The following image sums up my emotions upon receiving the acceptance email:

I want to thank Shahed Amanullah, a friend and AMCLI alumnus, and my brother–my acceptance to this program is a direct result of their efforts and encouragement.

Stay tuned for updates!

Readers and friends, I’m taking a little hiatus.

That’s a scarier word that I’d like to use, and maybe it’s not even completely accurate, but there it is. Hiatus. Like I’m a sitcom that didn’t quite get the right ratings and is getting pulled by the network, but they don’t want to say “canceled.”

But there’s nothing to fear! This is definitely not a cancellation. Think of this more as a season finale. I’ll be back Ugly Betty-style once the seasons roll around.

Currently, I’m working on some publishing stuff and trying to relocate. I’m also looking for a new full-time job, specifically in the editing biz. If you’ve got a job with editorial duties and/or the word “editor” in the title, drop me a note. Because there’s a good chance I’ll be interested!

Anyway, I’ll be focusing on those big life changes, and so I won’t be writing for all the websites I love so much. I’ll still be running MMW and helping out elsewhere when I can. Maybe that will free me up to write more here, too.

So this isn’t goodbye. It’s more of a…see you next season.

It’s my birthday today!

It’s been a long year, but a great one. I don’t know if 26 can ever live up to 25–in the last year, I’ve traveled, written, and conferenced my heart out, and I just can’t get enough!

Here’s hoping that this year is as good as the last, if not better!

Ever been to the Islamic Society of North America’s conference before?

Neither have I!

But I’ll be going this weekend to speak on a panel about blogging, with Shahed Amanullah, Hussein Rashid, Haroon Moghul, and Wajahat Ali.

Excitement!

In the U.S., several university commencements were held today. Outside my window, college graduates and their families are celebrating and looking forward to their futures.

Iran is not celebrating tonight. Iranians are participating in protests and riots. Iranians are waiting for the police to search their homes, looking for satellites to seize. Iranians are trying to get their Facebook and cell phone access to work. Iranians are going to bed tonight hoping that tomorrow will bring change.

Living outside of Iran carries varying degrees of “diaspora guilt” for many Iranians. Guilt that we don’t have to go through the perennial annoyances, inconveniences, and fears that Iranians in Iran deal with all the time. Guilt that we’re fairly powerless to do anything about the Iranian government, which we all seem to hate so much. Guilt that we don’t get our papers in order to vote during the biggest elections since Khatami’s in 1997.

There is a lot of guilt tonight, but that guilt is overshadowed by larger feelings of fear and worry. Though the mainstream media in the U.S. isn’t covering it, you can bet Twitter’s #IranElections thread is buzzing with news of Mousavi’s house arrest, internet shutoffs, cell phone and SMS blocking, police seizures, riots, and rumors of a coup d’ etat by Ahmadinejad.

Seventy percent of Iran’s population will turn 30 this year, and have no memories of the Islamic revolution during or after which they were born. To this 70%, revolution may not seem like such a bad idea after growing up in a system that dictates their public behavior and regulates their private lives. Mousavi (and his wife Dr. Zahra Rahnavard) spoke to the under-30s; despite the fact that he was Iran’s prime minister in the newly-formed Islamic Republic, his platform was one of economic and social reform, with welcomed calls for expanded women’s rights from his wife.

Before officials shut down internet access and declared Ahmadinejad the winner, Mousavi had taken a large lead in the ballots. Iran’s masses wanted change. Yesterday, they attempted to take it with their ballots. Now they will take it with their protests on the streets and on the web.

Iran is not celebrating tonight, but here’s hoping it is in the process of graduating from an unjust system to a brighter future. May God watch over Iran.