By Zarifah Anuar When I was two weeks old, my mother handed me over to her bidan (traditional midwife), my grand-aunt, to be circumcised. She did not witness the procedure, and did not know exactly what was done to me. To her, the sunat was an act that all Muslims, regardless of gender, had to…
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By Zubaida Ali When my daughters were born, I made the decision not to have them circumcised. Female circumcision is one of the most puzzling birth rituals in Muslim society. It has no health or aesthetic value whatsoever. Circumcision was usually performed by a traditional midwife but now it is performed by a medical doctor at the…
Read MoreBy Afiqa Ab Rahman Recently I attended a workshop where participants from Singapore, Malaysia, India, and Thailand shared their experiences and discussed about Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Variations of the term include Female Genital Cutting (FGC) or “Sunat Perempuan”. It was intriguing to hear the experiences and research findings from various countries. But what intrigued…
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By Nurul Huda Rashid Of late, the term ‘hijab’ has been used pervasively across different contexts of discussion, from that of religion, ‘Islamization’, the symbolic, in movements and representation, and especially in relation to the discussion of women, ‘Muslim women’. The latter is a most contested term as it is often relegated a single identity…
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By Diana Rahim It seems like we never stop talking about the Hijab. Asra Nomani and Hala Arafa unearthed a storm of anger and debate recently with their op-ed in the Washington Post which went down bitterly for understandable reasons. Although well-meaning, they also came across as condescending and reductive, not particularly acceptable in a…
Read MoreBy anonymous For the past few years, I have struggled with pain associated with vaginal intercourse. I visited doctors but none could provide me with the answers I was looking for. “Have more sex, it’ll open up…it is supposed to hurt…try different angles.” The advice was never helpful and only reinforced my worry that there was something wrong…
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Beyond The Hijab 