Inspiring Muslim Women

February 17, 2014 a woman was named editor of the Saudi Arabian newspaper the Saudi Gazette. She is the first female journalist to achieve such a public position. The man she replaced, Khaled Almaeena, said he was proud Somayya Jabarti would take over at the helm of the paper. 

Stories about women in Saudi Arabia often focus on human rights violations, on their inability to drive. But Saudi women are so much more than their restrictions.

All Muslim women are so much more than their restrictions. All women are. All human beings are. We are not what we lack, whether it be certain freedoms or certain amounts of weight or a spouse or a child or a job or…I get tired of the continual emphasis placed on the missing pieces. It is time to celebrate what is there. Focusing on missing pieces forces a person or a culture into our own box, what we deem missing and important might not matter to the person we are looking at or talking about or taking photos of. Instead, I want to look at what is there, recognize beauty and strength and creativity when I see it, and try to enter into its own context and worldview.

This is my good friend Aisha, an entrepreneur, traveling business woman, and community leader. Aisha didn’t graduate from elementary school, struggles to read and write, and speaks only Somali in this country where French and English are used in businesses and education. But she inspires other women to save money, to consider their skills and learn to turn those into jobs, and to work hard and with integrity.

Click here to read about amazing Muslim women, see how they are filled up and not lacking: Inspirational Muslim Women

February 17, 2014 a woman was named editor of the Saudi Arabian newspaper the Saudi Gazette. She is the first female journalist to achieve such a public position. The man she replaced, Khaled Almaeena, said he was proud Somayya Jabarti would take over at the helm of the paper.

Also just this week in St. Paul, Minnesota Kadra Mohammed became the first Somali woman to graduate from the police academy.

Stories about women in Saudi Arabia often focus on human rights violations, on their inability to drive.

But Saudi women are so much more than their restrictions. Muslim women across the globe are often depicted exclusively by their clothing, sometimes even faceless, as though their clothing was their most important and definitive feature. A simple photo search for ‘Muslim women’ reveals a shocking array of offensive pictures.

I find this infuriating and ignorant. While non-Muslims slam countries like Saudi Arabia for their treatment of women, these same non-Muslims perpetuate this treatment in photographs and journalism by continuing to focus on the oppressed and the veil. There are real, true, and horrible human rights issues in Muslim countries. This is also true of non-Muslim countries.

Women all over the world are accomplishing incredible feats, like breaking through the glass ceiling in Saudi Arabian journalism. Let us celebrate their successes and be inspired by brave, intelligent, creative, everyday Muslim women.

For the purposes of this slideshow, I have used primarily well-known women. However, here are links to articles filled with more links featuring more incredible Muslim women.

Challenging Stereotypes Part 1 and Part 2

Muslims Wearing Things


Click through the slideshow to see athletes, political activists, Harley-lovers, actresses, and normal/everyday Muslim women, and more.