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Laleh Bakhtiar is the first American woman to translate the Quran into English and the first woman to present a critical translation of the Quran in any language. She says, "The veil is the wrong thing to be stuck on when discussing Muslim women's rights in Islam. In fact, in many cases, the Quran reinforces a Muslim woman's self-esteem. And Muslim women worldwide are using the Quran to reassert their rights -- rights that have been taken away from them through patriarchal interpretations and laws."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/samina-ali/10-american-muslim-women-you-should-know_b_4413809.html
'Tony Abbott's budgie smugglers are confronting but we're not calling for THEM to be banned': Muslim women respond to calls to ban burqas... and say face-covering can be 'liberating'
Tony Abbott's budgie smugglers are 'confronting' - but we're not calling for them to be banned.
That is the common refrain of the Islamic community to fierce calls for the burqa to be outlawed.
The joke is told by community leaders such as Mariam Veiszadeh, by Muslims on the streets of south-west Sydney and is the subject of a meme widely shared by the Islamic community on Facebook.
'It's a light hearted way of making the point.... if you want to dress down or dress up we should all be able to do it,' Ms Veiszadeh told Daily Mail Australia on Friday.
Islamic community leaders told Daily Mail Australia they are sick of the burqa (a form of dress where the face is covered by a mesh grill) being confused with the niqab, a more popular dress where the face is covered but the eyes are not.
'It (the burqa) is not common,' Ms Veiszadeh said. And while there are no reliable statistics, 'only a tiny minority' of Australian Muslim women wear the niqab, she said.
A number of Muslim women told Daily Mail Australia that Australians who wear the niqab find it liberating, rather than oppressive, as critics have said.
'It's an amazing feeling of freedom,' said Maha Abdo, the executive officer of the Muslim Women's Association.
'You can see clearly, but no one can see you.'
Ms Abdo chose to start wearing a hijab 30 years ago, but she has worn a niqab while spending time overseas.
She said her headscarf reminds her of her spirituality.
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