Muslim Parenting

**1/2 out of ****

I was excited when I first came across this magazine. Finally, a magazine geared towards Muslim girls - insha’Allah a publication with which they could identify and through which they could be inspired.

I applaud the effort, but so far, I don’t think that Muslim Girl lives up to its promise. I keep hoping and praying (insha’Allah) that it will - as unlike a book, it is possible for a magazine to reinvent itself in every issue - because our girls could really benefit from a good magazine just for them.

Good things

Here’s what I think Muslim Girl magazine gets right:

• Makes an effort to find exemplars/role models for girls from the Muslim community. Sisters who have interesting and meaningful careers, are involved in philanthropic work, have been blessed with artistic or literary talents.
• Profiles Muslim girls who are doing interesting things - as individuals or as groups.
• Follows a familiar magazine format

What I didn’t like

• The majority of the sisters featured in the magazine are non-hijabis. While I know that most Muslim women, especially in the US don’t cover, I would like to see the magazine make more of an effort to seek out those who do so that

1. - It could normalize hijab-wearing for Muslims and non-Muslims. Seeing a glossy American magazine full of positive profiles and images of hijabis would help do that for many people. Mind you, I think covering is an individual choice and like to see non-hijabi sisters acknowledged as well.
2. - It is really young muhajabas who need the support of seeing themselves in media outside of negative news coverage on the Middle East

Instead it’s a bit as if Muslim Girl’s staff thinks of hijab as a cultural marker or fashion statement rather than a choice of faith. Something we’ve moved past.

• The clothing in the fashion section tends toward the immodest. Think, sister in headscarf but skin-tight pants and shirt. I would like to see more tunics, long skirts, fluid pants and dresses and even jelbabs and abayas here.

Okay, I’ll pause here to say that looking through it, I am not sure about the magazine’s message or its target audience. And I wonder about who is behind the magazine. Are Muslims at the helm, or is the publication an attempt by non-Muslims or non-religious Muslims to tap into a so far untapped market?

• I would like to see more Muslim-produced/marketed products, both in terms of the magazine’s advertising and in terms of the products it chooses to profile and feature in its beauty and fashion sections. Where is Shukr Clothing, Muslim Gear, Crescent Moon Boutique and so many others?

• The magazine treats “Muslim” like a superficial ethnic designation and not as a living faith. So, it will profile, for exmaple, Asma Rasheed because she has an Arabic name and comes from a Muslim family, but never really ask her about her faith or how it influences her life. It’s good enough that she would check off “Muslim” on a form that asked about her religion. In similar vein, there is little about Muslimahs whose central focus in life is Islam and whose vocations and community work were chosen to fit their lives in Islam.

• It’s great that Muslim Girl shows our girls women who are succeeding in difficult or unusual fields - but then I expect the magazine to go further and have them talk about how their faith informs their work, if there are any day to day challenges to being Muslim and holding that job (for example, finding time to pray), etc.

• Too much space given to conventional, pop culture that 1) Muslim girls can get from any other magazine and that 2) many of us parents are trying to keep out of the home. I have zero interest in having my girls read about “Gilmore Girls,” “24,”"Harry Potter” (many Muslim parents would especially cringe at that one) or other such pop culture drivel.

• I’d rather the magazine talked to nasheed artists, featured good books (more than television or movies), maybe even covering halal things that teens outside North America are doing for fun. Instead we get the Disney, Warner, view of things.
• Muslim Girl - be brave enough to set trends instead of being a follower. Perhaps you did some polling of young Muslim girls and found that most of them are into the same things that their non-Muslim peers are. Well and good, but then make it part of your mandate to introduce them to some new things and encourage them to think a little bit more.
• Oprah’s booklist had an amazing impact on the publishing industry and on American women’s reading habits. These major changes could never have happened if Oprah had simply said, “You know, my audience just reads mysteries and romance novels, they won’t be interested in anything else.” In fact, she got women who weren’t used to difficult reading to challenge themselves with books like “Beloved.”
• If our girls are only interested in the mall, iTunes and makeup then I want a Muslim girls’ magazines that will challenge that and present alternatives.

In writing this review, I looked around for Christian girls and women’s magazines and found several that seem to be doing a better job of creating reading imbued with faith than Muslim Girl is so far doing.

I ask the publishers of Muslim Girl to look at Azizah , al-Jumuah and Emel magazines for inspiration.

At this point, I would not let my daughter read Muslim Girl without reading the issue first and then may still have to set it aside. We do so much in our home to try to encourage good values and focus on meaningfulness (not to mention keep out conventional consumerist influences) that we would be stupid to serve up fluff (like the current Muslim Girl) to our daughters.

Insha’Allah, Muslim Girl will improve. I will keep watching.

My rating ****/****

Although I’m not it’s target audience - I’d say that this picture book’s intended demographic is toddlers (as a read-aloud book) to 6 year olds - I really enjoyed “My Mum is a Wonder” by Michele Messaoudi.

The story follows a young boy through a typical day with his mother; the wonderful Mum of the title. The tale is told in perky rhyme.

What I liked…

- Islam is seamlessly integrated into the boy’s day. There is no awkward exposition during which the author through the boy explains that the characters are Muslim. We see Islam in the mother’s modest dress, the fact that when the boy greets her in the morning she is reading Qur’an and I think,the author intends, through her kindness to her son and to the others around her. As such the book would make a good subtle introduction to Islam for a non-Muslim child.

- Mum and son are not the Western stereotype of Muslims. I’m generally on the look-out for books with brown and black characters, but in this case I found the way in which the family was portrayed (they are both fair - the boy has red hair), refreshing. By making this choice, without being too specific (we don’t know whether Mum is an English revert, Bosnian, Aydge, etc.) the author is letting the world and our kids know that Muslims come in all sorts of packages.

-The real appreciation that the little boy shows for his mother. The whole book is an ode to Mum. Insha’Allah the book can reinforce respect for parents in little readers and encourage them to appreciate what their parents do for them. Again, refreshing, given the sometimes subtle, sometimes not way in which so much of what is out there for children’s consumption undermines these values.

Finally, “My Mum is a Wonder” is well-written, fun to read and it’s illustrations are clear and cute. One for the library.

I’ll keep an eye out for other books by the same author.

**Note - “My Mum is a Wonder” is put out by The Islamic Foundation - UK, and as such uses British spelling and phrasings. As an American, I didn’t find this to be a problem at all - just letting you know.

English Translation of the Qur’an read by JD Hall

My rating: ****

JD Hall is an African-American actor, known as “The Voice” because of his extensive voice work. He is also a practicing Muslim and Imam. Here he has turned his attention and skills to reading an English translation of the Qur’an and the result is brilliant.

His voice is deep and resonant and unlike some translations I have listened to is used to great effect- expressing the emphasis and emotion for which the Qur’an calls.

I’m not sure which translation was used for this reading. However, it is a translation that uses modern, accessible language (no thous or thees here).

The translation is divided into 30 juz (a traditional division for Qur’an). This is my only issue with the translation since one surah comes pretty quickly after the next and it can be hard to figure out just which surah translation is being read. I find it easier listening when a translation or recitation is divided surah by surah - that way I don’t get lost. But maybe this way, insha’Allah, I’m forced to pay very close attention to what is being said.

I have not seen this translation for sale - but instead only for download on the Internet. You can find it at Aswat al Islam and at Islamicity.

JD Hall has also released a CD ‘Tawheed - The Oneness of God (Monotheistic Praise Songs Drawn from the Islamic, Jewish and Christian Tradition‘).

I found the message of the songs (lyrics) to be pretty squarely Islamic. The CD is heavy on percussion and synthesizer (I know that there are differing fatwa about whether this kind of audio is permissable) and features JD singing praises to God, describing Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and his mission, tauheed, etc. The sound is a kind of folksy-bluesy rock.

The CD was not really to my personal taste, but I think it’s a commendable effort. I especially liked “R.U.A Believer” and “It Grieves My Soul.”

All of the CDs tracks can be previewed and it is available for sale at CDBaby.com.

First posted on July 25, 2006.

My rating: ***/****

The series bills itself as an international adventure travel guide and features various young hosts traveling to different countries or regions of the world and meeting the locals and seeing the sights. No luxury hotels here.The hosts all travel as the locals do, often stay with local families and eat at local markets and eateries as well.

I think this is a great series if you are covering social studies or just want to travel with your child (withoutleaving your house). Beyond just seeing the sites or activities a country or region has to offer, each episode also includes a fair amount on its history and politics.

That said you do need to preview the episodes before watching them with your kids, because some of them do contain objectionable segments.

For example, a trip to Mexico City has the host sampling tequilas at a bar and another episode’s trip to the ‘Deep South’ shows the host getting liquored up at a beach party and with a savage hang-over the next day. In the episode on Turkey, the female host visits a hamam (Turkish bath) and we see her bare shoulders and legs as she lies on a slab to be receive her post-dip massage.

I did not find anything sketchy like that in the episodes on Central Asia, or Iran. But as I said, as with every DVD/video you show to the kids, you probably should watch it first.

My favorite Pilot Guide hosts are Ian Wright and Justine Shapiro.

Ian is a young Brit and as intrepid as they come. By his own admission, he has a stomach like tin and dives right into eating camel with Bedouin men in Jordan and digs into an entire sheep (including the eyeballs,which he is offered as an honored guest) in Kyrgystan. He seems willing to try just about any activity on offer and generally seems to connect well with the people he meets, even if there are language and cultural barriers.

Justine,who is American, is more reserved - this may just be her style, but I think it also reflects the differences between traveling as a male and being a female traveler. That said, she still manages to try many things that she and certainly the audience have probably not experienced before.

Both Justine and Ian seem to be respectful of the people they meet, their customs and circumstances.

I would avoid episodes hosted by Megan McCormick. To me she came off as too priviledged - too happy that the a huge stack of local money was worth only $1 USD - too willing to casually touch the men who were her guides [when as a viewer one knows that due to culture and differences in race and class they do not feel they have the same right]. I felt that she really fed right into the stereotype of the clueless, ugly N. American and squirmed in my seat as I watched. I think I cannot express my distaste for her attitude enough.

I’ve given Pilot Guides a mixed 3 and 4 star review because while many episodes are absolutely excellent there are some that contain non-halal segments, so I can’t give the series an across-the-board endorsement.

Pilot Guides/Globetrekker is widely syndicated (PBS, Discovery Channel, etc.), various clips can be downloaded from the site so that you can preview the show and episodes of the series bought at their online travel shop.

First posted in July 2006.