First off, Mahsa Amini’s death should not be in vain and the protests by Iranian women, men, and especially the school girls is nothing short of inspiring. Dictators should recognize, the use of religion with an outfit such as the moral police to oppress the population will eventually backfire. |
For those of you who have been following MPV from our inception 15 years ago to today, we have reached a milestone. We are seeing more and more traditional religious leaders and institutions pivoting toward a more gender equal prism in how they are positioning themselves. For some of these leaders, especially those who are sitting in the U.N. circles, it is simply a politically strategic positioning, but for others, especially in our #ImamsForShe networks, and there are now 541 of them, their daily engagement and promotion of women and girls’ rights are genuine and sometimes risky “business”.
To highlight the work of our #ImamsForShe, I am happy to share with you about our contribution to Islam in Practise, a project led by Al-Azhar University, Muhammadiyah (a large Indonesian organization) and Faith to Action Network to produce a new publication, a compilation of writings on Women’s Rights in Islam. The aim is to enable access to knowledge on how Muslim faith actors promote women’s rights in practice. Its purpose is to support faith actors to ensure consistency between Muslim theology and practice by facilitating dialogues and scripture clarification. I invite you to watch me present my paper, and that of three others here.
This month of November is filled with international travels starting with the International Partnership on Religion and Sustainable Development (PaRD) annual conference in Bali, a multilateral umbrella organization we’ve been a member of for five years, the 9th Global Conference of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations in Fez, Morocco and the 2nd Women Ulama Conference in Indonesia. What I will say about attending these in-person conferences is that nothing can replace that face-to-face connection.
Onward and upward… Ani Zonneveld
Founder, President |
Check out our new store featuring our new Queer Muslim and Progressive Muslim stickers. For national and chapter events, check our calendar here.
Read our statement on CAIR-Michigan’s anti-LGBTQ pamphlet distributed at a school board meeting in Michigan early last month. |
We are pleased to announce the release of our latest toolkit, Freedom of Religion and Belief in Islam, inspired by our September event in Washington DC, Addressing Apostasy and Blasphemy Laws in Muslim Societies. The toolkit seeks to educate individuals on the compatibility of religious freedom and Islamic teachings and jurisprudence, and empower individuals to advocate for religious freedom within their community and the larger world. We invite you to download the full toolkit from our website. |
Progressive Islam In Practice |
At MPV we recognize that the Progressive Muslim movement will never sustain significant growth without making information about Progressive Islam more accessible to the Muslim community. The Progressive Islam in Practice Series is a manifestation of this campaign and as a result, we’ve helped to educate the community on topics from feminist readings of the Qur’an, abortion rights in Islam, issues of child and forced marriages, to the acceptance of sexual diversity in Islam.
In addition to sharing the series on social media, we have built up an entire page on the website dedicated to the Progressive Islam in Practice Series entitled Quick Learns.
In honor of an exciting upcoming announcement, we want to reintroduce you to the #ImamsForShe program, an MPV initiative inspired by the United Nations #HeForShe initiative. If you are interested in learning more about the #ImamsForShe initiative, which takes place in Burundi, Rwanda, and the DRC, we encourage you to visit our website today.
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If you appreciate the work that we do, please consider making a donation to ensure that Muslims for Progressive Values can continue to promote progressive Islamic values today and everyday! |
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