Asra Q. Nomani
Encyclopedia
Asra Q Nomani is an Indian-American journalist, author, and feminist, known as an activist involved in the Muslim reform
and Islamic feminist
movements. She teaches journalism at Georgetown University
and is co-director of the Pearl Project, a faculty-student, investigative-reporting project into the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl
. The project is based at the Center for Public Integrity
.
She is the author of two books, Standing Alone in Mecca: An American Woman's Struggle for the Soul of Islam and Tantrika: Traveling the Road of Divine Love. She is also the author of numerous articles including "Islamic Bill of Rights for Women in the Bedroom", the "Islamic Bill of Rights for Women in the Mosque
", and "99 Precepts for Opening Hearts, Minds and Doors in the Muslim World".
Her work is the subject of a documentary, The Mosque in Morgantown, aired nationwide on PBS
as part of the series America at a Crossroads.
, and when she was 4 years old moved to the United States
with her older brother to join their parents in New Jersey
, where her father was earning a Ph.D. at Rutgers University
. When she was 10, her family moved to Morgantown
, West Virginia
. In her books Tantrika and Standing Alone in Mecca, she states she is descended from Indian Muslim scholar Mawlana Shibli Nomani
, known for writing a biography of Muhammad
. Nomani received her B.A. in Liberal Studies from West Virginia University
in 1986 and M.A. from American University
in International Communications in 1990.
, The New York Times
, Slate
, The American Prospect
, and Time
. She was a correspondent for Salon.com
in Pakistan after 9/11, and her work appears in numerous other publications, including People, Sports Illustrated for Women
, Cosmopolitan
, and Women's Health
. She has delivered commentary on National Public Radio
.
She was a visiting scholar at the Center for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University
. She was a Poynter Fellow at Yale University
.
Nomani is the founder and creator of the Muslim Women's Freedom Tour. She has also defied literalist interpretations of Islam that segregate women from men in prayers at mosques,
and was a lead organizer of the woman-led Muslim prayer in New York City on March 18, 2005, which has been described as "the first mixed-gender prayer on record led by a Muslim woman in 1,400 years." Various mixed-gender prayers have been led privately by a Muslim woman, including a 1997 funeral prayer led by a South African Muslim feminist Shamima Shaikh
. Nomani has said the prayer was the first publicly led Friday prayer in modern day history.
in West Virginia
to insist on the right to pray in the male-only main hall. Her effort brought front-page attention in a New York Times article entitled Muslim Women Seeking a Place in the Mosque. The article chronicled Nomani's "Rosa Parks-style activism."
Inspired by Michael Muhammad Knight
's punk novel The Taqwacores
, she organized the first public woman-led prayer of a mixed-gender congregation in the United States
, with Amina Wadud
leading the prayer. On that day, March 18, 2005, she stated:
In his book Blue-Eyed Devil (p. 209), Knight recalls the event as follows:
In separate developments, several major Muslim organizations in the United States, including the Council on American Islamic Relations and the Islamic Society of North America, issued their first substantive work aimed at affirming women's rights in mosques, publishing "Women-Friendly Mosques and Community Centers: Working Together to Reclaim Our Heritage." The booklet, written by long-time social activist Shahina Siddiqui
and Islamic Society of North America
president Ingrid Mattson
, was successfully distributed to mosques nationwide.
In addition to her books, she has expressed her experiences and ideas for reform in one New York Times editorial and in several other publications and broadcasts. She was a friend and colleague of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl
, who was staying with her in Karachi
with his wife Mariane Pearl when he was abducted and later murdered by Islamic militants in January 2002.
In the making of a movie of the book, A Mighty Heart, by Pearl's wife, the British actress Archie Panjabi plays the role of Nomani. The Washington Post published a review, by Nomani, of the film A Mighty Heart
. Nomani argued "...that Danny himself had been cut from his own story."
, author of Why I Am a Muslim: An American Odyssey, admires Asra Nomani:
Other critics similarly maintain that although they do not object to Nomani's views, they do have a problem with Nomani herself.
One such view is held by Louay Safi, executive director of the Islamic Society of North America's Leadership Development Center in Plainfield, Ind. He points out that many women were unhappy with the Morgantown mosque, not just Nomani. Unlike other women, however, Nomani wanted things to change overnight, says Safi. He describes Nomani as a "loner" who "doesn't have the experience of engaging the community, negotiating and trying to change things gradually."
Some critics charged that the prayer events were being staged to promote her book.
Nomani broke the news regarding Random House
's decision not to publish The Jewel of Medina
by Sherry Jones, a historical novel about Aisha
, wife of the Prophet Muhammad
. She expressed disappointment in Random House's decision.
Liberal movements within Islam
Progressive Muslims have produced a considerable body of liberal thought within Islam or "progressive Islam" ; but some consider progressive Islam and liberal Islam as two distinct movements)...
and Islamic feminist
Islamic feminism
Islamic feminism is a form of feminism concerned with the role of women in Islam. It aims for the full equality of all Muslims, regardless of gender, in public and private life. Islamic feminists advocate women's rights, gender equality, and social justice grounded in an Islamic framework...
movements. She teaches journalism at Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
and is co-director of the Pearl Project, a faculty-student, investigative-reporting project into the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl
Daniel Pearl
Daniel Pearl was an American journalist who was kidnapped and killed by Al-Qaeda.At the time of his kidnapping, Pearl served as the South Asia Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal, and was based in Mumbai, India. He went to Pakistan as part of an investigation into the alleged links between...
. The project is based at the Center for Public Integrity
Center for Public Integrity
The Center for Public Integrity is a nonprofit organization dedicated to producing original, responsible investigative journalism on issues of public concern. The Center is non-partisan and non-advocacy and committed to transparent and comprehensive reporting both in the United States and around...
.
She is the author of two books, Standing Alone in Mecca: An American Woman's Struggle for the Soul of Islam and Tantrika: Traveling the Road of Divine Love. She is also the author of numerous articles including "Islamic Bill of Rights for Women in the Bedroom", the "Islamic Bill of Rights for Women in the Mosque
Islamic Bill of Rights for Women in the Mosque
The Islamic Bill of Rights for Women in the Mosque is a list of rights for Islamic women in the mosque written by Muslim author and feminist Asra Nomani....
", and "99 Precepts for Opening Hearts, Minds and Doors in the Muslim World".
Her work is the subject of a documentary, The Mosque in Morgantown, aired nationwide on PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
as part of the series America at a Crossroads.
Personal life
Nomani was born in Bombay, IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, and when she was 4 years old moved to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
with her older brother to join their parents in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, where her father was earning a Ph.D. at Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
. When she was 10, her family moved to Morgantown
Morgantown, West Virginia
Morgantown is a city in Monongalia County, West Virginia. It is the county seat of Monongalia County. Placed along the banks of the Monongahela River, Morgantown is the largest city in North-Central West Virginia, and the base of the Morgantown metropolitan area...
, West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
. In her books Tantrika and Standing Alone in Mecca, she states she is descended from Indian Muslim scholar Mawlana Shibli Nomani
Shibli Nomani
Allamah Shibli Nomani was a respected scholar of Islam from Indian subcontinent during British Raj. He was born at Bindwal in Azamgarh district of present-day Uttar Pradesh. He is known for the founding the Shibli National College in 1883 and the Darul Mussanifin in Azamgarh...
, known for writing a biography of Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
. Nomani received her B.A. in Liberal Studies from West Virginia University
West Virginia University
West Virginia University is a public research university in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. Other campuses include: West Virginia University at Parkersburg in Parkersburg; West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Montgomery; Potomac State College of West Virginia University in Keyser;...
in 1986 and M.A. from American University
American University
American University is a private, Methodist, liberal arts, and research university in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on December 5, 1892 as "The American University", which was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on February 24, 1893...
in International Communications in 1990.
Career
Nomani is a former Wall Street Journal correspondent and has written for The Washington PostThe Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Slate
Slate (magazine)
Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
, The American Prospect
The American Prospect
The American Prospect is a monthly American political magazine dedicated to American liberalism. Based in Washington, DC, The American Prospect is a journal "of liberal ideas, committed to a just society, an enriched democracy, and effective liberal politics" which focuses on United States politics...
, and Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
. She was a correspondent for Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
in Pakistan after 9/11, and her work appears in numerous other publications, including People, Sports Illustrated for Women
Sports Illustrated for Women
Sports Illustrated Women and also known as SI Women, was a bimonthly sports magazine covering "the sports that women play and what they want to follow, from basketball to tennis, soccer to volleyball, field hockey to ice hockey and figure skating and more...
, Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
, and Women's Health
Women's Health (magazine)
Women's Health, published by Rodale in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, is a magazine focusing on health, nutrition, fitness, sex, and lifestyle. It's published 10 times a year in the United States and has a circulation of 1.5 million readers...
. She has delivered commentary on National Public Radio
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
.
She was a visiting scholar at the Center for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
. She was a Poynter Fellow at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
.
Nomani is the founder and creator of the Muslim Women's Freedom Tour. She has also defied literalist interpretations of Islam that segregate women from men in prayers at mosques,
and was a lead organizer of the woman-led Muslim prayer in New York City on March 18, 2005, which has been described as "the first mixed-gender prayer on record led by a Muslim woman in 1,400 years." Various mixed-gender prayers have been led privately by a Muslim woman, including a 1997 funeral prayer led by a South African Muslim feminist Shamima Shaikh
Shamima Shaikh
Shamima Shaikh was South Africa's best known Muslim women's rights activist, notable Islamic feminist and journalist.-Biography:...
. Nomani has said the prayer was the first publicly led Friday prayer in modern day history.
Influence
In November 2003, Nomani became the first woman in her mosqueMosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
in West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
to insist on the right to pray in the male-only main hall. Her effort brought front-page attention in a New York Times article entitled Muslim Women Seeking a Place in the Mosque. The article chronicled Nomani's "Rosa Parks-style activism."
Inspired by Michael Muhammad Knight
Michael Muhammad Knight
Michael Muhammad Knight is an American Muslim novelist, journalist, and performance artist. His writings are popular among American Muslim youth...
's punk novel The Taqwacores
The Taqwacores
Knight originally self-published The Taqwacores in DIY zine format, giving copies away for free until finding distribution with Alternative Tentacles, the punk record label founded by Jello Biafra. After receiving an endorsement from Peter Lamborn Wilson , the novel was published by radical press...
, she organized the first public woman-led prayer of a mixed-gender congregation in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, with Amina Wadud
Amina Wadud
Amina Wadud is an American scholar of Islam with a progressive focus on Qur'an exegesis . As an Islamic feminist, she has addressed mixed-sex congregations, giving a sermon in South Africa in 1994, and leading Friday prayers in the United States in 2005...
leading the prayer. On that day, March 18, 2005, she stated:
- "We are standing up for our rights as women in Islam. We will no longer accept the back door or the shadows, at the end of the day, we'll be leaders in the Muslim worldMuslim worldThe term Muslim world has several meanings. In a religious sense, it refers to those who adhere to the teachings of Islam, referred to as Muslims. In a cultural sense, it refers to Islamic civilization, inclusive of non-Muslims living in that civilization...
. We are ushering IslamIslamIslam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
into the 21st century, reclaiming the voice that the ProphetMuhammadMuhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
gave us 1400 years ago".
In his book Blue-Eyed Devil (p. 209), Knight recalls the event as follows:
- "Inside the chapel there might have been as many reporters and camera crews as there were praying Muslims. The imam of the day, Amina Wadud, was so distracted by the long rows of popping flash-bulbs that in the middle of the prayer she forgot her ayats. At PMU's first board meeting, Ahmed Nassef would read to us an email from Dr. Wadud that completely washed her hands of the event. Though she still believed in woman-led prayer, she wanted nothing to do with PMU or Asra Nomani. ... Wadud had drawn a clear line between the Truth and the media whores, and we knew that PMU was on the wrong side. To avoid public criticism, PMU's website made no mention of Asra's role in organizing the prayer. Asra complained of PMU shutting her out."
In separate developments, several major Muslim organizations in the United States, including the Council on American Islamic Relations and the Islamic Society of North America, issued their first substantive work aimed at affirming women's rights in mosques, publishing "Women-Friendly Mosques and Community Centers: Working Together to Reclaim Our Heritage." The booklet, written by long-time social activist Shahina Siddiqui
Shahina Siddiqui
Shahina Siddiqui is Executive Director of the Islamic Social Services Association Canada, which according to its brochure is "a charitable organization which works in collaboration with and integrated into mainstream human services to provide family, health and social welfare services, inclusive...
and Islamic Society of North America
Islamic Society of North America
The Islamic Society of North America , based in Plainfield, Indiana, USA, is a Muslim umbrella group. It has been described in the media as the largest Muslim organization in North America.-History:...
president Ingrid Mattson
Ingrid Mattson
Ingrid Mattson is a Canadian Muslim convert professor and activist and a former president of the Islamic Society of North America ....
, was successfully distributed to mosques nationwide.
In addition to her books, she has expressed her experiences and ideas for reform in one New York Times editorial and in several other publications and broadcasts. She was a friend and colleague of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl
Daniel Pearl
Daniel Pearl was an American journalist who was kidnapped and killed by Al-Qaeda.At the time of his kidnapping, Pearl served as the South Asia Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal, and was based in Mumbai, India. He went to Pakistan as part of an investigation into the alleged links between...
, who was staying with her in Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
with his wife Mariane Pearl when he was abducted and later murdered by Islamic militants in January 2002.
In the making of a movie of the book, A Mighty Heart, by Pearl's wife, the British actress Archie Panjabi plays the role of Nomani. The Washington Post published a review, by Nomani, of the film A Mighty Heart
A Mighty Heart
A Mighty Heart is a memoir by Mariane Pearl, the widow of the slain American journalist Daniel Pearl.The book has been reviewed by, among others, The Christian Science Monitor, the Chicago Sun-Times, The Spectator and The New York Review of Books.A Mighty Heart has been made into a film, A Mighty...
. Nomani argued "...that Danny himself had been cut from his own story."
Criticism
The Pakistani-American lawyer Asma Gull HasanAsma Gull Hasan
Asma Gull Hasan is a Pakistani-American award-winning writer. Her work includes the book Red, White, and Muslim, a biographical view of growing up as an American Muslim...
, author of Why I Am a Muslim: An American Odyssey, admires Asra Nomani:
Other critics similarly maintain that although they do not object to Nomani's views, they do have a problem with Nomani herself.
One such view is held by Louay Safi, executive director of the Islamic Society of North America's Leadership Development Center in Plainfield, Ind. He points out that many women were unhappy with the Morgantown mosque, not just Nomani. Unlike other women, however, Nomani wanted things to change overnight, says Safi. He describes Nomani as a "loner" who "doesn't have the experience of engaging the community, negotiating and trying to change things gradually."
Some critics charged that the prayer events were being staged to promote her book.
Nomani broke the news regarding Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
's decision not to publish The Jewel of Medina
The Jewel of Medina
The Jewel of Medina is a historical novel by Sherry Jones. It was scheduled for publication by Random House in 2008, but subsequently canceled; it was subsequently announced that it would be published by Beaufort Books in the United States and by Gibson Square in the United Kingdom and the...
by Sherry Jones, a historical novel about Aisha
Aisha
Aisha bint Abu Bakr also transcribed as was Muhammad's favorite wife...
, wife of the Prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
. She expressed disappointment in Random House's decision.
Books
- Standing Alone in Mecca: An American Woman's Struggle for the Soul of Islam. ISBN 0-06-057144-6
- Tantrika: Traveling the Road of Divine Love. ISBN 0-06-251714-7
Articles
- Marie Claire: Project Pearl: The Bravest Class in Town
- Washington Post: A Gender Jihad For Islam's Future
- Washington Post:The Woman Who Went To the Front of the Mosque
- Sojourner magazine: The Islamic Reformation has begun
- Slate magazine: How retailers are marketing to fashion-conscious Muslim women
- Daily News: My answered prayers
- American Prospect Magazine: Pulpit Bullies
- Sojourner magazine: Struggle for the soul of Islam
- New York Times: Hate at the local mosque
- Washington Post: Rebel in the mosque
- Brandeis University Article on Asra Nomani Includes Photos
- "Playboy's Muslim Cover Girl: Is Sıla ŞahinSıla ŞahinSıla Şahin is a Turkish-German actress, best known for her portrayal of Ayla Özgül in the German soap opera Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten.- German Playboy :...
Good for Women?", The Daily BeastThe Daily BeastThe Daily Beast is an American news reporting and opinion website founded and published by Tina Brown, former editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker as well as the short-lived Talk Magazine. The Daily Beast was launched on October 6, 2008, and is owned by IAC...
, May 1, 2011 8:36pm. Relating to awrahAwrahAwrah or Awrat is a term used within Islam which denotes the intimate parts of the body, for both men and women, which must be covered with clothing. Exposing the awrah is unlawful in Islam and is regarded as sin...
.
Anthologies
- Living Islam Out Loud
- Because I Said So, ISBN 0060598786
Monograph
- Milestones for a Spiritual Jihad: Toward an Islam of Grace; referenced in author bio of May 2011, Daily Beast article.
External links
- America at a Crossroads: The Mosque In Morgantown - PBS documentary
- Asra Nomani on The Young Turks Show.
- Asra Q. Nomani's website
- "A Pilgrim's Progress" by Leila AhmedLeila AhmedLeila Ahmed is an Egyptian American writer on Islam and Islamic feminism as well as being the first women's studies professor at Harvard Divinity School.- Background :...
, The Washington PostThe Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, May 1, 2005 - Muslim women take bold steps for role in Islam by Teresa Watanabe, The Detroit NewsThe Detroit NewsThe Detroit News is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. The paper began in 1873, when it rented space in the rival Free Press's building. The News absorbed the Detroit Tribune on February 1, 1919, the Detroit Journal on July 21, 1922, and on November 7, 1960,...
, 10 July 2005. (Photo caption: "Azmeralda Alfi unsuccessfully attempts to make Asra Nomani move to the women's area of a Los Angeles mosque.") - Review of "Standing Alone in Mecca" on Sawnet
- La Cueva de Zaratustra Essay by Eugenio Gallego about Standing Alone in Mecca. In SpanishSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
. - Excommunication From the Mosque? Article by Asra Nomani's father, Zafar Nomani, on 'BeliefnetBeliefnetBeliefnet is a large multi-faith e-community that aims to provide a free forum for religious information and inspiration, spiritual tools, and discussions and dialogue groups. Beliefnet provides information about various religious and spiritual beliefs, ranging from Christian denominations to...
. - Siddique, Sadaf. "With Faith in Her Heart." HyphenHyphen (magazine)Hyphen is an American magazine, produced three times a year by a volunteer staff; it is a not-for-profit organization. It was founded in 2002 by a group of San Francisco Bay Area journalists, activists, and artists including Melissa Hung, a former reporter for the Houston Press and East Bay...
11, Spring 2007. - Interview with Asra Nomani:'Gender Jihad' in the Service of Women's Rights.