Away

It’s that time again, dear readers – I’m disappearing yet again! Though I’m far from happy to say that; writing conditions here have not been conducive or ideal. So there have been fewer posts this month and Cycads is starting gather cobwebs. A new, temporary research job at University of Malaya has taken up much of my time. And now, I’m packing up for a month-long break around the peninsular and Yogyakarta for traces of my pre-Islamic roots.

I will not be writing in July and it saddens me a great deal to miss out on opportunities to engage in so many pressing issues concerning us Muslim women right now. Let us pray and hope that the protesters in Iran get their justice and peace, that Sisters In Islam win their battle against those who jealously guard their authority to speak for Muslims, and that Muslim women in France be given a platform to speak for their right to wear what they want. The position of patriarchal power is never secure and it re-asserts itself by oppressing the most vulnerable in society – the young and female, the economically, racially, and sexually marginalised – the unrepresented in “official” power. Don’t people who walk the corridors of power have better things to do, like serving the people, for example?