U.S. Respects Religious Diversity, Muslim Publisher Says
Azizah magazine reflects experiences of Muslim women in America
By Louise Fenner
Staff Writer
Washington – Muslim women living in the United States are finding that religious and cultural differences are tolerated and respected widely, says Tayyibah Taylor, the editor of Azizah magazine, a glossy quarterly written by and for Muslim women in North America.
"I think America is the most religiously diverse country in the world," said Taylor, who was born in Trinidad of Barbadian parents. "You learn how to get along with people who are very different from you. Your differences don't really become an issue."
Speaking during a State Department-sponsored webchat April 23, Taylor said Muslim women are "well-integrated into the workplace" and are "in every professional field, engineering, medicine, business." Many have been profiled in the magazine, she noted.
"Usually there is no problem in terms of the way you dress or stopping to pray or any small issues like that," she said. More and more Americans "are getting used to seeing Muslim women in hijabs (traditional headscarfs)." Some Muslim women in America don't wear the hijab, and that is part of the freedom they have, Taylor said.
Compared with a Muslim majority country, it becomes "a definite conscious choice" to practice one's Muslim faith in America, she said, "so actually what happens is that your faith can become stronger, and your practice can become more conscious."
Taylor said she feels that "Muslims in America are really in a very privileged position." America has a legacy of freedom of speech and movement and support for critical thinking -- things that "are not always present in all Muslim majority countries," she said. "And you have Islamic legacy of spiritual agency, and autonomy, intellectual autonomy, and the combination really goes to enhance your spiritual potential."
During the webchat, 47 people from 15 countries asked questions about the magazine and life in America for Muslim women.
Taylor, who published the first issue of Azizah in 2000, told webchat participants that she wanted to create "a place where people can hear the voice of Muslim women, without filters." All articles are written by Muslim women, she said.
"It shatters misconceptions about Muslim women, both inside and outside the Muslim community," she said. Often when Muslim women read Azizah for the first time "it is usually their first experience of seeing positive images and stories of Muslim women."
She pointed out that violations of women's rights often stem from cultural practices "and not Islam itself. So helping to kind of differentiate between culture and religion also is a way that we help to undo those misconceptions."
"By depicting women who are living a full life, without compromising Islam, we're really showing that Muslim women have autonomy, and have full human rights," Taylor said.
The magazine depicts "all kinds of Muslim women, not just one ethnic group or one school of thought," she said. Its name was chosen because "Azizah" is a common name throughout the Muslim world, and "we wanted to use that as a statement of diversity in Islam."
Americans sometimes ask Muslim women why they wear the hijab, Taylor said, but "usually it is a very friendly conversation out of curiosity, [they're] being inquisitive." This doesn't happen often, because everybody is usually busy with their own concerns, but when it does "you have an opportunity to explain who you are and what your beliefs are."
"When you can speak freely about who you are," she said, "I think it brings a sense of empowerment."
Taylor recently participated in a U.S. Department of State traveling speaker program in which she spoke of her experiences as a Muslim woman in America to audiences in Thailand, Malaysia and Pakistan.
A transcript of Taylor's webchat and information on upcoming webchats are available on USINFO's Webchat Station. Information about Azizah magazine is available on its Web site.
See also "Muslim Women in America a Diverse Group, Scholar Says"
http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2007/April/20070424163443xlrennef8.787173e-02.html
America.gov - Telling America's Story
Most U.S. Muslims Hold Moderate Political Views, Survey Finds
www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2007/May/200705231337351CJsamohT0.8263666.html - Similar pages - Note this
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