Art? What Art?

as of 22nd April 2021 we have about 16.3M new cases and a death toll of 187K . Only about 1.4% of the population has been fully vaccinated yet.

on top of that, we've been facing a major shortage in oxygen supply (to the point where the govt has decided to airlift oxygen from other nations), a shortage in hospital beds and services. The numbers keep rising and with the spread of the new strain, the scenario has transformed into something deadlier than ever.

our infrastructures are falling apart and we need all the help possible at this very moment so the nation can be atleast saved when there's still a chance. I've already lost two of my friends, a teacher and family to the second wave and I can only imagine how much worse it can get. so i would like to take this opportunity to link in some donation posts below–

> Here is Akshaya Patra's Covid-19 relief service— help provide meals and packed grocery to those in need

Getting the word out at this time of crisis matters.

CW: animal death

long story short, there’s legislation in the process of being passed that would

ban girls under 18 from wearing any form of religious head covering in public, and although it’s obviously aimed at muslim women, it would also affect other faith groups that practice similar forms of modest dress

ban islamic swimwear in schools and public (there is already a modest swimwear ban in place at public beaches, this just extends it)

ban mothers wearing hijab from entering schools or participating in school field trips or extra curriculars

ban the slaughter of halal poultry - the cheapest and most easily accessible form of meat protein for the muslim community

extend school hijab bans to universities

prevent muslim women from choosing healthcare providers based on gender (which many muslim women prefer to do, since many exams require removal of clothing, etc)

ban muslim parents from homeschooling

force halal markets to sell pork and alcohol or face closure

more information is coming out daily, and there are a few corrections and updates to note:

the modest swimwear ban, though it was overturned in 2016 for public beaches, will still affect public pools and schools

the halal ban is not technically a “ban”, but it is still expected to severely impact the industry in a way that could produce similar effects and make halal poultry less affordable and accessible to the communities that rely on it as an affordable staple.

the notion to extend the hijab ban to universities is not yet in effect or being introduced, but many fear it will be the next step

How can you help?

Here are some info posts on how to help. Sources will also be linked at the bottom:

Sources and tips:

source for the insta timeline

how you can help

how to be a better ally to muslim women

how to educate yourself and be an ally + organizations to reach out to

why you should not wear hijab in solidarity

A few tips; talk to muslim women instead of for them - learn about why some women choose to wear it while also learning about why some women choose not to - learn about what hijab means for women and men - don’t limit your support to a few posts, be active - educate yourself about how colonialism, racism, and orientalism plays into this

the hashtags #CantBanUs and #HandsOffMyHijab are trending, but they were created by and for muslim women. spread their stories and give them platform, but don’t occupy their space

Information is constantly changing, so if any fellow Muslims out there have some additional links, updated info, or tips, please feel free to add on

See, we have this concept called “bodily autonomy.” It’s this….cultural notion that a person’s control over their own body is above all important and must not be infringed upon. 

Like, we can’t even take LIFE SAVING organs from CORPSES unless the person whose corpse it is gave consent before their death. Even corpses get bodily autonomy. 

To tell people that they MUST sacrifice their bodily autonomy for 9 months against their will in an incredibly expensive, invasive, difficult process to save what YOU view as another human life (a debatable claim in the early stages of pregnancy when the VAST majority of abortions are performed) is desperately unethical. You can’t even ask people to sacrifice bodily autonomy to give up organs they aren’t using anymore after they have died. 

And here’s another point: When you say that “rape is the exception” you betray something FUNDAMENTALLY BROKEN about your own argument.

Because a fetus produced from sexual assault is biologically NO DIFFERENT than a fetus produced from consensual sex. No difference at all.

If one is alive, so is the other. If one is a person, so is the other. If one has a soul, then so does the other. If one is a little blessing that happened for a reason and must be protected, then so is the other. 

When you say that “Rape is the exception” what you betray is this: It isn’t about a life. This isn’t about the little soul sitting inside some person’s womb, because if it was you wouldn’t care about HOW it got there, only that it is a little life that needs protecting.

When you say “rape is the exception” what you say is this: You are treating pregnancy as a punishment. You are PUNISHING people who have had CONSENSUAL SEX but don’t want to go through a pregnancy. People who DARED to have consensual sex without the goal of procreation in mind, and this is their “consequence.”