Minnesota Muslim Women Speak Out

December 29, 2001

Source: Star Tribune

On December 29, 2001, The Star Tribune featured an article entitled "Faces of Islam" on Muslim women in Minnesota. "For some Twin Cities women, a search for spiritual fulfillment has led them to Islam. They gather weekly and find strength in their Halaqa, or Circle of Faith" a women's group that studies the Qur'an. "Most of the members are converts, but a few are Muslim-born. They all seek spiritual fulfillment in Islam... Women in the circle said the idea that every woman who wears a hijab, as the head scarf is commonly called, does so against her will or is somehow oppressed couldn't be more wrong. While they acknowledged that oppression exists in Muslim countries, they said it is caused by tyrannical governments, not by Islam... Wambold-Buraik, 45, [a former Portestant] told the group how in her 20s she used to spend an hour each morning fixing her hair and applying makeup before going to work. 'Your value in the office is not the work you did, but how well you looked,' she said. 'I think that's awfully oppressive.'"