The blog altmuslim is dedicated to advancing a progressive image of Muslims in the media and throughout the world, an objective shared by us here at Inside Islam. Founder and Editor-in-Chief Shahed Amanulla created the site after the September 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks in the US. His site still has the same aim now that it did then: to counteract the negative representation of Islam in mainstream media reports, where the dominant image is of terrorist groups like al-Qaeda. Seven years later, with associate editors based in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada, as well as contributors from around the world, altmuslim hosts a diverse Muslim community online. Shahed and his team continue to present an alternative image for Muslim politicians, intellectuals, comedians, and other prominent figures in the public eye.

From time to time, I’ll be pointing to similar blog sites that share this goal of offering alternative viewpoints from the mainstream perceptions of Muslims and Islam. Do you know of another blog that successfully represents the diversity of Muslim voices all over the world? Send suggestions for sites to highlight on Inside Islam or post your comments below. I look forward to taking a look at what you find.

Launched on International Women's Day, March 8th 2009, Altmuslimah.com provides a space for compelling comment on gender in Islam from both the male and female, Muslim and non-Muslim, perspectives. "Gender in Islam" has multiple dimensions and evokes a wide multitude of emotions: fear, confusion, defiance, love. Altmuslimah explores all of these dimensions and provides a platform for intra- and inter-community dialogue on a wide variety of gender-related issues. In particular, it looks at the intersection of female and male sexuality and gender identity with society, politics, economics, and culture.