Women's magazine an original

Azizah may be the only women's magazine in America in which embroidered head scarves, gauzy wraps and flowing tunics take center stage in fashion spreads.

Created for the "contemporary Muslim woman," the glossy publication, partially produced in Seattle with headquarters in Atlanta, is a conversational mix of religion and profiles, family issues and home décor, fashion and health — the real-life stuff of real women.

With articles on the Sept. 11 backlash against Muslims, birth control and feminism, the quarterly doesn't shy from controversy.

"We talk about topics that may be considered taboo," said Jeanne Suleiman, a 36-year-old contributing editor who works from her home in Ballard. "Playing it safe doesn't make you think or challenge you."

Azizah doesn't play it safe, but it's deliberately nonconfrontational, said editor and publisher Tayyibah Taylor, former principal of the Islamic School of Seattle.

"I'm not into things that polarize people. We're letting the women make up their own minds."

Azizah is, after all, all about the minds of American Muslim women, in their owns words, on their own terms. The Arabic word means nobility, dearness and strength.

When Taylor started the magazine in late 2001, she wanted to give her sisters something of their own — a classy publication that reads like kitchen-table chat. Four issues later, it has a circulation of 5,000, selling at $8.50 per issue or $30 per annual subscription.

It has a handful of vendors nationwide and is the shelves of universities and libraries, including Seattle's Downtown Public Library. There are no retail vendors in Seattle, but three key staff members — Suleiman, another editor/writer and a graphic designer — live in the area and use e-mail to exchange work with Taylor, who now lives in Atlanta.

With a "cyberoffice" of writers from different backgrounds from around the country, the magazine reflects the kind of diversity that informed Taylor's own upbringing.

Born in Trinidad and raised in Toronto by parents from Barbados, she married an American and lived in Texas, Saudi Arabia and Seattle before settling in Atlanta. She chose Islam at 19, after being exposed to the religion in high school.

As a teen in the 1960s, she hungered for a publication that reflected her life.

"Growing up in Canada, I didn't see any reflections of people of color at all," she remembered. "The first time I saw a copy of Ebony magazine it really had a profound effect on me. Now when I stand back and see Muslim women pick up the magazine, I see the same experience mirrored."

It's tough for Muslim women, who can't wear a lot of the clothing shown in mainstream magazines because of religious rules regarding modesty, she said. Negative stereotypes pervade mass media, where the word "Islam" often accompanies "terrorism," and Muslim women are often portrayed as oppressed.

"It really has a profound effect on your psyche," Taylor said. "You really have this idea that she's ignorant and downtrodden."

Azizah's women are just the opposite. Profiles feature judges, scholars and elders, firewomen, businesswomen and mothers.

"Hopefully, a non-Muslim woman would be able to pick it up and say 'Muslim women are just like everybody else,' " Suleiman said.

The goal is to reflect Muslim women of all ethnicities, cultures and ages and discuss issues without being too political or preachy, Taylor said.

Some articles focus on practical topics, such as how to get out of debt, buy a home or get a degree online. Others tackle spiritual and scholarly topics in Islam from a female perspective.

The magazine, which has held receptions around the country, culls ideas from readers.

Its pages show women of every hue, some with their heads covered, some not. Some readers, who believe all Muslim women should cover their heads, complain, Taylor said. But, she said, people need to decide that issue for themselves.

"This magazine is 'not how to be a Muslim woman,' " she said. "It's a mirror." It may not be a how-to, but it's helpful for women Suleiman calls "new sisters."

About six years ago, she became a new sister after marrying an Islamic man.

"I think the benefit is the resources," she said. Women new to this country — some of whom might not leave the house — are helped by the magazine's ads, reference phone numbers and Web sites for Islamic clothing, products and services.

"It's a good mixture of light and substance," Taylor said.

"We're kind of trailblazing, presenting the Muslim woman from her point of view."

Paysha Stockton can be reached at (206) 464-2752 or pstockton@seattletimes.com.