Critical Muslim 27: Beauty

How do we identify and judge beauty? Does it distract us from more pressing questions? Is beauty the handmaiden of privilege? Or can it be found in everyday, ordinary things? Do Muslims have an inkling of what beauty is and why it is significant? This issue of Critical Muslim looks at beauty from a number of perspectives --from beauty in the Qur'an and the Beautiful Divine Names to racism and the beauty industry, politics of fashion, calligraphy, plastic surgery, female wrestling, Muslim beauty contests and the male and female gaze.