The Muslim Woman

Sound of thumping feet, the warming up sessions, dust flying into the air as members of a team pace round and round, followed by a ‘ritual’ of wearing boxing gloves, targeting punch bags. Doesn’t it seem as if some squad is preparing for a league of boxing? But wait there’s a bit alternation in here, women constitute ‘the team’ and astonishing part in the whole scenario is that, the place is Afghanistan. Astonishment yes! Nation where women are not allowed to take a single step without seeking permission are preparing themselves for such kind of situation indeed is a matter of bewilderment. Fraternity of new generation is fully equipped to explode the stereotypical notion of Afghan women, who were regarded nothing more than ‘shadowy figures’ concealed from head to foot behind powder-blue burqas. The fitness center, where these women are having this workout is in fact situated in a football stadium, which was quite a ‘fame’ during the Taliban years, as it was a place especially demarcated for carrying out public executions, including women. Idea behind such sessions is to give native women the much desired respect and to retrieve boxing as a sport in the strife torn country by making martial arts constructive than destructive, personifying it as ‘fighting for peace’. The boxers are in their late teens upon asking, one of them said that from recreational point of view, they are into it while there are others who want to take it as their lifelong profession. People who are working behind the scene are expecting to unite the Province which has been disintegrated by the ongoing conflict that keeps the nation ‘occupied’ in its own way. If you get involved in sport then you stay out of war. In the past there was war between different peoples in Afghanistan, but a sport like boxing brings people together. It’s not fighting. It’s a competition. It’s good to hear that women too are showing a positive response by indulging themselves in such sports. It’ll be instrumental in taking away the element of shyness from them making them more assertive and authoritative which they actually need in reality. Only then they may fight against the ‘jungle rule’ of male chauvinistic society. Go on ladies! Via: BBC

Girls of Muslim community are trying to surface from their shell of chauvinistic written laws, which actually is a good move. It seems they have finally realized their inner strength is the only tool that may redeem them from the tentacles of suppression. After creating history in Afghanistan by taking part in boxing, women are trying their best to bring laurels. Here, I am talking about Roxana Razeghian, Shadi Kalantar and Kimya Vaezi, the three teenage girls from Iran. Their zeal to do something really paid them good returns and the credit goes to Katayoon Ashraff, who acted as a catalyst in churning out their hidden potential. The teenagers are optimistic regarding their move into the world junior kayak event after toiling hard on the American whitewater slalom courses. They along with their coach are hopeful to win Iran government support for their dream despite possible fundamentalist objections. They will agree. I am sure they will. I can solve these problems, I am sure. I am not afraid. Who knows what is in front of a stone when you are paddling in the water? This sport promotes getting beyond obstacles. That transcends to the heart. articulates Ashraff. He further added that the sport has been an instrumental factor in extricating the element of shyness from the girls and making them more comfortable to tread along the winning path. The girls have even made Matt Taylor, director of the $24 million Adventure Sports Center and a two-time US canoe Olympian, wonder at their enthusiasm and devotion. Best of luck girls! Via: Taipei Times

Women might be narcissist, yet they can be a venomous threat if circumstances call for it. This is the latest news that has shaken the powered task forces in many parts of the world. Unlike the stereotyped perception that a woman in the Muslim community only has to bear a child and groom him till he follows the foot-steps of the other male members of the family, you are greatly mistaken. Woman today in the war-prone Muslim nations are equally picking up arms in battling the enemy forces if reports splashed over by the media giants are to be believed. In a recent attack, that took place in July this year, which was not anticipated by the Iraqi policemen at the check post in Ramadi, a woman came forward and the last thing the onlookers could locate was there was a thundering sound and then it was all bones and flesh flying in the air. This is not the first of its kind blood-drenched attack that had occurred in the history so far. Since the year 2001, the women power in the Islamist militant forces are fast catching up and the world has to accept the fact that Muslim women are no longer hiding behind the veil but becoming a menacing threat to the society as a whole. No offence intended when I said that Muslim women suicide bombers are the new astounding phenomenal danger making their identity strong on the global arena. Upfront, the only thing, which is getting clear, is that, even honchos like Egyptian scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi agreed that when it is a threat on the Muslim community as a whole, no one remains unmoved by the perennial existential danger. This results in the woman force taking up guns in their hands and fighting for their identity and community united with their male counterparts. Lately even the staunch thumb rules of the al – Qaeda group have undergone a reformative change. Taking a step ahead, they are now ardently urging the women folk to serve martyrdom for the sake of Jihad. The ratios of women fighters are apparently bigger in size in the west, due to their attitude for gender equality. Though research says that the number of women led attacks is lesser than that of the men, however the fact remains that they are actively involved in managing things such as website, finances, logistics and many other multi-tasking. The modus operandi that they have taken towards Jihad is still undercover, but it does not take a year for a dormant volcano to erupt randomly and this complicated issue is one important thing amongst many others, which the global leaders definitely have to take into account. Image Courtesy Via: Washingtonpost

“The real ornament of woman is her character, her purity”, said Mohandas Gandhi. When we come to think of sex trade-we usually end up thinking it as a trade which women follow as a shortcut to wealth and other means. However, the women of Iraq have a different tale to tell. After the invasion of U.S., many of the women have lost their husbands in war and others live in a threat of loosing every second. They never know when they’ll become a widow. Their lives don’t have any sense of security, personally or economically. Also, after the invasion jobs for women have decreased and thus, forcing them to either do menial jobs. Where some of them are lucky enough to score on a good job, some take to menial jobs and the rest have to get into sex trade to earn a living either for themselves or their families. One such tale is of Rana Jalil, a woman aged 38 who lost her husband last year in an explosion in Baghdad. A mother of four was on a breakdown when she got no job. Her children were diagnosed with malnutrition and she had no one to look up to. With a heavy heart she decided, what any mother would have in such a situation, to save her children. Recalling the day, she says, In the beginning these were the worst days in my life. My husband was the first man I met and slept with, but I didn’t have another option … my children were starving. I’m a nice-looking woman and it wasn’t difficult to find a client. When we got to the bed I tried to run away … I just couldn’t do it, but he hit and raped me. When he paid me afterwards, it was finished for me. When I came home with some food I had bought from that money and saw my children screaming of happiness, I discovered that honour is insignificant compared to the hunger of my children. The lady, once a respected woman, now lives a life of a prostitute. What else she could have done? Before the invasion, women who became widows due to the war were given allowances to carry on their lives but no such provisions exist now. They have a few options to go for, including prostitution or another marriage, how devastating it might be. As per OWFI, an NGO, the conditions have worsened and women are facing the trouble. Since 2003, around 4000 women have disappeared, among them 20% are under eighteen. The cause of disappearance of women can be well asserted too. People are living under such misery that they are not left with any other option then to sell their daughters or force them into prostitution. For money, the families marry them for wealth into such families or to such men, to whom the word ‘marriage’ just means a way to possess women and use them, either themselves or within the market. Shada, an alias of a woman living in Baghdad is trying her best to sought women from prostitution and convince them to lead better lives. If we come to think of it, we don’t have the answer to the question, ‘whom to blame?’ yet. Even I have only one question to ask, for whose fault are the people of Bhagdad suffering and till when, will the suffering continue? It seems that they are more sinned against the sin. Source: Aljazeera

Two women were forced to part with their heads, you read it right, I’m talking about heads! They were beheaded after getting a tag of prostitution; Islamic militants in Pakistan reprimanded the Taliban- style justice to the vulnerable women. Gunmen kidnapped the women when they were traveling in a three- wheeled vehicle and later dumped them at the outskirts of the conservative town of Bannu. A note has been recovered from the dead bodies which insinuate the monopoly initiated by the militants; it (the note) says that the victims’ involvement in prostitution has made them land at such an atrocious fate and cautioned others to meet the same end if they would try to support prostitution. District police officer Dar Ali Khattak said, it is the first ever murder case where women were beheaded by suspected militants. Well, it ‘may be’ the first such case of murder but one thing is for sure, this incident will too get buried under the dark intentional crimes, committed against women, which are common in Islamic world. Image: Yahoo News Via: BBC