The Muslim Woman

Dr. Heba Kotb is a conservative Muslim, who has crossed the bounds of the chauvinistic Muslim society in her famous soap opera, Big Talk, where she candidly talks about the issues related to sex. Though its just been two months but the show on the independent Egyptian satellite channel El-Mehwar is really rocking the region. And out of the ordinary part is that she discusses about the matter in society where it has been forbidden by the community. However, she talks about sex in an Islamic light, postulating that the faith is in favor of pleasure for both men and women provided they are connubial. In an interview at Cairo University, Dr. Kotb said, ‘I’m very proud of my religion. My studies revealed to me more and more how Islam was ahead in all sexual matters . . . I discovered that Islam understood sex long before the rest of the world’. Her outspokenness is really hitting the streets of a community where male and female interaction is discouraged and where perpetual myths are allowed to cultivate profusely. Dr. Kotb, 39 and married with 3 daughters, she studied sexology with Maimonides University, a private school in Florida, and combined it with her own knowledge of her religion to produce a thesis on Sexuality in Islam. During her discussions, she lays down the biological facts regarding sexual positions, female orgasm, oral sex even masturbation (frowned upon but at least preferable to unmarried or adulterous sex, which is haram, meaning banned by religion). However, she personifies homosexuality as a disease. Disapproval among people: Some of the people are not in favor of Heba’s chat show. Somia, a housewife, says, ‘So now girls and boys have heard all about Heba’s talk about sex . . . that will let them know more than they should and will get them excited’. Mona Helmi, a feminist writer asserts, ‘After Islamic banks, Islamic fashion, Islamic TV channels, Islamic hairdressers, Islamic swimsuits, Islamic writers — now Islamic sex? This is too much’. Dr. Kotb rebuts the statements by saying that 80% divorce cases in the Arab world is due to sexual problems, which is the outcome of ignorance. Thus, the problem could only be averted by the power of knowledge. Image Read

After the proposal of ban on burqa, more than a dozen women remonstrated outside the Dutch parliament. They wore a niqab, long robes and veils that expose only their eyes. Ayse Bayrak, protest organizer said, ‘We live in a free country and the government cannot tell us what to do with our religion. We don’t live in a dictatorship. We don’t live under the Taliban, which oppresses women’. Hardline Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk is trying to stop the legislation banning the burqa and other clothes that cover the face in public places. However, its not clear whether the new coalition government will accept the views of Verdonk’s Liberal Party or not. There are clear signs of a shifting away from the Netherlands’ traditional spirit of tolerance as the country struggles with how to incorporate the mounting immigrant population. Out of 16 m people in Dutch, nearly 6% are Muslim. Image Read

A gruesome incident, which led to the death of a teen in north of Iraq created a widespread condemnation. It was able to gather attention of international media because of the footage. Now authorities in the region have detained four people with regard to the inhuman deed of honor killing. It’s terribly distressing that the victim’s male family members murdered her. But not only that, a mob of men viewed this whole event as if it were entertainment, this is even more disgusting! The case portrays the tragedy and brutality of honor killings in the Muslim world. Honor killings take place when family members kill relatives, almost always female, because they feel the relatives’ actions have shamed the family. And in here, the killing has been done in the name of religion by ‘stoning till death’. Death by stoning is slow and painful. Islamic code prescribes that ‘the stone should not be so big as to kill the offender with one or two stones’ and ‘nor should it be as small as pebbles’. Two of the four arrested are members of the victim’s family, police in Nineveh province said Thursday. Four others, including a cousin thought to have instigated the killing, are being sought. The Kurdistan government, who originally did nothing in reaction to this event, have now stated – after their dirty little secrets were exposed to the world via the internet – that these men will be punished. Hmm… we’ll see! Read

He was brainwashed, otherwise he was a very good human being, this is what Hasina Patel, the widower of the gang leader of the July 7 suicide bombings thinks about her husband. I pray for him because I feel there was a good person in there but feel he was probably misled and brainwashed by the wrong people said she. Although, she’s full of sympathy with the bomb victims yet she denies her ‘shauhar’, Mohammad Sidique Khan, to be in league with the evil perpetrators. She divulged that he had stocked up more than $800 to buy toys for their ‘children’ not knowing that the second and the expected one underwent miscarriage on the morning of the bombings. Musing over to the harrowing day of London bombings, she disclosed how she developed certain apprehensions about her second child (who was still in the womb). She ran from pillar to post, tried all her means to contact her husband, left numerous messages but all was in vain, finally, when she reached home (from hospital) she witnessed the aftermath of blasts which were flashing onto the television screens. Reminiscing her past she said they had love marriage and were sharing good days together but as time passed, he became more interested in religious fundamentalism and then active jihad. Being a radical Muslim, she never dared to question her husband, her master. She mentioned his staying out of house for long hours. But she insisted that she had no idea regarding his involvement with the extremists. And hence it was difficult of her to believe his chipping in the bombings. In an interview with Sky news, she said that in spite of being his wife, she fails to understand why her husband blew himself up aboard. she said, How you can be so calculated and cold and not have any emotions, how can people do that? She feels that she had lost her identity and would always be associated with the bombings. Image

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

Sharon Chadha has written for various publications, including RUSI Journal, the publication of the Royal United Services Institute, the world’s oldest security and defense think tank in London; RFE/RL Newsline, a publication produced by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Frontpagemag.com and the Middle East Quarterly. Her book, Jihad and International Security, has been instrumental in gaining her a prominent position, which she wrote in collaboration with Jalil Roshandel. In a recent e-mail interview with us, she disclosed the intricacies which led her to write for the Muslim world, so people whip yourself as I led you to the roller coaster ride of Sharon’s interview, 1. My first question is who is Sharon Chadha in flesh and blood? Sharon: I’m American who is married to an Indian. 2. What inspired you to write on Muslim world? Sharon: In 1999-2000, I tried to write a book about what life was like in Saudi Arabia for women. This was the first time I ever really thought about the Muslim world. After 9/11, I guess you could say events transpired to make what might have been a passing interest a source of endless fascination. 3. Sharon, would you please give us a brief synopsis regarding Jihad and International Security? Sharon: It is basically a primer on the modern jihad movement – where it came from, who fights it and how, who funds it, and what governments have done to counter it. 4. If you could sit on the shoulders of readers and reviewers, how would you tell them to regard your work? Sharon: What sets our book apart, I think, is that we confined ourselves to showing how jihadists see the world, and on the other side, to how governments try to counter the jihad movement. We don’t burden the reader with our opinions or politics. While we intended it to be an introduction, policy and security professionals have said they found it useful as well. 5. How far do you support America’s stand against terrorism in Iraq? Sharon: American policy in Iraq or anywhere else for that matter is too complex to take a blanket stand for or against it. I will say that I think America benefits from having its policies continuously debated and scrutinized. No other country has this advantage. 6. We’d like to have your opinion on ‘Islamophobia’? Sharon: I think it’s a worrisome affliction and directly traceable to jihadism. Prior to 9/11, who in the modern West ever worried about Islam? The jihadists have succeeded in casting suspicion on an entire religion, a substantial percentage of the world’s population, and centuries of Islamic history, in addition to all the widows and orphans they have created. It is unfortunate that Muslims who don’t terrorize people can’t command headlines. But that’s the way the media operates, if it bleeds it leads. 7. What according to you is the interpretation of Islam as postulated by al Qaeda? Sharon: I think Al Qaeda – and its imitators – are basically mass murderers masquerading as Muslims. Sure they construct fatwas to try and justify their despicable actions, but I find their interpretation of Islam to be, well, twisted. Look how Bin Laden perverts the concept of democracy. In his view, citizens who can hold their governments accountable at the ballot box can also be threatened with massive destruction and killing if they don’t elect the leaders he approves of. As I said, his logic is perverse. 8. What do you think, future holds for Taliban? Sharon: I can’t account for the Taliban’s excessive brutality but for some reason I cling to this idea that they are more ignorant than despicable – the inverse of how I feel about Al Qaeda, who I feel are more despicable than ignorant. I do acknowledge that this is probably just wishful thinking on my part. 9. What are your other interests? How are you able to snatch out time for other things? I would appreciate if you can share your working and lifestyle with us. Sharon: Well, I have the responsibilities that you would expect of a dutiful Indian daughter-in-law. Because my children are past the age of really needing me, however, I can’t say I’m really bogged down on the home front. I travel quite a bit to India these days as my husband has a lot of business there. I think I’ve been to India four times in the past year alone. Then I was just there in August and expect to back in October. 10. Where do you see yourself after five years? I mean, any dreams, or plans for the coming future? Sharon: I hope I write another book, a novel. It’s taken me years to get to a place where I could afford to write and I don’t want to blow the opportunity. 11. Any parting words of wisdom, you’d like to leave for our readers? Sharon: Be someone people can rely on. 12. Finally, we would like to have your thoughts on the Instablogs News Network and all its related sites. Which one is your favorite? Sharon: Well yours of course, Pooja! [Yes I knew it ] Quick bits: 1. What is the best/worst feeling in the world? Sharon: Feeling connected – perhaps because I’ve never been hungry or sick I suppose. 2. If you had to walk in another person’s shoes for a day, it would have to be? Sharon: On Tuesday, the sixth anniversary of 9/11, I got to thinking what if I could have been Ziad Jarrah, one of the hijackers? What if I had been him that day and instead of listening to a bunch of serial killers in Afghanistan I had found the courage to heed my own conscience? How many people would still be alive had I been able to walk in his shoes that day? Or had Ziad Jarrah been able to walk in the shoes of any of the thousands of victims he created? 3. If you could choose to make a dream come true, it would be? Sharon: I’d like to go to the Fesitval of the Desert in Mali and to Swat Valley in Pakistan, areas I have discovered tracking jihad – these are places where Al Qaeda is suspected to be hiding. I do think I’ll wait, however, until the jihad movement is over as another dream is to live long enough to see my kids get married, have kids, and even see their kids have kids too. I’d like to be a great grandmother one day, though an able-bodied one! 4. What is your favorite word or phrase? Sharon: Fantabulous – yes, I know, very corny but I like to be effusive. 5. Who is the most important person in your life? Sharon: My husband. 6. What would you like to accomplish in life that you haven’t yet? Sharon: Well, because I don’t think I can eradicate world poverty or reverse global warming, I’d be happy to learn a new language. Wow! This certainly is an amazing interview, thank you Sharon for sparing out time in doing a rendezvous, with us, it is greatly appreciated; also, I’d like to wish you success for all your future endeavors

As a non Muslim person, I had to do some research when asked to answer this question. This is rather like asking, “Are Jews cool with pork?” Every religion has its extremists, who take what is written as the iron clad law of the land. And every religion has the very relaxed set, who can forgive very nearly anything, especially if there was no disrespect intended. So I went online and asked a scholar if jewelry is appropriate. This turned into a complicated yes and no explanation. In fact, it is almost a dialogue between a person and their own faith. It’s really quite fascinating to attempt to understand the reasoning behind these beliefs. While a Muslim man is not supposed to wear fancy jewelry (such as a Cartier or Chopard watch) to show off his wealth, jewelry is not out right banned by the Qur’an or its interpretations. It is considered boasting for a man to wear jewelry of gold, but I have read nowhere that he cannot wear a ring to show that he is married. Also, it would appear that there is no issue with wearing a talisman bearing the words or name of Allah, as a protection from evil and a bringer of good fortune. And of course, women have always been allowed to wear a reasonable amount of jewelry, in order to accent their beauty. In the past, a woman would wear magnificent jewelry about herself, as part of her dowry when she married. However, there are certain things which should not be done. Wearing jewelry featuring the name or word of Allah in a way that could be disrespected (as in slept in, lain on, or taken to the toilet) is a no-no, according to everything I have read. And wearing necklaces featuring the name or word of Allah is considered to be an imitation of Christians and Jews, which Muslims are not supposed to imitate.