The Muslim Woman

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

Muslim hip-hop has been gaining momentum at an almost exponential rate, with new MCs seemingly popping up almost every day. This isn’t so surprising, considering the political roots of the music form itself. However, the Muslim take on R&B is having a much harder time being accepted by the mainstream Muslim culture. Could this be to do the explicit and pervasive sexual undertones of the western form of this type of music, which seems to become more and more extreme as time goes on? If you strip away the shameless and excessive sexuality of western R&B, and you are just left with the music itself, there is something there among the beat and melodic harmonies that some modern Muslims living in mainstream culture find attractive – an alternative to the nasheed-based folk singers and groups. However, the tide seems to be turning, with ever increasing access to music through the internet and free iPhone ringtones. Farid Alhadi, an American Muslim R&B artist, believes that it’s the ability for hip-hop to avoid “more-than-plutonic love” that accounts for the disparity in popularity between Muslim hip-hop and Muslim R&B. Farid believes that he has found a way to get this Muslim R&B to the masses. As an artist, I choose to embrace the concept of romantic love in R&B. I know that romantic love is not forbidden in Islam – when practiced within permissible parameters, namely marriage. Loving women – your wives, mothers, sisters – is, in fact, a trait that defines a good Muslim. It seems we are able to rap or sing about pain, anger, etc., but for some reason, singing about love is taboo. Time will tell as to whether Farid is right, and whether he will be accepted by the mainstream. In the meantime we can hope that his music and other Muslim R&B artists will continue to provide alternatives to the perverse gyrations of artists like Rihanna, who has shocked the world with her explicit and even by most western standards, inappropriate, Rude Boy song and video.

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

Witnessing ‘DEATHS, DEATHS and more DEATHS’ have become the destiny of afghan woman. For more than 20 years, Afghanistan has been at war. We all know, even before war the condition of Muslim women was not good. They have been suffering from many years but CURRENT WAR has broken them down emotionally as well. In attempt to search Osama Bin laden and destroy Taliban regime (Do not forget both are created by US itself), US has ruined thousands of innocent lives. Afghan woman who is suffering in the hands of poverty and decadent social traditions, find an easy escape in suicides. The advent of President Hamid Karzai government has brought some changes in the social condition of women in Afghanistan. This has improved the condition of women of upper class and middle class women but the effect is almost negligible for lower class women. The latest survey of conducted by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) reveals the ground reality in Afghanistan. The survey was conducted in 2004 on 50,000 war widows. UNIFEM and associated nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have taken one year to complete this survey. The findings of the survey are given below: 1. 65 percent of the 50,000 war widows living in Kabul see suicide as the only option to escape from their misery and desolation. 2. The majority of Afghan women are victims of mental and sexual violence. 3. 16 women had already ended their lives since the interviews were conducted. 4. Gender discrimination and violence against women was common in most parts of Afghanistan. 5. In Helmand province, which is also known as the center of poppy cultivation, more than 100 women committed suicide. 6. In Herat province, there were 93 cases of attempted suicide last year and 54 cases so far this year. Kulsoom who is married to a 40-year-old man, survived after attempt to commit suicide said, For two years, my husband beat me and treated me like an animal. In the much-publicized story of 20-year-old Jamila whose story resembles to Kulsoom’s story, said, I did not know how to end the misery of torture and daily beatings I got from my cruel husband. So I poured petrol on myself and set myself ablaze. Now She is receiving treatment for her injuries in a hospital in Kabul. Another report by the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan said, Desperate to escape domestic violence, forced marriage and hardship, scores of women across Afghanistan each year are committing suicide by immolating themselves. Afghan women usually take high dose of opium, rat killers and petrol to end their lives. In a report by Womenkind — an international NGO said, 80 percent of marriages in Afghanistan are forced and that more than half of Afghan women are married before they turn 16 to men who are much older. The exchange of women and girls to resolve a crime, debt or household dispute is also common and in most of such marriages violence against women is a common practice. However the Karzai government has banned the marriage of women under 18 years old. Whether it is Jamila, Muka or Kulsoom, the suffering tales of Afghan women is almost same. I want to ask Mr. Bush! Come and see what u did in Afghanistan. The media may have spread awareness about women’s rights but it is not enough to curb physical and mental violence against women. After digging Afghanistan so badly, women empowerment should be the next mission of United Nations Security Council. Via Image 1 Image 2

The issue of Islam and its tribe like bans on certain things often seems a little bizarre to me. I mean, having social customs is cool, and all that, but anything taken to an extreme becomes down right odd. Banning women from showing skin is strange enough, but now they would seem to be banning smoking. And I would be lying through my teeth to even suggest that this issue doesn’t have me very ambivalent. As an avid non smoker, I can appreciate that there is a very good underlying reason for keeping the public at large from lighting up those putrid death rods. After all, caring for all the self inflicted cancer patients most likely costs other nations about as much as it costs us, all other things being basically equal (which they never are, but the point remains the same). But on the other hand, do people have a right to smoke? And how many stop smoking measures will the religious authorities tolerate? Will they encourage them, or force everyone into quitting cold turkey? I have seen the effects of smoking first hand – my own mother needs breathing treatments because she used to smoke. And my father’s lost several good friends to puffing away on those things. I completely agree that the only people who think smoking is a good idea are those who have a profit motive. But, at the same time, I can’t help that I’m a spoiled American who thinks everyone everywhere should be free to do pretty much anything they please. While it’s true that cigarette butts are an insidious little source of pollution, it seems a small price to pay for the right to do as one pleases. I also tend to wonder if the authorities will permit patches, nicotine gum and electronic cigarettes as ways to kick the habit a little more gently.

“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

Going on a cruise is always something special and exciting, you get to travel around the world on a luxurious cruise ship while relaxing in the sun and taking in the wonderful views of oceans and islands, so, of course, it’s only natural that you would like to look your best at all times and a hot swimsuit seems to be the most important item of clothing. There are many different styles of swimsuits for women, it doesn’t matter what shape or size you are, whether you like to flaunt what you’ve got or whether you are the conservative type. Swimsuits come in so many different colors, sizes, fabrics, styles and patterns that it may be hard for you to choose just one, but why should you have just one when you can have a different color and style for every day of the week. You obviously need to choose wisely, pick the right style that will suit your body shape and flatter it; also, will you be tanning or just relaxing in a one piece and wrap? Where in the world will you be? Temperatures range drastically in different areas of the world so you should choose a swimsuit according to the weather as well. Just because you want to look good in your swimsuit on the cruise, does not mean you should bare all, there are full swimsuits that look just as good as any and are perfect for women who need to cover up but still want to look stylish. If you are planning to tan, you should wear a swimsuit that will give you the best looking tan without leaving strange patterns and lines, never forget to wear sun protection though because you don’t want to look like you are burnt to a crisp when you return from your luxury cruise.

For almost a decade now, it has been witnessed that there are changes that many critics feel is taking over the nation of Arab. From change in women’s working condition to their participation in the electoral process, there are quite a few noteworthy progresses that in fact the media is buzzing with. However, there is one very shocking fact, which is creating ruckus amongst the men folks. A certain section of Saudi women are increasingly marrying foreign nationals. According to the latest figures received from the Interior Ministry, more than 20,000 cross nationality weddings have taken place in the last five years between foreigners and Saudi women. Taking into account the strict policies and rules of the Arabic society it is rather surprising that such a revolutionary movement has sprung up. It is almost impossible for an Arab woman to get married to an outsider, be it a foreign national or an Arab who is not a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Nevertheless, however rigid are the procedures, there are always certain loose ends. In this case, only a special permission has to be taken from the big shots at the higher end. Despite the fact that this growing trend is considered repulsive by the patriarchal society, the percentage of cross-national marriages an all time high, where as on the other hand the marriage between Saudi women and men barely touches 13 percent as said by one of the marriage registrars. Now the question here is, why this sudden offshoot? Reasons could be many. However, the most prominent is that many foreigners find it a very lucrative idea to marry a Saudi woman, as there are many added advantages such as Arab being a rich country it is mostly tax-free; and a no-taxation zone can be achieved only by marrying a citizen of the nation. While another factor adding up to the fire is the fact that many families who keep traveling abroad are quite liberal in regard to their daughter choosing a foreigner as her husband. Also fast forwarding few years, the rapid socio-economic progress have lead to the change of the mind-set of the society at large and be more open to the idea of cross-marriages. Not forgetting another booster, that is the high divorce ratio, due to which it is becoming easier for the divorced woman to get approval from the government in marrying an outsider. Image Courtesy More at

Despite graduating from universities at a faster rate than men, Saudi women face an array of challenges in this conservative Arab country. Women’s life in Saudi Arabia is not easy, they have to face innumerable restrictions sometimes from their father, brother, husband and in-laws. The women who caught walking unaccompanied, or are in the company of a man who is neither their husband nor a close relative are at risk of arrest on suspicion of prostitution or other “moral” offences. But problems for them don’t stop here. From very lone time Saudi women are fighting to get the right to drive. Saudi Arab is only country in the world that prohibits female drivers. Wajeha al-Huwaider, 45, an education analyst has formed a group few years before and collected more than 1,100 signatures online and at shopping malls for a petition that advocates for women’s right to drive. Right now this petition is under consideration of King Abdullah. Why Saudi women are not allowed to drive? The thoughts of the powerful clerics in Saudi Arabia think that allowing women to drive would lead to Western-style freedoms and an erosion of traditional values. In 1990 during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, some women who dared to drive on Saudi roads got jailed for one day and their passports were confiscated and they lost their jobs. Senior clerics say women at the wheel will unduly expose their eyes while driving and interact with male strangers, such as traffic police and mechanics. Islam prohibits women to drive: Every time when woman in Saudi Arab need to drive them to work, school, shopping or the doctor’s, will have to urge the male members of the family to drop them to their destination. However, supporters of female drivers say the prohibition exists neither in law nor Islam. Driving is not a luxury, but it’s a necessity here. The women, who are supporting their entire families, can’t afford paying half their salary to a driver. In the nut shell, at least with the efforts of few Saudi women, the right of women’s driving has recently become the subject of public debate. I hope the day will come soon when they will be going for a lone drive. Via Image