The Muslim Woman

Samar Saed Abdullah a 25 year old woman suffering in the al-Kadhimiya Women’s Prison in Baghdad and is ‘living’ here for the past two years, would go to the gallows by next Wednesday, why? Well, for a crime which she wasn’t even a part of!

Her ’shauhar’ slaughtered three of his kinsmen and left the scene. As a consequence of which, the authorities hawked upon the vulnerable wife and imprisoned the innocent person.

The Iraqi authorities severed battered her till the extent she confessed the crime, which actually was committed by her ‘detestable’ husband.

While talking with CNN, with her wet eyes, she shared her grief and said that she is not able to sleep especially on Wednesdays because that is the day appointed for executions, hence, she is not able to relax the whole day. She was sentenced to death by hanging for being an accessory to the murder of three members of her uncle’s family.

She explained repeatedly, that she hasn’t committed any crime and that she is not being taken seriously by the judicial authorities. She even goes on to say that she has a desire to live and so, is ready to face life imprisonment, twenty years in prison, for the ‘crime’, which she had (not) committed and hence, she must not be executed.

However, judge refused to hear anything in her defense. A person in authority has asserted that Samar is out of legal option.

Her parents too had sold their each and every possession just to save their innocent girl. An organization working for the emancipation of native women has offered help to the victim. They are fighting for her life.

She is innocent, terrified of being executed. She doesn’t know that her appeal for the sentence has already been failed; her parents do not have the courage to tell her.

However, her mother too is trying her utmost to save her life, she has framed an application, addressing it to the President of Iraq for her liberation but is still in dilemma whether next Wednesday would be the last day of her daughter’s life or not.

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A statement by the Saudi Interior Ministry revealed that authorities beheaded an Ethiopian woman for killing an Egyptian over an argument.

Khadija Bint Ibrahim Moussa was found guilty of fatally stabbing Mohammad Kamal Shaheen and sentenced to death, becoming this year’s first woman to be executed since the execution of two women in 2005.

Moussa had stabbed Shaheen in the neck while he was asleep and then beat his head with a glass bottle. She was executed in the Red Sea port city of Jiddah.

Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam under which people convicted of murder, drug trafficking, rape and armed robbery can be executed. Beheadings are carried out with a sword in a public square.

Wednesday’s executions brought to 57 the number of people beheaded in the kingdom this year. The kingdom beheaded 38 people last year and 83 people in 2005.

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Clouds of sectarian violence could be anticipated between Muslims and Yazidis in Kurdistan Region.

The killing of young girl Du’a Khalil Aswad has ignited sparks in the Province. It’s bad enough that this woman’s male family members murdered her. But not only that, a mob of men viewed this whole event as if it were entertainment. They filmed it with camera phones and jeered and encouraged it. And they did nothing to stop it.

Now, in retaliation to the event, women in huge numbers could be seen flocking the streets in Kurdistan Region hence, the government has called for the murderers to be brought to justice.

In a statement, the protesters said,

We do strongly condemn the killing of women under the pretext of honor and the killing and mutilating of the body of Du’a on April 7, 2007.

Taking revenge on women under the pretext of honor is a terrorist act, read a banner carried by the demonstrators.

The protesters have urged the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to take strict measures against the perpetrators.

Kurdistan Parliament’s Deputy Speaker, Kamal Kirkuki stated that,

This crime has touched off a desperate attempt to disrupt the peaceful coexistence between Muslim and Yazidi Kurds, and the majority of those who carried out this crime are now under arrest and will be tried according to law.

The incident is the second in a series of sectarian incidents between the Yazidis and Muslims in the area. Last year, a group of Muslim tribesmen attacked several Yazidi buildings in Shekhan, a district east of Mosul, because of honor issues sparked over the fate of a Muslim girl.

In the meantime, Kurdish authorities have vowed to follow up on the issue by establishing an investigative committee.

There are frequent reports of ‘honour crimes’ in Iraq - in particular in the predominantly Kurdish north of the country. Most victims of ‘honour crimes’ are women and girls who are considered by their male relatives and others to have shamed the women’s families by immoral behavior. While the Kurdish authorities introduced legal reforms to address ‘honour killings’ they have, however, failed to investigate and prosecute those responsible for such crimes.

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!

These people- who jeered and encouraged the incident- see themselves as getting rid of another sinning person but how can one pass judgment like that when committing a crime themselves. I say to these people you are a joke; your beliefs are a joke.

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There is plethora of suicide attempts in Pakistan and in both the cases the reason has been the same- forced obedience.

A 2-year analysis of all such reports in a major newspaper in Pakistan showed 306 suicides reported from 35 cities. While, we are only talking about the reported incidents, the actual number might be a lot higher. Thousands of Pakistani women have fallen prey to the stone-age concept of ‘chaining’ a woman at home - from birth to death.

The isolation and fear of women living under such threats are compounded by state indifference to and complicity in women’s oppression. Police almost invariably take the man’s side in honor killings or domestic murders and rarely prosecute the killers.

Even when the men are convicted, the judiciary ensures that they usually receive a light sentence, reinforcing the view that men can kill their female relatives with virtual impunity. Specific laws hamper redress as they discriminate against women.

Why do girls commit suicide?

The fact that parents in so many Muslim societies decide that they must choose the future spouse of their offspring is a root cause of the problem. In Pakistan, arranged marriages are the norm, but ultimately, this morph into forced marriages. And when a person in authority can decide that his own flesh and blood is a chattel to be bartered and bargained with, this becomes instrumental in strengthening the authority of the rural Islamic councils.

And for young women in Pakistan, some of whom are promised in vani marriage before they are even born, no amount of legislation or education is going to change the thing.

Islam always favors the boy children in a family and girls are to be traded off, forced into marriage to satisfy their parents’ desires and not their own.

What is the situation like?

In Pakistan, the story of a woman’s deprivation starts even before she lands on the planet, because the girl-child is not a particularly ‘wanted’ child. Their visibly pain-studded lives are nothing less than journeys of subordination.

Cases like these clearly depict the vulnerability of females in a culture that turns a blind eye to such practices. They defied the prevalent customs of a society where multiple forms of violence against women continue to gain roots unabated.

The media may have spread awareness about women’s rights but it has failed in stemming the ever-soaring incidents of rapes, suicides, domestic abuse, mutilation, burning, beatings, ritual honor-killings, custodial abuse and even acid attacks causing facial disfigurement.

Needs a re-think!

A society must always be judged by how it treats its most vulnerable individuals. Pakistan’s appalling treatment of children and women do not make it seem like a civilized nation. The fact that no-one has been convicted for vani, the fact that Muslim groups campaigned to prevent any amendments to the Hudood Laws, only highlights how religion and cultural tradition is regarded in Pakistan as more important than justice and human rights.

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As spring season has hit the Iranian province, police authorities have become all the more vigilant. They are cracking down barbers giving Western-style haircuts and shop owners wearing T-shirts with English slogans. They are on the lookout for women wearing head scarves deemed too colorful or small.

This won’t stop in here, they are also planning to, block cell phone messages which they consider as ‘immoral’.

Such efforts ‘to boost ethical security’ are declared sporadically by the Shiite Muslim regime and the seasonal indignation usually dissipates within weeks. However, at a time of sharpening internal and external political pressures on the government, some residents fear that the current campaign, which is being more strictly enforced, may last far longer.

Authorities have already issued warnings to more than 1,000 women for being inappropriately dressed. Another 59 deemed provocatively attired were briefly detained.

Last week, an Iranian newspaper reported that security forces had warned 11 European tourists visiting a vegetable market in northern Tehran to observe the Islamic dress code.

I have no problem with Islam as a faith but have problem with the organization that treats one section of its members worse than others by denying them the same rights and treating them as second-class citizens.

Will they ever jumpstart from there prejudiced stance?

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Women and girls in Iraq live in constant fear of violence as the conflict intensifies and insecurity spirals. Within their own communities, many women and girls remain at risk of death or injury from male relatives if they are accused of behavior held to have brought dishonor on the family.

Recently, in Bashika, Mosul, hundreds of men beat and stoned a 17 year old woman named Du’a Khalil Aswad to death, in a gruesome example of collective ‘honour killing’. The woman, a member of the Yezidi religion, which is practiced by Kurds in Northern Iraq, ran away from her family to join an Arab Muslim man with whom she had fallen in love and had been meeting secretly, but who rejected her. Damned under the ‘honour’ code, for running away, for choosing outside her own community and for being ultimately rejected, Du’a had nowhere to go.

For a couple of days, she had put up with a local Yezidi tribal leader but to live in peace was not in her destiny. She was abducted and brutally murdered in front of hundreds of men by her relatives — who stripped her body, beat and kicked her, and killed her by crushing her body with rocks and concrete blocks. The police officials too participated in the disgusting communal murder.

Stoning: Is it the part of culture in Iraq?

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’.

The Islamic groups resort to every possible method to terrorize Iraqi women. Today, stoning is only practiced in order to maintain the submission of its women and those in the lower cast. Also, those impoverished or socially unimportant are punished by stoning.


Silent Killings

There are frequent reports of ‘honor crimes’ in Iraq - in particular in the predominantly Kurdish north of the country. Most victims of ‘honor crimes’ are women and girls who are considered by their male relatives and others to have shamed the women’s families by immoral behavior.

Often grounds for such accusations are flimsy and no more than rumor.

What is the situation like?

The government’s failure to protect women, and enforce laws against criminals, has created a situation where thousands of women become victims of so called honor killings. Violence has risen as a result of patriarchal and religious traditions.

In the 21st century, for such crimes to be carried out in broad daylight is not only a shame on society as whole, but most of all, it is a shame on a government that is unable to protect women from such inhumane and backward practices.

With officials largely silent on the issue except to deny that it occurs, it is unclear how many more women in the province are stoned to death.

The barbaric and violent practice of stoning will continue as long as people will water the cult of Islam, MuHAMmad, which has put his hands everywhere especially in this inhuman practice of ’stoning women to death’ and in imposing uncivilized Sharia Law upon human culture.

It forces me to ask a question, can women in Muslim countries ever expect to breathe in the air of self- approbation?

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Enraged Islamist lawmakers have persuaded the Pakistan government to stop a theatre group staging a satirical play ‘Burqavaganza’; it’s about the burqa, the all-covering head-to-toe garment worn by conservative Muslim women.

In the play, young men and women wore the burqa to go out on secret dates and it featured a character called Burqa bin Badin. The play also showed a burqa-clad married couple put to death for making love in public.

As expected, religious conformist Pakistanis did not find it funny, rather went as far as to tag the performance as blasphemous, a crime in Pakistan that can carry a death sentence.

Culture Minister Sayed Ghazi Gulab Jamal said,

the burqa is part of our culture. We can’t allow anyone to ridicule our culture.

Progressive Pakistanis have become increasingly shocked by how bold religious radicals have become in spreading their Taliban-style values in society.

Madeeha Gauhar with the Ajoka Theatre group told the BBC that the play is not designed to offend Islam or any other religion. She said she heard about the ban from the media as the government had not yet contacted the theater group. We are trying to end the evils from society, we are against forcing women to wear the burqa. I condemn the ban, she told the BBC.

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Muslims feel very bashful when talking about sex. However, sexologist Dr. Heba Kotb is on her way to break away this shackle, which has been tying Muslim community for years.

Giving air to her views, she advises Muslims to have more sex, despite the fact that Muslims community is known to keep quite conservative views about sex, and open discussion on this issue is considered quite an outrageous act.

May be this act of her is being seen as a despicable act by some of the people of Muslim community but keeping in view the present situation according to which sexually transmitted diseases like Chlamydia, genital herpes (HSV), Gonorrhea, Human papilloma virus (HPV), vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC), and Trichomoniasis are foraying into our society, it could be asserted that mission initiated by her is really a commendable one. Because time has gone when people used not even to mention word ‘sex’ publicly.

If we go back in the depth of Muslim religion or Islam then we find that Islam is not as orthodox about sex as its so-called representatives have depicted it. Strangely enough, Islam has propounded quite a liberal philosophy regarding sex, which the present generation seems blind to. Here it is interesting to know that Islam considers sex as one of the essential human needs that must be properly satisfied.

In Quran, there comes reference in which dialogue between Prophet Mohammad and the companions goes on like this:

[A Muslim] would have an intercourse with his spouse and would be rewarded for it. The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) asked: Oh Messenger of Allah! A person would be rewarded while satisfying his sexual need? Prophet Mohammad replied:Yes. Isn’t it that he would be punished had he practiced sex illegally (not with his spouse)? The same applies if a Muslim practiced a lawful intercourse with his spouse. As such, he would be rewarded”.

This shows that this is nothing wrong in having sex, talking about it, therefore, we should spurn away the very trite idea, which dampens the idea of openness about sex, defining it a stigma on religion. And due to this very stigma, which doesn’t exist indeed, often such cases comes out in which people are often found keeping their interaction with STDs behind the curtain.

From health point of view too, sex is an integral part of our life, as it helps maintaining ideal body weight, increases blood flow, lowers cholesterol, improves sleep by reducing stress level, and above all it works as a cementing bond between two life partners.

In brief, it could be asserted that time has come when we will have to accept the fact that sex is after all a part of human life and to keep it visored is just like defying the truth.

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Via: CNN

In an attempt to control young men and women who have deviated from the country’s Islamic dress codes and adopted a western appearance, Iran declared the launch of ‘Operation Cover-up’.

Deputy Commander of the Iranian police force warned women that

the police will operate against women who dress like models in town. Women that are arrested will be taken to four centers, where they will receive guidance and advice. They will commit in writing not to dress in violation of the dress code again, and they will be released only after their families come to pick them up and bring them proper attire.

According to Iranian law, women are obliged to wear a head-to-toe black chador or cover their hair with scarves and choose long, loose-fitting clothes.

Each year the Iranian administration announces this kind of operation ahead of summer, when the weather warms up and sleeves start getting shorter. The rest of the year, the ‘Modesty Guard’, made up of a volunteer staff, patrols the streets and comments to women who do not maintain a sufficiently modest appearance.

The goal of the operation, according to Tehran police, is to ensure moral behavior in society.

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Lack of political and social freedom for the Muslim women in the Middle East has added to their sufferings in many ways. The latest manifestation is the honor killings. The rigid and blind following of tribal ethos and customs in this part of the world have caused killing of many women in last several years as a punishment for choosing their grooms. Be it a love affair or reluctance to marry the persons of their parents’ choice, the fair sex in the Middle East is treated in the most unfair way.

The news from the Middle East often captures the imagination worldwide for the undue misery meted out to Muslim women there. Deprived of political rights, social status and bulldozed under stringent customs, the women folk virtually live the lives of slaves. The latest organized honor killings only add to their plight. In most cases the execution was simply because of the refusal to accept the choice of parents. Sabrin of Abu Ghanem tribe of Ramala, Israel was murdered by her cousin for refusing to marry him. Shirihina 15 years old girl was butchered by her brothers as she was willing to opt for a career instead of marriage.

Love or eloping away in this part of the world is the most heinous crime. The punishment is the severest of all. Reem, a young girl eloped away with her lover to escape an arrange marriage with an older Sheikh. Her brother, a doctor, shot her dead. Among the most of the Arab world, let alone love marriage, the desire of the ladies to study abroad or their use of telephone is regarded as taint to family honor. Though, the Government of Israel has banned such bloodlettings, yet in most of the Arab countries the honor killing is largely justified. Even in Ramala, trials for honor killings by Abu Ghanem tribal men went unpunished for lack of witnesses. No one is ready to give his or her testimony.

The honor killings are a sign of backwardness of the Muslim women in the Middle East. The lack of democratic values and chauvinistic male dominance are the main reason to create an atmosphere of fear psychosis for women there. However, positive signs have begun to appear. The increasing demand by the women for social freedom and their readiness to sacrifice than to fall in line is attracting worldwide support.

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Via:NyTimes