Egypt: Backward-thinking Sheikh Protests Ban on Female Genital Mutilation

Muslim scholar’s act angers women’s rights activists

(Earth Times)

In an act that has sparked outrage among Egyptian women’s rights activists, a controversial Islamic scholar filed a lawsuit against the minister of health protesting a recent ban on female circumcision, a practice referred to by rights groups as female genital mutilation (FGM). Egyptian Sheikh Youssif al-Badri claimed the ministerial decree violated the Egyptian constitution as well as Islamic principles….

He also argues that the cutting is necessary to inhibit women’s sexual desires. (By his reasoning, only one partner – the male – should obtain pleasure from sex.)

USA: Building a Mosque Requires Perserverance and Diplomacy

Mosque designs frame divide between modern, traditional
Architects are caught in a widening divide between religious traditionalism and modern innovation. Add to that the political and community pressures.

Christopher Hawthorne (Los Angeles Times)

… As Muslims put down deeper roots in this country and Europe, they are increasingly moving out of the storefront mosques and converted community rooms they took over a generation ago and building new complexes that rival Christian mega-churches in size and ambition. Opposition to new mosques has been particularly sharp in Britain, Germany and other nations where Muslim communities are both larger and less well integrated into the wider culture than in this country.

But getting one approved and built in the U.S. has become nearly as complicated, despite a history of religious tolerance here that has given churches, mosques and synagogues wide legal latitude. It requires forging alliances with local politicians and producing a design capable of satisfying a diverse, multiethnic group of worshipers, with Middle Eastern, African American and South Asian Muslims often praying under the same roof….

Malaysia: Indonesian Maids Seek Justice, Shelter and Compensation

Abused, raped, unpaid – in Malaysia

(Agence France Presse)

… Malaysia is a relatively prosperous nation whose citizens have come to rely on foreigners to care for their children, clean their homes, and work on the plantations. But every year about 1,000 women come to the barracks-style accommodation built behind the embassy on a main thoroughfare in Kuala Lumpur, along with about 20 newborn babies-often the product of sexual assault….

Indonesia, Banda Aceh: Number of Women Seeking Divorce Tops Men

Marriages in Banda Aceh brokered in haste after the 2004 tsunami are dissolving; surprisingly, the ratio of women initiating a divorce tops the men by 3 to 1. Reasons cited include: desertion, lack of financial support and polygamy.

Indonesia: Women dominate divorce under Islamic law in Aceh

(ADN Kronos International)

Three years after the devastating tsunami hit the Indonesian province of Aceh, Dra Hanisah, a staff member at a local Sharia or Islamic court, said that one little noticed ripple effect of the killer wave is that more women than men are now filing for divorce in the local legal system based on Islamic law.

In an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI), Dra Hanisah, described how the current trend started after the December 2004 tsunami that, in Aceh alone, killed nearly 170,000.

“We used to have more men filing for divorce but now is definitely more women,” said Hanisah who is a member of the Sharia court in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh.

Although there isn’t comprehensive data available, Hanisah hinted that the ratio is about 3-1. In June, for example, 93 women filed for divorce at the Banda Aceh Islamic Court compared to only 34 men.

Iran: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a Complicated Balance of Power

Iran’s inner and outer circles of influence and power

The power of Shiite Muslim clergy has eroded in favor of various competing groups within a unique religious, civil, social and bureaucratic framework.

Borzou Daragahi (Los Angeles Times)

… For years, Western analysts have struggled to understand the inner workings of Iran’s leadership. To many, it is a government tightly controlled by the Shiite Muslim clergy. But the power of the clerics has steadily eroded. Increasingly, power is distributed among combative elites within a delicate system of checks and balances defined by religious as well as civil law, personal relations and the rhythm of bureaucracy.

Iran analysts struggle to discern which officials have authority and how much. And when Iranian officials make public pronouncements, it often is unclear whether they are expressing established policy or fighting among themselves — speaking for their own faction or just themselves….

Morocco: Accused Terrorists Doing Not-So-Hard Time in Prison

While some militants are subjected to torture and the most abominble prison conditions, others live a life of luxury compared to other inmates: 4-men prison cells (rather than 20-30 per cell), conjugal visits, special foods brought to them, etc.

A less privileged (non-terrorist prisoner) wonders: “Why do they get much more rights than we get here? Do you want us to become terrorism prisoners, and then we will get those rights?”

Jihadists in Jails Win Leverage With Protests

Michael Moss and Souad Mekhennet (NY Times)

… Even as more and more militants are imprisoned around the world — often by governments with records of conducting extreme interrogations — the prisoners are managing to gain a kind of crude leverage over security officials who are struggling to figure out how to handle them.

Draconian, or even strict, treatment of radical inmates can lead to prison unrest and public condemnation, particularly in countries with sizable Muslim populations. At the same time, officials fear that militants given free rein are more likely to turn prisons into prime grounds for radicalization and recruiting…

At one Moroccan prison:

… Oukacha, in Casablanca, is arguably the best address for jailed militants. Even the director, El Maati Boubiza, said he was amazed when he took the job last year. “Their cell doors were open 24 hours,” he said. “Only they could use the conjugal rooms, and they were using them starting at 6 a.m.”

Cellblock 5, where many of the militants live, functions like a small village. The inmates hold boxing matches. Sheep are slaughtered for the holidays. In one of the two kitchens, a cook proudly displayed his cutlery and an array of containers that held fresh deliveries from inmates’ families…

What must other prisoners do to rate this kind of treatment?

… At Zaki, one of two prisons where The Times interviewed militant inmates and prison officials, the 309 prisoners held as terrorists have much more space — averaging 3 men in each cell, compared with 22 per cell for the prison’s 3,500 regular inmates, a prison official said.

They also have a system for lodging complaints, a fact that at times irritates Ms. Ouadie, the prisoner advocate appointed by the king to mediate disputes…

Kuwait: New Age of Bedouin Tent Camps

Many modern Bedouins of the Gulf are flush with cash, yet still feel drawn to return to the desert in winter, setting up elaborate tent camps their ancestors would barely recognize as such.

The Sands of Time

Majed Al-Sabah (NY Times)

… A typical “winter camp” consists of five or six tents surrounded by a man-made sand barrier to protect the camp from anyone entering its borders. The fence has one opening, and most of the time it’s decorated with a brightly lighted sign. Bear in mind that all along highway, you see hundreds of signs with arrows pointing in the direction of the camps and indicating the number of kilometers left to drive.

Of the five or six tents, the main one is the living/reception area; one is for the gathering of ladies; one is designated as the dining area; one serves as a kitchen; another is the men’s bedroom and the other is reserved for ladies. In olden days, there was also a smaller tent that housed the toilet, to which you needed to take your own supply of water. Not anymore. Each camp is fully equipped with a mobile toilet that resembles a bathroom in a Four Seasons hotel, with hot and cold water and a shower that comes with a sophisticated water pressure system and a fully stocked supply of toiletries, towels and fragrances….

USA: Homeless, Muslim and Female

Muslim Women Who Become Homeless Have Limited Options

Jackie Spinner (Washington Post)

They sleep in mosques. Or on the streets. Or in Christian-oriented shelters that might hold prayer meetings or services at odds with their own religious beliefs. For Muslim women without a place to live, particularly those who have been battered or are immigrants, being homeless can test their faith at the time they need it most.

When Muslim women are sent to shelters that serve the general population, they are often exposed to lifestyles that challenge their faith, such as drinking, abusing drugs, eating pork and undressing or bathing in front of others, says Imam Faizul Khan of the Islamic Society of Washington in Silver Spring. They return from such shelters “with sad stories,” he says.

The Virginia Muslim Political Action Committee estimates that several hundred Muslim women are homeless in the Washington region, based on U.S. Census Bureau data and local surveys. That is a small fraction of the homeless population and of the estimated 250,000 Muslims in the region, but local Islamic leaders say the problem has grown in recent years. Kahn said homelessness in the Muslim community was almost unheard of several years ago…

Afghanistan: Man Mutilates and Almost Kills Wife on Eid

On Eid ul Adha, a celebration of obedience to Allah, one Afghani man decided to brutalize and nearly kill his wife by beating her, bashing in her teeth, and cutting off her nose and ears. (There are pictures, if you have the stomach to view them.) The 17-years old woman is terrified; she was his second wife. He had previously killed his first wife, and now he has avoided arrest by “disappearing.”

Husband cut off wife’s ears, nose on Eid day

Abudlhadi Hairan (Ground Report)

A man named Mumtaz in southern Zabul province of Afghanistan first shaved wife, Nazia’s head and then cut off her ears, and nose and damaged her teeth on the first day of Eid ul Adha, an Islamic ritual of sacrifice.

Hospital sources in Qalat, center of Zabul, told this scribe by phone that Nazia, 17, was admitted on Wednesday (First day of Eid) evening and now she was in a critical condition due to the severe beating she has borne.

Guiliani Campaigner: I don’t subscribe to the principle that there are good Muslims and bad Muslims

Rudy Surrogate: “I Don’t Subscribe To The Principle That There Are Good Muslims And Bad Muslims”

Greg Sargent (TPM Election Central)

John Deady, the co-chair of New Hampshire Veterans for Rudy, is standing by the comments he made in the controversial interview with The Guardian we posted on below, in which he said that “the Muslims” need to be chased “back to their caves.”

In an interview with me, Deady confirmed that when he made the comments, he was referring to all Muslims.

“I don’t subscribe to the principle that there are good Muslims and bad Muslims,” Deady told me by phone from his home in New Hampshire. “They’re all Muslims….”

“We need to keep the feet to the fire and keep pressing these people until we defeat or chase them back to their caves or in other words get rid of them.”

When I asked Deady to elaborate on his suggestion that we need to “get rid” of Muslims, Deady said:

“When I say get rid of them, I wasn’t necessarily referring to genocide….”

Not NECESSARILY referring to genocide? Whew, that’s a relief, isn’t?

UPDATE: FoxNews reports that Deady has resigned and Guiliani has “accepted” his resignation.

Arts: Taqwacore – Fusion of Punk and Piety

A Muslim meld of punk and piety

Omar el Akkad (Toronto Globe and Mail)

The hijab-clad girls started rocking out a little, but by then the organizers had already called the cops.

It was early September and the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America [ISNA] was about to wrap up in Chicago. About 400 young Muslims had gathered at a Hyatt hotel ballroom for open-mike night, hyped as a wholesome alternative to the vice-land that every big American city inevitably becomes once the sun sets.

The first few acts – Koran recitation, stern spoken-word stylings – matched the hype. But around 3 a.m., with fewer than a quarter of the original audience still around, an all-girl Vancouver punk band took to the stage. A 25-year-old singer with short black hair and a voice like a bar fight asked the crowd: “ISNA, are you ready to rock?”…

Pakistan: Benazir Bhutto, Rest in Peace

Although Benazir Bhutto’s politics and ethics were deeply flawed, her murder has made her a martyr. This is what will be remembered.

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi rajeoon.

Iraq: Hair Salons Terrorized by Arsons, Kidnapping and Murder

Iraqi hairdressers forced underground

Diaa Hadid (Associated Press)

… Umm Doha cuts hair and waxes eyebrows in secret from her living room because making women look pretty can get a person killed in her Sunni-dominated Baghdad neighborhood.

Hardline Muslim extremists who believe it is sinful for women to appear beautiful in public have forced many beauticians to move their trade underground.

Sunni and Shiite militants began blowing up salons roughly two years ago. They killed several stylists and bullied others into putting down their scissors and makeup brushes for good, all in an effort to stamp out what they view as the corrupting spread of Western culture…

Egypt: Educating about AIDS Through Hotline, Counseling and Outreach

Egypt fights ignorance on HIV/Aids

Alasdair Soussi (BBC News)

Israel: Knesset to Vote on Preservation of Muslim Holy Sites

Knesset to decide on proposal to preserve Muslim holy sites

Yoav Stern (Haaretz)

A bill to establish an authority responsible for preserving Muslim holy sites, for the first time since the creation of the state, will soon be brought before the Knesset.

The bill enjoys significant support from Jewish religious figures, including Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar.

According to the bill, the state would allocate NIS 8 million annually for the preservation of mosques and cemeteries that were abandoned in 1948.

The bill’s sponsor, MK Michael Melchior (Labor), told Haaretz yesterday that in his opinion, this is the state’s duty, as a Jewish state must care for the holy sites of Muslims…