Islam for Women

Practices according the Hadith’s  vs. teaching in the Quran 

 Pakistan deal enshrines sharia law 

Quote:  “As retaliation for the military presence, the Taliban carried out a series of deadly attacks, beheadings and destruction of girls’ schools. They also continued to gain ground, setting up checkpoints throughout the area.”

No matter what the reason for the confrontation in Northern Pakistan is, there is no justification for attacking Girl’s Schools. The Taliban (extreme Wahhabi branch of Islam and Taleban) object them as un-Islamic although education and gathering knowledge (even from “as far as from China”) is one of the most important duties for both sexes in Islam.

 “And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his punishment is hell; he shall abide in it, and God will send His wrath on him and curse him and prepare for him a painful chastisement. (Q.4:93)

“And do not kill any You shall not kill any person - for God has made life sacred - except in the course of justice, and whoever is slain unjustly, We have indeed given to his heir authority, so let him not exceed the just limits in slaying; surely he is aided.” (Q.17:33)

“…… You shall not kill - God has made life sacred - except in the course of justice. These are His commandments to you, that you may understand.” (Q.6:151)

“The true servants of The Merciful are they who walk gently on Earth, and who, when the foolish address them, reply with (words of) peace.” (Quran 25:63)

……………………………….

On woman rights Qur’an gives also women a substantial role in choosing their own life partners:

 “Do not prevent them from marrying their husbands when they agree between themselves in a lawful manner.” (Q.2:232)

According to the Qur’an, the accusation (of unchastity) must be proven by four eyewitnesses, a practical impossibility. Even then a death penalty is not ordered in the Qur’an. The occasional stoning to death as punishment for adultery is a an ancient tradition also in the pre-Christian era as mentioned in the Bible. An unjustified accusation is a grave sin:

“Surely those who accuse chaste believing women, unaware (of the evil), are cursed in this world and hereafter, and they shall have a grievous chastisement.” (Qur’an 24:23)

“And those who speak evil things of the believing men and the believing women without their having earned (it), they are guilty indeed of a false accusation and a manifest sin.” (Q. 33:58)

Q.4:15 “And as for those who are guilty of an indecency from among your women, call to witnesses against them four (witnesses) from among you; then if they bear witness confine them to the houses until death comes close to them or God opens some way for them.”

The logical conclusion from these Verses of the Holy Quran is that a harsh punishment is not advised,  but immorally behaving woman should be kept at home or  until God shows a solution for the  situation.  The stoning of women  IS  NOT  mentioned in the Quran  but it was quite common in the pre-Islamic Middle East, as it was at the time of Jesus, a Prophet to Muslims, too.    Quoting the Bible, John 8:1-3  “If any of you have not committed a sin you can throw the first stone at her.”

Obama reaches out to Muslim world       

Pres. Obama gave in Turkey a remarkable speech .   

What can I say, there is still hope that things will turn better in the future!  Please watch the video  which is behind that  link.

Quote:    Barack Obama has declared that the US “is not at war with Islam”, in a major speech during his first visit as president to a mainly Muslim country.

Addressing the Turkish parliament, Mr Obama called for a greater partnership with the Muslim world and said the US would soon launch outreach programmes.

“America’s relationship with the Muslim world cannot and will not be based on opposition to al-Qaeda,” he said…

“Let me say this as clearly as I can: the United States is not and will never be at war with Islam,” he stated.  ”In fact, our partnership with the Muslim world is critical in rolling back a fringe ideology that people of all faiths reject.”

He said: “The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their family, or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because I am one of them.”

“And when people look back on this time, let it be said of America that we extended the hand of friendship,” he said.

“There is an old Turkish proverb: ‘You cannot put out fire with flames.’” …

It was about time. The longer the so called war on terrorism continues the way it was done till today the more terrorist will be created.  In countries like Afghanistan or Iraq they fighting invading foreign forces on their own soil and that kind of war cannot be won militarily (it’s common sense!). It was lost in Vietnam and it will be lost in Iraq as it is seen as a Crusade.  Pres. George W. Bush said so himself. Until yesterday I thought the word “Crusade” was a propaganda invention until I was told to search for a  quote.  

 “This crusade, this war on terrorism is going to take a while.”    – George W Bush, using a loaded term which recalls the Christians’ Medieval wars against Muslims in the so-called Holy Land, after stepping off the presidential helicopter on Sunday, September 16, 2001, quoted from Jonathan Lyons, “Bush enters Mideast’s rhetorical minefield ” (Reuters: September 21, 2001). Bush later apologized for this remark. 

“God told me to strike at al Qaida and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East. If you help me I will act, and if not, the elections will come and I will have to focus on them.”       — George W Bush, according to Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, from minutes acquired by Haaretz from cease-fire negotiations between Abbas and faction leaders from the Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular and Democratic Fronts (circa, June, 2003), quoted from Arnon Regular, “‘Road map is a life saver for us,’ PM Abbas tells Hamas” (Haaretz.com: June 27, 2003), quoted from EvilOz (The Iterative Record)

Pres. Barack Obama is a new kind of US leader and I wish him success, I know I’m not alone!

Salaam, Mona

News from the small Scandinavian country Finland (yet well known for NOKIA and Mika Hakkinen).  It used to be a hidden tolerant island and cultural conflicts sounded like echoes from overseas.

The Lebanese born Imam Chehab Khadr  of the local Helsinki Muslim community 

defended in an  Aamulehti  newspaper interview the notion that girls as young as nine years old could be wed into marriage with parental consent and that what is against the law some countries is permissible in others.  It followed on outcry in the country with unbelievable amount of feedback, blogger comments and phone calls what made him change his position the next day. 

Nobody could be fooled; words are cheap and even cheaper by the dozen. The damage is done and once again the image of Islam was badly tarnished in a place which is known to be very welcoming and tolerant.  They have for centuries a small Muslim community originating from the east with no problems whatsoever with human rights or marrying little girls. Today Muslim immigrant youth is causing trouble and controversy, mostly through the growing rape rate in bigger cities (mostly by Somalis) and  small time criminality like snatching ladies handbags in broad daylight. People do not walk in the streets at night time anymore!

My first reaction was that this man is mega stupid!  But he is a regular guest at state banquets, and TV talk shows. This middle aged man probably close to his fifties has been living large part of his life in a Western country with an excellent human and especially women rights record. Finland was the 1^st country in Europe to grant women voting rights and women make up almost half of the parliamentarians and they have a woman president in her second term already. I would have wished at least a little more openness of mind and some critical thinking.  

From a man in his position one would expect more common sense. How can he advocate Stone Age practices marrying little girls when there are lots and lots of unmarried young women waiting to get married?  A grownup man wishing to marry a six or even a nine year old girl is a man with sick fantasy, a pervert and a pedophile, there is no way around it.

This Imam went so far as saying that in Western societies youngsters at that age are involved in sexual acts but in Islam he is accepting it in a marriage. Not to mention that elsewhere hardly any 6 yr. or 9 yr. old girl is sexually active, so he was simply lying.

There is a HUGE  difference here: the first one is not acceptable although it happens occasionally  (mostly rape by someone close) - the latter one is sanctioned by higher authorities, and what is worse: sanctioned by God itself?!I went to find facts from Wikipedia.    What I found very shocking that Lebanon which is trying to appear the most modern and advanced Middle Eastern Muslim country has the worst record of women rights! Nine year old girls are children and sexual acts with them is pedophilia, married or not.  It makes me sick, this is not Islam.

From the list  of some countries with marriageable ages for male/female I pick up Lebanon, the former home country of this Imam: Lebanon: 18 for males and 17 for females; scope for judicial discretion on basis of physical maturity and wali’s permission from 17 for males and 9 for females; real puberty or 15/9 with judicial permission for Shi’a; 18/17 or 16/15 with judicial permission for Druze.   Nine years minimum age for little-girl-wives and this country is bragging to be a model to the Muslim Middle Easterners.    HOW can a 10-year old be a mother to an infant, or perhaps this possibility is not taken into consideration in those male chauvinistic minds?

In a few days I will write, Inshallah,    about the Prophept’s young wife Aisha. The Hadith’s suggest, that she was married to him at the age 6 yrs.  By Hadith’s  of which I am very critical about. They were collected as late 250-300 years after the death of the Prophet (p.b.u.H.). From 600 000 stories f.e. Bukhari selected 7,397 based on their truthfulness. Truthfulness? How can a lengthy recitation transmitted by word of mouth over half a dozen generations be truthful in every single word? Human mind is not a computer, it can err with the best of intentions.  

Prophet Mohammad discouraged in his lifetime writing down these stories in fear they would be confused with the Quran itself. Well, yes, it looks like it happened after all.There are several surviving written document from the lifetime of the Prophet from which we can reconstruct the events and we find that Aisha was in her late teens, probably early twenties when marrying as it happened in Medina after he Hijjra (emigration). Especially the shia-Muslims (most Iranians, half of the Iraqis, Persian Golf Emirates, part of Saudi Arabia, and Southern Lebanon) still hold on to this practice and what disturbs me most is that the media and especially the internet is full of hate speech regarding this matter and Islam is regularly called a “Pedophile Religion”. Opponents are using a very powerful image,  and it is working.

One of my favorite quotes is from the late  Dr. Lila Fahlman,  founder of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW):   “Hadith’s have ruined Islam. “

I am trying my very best to shake up and wake up the Muslims themselves into critical thinking ( it is our duty trying to change things we think are wrong) and at the same time trying to build bridges.

There is no other way. 

Mona