Women’s Rights and Gender Apartheid - Bulletin Of The Oppression Of Women in Islam - Bulletin Of The Oppression Of Women in Islam

Archive for the Women’s Rights and Gender Apartheid Category

Iranian Women Activists Hampered by Restrictions

By Asma Marwan on June 18, 2013

The women of Iran are forbidden to stand in the upcoming presidential election on June 14, and are being strangled by ever-increasing restrictions. What has happened to the courageous Iranian women’s movement of dissent that gave inspiration to the protests of the Arab Spring uprisings?

A member of the Guardian Council, who vets election candidates according to their Islamic credentials, declared that women were barred from running. Under the constitution, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cannot stand for a third term, and out of 686 candidates competing to fill his place, only eight were cleared by the Guardian Council. Two have since resigned. All six remaining are associated with the supreme ruler, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They include the frontrunner, Saeed Jalili, an Islamist ideologue and protégé of Khamenei.

Women’s rights activists are hampered by restrictions in freedom of speech and assembly. Moreover, the Iranian constitution is founded on velayat-e faqih, the principle of absolute rule by an Islamic cleric, and a strict interpretation of sharia (Islamic law). Women not wearing the Muslim hijab or scarf in the public space can be sentenced to flogging, and the law stipulates that a woman’s life has only half the value of a man’s. Article 1133 of the Civil Code states a man can divorce his wife whenever he chooses, and Article 1117 ensures a husband can veto his wife’s choice of profession.

The Iranian women’s movement has a history of fighting state-mandated discrimination and violence, including stoning sentences for adultery. It emerged as the most defiant movement of its type in the Muslim world, and during the reform period of President Khatami, activists established more than 600 NGOs and took to the streets in a series of peaceful protests.

Read the rest of Ida Lichter’s article: Iranian Women Face Restrictions

This entry is filed under Iran, Women's Rights and Gender Apartheid.

No Dancing in Public, Women. It Fuels Men’s Desire

By Asma Marwan on June 12, 2013

Another norm based on Sharia is destined to provoke heated debate in the province of Aceh, the only one in Indonesia – the world’s most populous Muslim nation – in which there is Islamic law. The authorities of the district of North Aceh have in fact issued an edict forbidding women to “dance in public.”

The incident has sparked protests by human rights activists and ordinary citizens, who describe the regulation as “bizarre.”

Moreover, the authority of the special territory, in the most western part of the Indonesian archipelago, are no strangers to promulgating laws and regulations (often exclusively directed at women) that are highly unusual and serious source of social unrest: a ban on women straddling motorcycles, police clamp downs on jeans and tight skirts, sectarian tensions that sometimes escalate into Islamist fringe violence against the Christian minority.

Read the rest: No Dancing for Women in Indonesia.

This entry is filed under Arts, Indonesia, Women's Rights and Gender Apartheid.

Arabian Cleric Decrees Women Can’t Turn on Air Conditioners at Home

By Asma Marwan on May 28, 2013

A man identified on Twitter as Abul Ala and claiming to be a Salafist-Wahhabist cleric, has decreed women should not turn on air conditioners or coolers at home, in the absence of their husbands.

According to the Iran-based Al-Alam news network the cleric is alleged to have decreed: “turning on the cooler ventilator is prohibited for women in the absence of their husbands” because “the woman’s act is very dangerous, and may bring about immorality in the society. When she turns the cooler on, someone may notice her presence home, and this might bring about immorality”.

Read the rest here.

This entry is filed under Saudi Arabia, Women's Rights and Gender Apartheid.

A Jihadi in Syria Talks about Women in Islam

By Asma Marwan on May 28, 2013

The interviewee is a young fighter from the extremist Jabhat al-Nuasra Sunni group in Syria affiliated with al-Qaeda in Iraq.

What are your views of women?

The woman in Islam has a special role. She is respected as a wife, a sister, a mother, a daughter. She is a jewel we should preserve and look after. In the West they gave women freedom but they use them and don’t respect them. The woman is to use in adverts. We don’t have an issue with the woman working according to her mind and body. But not jobs that humiliate. Jewellery is okay on women, but not on men, and not too much. Make up should be just for your husband. You can wear coloured clothes and show your face. [The older man disagrees, saying women should cover their face and hands.]

Shouldn’t men also cover up to avoid women looking at other people’s husbands?

Our women ask the same question. Some men can’t control themselves and the woman is the source. It’s easier to prevent abuse. The men’s role is to go out and work. Man’s brain is bigger than the woman’s—that’s scientifically proven. Men’s brains have different areas for speaking and thinking, but women’s don’t which is why women they say what they think.

Read the rest: Syrian Jihadis Talk About a Women in Islam. (h/t Jihad Watch)

This entry is filed under Syria, Women's Rights and Gender Apartheid. | 1 Comment

“Women’s Worth in Islam”

By Asma Marwan on May 15, 2013

Amil Imani, http://amilimani.com/womens-worth-in-islam-2 a Persian Muslim apostate, enumerates all the gender injustice in Islam as only an ex-believer can.

Islam, by fiat, discriminates against women. Qur’an 4:11 “Allah directs you in regard of your Children’s (inheritance): to the male, a portion equal to that of two females…. These are settled portions ordained by Allah.”

There are many more “directives” that for all intents and purposes make women chattel of men. Here are some of the shameful rules and practices of Islamic misogyny.

Women are inferior to men:
“Men have authority over women because God has made the one superior to the other, and because they spend their wealth to maintain them. Good women are obedient. They guard their unseen parts because God has guarded them. As for those whom you fear disobedience, admonish them and send them to beds apart and beat them. Then if they obey you, take no further action against them. Surely God is most high. Qur’an 4:34

Women are worth half the value of a man:
“Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri: The Prophet said, “Isn’t the witness of a women equal to half that of a man?” The women said “yes”. He said “This is because of the deficiency of the women’s mind.” Sahih Bukhari 3:48:82

Women are sex slaves:
“And now, people, you acquire certain rights over your wives, and they do you. The right you acquire over them is that they should not let someone you hate sleep in your beds, and not to commit a manifest obscenity [or adultery]. If they do [commit it], then God has given you permission to leave them alone in their beds and give them a beating, though not too hard. If they give over, they get their provision and clothing with kindness; I command you good-will for your wives, for they are your captives that do not own anything of their own. You have taken them by the faithfulness of God, and made their sexual organs lawful for you by the words of God.” Ibn Hisham, al-Sira al-nabawiyya (Cairo, 1963), 4:251.

Women are a Tilth for Men to Cultivate:
“Your wives are as a tilth unto you; so approach your tilth when or how ye will; but do some good act for your souls beforehand; and fear Allah. And know that ye are to meet Him (in the Hereafter), and give (these) good tidings to those who believe.” Qur’an 2:223

Women are Like Devils
Jabir reported that Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) saw a woman, and so he came to his wife, Zainab, as she was tanning a leather and had sexual intercourse with her. He then went to his Companions and told them: The woman advances and retires in the shape of a devil, so when one of you sees a woman, he should come to his wife, for that will repel what he feels in his heart. Sahih Muslim 8:3240

Woman are Evil Omen:
Narrated ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar: I heard the Prophet saying. “Evil omen is in three things: The horse, the woman and the house.” Sahih Bukhari 4:52:110

Men May Marry up to Four Women”
“If you fear you can not treat orphans (girls) with fairness, then you may marry other women who seem good to you: two, three or four of them. But if you fear that you can not maintain equality among them, marry only one or any slave girls you may own, that will be more suitable. And give the women their dower as a free gift; but if they, of their own good pleasure, remit any part of it to you, eat it with enjoyment, take it with right good cheer and absorb it (in your wealth).” Qur’an 4:3

Violence Against Women”
“Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great.” Qur’an 4:34

Read more: Ex-Muslim Explains Islamic Oppression of Women (h/t to Family Security Matters)

This entry is filed under Women's Rights and Gender Apartheid.

Some Muslim Men Can’t Control Themselves Around Women

By Asma Marwan on May 15, 2013

Muslims do not mix in mosques because it is the nature of men to be attracted to women and whenever they see a female, they may think immorally about them. Haji Nsereko Mutumba, the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) spokesperson, says: “Some men have a high libido and cannot control themselves when they see a woman.”

Read the rest: Why Muslim Men and Muslim Women Sit Separately at Mosque.

I notice they also can’t control themselves around explosives.

This entry is filed under Uganda, Women's Rights and Gender Apartheid. | 1 Comment

The Atlantic Monthly Gives a Disgusting Spin on the Pew Survey about Muslim Women

By Asma Marwan on May 8, 2013

We often talk about “the Islamic world,” or the “Muslim community,” but sometimes it takes being smacked with an enormous, amazing data dump to remind us that Muslims are actually an incredibly diverse group — if you can call them a group — who adhere to views that are informed by their cultural and political context as much as their religion.

For their mammoth new study about the world’s Muslims, the Pew Forum on Religious and Public Life interviewed more than 38,000 Muslims in 39 countries on topics ranging from morality, to politics and justice, and the relationships between the sexes.

There’s a lot to parse here, but one of the most interesting sections is on views about women, given the recent controversy over sexual abuse in India, the flare-up over the “topless jihad,” and the potential resurgence of Sharia law in Syria and other unstable areas.

One big takeaway is this: The way Muslims see the role of women is highly dependent on where they live.

Read the rest: Muslims and women’s rights.

So what we’re supposed to remember is not that Islam oppresses women or that the writer will give us reasons why but that the percentages of those wanting to oppress them vary from country to country. This is the big takeaway? Muslims are an incredibly diverse group? Yes, Islam is just one big tent. Why the percentage of Muslims who think wives must always obey their husbands is only 34% in Kosovo compared to 96% in Malaysia. See the diversity. How disgusting.

The Atlantic Monthly, once a primo intellectual stimulant, has disgraced itself with this spin article.

This entry is filed under Women's Rights and Gender Apartheid.

Bangladesh Islamists Want Women At Home

By Asma Marwan on April 22, 2013

Protests and clashes in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country have diminished in recent weeks but with about 100 dead and thousands injured, tensions remain high. A series of “shutdowns” have been enforced by political groups, more are threatened and many fear violence will flare again.
[ . . . ]
The most recent development is the emergence of a radical conservative Muslim party, Hefazat-e-Islam, as the standard bearer of the religious right. Earlier this month, at a huge rally in Dhaka attended by more than 100,000 according to police, the party issued 13 demands. They included the introduction of measures to stop “alien culture” making inroads in Bangladesh, the reinstatement of the line “absolute trust and faith in the Almighty Allah” in the nation’s constitution, which is largely secular, and a ban on new statues in public places.

But it was Hefazat-e-Islam’s demand that men and women do not mix in public – seen by many as a bid to stop women working outside the home – that most worried Akhter, one of tens of millions of female labourers in Bangladesh’s booming garment industry.
“If we are not allowed to work, how will we survive?” asked Akhter, who supports her elderly parents on her monthly wage of 6,500 takas (£55). “Many of our coworkers were abandoned by their husbands. Some families only have daughters, whose parents are old. What will a single mother do? We will not have any means for a living.”

Muslims Segregate Females at UK University

By Asma Marwan on April 22, 2013

A university is probing claims that some of its Muslim students are enforcing segregation between men and women, it emerged today.

Leicester University spoke of its concerns over photos showing hand-written signs requesting that male and female students sit in separate areas at a public talk by the university’s Islamic Society.

The meeting – which discussed God’s existence – was addressed by Islamic speaker Hamza Tzortzis, who speaks at various campuses and was involved in controversy at another university last month.

[ . . . ]

Leicester University officials told the Daily Telegraph that they would investigate the signs in the photos and ensure that nobody will be forced to sit apart in the future – unless it is their preference.

A spokesman for Mr Tzortzis’s group said genders were sometimes informally segregated at events.

Read the rest here.

This entry is filed under United Kingdom, Women's Rights and Gender Apartheid.

“Muslimah Misogyny” – a Response to Femen

By Asma Marwan on April 11, 2013

Last week I reported deep concern for a young Tunisian Muslima who had disappeared after she posted topless photos of herself to protest the sharia oppression and subjugation she suffered as a Muslim girl. One controversial image showed the young Muslimah, Amina Tyler, smoking a cigarette, baring her breasts, with the message in Arabic written across her chest: “My body belongs to me, and is not the source of anyone’s honour.”

A Muslimcleric in moderate Tunisia called for her stoning death. Tunisian newspaper Kapitalis quoted preacher Almi Adel, who heads the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, saying: “The young lady should be punished according to sharia, with 80 to 100 lashes, but [because of] the severity of the act she has committed, she deserves be stoned to death.” And:“Her act could bring about an epidemic. It could be contagious and give ideas to other women. It is therefore necessary to isolate [the incident]. I wish her to be healed.”
[ . . . ]
Such is the life of millions of Muslim girls who want to be free in Islamic society.

Thankfully, Amina’s story went viral and gained international attention. One of the more outrageous reactions was from the Ukraine-based feminist group, Femen, who staged a Topless Jihad Day, to stand in solidarity with Amina. It’s not what I would do, but I loved the moxie and in-your-face action to call worldwide attention to misogyny under Muslim rule. These feminist activists held “International Topless Jihad Day” in major European cities, including Berlin, Kiev and Paris. They painted their bodies with slogans such as “bare breasts against Islamism,” and they protested outside of mosques in various cities.
[ . . . ]
Finally, a well-publicized response to the crushing subjugation of women under the sharia. But what happened next was ……. unforgivable. Reminiscent of the Muslim women who hold down their daughters for FGM (clitordectomy), a group of Muslim women came out against the Amina Tyler supporters. “Muslim Women Against Femen” was formed to show that Femen “does not speak for all members of their community.”

The members of Muslim Women Against Femen encouraged other self-defeating supporters to participate in Muslimah Pride Day. They are posting pictures of themselves on social media, declaring that they are not oppressed. Well, bully for them. Are they really that selfish? Self-absorbed? Inhuman?

If they are not oppressed, then this campaign has nothing to do with them.

Millions of women under Muslim rule are oppressed like Amina Tyler and suffer unspeakable brutality under the honor violence code of Islam. What about them? How can these Muslimahs turn their back on their sisters?

“Muslim Women Against Femen” may very well choose to wear the niqab or burka or hijab, but that is their choice. They can wear purple hair for all we care. But what about the millions of Muslimahs who are forced to wear it? What about the millions of Muslimahs who are forced into marriage, beaten or honor-killed?