Wacana Islam: security

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Friday, June 10, 2011

Women's rights and coercion-family security matters

I have been producing a weekly synopsis and articles on the global encroachment of Islam for about two years. In that time, a week hasn’t passed without certain ‘staples’ of Islam perpetrated on Muslims and non-Muslims alike. One of the traits that are unquestionably unique to Islam is ‘forced conversion’.With very little research, it is easy to discover that forced conversion in hand with over-breeding, is part of a larger Islamic strategy to achieve the state of Dar al-Islam, or the ‘house of Islam’. Simply defined, it is the chipping away at a country until it is an Islamic state and continuing this, on a global scale, until all religion is for Allah. The weekly synopsis certainly gives a clear picture of this objective.This past week, The Pakistan Christian Post reported on yet another case of young girls being kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam. The father of the girls, Rehmat Masih, was told by a rich, local businessman that he intended to marry both daughters and had threatened to kidnap them if this wasn’t approved of. A complaint to the local Police Station proved pointless as the Police refused to take action.A few days later, the girls were kidnapped by the man while on the way home from a market. Rehmat rushed back to the Police Station to complain. After an investigation, Rehmat was accused of making false accusations against the Muslim business man. It was further stated that Rehmat was a drunk and that he often beat his daughters and they had likely ran away from home to escape this treatment.Forced conversion isn’t unique to Pakistan and in fact regularly occurs in Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Egypt and even England. It begs the question, what could possibly embolden the adherents of Islam to engage in such a heinous act? The answer is simple, the teachings of Mohammad.Islam was spread by the sword after a slight initial, peaceful hiccup. The warlord and slave –trader Mohammed’s war conquests are very concisely documented. Sûrah al-Baqarah 256: Allah says, “Let there be no compulsion in religion. Truth has been made clear from error. Whoever rejects false worship and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that never breaks. And Allah hears and knows all things”. Sadly, this verse and other verses of peace were replaced by more violent ones, like Sura 8:12, 9:5, 47:4 and many others. Prior to emigrating from Mecca to Medina (the Hijra) in 622 CE, Mohammad preached sermons of peace and tolerance, taking and perverting verses from the Bible, the Torah and sacred Greek texts. This had proven to be an abject failure to Mohammad, as barely 100 to 150 people had converted to Islam in its first 13 years. Most of these converts were either close or long-time friends or members of his family.From 624 CE, raids on defenseless communities reaped great rewards for the early Muslims in slaves, wealth and converts to Islam. A large portion of these people converted for self-preservation as the warring Muslims murdered, tortured, enslaved and raped their way across Arabia. This had proven a more lucrative tact to the one of peace and tolerance.This is accentuated in Ibn Ishaq 814: “Submit and testify that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is the apostle of Allah before you lose your head”. As well as Sahih Muslim 31:5917: “Fight with them until they bear testimony to the fact that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his Messenger.” The people of Mecca who refused to convert to Islam were forcibly removed following Mohammed’s last sermon in 632 CE. The same offer was made to the Christians and Jews in Arabia, though their choice was extended to either accept Islam as their faith, leave their land or be killed.From Mohammed’s last sermon, Koran 9:5, “Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them and prepare for them each ambush. But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then leave their way free. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.” “I have heard the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) say:’ I will expel the Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula and will not leave any but Muslim’.”In June 2008, Saba and Anila Younas, both Christian girls from Pakistan, were abducted by a group of Muslims, and forced to marry and convert to Islam. When the matter came before the court, Naeem Sardar, the District and Sessions Judge, ordered that the girls were not to be remanded to their Christian parents because the girls are Muslim now.In June 2009, a Hindu woman Koli Goswami, 21, from Bangladesh was asleep in her bed when five Muslim men broke into the family home. They vandalized her home and attacked other family members that attempted to intervene before they abducted her. After some investigation by authorities, Koli’s mother was told that she had converted to Islam after a ‘long, mutual love affair’ with one of the abductors. Her parents eventually gave up pressuring authorities for answers, Koli’s mother stated, “we are afraid we may further be attacked and our other daughters might be abducted.”In January 2010, Joselyn Cabrera, a Filipino Catholic nurse working at Riyadh Hospital in Saudi Arabia said, “After some months, employers give you an ultimatum, telling you to become Muslim to keep your job. For us, it is hard to make such a choice, but if we don’t, we become the victims of abuse.”In her 10 years in The Kingdom, she said she saw at least 50 forced conversions at work. She tells of another woman that refused to convert that was raped, became pregnant and jailed under Saudi Law. She then later miscarried because of harsh conditions in the prison.In March 2010, Chakra News reported that “Susceptible teenage girls who are forced to convert to Islam by Muslim men are being protected by London police.” ‘Aggressive conversions’ at university campuses are being discovered and Police are looking into finding the groups of men responsible. The Hindu forum of Britain has claimed that Hindu and Sikh girls are the primary targets of these terrorizing men who lure girls and take them out on dates before revealing to them that they must convert.On April 19, 2011, USNewswire released the following statement: “Eighteen Members of Congress, from both parties, expressed “concern over continuing reports of abductions, forced marriages and exploitation of Coptic women and girls in Egypt”.Writing on the 16th of April to Ambassador Luis C deBaca, Director of the State Department’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Office, the Members noted that they had received disturbing reports documenting ‘a criminal phenomenon that includes fraud, physical and sexual violence, captivity, forced marriage and exploitation in forced domestic servitude or commercial sexual exploitation and financial benefit to the individuals who secure the forced conversion of the victim.’According to a statement of the Canadian Egyptian Organization for Human Rights on the situation of the Coptic minority in Egypt, Islamist groups practice forced conversions of members of the Coptic community to Islam: “Forced conversion of members of the Coptic community to Islam, largely publicized as a psychologically demeaning tactic against the minority, is practiced by Islamism groups under police manipulation and with their cooperation. Some of these cases start with rape of underage girls.From Mohammed’s day to present day the heinous action of forced conversion continues, unabated and with little acknowledgment by anyone other than advocacy groups.The above article appears in the latest edition (Part 13) of Vin’s Notes (pdf). The article below appears in Part 12 of Vin’s Notes (pdf).The (Lack of) Rights of a Muslim WomanThe Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia is in the news again, with the arrest of a 32 year old female Computer Security Consultant named Manal al-Sharif.Manal was arrested by Saudis religious traffic police for ‘inciting women to drive’ and ‘inciting public opinion’. Two days prior to her arrest, Manal had posted a video of herself on YouTube, defying what is in effect a religious ban or ‘fatwa’, on driving. There is no actual legislation for banning women to drive in the Kingdom. Manal was imprisoned for 5 days after also being arrested the previous day, where she had signed a pledge, affirming that she will not drive. A local Saudi news organization, Sabq, claims that it has insider information that Manal’s prison sentence has been extended by ten days, starting from 26th, May.Manal’s lawyer stated that ‘since the driving ban, the only one of its kind in the world is based on a religious fatwa, rather than a law. Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah, whose regime adheres to a strict Wahhabi strain of Sunni Islam, ultimately has the power to decide whether women should drive. This is the pressure from some fathers, brothers and other members of the family, preventing women from taking up this right, along with the ultra-conservatives have come out in full force against Manal with Sheikh Nasser Al Omer giving a sermon on the matter of women driving.Manal is a vocal advocate on the issue of women driving and with a group called Women2Drive, has called upon women across Saudi Arabia to show solidarity and drive their cars in a nationwide protest on June 17 this year. A 12,000 member Facebook page supporting the protest was removed by authorities, but more pages have since sprouted up in its place.News site Ansamedreported recently that another Facebook page, with some 6,000 members has now entered the debate, though this page is calling for the beating of women drivers. The page titled, ‘The Iqal Campaign: June 17 for preventing women from driving,’ refers to the Arabic name for the cord used to hold on the traditional headdress worn by many men in the Gulf, advocates the cord be used to beat women who dare to drive.Muslims and their apologists will tell you the rights for women were laid down by Allah long before the rest of the world. Here is the typical PR line that they would have you believe: The rights of Muslim women were given to us by Allah who is All-Compassionate, All-Merciful, All-Just, All-Unbiased, All-Knowing and Most Wise. These rights, which were granted to women more than 1400 years ago, and were taught, by the perfect example of the Prophet Muhammad, were given by the one who created us and who alone knows what rights are best for our female natures, Allah says in the Koran.Who suffers most from this abrogation? Infidels and women. Here are some actual verses from the Koran that contradicts the PR view: Koran (24:31) – “And say to the believing women that they cast down their looks and guard their private parts and do not display their ornaments except what appears thereof, and let them wear their head-coverings over their bosoms, and not display their ornaments except to their husbands or their fathers, or the fathers of their husbands, or their sons, or the sons of their husbands, or their brothers, or their brothers’ sons, or their sisters’ sons, or their women, or those whom their right hands possess, or the male servants not having need (of women), or the children who have not attained knowledge of what is hidden of women; and let them not strike their feet so that what they hide of their ornaments may be known.” This verse were spawned from Mohammed’s jealousy of his followers lusting after his many wives and slaves and thus, affects millions of women worldwide to this very day.It has also sparked controversy with various countries looking to ban the Burka, as it represents a symbol of female oppression. So we have a woman’s right to cover up as men cannot be responsible for raping a woman if she is uncovered.In October 2006, the Grand Mufti of Australia, Sheikh Taj El-Din Hilaly delivered a Ramadan sermon in Arabic in which he made statements concerning female clothing which proved highly controversial. The key part of the sermon was: “If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it … whose fault is it, the cats’ or the uncovered meat? The uncovered meat is the problem. If she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab, no problem would have occurred.”In March this year, the unmarried partner of Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard had visa issues when attempting to visit Indonesia. The Muslims of that country did not understand this type of relationship and in fact, with so much Koranic verse about women being less than men, Muslims the world over have issues with any women in authority. Some of the Indonesian delegation had a problem with shaking the Prime Ministers hand.Islamic or Sharia courts have sprung up in parts of the Non Muslim world. In the UK, there are reportedly over 90 such courts. The line the Muslims use to get Sharia in the door relates to inheritance and divorce. In regards to inheritance, the Koran says: Koran (4:11 and 4:176) – (Inheritance) “The male shall have the equal of the portion of two females.”Islamic verse in both the Koran and Hadith also tells us the women are unclean, similar to a good goat or cow and incapable of looking after themselves. Luckily Allah made it so that men are in charge of women: Koran (4:34) – “Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). Koran (66:5) – “Maybe, his Lord, if he divorce you, will give him in your place wives better than you, submissive, faithful, obedient, penitent, adorers, fasters, widows and virgins.” Simply put, if a woman doesn’t behave, she can be replaced.Koran (5:6) – “And if ye are unclean, purify yourselves. And if ye are sick or on a journey, or one of you cometh from the closet, or ye have had contact with women, and ye find not water, then go to clean, high ground and rub your faces and your hands with some of it” Tabari Vol 9, Number 1754 – “Treat women well, for they are [like] domestic animals with you and do not possess anything for themselves.” All around the Muslim world, a married woman who is raped is called an adulterer and a single woman is a fornicator. As a man surely cannot be held responsible for his own carnal desires, the onus of proof lies squarely on the shoulders of the woman.Koran (24:4) – “And those who accuse free women then do not bring four witnesses (to adultery), flog them…”Koran (24:13) – “Why did they not bring four witnesses of it? But as they have not brought witnesses they are liars before Allah.”Realistically, 1,400 years of abusing women bring us to where we are today with Manal in Saudi Arabia. A believer in Islam is one who accepts that Allah is God, Mohammed is his Messenger and the Koran and Hadith are the ultimate authority. The teachings of the Koran and the evidence in daily articles from the Muslim world and the rantings of Imams and assorted holy men etc. prove without a doubt, the worth of a woman in Islam.I would like to give a special note of thanks to the amazing Erin Fiora, who selflessly assists me in the production of this note.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Saudi Arabia: security forces clamp down behind the alleged campaign that ...-Los Angeles Times

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SAUDI ARABIA: Security forces clamp down on those allegedly behind campaign to defy ban on women drivers

Comments (11) May 23, 2011 | 8:08am

Saudi Arabian authorities have clamped down on women's rights activists after a bold call by a group of women in the ultra-conservative kingdom on social media sites on the Internet to break a ban on women driving.

Saudi police arrested at least two people linked to the campaign and shut down a Facebook page meant to promote civil disobedience, according to the Abu Dhabi-based English-language newspaper the National.

Saudi security forces loyal to King Abdullah, whose family has ruled the kingdom for 80 years, arrested Manal Sharif, a 32-year-old computer security consultant, and her brother, the National reported.

On Facebook and Twitter, activists had launched a campaign calling on women in Saudi Arabia who hold international drivers' licenses to get behind the wheel on Friday, June 17, and drive their cars to protest the country's ban on women driving.

Their call is a daring initiative. Women who have defied the ban in the past have lost their jobs, been banned from travel and denounced by members of the country's powerful extremist religious establishment.

The women say their planned move is not a protest nor an attempt to break the law, but rather a bid to claim basic rights as human beings.

"We women in Saudi Arabia, from all nationalities, will start driving our cars by ourselves," read a statement posted on the group's Facebook site, I will Drive Starting June 17, before Saudi censors took it down. "We are not here to break the law or demonstrate or challenge the authorities. We are here to claim one of our simplest rights. We have driver's licenses and we will abide by traffic laws."

Their Facebook group had garnered more than 11,000 supporters and around 3,000 people follow the group's account on Twitter.

Critics say Saudi, a staunch U.S. ally and largest exporter of oil in the world, has a horrific record on human rights and women's liberties. In addition, it's said to be pumping cash into global Islamic organizations that promote extremist Islamic thinking across the Islamic world, including the nascent democracies in Egypt and Tunisia.

But some Saudis themselves are trying to challenge the conservativism of their own country.

On recent incident suggests things are already heating up on the women's ban driving issue. A few days ago, 30-year-old Saudi housewife and mother Najla Hairiri told Agence-France Presse how she drove her car in the streets of the Saudi Red Sea port city of Jeddah for four days before getting stopped.

She took the decision "to defend her belief that Saudi women should be allowed to drive" and said she wasn't afraid of being hauled into detention for flouting the driving ban because she felt she was setting a good example for her daughter and other young Saudi women.

"I don't fear being arrested because I am setting an example that my daughter and her friends are proud of,'' she said, adding that she also offers driving lessons for women.

Below is a video clip showing Saudi women's right activist Wajeha Huwaidar driving her car in a rural part of the kingdom on International Women's Day in 2008 and talking about the problems that come with not letting women drive in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia adheres to a strict interpretation of the ultra-conservative Wahabi version of Sunni Islam. Aside from being banned from driving, Saudi women face a myriad of other restrictions. They cannot travel on their own without getting authorization from a male guardian, cannot receive an education without male approval, and are not allowed to cast ballots in municipal elections -- the only kind of elections that currently exist in the absolute monarchy.

If the call for defying the driving ban on women materializes on June 17, it will not be the first time women in Saudi Arabia will have gotten behind the wheel and taken to the streets in protest. On Nov. 6, 1990, a group of women drove through the streets of the Saudi capital Riyadh before getting pulled over and stopped.

Several of the women reportedly lost their jobs and were denounced as by powerful religious figures.

Recent comments by Saudi religious clerics about the June 17 campaign suggest the sight of women driving in the streets will go down with the religious clergymen as badly as it did in 1990.

Saudi cleric Mohammed Nujaimi told Bloomberg News that the women's plan was “against the law" and that driving does “more harm than good” to women, because they might intermingle with males who are not their relatives, such as mechanics and gas-station attendants.

-- Alexandra Sandels in Beirut

Photo: A screenshot of the Facebook group "I Will Drive Starting June 17". Credit: Facebook. Video credit: YouTube

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Comments (11)

The Saudi royal family are idiots. By being so firmly anti-change that they can't even concede on a little issue such as females driving (which most in power have at least SAID they realize is outdated and irrational) they're validating the point that there can be no change in the kingdom without eradication of the monarchy itself.
Instead of bribing his subjects with two months salary and a day off, the king could tackle big issues in the kingdom himself, addressing all the concerns of the opposition groups and taking the credit for all the improvements himself, saying, "Look how in tune we are with the people's needs. You don't want democracy- a good king will take care of business without all the gridlock of the democratic process. The royal family is the force moving this country forward"
I'm beginning to think the Saudis wrote that secret handbook every Arab leader seems to have when it comes to movements of change.

Posted by:MLE |May 23, 2011 at 10:38 PM

@Desert nomad

I agree that Saudi Wahhabism is one of the most extremist brands of Islamic doctrine, but it's not like other forms of FUNDAMENTALIST Islam are much better. Look no further than other Sharia-infested regions like Egypt & Pakistan to see that ANY form of Sharia Law is Draconian and barbaric:

http://pewglobal.org/2010/12/02/muslims-around-the-world-divided-on-hamas-and-hezbollah/

----

% of Muslims who want DEATH PENALTY for those leaving Islam:

Egypt (84%)

Pakistan (82%)

-----

% of Muslims endorsing STONING TO DEATH of adulterers (98% WOMEN):

Egypt (82%)

Pakistan (76%)

---

SHARIA LAW IS SUCH A MAJOR VIOLATION OF BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS THAT IT CANNOT BE TOLERATED IN CIVILIZED NATIONS...PERIOD.

Posted by:Verballistic |May 23, 2011 at 07:52 PM

Would someone please give the Saudis a calendar?
It is 2011 not 1120.

Posted by:Dave Smith |May 23, 2011 at 06:48 PM

Re: dancing scorpion and others who have made comments, firstly Saudi follow the 'wahabbi' sect which is different to traditional Islam is also banned as traditional Islam gave rights to women. These camel riding donkeys who became rich overnight due to oil are ignorant bedouins and the royal family are linked to mr Wahhabi- please google mr w as he is part of this mess. I am an expat and can truly say I have found it easier to follow traditional Islam in uk rather than Saudi. Driving is the least of my concern, I can't even walk outside, what use is a car when I can't use my feet!!!

Posted by:Desert nomad |May 23, 2011 at 02:01 PM

Sarah and Esther...Hmmm

Posted by:Dancing Scorpion |May 23, 2011 at 12:08 PM

Several studies in America have shown that "women" are the cause of more traffic incidents than males. The answer to Arabia's problem is simply to refuse licenses to "women." No one, after all, wants the intermingling of women at the gas station with ignorant, horny men. And women having to fill their own gas tanks and coming home stinking of gas sounds really repulsive. They also shouldn't be allowed to smoke. Tabacco and "ganga," quite popular in Arabia, adversely affect the unborn. Islam should be respected for the
medieval, non-democratic blood religion that it is. It simply doesn't fit well in the post Magna Carta age of the unwashed, loud-mouthed masses. Therefore, I always strongly urge Muslims not to immigrate to Europe or America. Stay home, stay where you belong, I say. Good advice is very hard to come by, anymore.

Posted by:Dancing Scorpion |May 23, 2011 at 12:05 PM

Saudi Arabia is the same fascist state whose RELIGIOUS POLICE in 2002 forced 15 young schoolgirls back into a BURNING school building because they were not "properly covered" with veils, burqas, etc.

The girls all perished in the fire, in a blatant example of the BARBARIC nature of a Draconian code known as Sharia Law. Sharia Law places ridiculous, twisted rules over & above human rights and cannot be tolerated under any circumstances.

As for those claiming Iran is somehow less fascist than Saudi Arabia it should be pointed out that the ONLY difference is that Saudi Arabia is a SUNNI fascist state & Iran is a SHI'ITE fascist state. If you dont believe me, go to YouTube and do a search for the phrase "Neda Agha Soltan Killed" and you will see a chilling video showing the death throes of a brave young Iranian woman who was brutally gunned down in the streets of Tehran by Iran's RELIGIOUS POLICE aka Adolf Ahmadinejad's thuggish goon squad.

Posted by:Verballistic |May 23, 2011 at 11:44 AM

Sarah, you are %100 on the target. Isn't it amazingly clear how Iran phobia has become a norm and a daily occurrence here!

Posted by:Esther Haman |May 23, 2011 at 09:56 AM

I LOVE IT. MORE POWER TO THESE BRAVE WOMEN OR ARABIA. PUT THE FAT FASCISTS TYRANTS IN THEIR PLACE. PROPHET MOHAMED DID NOT WANTED IT THIS WAY AND HE NEVER DEMANDED HIS WIFE TO TAKE THE BACK SIT TO HIM.

Posted by:Esther Haman |May 23, 2011 at 09:52 AM

Why are we in Afghanistan again? The US needs to be in Saudi Arabia , Bahrain, and Yemen to not only free the people from the dictators of those countries and their ultra-conservative Wahabi version of Sunni Islam, but to also secure their oil and prevent the funding of Islamic extremist groups with money from oil sales.

It really is no surprise that Osama Bin Laden and his suicidal cronies who flew planes into the Twin Towers were from these countries in particular. An environment of extremism fosters more extremism and allows it to spread like a cancer.

Posted by:The_Enlightened_One |May 23, 2011 at 09:16 AM

If Iran was preventing women from driving, stories like this would have been on the front page of every western newspaper.

Posted by:Sarah |May 23, 2011 at 08:34 AM

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