Judging Unveiled Women As Less Moral Is Forbidden In Islam: Egypt’s Al-Azhar
New
Age Islam News Bureau
11
January 2021
• Peace Activist Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi Will Be On Meretz’s List for the March 23 Israel Election
•
Feats of Two Saudis Offer Glimpse of Arab Region’s Female Science Talent
•
Dhaka High Court Bars Women from Being Appointed As Muslim Marriage Registrars Grounds
of Certain Physical Conditions
•
Pope Says Women Can Read at Mass, but Still Can't Be Priests
•
10,000 Women Benefit From Wusool Program In Saudi Arabia
•
Egypt: Number of Female MPs Hits All-Time High
•
Egypt’s First MMA Fighter Blazes Trail for More Women
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL:
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Judging
Unveiled Women As Less Moral Is Forbidden In Islam: Egypt’s Al-Azhar
10
Jan 2021
Veiled Saudi women take photos of their children
during a ceremony to celebrate Saudi Arabia's - Reuters
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CAIRO
– 10 January 2021: It is impermissible in Islam to judge that women without
veil are less moral, said the Egyptian Al-Azhar Fatwa Global Center, saying
“detracting from morals of unveiled women is religiously forbidden.”
The
veil of women is obligatory in Islam and a woman's modesty is a virtue that was
called by all divine religions, the center said.
The
veil of women does not represent an obstacle against those women to achieve
their success or their self-fulfillments, the center added in a statement on
Saturday.
https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/1/96256/Judging-unveiled-women-as-less-moral-is-forbidden-in-Islam
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Peace
Activist Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi Will Be On Meretz’s List for the March 23 Israel
Election
Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi (photo credit: ELAD MALKA)
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By
Gil Hoffman
January
4, 2021
Peace
activist Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi will be on Meretz’s list for the March 23
election, the left-wing party said Monday at a Tel Aviv press conference in an
apparent effort to woo Arab voters.
Rinawie
Zoabi is the founding executive director of Injaz – Centre for Professional
Arab Local Governance. She is not directly related to former Balad MK Haneen
Zoabi or pro-Israel advocate Muhammad Zoabi.
Once
approved by Meretz’s institutions, Rinawie Zoabi’s selection will ensure the
representation of two Arab candidates in the top five on the Meretz list, three
non-Jews in the top 10, as well as equal representation of 50% men and 50%
women in the top 10.
“I
am an Arab Palestinian who lives in Israel and whose family has lived here for
centuries,” Rinawie Zoabi said. “We lost almost everything in 1948. But I am
not here to dwell on the past, and I am not a victim. I come to you as an equal
among equals.”
A
lasting peace agreement between Israel and Palestinians is possible, she said.
Rinawie
Zoabi mocked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for wooing Arab voters.
“The
Arab population is not stupid,” she said. “They know who doesn’t zigzag and who
truly helps them.”
Meretz
faction head Tamar Zandberg welcomed Rinawie Zoabi to Meretz. She accused
Community Development Minister Orly Levy-Abecassis and others of vetoing Arab
candidates ahead of the last election. She blamed Derech Eretz MKs Zvi Hauser
and Yoaz Hendel for preventing a coalition with Arabs.
“Levy,
Hauser and Hendel ran on a ticket of “anyone but Bibi,” but they made it
“anyone but Arabs,” Zandberg said.
Rinawie
Zoabi will be included on the list in place of former MK Ilan Gilon, who
decided not to run in this election campaign due to health issues. The other
candidates on the list will remain in place.
The
list will be headed by Nitzan Horowitz, Zandberg and Yair Golan. Former MKs
Esawi Frej, Mossi Raz and Michal Rozin will be fifth through seventh after
Rinawie Zoabi. After human-rights lawyer Gabi Lasky, the ninth candidate will
be Druze candidate Ali Salalha from Beit Jann. The 10th will be Tel Aviv
Councilwoman Mehereta Baruch-Ron, who is an immigrant from Ethiopia.
Speaking
in Arabic, Frej predicted that Meretz would get 30% to 40% of the Arab vote
“Meretz
comes to Arabs as partners, not a source for votes,” he said.
Idan
Zonshine contributed to this report.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/meretz-unveils-new-arab-woman-candidate-654235
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Feats
of Two Saudis Offer Glimpse of Arab Region’s Female Science Talent
January
10, 2021
DUBAI:
Saudi women are earning global recognition for their achievements in medical
science and research. Two of them recently won awards from the L’Oreal-UNESCO
for Women in Science Middle East Regional Young Talents Program for their work.
One
of the women, Asrar Damdam, 27, was honored in the Ph.D. students’ category for
her role in the development of a pump meant to revolutionize the way a healthy
heartbeat is regulated — combining medicine, electrical engineering and
electro-physics.
“There
are some diseases and heart-related behavioral activities, like heart failure,
that can happen suddenly, and researchers are developing new solutions to this
problem,” Damdam told Arab News.
“We
were investigating the possibility of building a soft-sleeve device with a
built-in actuator to support the heart muscle and aid the pumping
functionality.”
The
project was not without its challenges. The only platform available on the
market was rectangular, which did not conform to the heart’s natural shape.
When Damdam began her research, she turned to nature’s geometries for
inspiration, from spirals to spiderwebs, before settling on the honeycomb.
“The
beehive structure, which is an array of honeycombs, is the nearest to the heart
shape,” she said. “Building a flexible and stretchable array of honeycombs was
a very interesting idea to me, although it included lots of challenges. I liked
it and presented it to my professor, who liked it too and approved it.”
Damdam
then had to consider materials. Silicon was her first choice, owing to its
favorable electrical properties, its abundance and cheapness. However, with her
initial design, it was found to be too delicate.
After
graduating from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
in August 2018, it took Damdam a year to make her breakthrough, following
countless experiments at a highly sophisticated nano-facility.
“The
structure must withstand the heart’s expansion and contraction behavior without
breakage,” she said.
“To
overcome the silicon fragility issue, I used the regular honeycomb shape with
serpentine sides. I designed the platform with a serpentine-shaped interconnect
to form the sides of every honeycomb cell and also to connect the cells with
circular islands, which are located in the middle of each cell, to be used as a
host for electronic components,” she said.
“The
serpentine interconnects introduced the stretchability feature, so when the
heart expands, the platform doesn’t break.”
Damdam
says all bio-compatible devices must be flexible so that they can adapt to the
natural movement of the body and skin. “To achieve this, I made it very thin —
around 15 micrometres,” or 0.015 millimeters.
Although
her project marks only the first step, aimed at proving the viability of the
concept, its reconfigurability means the wider scientific community can build
on the idea and explore the tremendous technological possibilities it opens up.
“The
successful demonstration of the reconfigurability concept using silicon also
enables a lot of applications in bio-medical electronics,” she said. “This was
my main motivation. If this research is improved, then it can really help in
the early detection of cardiovascular diseases, in multi-sensory platforms and
in the development of artificial hearts for transplantation.”
With
the platform now fabricated and her research published in Applied Physics
Letters Journal, Damdam’s attention shifted to the world of start-ups, helped
along by an entrepreneurial training program in California sponsored by the
MiSK Foundation.
While
there, she won a competition and received funding for her start-up idea of
using ultraviolet light to extend the shelf life of food. She says young Saudis
have enormous potential in the world of business.
“We
are very capable, educated and supported,” Damdam said. “We should give back to
our community and country, and actively participate and support the development
process.”
Another
Saudi woman honored, this time in the L’Oréal-UNESCO program’s postdoctoral
researchers’ category, is Lama Al-Abdi in recognition of her research on
chromatin — a substance within chromosomes consisting of DNA and protein — and
the regulation of genes in relation to vision loss.
Al-Abdi,
who is in her early 30s, began her project a few years earlier as an extension
of her Ph.D. research at Purdue University, Indiana, examining how certain
chemical modifications impact DNA.
“It
does not change the DNA per se, but it changes the shape of the DNA itself and
how it interacts with its surroundings,” Al-Abdi told Arab News. “These changes
can be inherited from one generation to another and they play a very important
role in development, embryogenesis, cancer, obesity, diabetes, complex diseases
as well as very simple diseases, such as any eye abnormalities that we may
see.”
Al-Abdi,
who began examining the theme of vision loss as an undergraduate at King Saud
University, now works at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research
Center in Riyadh. She has made significant contributions to medical
understanding of mutations affecting the eye.
Al-Abdi
and her team have recruited test subjects with eye abnormalities to determine
whether their vision loss is the result of a mutation or a change in the DNA —
or on top of the DNA — that may have contributed to the onset of disease.
“When
I first started pursuing chromatin, I was just starting my Ph.D. and my
professor invited a speaker,” she said. “The speaker started talking about
modifications on the DNA, which, to me, was shocking because I had never heard
of it before.
“I
was just in awe because I thought I was quite well immersed in the field of
genetics, but that was a whole new discovery, and I found that I knew nothing.
That was the start and I was hooked.”
Al-Abdi
is involved with several ongoing projects related to eye-development diseases
and why more than one genetic abnormality can appear within the same family and
what can be done to prevent suffering.
In
spite of recent progress, women remain a minority in the science, technology,
engineering and mathematics (STEM) professions, especially in the Middle East
and North Africa (MENA).
According
to 2018 figures from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, just 28.8 percent of
the world’s researchers are women. Female enrolment in engineering,
manufacturing and construction courses stands at just 8 percent worldwide,
while in natural sciences, mathematics and statistics it is 5 percent. For
information and communications technology (ICT), the figure drops to a paltry 3
percent.
With
female doctors, nurses and researchers playing a crucial role in the battle
against COVID-19, experts have repeated their calls on schools, governments and
employers in the region to do more to fix the imbalance.
Since
announcing its goals for the Vision 2030 reform agenda, Saudi Arabia has been
laying the groundwork for women’s empowerment.
Al-Abdi
says she is thrilled to see young Saudi women benefiting from more
encouragement and support to develop their interests and skills.
“I
do see quite a lot of young talented women expanding their knowledge in all
areas,” Al-Abdi said.
“I
wish I had the tools and opportunities when I was younger, but now our
government is putting a lot of effort into motivating, teaching and opening up
opportunities that were not always available for us back then.
“It’s
my dream to motivate and inspire people to do more.”
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1790446/saudi-arabia
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Dhaka
High Court Bars Women from Being Appointed As Muslim Marriage Registrars
grounds Of Certain Physical Conditions
January
11th, 2021
The
full judgement of a verdict delivered in February last year has been published
recently
The
High Court has disqualified women from becoming Muslim marriage registrar on
the grounds of certain physical conditions.
In
its full judgement released recently, the High Court bench of Justice Zubayer
Rahman Chowdhury and Justice Kazi Zinat Hoque observed: "It has to be
borne in mind that due to certain physical conditions a woman cannot enter the
mosque during a certain time of the month. She is even excused from performing
the mandatory daily prayers during this particular time".
"This
physical disqualification does not allow her to conduct religious task. We are
mindful of the fact that Muslim marriage is a religious ceremony and has to be
guided by the terms and dictates of Islam," media reports said quoting the
full verdict.
The
High Court bench delivered the verdict on February 26 last year rejecting a
writ petition filed by Ayesha Siddiqua, a marriage registrar candidate from
Dinajpur.
The
petition was filed challenging a decision of the Law Ministry not to recruit
her as a marriage registrar.
In
its verdict, the High Court also upheld the decision of the ministry that in
2014 said that women cannot be marriage registrar due to the social and
practical conditions in Bangladesh.
https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/court/2021/01/11/high-court-bars-women-from-being-appointed-as-muslim-marriage-registrars
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Pope
says women can read at Mass, but still can't be priests
January
11, 2021
Rome:
Pope Francis changed church law Monday to explicitly allow women to do more
things during Mass, while continuing to affirm that they cannot be priests.
Francis
amended the law to formalize and institutionalize what is common practice in
many parts of the world: that women can read the Gospel and serve on the altar
as eucharistic ministers. Previously, such roles were officially reserved to
men even though exceptions were made.
Francis
said he was making the change to increase recognition of the "precious
contribution'' women make in the church, while emphasizing that all baptized
Catholics have a role to play in the church's mission.
But
he also noted that doing so further makes a distinction between
"ordained'' ministries such as the priesthood and diaconate, and
ministries open to qualified laity. The Vatican reserves the priesthood for
men.
The
change comes as Francis remains under pressure to allow women to be deacons _
ministers who perform many of the same functions as priests, such as presiding
at weddings, baptisms and funerals. Currently, the ministry is reserved for men
even though historians say the ministry was performed by women in the early
church.
Francis
has created a second commission of experts to study whether women could be
deacons, after a first one failed to reach a consensus.
Advocates
for expanding the diaconate to include women say doing so would give women
greater say in the ministry and governance of the church, while also helping
address priest shortages in several parts of the world.
Opponents
say allowing it would become a slippery slope toward ordaining women to the priesthood.
Phyllis
Zagano, who was a member of the pope's first study commission, called the
changes important given they represent the first time the Vatican has
explicitly and through canon law allowed women access to the altar. She said it
was a necessary first step to let women be lectors and perform other ministries
on the altar before any official consideration of the diaconate for women.
Lucetta
Scaraffia, the former editor of the Vatican's women magazine, however, called
the new changes a ``double trap.'' She said they merely formalize what is
current practice, including at papal Masses, while also making clear that the
diaconate is an "ordained'' ministry reserved for men.
"This
closes the door on the diaconate for women,'' she said in a phone interview,
calling the change ``a step backward'' for women.
https://gulfnews.com/world/europe/pope-says-women-can-read-at-mass-but-still-cant-be-priests-1.1610367526085
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10,000
women benefit from Wusool program in Saudi Arabia
January
11, 2021
RIYADH:
The number of beneficiaries of the Human Resources Development Fund’s (Hadaf)
transportation program for Saudi women employees has reached 10,000.
As
per the program’s new mechanism, beneficiaries can receive an 80 percent
discount on the cost of each trip. This is after the ceiling of support has
been increased to SR1,100 ($293) a month for beneficiaries with a monthly wage
not exceeding SR6,000 and SR800 for beneficiaries with a monthly wage of
SR6,001-SR8,000.
The
program aims to find solutions that reduce the burden of transportation costs
for Saudi female workers in the private sector by providing them with subsidies
from Hadaf for high-quality, safe and secure transportation services to and
from the workplace, partnering with taxi companies through licensed smart apps.
The
program aims to increase the participation of women in the labor market and
increase job stability.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1790531/saudi-arabia
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Egypt:
Number of female MPs hits all-time high
January
09, 2021
Ramadan
Al Sherbini
Cairo:
162 women have secured seats in Egypt’s new legislature, the highest in the
country’s parliamentary history, according to figures released Saturday.
They
include 148 women who have won in the legislative elections held in two stages
late last year. President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi last week appointed at the
assembly 28 other members including 14 women. They include ex-information
minister Duria Sharaf Eddin, who is a famed TV anchorwoman.
There
were 89 female lawmakers in the previous legislature, officially named the
House of Representatives.
The
new 596-strong legislature will convene its first meeting on Tuesday when its
members will take the constitutional oath for a five-year term. A new chief and
two deputies will also be elected at the maiden meeting.
Oldest
member
MP
Farida Al Choubachy, a well-known journalist and political writer, will head
the procedural session in her capacity as the oldest member.
Al
Choubachy, 83, expressed happiness for being the first woman to head the procedural
session in Egypt’s parliamentary life. “I am very happy for crowning my
political life with this assignment,” she told Al Watan newspaper.
In
recent years, Egypt has boosted women’s empowerment. The current government
comprises eight female ministers.
https://gulfnews.com/world/mena/egypt-number-of-female-mps-hits-all-time-high-1.76376006
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Egypt’s
first MMA fighter blazes trail for more women
Menna
A. Farouk
Jan
10, 2021
Egypt’s
first female mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter has broken social stereotypes by
pursuing a male-dominated sport and is now encouraging other women to follow
suit.
“I
started in 2000 as a karate player and took the brown belt. Then I joined the
Kung Fu national team and won competitions with the team. When I succeeded in
the sport, I decided to continue with them as well as join other similar
sports,” Aya Saeid, 29, told Al-Monitor.
Then,
Saeid, aka Sheklesa, met captain Mohamed Abdel Hameed who started the MMA sport
in Egypt and established the Top Team. “He is a great mentor and I have always
looked up to him. He trained me until I competed in world competitions,” Saeid
said.
The
Top Team is a mixed martial arts team, trained by Abdel Hameed. Saeid is the
only woman in the team and the first woman to enter the sport in Egypt.
Saeid,
who has a husband and a daughter, faced many challenges once she decided to
practice the sport, as she was living in an underprivileged and very
conservative neighborhood where she was subject to a lot of criticism.
“They
were telling me that I am like a man and not a woman. At times I got deeply
depressed, but my father always supported me and he encouraged me to keep
going,” she said.
Saeid
is not only an MMA fighter, but she is also an international coach. Three years
ago, she started teaching courses that qualify women as fighters and coaches.
She
also taught several courses in self-defense to help girls defend themselves
against sexual harassment or any kind of violence.
“I
do not only want to take part and win international competitions, but I also
want to encourage other women who have a passion to follow suit and set up the
first [female] MMA team in Egypt,” she said.
MMA
is a relatively new sport that started in the United States in 1993, and it
mixes other types of martial arts with all modes of striking and wrestling.
Gloves
and a toothpick bo staffs are the two permitted tools for an MMA fighter during
a match, which consists of three rounds of five minutes each with a minute
break in between.
The
match ends with a knockout, surrender or a decision by the referee.
“It
is not an easy sport. It is very hard and it needs passion, but I have seen
many women who are passionate about MMA,” Saied said. “Women should be given an
opportunity to enter any field they like because they can do anything as long
as they have the passion for it."
According
to the 2015 Global Gender Gap Index, Egypt ranks low in gender equity compared
to other countries worldwide.
The
index, which measures disparities between men and women across countries,
ranked Egypt at 136 out of 145 countries. It reported that women have
significantly lower participation in the labor force than men — 26% versus 79%.
“Women
are still underrepresented in workplaces in general and sports in particular
and the increase of their representation would not only benefit those women
socially and economically but also would benefit the state,” said Randa Fakhr
el-Deen, a women's rights activist and executive director of the Union on
Harmful Practices Against Women.
She
told Al-Monitor that having those women fighting for a place in sports and the
workplace would gradually break the social stereotypes and increase women’s
representation in Egyptian society.
Saeid
aspires to have her own academy where she can train more women in the sport and
enable them to defend themselves in any situation of violence or sexual
harassment.
A
2017 Thomson Reuters Foundation poll found Cairo to be the most dangerous
megacity for women, and a United Nations' survey in 2013 found that over 99.3%
of women had experienced harassment in Egypt, a country where women have long
felt disadvantaged.
“I
want women to not only practice the sport but also make it part of their lives
as a means of defending themselves in any situation,” Saied concluded.
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2021/01/egypt-women-mma-fighter-sports-gender-disparity.html
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