Saudi Scholar Calls for Mandatory Marriage Workshop
New Age Islam News Bureau
19 Feb 2013
• Employing Female Cashiers Is Human Trafficking: Saudi Arabia Study
• Hazara Women Refuse To Bury Pakistan Bomb Dead
• 22 Khula (Divorce Initiated By Women) Cases Filed In the West Bank in Three Months
• Sexual Harassment Cases in Pakistan Not Acknowledged For Fear Of Tainted Reputations’
• Afghan Women Join Army for Night Raids
• Pakistan CJ Takes Suo Motu Notice Of 11-Year-Old Girl’s Rape, Murder
• Seven to Hang for Sudan Child Rape, Lawyer Says
• Pride, Prejudice and Interracial Marriages in Indonesia
• Pakistan Joins One Billion Rising To Fight Abuse
• 11 Women among Many Who Completed Programs at Prince Naif Rehab Centre
• British Women Who Turn To Islam
• Man Who Divorced His Child Bride and the Judge Who Joked Women ‘Enjoy’ Rape Could Be Sacked
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
Photo: Employing Female Cashiers Is Human Trafficking: Saudi Arabia Study
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/saudi-scholar-calls-mandatory-marriage/d/10480
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Saudi Scholar Calls for Mandatory Marriage Workshop
Inability to interact with spouse in first year blamed for high divorce rate
By Habib Toumi
February 17, 2013
Manama: A leading Saudi religious figure has called for holding compulsory special workshops on matrimony for all young men and women about to get married.
“The justice ministry should ensure that the marriage contract is not endorsed by a court of law unless the two spouses prove that they have gone through the mandatory workshop,” Saeed Al Qah’tani said.
The scholar attributed his call to the high rise in divorce rates in the Saudi kingdom.
“The rate has exceeded 50 per cent in some regions in the country and this is alarming,” he said. “This clearly indicates that there is a serious and grave issue about understanding and appreciating the responsibilities of spouses towards each other,” he said, quoted by local Arabic daily Okaz on Sunday.
Several focus groups with expertise in families in Saudi Arabia could offer the required counselling, he said.
“We have noted that several young men and women are not good at the art of living with their spouses, and this often results in the failure to interact with them positively, especially in the beginning. This often leads to a divorce in the first year of their married life,” he said. “It is obvious that they need a counselling workshop that should last at least five days. An evaluation test is needed at the end of the workshop,” he said.
Al Qah’tani said that local businessmen should assume their responsibilities towards the Saudi society by supporting pro-family groups.
“The business community should support the society in which they invest their money,” he said. “Investment should not have returns only for the business people, but also for the society as a whole because without the society, there can be no investment. We call upon them to support groups promoting family cohesion,” he said.
Warnings about the rise in divorce in the Gulf countries have become more intense as figures released by several ministries have become a source of concern about the future of the local societies.
According to reports, the Gulf countries now have some of the highest divorce rates in the world, and activists have been pushing for promoting campaigns and introducing new requirements, such as the mandatory counselling workshops, to help reverse the tendency.
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/saudi-arabia/saudi-scholar-calls-for-mandatory-marriage-workshop-1.1147325
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Employing Female Cashiers Is Human Trafficking: Saudi Arabia Study
18 February 2013
Employing females as cashiers is a form of human trafficking like sexual exploitation, forced labour and organ trafficking, according to a recent study conducted in Saudi Arabia.
Objectifying women comes in different forms, such as exploitation in media, advertising, flight attendants, receptionists, and supermarket clerks or cashiers, argues the study, a graduate research paper at the Imam Mohammad bin Saud Islamic University.
The study’s author Mohammad al-Bogami cited several religious rulings by prominent Muslim scholars and imams forbidding the employment of women as cashiers due to the possibility of gender mixing. He describes this integration as a gateway for women to be tempted by men.
Bogami writes that Muslim scholars consider it human trafficking if the goal of hiring women is to use their looks to attract customers.
Human trafficking does not stop at people selling their bodies or parts of their bodies; it extends to any kind of slavery or sexual exploitation, the London-based al-Hayat newspaper reported Bogami as saying.
Saudi Arabia’s top clerics have challenged the government’s policy of expanding jobs for women, with a fatwa (religious edict) that they should not work as cashiers in supermarkets.
“It is necessary to keep away from places where men congregate. Women should look for decent work that does not make it possible for them to attract men or be attracted by men,” according to the fatwa.
The ruling came from the Committee on Scholarly Work and Ifta, the official issuer of Fatwas, under the Council of Senior Scholars, the top authority for Islamic issues in the kingdom.
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2013/02/18/267023.html
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Hazara Women Refuse To Bury Pakistan Bomb Dead
19 February 2013
Ethnic Hazara women in the Pakistani city of Quetta are refusing to bury the bodies of scores of people killed by a huge bomb in a Shia commercial area.
Shia Muslim Hazaras are furious at what they see as a lack of protection from local and national forces, in the face of repeated attacks.
Saturday's bomb ripped through a busy market district, killing at least 84 and injuring some 169 people.
The huge attack - the second this year - was carried out by Sunni militants.
As many as 4,000 women began a sit-in in Quetta, in south-west Pakistan, on Sunday evening.
The blocked a road and refused to carry out the traditional ritual of burying the Hazara dead until action was taken against the bombers, the AFP news agency reported.
One local Shia leader, Qayyum Changezi, told AFP the protesters "will not bury the dead until a targeted operation is launched".
Reports said thousands of angry Hazaras moved the bodies to a local mosque but then began chanting and protesting instead of proceeding with the burials.
Strikes and protests were reported elsewhere in the country as well, including the commercial capital Karachi.
Deadly 2013
Sunni militant group Laskhar-e-Jhangvi said it had carried out the bombing, which hit a largely Hazara area of Quetta.
The attack was the second highly destructive bombing in Quetta in the space of a month. In January bombers targeted a snooker hall in the city, killing some 90 people.
Another bomb at a Shia mosque earlier in February killed 24 people, raising the Shia death toll to more than 200 in less than two months of 2013, according to reports.
On Sunday, Balochistan Governor Nawab Zulfikar Magsi - given greater powers after the recent blasts - said local security forces were either "too scared or too clueless" to act.
He said he had given security forces a "free hand" to take action against extremist groups, but that this had clearly failed.
He said: "It's their job to pre-empt such attacks. That's what they are paid for."
BBC Afghan's Imran Ali says the inaction has come as no surprise to the Hazara community, and frequent targeted killings and bomb explosions in Quetta mean many Hazaras are living in a state of fear.
Many are apprehensive to leave their homes and those who work in areas that are deemed dangerous are told by their employers to stay at home, our reporter adds.
Quetta is the capital of Balochistan province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, and has been plagued by a separatist rebellion as well as sectarian violence.
Hundreds of Shia Hazaras in Quetta have been killed in attacks over the past few years.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21495975
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22 Khula (Divorce Initiated By Women) Cases Filed In the West Bank in Three Months
Introducing law last year had positive effect on women and families, Sharia Council says
By Nasouh Nazzal, Correspondent
February 19, 2013
Ramallah: The annual report of the Palestinian Higher Sharia Council revealed on Monday that a total of 22 Khula cases were been filed by women in the West Bank in the last three months of 2012.
Khula is a process in which the woman can initiate a divorce in return for compensating the husband the Mehar (dowry) that he paid at the time of the marriage.
Dr Yousuf Edais, who heads the Council, said that introducing the Khula law in September 2012 had positive effect on women and families with strict instructions to the Sharia courts to process the Khula cases with the maximum possible speed. “A big number of those Khula cases have already been processed and divorces have been secured for the women who filed those cases,” said Dr Edais.
He said that divorce cases filed by women in the past used to take years and that none of those cases had been completed. “We did not have a Khula law in the past and the Sharia judges did not know how to handle the divorce cases filed by the women,” he said.
“Since the Khula law was imposed and the relative amendments imposed on the Sharia judicial system, the entire judicial situation has been changed in favour of the women and the wives,” he said.
West Bank based women’s associations have welcomed the annual report, urging the Sharia judicial system to process thousands of other untouched Khula cases already filed years ago.
Dr Rawda Baseer, who heads the Women’s Studies Centre, told Gulf News that the Khula law and the relative amendments create a fairer atmosphere for women in Palestine. “Women with domestic problems spend endless time in the Sharia courts while men, on the other hand, can easily solve their domestic problems with a second marriage,” she said.
“The Khula law is the right tool to spare us many problems and it is just the right exit for domestic problems which mar Palestinian society, especially during the engagement and before the marriage night,” she said.
Dr. Baseer said that when a woman reaches the conclusion that she could not remain a partner in a marriage, she should have the right to end that marriage with no hindrances at all. “It is not the right of a certain partner [the man] to avenge, humiliate, or control the woman. She should have the right to say no and to implement that reply,” she said.
From the Islamic perspective, the man has the right to divorce his wife and has the right to marry for the second, third and fourth time. In contrast, the woman typically suffers uncertainty and confusion as little remains in her hands.
She said that the Palestinian society is a male-dominated society where many do not believe in real partnership between a man and woman. “This attitude should come to an end and only the laws carefully implemented can get this job done,” she said.
“The domestic problems badly affect the energy, activism and capabilities of women in our society,” she warned, adding that solutions to the women’s problems should be supplied to secure their maximum production and output.
The Palestinian Higher Sharia Council said that a total of 3,830 divorces were finalised in the West Bank during 2012. During the same period, 24,000 marriages were registered in the West Bank based Sharai Courts, producing a 16 per cent of divorce rate.
http://gulfnews.com/news/region/palestinian-territories/22-Khula-cases-filed-in-the-palestinian-territories-in-three-months-1.1147950
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Sexual Harassment Cases in Pakistan Not Acknowledged For Fear Of Tainted Reputations’
February 19, 2013
Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act 2010
In March 2010, President Asif Ali Zardari signed the Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace bill into law, which seeks to create a safe working environment for women, free of intimidation and abuse.
The law defines harassment as “any unwelcome sexual advance, request for sexual favours or other verbal or written communication or physical conduct of a sexual nature or sexually demeaning attitudes, causing interference with work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment, or the attempt to punish the complainant for refusal to comply to such a request or is made a condition for employment”.
Formation of a three-member inquiry committee was made mandatory under Section 3 of the Act. The law requires that at least one member of the committee is a woman. The committee is required to submit its findings within 30 days and to impose penalties, which, in serious cases, can result in dismissal from service and fine.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/509105/what-constitutes-sexual-harassment/
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Afghan women join army for night raids
19 February 2013
The Afghan army is training female Special Forces to take part in night raids against insurgents, breaking new ground in an ultraconservative society and filling a vacuum left by departing international forces.
“If men can carry out this duty why not women?” asks Lena Abdali, a 23-year-old Afghan soldier who was one of the first women to join one of the special units in 2011.
Afghan women have been part of their nation’s security forces for years, but they didn’t start being recruited for the Special Forces until 2011. Defense Ministry spokesman Gen.
Full report at:
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/afghan-women-join-army-for-night-raids.aspx?pageID=238&nID=41192&NewsCatID=356
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Pakistan CJ Takes Suo Motu Notice Of 11-Year-Old Girl’s Rape, Murder
By Azam Khan
February 18, 2013
ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry took a suo moto notice on Monday against the murder of an 11-year-old girl who was gang-raped and burnt to death in Islamabad.
The action was taken after Registrar’s Office filed a note citing news reports of unidentified people raping a girl and setting her body on fire before dumping it in a ditch.
The chief justice issued a written order for the case to be put up in the court on February 19 and issued notices to Inspector General (IG) of the Islamabad police.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/508999/cj-takes-suo-motu-notice-of-11-year-old-girls-rape-murder/
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Seven to hang for Sudan child rape, lawyer says
Seven men to be hanged in Sudan for raping a 14-year-old girl in May last year
18 Feb 2013
A Sudanese judge sentenced seven men to hang for the drugging and rape of a 14-year-old girl, the victim's lawyer said on Monday, calling the sentence "more than just".
Cases of gang rape are rare in the Islamist-run state.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/65083/World/Region/Seven-to-hang-for-Sudan-child-rape,-lawyer-says.aspx
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Pride, Prejudice and Interracial Marriages in Indonesia
February 19, 2013 | by Aria Danaparamita
It is a truth not so universally acknowledged that a single Indonesian woman in possession of a poor fortune is in want of a Caucasian husband.
As Jane Austen’s canonic novel "Pride and Prejudice" posits, many considerations go into deciding with whom we love, copulate and procreate. In today's globalized world, however, where transnational economic, cultural and amorous relations become more common, there is a noticeably growing trend in our matrimonial preferences: perkawinan campur or interracial marriage.
Full report at:
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/talkback/pride-prejudice-and-interracial-marriages/572547
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Pakistan joins One Billion Rising to fight abuse
By Saba Khalid
February 18, 2013
KARACHI: While all of Karachi was bathed in red on Valentine’s Day, more than 1,000 people had collected in an open air theatre at the Arts Council to protest against the blood and tears of women that have been flowing for years all around the world.
The event itself took place in connection with similar events taking place simultaneously around the world for the campaign One Billion Rising (OBR), the initiative of playwright and activist Eve Ensler, known for her celebrated play The Vagina Monologues. OBR has been launched by Aurat Foundation in Karachi, which organised a seminar and theatre performance by renowned artist and activist Sheema Kermani of Tehrik-e-Niswan.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/509016/pakistan-joins-one-billion-rising-to-fight-abuse/
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11 women among many who completed programs at Prince Naif rehab center
19 February 2013
Eleven women have successfully undergone the rehabilitation program at the Prince Muhammad bin Naif Center for Counseling and Care and have been integrated back into society, according to Maj. Gen. Saeed Al-Beeshi, director of the center.
Al-Beeshi clarified that Saudi jails do not imprison women charged on extremist cases. “The female convict linked to terror is serving her sentence under house arrest and not in jail," Al-Beeshi told participants who visited the center recently on the sidelines of the conference on UN Cooperation with Counter Terrorism Centers in the capital.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/11-women-among-many-who-completed-programs-prince-naif-rehab-center
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British Women Who Turn To Islam
19 February 2013
The Muslim population in England and Wales has increased by 80 percent since 2001 according to a British government census. With 2.7 million known adherents — 40 percent living in and around London — Islam has emerged as Britain’s second-largest religion after Christianity. Immigration accounts for most of the increase but conversions are on the rise making Islam the UK’s fastest-growing faith. Data from mosques indicates there may be more than 100,000 converts in Britain of various ethnicities. There were 5,000 conversions in 2012 of which three quarters were young females. What’s fuelling this trend?
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/british-women-who-turn-islam
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Man Who Divorced His Child Bride and the Judge Who Joked Women ‘Enjoy’ Rape Could Be Sacked
Man who divorced his child bride by TEXT MESSAGE could be sacked in Indonesia - as Twitter backlash also claims judge who joked women 'enjoy rape'
By ALEX GORE
18 February 2013
A government official who sparked outrage by marrying a child bride could be sacked after divorcing her by text message four days into their marriage.
Aceng Fikri, 40, chief of Garut district in West Java province, Indonesia, was already married with two children when he wed the young girl.
In another case that highlights attitudes towards women's rights in the Southeast Asian country, a judge joked during a Supreme Court job interview that women might enjoying being raped.
Full report at:
Source: Daily Mail UK
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/saudi-scholar-calls-mandatory-marriage/d/10480