Two Pakistani Girls Marry Brothers for Canada Nationality
New Age Islam News Bureau
26
Oct 2014
Sisters Married Brothers for Canadian Nationality
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• Headscarf
Ceremonies for Muslim Girls in Istanbul
• Young
Muslim Female Boxer Wants To Inspire Girls Everywhere
• Women on
Front Lines in Syria, Iraq against ISIS
• India
'Love Jihad' Claims Fuel Hindu-Muslim Tensions
• Saudi
Women Driving Campaign Dropped
• Women
Walk past Headless Corpses in the Street without Raising an Eyebrow
• Saudi
Women Overcome Stereotypes With New Job
• Blackmailing
By Women Thrives Worldwide
• Pakistan:
‘Forced Conversions, Marriages on the Rise’
• Concerns
over Kyrgyz Men -- And Women -- Fighting With IS
• 5
Outstanding Women to Inspire a Happier You Ahead Of Islamic New Year
• Polygamy
and Child Wives: Women's Rights Are Going in the Wrong Direction in Pakistan
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/two-pakistani-girls-marry-brothers/d/99730
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Two
Pakistani Girls Marry Brothers for Canada Nationality
26 Oct,
2014
RAWALPINDI
- In a new immigration scam of its kind, two Pakistani Canadian brothers
married their sisters to get them Canadian nationality. One of them managed to
take his sister-cum-wife to Canada and get her settled there, but the second
brother remained unsuccessful.
The
illegal act of the second brother contracting marriage with his sister was
caught through DNA test and because of fake marriage certificate, reliable
sources confided to The Nation here on Friday. He could not call her
sister-cum-wife to Canada. The first one
whose bid remained successful staged yet another drama in Canada as he divorced
her sister-cum-wife in Canada after 4 to 5 years through Ontario Superior Court
of Justice in June 2010 and contracted second marriage with another Pakistani
girl.
The two
brothers prepared fake computerised national identity cards (CNICs) and
national identity cards for overseas Pakistanis (NICOPs) from Nadra; passports
from Passport and Immigration Department; and flew from Benazir Bhutto
International Airport – but none of the authorities concerned could detect the
fraud, sources added.
All this
put a serious question mark on the performance of the Federal Investigation
Agency (FIA), National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra), Passport
and Immigration Department and other authorities at Benazir Bhutto
International Airport as they remained in complete darkness during all the
process, the sources asserted. The
copies of court decree and fake CNICs of the two brothers and their other
family members’ bio-data are available with The Nation.
According
to sources, Aziz-ur-Rehman, son of Saif-ur-Rehman (late), CNIC number
37301-29074617, passport number A-4536612 (issued at Jhelum), resident of
Mohalla Shahpur, Bilal Town, Jhelum, got married with his sister namely Naureen
Aziz, daughter of Saif-ur-Rehman, bearing CNIC number 37301-29074617, in Jhelum.
Naureen later left for Canada.
In the
meanwhile, Naureen applied for two passports at the same time, which were
granted to her bearing number A-4536612 and AH-181930 dated 7/7/2007, sources
said, adding that Aziz sent a family visa to Naureen after which she flew to
Canada and started living with Aziz. In Canada, Naureen got another passport
(AH-1819302) dated 3/4/2012.
Sources
said that Aziz also remained successful in getting NICOP with address mentioned
Tahlianwala, house number B-x-11-2r-146/3, district Jhelum, from Nadra without
facing any problem. Aziz also got tempered the record of his real mother
Rashida Begum (CNIC number 37301-12919302) allegedly with the help of Nadra
officials and showed her as his mother-in-law with her new name Fatima Bibi whereas
he showed Sajjad Hussain his father-in-law in documents.
Playing
a trick with Canadian authorities, Naureen Aziz approached Justice Paisley of
Ontario Superior Court of Justice through her lawyer Barrister Yahuda Levinson
in January 2010 and got divorced from Aziz-ur-Rehman. Copy of decree, issued by
Canadian court, is also available with The Nation.
On the
other hand, Aziz trapped another girl namely Aasia Anwar daughter of Muhammad
Anwar, lured her for Canadian nationality and married her after taking Rs 1.5
million from her, sources revealed.
Aasia
too, throwing dust in the eyes of Nadra, obtained a CNIC number 37301-65439068
mentioning name of Aziz-ur-Rehman as her husband from Nadra Headquarter
Islamabad in February 2011. The couple had a baby who was named Muhammad Anosh
and who also was issued NICOP number 37301-57934467, sources said.
The
story did not end here as another Canadian national of Pakistani origin
Dilshad-ur-Rehman son of Saif-ur-Rehman (late), brother of Aziz-ur-Rehman, also
got married with another of their sister Yasmin Aziz and obtained her new CNIC
number 37301-52195746 and passport number MRP-BS-1345742 dated 7/7/2007.
Dilshad
later sent sponsor letter from Canada to her sister-cum-wife. However, the
authorities caught the fraud owing to DNA test and fake name mentioned on
marriage certificate, and Yasmin could not move to Canada, sources said. They
added that Dilshad also made an attempt to change her sister-cum-wife’s name as
Wasim Akhter daughter of Sajjad Hussain.
Interestingly,
Dilshad hid all this drama from his first wife namely Aneela Kanwal (CNIC
number 34202-21346374; passport number MRP-EA-4796371), who is currently living
in Bilal Town, Jhelum, with her two children, sources disclosed.
Sources
alleged that the mastermind of all this game was Javed-ur-Rehman, another
brother of the two Canadian Pakistanis, who enjoyed good relations with
officials of FIA, Nadra and Passport and Immigration Department. Sources said
that all the family had been involved in this illegal business for long. No
high-ups of FIA, Nadra and Passport and Immigration Department offered any
comment.
http://nation.com.pk/national/25-Oct-2014/two-girls-marry-brothers-for-canada-nationality
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Headscarf
ceremonies for Muslim girls in Istanbul
26 Oct,
2014
The new
trend in Istanbul is throwing headscarf donning parties for young girls, as we
have learned from a reader’s letter to a conservative daily. Is this some kind
of a Turkish touch to the traditions that otherwise represent very little fun
and offer very little to the modern woman?
It is
like the Muslim version of the Jewish coming of age ritual for girls, the Bat
Mitzvah. I would not have known about it if columnist Fatma Barbarasoglu had
not written about it. I am quoting from her column dated Oct. 24, 2014, from
daily Yeni Safak. This is very new information for all of us, as I and my
colleagues in the office had never heard of it before. Even the writer had not
heard of it before.
The news
comes from a letter from a reader, who is a career woman. She wrote that
headscarf-donning ceremonies were being held in large wedding halls for young
girls in rich, conservative neighborhoods of Istanbul.
She
wrote: “I live in a conservative, religious district of Istanbul.”
Beril,
my editor, thought it was Fatih; I thought it was Üsküdar; Levent, our page
designer, thought it must be Basaksehir. The letter went on, “A neighbor of
mine I am very fond of told me that her daughter had decided to wear the
headscarf, so there will be a ceremony for it.”
The
reader said, “Because it was the first time I heard such a thing, I was
surprised at first, then told her I was very happy. I wished for Allah’s
blessings, but I asked her why she needed a ceremony for this…”
The
neighbor was so excited; she did not listen to the ironic comments of the
reader that thought it was an unnecessary expenditure. The neighbor said, “You
know, we do not celebrate birthdays, because birthdays are Christian
traditions. At least we should do such ceremonies for our children.” The
inviting mother stressed that everybody was doing it; “Why should I not do it
for my child?”
The
reader thought she was going to a house but, no, a wedding hall was rented: “It
was like a wedding party. A full meal was served to the guests, with several
sweets, etc. The Quran was chanted, followed by a lady speaking about the
verses in the Quran about covering oneself. She also talked about the
importance of hijab.”
After a
chat with the guests on the importance of the headscarf, the young girl set to don
the headscarf for the first time walked to the stage accompanied by religious
songs. Then the ceremony started. The first headscarf was put on the girl by
the lecturer with chants of “Allahu Akbar.”
Yes,
that means “Allah is great.” And yes, you have heard it recently several times
in a much different context.
“Then
the guests started giving gifts to the newly covered young girl. I said it was
just like a wedding. At the end, small gifts were given to guests as a memory
from the day, like the candy we give at weddings... Muslims who oppose New
Year’s ceremonies and birthday celebrations because they are Christian
traditions come up with a new form of ceremony every day.”
The
reader then complained about the luxury, the new cars and the new houses in her
neighborhood: “The pious people here are all very similar to each other. They
only think of a better car and a better house. They are keen on starting meals
with salt because it is the Sunna, but they have never grasped the spirit, the
soul of the Sunna.”
Columnist
Fatma Barbarosoglu guarded herself against criticisms, saying she might be
asked why she is printing this letter now. What was the point? She wrote,
“Well, we did not bring them up for years, well, what happened?”
She also
pointed out that the daughters and grandchildren of certain radical Islamists
are now organizing “baby showers.”
As a
note, I have to say baby showers are quite a foreign concept for us here,
learned from American films and TV shows, but are done in certain urban
environments to a small extent.
Barbarosoglu
wrote: “There is no problem on the men’s front, indeed. They marry ultimate
secular girls and are able to make themselves ‘invisible.’”
Wow,
wow, wow... Starting from this last sentence which has levels of protest, depth,
tons of meaning, a hint of feminism, revolt, questioning, modern
society-piousness contrast, gender inequality, the hypocrisy of forcing women
into medieval clothes while men can go around in Armani suits…
Starting
with the ceremony itself, my astonishment got bigger and bigger, and ended with
the salt incident. My officemate Levent told me what it was. He had friends who
started meals by whisking a pinch of salt into their mouths.
My
comment: I actually liked the idea of this ceremony, not that I agree with
young girls being encouraged to put on headscarves. But in this extremely
male-dominated, pious segment of the society, as well as the not-so-pious
segment, when enormous ceremonies are being held for the removal of one’s
foreskin; well, let the girls have their own time also. I like it. Is this some
kind of creativity, some kind of a Turkish touch, a nuance to the traditions
which otherwise represent very little fun and offer very little to the modern
woman?
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/headscarf-ceremonies-for-muslim-girls-in-istanbul-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=73430&NewsCatID=469
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Young
Muslim Female boxer wants to inspire girls everywhere
26 Oct,
2014
FOLLOWING
a showing at Edinburgh Fringe, No Guts, No Heart, No Glory comes to Manchester.
With a
live electronic sound, cinematic lighting and the energy of a club, No Guts, No
Heart, No Glory explores being young, fearless and doing the unexpected.
The
site-specific play, staged at Moss Side Fire Station Boxing Gym, was made by
theatre company Common Wealth.
They
used interviews with young Muslim female boxers as a starting point from which
to devise the piece in collaboration with the five 16 to 23-year-old
performers.
The UK’s
first Muslim female boxer, Ambreen Sadiq became National Champion at 16, in
just her second fight, and supported the project.
Ambreen
said: “I would love for as many people as possible to see the play. I feel that
it’s based on my story. An Asian girl or woman boxing is a huge thing in our
culture, especially when you are Pakistani and a Muslim, it’s seen as not very
ladylike. I want to get the point across that boxing is not just for boys.
“I want
to inspire girls from all backgrounds to do what they dream of doing, whether
that’s boxing or not.”
The play
explores assumptions and expectations held in both the Muslim and non-Muslim
communities. Director and producer Evie Manning said: “Coming from Bradford,
I’ve always been very aware of the diversity within the Asian community and of
how often young Muslim women are represented as submissive and passive.
"We
wanted to make something that would push the expectations of young Muslim women
from both within the Muslim and non-Muslim communities.”
Common
Wealth make site-specific theatre events that encompass electronic sound, new
writing, visual design and verbatim text. Their work is political and
contemporary, addressing the concerns of our times.
It is
co-produced by Contact and Funded by Arts Council England and Bradford Council.
No Guts,
No Heart, No Glory can be seen at Moss Side Fire Station Boxing Gym, Denhill
Road, Manchester, M15 5NR on Wednesday, November 5 and Friday, November 7 at
2.30pm and 7.30pm; Thursday, November 6, 2.30pm; Saturday, November 8 , 7:30pm.
Tickets:
£11/6. Suitable for over- 14s. Limited seating available – audience will be on
their feet.
http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/11558296.Female_boxer_wants_to_inspire_girls_everywhere/
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Women on
front lines in Syria, Iraq against ISIS
26 Oct,
2014
SURUC,
Turkey: Just over a year ago, Afshin Kobani was a teacher. Now, the Kurdish
Syrian woman has traded the classroom for the front lines in the battle for
Kobani, a town besieged by fighters from the Islamic State extremist group.
The
28-year-old Kurdish fighter, who uses a nom de guerre, said she decided to join
the fight in her hometown when she saw ISIS advances in Syria.
"I
lost many friends to this, and I decided there was a need to join up,"
said Kobani, who declined to reveal her birth name. "This is our land —
our own — and if we don't do it, who else will?"
Perched
on the other side of the Turkish border, the Syrian town of Kobani has been
under an intense assault by ISIS for more than a month. The town — surrounded
on the east, south and west by IS — is being defended by Kurdish forces in
Syria.
Among
those fighters are thousands of women, an unusual phenomenon in the Muslim
world in which warfare is often associated with manhood. In April, Kurdish
fighters created all-female combat units that have grown to include more than
10,000 women. These female fighters have played a major role in battles against
ISIS, said Nasser Haj Mansour, a defense official in Syria's Kurdish region.
The
Kurdish women now find themselves battling militants preaching an extreme form
of Islam dictating that women only leave the house if absolutely necessary.
Earlier this month the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors
events in Syria, reported IS militants beheaded nine Kurdish fighters,
including three women, captured in clashes near Turkish border.
After
more than a year of fighting, Kobani has risen through the ranks to become a
commander of a mixed-gender unit. "We are just the same as men; there's no
difference," she said. "We can do any type of job, including armed
mobilization."
There is
nothing new about Kurdish women fighters. They have fought alongside men for
years in a guerrilla war against Turkey, seeking an independent Kurdistan which
would encompass parts of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. The campaign for Kurdish
independence has been pursued mainly by leftist militant groups that championed
gender equality, such as the Kurdistan Workers Party in Turkey.
Suicide
bombings have long been part of the Kurdish women fighters' battleground
repertory.
Early
this month, Deilar Kanj Khamis, better known by her military name Arin Mirkan,
blew herself up outside Kobani, killing 10 IS fighters, according to Kurdish
forces. Haj Mansour, the Kurdish defense official, recounted that Kurdish
fighters were forced to withdraw from a strategic hill south of the besieged
town. Khamis stayed behind, attacking IS fighters with gunfire and grenades as
they moved in. Surrounded, she detonated explosives strapped to her body. The
Kurds then recaptured the position — but lost it again on Wednesday.
In
Kobani, Sheikh Ahmad Hamo's daughter Rukan signed up for the fight for Kurdish
independence at the age of 18, and was quickly sent to Iraqi Kurdistan, in
Iraq's north. That was eight years ago. For the first six years, she didn't
contact her parents or her nine siblings. Her mother, Salwa Moussa, traveled to
northern Iraq in March last year in the vain hope of seeing her daughter.
Five
months after that, she phoned home. "When she called, she had a mountain
accent. Her mother didn't recognize her," said Hamo. "When we talked
to her, we were happy, but we were also crying."
Rukan
Hamo's 23-year-old brother Ferman was killed fighting in Kobani this month. The
sister didn't make it to the brother's funeral. Her parents don't know when, or
if, they will see her again.
In the
dust-blown cemetery of the Turkish border town of Suruc, a corner has been laid
out for the casualties among Syrian Kurds fighting in Kobani. Of more than 30
dead, 10 are women.
"It's
not strange that women are fighting," said Wahida Kushta, an elderly woman
who recently helped prepare the body of a young female fighter, 20-year-old
Hanim Dabaan, for burial. "There is no difference between a lion and a
lioness."
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Women-on-front-lines-in-Syria-Iraq-against-ISIS/articleshow/44931678.cms?
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India
'Love Jihad' Claims Fuel Hindu-Muslim Tensions
26 Oct,
2014
NEW
DELHI: When a Hindu woman tearfully claimed to national media recently she had
been kidnapped, raped and forcibly converted to Islam, India's religious
hardliners seized the chance to hike their "love jihad" fears.
Hard-line
Hindu activists, encouraged by the media attention, claimed scores of Muslim
boys were attempting to abduct, seduce and elope with Hindu girls across the
country for the sole purpose of conversion. On websites and leaflets,
right-wing groups warned India's Hindu majority of the "dangers", and
a senior government minister called for talks between religious leaders
"to find a solution to the issue".
Last
week, the woman, from northern Uttar Pradesh state, sensationally retracted her
claims, saying she had in fact been pressured by her family to concoct the
story. But hardliners remain adamant that Muslims, numbering about 150 million
in India, have a secret strategy to turn the secular country of 1.25 billion
into their own.
"Of
course the girl is being forced to give false statements," Vinod Bansal, a
spokesman for the radical Vishwa Hindu Parishad outfit, told AFP of the woman's
retraction. "Our police systems are so weak that women find it tough to
open up on how they are being tortured by Muslim men," Bansal said,
claiming he knew of at least 10 "love jihad" cases in New Delhi
alone.
Hindu
activists like Bansal have been emboldened since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's
Hindu nationalist party stormed to power at elections in May after 10 years of
rule by the centre-left Congress party. Modi, who himself has deep roots in the
Hindu grassroots Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) organisation, has tried to
allay fears among religious minorities of marginalisation under his right-wing
administration.
And
certainly moderate, mainstream Hindus dismiss "love jihad" as a
ridiculous conspiracy theory. But experts warn efforts by hardliners to divide
India along religious lines risk fuelling animosity between its many faiths.
"Some
people are trying to polarise the country along communal lines," political
and social commentator Paranjoy Guha Thakurta told AFP. "It will be most
unfortunate if those who are in power and their supporters allow it to happen
(because) it is bound to inflame Hindu-Muslim tensions in the country," he
said.
SEDUCE
HINDU WOMEN
Police
said the 20-year-old woman from Uttar Pradesh, the scene of deadly communal
violence last year, had eloped with her Muslim lover. With inter-faith
relationships considered taboo in some parts of India, she had originally felt
pressured in August to claim rape and conversion.
Local
politicians seized on the false claims during state by-elections last month in
a bid to polarise voters along communal lines, before she finally reversed her
story. "She said she was being threatened by her own family (into making
the false claims)," said Onkar Singh, police superintendent of Meerut
city.
The term
"love jihad" first gained traction in India in 2009 when Hindu
extremist Janajagruti Samiti claimed some 30,000 women in southern Karnataka
state had been converted to Islam. Sites and paraphernalia devoted to the issue
claim militant groups are waging "love jihad" worldwide and blame the
"fake secularism" of India's mainstream media for encouraging it.
Young
Muslim men "are trained in camps" before being sent to seduce Hindu
women, have a Muslim child and gradually finish off Hinduism "once and for
all", one document said.
The RSS,
whose legions of volunteers mobilised to help Modi win the election and has
since grown in prominence, has said it will continue to push authorities to
stop the alleged conversions from happening. RSS founders say India's
non-Hindus must adopt Hindu culture and religion - "they must cease to be
foreigners, or may stay in the country, wholly subordinated to the Hindu
nation".
Water
Resources Minister Uma Bharti, a veteran of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party,
has said communities should hold talks on "love jihad" so they are
"not jeopardised in any way".
But
Modi, who was chief minister of Gujarat state when deadly anti-Muslim riots
erupted in 2002, has urged an end to communal tensions and violence; while
another minister defused the current issue by saying he didn't understand what
the term meant.
Bollywood
star Saif Ali Khan, a Muslim married to Hindu actor Kareena Kapoor Khan, won
applause for his article in a national newspaper passionately debunking the
idea. "When Kareena and I married, there were similar death threats, with
people on the Net saying ridiculous things about love jihad," he wrote in
the Indian Express this month. "Marriage is not jihad. Intermarriage is
India. India is a mix."
- AFP/nd
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/india-love-jihad-claims/1434738.html
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Saudi
Women driving campaign dropped
26 Oct,
2014
Women
will not take to the streets on Sunday to mark the one-year anniversary of a
nationwide campaign launched on Oct. 26, 2013 calling on the Saudi government
to lift the driving ban.
The
statement, made by a leading advocate, comes in the wake of a recent Interior
Ministry warning against women driving.
Some
2,500 women had signed the online campaign to drive cars on the Kingdom’s
streets on Sunday.
“The ministry’s
warning will be heeded. What happened last year was not orchestrated,” said
Samia El-Moslimany, a Saudi woman and supporter of the Oct. 26 campaign.
The
ministry described any such attempt by women to drive in public “an opportunity
for predators to undermine social cohesion.”
El-Moslimany
said: “Nothing has been planned to violate the ministry’s warning. Oct. 26 is a
symbolic day. The campaign is only to create awareness on the issue.”
Campaigners
had been encouraging women to drive and post pictures or clips of them driving
online like they did in the run-up to last year’s protest.
Last
year’s campaign gathered pace on social media, with several uploading footage
of them driving on YouTube.
At least
25 women had gotten behind the wheel, of whom five were stopped by police and
their male guardians were made to sign pledges not to allow their female
relatives to drive again.
El-Moslimany
herself was detained last year for getting behind the wheel on Oct. 26.
“The
issue of women driving has nothing to do with society. It could happen through
a royal decree much in the same way King Faisal introduced education for women
and girls despite the consternation of conservatives,” she said.
Two
vital organizations, meanwhile, have lent their support to women driving by
making their very first public comments on a ban that has long since garnered
protest and disdain.
Members
of both the Shoura Council and the National Society of Human Rights (NSHR)
have, however, called for a “gradual approach” to allowing women behind the
steering wheel.
Members
also called for refraining from demonstrating against the continued ban.
“The
Saudi government has said all along that there is nothing official against
women driving,” said Saleh Al-Kathlan, deputy chief of the NSHR, here Saturday.
“Then,
along comes the recent statement made by the Ministry of Interior citing
‘government regulations’ against driving and warning that violators of such
‘regulations’ would be punished,” he added.
“In such
a situation, the basis of society’s argument for allowing women to drive
becomes meaningless,” said Al-Kathlan.
“This
puts human rights activists advocating a gradual approach to this issue in a
very awkward position,” said representatives from the NSHR.
Shoura
member Hoda Al-Helaissi backed the move, saying “there is a social and economic
need for women to drive.”
“However,
this will not happen if society is not ready. Delving into the reasons behind
why our society is not ready will not solve the problem per se,” said
Al-Helaissi.
“More
and more students — especially young women — are coming back from abroad after
completing their scholarships, looking to make a life for themselves,” she
said. “Their financial status and newly acquired thoughts will not allow for
such a restriction.
She
added: “That is at the one end. On the other, women in the lower financial
bracket who are alone, divorced or widowed cannot afford a driver. I believe
the time will come when women will have to drive because life demands cannot
wait. All it is now is a waiting game to see when this will happen.”
Ziad
Al-Okayyal, a Saudi businessman, said: “The debate over allowing women to drive
has been heating up between the opposing and supporting camps, which use
religious, social and economic reasoning to garner support for their views.”
Some say
that having a male stranger to drive women around defies the purpose from a
religious and social perspective.
About 47
percent of women in the Kingdom own cars, according to statistics, but need
drivers to get around.
http://www.arabnews.com/news/650336
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Women
Walk past Headless Corpses in the Street without Raising an Eyebrow
26 Oct,
2014
For
months its brutality has been documented in propaganda designed to frighten the
world into considering its terrorist cause.
But
footage of life under the rule of ISIS has revealed the lasting effects of the
group's barbarity, with women and children strolling past the decapitated
bodies of Syrian soldiers in the city of Raqqa without giving them a second
glance.
Unaffected
by the sight of the decaying corpses, civilians do not even acknowledge the
men's impaled heads positioned on fences across the city which has become a
recruiting hub for extremists.
It is
among the most gruesome hallmarks of life under the group's control since
jihadis stormed President Assad's army and took hold earlier this year.
The
video, filmed in July, offers a rare glimpse into civilian life since ISIS
launched a campaign of terror against Syria and Iraq.
Scattered
corpses lie on pavements and roads with some tied to fencing, their severed
heads stuck between their legs, as black-clad ISIS fighters patrol the streets.
In other
parts of the town preachers urge children, with black balaclavas disguising
their innocent faces, to disobey their parents and join the militant group.
'I swear
to god we will see a caliphate based on the prophecy. Be with the state or you
will be the ones, who get killed,' a man threatened one group of silent
youngsters to a backdrop of the group's ominous flag.
While
the corpses of President Assad's troops will be removed within three days, the
threat of death is enduring for everyone else, one civilian revealed.
'They
hate to see the murder but they cannot speak because of fear,' one civilian
living in the city told MailOnline.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2806903/Numb-horror-Women-walk-past-headless-corpses-street-without-raising-eyebrow-shocking-video-depicting-life-ISIS-rule.html
------------
Saudi
women overcome stereotypes with new job
26 Oct,
2014
Nora
Misfer feels good when she sees other Saudi women at various events and
occasions carrying pots of coffee, implicitly challenging tight social norms
with their new jobs that provide them with fixed, high incomes.
Nora
manages a specialized project that works to train teams of Saudi coffee
vendors. "The profession is relatively new, and women used to refuse work
in the project in the past, because it was thought to be unsuitable and below
social standards. But during the last two years, some Saudi women have begun
working as coffee vendors at female-only events, wedding parties, birthdays and
official events such as conferences and forums," she said.
Nora
noted that the move has shorn away the stigma attached to the profession. In
order to train her staff, she encourages them to enroll in etiquette programs
and hospitality training in how to respond to the needs of guests, especially
during occasions attended by top personalities.
She said
that normal salaries in the industry range between SR3,000 and SR4,000 with the
possibility of getting more money during special seasons such as weddings. The
women are also paid a higher portion during overtime work, just as in many
other traditional jobs.
"I
felt nervous and awkward at first, especially when I was wearing the uniform,
because we work at various occasions and I was worried that one of my relatives
or friends might recognize me. But after trying the job for two months — and
because I work inside the facility — it felt fine," a hostess said.
"The
owner of the project enrolled us in training programs which focused on
encouraging us and removing the obstacle of shame and fear. Because of this, a
group of Saudi girls and I have continued to work with confidence here,"
she said.
The
women's work is based upon implementing hospitality methods and proper
distribution of coffee, in addition to learning the methods of brewing coffee
and mint tea. Sometimes work involves packaging sweets and putting them
decoratively on plates, according to demand.
Salma,
another hostess, said she finds her true self in the coffee hostess work, and
feels especially good when she walks among guests holding the cup and the pot
with confidence. She said she hopes to become a supervisor shortly, adding the
job is not shameful, and that she acquired her job as a hostess after being
unemployed for a long time.
http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/news/650306
-----------
Blackmailing
by women thrives worldwide
26 Oct,
2014
The
power of social media has allowed people to blackmail others with more ease
than ever before, a trend that has now become increasingly common among female
groups, rather than mostly among males.
Turki
Al-Shulail, the spokesman for the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and
Prevention of Vice (Haia), said the majority of blackmail incidents used to be
committed against women. Yet the tables have now turned, with many women
becoming perpetrators against both men and women, rather than remaining
victims.
Al-Shulail
revealed to a local newspaper that the number of blackmail cases received by
the Haia commission during the previous six months stood at 1,188 reports. The
figures were revealed following the allocation of a hotline to receive such
reports from across the Kingdom.
He
explained that users of modern and advanced technology in all regions of the
country can easily carry out blackmail right from within their own homes.
He said
Haia’s role is limited to a controller body, where its powers include arresting
the blackmailer and handing him, or her, over to the appropriate body of
jurisdiction.
Al-Shulail
confirmed that punishments and sanctions remain in the powers of these bodies,
and that Haia has now established a department specializing in combating
blackmail crimes. The department has been supported with financial capabilities
and manpower thanks to the leadership of Sheikh Abdul Latif Al-Sheikh, head of
the Haja Department.
Prof.
Dr. Tariq Habib, Consultant Psychiatrist, said that “blackmail and extortion
cases are not confined to our communities; rather, these are widespread in most
communities throughout the world. Further, it is not something new in our
society, either, and it is not the result of social networking sites as some
may think”, he said. Rather, the tendency for blackmail has always been present
amongst both men and women.
Wafa
Al-Ajami, family consultant and lecturer in the Sociology Department at Imam
Mohammad ibn Saud Islamic University, commented that females were most easily
used by blackmail perpetrators to do their work for them due to their tendency
to be taken for granted in both public and private life.
“This is
why they fall victims of blackmails. But all of us as humans in general, and
females in particular, should make a good balance between emotions and
reasonable thinking, between our instincts and our needs from one side, and our
faith, Islamic creed and traditions from the other side.”
She said
that blackmail actions began to rise to the surface in society recently due to
modern communication devices and mobiles with their high capabilities to take
photos and visual and audio recordings.
http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/news/650276
-----------
Pakistan:
‘Forced conversions, marriages on the rise’
26 Oct,
2014
KARACHI:
Speakers at a programme held to discuss ‘forced conversions religious
minorities faced and marriages of their girls to Muslims against their will’
said on Friday that some 374 such cases were reported so far this year across
the country and 70 per cent of these cases were reported from Punjab.
“Some
260 cases of forced conversions and marriages are reported from Punjab only.
Sindh reported 69 such cases, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 39 while six cases were
documented in Balochistan,” said Shahnaz Sheedi, provincial coordinator of the
South Asia Partnership Pakistan (SAP-PK), which organised the programme at a
local hotel.
The
organisers called it a follow-up meeting to consult on a draft about forced
marriages and conversions.
The main
objective of the meeting was described as to assess the issues of forced
marriages and conversions, design strategies and recommendation for the draft
to be tabled in the provincial assembly for approval and safeguard the rights
of religious minorities.
Ms
Sheedi said forced marriage and conversion were two main issues confronting
religious minorities in Sindh and what was more alarming was that such
incidents were on the rise.
Representing
the Christian community, Michael Saleem said girls belonging to religious
minorities were being kidnapped, sexually harassed and converted with impunity
in the country and added that the abductors threatened to kill the girls and
her families upon protest.
Ravi
Dawani, general secretary of the All Pakistan Hindu Panchayat, said on the eve
of Diwali, some 14,000 Hindu workers had not been given salaries as had been
promised by the government.
He said
many laws already existed, but were hardly implemented.
Dr
Jaipal Chaberia, Rochi Ram, Mohammad Hussain Mehnati of the Jamaat-i-Islami,
Rafia Gulani and others also spoke.
http://www.dawn.com/news/1140114/forced-conversions-marriages-on-the-rise
------------
Concerns
Over Kyrgyz Men -- And Women -- Fighting With IS
26 Oct,
2014
The
government, security services, and nongovernmental organizations in Kyrgyzstan
are concerned about Kyrgyz nationals -- including women -- fighting with the
Islamic State (IS) group in Syria, analysts and local experts say.
There
have been reports of a number of Kyrgyz nationals fighting with IS in Syria,
though according to Nazira Kurbanova of the Institute of History, Social and
Law Education at Kyrgyz State University, the exact numbers are not known.
Speaking
at a roundtable event on IS this week, Kurbanova said that Kyrgyzstan faces a
threat of ideological blowback from Kyrgyz nationals fighting in Syria.
"It
is not so much IS that is dangerous, but the ideology that it touts. The
experience obtained by Kyrgyz who are there [in Syria], which they will bring
with them when they return to Kyrgyzstan," she said.
Deirdre
Tynan, Central Asia Project Director at the International Crisis Group's Bishkek
branch, told RFE/RL that Kyrgyzstan's security services and government are
concerned about the issue of Kyrgyz nationals fighting in Syria.
"The
number of people who have left for Syria is higher than figures made public,
and importantly: it is a wide cross section of people who go," Tynan said
in an e-mail.
"Some
go to fight with ISIS [another acronym for the Islamic State group], but to say
the Islamic State appeals only to uneducated young men is too narrow. Others --
women, businessmen, families -- go to support the Islamic State project because
they have an ideological commitment to it. In these sorts of cases they see the
violence as unavoidable even though they may not be directly involved in
fighting," she added.
This
week's round table on IS in Bishkek featured discussions on methods used by the
extremist group to radicalize Kyrgyz men and women, and about which population
groups were particularly targeted.
Kurbanova
said that there has been an increase lately in the number of Kyrgyz women who
have gone to the war.
She said
that this is both because of a high degree of poverty in the south of the
republic, and the legal disenfranchisement of women. According to Kurbanova,
polygamy is widespread in the south of the country and many women are not aware
of their legal rights.
The
website IslamSNG.com quoted Ikbolzhan Mirsaitov from the Kyrgyz nongovernmental
organization Search for Common Ground as saying that IS recruiters were
primarily seeking girls and women who had medical education. They were also
targeting women who felt resentment or dissatisfaction toward the authorities,
he said.
Mirasaitov
also noted that IS were targeting "educated youth and women" via
Russian-language websites.
Asel'
Myrzakulova of the Bishkek-based think tank Center Polis Asia said that
extremist groups like IS were offering poverty-stricken Kyrgyz assistance in
paying for health care and debt. Women were particularly at risk from extremist
recruiters because of their low level of Islamic education, which made it hard
for them to distinguish between accepted religious norms and IS's radical
propaganda.
Filling
A Vacuum
However
-- at least from media reports of the event -- the roundtable did not appear to
come up with many answers about how to combat radicalization.
Deirdre
Tynan said that Kyrgyzstan, like other Central Asian states, is moving to
criminalize fighting abroad.
"But
these laws seem to be put in place to act as a deterrent to would-be returnees.
Efforts to prevent extremism are embryonic and rehabilitation is absent. Some
'explanatory work' is done at mosques but radicalization takes place outside of
the registered mosque system, often in prayer rooms or private homes, and the
government has yet to devise a way to reach these people," Tynan said.
While
some in the Kyrgyz security establishment consider IS to be more of a regional
risk than the Taliban, Tynan said that the Kyrgyz government is struggling to
counter the growth of radical Islam.
"Islamic
organizations, with a variety of intents ranging from benign to extreme, have
gained influence in some parts of the country by filling a vacuum created by
poor governance and a lack of social services, and that's also a threat to
Kyrgzystan's secular government," Tynan told RFE/RL.
One
approach to countering IS that was presented during this week's roundtable
suggested including other regional countries -- notably Russia -- in efforts to
combat the extremist group.
Tokon
Mamytov, the head of Kyrgyzstan's Border Service, said that IS was a "new
type of army" that the Central Asian republic could not deal with alone.
Instead, Kyrgyzstan should work with the Collective Security Treaty
Organization (CSTO), the intergovernmental military alliance between Russia and
five other post-Soviet states including Kyrgyzstan.
Mamytov
said that "like Ukraine's Right Sector", the Ukrainian nationalist
political party, IS had arisen from "the chaos of globalization."
The
Border Service head suggested another approach to dealing with the threat of IS
in Kyrgyzstan.
"Sometimes
I even fantasize that the Ebola virus was invented just so that it could put a
stop to IS," he admitted.
http://www.rferl.org/content/under-black-flag-kyrgyz-islamic-state-concerns/26654293.html
------------
5
outstanding women to inspire a happier you ahead of Islamic New Year
26 Oct,
2014
From
fashion and beauty ideas to career advice, learn how to get the most out of
this Islamic New Year. Shireen Qudosi speaks with five prominent Muslim women
to get their take.
Every
New Year I strategically plan out my goals and resolutions, and each year I
fail to meet them. In the lead-up to 1435 AH, I ask five beautiful and
successful Muslim women for their tips on keeping New Year’s resolutions, to
help us all achieve a happy new us.
Beauty
Beauty
is in the eye of the beholder, and each morning I behold myself. Out of sheer
exhaustion, I tell myself that today I’ll opt for the “natural look”, but by
2pm I’ll reconsider that option. I turn to Zainab Zeb Khan for advice.
A visual
artist, activist and humanitarian, Zainab radiates effortless beauty. Working
to address global social justice issues, Zainab has a particular interest in
survivors of domestic violence in the South Asian community. She feels that
beauty is a paradox.
“Categorising
beauty, especially for me as an artist, is perhaps the most absurd form of
nonsense,” she says. “Beauty is whimsical, unexpected, and karmic in nature.
Beauty is not just a visual sense; it is experienced from the core.”
Zainab
understands that many of us are victims of another variety. We’re victims of a
global beauty industry that not only sets impossible standards, but also
manipulates women into accepting their exclusive definition of beauty. She
offers us a “healing salve”, declaring “there is a beauty inside you –
stunning, deep, profound, shocking beauty.”
The next
time I look in the mirror, I will see two reflections: one of me, and one of
Zainab.
Fashion
sense
Fashion
sense guided by deen is the route Ainee Fatima has chosen. A spoken word
performance artist, Ainee is all about making a statement. She uses her voice
to raise awareness of Muslim and feminist issues, and was recently the first
hijabi featured in Seventeen Magazine.
Ainee’s
fashion sense speaks just as fiercely and tells the story of an independent yet
devoted Muslimah who has one rule for fashion. According to her, “If you can
wear it while you pray, then it’s okay!”
Between
university classes and running around for meetings, she looks for outfits that
are modest enough and allow her to make wudhu. Feeling that hijab has given her
more confidence in expressing herself, she turns to Instagram users like Winnie
Detwa, Basma K and Farah Jay for hijabi fashion and inspiration. I look to
Ainee for inspiration that blends function and style.
Faith
Faith
“isn’t just something you do in the masjid. It has to show in everything you
do,” says writer Nakia Jackson. As the mother of an autistic son, Nakia uses
her gift of the written word to change the tone of public discourse by
challenging conventional ideas, including ableism and racism, in a world that
treats autism like a disease to be cured rather than a uniqueness to be
celebrated.
As a
mother myself, with a son also diagnosed on the autism spectrum, my own faith
is strengthened by looking at Nakia. I may be facing Mecca on the prayer mat,
but in my day-to-day struggles, I think of Nakia who believes that faith
includes conquering her emotions. Her motto is to live a life that makes it
clear she’s a believer, even if no one sees her hijab.
Full
report at:
http://www.aquila-style.com/focus-points/spirituality/5-outstanding-islamic-new-year/83079/
------------
Polygamy
and Child Wives: Women's Rights Are Going in the Wrong Direction in Pakistan
26 Oct,
2014
The
bearded clerics of Pakistan’s Council of Islamic Ideology, the advisory body
that determines whether the country’s laws are in accordance with Islam, have
been extremely busy this year. Central to their preoccupations has been the
issue of marriage; in March they ruled that existing legislation requiring a
man to obtain written permission from existing wives before marrying another
were un-Islamic and needed to be amended. Then in May they announced that laws
prohibiting the marriage of minors were also un-Islamic. Puberty, not age,
determines eligibility for marriage, said Maulana Muhammad Khan Sheerani, the
Chairman of the Council, clarifying that legal contracts for marriage could be
completed by guardians for minors, while consummation could wait until after
puberty.
On
Tuesday, after the Council's latest conclave, came another bombshell. Polygamy,
said Sheerani, could not be a condition for which a woman could petition for
divorce. The sum of all the Council’s rulings, if legislated, would mean that a
Pakistani man could marry a second, third, or fourth wife without the permission
of existing ones, who could not petition for divorce for this reason. If the
pronouncements regarding child marriage are added to the mix, these subsequent
wives could be as young as twelve or 13 years old.
None of
these proposed amendments have not yet been taken up by the National Assembly
of Pakistan, a step necessary for enactment. However, the pronouncements of the
Council usually pave the way for legislative amendments. The slogan of bringing
the country in line with Islam has legitimized many a military dictator and
unpopular prime minister. Taking up the proverbial mantle of purifying marriage
laws by eliminating all possibilities of women making choices or exercising
rights could indeed rescue the currently beleaguered Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif, rendering him a religiously anointed hero.
However,
to imagine the battle lines over marriage in Pakistan to be clearly drawn
between Islamist clerics who insist on archaic and misogynistic interpretations
of religion and their liberal opponents would be a mistake and would ignore
that even the most liberal of Pakistani men are products, and at least passive
fans of, their patriarchal society and its polygamous permissions.
The
story of the genesis of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, Pakistan’s first
marriage legislation, is instructive in this regard. It begins, ironically, in
the United States not long after Pakistan’s birth in 1947. Pakistan’s urbane
and charismatic ambassador to the United Nations, Mohammad Ali Bogra, fell for
his social secretary, Aliya Saadi. The besotted Bogra was married, but it soon
dawned on him that now that the Islamic Republic of Pakistan existed, marrying
more than one woman was not a problem. In an interview to an American
newspaper, he suggested that polygamy was an antidote to the Western custom of
divorce.
On April
2, 1955, now Prime Minister Bogra married again, without the permission of his
first wife. The now deposed and furious first Mrs. Bogra would not accept her
fate in silence. She allied with the wives of Pakistan’s elite dignitaries,
educated and highly connected ladies who lunched, inaugurated schools, and did
token acts of empowerment for Pakistan’s poor women. Together, the women
mounted a political attack, boycotting official functions attended by the new
Mrs. Bogra and campaigning for legislation that would ban polygamy. The ban
failed, but soon Bogra was no longer prime minister. A military man, General
Ayub Khan, took the helm via imposition of military rule. His daughter Naseem
was part of the campaign and one of the first things the general did was pass
the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance of 1961. Democracy may have lost but women had
won, at least partially. The new legislation didn’t outlaw polygamy but it did
require written permission of the first wife, imposed a minimum marriage age of
18, and provided conditions under which men, not just women, could petition for
divorce. Polygamy remained legal in Pakistan, even though several
interpretations of the Holy Quran allow interpretive room for a ban. Years and
two terms of a female prime minister passed, but no more efforts were made to
ban polygamy.
In
contemporary Pakistan, polygamy is being revived as the marital expression of
the authentically Islamic society that Pakistan so aches to be, touted as a
solution to the problem of destitute women, the prevalence of adultery, a man’s
greater need for sex, and myriad other problems. Abandoned first wives and
neglected children have no legal mechanism for sustenance or support. With the
extremist groups like the now Islamic State–allied Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
gaining ground in Pakistan, many politicians, liberal or otherwise, see
imposing the Council’s recommendations as convenient political ploys to
negotiate the post-Taliban peace that everyone wants. After all, if one of
their wives complains, they can always get another.
Rafia
Zakaria is a columnist for DAWN, Pakistan’s largest English newspaper and the
author of The Upstairs Wife: An Intimate History of Pakistan.
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/119982/pakistan-islamic-council-laws-are-rolling-back-womens-rights
------------
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/two-pakistani-girls-marry-brothers/d/99730