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Islam, Women and Feminism ( 21 Jul 2020, NewAgeIslam.Com)
Varanasi's Muslim Women Sent Handmade Rakhi To Prime Minister Modi
•
Sadaf Khadem: 'The Problem Is Boxing, Not the Hijab – In Iran They Say Men
Only'
•
70 Pregnant Women Infected with Coronavirus Hospitalized in Oman
•
Shoura Council Proposes Permanent Residency for Children of Saudi Women Married
To Foreigners
•
Another woman’s vicious murder stirs outrage in Turkey
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
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Varanasi's
Muslim women sent handmade Rakhi to Prime Minister Modi
Jul
22 2020
Varanasi:
The month of Sawan is going on, and after a few days Raksha Bandhan is also
coming. On this golden occasion, Muslim women in Varanasi have made hand made
Rakhi and sent it to PM Narendra Modi by post. Women have been sending rakhi to
Prime Minister Modi since 2013 under the leadership of National Woman of Muslim
Women Foundation, Nazneen Ansari. Muslim women, angry with the betrayal done by
China to India, have also called for a boycott of Chinese-made Rakhi this time.
Muslim
women on Tuesday have made Prime Minister Modi, Trump, and Indresh Rakhi with
popular songs on behalf of Muslim Women's Foundation and Vishal Bharat Sansthan
at Subhash Bhawan in Indresh Nagar Lamahi. Muslim women started making rakhis
by singing songs with the beat of the dhol. They made rakhi using star, Tikki,
cardboard, lacquer, and PM Modi's picture. Subsequently, these Rakhi have been
sent by post to the PMO.
Shri
Ram Rakhi will also be sent to the families who were martyred in the movement
of Shri Ram temple. Indresh Kumar of RSS has inaugurated Shri Ram Rakhi, Modi
Rakhi, Trump Rakhi, and Indresh Rakhi online from Kaithal. The founder of
Vishal Bharat Sansthan, Dr. Rajiv Srivastava said in his statement that Muslim
women should send a rakhi to US President Donald Trump and strengthen the
relations between India and America. Najma Parveen, SoniBano, Archana
Bharatvanshi, Dr. Mridula Jaiswal, NazmaBano, Nagina, Munni Begum, Sunita
Srivastava have been included in the makers of Rakhi.
https://english.newstracklive.com/news/muslim-women-sent-handcuffs-to-pm-modi-boycott-of-chinese-flag-mc23-nu717-ta294-1107946-1.html
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Sadaf
Khadem: 'The Problem Is Boxing, Not the Hijab – In Iran They Say Men Only'
Donald
McRae
21
Jul 2020
Sadaf Khadem: ‘I confounded the rules of my
country. I wasn’t wearing a hijab, I was coached by a man – some people take a
dim view of this.’ Photograph: Astrid Lagougine/The Guardian
-----
Sadaf
Khadem came from the mountains and underground gyms of Tehran to Royan, a
seaside town in south-west France, so that she could have the freedom to fight.
She came alone. In the salty air of Royan, she respectfully replaced the hijab
with a blue headguard and gumshield. Khadem had already pulled on a vest and
shorts and boxing boots.
MahyarMonshipour,
a former world champion boxer based in France, was her trainer. As a man, who
was not her husband, he was not meant to be close to her. But Monshipour
wrapped her hands and slipped on the gloves. Khadem’s arms and her legs were
bare as she walked to the ring in April 2019 for her first fight as an amateur
boxer.
She
also made history as the first Iranian woman to step into a boxing ring. Khadem
wore a green vest, in honour of Iran, with her country’s name printed on the
fabric even though she was challenging the rule of Islamic law in her homeland.
She had uncovered parts of her body and Iran does not allow women to
participate in a sport that apparently belongs to men.
Khadem
is brave, dreams of boxing in the 2024 Olympics and, from there, becoming a pro
fighter promoted by Eddie Hearn and fighting on the same bill as Anthony
Joshua. She won her first bout last April but Monshipour received a warning the
following day that she faced arrest if she returned to Tehran. Khadem, briefly,
made news around the world. “I confounded the rules of my country,” she told
L’Équipe. “I wasn’t wearing a hijab, I was coached by a man – some people take
a dim view of this.”
Today,
Khadem lights up her small front room in Royan with vivacity and intelligence.
The 25-year-old has such a spark she already looks like a star. Khadem has
63,000 followers on Instagram but she is rigorous when stressing the
seriousness of boxing.
“In
football,” Khadem says, “in basketball and handball, they say you play a game.
But in boxing you don’t play. Boxers look exactly like gladiators. The punches
are real. You can be scared and hurt. But you have to accept the punches. You
have to be fast. Sometimes you have to be cool. You have to dance in the
difficult situation you endure. You are alone in the ring.”
Khadem,
in simple but powerful English, tells her story. “I started this new life like
an accident,” she says. “I came here with two bags. Nothing more. I lose
everything I had in Iran. In Tehran I was a fitness coach and had my personal
gym. Now I begin again. I am working in agriculture [on a farm] doing physical
work.”
She
smiles before saying her next stark phrase: “From nothing to everything. Here
in Royan it’s very beautiful. Touristique. I have many friends. Last year I
didn’t have any experience in boxing, but now I have 13 fights. I love this
life. I choose to stay here. This is very important because I didn’t have a
problem with Iran. I love my country. I love my culture. I always believe I’m
Iranian. French people really help me and I love them. But I never forget my
first home is Iran. My second home is France.”
Khadem
is in that strange and haunting place called exile. The Iranian authorities
have since denied she will be arrested but Khadem feels unable to return home
yet. She misses her family. “Fortunately I see them on WhatsApp. Every day I
speak with my mum – but it’s not reality.”
What
does her mother think of her boxing? “She prefer I go to a sport like tennis. I
went to a good school. We were not a poor family. I was learning English. I
played viola.”
She
reaches for her viola. “See,” she says. “I still enjoy it.” A viola-playing
Iranian woman in the boxing ring is unusual but, as Khadem says: “My mother is
a very strong feminist. She wants me to be independent. So she supports me. I
just think about other girls when their parents don’t support their
independence. I fight for them too.”
How
did she discover a forbidden sport like women’s boxing? “I saw this movie about
Mary Kom. She is an Indian boxer [who won a flyweight bronze at the London
Olympics]. From that movie I liked boxing. One of my basketball coaches had
also said: ‘Sadaf, if you want to be faster in basketball, try boxing.’ Two
months later Muhammad Ali died [in June 2016]. I saw him on TV and then everything
was about boxing. But it was not easy. I do it underground after I started
training in Taleghani Park in Tehran. My coach had the pads and I hit them. But
soon he can’t meet me in the park. He come to my home. In the parking area I
prepared a little place for my training. After he can’t come to my home I went
to his gym, one hour and 30 minutes away. I went with metro, taxis and buses.
“After
I change my coach it was bad. I went with an older man. I can’t speak about
this but he did very bad things with me. I went to the mountains. I did
meditation and yoga. I found a person who is very holy. He helped me. He’s a
professor and he tells me: ‘Sadaf, it’s better for six months to be alone, to
think what you want to do in your life.’ So I stopped boxing and made my body
and mind strong again.
“I
come back to boxing and decide to train with the coach of the national team. He
was very good. He helped me for six months but it’s impossible to fight. There
is no women’s boxing in Iran. We have federations for women’s kickboxing,
karate, judo, wrestling. But not boxing. I tried to create this. I had
interviews with many journals in Iran. I speak with the president of the boxing
federation. Ten times. I tell them: ‘Please accept me. If you want, I do boxing
with hijab, with your rules.’ But they don’t accept me. They don’t want me.”
Khadem’s
life changed when Monshipour returned to Iran for a visit. The WBA
super-bantamweight world champion between 2003 and 2006 had been born in Tehran
in 1975. When he was 11, as the war between Iran and Iraq intensified, his
father had sent him to France with his aunt. Monshipour discovered boxing and
became a ferocious fighter nicknamed Little Tyson.
“He
was a great name in Iran,” Khadem says. “I see on Instagram he is coming to
give boxing classes in the Tochal mountains near Tehran. I sent him a message.
‘Hello Monsieur Monshipour. Can you prepare a formal fight for me?’ And he
accepted to help. It took a long time for me to get a visa to France and then a
boxing licence. But Monshipour helped me.”
Finally,
she could step into the ring in Royan to face Anne Chauvin, a French boxer.
“She had four fights and I had none,” Khadem remembers, “and she was strong.
There was big pressure. When I arrived in France, I see cameras, cameras, cameras.
I say: ‘MrMonshipour? What is happening?’ He tells me I make an important step
for women and my country. Now many people in the world look at me. I want to
win because of my country. That time I didn’t think about technique. I was
boxing with my heart. It was very hard but I won.”
Can
she describe her emotions when her hand was lifted by the referee? “I was
crying. I remember my first coach always said: ‘Sadaf, you never can fight for
Iran.’ I told him: ‘One day I do real competition for Iran.’ I did that.”
Before
the global pandemic Khadem had won 11 of her 13 fights. After six bouts she had
switched to a new trainer, MickaëlWeus, and she says: “I am getting better but
now it is difficult again. I had fights cancelled because of lockdown. But I
have two fights in a Paris tournament on 23 and 24 October and there will be no
public. It will be good because I have only lost two fights. The first was
close but I accept the defeat. I was a boxer with just six fights. My adversary
was champion of France. She had 20 or 30 fights.”
Who
would she like to fight for in the 2024 Olympics in Paris? “For Iran, for
France, whoever,” she says with a breezy shrug. “When you become Olympic
champion, it’s you who wins. The country is important but you are the champion.
It’s a pleasure for me if I do it for Iran or for France. But I need Iran to
accept women’s boxing and for France I need the nationality. It takes four
years so it’s not easy.”
She
points out: “In kickboxing there is a very high female level in Iran. They do it
with the hijab – no problem. Normally I don’t wear the hijab. But, if Iran
wants me, I do it because I want to box for Iran. But the problem is boxing .
It’s not the hijab. Iran just does not allow female boxers. They say men only.”
Would
it be safe, politically, to return to Tehran after lockdown eases? “I hope so.
Everything is possible.”
Now,
however, she dreams of a grand future, “I love Anthony Joshua,” she says. “His
character. His boxing. The way Eddie Hearn promotes him. In women’s boxing I
love Cecilia Brækhus [the undisputed world welterweight champion, from Norway].
After 2024 I hope to box in England. It would be another world.”
Khadem
might be attracted to the glamour of big-time boxing but she insists: “The
problem is humans now pay attention to artificial things. I am interested in
the ideas of a professor who might only have 20 followers. Of course I respect
women who pay attention to her face, her body. But the ideas in her mind last
much longer. Does she have a goal or is it just followers or money? It’s not
the problem of the Kardashians. They do what the world wants. But here is my
home [she gestures to her room]. I have my books. My clothes. Just this. I
don’t have any TV. I prefer to read books to learn more. Now the world is
focused on the artificial. Instagram is OK but [she snaps her fingers] it’s not
reality.”
She
looks very serious before breaking into another smile. “Boxing is reality. It’s
hard but it’s good. It’s just like real life.”
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/jul/21/sadaf-khadem-boxing-hijab-iran-men-only
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70
Pregnant Women Infected with Coronavirus Hospitalized in Oman
July
20, 2020
MUSCAT
— In Oman, a total of 70 pregnant women infected with coronavirus were
hospitalized, including nine in the intensive care units, local media reported
on Sunday citing a top official at the country’s Ministry of Health.
According
to Dr. Moza Abdullah Al-Sulaimani, director of gynecology and obstetrics at
Oman’s Royal Hospital, three critical cases went into premature labor in order
to improve their response to treatment in which one case was before the 24-week
of pregnancy and the fetus died, and two cases were after 28-week of pregnancy
and the premature newborns were admitted to the neonatal intensive care units.
In
a statement, Dr. Moza said: “Pregnant women being infected with COVID-19 is as
usual as the rest of the community.”
“However,
the physiological changes in their bodies, especially on the immune system,
that occur in the pregnant woman’s body, may affect her resistance to viral
infections in general. The pregnant woman is immunocompromised due to her body’s
attempt to adapt and accept the existence of the fetus inside her,” Dr. Moza
explained.
“The
pregnant woman is expected to suffer from mild to moderate symptoms,
nonetheless, because of the increase in the size of the uterus during the
advanced stage of pregnancy that causes pressure on the chest and the lungs,
may affect the interaction of the body if the inflammation of the lung occurs,”
she added.
Dr.
Moza also said that the department faces some challenges as some pregnant women
refrain from informing the medical staff that one of their family members is
infected before being admitted. “The increase in cases brings pressure on the
hospital’s beds and the medical staff,” she said.
Therefore,
all pregnant women are urged to report to the staff any case of coronavirus
infection in their family, or herself or if showing any COVID-19 symptoms. The
WHO suggests, pregnant women with symptoms of COVID-19 should be prioritized
for testing. If they have it, they may need specialized care.
However,
there is no evidence to date that a pregnant woman with the disease can pass
the virus to her fetus or baby during pregnancy or delivery. The active virus,
though, has not been found in samples of amniotic fluid or breast milk,
according to the WHO. — Agencies
https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/595735/World/Mena/70-pregnant-women-infected-with-coronavirus-hospitalized-in-Oman
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Shoura
Council Proposes Permanent Residency For Children of Saudi Women Married To
Foreigners
20
Jul 2020
Last
week, eight members of Saudi Arabia’s consultative assembly, the Shoura
Council, have called for the granting of permanent residency status for the
children of Saudi women married to foreigners. A proposal was submitted,
stipulating that these children be given the right to permanent residency
(iqama) in the country, with no fee or lengthy procedures. Currently, children
born to Saudi mothers and foreign fathers are placed under a sponsorship
system.
This
proposal comes at a time in Saudi history when the number of marriages of Saudi
women to foreigners is increasing, making it necessary for the Kingdom to look
at various factors to support revising the current status laws of children born
in these marriages. The Council sees this support as a key step in empowering
the Kingdom’s women. Not only does this milestone further consolidates their
rights but also provides stability and security for their children.
According
to Gulf News, the authors of the proposal backed up their case for the free
residency “by citing the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) joined by Saudi Arabia, the objectives of
the Saudi Vision 2030 and the status of the kingdom as a member of the Group of
20.”
This
proposal submission marks the third time that members of the Council have
attempted to address this very subject. In 2019, Council members Faisal
Al-Fadel, Lina Almaeena, Noura Al-Musaed, and Huda Al-Holaisi also called for
the granting of permanent residency status for the children of Saudi women married
to foreigners. They presented the proposal at the time, urging the Ministry of
Interior to make amendments in the executive bylaw of the Saudi Nationality
Law.
https://www.abouther.com/node/30806/people/features/shoura-council-proposes-permanent-residency-children-saudi-women-married
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Another
woman’s vicious murder stirs outrage in Turkey
JUL
21, 2020
As
Turkey strives to lower the rate of women murdered by their partners, another
woman was added to the list of victims killed by their spouses. The body of
27-year-old PınarGültekin, a university student living in the southwestern
province of Muğla, was discovered on Tuesday after she was reported missing on
July 16. The murder renewed online protests against women’s murders.
Police
detained Gültekin’s former boyfriend CemalMetinAvcı after he confessed to the
murder. Gültekin's body was found buried inside a barrel in a forest in
Muğla’sMenteşe district. Avcı initially rejected accusations but admitted to
the murder after security camera footage showing him near the site of burial
emerged. The footage showed Avcı filling a can of gasoline.
He
said he killed Gültekin when she rejected his offer to get back together after
the couple broke up. Avcı said he strangled Gültekin to death and wanted to
burn the body but could not do it. He said he then decided to put the body
inside a barrel and bury it.
Domestic
violence claimed the lives of innocent 932 women between 2016 and 2018. Turkey
is striving to eradicate the disturbing phenomenon by increasing prison terms
for perpetrators and awareness campaigns denouncing violence targeting women, a
product of a twisted patriarchal mindset. Forty women were killed in the first
two months of 2020, according to the latest available data.
Zehra
ZümrütSelçuk, Minister of Family, Labor and Social Services, said on Tuesday
that her ministry would be a plaintiff in the case against the suspect.
“Another
life is lost. We will be plaintiff in the case and will monitor the legal
process for the murderer to be sentenced with heaviest sentence possible,”
Selçuk said in a social media post.
Social
media users also widely denounced the murder. Most users shared the simple
message of “enough!” accompanied by a smiling photo of Gültekin while others
shared names of women whose murders by spouses made headlines in recent years,
accompanied by petitions calling for legal change..
https://www.dailysabah.com/turkey/another-womans-vicious-murder-stirs-outrage-in-turkey/news
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