Bollywood Actress Sonakshi Sinha Won't Convert To Islam; Confirms Groom’s Father
New Age Islam News Bureau
22 Jun 2024
· Bollywood Actress Sonakshi Sinha Won't Convert To Islam; Confirms Groom’s Father
· Muslim Girl In UK Denied Place At First Choice School But Offered Catholic Academy Place Further Away
· Hijabi Heavy Metal Band Voice Of Baceprot To Make Indonesia’s Debut At Glastonbury
· Why UK Muslim Women Are Being Urged To Take Up Cervical Screening
· How Saudi women entrepreneurs can be encouraged to flourish
· Hijab, Internet Top Issues in Iran's Presidential Debate
Compiled by
New Age Islam News Bureau
URL:
Bollywood Actress Sonakshi Sinha Won't Convert To Islam; Confirms Groom’s Father
Jun 22, 2024
Bollywood actors Sonakshi Sinha and
Zaheer Iqbal to marry in civil ceremony
-----------
Bollywood actors Sonakshi Sinha and Zaheer Iqbal are set to marry in a civil ceremony, quelling intense speculation about their wedding.
The groom's father, Iqbal Ratansi, confirmed to Free Press Journal that the marriage will not involve any religious rituals, stating, "It will have neither Hindu nor Muslim rituals. It will be a civil marriage."
This comes after Sinha's father Shatrughan Sinha confirmed that a wedding reception is scheduled for Sunday.
Ceremony details
Wedding venue and religious conversion rumors
The couple is reportedly tying the knot under the provisions of the Special Marriage Act, of 1954, and the ceremony will likely take place at Ratansi's Bandra residence on Carter Road.
Ratansi addressed rumors about Sinha converting to Islam for the marriage, stating, "She is not converting and that is for sure. Theirs is a union of hearts and religion has no role to play whatsoever."
"At the end of the day, we are all human beings."
Special Marriage Act
Legal jargon: What is SMA?
Per Drishti IAS, "In India, the secular personal law - Special Marriage Act (SMA) 1954, provides an alternate route to religious laws for marriage to interfaith couples."
"It provides a legal framework for the marriage of people belonging to different religions or castes. It governs a civil marriage where the state sanctions the marriage rather than the religion."
You're 50% through
Family involvement
Shatrughan earlier said 'stress has been sorted'
Senior Sinha had previously expressed unawareness of the impending wedding until he learned about it through media reports.
He noted that children nowadays only 'inform' their parents about their wedding plans.
However, while speaking to Times Now on Friday, he said, "My wife and I are very much a part of the celebrations on June 23. Pre-wedding conflicts are also common. We are all okay now. Whatever the stress has been sorted."
Love story
Iqbal's career, expected guests, and their love story
Iqbal and Sinha have been dating for the past seven years and have been spotted together on several occasions.
They also worked together on the 2022 film Double XL.
Iqbal made his Bollywood debut with the 2019 film Notebook and was recently seen in a brief role in Aayush Sharma's Ruslaan.
Poonam Dhillon and Honey Singh, among other celebrities, are expected to attend the celebration on Sunday.
Source: newsbytesapp.com
https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/entertainment/sonakshi-zaheer-wedding-his-father-says-religion-has-no-role/story
--------
Muslim Girl In UK Denied Place At First Choice School But Offered Catholic Academy Place Further Away
21 JUN 2024
10-year-old Layla Stevenson from
Pegswood, Northumberland who has been told she hasn't got a place at Ashington
Academy (Image: Craig Connor/ChronicleLive)
--------------
A dad is calling on Ashington Academy to reverse its decision to deny his 10-year-old daughter a place for the next school year alongside her lifelong friends.
Paul Stevenson's 10-year-old daughter Layla suffers from anxiety and finds changes at school difficult every year. Paul, who lives in Pegswood, fears that being separated from her cohort of close friends, who will be attending Ashington Academy from September, will prove too much for the youngster.
Ashington Academy say the school is oversubscribed and places are offered on a basis of how close prospective pupils live to the school. But Layla has been offered a place at St Benet Biscop in Bedlington - which is further away. Furthermore, the family are Muslim, and are unhappy sending Layla to a Catholic school.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Stevenson said: "Layla has anxiety, and every year when she changes class or her teacher changes we have problems.
"They can't get anything out of her and if she is asked a question, she won't answer - even if she knows the answer. She has had the same friends since she was three-years-old.
"Her anxiety is through the roof. She doesn't know where she's going to go to school. All her friends will be gone if she goes to a new school.
"We were told she lives too far away and has no siblings or relatives at the school. Even sending her to Ashington would have been a nightmare."
Mr Stevenson is a trustee of the Madina Masjid Mosque in Blyth - Northumberland's only Mosque - and is reluctant to send his daughter to a Catholic school.
He added: "She would have had support with her religion within her group of friends. Layla has already gone through a lot, and now she's terrified.
"There is nothing wrong with Catholicism, I would pray in any church and my grandad was a Catholic - but my daughter has been brought up a Muslim and I don't want her to go to a Catholic school.
"I don't know what we're going to do. I don't see how they could do this to a little 10-year-old girl, I just don't understand why this has been done.
"I'm more than frustrated, I'm gutted for her. I know what it is going to do to her."
The family has appealed the decision, but an independent panel backed the decision.
Responding to the issue, a spokesman for Northumberland County Council said: "While the vast majority of families in Northumberland are offered their first-choice schools, we are aware of concerns amongst some parents about the impact of changes to the admissions policy at Ashington and Bedlington Academies which were introduced by North East Learning Trust [NELT] in September 2020.
"The change involved a ‘distance to school’ measure replacing a recognition of catchment and feeder schools. In response to these concerns, we are consulting with parents in the affected areas on their preferred preference in relation to the educational pathway for their child(ren).
"For any family not gaining their first choice of school, there is an appeals process coordinated by the North East Learning Trust. This process has led to further places being offered by the schools involved but has not met the requests of all families."
The online consultation states that, under NELT's new policy, the closer a student lives to the school, the greater chance they have of being offered a place. This has placed students living in villages such as Pegswod and nearby Ellington at a "disadvantage".
It also means that while Layla hasn't been able to get into the school, friends and neighbours on the same street - but slightly closer to the school - have been offered places.
Source: chroniclelive.co.uk
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/heartache-muslim-girl-denied-place-29398892
--------
Hijabi Heavy Metal Band Voice Of BaceprotTo Make Indonesia’s Debut At Glastonbury
June 21, 2024
JAKARTA: Hijabi heavy metal band Voice of Baceprot is set to become the first Indonesian act to perform at the UK’s iconic Glastonbury Festival next week, marking another milestone in the all-female trio’s trailblazing career.
More than a decade after first emerging, Voice of Baceprot was named in Forbes Asia’s 30-Under-30 list just last month. The group has toured Europe and the US, and released its debut album last year.
With lyrics that address issues from gender inequality to climate change, members of the group from Garut, West Java said on Friday that they hope to help improve the world for future generations through their music.
“We care about what’s happening around us, that’s why we make a lot of songs about what we ourselves experience, see, and hear. We only want the world that we live in to become a better place for the generations after us,” Firda “Marsya” Kurnia, who is the lead singer and guitarist, told reporters.
“We certainly feel excited and proud, especially after finding out that we are going to be the first Indonesian musicians to perform in Glastonbury. It will also be our first performance in the UK.”
Voice of Baceprot will play the Woodsies stage at Glastonbury on June 28, sharing the glory of performing at the legendary music festival alongside artists such as Coldplay, Dua Lipa and Cyndi Lauper.
“We will try to use this opportunity to also uplift Indonesian culture through music, including using tonal elements from Sundanese music,” Marsya said, referring to their ethnic origins.
Voice of Baceprot sings a mix of English, Indonesian and Sundanese — their native tongue. The word “baceprot” is Sundanese for “annoyingly noisy.”
Marsya met the other band members — drummer EuisSitiAisyah and bassist WidiRahmawati — at an Islamic boarding school and established the group in 2014.
Now in their early 20s, they have been overcoming prejudice and shattering stereotypes about Muslims and Islam.
“We try to introduce the other side that is closer to the truth,” Marsya said.
The band has already gained praise from Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, and was met with great interest during its 2021 and 2022 Europe tours.
“It was beyond expectation. Every time we have an international tour, I am afraid that no one will show up ... because we’re not that big yet,” Siti said.
“But after a few times performing there, we’ve seen how enthusiastic the audience was. Some would even wait for our performance.”
The trio’s accomplishments have also been noticed by the Indonesian government, which is supporting the group’s upcoming UK trip.
“This is a form of soft diplomacy,” DesraPercaya, Indonesia’s ambassador to the UK, told reports.
“Voice of Baceprot is truly taking up the role of Indonesia’s ambassadors and, of course, they are on a mission to make Indonesia proud.”
Source: arabnews.com
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2534836/lifestyle
--------
Why UK Muslim Women Are Being Urged To Take Up Cervical Screening
21, June, 2024
A University of Sunderland researcher is encouraging Muslim women across the city to accept their invites for cervical screening as part of this year’s Cervical Screening Awareness Week.
The awareness week runs from 17-23 June and aims to highlight the importance of cervical screening that helps save thousands of lives each year.
Dr Floor Christie-de Jong, Associate Professor in Public Health at the University of Sunderland, is working to encourage Muslim women in Sunderland and the north-east to take up cancer screening as part of a project funded by Cancer Research UK.
Cervical screening saves lives, but figures show lower uptake for screening in the UK among women in the Muslim community.
The three-year project, run jointly by the Universities of Sunderland and Glasgow, aims to reach out to women in Muslim communities with information to help them make informed choices.
Project Lead Dr Christie-de Jong, Associate Professor in Public Health in the University of Sunderland’s School of Medicine, said: “We know that cancer screening saves thousands of lives each year and, in some cases like cervical screening, it can even prevent cancers from developing in the first place.
“But we aren’t reaching all women in the Muslim community. Several reasons have been found for this lower uptake including not knowing about screening, feeling shy or being worried about seeing a male doctor.
“This Cervical Screening Awareness Week we want to urge all women and particularly those in our Muslim communities that attending a screening can help save lives.”
This week, the team has completed the first phase of the study, which has involved delivering workshops both online and in-person with Muslim women in Sunderland addressing potential barriers to women taking up screening opportunities.
Health education sessions have been led by healthcare practitioner Dr Anna Black, who has talked about what to expect from cervical, breast and bowel screening and things women might want to do to help them feel more at ease, such as requesting a female practitioner to carry out the appointment.
Another really important element of the workshops has been offering a religious perspective on cancer screening delivered by a female religious Muslim scholar, Alimah, Cerysh Sadiq. She has been able to explain about it in relation to their Muslim faith and how it is an accepted and important practice to undertake.
Videos of Muslim women’s experiences of cancer or screening have also been shared.
Dr Christie-de Jong said: “We’ve held our final workshop this week. This was delivered in Sunderland with the support from Nahida Akhtar from the Sunderland Bangladesh International Centre. We are really pleased with how the workshops have been received.
“In total, around 250 women have attended the 16 workshops in the north-east and Scotland and we’ve worked really hard to ensure they are culturally appropriate and engaging.
“The women who have attended have expressed how it has been a safe place for them to discuss concerns and how it has been delivered in a respectful and understanding way. The women have felt heard and their views valued.”
Women who have attended the appointments have completed questionnaires about their view of screening and it is hoped the data will show it has had an impact.
Michelle Mitchell, Cancer Research UK Chief Executive, said: “Tackling inequalities is absolutely crucial to ensuring everyone, regardless of where they live or their ethnic background, has the best chance against cancer.
We know people from ethnic minorities may be less likely to respond to cancer screening invitations and hopefully this project will encourage more people to take up such opportunities if they wish to, and to find out what barriers prevent them doing so.
“Removing these barriers could save lives by preventing cancer from developing or catching it early when treatment is most likely to be effective.”
Every year, around 150 people are diagnosed with cervical cancer in the north-east*
Cancer Research UK’s work helped prove the value of cervical screening which now prevents thousands of deaths a year. The charity’s research also led to the development of chemotherapy drugs used today to treat patients with cervical cancer including carboplatin/cisplatin and paclitaxel/bevacizumab.
Source: sunderland.ac.uk
https://www.sunderland.ac.uk/more/news/university-news/marketing-hub-north-east-business/university-cancer-muslim-women/
--------
How Saudi women entrepreneurs can be encouraged to flourish
June 21, 2024
During the past few weeks, I have attended several events for women entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia and a common complaint was a lack of networking opportunities and financing.
At an event hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Saudi Arabia on “Navigating scalability for women entrepreneurs,” held in Jeddah, the panel of young, creative Saudi women entrepreneurs spoke with enthusiasm about the prospects that had been opened up to them to expand and grow their businesses since the launch of Vision 2030, as well as the support they have received from public and private institutions through initiatives, programs and incubators.
However, they also pointed to the challenge of raising funds and accessing markets that require networking and relationship-building. Although they said there are many opportunities for networking, including through apps and social media, it seemed that they still roamed the same circles. In the big events, it can be daunting and difficult to get access, to make contact and to make an impression. At LEAP24, held in Riyadh in March, male-led startups accounted for almost 90 percent of the deals, while female-led startups made up only 0.2 percent of transactions and the rest went to mixed-gender founders.
The advantage of small events such as the one organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Saudi Arabia is in engaging and sharing knowledge with a select number of attendees who can offer support technically and financially and open doors. In addition, it was great to have a keynote speaker who spoke of her pioneering journey as an entrepreneur and provided valuable insights and recommendations on overcoming challenges.
Learning from role models and creating mentorship opportunities is essential. Women entering or thinking of entering the business world and starting their own business need to see and hear the experiences of those who have gone through it before them. As more women enter the workforce and are promoted to leadership positions, they can learn from other women’s experiences, as well as men’s, about the ups and downs, the positives and negatives and the opportunities and the challenges.
The challenge of networking does not seem to be a Saudi-specific issue. I had the opportunity to talk with Maryam Hassani, a young and ambitious Emirati tech entrepreneur, who said that it is harder for women to network and find funding for their startups, as well as to access the market. She co-founded Zealous, a platform for connecting professionals based on their needs, making networking less random, ambiguous and time-consuming.
In May 2023, Hassani launched a service where, with the help of artificial intelligence, her app would suggest the contacts of people with common interests and goals within the vicinity. The response has been amazing. Interestingly, it is mostly men who are using the service.
She commented that it seems like women generally stay in their comfort zone and are hesitant to adventure and meet new people. She stressed the need to hear and talk about failures, struggles and losses, rather than just the successes and achievements, to encourage and give confidence to entrepreneurs. In this sense, she agrees on the importance of having mentors and role models.
Another valuable observation Hassani made was on the common problem for startups of finding the right people to work with. She recommends having co-partners who complement each other’s skills, expertise and even personality, not someone who is too similar, so that they complete and balance each other. She also recommends being open to change, going through the experience and learning, and being honest with oneself in getting to the truth.
As indicated by the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report 2024, gender parity in the workforce can be enhanced through informal factors such as professional networks, which provide resources and capital to bridge professional gaps. Networks provide access to job, mentorship and sponsorship opportunities, as well as exchanges leading to innovation and the adoption of best practices. This includes online professional networks such as LinkedIn, where men also typically have larger and stronger networks than women.
Financing is the other major challenge, especially for female entrepreneurs. While it is easy to start a business, it is important to focus on sustaining and scaling the business. This has been a challenge for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
According to the SME Monitor quarterly report by Monsha’at, the number of SMEs in Saudi Arabia grew an impressive 3.1 percent in the final quarter of last year to more than 1.3 million, driven by strong public investment, robust personal initiatives and the highest venture capital investments of any ecosystem in the region. However, SMEs face challenges in making a profit and sustaining their business due to financial expenses and debt, managerial inexperience and inefficient staff, which could be the result of not conducting a feasibility study and having a business plan.
Nevertheless, Monsha’at has been vigilant in providing training, financing and support programs. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor’s 2024 report on Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom continues to uphold its position as a top-three entrepreneurial economy among 49 leading global economies. The established business ownership rate has reached a new peak of nearly 14 percent, an almost threefold increase from 2021. Furthermore, the ratio of women to men starting or running a new business jumped from one woman for every 10 men in 2009 to eight for every 10 in 2023.
However, as pointed out in the report, the fear of failure continues to be a major inhibitor for starting a new business among Saudi entrepreneurs, which requires regulatory safeguards to overcome. The report acknowledges several areas for improving the entrepreneurial ecosystem, including enhancing access to financing, strengthening entrepreneurship education, fortifying business infrastructure and enhancing legislative support.
Entrepreneurs and business owners in general need to be innovative — especially in using technology — adaptive to market changes and needs, and be customer-centered. Female entrepreneurs also need more networking and financing opportunities.
Source: arabnews.com
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2534976
--------
Hijab, Internet Top Issues in Iran's Presidential Debate
Friday, 06/21/2024
The third round of Iran's presidential debates focused on cultural issues, with the government's treatment of women and internet restrictions being the main points of contention.
Candidates took turns discussing the brutal crackdown on women defying the mandatory hijab, despite their own roles in intensifying the enforcement.
Mohammad-BagherGhalibaf, the current parliament speaker, Masoud Pezeshkian, a member of parliament, and Tehran mayor AlirezaZakani are all directly involved in the new regulations the Islamic Republic is crafting to maintain control over Iranian women's public appearance.
For the past 45 years, Iran's clerical rulers have imposed stringent Islamic laws, regulations, and punishments to control citizens' private lives.
A dress code, including mandatory hijab and unequal rights for women, religious indoctrination in schools, a ban on alcoholic beverages, and medieval punishments like flogging for minor offenses – all were imposed on a society rapidly modernizing before the 1979 revolution.
Many Iranians, particularly Generation Z, reject some or all of these religious rules defined by Iran's Shia clerics. This rejection fueled the nationwide anti-regime protests in September 2022, sparked by the death of a 22-year-old woman in police custody for "improper" hijab.
Iran’s Generation Z in particular mostly reject a religious state and seek a secular government that would allow them social freedoms, such as enjoying music and dancing.
The candidates' statements displayed an ambivalence. On the one hand, they defended women's autonomy in choosing their public attire. On the other hand, they defended the government's crackdown on those who defy the mandatory dress code.
Since the 2022 nationwide protests, harshly suppressed by security forces, enforcing the hijab has become a significant challenge. Women increasingly appear in public without it. The government has implemented various measures to enforce hijab, and the parliament and the Guardian Council are wrangling over a new law to penalize women who defy it. Punishments include using surveillance cameras to identify these women, blocking their bank accounts, and withholding services – tactics used for humiliation.
No candidate offered a clear solution for Iranian women who oppose the government's dress code. Founded in 1979, the Islamic Republic is the only Muslim-majority country besides Taliban-ruled Afghanistan with such a strict interpretation of hijab and nationwide coercive measures for its observance. This occurs despite Islam being the official religion in 26 countries across Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, and the Middle East.
Internet restrictions were also a topic of debate. Some candidates criticized the blocking of hundreds of websites and popular social media platforms. However, most proposed developing a national intranet under state control.
Even Masoud Pezeshkian, the reformist-backed candidate, defended the government's "intervention" in internet access, justifying shutdowns during national crises. "When intervention is necessary in a specific crisis, I will intervene," he stated. The Islamic Republic has a history of cutting off the internet during nationwide protests.
Pezeshkian claimed that all countries intervene in internet access, a frequently repeated but inaccurate defense by Iranian officials. He further argued that use of VPNs by citizens facilitates access to "obscene" content.
The candidates also threw their weight behind the expansion of Iranian alternatives to international social media platforms and websites, with some of them mentioning specific brands that have been created in Iran as the country has blocked the access of people to the free internet.
In the face of such restrictions, most Iranians have started using VPNs (filter breakers) to access the global internet, leading to the creating of a huge market for such services.
Mustafa Pourmohammadi said during the debate that the financial turnover of VPNs is 50% of the financial turnover of cyberspace in Iran.
There are no precise statistics on the financial turnover of VPNs in Iran. The latest estimates are between 200 and 300 trillion rials per year (about $500 million).
Pourmohammadi, like several other candidates, has been pledging to remove the country’s restrictions on the internet but such restrictions are not under the control of the president. Earlier in the day, Iran's Minister of Information and Communications Technology refuted presidential candidates' promises to lift internet censorship, stating that the president does not have the authority to make that decision.
Source: iranintl.com
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202406213699
--------
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/bollywood-sonakshi-sinha-islam-father/d/132555