Female Comedian Shaden Fakih Accused Of 'Blasphemy' By Lebanon's Dar al-Fatwa
New Age Islam News Bureau
10 May 2024
·
Female Comedian Shaden Fakih Accused Of
'Blasphemy' By Lebanon's Dar al-Fatwa
·
Girls’ School Blown Up By Unidentified
Militants In North Waziristan
·
Deputy Minister Fuziah to Deliver Speech at IWL
Conference in Qatar in Support Of Palestinian Women
·
Mina Alikhani Represents the Islamic Republic’s
Capital Offense of “Crimes Against God” Using the Female Form
·
Iran’s Medical Community Faces Mounting
Pressure Over Hijab Compliance
Compiled by
New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/comedian-shaden-blasphemy-fatwa/d/132294
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Female
Comedian Shaden Fakih Accused Of 'Blasphemy' By Lebanon's Dar al-Fatwa
Comedian Shaden Fakih on stage. (Credit: X/@SK_Eyes)
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10 May
2024
Comedian
Shaden Fakih has once again been at the heart of controversy since Wednesday,
following the online broadcast of a performance in which she evokes Islam. On
Thursday, Dar al-Fatwa, Lebanon's highest Sunni religious authority, submitted
a request for the opening of a judicial investigation against the young woman,
accusing her of “blasphemy against God and the Prophet Mohammad, undermining
religion and its symbols, inciting religious and sectarian conflict and
undermining national unity,” according to the state-run National News Agency
(NNA).
Known
for her outspokenness and criticism of the political and religious
establishment, in an excerpt filmed recently during a show in Beirut, the
comedian compares certain Muslims to the “nouveau riche” and criticizes the way
prayer is conducted as well as the behavior of certain religious dignitaries.
“You get the impression that the Prophet took classes with [the Lebanese dance
troupe] Caracalla,” said Shaden, who also recites passages from the Quran.
Contacted
by L'Orient-Le Jour, the actress's family declined to comment on the matter.
Fakih could not be immediately reached and is currently on tour in Canada.
Attack
'on civil peace'
In its
letter to the courts, Dar al-Fatwa stated that it acted “at the request of the
Mufti of the Lebanese Republic, Sheikh Abdel-Latif Derian, and with a view to
preserving civil peace.” The religious body went on to say that it had sent a
recording of the controversial passage to the public prosecutor's office.
Many
Internet users have taken up the video and accused Shaden Fakih of undermining
Islamic values. Among them is Sheikh Hassan Merheb, a Dar al-Fatwa leader with
almost 44,000 subscribers on the X network. He described the comedian as “a
woman who seeks fame and money, even if it is through blasphemy, immorality and
disobedience,” while calling for her to be prosecuted.
Reacting
to Sheikh Merheb's publications, an Internet user called on the Shiite High
Council to lodge a complaint against the comedian, “because this video harms
all Muslims.”
Dozens
of accounts on X also shared the sketch in question and insulted the comedian
for her stance and sexual orientation. An Internet user who identifies herself
as a supporter of Hezbollah accused “those who defend Shaden Fakih of dragging
the country towards greater immorality.” Another user denounced the comedian's
“diabolical thinking” and her “promotion of deviance” and “atheism.” A
demonstration was even organized on Wednesday evening in Tripoli in protest
against the content of the sketch.
In 2022,
the artist was fined by the military court for “humiliating and damaging the
reputation of the Internal Security Forces.” The young woman had been
prosecuted after publishing a comedy video in which she is seen calling the ISF
and asking if they could deliver sanitary towels to her due to the restrictions
imposed during the lockdown in the midst of the coronavirus in Lebanon.
'Premeditated'
campaign?
“This
campaign against Shaden Fakih seems to have been premeditated,” said
JadChahrour, media manager at the SKeyesCenter for Media and Cultural Freedom.
“The sketch was filmed in secret because it is normally forbidden to film in
the hall where Shaden performs. The video was then published online by
suspicious accounts, then widely circulated,” he added. According to Chahrour,
this controversy could serve as a diversion at a time when the country is
reeling from the revelation of a vast pedophilia network operating on TikTok.
“This story comes at a time when everyone is preoccupied with the case of the
online pedophile ring. Could this be a way of covering up a case that involves
children and numerous suspects?” he asked.
For
Chahrour, this controversy is reminiscent of last year's prosecution of
comedian Nour Hajjar. In August 2023, Hajjar was interrogated for 11 hours by
the military police for a sketch evoking the army and mocking his parents' behaviour
on religious occasions. Dar al-Fatwa also called for the opening of a judicial
investigation against the comedian.
The
feminist NGO Sharikawa Laken denounced Thursday on X “a campaign of incitement
to hatred ... that goes as far as calling for the murder” of Shaden Fakih. She
also criticized the “ever-present patriarchal organizations.”
The
online media Daraj also came to Fakih's defence. “Once again, the successive
crises the country is experiencing are being glossed over ... in favor of
restricting freedom of expression for religious and sectarian reasons,”
denounced Daraj on X.\
Source: today.lorientlejour.com
https://today.lorientlejour.com/article/1413306/comedian-shaden-fakih-accused-of-blasphemy-by-dar-al-fatwa.html
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Girls’
School Blown Up By Unidentified Militants In North Waziristan
Image shows the attacked Aafia Islamic Girls Model School in Shewa, a
town in the North Waziristan district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. —
X/@DI313_
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May 10,
2024
NORTH
WAZIRISTAN: A private girls’ school was blown up by unidentified militants in
Tehsil Shewa of North Waziristan district on Wednesday night, police sources
said.
They
said the militants first tortured the school watchman and later blew up two
rooms of the school. There was, however, no loss of life in the explosion.
Similar
attacks took place in May of last year when two government schools for girls in
Mirali were blown up. No loss of life was reported in the incidents.
Around
500 girls were enrolled in the two schools — Government Girls Middle School,
Noor Jannat and Government Girls Middle School, Yunus Kot — which were targeted
by the attackers around midnight.
Local
sources said that it was the only private girls’ school in the area and its
administration had received multiple threat letters in the past.
Meanwhile,
locals in North Waziristan have warned of suspending power supply from
Miramshah grid station if the duration of power supply to the district was not
extended to six hours’ a day.
Local
elders, following a grand Jirga held in Miramshah on Thursday, told the media
that the district is supplied electricity for only two hours a day, adding that
the federal government generated thousands of megawatts of electricity from
Warsak, GomalZam, Mohmand, KurramGarhi and KurramTangi dams, but it did not
supply power to these areas.
The
tribal elders warned of suspending power supply if the duration for power
supply was not extended from two to six hours, adding that they would blow up
the power pylons if their concerns were not addressed.
After a
similar meeting last week, elders from all tribes in North Waziristan warned of
uprooting electricity infrastructure and expelling utility company’s staff if
their demands were not met.
Source: dawn.com
https://www.dawn.com/news/1832589/girls-school-blown-up-in-north-waziristan
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Deputy
Minister Fuziah to Deliver Speech at IWL Conference in Qatar in Support Of
Palestinian Women
10 May
2024
PUTRAJAYA,
May 10 — Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living FuziahSalleh will
deliver a speech at the International Women’s Leadership Conference — In Support
of Women and Children of Palestine, scheduled to take place in Qatar from May
10 to 13.
The
conference is being organised by the Global Women’s Coalition for Al Quds and
Palestine, an international organisation that supports the Global Unions in providing
support to Palestinian women and children.
“The
presence of our deputy minister to deliver a speech reflects Malaysia’s
commitment as a country that supports the struggles of the Palestinians and to
join other global women leaders in exchanging views, seeking solutions to the
conflict in Palestine, especially among women and children, and stating
Malaysia’s ongoing efforts in the global arena in addressing the issue of
Israeli intrusion into Palestine,” according to the ministry’s statement today.
Apart
from delivering the speech, Fuziah will also launch a solidarity initiative,
“Women to Women & Women for Women (W2W: W4W)” for women and girls in Gaza
in the form of feminine hygiene pouches, primarily for use during menstruation.
Among
the contents of the feminine hygiene kit are sanitary pads made of soft cotton
fabric that can be washed, as well as special soap for washing them, in
addition to other hygiene essentials.
The W2W:
W4W project was managed by Yayasan Madani founded by Fuziah, who is also the
chairperson.
Through
the projects, women from low-income group were successfully mobilised to sew
the sanitary pads which would also benefit women.
The
statement said, while in Qatar, the deputy minister would also visit the
Foodbank in Doha, as well as exchange views with the relevant agencies to
improve the Foodbank programme in Malaysia.
Fuziah
is also expected to visit the hypermarket chain in Doha that also exists in
Malaysia to further enhance the long-standing strategic cooperation between the
ministry and the hypermarket chain. — Bernama
Source: malaymail.com
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/05/10/fuziah-to-deliver-speech-at-international-womens-leadership-conference-in-qatar-in-support-of-palestinian-women-children/133618
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Mina
Alikhani Represents the Islamic Republic’s Capital Offense of “Crimes Against
God” Using the Female Form
By Lily
Moayeri
May 09,
2024
Mina
Alikhani’s studio in Los Angeles’ trendy Silver Lake neighborhood is filled
with afternoon light. The open plan space is airy and functions as a living,
breathing art installation. Most of the easels are empty as Alikhani’s latest
paintings are being framed for her upcoming exhibition, Crimes Against God, which is opening tomorrow at Rebecca Molayem
Gallery and runs by appointment only
until May 16. Still, there are trolleys with art materials strewn about,
bookcases filled with curious volumes, and semi-permanent artworks on the
walls. On the wooden dining-turned-work table, the self-taught visual artist
has a couple of work-in-progress sculptures she’s determined to finish in time
for the exhibition.
Alikhani
fits in here. Her paint-stained pants are rolled up, and her work shirt is tied
around her waist. She’s in the final stretch before the exhibition’s opening.
Crimes Against GodisAlikhani’s third solo exhibition in two-and-a-half years.
Her first, Defiance, opened on September 16, 2022, the same day as the brutal
death of Mahsa Amini, the young Iranian woman who died while in police custody.
Amini’s death sparked protests in her native Iran and around the world against
the country’s dictatorial theocratic regime. The pieces in Defiancefeel like a
foretelling of these events. For Alikhani, a millennial who was born and raised
in the U.S. by Iranian parents, the resistance began when she learned about the
restrictive regulations of the Islamic Republic through family members.
“Even
before I had a better understanding of what it means to live under the Islamic
Republic, I instinctively felt I didn’t want to be in a country where women
couldn’t show their hair without getting arrested,” says Alikhani. “But, as I
became more of who I am as a woman and found my voice and art, I learned the
motherland is so rich in history of art and poetry and architecture and design.
I started to learn more about where the country was going, and where it took
that hard turn to where it is now.”
Visiting
Iran is not an option for the artist— Alikhani is outspoken on social media,
not just through her striking artworks, but also her expository words that are
as personal as they are informational,. Through her art, she brings the plight
of the people of Iran, particularly the women, in a visceral yet nuanced way.
This has reached a pinnacle of sorts with Crimes Against God. The title refers
to the blanket charge with which the Islamic Republic hands down which carries
with it a death sentence.
This
exhibition takes a different approach to Alikhani’s last solo series,
Revolution, which showed at Art Basel 2022. In the Revolution paintings, which
were created during the height of the Iran protests, Alikhani’s anger is
tangible. The work is jarring, with images of nude women wearing hijabs
coverings their heads and faces with a slit for their eyes riding and/or
leading Islamic clerics like livestock.
“No one
really got it,” says Alikhani of the pieces in Revolution. “Some people did
understand and were horrified. Some people were educated. Some people were
like, ‘Wait, is that real? I thought they wanted that. I thought this was a
choice.’ I started to get a really clear understanding of how effective the
propaganda covering up the fact that in ’79 [the year of the Islamic Revolution
in Iran], everything changed.
She
continues, “It’s been an interesting journey from Art Basel 2022 to now,
watching myself on the soapbox, trying to get people to care, trying to speak
to people’s hearts and morality and ethics, and being really deflated because
very few people really care. The powers that be rely on us to not care. They
rely on us to be asleep and feel so separate. Where we’re at today, it’s only
going to escalate and it’s only going to become more and more apparent why it
should matter what’s happening in Iran, and in all the countries where the
Islamic Republic has its proxies nested. It’s no secret how we got here and
what the potential is what could happen in the future.”
Her
experience with Revolution spurred Alikhani to find a more direct connection
with audiences, putting the situation in Iran in the context of issues the
Western world understands and seems to care about: LGBTQIA+ rights, women’s
rights, civil rights, human rights, free speech and more specifically, holding
your partner’s hand, dancing, women singing—if Taylor Swift or Beyoncé lived in
Iran, their voices wouldn’t be allowed. All these are illegal under the Islamic
Republic where rape as punishment is legal.
To
create Crimes Against God, Alikhani had to retreat and reach deep into her
hopelessness, darkness, and sense of defeat. She emerged ready to find common
ground with her audience. The collection features large works on canvas, 10
salon-style pieces on paper, as well as select sculptures and an immersive
performance art piece. Crimes Against God depicts mainly women. Most of the
figures in the paintings are faceless to separate the viewer from associating
or disassociating from the subject. Some are nude, while others wear simple
clothing. They share a message of resistance and hope. Endless staircases
feature prominently, symbolizing a journey toward change. Some run through the
figures’ heads, signifying a change of mind and others through their chests,
representing a change of heart. The deceptive simplicity of Alikhani’s work is
where their true subliminal power lies.
“The
reason I’m amplifying this messaging in my work isn’t just for the Iranian
people and because I’m Iranian, it’s so much more than that,” Alikhani says.
“My heart goes out to the people in Iran as it does the people of Afghanistan
and Yemen and Palestine and Israel and everybody that’s directly suffering from
oppression of the Islamic Republic and all its proxies. It’s just so much
bigger than the Iranian people. I recognize we have a long way to go, but we’re
making steps towards that change.“
Source: fineartglobe.com
https://fineartglobe.com/artists/mina-alikhani-represents-the-islamic-republics-capital-offense-of-crimes-against-god-using-the-female-form/
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Iran’s
Medical Community Faces Mounting Pressure Over Hijab Compliance
Maryam
Sinaiee
10-05-24
British
Iranian journalist and political analyst
Authorities
are increasing pressure on Iran’s medical community compelling female health
workers to abide by hijab rules, including barring them from medical
conferences if their clothing is not deemed Islamic enough.
Female
participants of an annual medical conference were barred from entering the
annual surgeon’s conference in Tehran on Monday, with several forced to buy
“acceptable” clothing, have “appropriate” clothing delivered by family members,
or return home to change.
The 45th
conference of the Iranian Association of Surgeons, a non-governmental
organization, is currently ongoing at the Medical Sciences University of Iran.
The
'reformist' Etemad news outlet reported that an official of the university’s
security and a female agent were stationed in a small room at the gate of the
conference hall to inspect the outfits of all female participants.
They
were observed preventing women from entering if their coats (Manteau in
Persian) were deemed short or tight-fitting, and if their trousers did not
cover their ankles.
Only
after changing into what was considered acceptable by the inspectors, could
female participants enter the conference hall, according to Etemad’s reporter
who was present at the conference.
According
to the same reporter, one of the surgeons had to wear a male colleague's
oversized jacket, while another, who had traveled from the southern city of
Ahwaz to Tehran, had to hire a cab to go to a nearby shopping center to buy an
acceptable Manteau.
A third
doctor had to call her family to bring her another Manteau, the report said.
Additionally, one female participant mentioned being instructed to slide her
trousers down from her waist to cover her ankles.
Participants
told Etemad that in some cases the chairmen of the gathering’s specialized
groups had to leave the meetings to plead with the hijab inspectors to allow
members to enter.
Participants
in the conference told Etemad that hijab surveillance this year was
unprecedented in the past two decades.
There
has also been an uproar in the media and social media in the past few days over
the statement of Heidar Mohammadi, head of the Health Ministry’s Food and Drug
Administration (IFDA), who recently said that the “hijab [observance] status”
at pharmacies would be a deciding factor in allocation of government-rationed
medicine and medical supplies to them.
Dress
code directives have been communicated to all pharmacies but “some anomalies”
are being reported to the authorities, Mohammadi was reported as saying Monday.
“The
matter of compliance with norms [set by the government] is one of the things
that are considered in cases such as allocation of pharmacy quotas. If a pharmacy
does not comply with the norms, a warning will be given at first, and if the
warning is not heeded, preventive measures will be implemented against the
offending pharmacy. If the preventive measures are not fruitful either, the
violators will be referred to the legal authorities,” he added.
This
could refer both to hijab observance by pharmacy staff and customers because
authorities insist that all businesses are responsible for their customers’
hijab abidance and have on many occasions shut them down for serving unveiled
women.
The
Public Relations of the FDA consequently claimed in a statement that
Mohammadi’s remarks were wrongly interpreted. The statement accused “hostile
media and people” of taking advantage of the “mistake” to “assail religious beliefs”.
Despite official state media claims, the statement did not in any terms deny
the connection between hijab observance and allocation of rationed medicines to
pharmacies.
In
December 2023, another controversy regarding hijab and healthcare erupted in
Iran after hardliners demanded specifically designed gowns conforming to Sharia
rules to be made compulsory in hospitals and operating theaters.
Mohammad-Hossein
Taheri-Akerdi, the secretary of a state body responsible for promotion of
Islamic standards, whose main concern has always been promotion of hijab, said
at the time that twelve versions of Islamic surgical gowns had been designed
for female patients claiming that the standard hospital clothing violated
women’s “dignity”.
Around
the same time dental surgeon and university lecturer, Dr. FatemehRejaei-Rad,
was expelled from Amol University of Medical Sciences and lost her medical
license for not wearing the hijab at an official event.
The
punitive measures against Rajaei-Rad followed after she climbed the stage to
accept a Best Doctor Award at a ceremony in the city of Amol without wearing a
headscarf.
Three
managers from the health department were also sacked for perceived failure to
react to Rajaei-Rad's presence without a hijab during the ceremony.
Source: iranintl.com
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202405089355
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URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/comedian-shaden-blasphemy-fatwa/d/132294