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Islam, Women and Feminism ( 23 Nov 2022, NewAgeIslam.Com)

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Heba Fathima Translates Bhagavad Gita to Urdu, Pens Book on Its 'Similarities' With Quran

New Age Islam News Bureau

23 November 2022

• Qatar's FIFA World Cup Diktats For Women Reflection Of Its Own Society

• Sri Lanka Probes ‘Auction Of Women’ As Sex Workers In Oman

• Taliban Publicly Lash Women Accused Of Adultery In Afghanistan

• US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar Says Republicans Using 'Islamophobia' To Oust Her From Committee

• The Worldwide Women’s Rosary Is Coming To The United Arab Emirates

• The Role of Women in Oman’s Social and Economic Progress

• HRH Princess Alia Bint Al Hussein Attends Pakistani Women’s Cultural Forum

• Self-Immolation Of Football Fan Sahar Khodayari Threw Light On The Stadium Ban On Women In Iran

Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau

URL:    https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/heba-fathima-bhagavad-gita-urdu/d/128469

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Heba Fathima Translates Bhagavad Gita to Urdu, Pens Book on Its 'Similarities' With Quran

 

Hiba Fathima who has translated Bhagavad Gita slokas into Urdu has entered India Book of Records. Photo: India Narrative

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By: P Mahender

NOVEMBER 22, 2022

Setting an example to promote religious harmony, a Muslim woman from Telangana translated Hindu’s one of the most revered holy scriptures Bhagavad Gita to Urdu. Heba Fathima, a native of Rakasi Pet locality in Bodhan town of Telangana’s Nizamabad district, also penned a book titled “Similarities between Bhagavad Gita and Quran” in a simple language. She has received appreciation from the people from all faiths.

Fathima is pursuing MA (English) student. She completed her education up to intermediate in Urdu medium and completed her graduation in English medium. Her father Amed Khan is a small scale trader in the town.

It was her curiosity to know about other religions that she decided to study Bhagavad Gita. She translated a total of 700 slokas from 18 chapters in Bhagavad Gita to Urdu within three months.

Speaking to CNN-News18, Fathima has said that it took her lot of time to find out exact meaning to some words. She said that she identified as many as 500 slokas in the Bhagavad Gita and 500 verses in Quran with same meaning. Fathima said that she translated the Bhagavad Gita to Urdu in a simple language that the readers can understand how to lead a life easily.

She is also running YouTube channel ‘Message For All by Heba Fathima’ in which she explains Bhagavad Gita in Urdu. She has uploaded 100 videos on the channel so far. Her name entered in World Wide Book of Records, Notel Book of Records, High range Book of Records, Marvelous Book of Records, International Book of Records, India Book of Records, Telugu Book of Records and Magic Book of Records.

https://www.news18.com/news/india/muslim-woman-translates-bhagavad-gita-to-urdu-pens-book-on-similarities-between-bhagavad-gita-and-quran-6446797.html

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Qatar's FIFA World Cup Diktats For Women Reflection Of Its Own Society

 

Women take pictures of the Qatari capital Doha's skyline ahead of the FIFA 2022 Football World Cup. AFP

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November 23, 2022

New Delhi: Until it kicked off on 20 November, FIFA World Cup 2022 has been in the news for all the reasons, more so because of the country where the mega event is being hosted.

Latest in a series of diktats, issued by host-country Qatar, was a notification asking fans flocking to the country to wear appropriate clothes, keeping in mind the local culture. Some include rules for women’s attire: Shoulders and knees must be covered.

These rules and persistent rumours swirling among fans about what defines appropriate clothing have drawn attention to the country’s record on equality and how these diktats, especially for women, are a reflection of Qatari society.

What plagues Qatari society

With Islam encouraging female modesty, most Qatari women wear headscarves and a loose cloak known as the abaya.

While women have made progress in Qatar, they still have to follow state-framed male guardianship rules. Facing discrimination in almost every sphere of their lives, women are required to get permission from male guardians to marry, pursue higher education and work at certain jobs. Guardians can also bar women under 25 from traveling abroad.

However, the rules are different for men. Men can marry up to four women, at a time, without needing permission from a guardian or even from their current wife or wives.

Laws guarantee the right to equal pay for Qatari women and men. But women do not always receive it. They also struggle to obtain high-level posts in private companies and the public sector, even though more than half of all college graduates are women.

Traditional roles in Qatar are enshrined in laws that differentiate between women’s and men’s rights and responsibilities. Wives, for instance, are legally in charge of the household and are required to obey their husbands. They can lose financial support if they defy their husband’s wishes.

No one to speak up for women

Rothna Begum, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, says, “There are no independent women’s rights organisations and that’s partly because the authorities have laws that make it difficult for you to set up associations that are in any way deemed political. You are not allowed.”

“Women find it difficult to express or demand their rights offline or even online,” she said.

That’s one of the reasons critics are questioning FIFA for awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.

The first World Cup in the Middle East also comes at a time when a lot is happening in Iran over the treatment meted out women there.

The country has been rocked by anti-hijab protests following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died while being held by morality police for allegedly violating the country’s compulsory dress code for women.

While there is a call by activists to expel Iran from the World Cup, the host-country Qatar, which has same repressive rules for women, continues to bask in the glory of the mega event.

https://www.firstpost.com/world/qatars-fifa-world-cup-diktats-for-women-reflection-of-its-own-society-11679821.html

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Sri Lanka probes ‘auction of women’ as sex workers in Oman

18th November 2022

Colombo: Following an alleged incident where a group of Sri Lankan women who were taken to Oman promising jobs but auctioned off as sex workers, a Minister on Friday said that a probe was launched to arrest those behind the racket, including some officials working in the foreign services and the airport.

Foreign Employment Promotion Minister Manusha Nanayakkara told Parliament that most of the victims were taken to the Middle East on tourist or visit visas.

“An extensive investigation has been started to arrest those involved in the racket including fake agents, government officials at the Immigration Department and those working at the airport,” Nanayakkara said.

According to the Minister, the Sri Lankan women were taken Oman via Dubai and sold to various work places where they were forced to undergo various harassments.

With the increasing complaints, Sri Lanka banned those going to Oman to work using tourist visas until further notice.

The Foreign Ministry also suspended a Labour Officer attached to the Sri Lankan Embassy in Oman following a rape complaint lodged by a woman who had gone to Oman to work as a housemaid.

Earlier, the Sri Lankan police had said that a special team of detectives who were sent to Oman to investigate the alleged incidents has found that the victims had undergone various hardships.

Police spokesperson SSP Nihal Thalduwa told that the victims were lined up according to their age and appearance after which they were auctioned off and sold as sex workers.

The Foreign Ministry said that more women have come forwards with their complaints to the Sri Lankan Embassy in Oman over various forms of harassment.

So far this year, more than 240 victims have been repatriated to Sri Lanka.

“The Embassy has also sought the assistance of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to assist such victims,” the Ministry said in a statement.

Annually a major part of the island nation’s foreign remittances is earned by women who work in the oil-rich Middle East and it is estimated that there are over 1.5 million Sri Lankans working in the Arab region.

https://www.siasat.com/sri-lanka-probes-auction-of-women-as-sex-workers-in-oman-2460127/

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Taliban publicly lash women accused of adultery in Afghanistan

JOE WALLEN   |   London

23.11.22

The Taliban have publicly lashed women accused of adultery and trying to flee in the first large-scale use of corporal punishment since the group returned to power.

The public punishments in northeastern Afghanistan mark the beginning of the Taliban’s rollout of Islamic law in the country.

Ten men and nine women were each lashed 39 times on November 11 in the city of Taloqan for allegedly committing adultery or theft, Abdul Rahim Rashid, a senior Taliban official, has confirmed.

The incident is reminiscent of the public executions, stonings and floggings the Taliban carried out while they were in power in the 1990s.

Last Thursday, Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban’s leader, ordered the country’s judges to again fully enforce the Islamic law punishments, known as shariat, which loosely follows the principle of retaliation or an eye for an eye, including the amputation of thieves’ limbs.

The incident in Taloqan, the capital of the northeastern province of Takhar, suggests Taliban officials in Afghanistan have already adhered to this demand.

While officials have not released information about the individuals who were lashed, their alleged crimes were assessed by two courts before the ruling was made in accordance with sharia.

“The Taliban appear determined to alienate the entire world as well as their own people with this return to barbaric practices that have no place in any country whose leaders seek international recognition,” said Dr Patricia Gossman, associate director for Asia at Human Rights Watch.

“That recognition will elude them so long as they engage in blatant cruelty in complete disregard for international human rights law.”

After the Taliban returned to power in August last year, the group initially pledged tobe more moderate but its leadership has implemented more conservative policies, including a ban on secondary school education for girls.

There have been sporadic reports of Taliban officials applying their own shariat punishments in recent months but the incident in Taloqanappears to be the first mass punishment, involving the country’s courts.

Other countries have been scrutinising the Taliban’strack record on human rights and women’s rights since they took over in August 2021 after a two-decade insurgency. No foreign government has formally recognised the Taliban’s administration and many have already heavily criticised its reversal on signals they would open secondary schools nationwide for girls in March.

Public lashings and executions by stoning took place under the previous 1996-2001rule of the Taliban.

Such punishments later became rare and were condemned by the foreign-backed Afghan governments that followed, though the death penalty remained legal in Afghanistan.

The Daily Telegraph and Reuters

Saudi executions

Geneva: A UN human rights office spokesperson said on Tuesday that 17 men had been executed in Saudi Arabia since November 10 for drug and contraband offences, calling the executions “deeply regrettable”.

Those killed were from Syria, Pakistan, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, spokesperson Elizabeth Throssell told a Geneva press briefing. That brings the total number of executions this year to 144.

https://www.telegraphindia.com/world/taliban-publicly-lashes-woman-accused-of-adultery-in-afghanistan/cid/1899655

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US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar Says Republicans Using 'Islamophobia' To Oust Her From Committee

22 November 2022

US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has fired back at Republican House minority leader Kevin McCarthy's threat to remove her from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, accusing McCarthy and the Republican Party of consistently attacking her with "Islamophobia and racism".

McCarthy, who is hoping to become the next Speaker of the House, promised numerous times this past weekend that he would remove Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee, accusing the congresswoman of making "antisemitic comments".

"From the moment I was elected, the Republican Party has made it their mission to use fear, xenophobia, Islamophobia and racism to target me on the House Floor and through millions of dollars of campaign ads," Omar said in a statement on Monday.

"McCarthy's effort to repeatedly single me out for scorn and hatred - including threatening to strip me from my committee - does nothing to address the issues our constituents deal with. It does nothing to address inflation, healthcare, or solve the climate crisis."

If McCarthy ends up becoming speaker, he will begin the new position after the new majority Republican Congress takes office in January. However, he would not have unilateral authority to remove Omar from her committee assignments – that would require a vote in Congress.

On Saturday, during a speech he delivered to the Republican Jewish Coalition, McCarthy said: "I remember what she said about Israel. I remember what she said about the relationship. I remember it so much that I promised you last year that as speaker, she would no longer be on Foreign Affairs. I'm keeping that promise.'

Since being elected to office in 2018, as one of the first two Muslim women in Congress, Omar has received strong condemnations from Republicans and Democrats alike for her criticism of Israel.

At the same time, she has faced Islamophobic attacks from far-right media outlets and Republican politicians, including former President Donald Trump.

The congresswoman's supporters argue that Republicans take her comments out of context to create manufactured outrage, and use Islamophobic undertones to portray her as an outsider trying to undermine the US.

She also faced numerous death threats, with a Trump supporter making a threat to her life in 2019.

Republicans 'openly tolerate' antisemitism

In her statement on Monday, Omar also took to criticising Republican leadership for attacking her while allowing their own party members to make antisemitic claims.

"At the same time, they have openly tolerated antisemitism, anti-Muslim hate and racism in their own party. Newly-elected Whip Tom Emmer said prominent Jewish Democrats 'essentially bought control of Congress.' And McCarthy himself accused Jewish Democrats of trying to 'buy elections'," Omar said.

"Instead of doing anything to address the open hostility towards religious minorities in his party, McCarthy is now lifting up people like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Emmer and so many others. If he cared about addressing the rise in hate, he would apologize and make sure others in his party apologized."

Former President Donald Trump, who has announced plans to run for president again in 2024, has continued to tell Jewish Americans that they should vote for him because of policy decisions he has made that were favourable to the Israeli government.

"US Jews have to get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel - Before it is too late!" he said on his Truth Social platform.

The comments have drawn condemnation from Jewish groups in the US who say they fall under an antisemitic trope portraying Jewish Americans as holding more loyalty to Israel than to the US.

A recent poll conducted by J Street in the run-up to the midterm elections found that three-quarters of Jewish American voters believe that Trump and his "Make America Great Again" movement are a "threat to Jews in America".

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-ilhan-omar-says-republicans-using-islamophobia-oust-her-from-foreign-affairs-committee

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The Worldwide Women’s Rosary Is Coming To The United Arab Emirates

Nov 22, 2022

Women from all over the world will join together Dec. 8 for the public recitation of a rosary to Our Lady. In the United Arab Emirates, where only 7% of the population professes Christianity, women are participating in the initiative in a special way.

Martha and Darío are a Colombian married couple living in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. There they have developed an active faith life, and on Dec. 8 they will be part of a Catholic community that will join the Worldwide Women’s Rosary.

It was a job position for Darío that led him and his wife to move to the United Arab Emirates in 2008 and start their lives over, 8,000 miles from their native Colombia.

In an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language sister news agency, Darío said that during their first few years of living there they attended the celebration of the Eucharist in English at St. Joseph Cathedral in Abu Dhabi. An announcement during Mass led them to meet a group of Spanish-speaking people who were attending Mass in Spanish.

Some time later, Martha was asked to be in charge of coordinating the Mass, and with the help of her husband, who had experience in the life of the Church in Colombia, she undertook the task, joined by one of her friends.

Darío approached the then pastor of the cathedral to offer his help. From that moment on, he began working as a coordinator for the Spanish-speaking community.

Thus “began the activities aimed at the formation of a community, of a Spanish-speaking Catholic Church, in the midst of a parish that has countless different languages and cultures congregated in the same place,” he recalled.

The tasks followed one another: community outreach, locating rooms for catechesis, preparation of the Mass and soon there were some 220 families from countries such as Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Panama, and Spain.

The Catholic faith in the United Arab Emirates

Abu Dhabi belongs to the South Vicariate of the United Arab Emirates, a country where the official and most widespread religion among its inhabitants is Islam, at 75% of the population, and approximately 7% professing Christianity.

“It’s common to think that in a place where the Catholic faith is not the main recognized faith, different kinds of difficulties may arise,” Darío acknowledged.

“Here, on the contrary, we constantly receive ‘friendly challenges’ to faithfully demonstrate our faith to others in love, in charity, in respect, in tolerance,” he said.

The official language of the vicariate is English, but at St. Joseph Cathedral, Mass is offered in Spanish once a month.

The same is true of the Arab, Filipino, Sri Lankan, and Indian communities (in their different language groups), as well as small German-, French-, and Italian-speaking communities.

As for education in the faith, unlike in Latin America, catechesis is not directed toward sacramental preparation, but during the 12 years of primary and secondary school, catechesis is given on weekends as an extracurricular activity.

In the Spanish-speaking community, there is also catechesis for families whose children will receive the sacraments in their country of origin. “At the same time, parents receive their faith formation,” Darío explained.

At Martha’s initiative, since they arrived in Abu Dhabi, she and her husband began to pray the Pilgrim Holy Rosary in the homes of different people. Later, it was transferred to the cathedral, where a group of women met once a week.

At the beginning of the pandemic, the practice had to be suspended, and it hasn’t been possible to restart it because normal activities in the country only resumed two weeks ago.

The news about the Worldwide Women’s Rosary came through Fanny Tagle, a Chilean who participates in coordinating the initiative and who was a classmate of Darío’s in a professional development course. And so Tagle conveyed the proposal to him.

Martha and Darío took the idea to the parish, where the priest decided to support it, proposing to offer the intentions of the rosaries that are said in the half hour before each Mass from Dec. 5–8 for the Worldwide Women’s Rosary.

In the entire country, which is about the size of the state of Maine, there are only nine Catholic parishes, which means that “people of different cultures and different countries flock to the eucharistic celebrations.” Darío estimates that every Sunday some 15,000 people attend Mass.

On liturgical solemnities such as the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8, it’s not possible to hold any activity outside of Mass, and the rosary cannot be prayed in the church.

During the month of October, the Catholic community of the United Arab Emirates celebrates the devotion to the holy rosary. A heavily attended rosary service is held to close the month's events, and this year it brought together close to 1,300 people. It was the first one to be led by the new bishop of the vicariate, Paolo Martinelli.

To join the global initiative Dec. 8, the couple is considering meeting in a house and livestreaming it from there on the Facebook page of the Spanish-speaking community of Abu Dhabi.

Representatives from Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, and the United States have already confirmed their participation in the Worldwide Women’s Rosary.

Also participating will be women from Guatemala, Honduras, Italy, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Uganda, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252874/how-the-united-arab-emirates-will-be-part-of-the-worldwide-women-s-rosary

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The Role of Women in Oman’s Social and Economic Progress

Nov 22, 2022

Alainna Liloia

Oman is making gradual progress in the area of women’s rights. Women in Oman are voting, running for office, and serving in ministerial positions. Opportunities in higher education are on the rise, with women making up over 50 percent of university students, and opportunities for participation in the workforce are growing as well. Women have also seen legal advances in the last two decades to secure their rights, including the establishment of universal suffrage in 2003, the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 2006, and a 2008 royal decree granting them the same rights as men regarding land ownership.

But despite this progress, women in Oman continue to face barriers to full-fledged participation in public life, as well as restrictions in the legal, economic, and political domains. Women are underrepresented in politics, with tribalism and patriarchal structures working to constrain the success of women candidates. Discriminatory laws still prevent them from exercising the same economic and social rights as men. And the uneven impacts of urbanization have resulted in challenges for women in rural areas, including greater social restrictions and less access to government resources.

Indeed, women’s progress in Oman has stalled in recent years as the government instead prioritizes economic development. The Omani government has focused its attention and resources on addressing urgent economic challenges under the leadership of Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, who succeeded Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said following his death in 2020.

In order to ensure that women are fully integrated into the country’s efforts to boost economic development, the Omani government should implement policies that facilitate women’s leadership in politics and that are more inclusive of rural women.

Women’s Progress

Women throughout the Gulf states witnessed rapid shifts in their societal roles during the 1970s. Modernization projects targeted both men and women as governments sought to harness the power of human capital for development. Gulf citizens benefited from workforce nationalization policies and the establishment of government scholarship programs, as well as the founding of new schools and universities.

In Oman, the late Sultan Qaboos made women’s issues a major focus of the country’s development plans. Women gained the right to vote and run for office as early as 1994, before their counterparts in other Gulf Arab states. And Oman’s Basic Law, issued in 1996, prohibits gender discrimination. In addition, the development of a public education system for girls and boys in the 1970s, alongside the establishment of literacy centers, allowed women to receive an education for the first time.

Women’s organizations were established across the Gulf, coming as early as the 1950s in Kuwait, and in 1972 in Oman, when the country’s first women’s organization was founded. These organizations are significant for women’s advancement, as they provide a space to discuss important social issues and play a role in encouraging participation in development. Many women candidates in Oman’s most recent election, for example, were members of a women’s organization. However, while Oman has more than 60 women’s organizations, all civil society organizations are closely monitored by the government and are thus restricted from advocating for women’s rights on their own terms.

Rates of higher education enrollment and workforce participation among women in Oman have risen significantly over the past few decades, as they have in other Gulf Arab states. Women’s illiteracy rates decreased from 85 percent in 1970 to 5.2 percent in 2020. According to recent statistics, the rate of women’s enrollment in higher education in Oman was 57 percent as of 2020, which is close to Qatar and the UAE’s respective rates of 59 and 66 percent. However, the rate of women’s labor force participation in Oman, at 29 percent, is lower than other Gulf Arab states, where women’s participation ranges between 31 and 57 percent. Regardless, it is still higher than many countries in the Arab world.

Women comprise 42 percent of the public sector workforce in Oman, with many working in administrative government positions. Women outnumber men in service industries like healthcare, education, and social work. Many work in the retail sector, and they also make up 88 percent of the country’s craftspeople. Women in Oman are also leading the way in entrepreneurship, with more women than men now running their own businesses.

Gender Discrimination

Despite notable progress, Omani women still face barriers to workforce participation that are shared by women across the Gulf. These include conservative social norms, the pressure to prioritize marriage and childbearing, and private sector policies that are unfriendly to working mothers. Patriarchal tribal structures and values also impact women’s level of mobility, with those from more traditional tribes facing greater restrictions.

Women in rural areas in Oman face additional constraints on workforce participation, including cultural and economic barriers to mobility, and more conservative social norms. They also face unique struggles in starting their own businesses, such as their location and their limited access to resources and support, including access to information, funding, technology, and training.

Women in Oman are also restricted by discriminatory patriarchal laws. For example, although the government ratified the CEDAW in 2006, it maintained its reservations to certain articles that contradict the country’s nationality and personal status laws. For example, according to Oman’s nationality laws, Omani women who are married to non-Omani men cannot automatically pass their citizenship on to their children. In addition, their husbands must live in Oman for 15 years before being able to apply for nationality, compared to 10 years for non-Omani wives of Omani men.

Meanwhile, Oman’s personal status laws discriminate against women in the areas of marriage, divorce, and inheritance. With the exception of Saudi Arabia, all of the Gulf Arab states have codified their personal status laws, which were modeled after a document issued by the Gulf Cooperation Council in 1997 and based in principles of Islamic law.

Under Oman’s personal status laws, women need the permission of a male relative or guardian in order to marry. While men can obtain a divorce without cause, women must prove that there was a case of abandonment or a failure to provide financial support if they want a divorce. The other option available to women seeking a divorce is to pay compensation for the husband’s consent, a process called khula. Women also receive half the inheritance that men do and have greater difficulty in acquiring legal guardianship over their children.

Oman’s personal status laws grant women the right not to be physically or emotionally abused by their husbands. However, marital rape is not criminalized by Oman’s penal code, and women who report rape can be charged with having sexual relations outside of marriage if they do not win their case.

Other Gulf Arab states have similar laws restricting women’s rights in these diverse areas, including some that enact additional restrictions. For example, personal status laws in Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait include provisions allowing men to stop their wives from working under certain circumstances.

Women’s Political Participation

As the first Gulf Arab nation to grant women the right to vote and run for office, Oman has a long history of women’s political participation. Women have also been appointed to ministerial positions, with Oman’s first woman minister having been appointed in 2004 as the minister of higher education. However, women in Oman remain severely underrepresented in political decision-making roles.

Furthermore, women candidates have seen limited success in the country’s elections. Oman’s Shura Council is the only elected legislative assembly in the country, and only two women were elected to the 86-member council in 2019. However, the number of women candidates doubled between the 2015 and 2019 elections, and seven women were elected to the country’s municipal council in the 2016 municipal elections.

Tribal politics and cultural perceptions constitute the main barriers to women candidates’ success. Tribes are an influential force in Omani politics, with tribal blocs informally nominating candidates and with many Omanis voting along tribal lines. Informal tribal structures also prevent more women from running for office, because they cannot participate in tribal forums where political discussions take place. In addition, it is rare for women to receive tribal support to run for office due to conservative social norms, making it more difficult for women candidates to organize an effective campaign.

Negative social perceptions regarding women’s political participation further impede the success of women candidates. Those who are elected are often forced to face public scrutiny and a lack of cooperation from male officials. Women candidates in Kuwait and Qatar have faced the same issues with similar results. Last year, Qatar’s emir appointed two women to the country’s Shura Council after no women candidates were elected in the first legislative election. None of the 29 women candidates running for office in Kuwait in 2021 were elected, though two were elected in 2022. Fortunately, Kuwaiti women gained access to traditionally men-only public forums called diwaniyas during elections in the past few years, with some women candidates holding forums of their own. And a Kuwaiti activist launched an online platform to support women candidates, helping them gain greater exposure.

While Oman’s women candidates could certainly benefit from similar measures, top-down action has been a more effective means of getting women into political leadership roles in the Gulf. Across the Gulf, the merit of introducing political quotas has been debated, with proponents arguing that society will follow governments’ lead.

Integrating Women into Social and Economic Development

As the Omani government institutes important measures to boost and diversify the economy, some of the country’s women citizens are being left behind. Without more women in decision-making roles and without more inclusive government programs, women’s economic and social progress will remain at a standstill.

Oman led the way in the region in granting women the right to vote, and did so by way of decree. The same direct action is now needed to further advance women’s political participation. The Omani government should take an active role in getting more women into decision-making roles, including through appointments and quotas, which will encourage broader societal change.

Affording greater autonomy to women’s organizations in Oman could also benefit women’s political awareness and positively impact social perceptions of their roles in society. The government should also develop programs and policies that address the unique restrictions women in rural areas face. Oman has recently taken steps toward this end, including creating an online platform to promote and sell products made by women entrepreneurs from rural areas. The government should continue supporting rural women’s efforts to join the workforce and start their own businesses.

The Omani government should also reform its personal status and nationality laws to fully conform to the CEDAW so that women no longer face legal restrictions to their full participation in society. Omani women should be given the authority to advocate for their rights as they see fit, and to lead government efforts to better integrate themselves into the country’s economic and social development. Such changes will only further Oman’s social and economic progress, which cannot move forward without the advancement of women’s status in politics and society.

https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/the-role-of-women-in-omans-social-and-economic-progress/

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HRH Princess Alia Bint Al Hussein Attends Pakistani Women’s Cultural Forum

Nov 22,2022

AMMAN — Deputising for HRH Princess Sarvath El Hassan, HRH Princess Alia Bint Al Hussein on Monday night attended the Pakistani Cultural Forum for Women at the Royal Cultural Centre in Amman.

Organised by the Pakistani embassy in Jordan, in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture, the event featured the participation of HRH Princess Wijdan Al Hashimi, HRH Princess Sana Asem, HRH Princess Rajwa Bint Ali, HRH Princess Basma Bint Ali, HRH Princess Najla Bint Asem, HRH Princess Farah Nayef and Pakistan's Ambassador to Jordan Sajjad Ali Khan, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

Addressing the gathering, Minister of Culture Haifa Najjar highlighted the forum's role in enhancing relations between Jordanian and Pakistani women, noting that such events could help in advancing bilateral relations, especially in the cultural field. The Pakistani envoy, during the ceremony, which included a Sufi concert, emphasised the "deep-rooted" nature of Jordanian-Pakistani relations, expressing hope to advance bilateral cultural relations.

https://jordantimes.com/news/local/princess-alia-attends-pakistani-womens-cultural-forum

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Self-Immolation Of Football Fan Sahar Khodayari Threw Light On The Stadium Ban On Women In Iran

Annu Kaushik

November 22, 2022

On 9 September 2019, 29-year-old Sahar Khodayari died of burn injuries a week after she immolated herself outside an Islamic Revolutionary Court in the Iranian capital of Tehran.

A short while before the self-immolation, the court told Khodayari that she may be sentenced to six months in prison.

Her crime? She attended her favourite local football club Esteghlal FC’s match.

Iran bans women from attending men’s football matches.

Disguised as a man, Khodayari had entered the Azadi Stadium in Tehran to attend the match in March 2019 but she was caught by the security guards and arrested. Khodayari who became a symbol of protest in her country was dubbed the ‘blue girl’ after the colours of her Esteghlal FC.

Her self-immolation and subsequent death sparked outrage both at home and abroad with FIFA mounting pressure on Iran to allow women to enter stadiums.

“We learnt of some very sad news from Iran and deeply regret this tragedy. FIFA conveys its condolences to the family and friends of Sahar. We reiterate our calls on Iranian authorities to ensure the freedom and safety of any women engaged in the legitimate fight to end the stadium ban,” FIFA tweeted.

Under pressure from FIFA, Iran allowed over 2,000 female spectators to watch the Iranian national football team defeat Iraq in the World Cup Qualifiers in Tehran.

However, in March 2022, it was reported that women were barred from attending the Iran-Lebanon WC qualifiers in Tehran.

To date, Iran has not lifted the stadium ban on women.

The ongoing FIFA World Cup coincides with nationwide protests in Iran which started after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died following her arrest by the morality police.

On 22 November in their opening match which was against England, the Iranian football team refused to sing their country’s national anthem in an apparent show of support for the protests.

While the gesture won praise globally, not all fans were impressed. Demonstrators and activists had earlier slammed the football team for posing with Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi before leaving for the World Cup.

Many Iranian fans have been divided over whether or not to support their team.

“The protest movement has overshadowed football. I want Iran to lose these three games,” AP quoted Kamran, a linguistics professor as saying.

As for the Iranian players, some of them have been vocal in favour of the protests on social media.

One of them Sardar Azmoun- a star performer, was on the bench during the match.

Earlier, Iranian authorities arrested former Persepolis FC player Hossein Maahini for supporting the demonstrations.

https://www.firstpost.com/world/iran-how-the-self-immolation-of-football-fan-sahar-khodayari-threw-light-on-the-stadium-ban-on-women-11675061.html

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 URL:    https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/heba-fathima-bhagavad-gita-urdu/d/128469

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