Coronavirus Forces Makkah Women to Abandon 70-Year-Long Noble Tradition of Flocking to The Holy Kaaba in Droves
New Age Islam News Bureau
1
Aug 2020
•
Calgary’s Muslim Women Athletes Sporting A Respect for Games and Culture
•
Female Participation in Sports Up 150% In Saudi Arabia
•
Hollywood Actresses Join Turkish Women’s Calls for End to Domestic Violence
•
Women Wearing ‘Burkinis’ Not Banned from Pools, Beaches in Egypt: Govt
•
Afghan Women Assert Themselves with Martial Arts
•
Challenge Accepted: Turkish Feminists Spell Out Real Meaning of Hashtag
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/coronavirus-forces-makkah-women-abandon/d/122520
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Coronavirus
Forces Makkah Women to Abandon 70-Year-Long Noble Tradition of Flocking to The
Holy Kaaba in Droves
July
31, 2020
Women
in Droves used to be a rare scene every year
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MAKKAH
— The coronavirus pandemic turned out to be a villain as it caused Makkah women
to abandon their 70-year-long tradition of flocking to the Holy Kaaba in droves
as all the pilgrims and male citizens of Makkah would move to Arafat on Dhul
Hijjah 9, the Arafat Day, marking the climax of the annual pilgrimage.
It
used to be a rare scene every year when a large number of the local women
faithful, in their black abayas, gathered around Islam’s holiest shrine, giving
a distinct visual treat of the mataf (area around Kaaba for circumambulation)
with white marble flooring.
The
women used to make the most of the opportunity and perform tawaf
(circumambulation), kiss the Black Stone, pray at Multazam (the area between
the Black Stone and the door of Kaaba), and break their fast at mataf at their
free will. They spent many hours of the day near the Kaaba, and then go back to
their homes.
This
tradition dates back to more than 70 years as male citizens of Makkah began
accompanying Hajj pilgrims to offer them different kinds of services when the
pilgrims ascended the vast plains of Arafat, marking the climax of Hajj.
Sameer
Barqa, a researcher on the history of Makkah, said that Arafat Day came to be
known among the Makkah women as “Al-Khaleef Day.” Al-Khaleef means one who
stayed back (from Hajj).
“In
the past, it was the tradition of all male members of the Makkah’s society to
be fully involved in Hajj activities and thus giving a rare opportunity for
women to spend the blessed day in the most blessed place on earth."
"When
men went to the holy sites from the day of Tarwiyah, the first day of Hajj, the
holy city of Makkah would be empty of men and then the women would go out to
guard the neighborhoods also,” he said. However, this year, the coronavirus
prevented women from maintaining this tradition as they were forced to stay
indoors due to precautionary measures and preventive protocols.
https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/596171/SAUDI-ARABIA/Coronavirus-forces-Makkah-women-to-abandon-70-year-long-noble-tradition
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Calgary’s
Muslim Women Athletes Sporting A Respect for Games and Culture
July
31, 2020
Playing
with respect to their culture, Calgary's Muslim women hit the court providing
women an opportunity to stay active. CONTRIBUTED
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Even
with cultural and religious barriers around mixed-gender sports and clothing
considerations, women at a Calgary mosque are sweating it out on the courts.
Baitun
Nur mosque in Calgary has been consistently encouraging women in the Muslim
community to participate in sports.
“A
saying from our Holy Prophet Muhammad is that ‘A physically strong person is
better than a physically weak person,'” said Amtul Qayyum Anjum, general
secretary in charge of Lajna (women’s auxiliary organization) at Jama’at e
Ahmadiyya in Calgary.
So,
we encourage our ladies to participate in sports and exercise.”
The
mosque has made sure to not let any of this act as a hindrance for women who
want to play sports. They create an environment that allows women to be
comfortable playing and still respect their cultural identity.
“When
we play inside our gym, it’s amongst the women only. So, they do not have to
wear a scarf, although, we still dress in modest clothing and members do not
find any difficulty with playing to their full capacity in this clothing,” said
Qayyum.
“Rather,
they feel even more comfortable,” she said.
Many
sports groups don’t take religion into consideration
For
Daniyya Haleem, the sports secretary and the captain of the women’s volleyball
team at Baitun Nur mosque, the feeling is mutual.
Haleem
said that most public teams fail to consider Muslim women’s ethnic concerns.
“That
is a big reason as to why we have it in the mosque. We are all women, we all
wear the same things, we are all comfortable and no men are coming in at that
time,” she said.
With
a motive to teach the female members of the community to work hard, live in
sisterhood, and to increase their physical strength, Qayyum believes that
sports is the way to go.
“Islam
teaches us to do good deeds with an active mind. One way to achieve this is
through having an active and healthy body,” said Qayyum.
COVID-19
put a hold on the sports
The
players usually meet four days a week to practice volleyball. Due to COVID-19,
the game has been put on hold for now.
All
eight teams from Lajna Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at’s Calgary Region Volleyball
play against each other once a year in a tournament.
“Within
our community, participating is seen as a good thing rather than a bad thing or
stigma,” said Haleem.
Haleem
has been a part of the Baitun Nur volleyball team for six years now.
“People
really support it and they look up to people who are participating. Everyone is
always encouraging people to join,” she said.
She
feels thankful for having such a supportive space within the community.
The
mosque also has a women’s badminton team. Every year, they hold a Sports Day
events where participants win prizes.
“By
having these initiatives, we encourage our members to participate and try their
best in sports. This is a fun opportunity for our members and it helps diminish
the negative stigma around Muslims and sports,” said Qayyum.
According
to Haleem, this is also a good way to bring people towards the mosque and feel
comfortable around the people you know.
“The
idea that Muslim women cannot play sports in modesty is absolutely incorrect.
Our team members would agree that it does not limit them in any capacity.”
https://livewirecalgary.com/2020/07/31/calgarys-muslim-women-athletes-sporting-a-respect-for-games-and-culture/
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Female
Participation in Sports Up 150% In Saudi Arabia
31/07/2020
Female
participation in sports increased by nearly 150% over the past five years in
Saudi Arabia
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São
Paulo – Female participation in sports increased by nearly 150% over the past
five years in Saudi Arabia, its Ministry of Sports said, in the wake of the
Vision 2030 program, which has created opportunities for women to engage in
sporting activities.
The
Vision 2030’s Quality of Life program has seen the Saudi Sports for All
Federation (SFA) work to increase weekly participation in sports by up to 40%
by 2030, introducing a more inclusive sporting environment and encouraging
girls and women to take up sports.
“Championing
a healthy and active community means that we help to provide all members of
Saudi society with access to high-quality opportunities to discover their love
of fitness,” SFA president Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal told Arab News.
According
to Talal, the SFA is en route to meeting the Vision 2030 goal of getting women
to engage in physical activity.
February
saw the SFA launch the country’s first-ever Women’s Football League (WFL). SFA
special projects manager Rawh Abdullah Alarfaj said that “Having a women’s
football league is a huge boost for female football. We have been playing
football, forming leagues and training since 2007, without any tangible
support.”
Football
is the most popular sport in the Arab world, and Saudi Arabia is not an
exception. The WFL includes women aged 17 and older.
Its
launch came in the wake of the creation of SFA-Saudi Greens, in 2018, under SFA
supervision. The new team finished second in the UN Global Goals World Cup 2019
(GGWCP). It was the first Saudi women’s team ever to join an international
event.
“It
was an awesome experience in terms of learning how to connect our passion for
sport with goals that affect our society, country and the world. Being part of
the first team to compete internationally was an honor and a dream come true,”
coach Maram Adel Albutairi told Arab News.
The
SFA’s “Your Home, Your Gym” campaign is encouraging people to stay active
throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Leading names in sports have been
recruited as ambassadors for the campaign.
Last
June saw the SFA host the first Saudi Women’s Fitness Festival (WFF), “a
three-day virtual event with sessions on nutrition, fitness, virtual workouts
and thought leadership discussions,” Arab News reported.
https://anba.com.br/en/female-participation-in-sports-up-150-in-saudi-arabia/
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Hollywood
actresses join Turkish women’s calls for end to domestic violence
July
31 2020
Hollywood
actresses and world-famous celebrities have joined Turkish women’s social media
campaign
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Hollywood
actresses and world-famous celebrities have joined Turkish women’s social media
campaign calling for putting an end to domestic violence with the hashtag
#ChallengeAccepted, urging other women to join the trend.
The
challenge came hot on the heels of a social media trend started by women in
Turkey, including celebrities, actresses and journalists, posting black and
white photos of themselves in a show of solidarity with women survivors and
victims of domestic violence and in support of the Istanbul Convention, a
Council of Europe treaty to combat violence against women.
The
social media furor later quickly morphed into a show of female solidarity in the
West, albeit without a shoutout to where the campaign most likely originated in
Turkey.
Actresses
like Jessica Biel and Cobie Smulders were quick to realize the movement may
have had a starker importance instead of a simple women’s empowerment trend.
“It
took me a sec to catch up and learn what this is really all about. To put it
simply – it’s a global reminder for women to support women… especially those
whose voices are not being heard (here, and around the world). To the women in
Turkey, we stand with you and hear you…” Biel said in a post on Instagram,
while making calls for gender-based justice in the U.S. as well.
Grammy-winning
singer Christina Aguilera used the hashtag #IstanbulSözleşmesiYaşatır (Istanbul
Convention Saves Lives) in the caption beneath her black and white photograph.
Frustrated
with the rise in femicides and domestic violence, women in Turkey posted their
photos mentioning the importance of the Istanbul Convention after senior
government officials said Turkey, the first country to ratify the European
treaty in 2012, may withdraw from the convention.
The
groundswell of support for the convention comes right after the murder of Pınar
Gültekin, a 27-year-old university student murdered in the Aegean province of
Muğla by a man who was reportedly her ex-boyfriend.
The
We Will Stop Femicides Platform (Kadın Cinayetlerini Durduracağız Platformu)
logged more than 157 deaths at the hands of violent men so far in 2020.
https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/hollywood-actresses-join-turkish-womens-calls-for-end-to-domestic-violence-157009
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Women
wearing ‘burkinis’ not banned from pools, beaches in Egypt: Govt
31
Jul 2020
Hotels
and tourist resorts in Egypt have no right to ban women from wearing burkinis
at pools and on beaches, so long as these suits are made of materials
“compliant with health specifications,” the tourism and local development
ministries said in separate statements on Friday.
This
week, a video showing an altercation over women wearing the body-covering
swimsuits, which are popular with some conservative Muslims, went viral on
local social media.
The
video showed a group of guests at a resort on the country's north coast engaged
in a dispute with a family at the resort over the fact that two of the family
group had entered the pool while wearing burkinis.
The
group are shown saying that the fabric of the burkinis is unhygienic, while one
said the suits had a “bad” appearance.
The
family members describe the comments as “discrimination and racism” and deny
that there is a difference between the swimsuit material and other swimsuits.
Many
Egyptian women have complained that they are banned from going to pools in some
tourist areas because they prefer to wear burkinis.
“The
incident took place at a private pool in a tourist compound, which is not
overseen by the tourism ministry but by the local development ministry,”
Abdel-Fattah El-Assi, deputy tourism minister, was quoted as saying in Friday’s
statement.
Hotels
and resorts have no authority to ban veiled women from entering into pools in
burkinis since they have no negative impact on public health, El-Assi added,
according to Al-Ahram Arabic news website.
He
noted that the tourism ministry had previously issued a circular in this
respect to all hotels and resorts.
He
also called on all women to file a complaint with the ministry if they
experience such actions.
The
local development ministry in its Friday statement reiterated that hotels and
tourist resorts should not prevent veiled women who would rather wear burkinis
from swimming in pools and going to the beach, as long as their suits don't
affect the water.
Local
Development Minister Mohamed Shaarawy instructed the coastal governorates to be
in touch with owners of hotels and tourist resorts to guarantee these
regulations are implemented, according to the statement.
Shaarawy
also stressed the importance of adhering to all restrictions related to the
coronavirus during the four-day Eid Al-Adha holiday, which began on Friday and
continues until Monday.
These
include keeping all beaches and public parks nationwide closed, and operating
hotels, tourist villages and resorts at reduced capacity in accordance with new
regulations.
Hotels
in Egypt are allowed to operate at 50 percent of their occupancy rate provided
that they have received the necessary hygiene safety certificates from the
authorities.
Egypt
has recorded a total of 93,757 coronavirus cases, including 4,774 fatalities
and 38,236 recoveries, as of Thursday.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/375721/Egypt/Politics-/Women-wearing-%E2%80%98burkinis%E2%80%99-not-banned-from-pools,-be.aspx
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Afghan
women assert themselves with martial arts
July
23, 2020
KABUL,
Afghanistan (AP) -- A year and a half ago, Liqa Esazada for the first time
stepped into a martial arts club for women in Kabul, something of a rarity in
this still deeply conservative Muslim society.
At
the time, she had just accompanied her older sister but was immediately
intrigued. The 22-year-old is now one of two dozen Afghan women who find
inspiration and empowerment in Japanese jujitsu, a martial arts form that dates
back centuries.
They
love the sport and dare to dream big, hoping someday to compete on the
international level.
In
war-torn Afghanistan, where gender discrimination has deep cultural and
historical roots and where many women suffer from domestic violence, jujitsu
seems an ideal sport for women. It teaches self-defense against a stronger and
heavier opponent by using certain holds and principles of leverage.
Esazada
said she wants to show a more positive side of Afghanistan -- and "become
famous and win the world jujitsu championship medal."
Sayed
Jawad Hussiani, a jujitsu instructor at the Nero club where Esazada trains, said
this martial arts form with roots in feudal Japan was first brought to
Afghanistan in 2005 but has since become popular among boys and girls alike.
The
women in Hussiani's group find strength in their team spirit. They braid each
other's hair before training sessions, spar against one another, take turns on
the even bars. In winter, they practice their wrestle holds on snow-covered
hilltops above Kabul.
Today,
about two-thirds of Afghanistan's population is 25 or younger and Esazada said
she has no memory of the Taliban regime, which hosted al-Qaida leader Osama bin
Laden and ruled Afghanistan before the 2001 U.S. invasion.
But
since the United States and the Taliban earlier this year signed a deal on
ending America's longest war -- an accord that also envisages peace talks
between the Taliban and the Kabul government -- women in Afghanistan have
become increasingly worried about losing some of the rights and freedoms they
have gained over the past two decades.
Under
the Taliban, women were not allowed to go to school, work outside the home or
leave their house without a male escort. And though they still face many
challenges, Afghan women are increasingly stepping into their own power in this
male-dominated society, finding a voice even in sports.
Esazada
said she is not afraid of the Taliban, and if they come back, she would simply
"continue my training to reach my dreams."
She
looks to Afghan women athletes who have made their mark on the world stage.
Female athletes from Afghanistan have won more than 100 medals at regional and
international tournaments.
Tahmina
Kohistani, Afghanistan's first female Olympic athlete, competed in the
100-meter run at the 2012 London Olympics. In 2010, the Afghan female soccer
team defeated Pakistan 4-0 at the South Asian Football Championship. In 2011,
Afghan female power lifters won three gold and two bronze medals at pan-Asian
games held in Kazakhstan.
Esazada's
fellow jujitsu student at the Nero club, Rana Rasuli, 21, said she worries
about her future if the Taliban manage to retake all of Afghanistan.
For
now, Rasuli said she is happiest when she can come out of her home and exercise
with the other girls at the club.
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20200722/p2g/00m/0et/114000c
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Challenge
accepted: Turkish feminists spell out real meaning of hashtag
Bethan
McKernan
31
Jul 2020
Feminists
in Turkey have called on the rest of the world not to forget the original
context of Instagram’s #challengeaccepted trend, which was supposed to draw
attention to skyrocketing rates of gender-based violence in the country before
it was co-opted by western celebrities.
Femicide,
violence against women and so-called “honour” killings are deeply rooted issues
in Turkey. Last week, the country was rocked by the brutal killing of Pınar
Gültekin, a 27-year-old student, who was allegedly killed by an ex-boyfriend.
Campaigners
are also deeply worried about fresh efforts by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s
ruling party to repeal a Council of Europe treaty known as the Istanbul
convention, groundbreaking legislation from 2011 that protects victims of
domestic and gender-based violence and effectively prosecutes offenders.
Marches
in four Turkish cities last week mourning Gültekin’s death and calling on
Turkish politicians to uphold the Istanbul convention were accompanied by
hundreds of thousands of social media posts: one initiative involved posting
photos on Instagram in black and white to emphasise how pictures of murdered
women end up in black and white in the pages of newspapers.
The
black and white challenge appears to have started in 2016 to raise awareness of
cancer, but the repurposed idea along with appeals for women to tag others who
inspire or support them and hashtags such as #challengeaccepted and
#İstanbulSözleşmesiYaşatır, or “Enforce the Istanbul Convention”, quickly took
off in Turkey.
As
the hashtags were translated and shared in other languages and western
celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston, Eva Longoria and even Ivanka Trump picked
up on the trend, the original context appears to have been lost on most users,
morphing into a lighthearted - if directionless - display of female solidarity.
“The
black and white photo challenge and #challengeaccepted movement did not start
in Turkey, but Turkish women sparked the latest round of pictures because we
are worried about withdrawing from the Istanbul convention. Every day, after
the death of one of our sisters, we share black and white photographs and keep
their memory alive,” said Fidan Ataselim, the general secretary of the campaign
group We Will Stop Femicide.
“The
Istanbul convention keeps Turkish women alive. We call on women from all over
the world to spread this message and stand side by side with us against
inequality.”
Chef
Nigella Lawson’s original #challengeaccepted post was followed up with an
apology after activists pointed out the original meaning of the campaign.
“I
have only just found out that this challenge was originally meant to draw
attention to the growing number of murders of women in Turkey, and am mortified
didn’t know [sic] when I posted. It seems inappropriate now, and hardly fitting
for the serious and terrible issue of femicide. I apologise,” she wrote.
Comedian
Miranda Hart also issued a mea culpa for posting a photograph without realising
where the campaign had come from.
“I
am one of many women who didn’t research the #challengeaccepted
#blackandwhitechallenge thoroughly. Although I am always grateful for a chance
to support and uphold the women who uphold me, this ‘challenge’ is about
raising awareness of the atrocious Femicide in Turkey.”
Gültekin
is one of 120 women who have been killed in Turkey so far this year, mostly by
partners and relatives. A total of 474 women were killed in 2019, the highest
rate in a decade in which the numbers have increased year on year. The figures
for 2020, affected by coronavirus lockdowns, are expected to be even higher.
Despite
the fact Turkey has the highest femicide rate among 34 OECD countries,
conservative elements in Turkey’s political sphere have repeatedly petitioned
for the country to withdraw from the Istanbul convention on the grounds that it
encourages divorce and ‘immoral lifestyles’.
On
Tuesday, Meral Akşener, the leader of the opposition İYİ Parti (Good party)
called on Erdoğan to uphold the legislation, saying that the government’s
failure to properly implement the law since it was ratified in 2014 was
contributing to the rising levels of gender-based violence.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/31/challenge-accepted-turkish-feminists-spell-out-real-meaning-of-hashtag
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URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/coronavirus-forces-makkah-women-abandon/d/122520