New
Age Islam News Bureau
18
September 2020
• Los
Angeles Muslim Woman Files Federal Lawsuit Over LAPD Officers Removing Her
Hijab
• US
Embassy in Kabul Warns of Extremist Attacks Against Women
• First
Saudi Woman Car Polisher, Tainter
• Zahraa,
A Saudi Graduate in Media, Follows Her Passion In Car Décor Job
• Woman
Gets 5 Years in Jail for Luring Dubai Visitor Through Dating App
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/yoga-burqa-rehnuma-mikrani-fights/d/122884
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‘Yoga in Burqa’: Rehnuma Mikrani, Fights All Odds to Teach Yoga to Women
Kalyan
Das | Edited by Sparshita Saxena
Sep
18, 2020
Women,
many of them in burqa, practicing yoga in Haldwani town of Nainital district in
Uttarakhand. (HT Photo )
------
A
17-year-old boxer, Rehnuma Mikrani, is kicking all odds one punch at a time to
teach yoga to about 40 women of her community in Haldwani town of Nainital
district.
Hailing
from a humble family background, Rehnuma is the daughter of an autorickshaw
driving father and a mother who works at a local Anganwadi centre. A
state-level boxer, Rehnuma decided to teach yoga and other exercises to the
women in her community about one and a half month ago during the lockdown.
She
began by teaching yoga to four women and now has a batch of around forty women
of her community who come together every morning in the local playground.
However,
the initiative was not an easy one to start as she and the other women had to
face all sorts of odds including criticism from some members of the community
and lewd comments from local boys.
Rehnuma,
who has been training at Sports Authority of India’s day-boarding extension
centre for boxing in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district, said, “It all started
in July when my mother and few other women asked me to teach them yoga and
other exercises as being a sportsperson, I was trained in such things.”
“I
was at home during the lockdown but I tried to continue my regular workout at a
nearby sports ground. There, I saw a few Muslim women doing some basic
exercises near their houses but not in a proper way. I discussed it with my
mother who then said asked me to teach it to teach them since I am trained in
it. I agreed and then five of us, my mother, three other women and I, started
practising in the playground where I used to go,” said Rehnuma.
The
small group then started gathering early at 5.30 am to practise yoga and other
exercises till 7-7.30 am.
Rehnuma
said that it was not at all an easy for them initially as “men would stop on
their way just to stare at them”.
“Not
only they would stop to see what we are doing but some also used to pass lewd
comments and body shame us, saying, “Look at these ladies… what they are doing?
They rather sit at home”. Initially, we didn’t pay heed to them but when it
crossed a limit, my mother and I confronted them after which they stopped
passing comments,” she said.
Rehnuma’s
mother Shabnam who has been supporting her from day one, said, “Not only random
people at the ground but some local Muslim scholars also objected”
“After
seeing us, more women started joining us later and the number reached forty.
However, this also drew an objection from some local Muslim scholars. They
didn’t confront us directly but would raise their objection before the men of
our community that we should not do this in public, rather sit at home as it is
against the customs and all...,” said Shabnam.
“However,
we didn’t stop going there to practise yoga as we knew we would face such
hurdles. And we were doing all this for our health and fitness,” she added.
“Among
40 women, some are as young as 14 while some are over 45. We gather every
morning as a family and practise yoga with full dedication. In fact, we have
also bought a small speaker after pooling money to play music during yoga. We
all really enjoy it and don’t bother about criticism now,” said Shabnam.
Many
women come in Burqa to practise yoga.
Samreen
Khan, 23, who has been with Rehnuma since the start and is also a trained yoga
practitioner, said, “Belonging to a society where women are not allowed to move
freely and are expected to be in veil or burqa, we decided to teach these women
yoga in burqa only.”
“Most
of the women are practising yoga with us in burqa and they have absolutely no
problem with that. They say, by doing so they are able to uphold the customs
and practise yoga also for their health and fitness,” said Samreen.
She
said initially many women were hesitant in joining them but once they joined
they were able to understand the benefits of yoga.
“Many
of them suffered from health issues like blood pressure or joint pain and
didn’t know what to do. Now, after joining our group, they have learnt many
yoga asanas and exercises which are helping them improve their health,” said
Samreen.
The
initiative has been appreciated by many prominent members of the community.
SMA
Kazmi, social activist and a political expert based in Dehradun, said, “What
these women are doing is highly appreciable. What Rehnuma is doing is for the
health and fitness of women in our community which makes it all the more
important and praiseworthy. There are several restrictions on women in our
community but she has braved them all to teach them yoga. This is what should
be appreciated by all,” said Kazmi.
Another
social activist from Haldwani, Tanuja Joshi, too hailed Rehnuma for her efforts
and said, “What she is doing is beneficial for the health of these women. Yoga
is above any religion and keeps people fit”.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/yoga-in-burqa-uttarakhand-boxer-girl-fights-all-odds-to-teach-yoga-to-women/story-QRa7BaSSuz5pRhRaaYBwpO.html
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All-Women
Band in Iran Struggles To Break Through
Bandar
Abbas
September
17, 2020
Members
of the Iranian all-women music band "Dingo" (L to R) Malihe
Shahinzadeh, Negin Heydari, Faezeh Mohseni, and Noushin Yousefzadeh perform
together at a concert during the state-organised "Persian Gulf music"
festival at Avini Hall in Iran's sou...
-----
Female
singing in the country governed by strict religious rules still has lot of
restrictions
The
men in the audience clapped and the women ululated as the band finished
singing: it would have been commonplace except the venue was in Iran and the
group on stage were all women.
The
catchy rhythmic music they played that balmy night is known as
"bandari".
Its
lyrics are from ancient folkloric songs, passed down the generations and
familiar to many at the concert in an amphitheatre in the southern port of
Bandar Abbas.
Only
this time, it was being performed by women in front of a mixed crowd.
"It
feels as if you have been seen at last" by "a new part of
society," said band member Noushin Yousefzadeh, who plays the oud, the
Middle Eastern lute.
"All
that training has paid off at last."
Dressed
in traditional clothing, the band was taking part in a state-organised festival
to showcase "Arabian Gulf music" and, as well as singing, also played
their instruments.
Before
long, the audience was ecstatically singing along with the four-piece band.
Such
public expressions of joy are usually frowned upon by officials in Iran, which
has been under strict religious rule for more than 40 years.
Formed
in late 2016 after a conversation at the beach between two of the women, the
band is called Dingo, which in the local dialect refers to the first wobbly
steps taken by infants.
The
show - staged last year - was only the second time they had performed in front
of a mixed audience.
The
first occasion was at the Shiraz Oud Festival in July 2018.
"These
festivals are a great opportunity because in normal circumstances we cannot
sing in front of men," said drummer Faezeh Mohseni.
When
performing for all-female audiences, Mohseni sings solo.
But,
informed only a few days before the festival that they had been selected and
would be singing to both men and women, the band hastily re-arranged its
routine.
"We
had to spend all those days rehearsing so that all of us could sing in
chorus," said Malihe Shahinzadeh, who plays the pippeh, a type of local
drum.
Public
singing by women is not a clear-cut affair in Iran.
No
law specifically forbids it, according to Sahar Taati, a former director at the
music department of Iran's Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, known as
Ershad.
After
Hassan Rouhani was elected president in 2013, succeeding Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
staging musical events became somewhat easier.
There
are, however, still a myriad of restrictions.
Ershad
must approve concerts and it remains almost impossible for a female singer to
perform alone, except in front of other women.
But
"women can sing to mixed audiences if two or more women sing together, or
a female solo singer is accompanied by a male singer whose voice is always at
least as strong as hers", said Taati.
That's
how a Persian adaptation of the musical "Les Miserables" was
performed in Tehran in the winter of 2018-2019, with female solos supported by
the voice of another singer in the wings.
The
members of Dingo, who are all in their mid-20s to mid-30s, had tried a number
of times to arrange performances for mixed audiences themselves.
But it
was difficult to coordinate and in the end "we just gave up", said
Negin Heydari, a former member, who plays the kasser, a smaller drum usually
played together with the dohol and pippeh.
So
now, whenever authorities arrange festivals and shows like this one in their
home town, they apply and hope they will be selected, even if it means not
knowing until the last minute if they have been.
But,
the exhilaration of playing for mixed audiences is worth all the uncertainty
and long hours of practice - in the "Dingo room", a sound-proof den
in the courtyard of one of their parents' homes.
Heydari
described how happy her husband of 10 years, Sassan, said he was to be able to
see her perform live on stage at last.
The
four musicians, two of whom have jobs, feel fully supported by their families
and have many dreams for their band, from more performances inside Iran, to
playing at venues abroad.
"We
want to make Dingo international," said Mohseni, while Shahinzadeh is
eager for the rest of the world to hear the music of her hometown.
Their
dedication paid off when they won a jury prize for their performance at last
year's festival, where they wore colourful outfits with sequins and gold
embroidery, traditionally worn in southern Hormozgan province.
Since
the concert, Negin Heydari has left the band because of "artistic
differences", and her place has been taken by guitarist Mina Molai.
Meanwhile,
the Covid-19 pandemic, which has hit Iran particularly hard, has left a mark on
Dingo's progress in good and bad ways.
It has
dampened the band's hopes of recording an album and prevented rehearsals but
also given rise to new ideas.
"The
period of confinement has been an opportunity for me to research the music of
our region and also to improve my playing technique," said Shahinzadeh.
"Up
until now, we've only been doing covers of the bandari folk repertoire, but now
we're thinking of creating original pieces," she said.
Despite
the religious limitations, female solo singing can still be heard by men in
Iran, especially if you catch a taxi in the capital, Tehran.
You
may well come across a driver who plays Googoosh, a pre-revolution pop diva,
who reemerged in North America in 2000 after years of silence in her homeland.
Another
might reach for a USB memory stick with songs by the late sisters Hayedeh and
Mahasti, icons of the music scene before 1979 who are buried in California, in
the United States.
You
could also hear Gelareh Sheibani, a young songstress based on the US west coast
whose tunes are finding their way to Iran over the internet.
That's
unless your cabbie prefers the Paris-based soprano Darya Dadvar, one of the few
women to have sung solo in front of a mixed audience since the revolution.
https://www.khaleejtimes.com/all-women-band-in-iran-struggles-to-break-through
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Los
Angeles Muslim Woman Files Federal Lawsuit Over LAPD Officers Removing Her
Hijab
Sep
18, 2020
A
Muslim woman has alleged in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday that her civil and
religious rights were violated when Los Angeles police officers pulled her from
a Police Commission meeting and forcibly removed her religious head covering
last year.
Nusaiba
Mubarak, now 26, said during an online news conference that she was standing in
line at the meeting, waiting to comment on a deadly LAPD shooting the year
prior, when she was “aggressively manhandled by three police officers nearly
twice my size, who without any warning grabbed me and pushed me to the wall,
handcuffed me, and shoved me into another room where I was stripped of my hijab
and humiliated.”
Mubarak,
represented by attorneys from the Council on American-Islamic Relations chapter
of Los Angeles, said police initially rushed into the area where she was lined
up after another protester had gone over his allotted time to speak, but that
there was no cause or reason given for her own detention and no justification
for the removal of her hijab in the presence of male officers — a violation of
Muslim religious tenets.
She
was released without charge. The episode left her “shocked and quite
terrified,” she said.
Mubarak
said she had attended the Police Commission meeting last September to denounce
the October 2018 killing of Albert Ramon Dorsey. Dorsey was fatally shot by an
LAPD officer after punching another officer in a locker room at a 24 Hour
Fitness gym in Hollywood. LAPD Chief Michel Moore found that the shooting was
justified, but the Police Commission disagreed, saying the officer had violated
department policy.
Mubarak’s
lawsuit is against the LAPD, the city of L.A., Moore, Det. Corey Harmon and
four other unidentified LAPD officers. It says Mubarak is suing “to challenge
illegal LAPD behavior that callously humiliated her, stripped her of a
religious garment in front of others, and erased her chance to address the
public body that oversees the very officers who violated her rights.”
The
lawsuit alleges that a lack of LAPD policies that specifically protect
individuals’ religious freedom to wear head coverings shows the city and the
department permit such violations, and calls for the LAPD to reform its
policies for arrests of Muslim women.
Josh
Rubenstein, an LAPD spokesman, said the department could not comment on pending
litigation.
Lena
Masri, CAIR’s national litigation director and one of Mubarak’s attorneys, said
Mubarak’s experience reflects a broader trend in law enforcement.
“Muslim
women across the country are having their hijabs senselessly removed by police
officers, during even traffic stops for minor traffic violations, in court
houses, in correctional facilities, and when having their booking photos
taken,” Masri said.
Such
actions are in direct violation of the women’s constitutional rights, and must
be challenged, Masri said.
“The
callousness that the LAPD officers exhibited towards Nusaiba was a senseless
attack against her religious liberty,” she said.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-09-17/muslim-woman-files-federal-lawsuit-over-lapd-officers-removing-her-hijab
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US
Embassy in Kabul Warns of Extremist Attacks Against Women
September
18, 2020
KABUL,
Afghanistan: The US Embassy in Afghanistan is warning that extremists groups
are planning attacks against a “variety of targets” but are taking particular
aim at women.
The
warning issued late Thursday doesn’t specify the organizations plotting the
attacks, but it comes as the Taliban and government-appointed negotiators are
sitting together for the first time to try to find a peaceful end to decades of
relentless war.
The
“Taliban don’t have any plans to carry out any such attacks,” spokesman
Zabihullah Mujahed told The Associated Press on Friday.
Peace
negotiations underway in Qatar, where the Taliban maintain a political office,
are in the initial stages with participants still hammering out what items on
the agenda will be negotiated and when.
Washington’s
peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said at the start of negotiations last weekend
that spoilers existed on both sides. He said that some among Afghanistan’s many
leaders would be content to continue with the status quo rather than find a
peaceful end to the war that might involve power sharing.
According
to the embassy warning, “extremist organizations continue to plan attacks
against a variety of targets in Afghanistan, including a heightened risk of
attacks targeting female government and civilian workers, including teachers,
human rights activists, office workers, and government employees.”
The
embassy did not provide specifics, including how imminent is the threat.
The
Taliban have been harshly criticized for their treatment of women and girls
during their five-year rule when the insurgent group denied girls access to
school and women to work outside their home. The Taliban rule ended in 2001
when a US-led coalition ousted the hard-line regime for its part in sheltering
Al-Qaeda, which was responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United
States.
One
of the government-appointed peace negotiators, Fawzia Koofi, a strong,
outspoken proponent of women’s rights, was shot last month in Afghanistan, but
escaped serious injuries and attended the opening of negotiations last weekend.
The Taliban quickly denied responsibility and Khalilzad again warned of the
dangers to the process.
The
United States has said that perhaps one of the most dangerous extremist groups
operating in Afghanistan is the Islamic State affiliate, headquartered in the
country’s east and held responsible for some of the most recent attacks. The IS
affiliate has declared war on minority Shiite Muslims and has claimed credit
for horrific attacks targeting them.
The
United Nations as well as Afghanistan’s many international allies have stressed
the need for any peace deal to protect the rights of women and minorities.
Negotiations are expected to be difficult and protracted and will also include
constitutional changes, disarming the tens of thousands of the Taliban as well
as militias loyal to warlords, some of whom are allied with the government.
The
advances for women made since 2001 have been important. Women are now members
of parliament, girls have the right to education, women are in the workforce
and their rights are enshrined in the constitution. Women are also seen on
television, playing sports and winning science fairs.
But
the gains are fragile, and their implementation has been erratic, largely
unseen in rural areas where most Afghans still live.
The
2018 Women, Peace and Security Index rated Afghanistan as the second worst
place in the world to be a woman, after Syria. Only 16% of the labor force are
women, one of the lowest rates in the world, and half of Afghanistan’s women have
had four years or less of education, according to the report, which was
compiled by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security and the
Peace Research Institute of Oslo. Only around half of school-aged girls go to
school, and only 19% of girls under 15 are literate, according to the UN
children’s agency.
Nearly
60% of girls are married before they are 19, on average between 15 and 16 years
old, to spouses selected by their parents, according to UNICEF.
Until
now, parliament has been unable to ratify a bill on the protection of women.
There
are also Islamic hard-liners among the politically powerful in Kabul, including
Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, who is the inspiration behind the Philippine terrorist
group Abu Sayyaf, and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a US-designated militant who made
peace with President Ashraf Ghani’s government in 2016.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1736266/world
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First
Saudi Woman Car Polisher, Tainter
September
17, 2020
Samir
Salama
Abu
Dhabi: Zahraa Hamadeh, the first Saudi female car polisher, said she wanted to
try something new and different in a field confined to men, noting that she
pushed for this profession strongly after a period of training.
“I
truly admired this work and am fully enthusiastic to enter this new and different
experience in society,” she told Rotana Khalijia TV.
Hamadeh
added she was trained to to work on polishing, upholstering, shading, and other
car decoration works.
She
explained that she did not find a job after completing her studies, but she did
not sit at home waiting for a job, but developed her skills, and trained in
different fields other than what she learned and studied in her major.
Hamadeh
seeks to launch her own business, and create a new work environment for other
women.
For
his part, the administrative representative of the project, Diaa Al Tekia,
considered this project new to the the region and Saudi Arabia, by opening a
car polishing center with female workers.
He
said he found it difficult in the beginning, but it was an experience and a challenge
for Saudi women who can succeed in any field.
https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/saudi/video-first-saudi-woman-car-polisher-tainter-1.73913096
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Zahraa,
A Saudi Graduate in Media, Follows Her Passion In Car Décor Job
September
17, 2020
DAMMAM
— Following your passion is definitely not always as simple as it sounds but
Zahraa Hamaada made it so with her grit and determination.
A
graduate in media and communications, Hamaada identified her passion for car
décor, a profession entirely different from her formal education.
The
young Saudi woman made the most of the coronavirus pandemic lockdown period to
convert challenges into golden opportunities and breaking the barriers of the
profession hitherto dominated by men. “I found myself” in this job, she said.
Zahraa,
who hails from the Eastern Province, explained how she ended up in this
profession. “I began with polishing cars of my brothers at home, and that was
in a small scale. I loved this field and declared my desire to pursue it with
all the courage a woman needs. I have had work experience in different fields
until I found myself comfortable with polishing cars and shading and adorning
them in all their forms,” she said while emphasizing that she is currently
seeking to develop and create a new work environment for young women in this
thriving field.
Zahraa
said that her entry into the automotive world was during the beginning of the
coronavirus crisis. “I received training from a Saudi automobile company, and I
am still continuing my training until I achieve professional standards. I was
able to open a government-supported project, and I am enjoying this profession,
from which I learned accuracy, patience, and perseverance,” she said.
According
to Zahraa, Saudi women are able to engage in many fields of work and prove
their skills and talents in them. “This is why I look forward to opening the
first women’s project on polishing and decorating cars. Decorating and caring
for cars is a unique world all together in which women can excel and prove their
worth in this sector,” she said while lauding the state’s support for the
empowerment of women in various fields so as to make them a pivotal component
in building the edifice of the nation.
https://www.saudigazette.com.sa/article/598117/SAUDI-ARABIA/Zahraa-a-Saudi-graduate-in-media-follows-her-passion-in-car-dcor-job
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Woman
Gets 5 Years in Jail for Luring Dubai Visitor Through Dating App
September
17, 2020
Ali
Al Shouk
Dubai:
The Dubai Court of First Instance has sentenced a Nigerian woman to five years
in jail for luring a Dubai visitor via the Tinder app, before stripping him
naked, threatening him with a knife and robbing him.
The
court heard earlier from a 36-year-old Spanish visitor that he spoke with whom
he believed was a Brazilian woman through the Tinder app and went to meet her
at the Business Bay area in December last year.
When
he reached the apartment, three women and three men from Nigeria dragged him
inside, physically assaulted him and held him at knifepoint. They stole his
credit cards and used it for different purchases worth Dh19,552. “I tried to
escape but they beat me up and stripped me naked. They recorded the entire
incident. They threatened to kill me and took away my credit cards,” the
Spanish visitor said, as per records. “They told me if I reported the incident
to the police, then they will make a complaint that I attacked the women.”
The
man was locked inside the apartment for a day and later they kicked him out.
The
victim reported the incident to Bur Dubai Police Station. Police arrested a
32-year-old Nigerian woman after investigations.
Confession
During
interrogation, she admitted that she met her countrymen near a shopping centre
in Sharjah, who promised her to find a job. “They asked me to rent an apartment
in Dubai under my name and I went with them to the apartment. After one hour,
another woman opened the door to the man and they dragged him inside,” the
woman said in records.
She
claimed that one of the suspects threatened the victim with a knife and
stripped him naked. He gave them the credit card and other suspects went
outside to withdraw the money. She identified the victim when police showed his
picture to her.
Dubai
Public Prosecution charged the woman with locking the victim with others inside
the apartment, issuing threats, robbery and assault.
The
court ordered that the woman be deported after serving her jail term and paying
a fine of Dh19,552.
https://gulfnews.com/uae/crime/woman-gets-5-years-in-jail-for-luring-dubai-visitor-through-dating-app-1.73922307
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URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/yoga-burqa-rehnuma-mikrani-fights/d/122884
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