VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH
Volume 48, October 7, 2008
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
Editors: Mohamed and Rashida Ziauddin
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent and the Most Merciful
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent and the Most Merciful
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY ON ECONOMIC SHOWDOWN:
"WHEN UNITED STATES SNEEZES, THE WORLD CATCHES A COLD"
"WHEN UNITED STATES SNEEZES, THE WORLD CATCHES A COLD"
Contents:
(1) COMPLEXITY IN DUAL FAITH ISSUES:
New York: Hindu-Muslim family's divergent choice of ritual for the dead creates conflict.
(2) LEGAL ISSUES:
(a) Arab "Registry" Upheld by New York Court; Policy About Immigration, Not Counter-Terrorism
(b) Morocco shuts down schools that advocate child marriage
(3) POLITICS:
(a) U.S Elections: Importance of Muslims to vote. (Community Advisory by Islamic Shura Council of Southern California).
(b) Indian democracy unfair to Muslims, says former MP and actress Shabana Azmi
(4) ISLAMOPHOBIA:
(a) Children attacked at Ohio Mosque: MAINSTREAM MEDIA REMAINS SILENT (b) Assailants attack Mosque in NEPAL
(c) DVD of anti-Islamic film "OBSESSION".
(5) Areas of self-improvement for the UMMAH at an individual, leadership and community level.
INTOLERANCE BY MUSLIMS:
(a) Mother is denied "morning-after" pill by Muslim Pharmacist because it was against his religious beliefs.
(b) Deviated Cleric: Calls on Saudi women to cover one eye. (Date of Halloween:10/31/08)
(c) Muslim oppression of sexual minorities in Kyrgystan
(6) WOMEN:
(a) Congratulations to two Muslim sisters for winning awards
(b) Exploitation of economically disadvantaged women through the guise of "medical tourism" and "cash incentives".
(c) The cultural custom among Zulus does not connect with 21st Century values
(d) Is this the barbaric times or the 21st Century ? Sick atrocities in CONGO including being an involuntary cannibal.
(e) Yes, we all are one Ummah. How best can we help our Muslim sisters in Mali
(f) Global Ummah's Call for Boycott of Sex Tourism: (Implementing the Quranic principles and hadith - one step at a time)
(g) Women's Health: Be cautious of excessive use of cosmetics
(7) CHILDREN:
It is our era's greatest scandal that 1.6 million children die of preventable illness each year. EVERY SINGLE DAY FIVE THOUSAND CHILDREN DIE FROM DIARRHOEAL DISEASES RELATED TO UNSAFE WATER.
(8) IMPACT OF CULTURE ON RELIGION:
(a) Impact of innovative women's program on a 10 year old hijab clad Muslim girl who now wants to build her muscles so she can enter the boxing ring and fight a real opponent.
(b) Can the Global Ummah relate to the Pope when he attacked the "Godless character of modern culture"?
(c) Sudan: Bad behavior (Beating for inappropriate dress is unacceptable)
(9) ENTERTAINMENT:
(a) The "power" of a kiss
(b) Muslim massacre video game condemned.
(shafi3iyah.wordpress.com)(1) COMPLEXITY IN DUAL FAITH ISSUES: New York: Hindu-Muslim family's divergent choice of ritual for the dead creates conflict.
Shafayet Reja, left, and Farah Rahman,who said in an interview that Mr. Reja
had wanted a Muslim burial.
(www.nytimes.com)
(ED NOTE:
In situations where the individual has two faiths due to his parents different religions, it is all the more important to have ADVANCE DIRECTIVES in place just in case should something happen to him or her and he or she is dead or in a coma. Advance directive is a legal notarized document that clearly stipulates the specific wishes of the individual in various matters including the specific faith based ritual to be followed in case of his or her death and also other issues including whether to continue to provide life support if he or she is in a coma or other vegetative state et.c.
In the absence of such a written legal document, the potential for conflict between people of both faiths of the individual dramatically increases. as indicated in below condensed article. We had personally witnessed a similar situation in St. Louis when the teenager's mother was a Christian and father a Muslim. It was easier in that situation since both Muslims and Christians BURY THE DEAD and both the Pastor and Imam were at the grave site and completed the rituals which included prayers and ultimately the common burial. However the same conflict free procedures cannot be followed between Hindus and Muslims since the Hindus burn the body while the Muslims bury the body. The importance of having an Advance Directive cannot be overemphasized in such situations).
NEW YORK TIMES: OCTOBER 3, 2008
Hindu-Muslim Family’s Choice of Cremation Arouses Anger
Hindu-Muslim Family’s Choice of Cremation Arouses Anger
Friends and family remember Shafayet Reja as an affectionate young man who stayed up late to write poetry, danced exuberantly at weddings and explored the faiths of his father and mother with an openheartedness that led him to declare on his Facebook page, “I never get tired of learning the new things that life has to offer.”
The mall in Queens (New York) that is owned by the parents, Mina and Farhad Reja, who say there were threats to burn it down.
But within hours of his death on Sept. 10 after a car accident, his memory — in fact, his very body — had become the object of a tug-of-war over religious freedom and obligation. It began when his mother, who was raised Hindu, and his father, who is Muslim, decided to have his body cremated in the Hindu tradition, rather than burying him in a shroud, as Islam prescribes.
His parents, Mina and Farhad Reja, say a small group of Muslims who do not understand their approach to religion are trying to intimidate them over the most private of family choices. “This is America,” Mrs. Reja said. “This is a family decision.”
The couple say that people accosted them at their son’s funeral, that an angry crowd threatened to boycott a shopping center they own in Jackson Heights, Queens, and that on Sept. 13, two men they know threatened to bomb and burn down the building.
The couple say that people accosted them at their son’s funeral, that an angry crowd threatened to boycott a shopping center they own in Jackson Heights, Queens, and that on Sept. 13, two men they know threatened to bomb and burn down the building.
The men they accused in a complaint filed with the police — one is a doctor and the father of a close friend of Shafayet Reja, the other a Bangladeshi business leader — say that they made no threats and deny that they have called for a boycott. They say they and others simply expressed their concern about what they see as a deep violation of their religion and of the wishes of the son, who, according to some of his college friends, had recently chosen Islam as his sole religion.
The Police Department’s hate crimes unit is investigating whether the threats took place, whether they would constitute aggravated harassment, and whether they qualify as bias crimes, which carry tougher penalties, a spokesman for the department said. No charges have been filed.
The Police Department’s hate crimes unit is investigating whether the threats took place, whether they would constitute aggravated harassment, and whether they qualify as bias crimes, which carry tougher penalties, a spokesman for the department said. No charges have been filed.
The cremation dispute goes to the heart of a debate among Muslims in America about what makes someone a Muslim — to some of the critics, the fact that Shafayet Reja listed Islam as his religion on Facebook is enough — and how to reconcile this country’s freedom of religion with what some Muslims see as a communal obligation to uphold religious observance.
But to the family, the dispute is a frightening imposition that they say violates their civil rights.
“We have freedom of religion, and we have the Constitution,” said the Rejas’ son Mishal, 19, who studies at Washington University in St. Louis. “Why would they bother us? It’s none of their business. Even if he was the most hard-core Muslim.”
“We have freedom of religion, and we have the Constitution,” said the Rejas’ son Mishal, 19, who studies at Washington University in St. Louis. “Why would they bother us? It’s none of their business. Even if he was the most hard-core Muslim.”
To some Muslims, the fact that Shafayet Reja prayed and attended mosques trumps his family’s wishes.
“It was the community’s business because the community knew he was a Muslim,” said Junnun Choudhury, secretary of the Jamaica Muslim Center, one of several mosques around the city whose worshipers came to the funeral to plead with the family. “It is our job to bury him in the Muslim way.”
“It was the community’s business because the community knew he was a Muslim,” said Junnun Choudhury, secretary of the Jamaica Muslim Center, one of several mosques around the city whose worshipers came to the funeral to plead with the family. “It is our job to bury him in the Muslim way.”
Neither he nor any other mosque leader has been accused of making threats, and there have been no further protests.
Abu Zafar Mahmood, an adviser to the Jackson Heights Bangladeshi Business Association, said he was disturbed by the cremation but was urging people not to confront Mrs. Reja. “It would be harmful,” he said. “We have a multicultural community.”
Abu Zafar Mahmood, an adviser to the Jackson Heights Bangladeshi Business Association, said he was disturbed by the cremation but was urging people not to confront Mrs. Reja. “It would be harmful,” he said. “We have a multicultural community.”
Mrs. Reja said she brought up her children by attending both Hindu temples and Muslim mosques. “Humanism is what I taught my children,” she said. “I want to see my son as a perfect human being, and not as a perfect religious person.”
Whether or not her son was beginning to move closer to Islam is another thread in the tangle of hurt feelings and disagreements.
Whether or not her son was beginning to move closer to Islam is another thread in the tangle of hurt feelings and disagreements.
Shafayet Reja, 22, graduated from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 2007. He was living with his parents in Richmond Hill, studying to be a licensed insurance broker.
He was also spending a lot of time at the Long Island home of Dr. Khondeker Masud Rahman — who was eventually accused of threatening his parents — and Dr. Rahman’s daughter, Farah, a friend from Stony Brook.
He was also spending a lot of time at the Long Island home of Dr. Khondeker Masud Rahman — who was eventually accused of threatening his parents — and Dr. Rahman’s daughter, Farah, a friend from Stony Brook.
Farah Rahman said that he had begun praying more often and talking to Dr. Rahman about Islam, and that he had quarreled with his mother, saying she blamed the religion unfairly for the mistakes of some of its followers. He had even, she said in an interview, mentioned that he wanted a Muslim burial. His family members and childhood friends say he would have wanted his mother to choose.
On Sept. 2, Shafayet Reja broke the daily Ramadan fast with friends at Stony Brook’s Muslim Students Association. Afterward, Farah Rahman was in the car behind his when he lost control on a wet road. He was hospitalized, and died on Sept. 10 without regaining consciousness.
On Sept. 2, Shafayet Reja broke the daily Ramadan fast with friends at Stony Brook’s Muslim Students Association. Afterward, Farah Rahman was in the car behind his when he lost control on a wet road. He was hospitalized, and died on Sept. 10 without regaining consciousness.
When word spread that the family would hold both Muslim and Hindu rites for their son and then have him cremated, the Rahmans and others were upset. Father and daughter both asked the family to give him a Muslim burial. They said the conversations were polite; the Rejas said they were hostile.
Several dozen people, including the imams of the Jamaica Muslim Center and other mosques, came to the funeral home in Richmond Hill on Sept. 12, to attend the Muslim rite and express objections to the cremation. The Rejas say people crowded around them to press their case as they wept beside their son’s body. “I was having my last moment with my son,” Mrs. Reja said. “What gave them the guts to do that?”
The funeral staff called the police in part because the Rejas feared the crowd would try to block the hearse going to the crematorium. Mishal Reja stood in the door of the funeral home, asked the group to leave the family in peace, and promised he would try to get the cremation canceled — just to get them to leave, he said. The crowd dispersed peacefully.
Later that day, Dr. Rahman, an anesthesiologist at Elmhurst Hospital Center in Jackson Heights, spoke to a group of people breaking the daily Ramadan fast at a restaurant across the street from the family’s Bangladesh Plaza mall.
Later that day, Dr. Rahman, an anesthesiologist at Elmhurst Hospital Center in Jackson Heights, spoke to a group of people breaking the daily Ramadan fast at a restaurant across the street from the family’s Bangladesh Plaza mall.
According to the Rejas, and a report in a local Bengali-language newspaper, he called for a boycott of the mall and for shop owners there to stop paying rent, though he denied that in an interview.
Afterward, some of the people from the restaurant gathered outside the mall, waving their sandals in an insulting gesture and threatening to boycott the mall, according to two men who run shops there, who did not want to be quoted by name for fear of damaging business relationships. One said that at least one person in the crowd threatened to burn the building.
Afterward, some of the people from the restaurant gathered outside the mall, waving their sandals in an insulting gesture and threatening to boycott the mall, according to two men who run shops there, who did not want to be quoted by name for fear of damaging business relationships. One said that at least one person in the crowd threatened to burn the building.
In the crowd, according to the merchants, was the secretary of the Jackson Heights Bangladeshi Business Association, Zakaria Masud. Mr. Masud, too, denied calling for a boycott, but said that protesting the cremation was “a social obligation and a religious obligation.”
The next day, Mina Reja held a press conference at the mall, at which she denounced the critics and asked for privacy.
The next day, Mina Reja held a press conference at the mall, at which she denounced the critics and asked for privacy.
Afterward, according to complaints the Rejas made to the police, Dr. Rahman told Mishal Reja, “We will bomb your building,” and Giash Ahmed, a real estate broker and former Republican candidate for state senator, told Farhad Reja it would be burned.
Dr. Rahman and Mr. Ahmed said in interviews that they never threatened anyone and were not even at the mall that day. Mr. Ahmed said Mrs. Reja’s decision was her business.
Dr. Rahman and Mr. Ahmed said in interviews that they never threatened anyone and were not even at the mall that day. Mr. Ahmed said Mrs. Reja’s decision was her business.
Dr. Rahman said expressions of anger at Mrs. Reja should wait: “She should have a time of healing.” He accused her of orchestrating the scandal and fabricating the threat.
Meanwhile, under the neon signs and rainbow lights of Bangladesh Plaza, shopkeepers worry that a boycott even by part of the community will hurt their holiday business.
“Why should they involve people who are not involved? How will we survive?” one of the shop owners said. Another said of the cremation: “It’s a family matter. The parents, they decide.”
Meanwhile, under the neon signs and rainbow lights of Bangladesh Plaza, shopkeepers worry that a boycott even by part of the community will hurt their holiday business.
“Why should they involve people who are not involved? How will we survive?” one of the shop owners said. Another said of the cremation: “It’s a family matter. The parents, they decide.”
Toby Lyles contributed research (www.nytimes.com).
(2) LEGAL ISSUES: (a) Arab "Registry" Upheld; Policy About Immigration, Not Counter-Terrorism
By Edward Alden, New America Media. October 7, 2008.
A New York court says the program is legitimate. More than 140,000 Arabs and Muslims in the United States were forced to register with the government after the September 11 attacks in a heavy-handed effort to keep terrorists out of the country. The registration scheme did not uncover any terrorists, but it did find some 13,000 immigration violators, who were then deported.
Last week a New York appeals court upheld the program. The court ruled unequivocally that the U.S. Justice Department had the authority to enforce the so-called National Entry-Exit Registration Scheme (NSEERS) that was set up in 2002, and to deport anyone who ran afoul of its rules.
Constitutionally, the court was right; in every other respect -- economically, diplomatically, and morally, it was wrong. Of all the programs set up after 9/11 with the goal of catching terrorists on U.S. soil, none was more ill-conceived than NSEERS. It set out special rules for most male visitors from two dozen Arab and Muslim countries, requiring lengthy security screenings before they came to the United States and forcing them to register with the government again if they spent more than a month here. Citizens of those countries living here already without green cards were also required to register, and if they were found to be out of immigration status, they were deported. While the special registration requirements were abolished at the end of 2003, much of the program remains in place today. (alternet.org)
Last week a New York appeals court upheld the program. The court ruled unequivocally that the U.S. Justice Department had the authority to enforce the so-called National Entry-Exit Registration Scheme (NSEERS) that was set up in 2002, and to deport anyone who ran afoul of its rules.
Constitutionally, the court was right; in every other respect -- economically, diplomatically, and morally, it was wrong. Of all the programs set up after 9/11 with the goal of catching terrorists on U.S. soil, none was more ill-conceived than NSEERS. It set out special rules for most male visitors from two dozen Arab and Muslim countries, requiring lengthy security screenings before they came to the United States and forcing them to register with the government again if they spent more than a month here. Citizens of those countries living here already without green cards were also required to register, and if they were found to be out of immigration status, they were deported. While the special registration requirements were abolished at the end of 2003, much of the program remains in place today. (alternet.org)
(b) Morocco shuts down schools that advocate child marriage
(www.brisbanetimes.com) September 26, 2008
Authorities in Morocco have shut down around 60 Koranic schools belonging to a Muslim theologian who argues that girls as young as nine can marry, officials said today. The authorities also plan to close down the Internet site on which Sheikh Mohamed Ben Abderrahman Al-Maghraoui decreed earlier this month that the marriage of nine-year-old girls is allowed by Islam.
Lawyers, the media, and finally Muslim scholars rounded on Maghraoui for effectively seeking to legalise pedophilia. The authorities finally took action yesterday, shutting down his headquarters in Marrakesh and dozens of his small Koranic schools dotted around the country. "The Internet site 'Maghrawi.net' is going to be closed, while the headquarters of the Mohamed Maghraoui association in Marrakesh and his 'Koranic Houses' have already been closed," a security official said.
Sheikh Maghraoui's "fatwa" or religious decree was condemned on Sunday by Morocco's top body of Islamic scholars. The High Council of Ulemas, which is presided over by Morocco's King Mohammed VI, labelled the sheikh an "agitator" and denounced his "utilisation of religion to legitimise the marriage of nine-year-old girls". Rabat-based lawyer Mourad Bekkouri filed a complaint against Maghraoui and his fatwa earlier this month in which he said the decree damaged children's rights by increasing the risk of rape. He said the theologian is undermining Islam and its followers and that he had requested the state prosecutor to speed up the case.
AFPAuthorities in Morocco have shut down around 60 Koranic schools belonging to a Muslim theologian who argues that girls as young as nine can marry, officials said today. The authorities also plan to close down the Internet site on which Sheikh Mohamed Ben Abderrahman Al-Maghraoui decreed earlier this month that the marriage of nine-year-old girls is allowed by Islam.
Lawyers, the media, and finally Muslim scholars rounded on Maghraoui for effectively seeking to legalise pedophilia. The authorities finally took action yesterday, shutting down his headquarters in Marrakesh and dozens of his small Koranic schools dotted around the country. "The Internet site 'Maghrawi.net' is going to be closed, while the headquarters of the Mohamed Maghraoui association in Marrakesh and his 'Koranic Houses' have already been closed," a security official said.
Sheikh Maghraoui's "fatwa" or religious decree was condemned on Sunday by Morocco's top body of Islamic scholars. The High Council of Ulemas, which is presided over by Morocco's King Mohammed VI, labelled the sheikh an "agitator" and denounced his "utilisation of religion to legitimise the marriage of nine-year-old girls". Rabat-based lawyer Mourad Bekkouri filed a complaint against Maghraoui and his fatwa earlier this month in which he said the decree damaged children's rights by increasing the risk of rape. He said the theologian is undermining Islam and its followers and that he had requested the state prosecutor to speed up the case.
(3) POLITICS:
(a) U.S Elections: Importance of Muslims to vote:
Community Advisory - October 2, 2008 (ISLAMIC SHURA COUNCIL OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA):
AN ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE ON CIVIC ENGAGEMENT & VOTING
The future of America will be decided as Americans cast their votes this November for the next President of the United States. In looking to the coming months, the Muslim American community must remain steadfast in our commitment to political and civic participation in accordance to the guiding principles of our religion.
As Muslims, we believe that the message of Islam is sent as guidance to humankind for the betterment of life everywhere (Quran 34:28, 21:107).
In American society, the most effective way for Muslim Americans to share their values, the values of Islam, is through participation. American civil society is a dynamic institution shaped by the participation of its members.
As Muslims, the Quran encourages us to engage with any project that seeks to do good (Quran 5:2). In America this project is society, which can be improved by our participation within it, not merely during elections but at all times.
Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) himself participated in an alliance held by the chiefs of the tribes to ensure justice in society (Treaty of Fudul), saying "If I am invited to be part of such a treaty, I will join." It is a duty upon us, then, to follow in the footsteps of the Prophet and participate in society in order to create better policies for our nation.
According to the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad (peace & blessings be upon him), the only way to make the values of Islam beneficial and relevant is to have a voice within pluralistic democratic society, and to stand for our Islamic beliefs as well as the principle of justice. We must concern ourselves with each candidate's plan for economic reform, accessible health care, foreign policy, alternative energy, as well as the various other substantive issues that affect not only the Muslim American community, but all Americans. We cannot sit idly by and let others make decisions that affect all of us.
As Muslims, we must strive to model our lives on the teachings of the Quran and the life of the Prophet, which advocate for active participation, not isolation in society. We, as Muslim Americans, believe that making our voice heard is a duty upon us, and in a democracy that voice becomes audible primarily by voting. Voting is not just allowed by Islam, it is mandated by it.
We suggest that the Imams/Khateebs add the following in their sermons:
* Muslims must participate in any project of common good.
* Muslims must remain continuously engaged in all civic matters and not just elections.
* Muslims must register to vote. Go out and vote in the coming elections.
* Muslims must know diverse positions of the Presidential candidates.
* That, Muslims must vote their conscience.
(CAIR Council of American-Islamic Relations - Oct 5, 2008)
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, has 35 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, has 35 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
(b) INDIAN DEMOCRACY UNFAIR TO MUSLIMS, SAYS FORMER MP AND ACTRESS SHABANA AZMI:
(MUSLIM NEWS: Issue 233, Friday 26 September 2008)
Indian democracy is unfair to Muslims, says Shabana Azmi, actress and former MP. Azmi said, "I think there is not enough understanding of the fact that in a democracy how you treat the security of the minority must be a very important part for the success of a democracy. You can't only make token gestures and actually let them be in the state that they are as the Rajinder Sachar Committee report shows. So what happened is token gestures are made but real issues are never addressed". Shabana Azmi said Indian politics has been unfair to Muslims and despite Indian secularism Muslims are discriminated against.
She said she couldn't buy a house in Mumbai because she was a Muslim. "I wanted to buy a flat in Bombay and it wasn't given to me because I was a Muslim and I read the same about Saif (Ali Khan). Now, I mean, if Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi cannot get a flat in Bombay because they are Muslims, then what are we talking about" ?
She added, "That's why I am so distressed over what is happening in Kashmir. For heaven's sake it should be brought to a stop and it should have been brought to a stop right when they started that nonsense.
(4) ISLAMOPHOBIA:
(a) Children attacked at Ohio Mosque: MAINSTREAM MEDIA REMAINS SILENTPosted by Cara Kulwicki.
(ED NOTE: Below is an excellent article by Cara who is a 24-year-old American feminist and liberal with a BA in English, Text and Writing from the University of Western Sydney. She lives with her Australian husband in western NY).(www.curvature.com)
"On Friday September 26, a chemical/gas was sprayed into a Dayton, Ohio mosque room where children and babies were kept while their mothers prayed during a Ramadan service. A ten-year-old girl was sprayed directly in the face. Coincidentally or not, this attack came at the end of a week in which thousands of copies of the Islamophobic DVD Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West were distributed in Ohio through the mail and local newspapers. The media is all but entirely ignoring this story. And the one main news source that is reporting on the story is heavily implying that bloggers are exaggerating the situation.
(ED NOTE: Below is an excellent article by Cara who is a 24-year-old American feminist and liberal with a BA in English, Text and Writing from the University of Western Sydney. She lives with her Australian husband in western NY).(www.curvature.com)
"On Friday September 26, a chemical/gas was sprayed into a Dayton, Ohio mosque room where children and babies were kept while their mothers prayed during a Ramadan service. A ten-year-old girl was sprayed directly in the face. Coincidentally or not, this attack came at the end of a week in which thousands of copies of the Islamophobic DVD Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West were distributed in Ohio through the mail and local newspapers. The media is all but entirely ignoring this story. And the one main news source that is reporting on the story is heavily implying that bloggers are exaggerating the situation.
There are many — mainly anti-Muslim bigots who you will not find me linking to — claiming that the whole thing was a “hoax.” By this, they seem to mean one of two things:
1. the worshipers at the mosque, including the little girl who was sprayed, made the whole thing up or
2. because no hazardous chemicals were detected on the girl, whatever was sprayed on her was benign and therefore a hoax rather than a genuine expression of hatred by the perpetrator(s).
1. the worshipers at the mosque, including the little girl who was sprayed, made the whole thing up or
2. because no hazardous chemicals were detected on the girl, whatever was sprayed on her was benign and therefore a hoax rather than a genuine expression of hatred by the perpetrator(s).
The first suggestion is rather absurd for obvious reasons and so I’m not even going to entertain the suggestion that worshipers interrupted their own religious service to pretend that someone had attacked them, and a child in particular, in order to elicit sympathy from the general public. The second suggestion is completely and utterly irrelevant when looking at whether or not this could accurately be referred to as terrorism or as a hate crime.
Thea Lim leaves a comment with these important points on her own post at Racialicious:
From Wikipedia: “Hate crimes (also known as bias motivated crimes) occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her membership in a certain social group…”
I don’t think it matters what the intention of the perpetrator was. If you commit a crime against a group of people because they belong to that group, it’s a hate crime - whether you are doing so because you are a bigot or just because you are trying to be shocking.
From Wikipedia: “Hate crimes (also known as bias motivated crimes) occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her membership in a certain social group…”
I don’t think it matters what the intention of the perpetrator was. If you commit a crime against a group of people because they belong to that group, it’s a hate crime - whether you are doing so because you are a bigot or just because you are trying to be shocking.
In the same way, whether or not the attack had anything to do with the DVD, it’s still an act of Islamophobia. I think the fact that it happened just after the DVDs were distributed simply tells us a lot about the situation for Muslims today in America.
I’d like to add to that definition by noting that the sole purpose of hate crimes/terrorism is not to inflict harm. The reason that we legally target hate crimes in a specific manner is precisely because they are a form of terrorism — they are not intended only to harm someone from a particular group, but to put that group “back in its place” and to instill fear. This perhaps is the main goal of terrorism, and where it gets its name — to terrorize a population of people.
Causing actual people harm helps terrorism, but is not necessary to it. We should be thankful and relieved that this girl and the other people who were in the Mosque are okay. But that is not a reason to dismiss the attack as though it doesn’t matter. IT DOES MATTER. Those who go to that Mosque are not going to forget this incident tomorrow just because everyone was physically unharmed in the end, and that is precisely the point.
I’d like to add to that definition by noting that the sole purpose of hate crimes/terrorism is not to inflict harm. The reason that we legally target hate crimes in a specific manner is precisely because they are a form of terrorism — they are not intended only to harm someone from a particular group, but to put that group “back in its place” and to instill fear. This perhaps is the main goal of terrorism, and where it gets its name — to terrorize a population of people.
Causing actual people harm helps terrorism, but is not necessary to it. We should be thankful and relieved that this girl and the other people who were in the Mosque are okay. But that is not a reason to dismiss the attack as though it doesn’t matter. IT DOES MATTER. Those who go to that Mosque are not going to forget this incident tomorrow just because everyone was physically unharmed in the end, and that is precisely the point.
I further agree with Thea that just because there is only circumstantial evidence connecting the DVD and this terrorist attack, it doesn’t mean the DVD, those who created it, and those who distributed it are off the hook. Thea says that the DVD tells us a lot about the situation of Muslims in America today — specifically, it also points to the gross irresponsibility at best and viciousness at worst of anyone distributing this kind of material in a time where this kind of attack can occur and people will argue over whether or not it’s a hate crime and refuse to use words like terrorism to describe it.
Quite simply, I cannot see this kind of quibbling over semantics occurring if the same attack was on a room in a Christian church where children were being kept during an Easter worship service. And I can’t see bloggers needing to spread the word about it because the mainstream media won’t. But that’s precisely the situation we’re in. I’m late on this story, but far too many still haven’t heard about it — so please, help get it out there". (Cara Kulwicki)
MPAC CALLS ON FBI & JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TO INVESTIGATE CHEMICAL IRRITANT SPRAYED INTO OHIO MOSQUE
On Saturday, the Muslim Public Affairs Council called on the civil rights divisions of the FBI and Department of Justice to investigate an incident of a mysterious gas being sprayed into a Dayton, Ohio mosque during prayers on Friday night.
According to DAYTONNEWS: (Lucas Sullivan-Sept 29, 2008), a 10-year-old girl was sprayed in the face with a chemical on Friday, Sept. 26, while at a local Islamic mosque.... The girl was watching children whose parents and relatives had gathered at the Islamic Society of Greater Dayton, 26 Josie St., to celebrate Ramadan when she noticed two men standing outside a basement window about 9:40 p.m., according to police. One of the men then sprayed something through the open window and into the girl's face from a white can with a red top, according to a police report. The girl said she immediately felt burning on her face and felt "sick to her stomach," the report stated. Other children and a woman in the room felt affects from the chemical and the mosque was evacuated.
(b) Assailants attack Mosque in NEPAL
October 05 2008
Kathmandu - At least six people were injured when a powerful explosion ripped through a Mosque in south-eastern Nepal, media reports said on Sunday. The blast targeted the mosque at Hattimuda village in Morang district, about 400 kilometres south-east of the capital, during evening prayers on Saturday night, the Kathmandu Post newspaper reported.
The newspaper said unidentified assailants threw the bomb into the mosque and fled. The mosque was packed with people and most of the injured sustained sharpnel injuries. There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack. There are several armed groups operating in the area with a range of demands including reinstatement of Hinduism as the country's official religion. Muslim groups said the attack was an attempt to disturb communal and religious harmony in Nepal.
"This a deliberate attempt to disturb religious harmony," the newspaper quoted Nazrul Hassan, the president of Muslim Association of Nepal as saying. "The government must act tough against elements behind such acts." The association also condemned the attack and called on Muslims to exercise restraint. In April, similar attack on mosque in the same area killed at least two people and injured two others. The Muslim minority make up less than 5 percent of Nepal's 28 million population, and live predominantly in pockets of southern Nepal bordering India. Nepal has not seen major religious strife between Muslims and the majority Hindus in the past. (Sapa-dpa)
The newspaper said unidentified assailants threw the bomb into the mosque and fled. The mosque was packed with people and most of the injured sustained sharpnel injuries. There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack. There are several armed groups operating in the area with a range of demands including reinstatement of Hinduism as the country's official religion. Muslim groups said the attack was an attempt to disturb communal and religious harmony in Nepal.
"This a deliberate attempt to disturb religious harmony," the newspaper quoted Nazrul Hassan, the president of Muslim Association of Nepal as saying. "The government must act tough against elements behind such acts." The association also condemned the attack and called on Muslims to exercise restraint. In April, similar attack on mosque in the same area killed at least two people and injured two others. The Muslim minority make up less than 5 percent of Nepal's 28 million population, and live predominantly in pockets of southern Nepal bordering India. Nepal has not seen major religious strife between Muslims and the majority Hindus in the past. (Sapa-dpa)
(c) DVD OF ANTI-ISLAMIC FILM - OBSESSION
(ED NOTE: The distribution of 28 million free copies of the DVD "Obsession" in the swing States resulted in utter failure of the goals for which it was intended. If anything the Presidential candidate Obama's chances of winning the election in the swing States has increased all the more. They could have as well spent the same amount of millions of dollars for charity and atleast the economically disadvantaged would have truly been benefited).
(ED NOTE: The distribution of 28 million free copies of the DVD "Obsession" in the swing States resulted in utter failure of the goals for which it was intended. If anything the Presidential candidate Obama's chances of winning the election in the swing States has increased all the more. They could have as well spent the same amount of millions of dollars for charity and atleast the economically disadvantaged would have truly been benefited).
Fox '24' Producer Pulls Endorsement of Anti-Muslim Film
Howard Gordon says ‘goal of co-existence and tolerance is not being served by films like Obsession’
WASHINGTON, D.C., 10/5/08
A prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group announced today that Howard Gordon, the executive producer of Fox’s television drama “24,” has withdrawn his endorsement of the anti-Muslim film “Obsession,” which is currently being distributed to some 28 million households in presidential election swing states by a shadowy non-profit organization called the Clarion Fund.
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) released a statement by Gordon in which he said: "After being contacted by a number of people whose opinions I respect and after reviewing Obsession with their criticisms and concerns in mind, I have asked the film makers to remove my endorsement from the Obsession website and from any future promotional materials. While I remain committed to the film's essential message - that the hate-mongering promoted by radical Islamism presents a real threat to western values of tolerance and pluralism - I also appreciate that the goal of co-existence and tolerance is not being served by films like Obsession."
CAIR welcomed Gordon’s statement and noted that others are withdrawing their support for the film that many commentators have called anti-Muslim “propaganda.” “We commend Mr. Gordon for recognizing the harm caused to our society by intentionally inflammatory and divisive films such as ‘Obsession,’” said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad. “As public outrage grows over this hate-filled production, people of conscience are spontaneously withdrawing their support.” He said newspapers that distributed copies of the “Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West” DVD have received an outpouring of negative feedback from readers of all faiths.
A number of newspapers refused to carry the DVD as an insert and there have been reports of anti-Muslim bias related to the film’s distribution. In Ohio, a public school bus driver who also takes children to an Islamic school reported that other bus drivers were talking about the DVD and asked him how he could transport "those people.”
Awad said that even a pro-Israel think tank, the Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET), pulled out of “The Obsession Project.”
Dr. Khaleel Mohammed, a Muslim interviewee for “Obsession,” now calls the production a "vile piece of propaganda." In a statement sent to the www.obsessionwithhate.com website, Dr. Mohammed said: “Sadly, it would seem that I have allowed myself to be used.” The “Obsession with Hate” site was launched recently by the Hate Hurts America Multifaith Community Coalition (HHA), a group of religious and civic organizations seeking to challenge hate speech in our society.
HHA's site offers a point-by-point rebuttal to propagandistic claims made in the film, as well as a list of newspapers that delivered the film's DVD as an insert, a sampling of bigoted statements made by anti-Muslim figures interviewed for "Obsession," and examples of the overwhelmingly negative media coverage of the Clarion Fund's controversial campaign to influence voters.
A recent article in the St. Petersburg Times revealed ties between the film's distributors and the Israel-based group Aish HaTorah. The newspaper’s investigative report stated: “Clarion's address, according to Manhattan directory assistance, is the same address as Aish HaTorah International, a fundraising arm of Aish HaTorah. The Clarion Fund and Aish HaTorah International are also connected to a group called HonestReporting, which produced Obsession. HonestReporting's 2006 tax return uses the same address.”
Senders of Islam Movie 'Obsession' were tied to a Jewish Charity according to St. Petersburg Times.
Based on these revelations and on the Clarion fund’s apparent attempt to use its non-profit status to impact the presidential election in favor of a particular candidate, CAIR filed complaints with both the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
CAIR asked the IRS, if evidence of wrongdoing is uncovered, to consider stripping the Clarion Fund of its tax-exempt status, tax funds it spent on prohibited activities and impose an injunction on further political expenditures. Those interviewed in “Obsession” constitute a veritable who’s who of Muslim-bashers.
Speakers include Walid Shoebat, who once told a Missouri newspaper that he sees “many parallels between the Antichrist and Islam" and “Islam is not the religion of God -- Islam is the devil.” (Springfield News-Leader, 9/24/07).
Others interviewed in the film include Nonie Darwish, a self-styled “former Moslem" who wrote that "Islam is cruel, anti-women, anti-religious freedom and anti-personal freedom in general,” and Daniel Pipes, who warned a Jewish convention of the "true dangers" posed by "the presence, and increased stature, and affluence, and enfranchisement of American Muslims." (American Jewish Congress, 10/21/2001).
Another “Obsession” interviewee, Brigitte Gabriel, told the Australian Jewish News: “Every practising Muslim is a radical Muslim.” She also claimed that “Islamo-fascism is a politically-correct word...it's the vehicle for Islam...Islam is the problem.” When asked whether Americans should “resist Muslims who want to seek political office in this nation," Gabriel said: "Absolutely. If a Muslim who has -- who is -- a practicing Muslim who believes the word of the Koran to be the word of Allah, who abides by Islam, who goes to mosque and prays every Friday, who prays five times a day -- this practicing Muslim, who believes in the teachings of the Koran, cannot be a loyal citizen to the United States of America."
INTOLERANCE BY MUSLIMS:
(a) Mother is denied "morning-after" pill by Muslim Pharmacist because of his religious beliefs:(ED NOTE: We realize and acknowledge that certain readers may disagree with the above to be categorized as "intolerance" and they are welcome to e-mail their perspective. We all learn from each other).
Telegraph: By Paul Stokes
Oct 03, 2008 Ruth Johnson, 33, who has two children, including a month-old baby, had not been using her usual method of contraception with her fiancée. She went to the Tesco dispensary in Hewitts Circus, Cleethorpes, Lincs, and asked an assistant for the pill Levanelle. Miss Johnson was told it could only be dispensed by the locum pharmacist who was called to speak with her. She said: "He came out from behind a screen and told me that he would not be allowing me to buy the pill from him because he had a right to refuse to sell it on the basis of his personal beliefs. "
The pharmacist was of Asian origin so I asked him if it was because of his religion and he replied 'Yes'." Miss Johnson, from Cleethorpes, was left feeling ashamed and worried and complained to the store manager who told her they couldn't force the pharmacist to sell the product.
She said: "I asked him if a Jewish or Muslim checkout operator could refuse to sell pork or alcohol or if a Jehovah's Witness could refuse to sell birthday and Christmas cards." Her concern is that the policy could deter teenage girls from seeking the morning-after pill. "I appreciate we live in a multi-cultural society but what gives him the right to impose his beliefs onto me?" she added.
A Tesco spokesman said the pharmacist was acting within his rights to refuse to sell the pill and the customer was advised where else she could buy the product. He said: "We do apologise to Miss Johnson for the inconvenience caused. However, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's code of ethics allows pharmacists the right to refuse." The Society said its code of ethics and standards is adopted by all healthcare bodies.
It does not require a pharmacist to provide a service that is contrary to their religious or moral beliefs but any attempt by a pharmacist to impose their beliefs on a customer seeking professional help without offering an alternative could form the basis of a professional misconduct complaint.
Two years ago Jo-Ann Thomas, a school crossing patrolwoman with two children, faced a similar situation in Thurcroft, Rotherham, South Yorkshire. She was told by a Muslim pharmacist at Lloyds Pharmacy near her home that she should go to her doctor for supplies even though the item was in stock. She said at the time: "I'm a 37 year old woman, not a daft girl who doesn't know what she's doing. It's my choice not his. It's his religion not mine. He's a dispensing chemist and his job is to dispense drugs."
Oct 03, 2008 Ruth Johnson, 33, who has two children, including a month-old baby, had not been using her usual method of contraception with her fiancée. She went to the Tesco dispensary in Hewitts Circus, Cleethorpes, Lincs, and asked an assistant for the pill Levanelle. Miss Johnson was told it could only be dispensed by the locum pharmacist who was called to speak with her. She said: "He came out from behind a screen and told me that he would not be allowing me to buy the pill from him because he had a right to refuse to sell it on the basis of his personal beliefs. "
The pharmacist was of Asian origin so I asked him if it was because of his religion and he replied 'Yes'." Miss Johnson, from Cleethorpes, was left feeling ashamed and worried and complained to the store manager who told her they couldn't force the pharmacist to sell the product.
She said: "I asked him if a Jewish or Muslim checkout operator could refuse to sell pork or alcohol or if a Jehovah's Witness could refuse to sell birthday and Christmas cards." Her concern is that the policy could deter teenage girls from seeking the morning-after pill. "I appreciate we live in a multi-cultural society but what gives him the right to impose his beliefs onto me?" she added.
A Tesco spokesman said the pharmacist was acting within his rights to refuse to sell the pill and the customer was advised where else she could buy the product. He said: "We do apologise to Miss Johnson for the inconvenience caused. However, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's code of ethics allows pharmacists the right to refuse." The Society said its code of ethics and standards is adopted by all healthcare bodies.
It does not require a pharmacist to provide a service that is contrary to their religious or moral beliefs but any attempt by a pharmacist to impose their beliefs on a customer seeking professional help without offering an alternative could form the basis of a professional misconduct complaint.
Two years ago Jo-Ann Thomas, a school crossing patrolwoman with two children, faced a similar situation in Thurcroft, Rotherham, South Yorkshire. She was told by a Muslim pharmacist at Lloyds Pharmacy near her home that she should go to her doctor for supplies even though the item was in stock. She said at the time: "I'm a 37 year old woman, not a daft girl who doesn't know what she's doing. It's my choice not his. It's his religion not mine. He's a dispensing chemist and his job is to dispense drugs."
(b) Deviated Cleric: Calls on Saudi women to cover one eye. (Date of Halloween:10/31/08)
A Muslim woman wearing a head covering, or hijab. (AP)
Saudi cleric urges Muslim women to cover up all but one eye
By Haaretz Service.
Oct 3, 2008
Oct 3, 2008
Saudi cleric Sheikh Mohammed al-Habadan has declared that a Muslim veil, or hijab, that covers all but the eyes encourages women to use eye make-up to look seductive, the BBC reported Friday. Al-Habadan has called on Saudi women to wear a full veil, or niqab, which covers the entire face, including one eye.
The question of how much of her face a woman should cover is a controversial topic in many Muslim societies.
The niqab is more common in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, but women in much of the Muslim Middle East wear a headscarf which covers only their hair, the BBC reported. Sheikh Habadan, an ultra-conservative cleric who is said to have wide influence among religious Saudis, was answering questions on the Muslim satellite channel al-Majd.
The niqab is more common in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, but women in much of the Muslim Middle East wear a headscarf which covers only their hair, the BBC reported. Sheikh Habadan, an ultra-conservative cleric who is said to have wide influence among religious Saudis, was answering questions on the Muslim satellite channel al-Majd.
(c) Muslim oppression of sexual minorities in Kyrgyzstan
(Kregyzstan is one of the former states of Russia and 75 percent of its population are Muslims. It is a central Asian country of incredible natural beauty and proud nomadic traditions, most of Kyrgyzstan was formally annexed to Russia in 1876. The Kyrgyz staged a major revolt against the Tsarist Empire in 1916 in which almost one-sixth of the Kyrgyz population was killed. Kyrgyzstan became a Soviet republic in 1936 and achieved independence in 1991 when the USSR dissolved.)(www.CIA.GOV)
According to HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH, based on detailed interviews, the 49-page report, “These Everyday Humiliations: Violence Against Lesbians, Bisexual Women, and Transgender Men in Kyrgyzstan,” tells of beatings, forced marriages, and physical and psychological abuse faced by lesbian and bisexual women and transgender men.
The government refuses to protect them or to confront the atmosphere of prejudice in which the attacks take place. “No one should have to confront brutality or danger because of who they are or whom they love,” said Boris Dittrich, advocacy director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. “It is time for the government to protect these communities instead of denying they exist.”
Several females interviewed for the report said they had been raped to punish them for not conforming to gender norms, or to “cure” them of their difference. One lesbian told how, when she was 15, her girlfriend’s brothers raped her brutally, saying: “This is your punishment for being this way and hanging around our sister.” Another woman told Human Rights Watch that an acquaintance locked her in a room and allowed several men to rape her. The men promised the acquaintance “that they would help her to ‘cure’ me” of being a lesbian, she said.
Pervasive social prejudice in the Central Asian country leaves the victims with little hope of government protection, the report says. The police themselves sometimes abuse lesbian and bisexual women and transgender men. Police have also raided and harassed organizations that defend the basic rights of these groups. In all of Kyrgyzstan, only one shelter for survivors of domestic violence – run by a nongovernmental organization – offers specific services for lesbians or transgender people.
A sweeping law passed in 2003 should protect all victims of domestic violence. However, the report found that much more needs to be done to carry out the law, including training criminal justice officials to investigate domestic violence and educating the general public about the law’s provisions. The government has ignored the need to address issues of sexual orientation or gender identity. In some cases, officials have actually endorsed hatred and violence. In 2005, a Ministry of Interior official said of lesbians and gay men at a human rights roundtable: “I would also beat them. Let’s say I walk in a park with my son. And there are two guys walking holding each other’s hands. I would beat them up too.”
While Kyrgyzstan has made efforts to respond to violence against women overall, some groups are still ignored or excluded. Human Rights Watch called on Kyrgyz authorities to improve direct services for lesbians and transgender men; to train state officials in issues of sexual orientation and gender identity; to educate the public about domestic violence and sexual-rights issues, and to create measures for legal identity change to respect and recognize each person’s self-defined gender identity. “Programs to stop violence will not work unless they reach everyone who is vulnerable,” Dittrich said. “Europe should not join Kyrgyzstan’s government in turning a blind eye.”
The government refuses to protect them or to confront the atmosphere of prejudice in which the attacks take place. “No one should have to confront brutality or danger because of who they are or whom they love,” said Boris Dittrich, advocacy director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. “It is time for the government to protect these communities instead of denying they exist.”
Several females interviewed for the report said they had been raped to punish them for not conforming to gender norms, or to “cure” them of their difference. One lesbian told how, when she was 15, her girlfriend’s brothers raped her brutally, saying: “This is your punishment for being this way and hanging around our sister.” Another woman told Human Rights Watch that an acquaintance locked her in a room and allowed several men to rape her. The men promised the acquaintance “that they would help her to ‘cure’ me” of being a lesbian, she said.
Pervasive social prejudice in the Central Asian country leaves the victims with little hope of government protection, the report says. The police themselves sometimes abuse lesbian and bisexual women and transgender men. Police have also raided and harassed organizations that defend the basic rights of these groups. In all of Kyrgyzstan, only one shelter for survivors of domestic violence – run by a nongovernmental organization – offers specific services for lesbians or transgender people.
A sweeping law passed in 2003 should protect all victims of domestic violence. However, the report found that much more needs to be done to carry out the law, including training criminal justice officials to investigate domestic violence and educating the general public about the law’s provisions. The government has ignored the need to address issues of sexual orientation or gender identity. In some cases, officials have actually endorsed hatred and violence. In 2005, a Ministry of Interior official said of lesbians and gay men at a human rights roundtable: “I would also beat them. Let’s say I walk in a park with my son. And there are two guys walking holding each other’s hands. I would beat them up too.”
While Kyrgyzstan has made efforts to respond to violence against women overall, some groups are still ignored or excluded. Human Rights Watch called on Kyrgyz authorities to improve direct services for lesbians and transgender men; to train state officials in issues of sexual orientation and gender identity; to educate the public about domestic violence and sexual-rights issues, and to create measures for legal identity change to respect and recognize each person’s self-defined gender identity. “Programs to stop violence will not work unless they reach everyone who is vulnerable,” Dittrich said. “Europe should not join Kyrgyzstan’s government in turning a blind eye.”
(6) WOMEN:
(a) Congratulations to two Muslim sisters for winning awards
MUSLIM SISTERS WINS AWARD:
(womensenews):
The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation delivered its gold medal and $500,000 cash award to Turkish activist Pinar Ilkkaracan and two women's rights groups she co-founded to promote reproductive rights in the Muslim world. The prestigious Gruber prize is one of the largest awarded in women's activism.
This year's Right Livelihood Awards--also known as the "Alternative Nobels"--were bestowed on four recipients who share a prize of 2 million Swedish kronor, about $314,000. Among them is Kenya's Dekha Ibrahim Abdi, a female activist who works to resolve conflicts among ethnic and religious groups.
(b) Exploitation of economically disadvantaged women through the guise of "medical tourism" and "case incentives".The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation delivered its gold medal and $500,000 cash award to Turkish activist Pinar Ilkkaracan and two women's rights groups she co-founded to promote reproductive rights in the Muslim world. The prestigious Gruber prize is one of the largest awarded in women's activism.
This year's Right Livelihood Awards--also known as the "Alternative Nobels"--were bestowed on four recipients who share a prize of 2 million Swedish kronor, about $314,000. Among them is Kenya's Dekha Ibrahim Abdi, a female activist who works to resolve conflicts among ethnic and religious groups.
(ED NOTE: Poor Muslim women have consistently been targets of recruitment by unscruplus rent-a-womb exploiters. Can the Ummah in any way prevent such blatant exploitation of our sisters economic helplessness ?)
"India to tighten rent-a-womb surrogacy laws"
www.iol.co.za (Oct 5, 2008) New Delhi
India has finalised a draft law to regulate one of its most successful but ethically problematic "outsourcing" industries - providing surrogate mothers for childless couples. The surrogacy business is thriving as an increasing number of foreigners seek to take advantage of the lack of restrictions and relatively cheap costs involved in securing an Indian woman willing to rent out her womb.
Critics say the proposed law will only serve to encourage "medical tourism" at the cost of women's health and promote invasive and expensive technologies over adoption. The draft stipulates that the surrogate cannot also be the egg donor. She can be either the relative of a couple unable to have their own child, or a professional who is paid for the pregnancy.
Indian women can earn more than 100 000 rupees for each pregnancy, which they say helps them pay for their own children's education. Accurate estimates of the annual turnover generated by surrogacy services are almost impossible to come by, but doctors and experts agree that demand is growing rapidly. Officials say the draft bill, which is expected to be debated in parliament in the coming weeks, will help regulate the entire fertility market in India which provides a host of assisted reproduction facilities. "Every single point that has been raised has been taken care of. We went through several drafts in the past six years," Pushpa Bhargava, a key member of the panel that made the rules, says.
The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill defines the responsibilities and duties of a surrogate mother, those seeking her services and the Indian facilities that provide such services. Foreigners seeking a surrogate in India will have to provide documentary proof that they would be able to take the child back to their country. They must also appoint a local guardian who will be legally responsible for the surrogate till the child is handed over to its parents.
The rules are designed to avoid the sort of legal ambiguity that arose in the recent case of a Japanese man, whose wife refused to take their surrogate baby home after the couple divorced. The child, named Manji, was born in India in July to an Indian woman but was unable to travel to Japan for months after being embroiled in a legal tussle over her custody and nationality.
Another case that attracted widespread public scrutiny was that of an Indian woman who gave birth in 2004 to her own grandchildren on behalf of her British-based daughter. The draft bill would outlaw surrogacy by a relative who is not from the same generation as the woman who intends to keep the baby.
Doctors say there have been many instances of women acting as surrogates for their daughters. Some activists are concerned that the new bill is aimed less at preventing possible abuses of the surrogacy system and more at simply regularising a lucrative business. "There is an urgent need for regulation of present practice, not just regularisation and promotion," women's health activist N.B Sarojini said in a statement endorsed by several non-profit groups. But Bhargava said such arguments were "absurd". "Certainly it will promote medical tourism, but people have a right to have a child, if the technology exists," he said, adding that the surrogate mothers also benefited. "The money helps them in many ways. In many countries, prostitution is legal too," he said.
CASH INCENTIVE TO DENY A MOTHER'S BASIC BIOLOGICAL RIGHT:
John LaBruzzo, a Republican State Representative from Louisiana, is studying a proposal to pay low-income women $1,000 to have their tubes tied as an anti-poverty measure, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported Sept. 24. LaBruzzo told the newspaper that he worried people who receive food stamps and subsidized housing have higher birth rates than more affluent people, contributing to higher costs for social welfare programs. That belief has been widely discredited.
(c) Below cultural custom among Zulus does not connect with 21st Century values
Zulus "eagerly defy" a year-old South African government ban on "virginity testing," in which girls under 16 present themselves to tribal leaders to have their genitals inspected, the Washington Post reported Sept. 26. Supporters of the traditional practice say it helps prevent teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Opponents say it stigmatizes those who fail the test and puts others at risk for rape. In a region devastated by AIDS, some believe that men can be cured if they have sex with a virgin.
(d) Is this the barbaric times or the 21st Century ? Sick atrocities in CONGO including being an involuntary cannibal.
"The atrocities perpetrated there (in Congo) by armed groups, some of whom seemed to have been involved in the 1994 Rwandan massacres in which 800,000 people were killed, "are of an unimaginable brutality that goes far beyond rape" Ms. Erturk said. "Women are gang raped, often in front of their families and communities. In numerous cases, male relatives are forced at gun point to rape their own daughters, mothers or sisters," she said. After rape, many women were shot or stabbed in the genital area, and survivors told Erturk that while held as slaves by the gangs they had been forced to eat excrement or the flesh of their murdered relatives.
"The atrocities perpetrated there (in Congo) by armed groups, some of whom seemed to have been involved in the 1994 Rwandan massacres in which 800,000 people were killed, "are of an unimaginable brutality that goes far beyond rape" Ms. Erturk said. "Women are gang raped, often in front of their families and communities. In numerous cases, male relatives are forced at gun point to rape their own daughters, mothers or sisters," she said. After rape, many women were shot or stabbed in the genital area, and survivors told Erturk that while held as slaves by the gangs they had been forced to eat excrement or the flesh of their murdered relatives.
Widespread sexual abuse in the various conflicts racking the Republic -- which last year held elections hailed as marking a new era -- "seems to have become a generalised aspect of the overall oppression of women", Erturk said. (Reuters)
(e) Yes, we all are one Ummah. How best can we help our Muslim sisters in Mali
90 percent of Mali are Muslims (www.nationsonline.org) . Globally, half a million women continue to die in pregnancy or child birth every year while another 10 to 15 million sustain injuries during delivery.Maternal mortality is the largest health inequity in the world, according to UNICEF. A woman in Niger faces a 1-in-7 chance of dying from childbirth-related causes, while a woman in Sweden's risk is 1-in-17,400.
An additional 334,000 midwives could reduce the number of women dying in pregnancy and childbirth worldwide by 75 percent, the World Health Organization reported. In a bright spot, the United Nations Population Fund pledged $9 million on Sept. 17 to improve access to midwives in 11 countries in Africa with high maternal mortality rates.
(ED NOTE: Most of the leaders of the world and global organizations claim to work for the betterment of their people. Every single day five thousand children die of preventable diseases ? Was this ever given a top priority in the United Nations Agenda. But in action, when you see the amount by various countries invested in military and warfare, you then clearly know their true priorities. ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS).
An additional 334,000 midwives could reduce the number of women dying in pregnancy and childbirth worldwide by 75 percent, the World Health Organization reported. In a bright spot, the United Nations Population Fund pledged $9 million on Sept. 17 to improve access to midwives in 11 countries in Africa with high maternal mortality rates.
(ED NOTE: Most of the leaders of the world and global organizations claim to work for the betterment of their people. Every single day five thousand children die of preventable diseases ? Was this ever given a top priority in the United Nations Agenda. But in action, when you see the amount by various countries invested in military and warfare, you then clearly know their true priorities. ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS).
(f) GLOBAL UMMAH'S CALL FOR BOYCOTT OF SEX TOURISM:
(Implementing the Quranic principles and hadith one step at a time)
"The Tourist" Myrna Balk
Sex Tourism involves men's travel to other countries (specifically) to exploit women, girls and boys. Sex tourism is a well-developed component of the commercial sexual exploitation of women and children. There are approximately 25 companies and 100 web sites offering sex tours. They are based in cities all across the USA.
(g) Women's Health: Be cautious of excessive use of cosmetics:
Researchers found cancer-related chemicals in the blood and urine sample of 20 female teens across the United States, USA Today reported Sept. 25. While those teens in the study used many cosmetics with the potentially harmful ingredients, the tests also indicated the presence of many other potentially dangerous chemicals. The ingredients in common cosmetics impact hormones and could cause cancer or other health problems, the Environmental Working Group report said.
(7) CHILDREN:
WATER CRISIS: (alternet.org)
"It is our era's greatest scandal that 1.6 million children die of preventable illness each year. Every day, 5,000 children die from diarrhoeal diseases related to unsafe water".
The Harsh Economics of the Global Water Crisis (condensed version) By Julie Chowdhury, October 1, 2008.
Water and sanitation go hand in hand. According to the World Health Organization, 80% of all world sickness is attributable to unsafe water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene.
The Harsh Economics of the Global Water Crisis (condensed version) By Julie Chowdhury, October 1, 2008.
(Born and raised in Sweden, Bangladeshi Julie Chowdhury works for the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan. She holds a joint honors bachelor's degree in Politics and International Studies and Development Studies. She is currently pursuing her Masters in Gender Studies).
Every morning when you wake up and perform what you may perceive as insignificant chores, you might not realize that for 2.6 billion people around the world, your morning shower or just one flush of the toilet is the essence of luxury.
The United Nations has declared that every human being is entitled to 20 liters of safe water every day. In Europe, we have the privilege of using 200 liters per day, while in the US, the average person uses up to 400. The average person in the developing world tries to manage on less than 10 liters of contaminated water to do all their daily chores.
Every morning when you wake up and perform what you may perceive as insignificant chores, you might not realize that for 2.6 billion people around the world, your morning shower or just one flush of the toilet is the essence of luxury.
The United Nations has declared that every human being is entitled to 20 liters of safe water every day. In Europe, we have the privilege of using 200 liters per day, while in the US, the average person uses up to 400. The average person in the developing world tries to manage on less than 10 liters of contaminated water to do all their daily chores.
Water and sanitation go hand in hand. According to the World Health Organization, 80% of all world sickness is attributable to unsafe water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene.
With all the technological innovations available and money spent on the Water Week event, I found myself wondering how the global water and sanitation problem has escalated to this level of a disaster? With only $9.5 billion a year, or just one-third of the annual global spending on bottled water, the world could meet the MDG sanitation target by 2015 and provide everyone with a toilet by 2025 is a good investment and we should approach the ministers of finance rather than health."
Twenty percent of the world's population faces water shortages and lives without sustainable access to safe drinking water.
Access to safe drinking water or sanitation facilities should not be a luxury, nor an act of charity, but an obligation by the global community to ensure that no person is denied this right. I believe that in order to address the needs of billions who live without proper water and sanitation we need strong leadership because as the great human rights lawyer Parul Sharma once said, "it is more difficult to combat the poverty of the mind than material poverty." We need to overcome the stigmas related to the sanitation crisis and educate all people of its critical consequences".
(8) IMPACT OF CULTURE ON RELIGION:
(a) Impact of innovative women's program on a 10 year old hijab clad Muslim girl who now wants to build her muscles so she can enter the boxing ring and fight a real opponent.
German Sparring Club Spurs Girls to Power Punch:
At Europe's largest all-female boxing club, the sport is promoted as helping women and girls succeed in life outside the ring.
Boxgirls--which has 70 members of varying ages and backgrounds--has been heaped with praise since it opened four years ago. It now holds training sessions three times a week, conducts outreach to girls and leads workshops in local schools.
In 2007 it was voted one of the 16 most innovative sports programs in the world by the Web-based global association of social entrepreneurs, Changemakers. It also won funding from Strengthening Girls, a German government project.
For Canan, a soft-spoken Turkish German 10-year-old dressed in pink slacks and a pink lace headscarf, boxing is "just all fun." Her aim, she says, as she carefully punches a boxing bag, is to build up her muscles so she can enter the ring and fight a real opponent. Her 13-year-old sister, Dilara, is also looking forward to her first bout of sparring which will only be allowed when she is fully trained.
In 2007 it was voted one of the 16 most innovative sports programs in the world by the Web-based global association of social entrepreneurs, Changemakers. It also won funding from Strengthening Girls, a German government project.
For Canan, a soft-spoken Turkish German 10-year-old dressed in pink slacks and a pink lace headscarf, boxing is "just all fun." Her aim, she says, as she carefully punches a boxing bag, is to build up her muscles so she can enter the ring and fight a real opponent. Her 13-year-old sister, Dilara, is also looking forward to her first bout of sparring which will only be allowed when she is fully trained.
(b) (Can the Ummah relate to the Pope when he attacked the Godless character of modern culture?)
www.yahoo.com Oct 5, 2008
ROME (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI attacked the Godless character of modern culture as he celebrated mass Sunday in a Roman basilica to mark the opening of a synod of Catholic bishops. In a sombre homily in which he suggested that Christianity in Europe could become extinct like some Christian communities in history, the Pope told more than 250 bishops from around the world that societies which rebelled against God in the past had faced His "punishment". "If we look at history we are forced to notice the frequent coldness and rebellion of incoherent Christians. Because of this, God, while never shirking in his promise of salvation, often had to turn towards punishment," he said.
Benedict warned that "nations once rich in faith and vocations are losing their own identity under the harmful and destructive influence of a certain modern culture. "There are those that, having decided that 'God is dead,' declare themselves 'god,' believing themselves to be the only creator of their own fate, the absolute owner of the world," the German-born Pope said. "When men proclaim themselves absolute owners of themselves and the only masters of creation, are they really going to be able to construct a society where freedom, justice and peace reign?
"Is it not more likely -- as demonstrated by news headlines every day -- that the arbitrary rule of power, selfish interests, injustice and exploitation, and violence in all its forms, will extend their grip?" Benedict however tempered his speech by saying "if in certain regions, faith weakens to the point of fading away, there will always be other people ready to receive it," adding "evil and death never have the final word."
The synod, a three-week gathering of more than 250 bishops from around the world, will discuss Christian fundamentalism and the relationship between religion and science as well as Judaism. The synod is a consultative body created in 1965 to facilitate contacts among bishops, who represent 1.1 billion Catholics around the world, and to help the pope set policies for running the Church.
The synod, a three-week gathering of more than 250 bishops from around the world, will discuss Christian fundamentalism and the relationship between religion and science as well as Judaism. The synod is a consultative body created in 1965 to facilitate contacts among bishops, who represent 1.1 billion Catholics around the world, and to help the pope set policies for running the Church.
(c) Sudan:(Beating the females for inappropriate dress is unacceptable)
Bad behavior
www.iol.com Oct 7, 2008 Juba, Sudan (Below article is in reference to Christian Sudanese)
A southern Sudan cabinet minister said on Tuesday that more than 20 women were arrested and beaten for allegedly dressing inappropriately under a new edict against "bad behaviour". "Between 20 and 30 girls were picked up from different points, hurled into police lorries, arrested and taken to the police station and some of them were beaten," said Mary Kiden Kimbo, the gender, social welfare and religious affairs minister in the semi-autonomous southern government.
A southern Sudan cabinet minister said on Tuesday that more than 20 women were arrested and beaten for allegedly dressing inappropriately under a new edict against "bad behaviour". "Between 20 and 30 girls were picked up from different points, hurled into police lorries, arrested and taken to the police station and some of them were beaten," said Mary Kiden Kimbo, the gender, social welfare and religious affairs minister in the semi-autonomous southern government.
"This is absolutely not acceptable: it is not the job of police to judge what is and what is not a correct way to dress in such a manner of blanket punishment," she said.
The police crackdown on young women wearing trousers or short skirts follows an order from the commissioner of Juba county, the capital of southern Sudan. Most of the women, said to be in their late teens and 20s, were rounded up as they left Catholic mass in Juba on Sunday, Kimbo said.
Others were picked up in market places. The order bans "all bad behaviours, activities and imported illicit cultures", according to a copy seen by AFP, signed by Juba's commissioner, Albert Pitia Redantore. Inappropriate behaviour may include wearing tight trousers, short skirts or skimpy tops considered "Western" attire.
The order, dated October 2, said it aimed to "preserve the cultural values, dignity and achievements of the people of southern Sudan, checking out the intrusion of foreign cultures into our societies, for the sake of bringing up (a) good generation".
Those deemed in contravention are liable to three months imprisonment. Those convicted for a second time face another three-month sentence and a fine of 600 Sudanese pounds (US$300). Traditional values are important in largely Christian and animist southern Sudan, which is recovering from decades of war against the mainly Muslim north. She said the principle of gender equality was enshrined in southern Sudan and added that she was investigating the matter. The new order applies only to Juba but crackdowns elsewhere in the south against women wearing trousers or miniskirts have also been reported. - AFP
(9) ENTERTAINMENT:
(a) The "power" of a kiss
Female fan's kiss ends music concert in Kuwait
KUWAIT CITY (AP) — A Kuwaiti official says authorities abruptly ended a music concert by an Egyptian singer in this conservative Muslim country when a young female fan jumped on stage, hugged the male singer and gave him a kiss.
Qanas al-Adwani, who heads the government department that monitors public entertainment, says the girl's behavior at Friday's concert "defied the conservative traditions" of Kuwait.
Al-Adwani also said Sunday that the fan's behavior broke controls on public entertainment, which were imposed by influential Muslim fundamentalists after they failed in 1997 to ban concerts altogether. Concerts have to be licensed by the government, and monitors from the Information Ministry watch the crowd to make sure nobody stands up to dance.
(b) Muslim massacre game condemned.
THE MUSLIM NEWS: Issue 233, Friday 26 September 2008 - 26 Ramadan 1423
Muslim Massacre game condemned By Elham Asaad Buaras An internet computer game with a plot of "wiping out the Muslim race" has been condemned as "tasteless and deeply offensive" by a Muslim youth organisation. Muslim Massacre was first released in January but has become more popular after being linked to by several blogs.
The goal of Muslim Massacre, which can be downloaded for free on the internet reads, "The United States Of America has declared war on Islam, take control of the American hero and wipe out the Muslim race with an arsenal of the worlds most destructive weapons".
The "American Hero" levels up to take on Osama bin Ladin, Prophet Muhammad (p) and finally Allah.
Eric Vaughn, the game's American freelance creator who is based in Brisbane, Australia, described the game as "fun and funny".
In a statement to The Muslim News, Chief Executive of the Manchester based Ramadhan Foundation, Mohammed Shafiq, said that the game glamorised violence against Muslims whether or not it was satirical.
Encouraging children and young people in a game to kill Muslims is unacceptable, tasteless and deeply offensive, he said. There is an increase in violence in this country and some of it comes from video games. When kids spend six hours a day on violent games they are more likely to go outside and commit violence.
If it was the other way around, with a game featuring Muslims killing Israelis or Americans, there would be uproar and rightly so. We would urge ISPs to take action against sites like this, he argued.
As usual, feel free to e-mail your valuable comments at mehrunyusuficds.com.
Muslim Massacre game condemned By Elham Asaad Buaras An internet computer game with a plot of "wiping out the Muslim race" has been condemned as "tasteless and deeply offensive" by a Muslim youth organisation. Muslim Massacre was first released in January but has become more popular after being linked to by several blogs.
The goal of Muslim Massacre, which can be downloaded for free on the internet reads, "The United States Of America has declared war on Islam, take control of the American hero and wipe out the Muslim race with an arsenal of the worlds most destructive weapons".
The "American Hero" levels up to take on Osama bin Ladin, Prophet Muhammad (p) and finally Allah.
Eric Vaughn, the game's American freelance creator who is based in Brisbane, Australia, described the game as "fun and funny".
In a statement to The Muslim News, Chief Executive of the Manchester based Ramadhan Foundation, Mohammed Shafiq, said that the game glamorised violence against Muslims whether or not it was satirical.
Encouraging children and young people in a game to kill Muslims is unacceptable, tasteless and deeply offensive, he said. There is an increase in violence in this country and some of it comes from video games. When kids spend six hours a day on violent games they are more likely to go outside and commit violence.
If it was the other way around, with a game featuring Muslims killing Israelis or Americans, there would be uproar and rightly so. We would urge ISPs to take action against sites like this, he argued.
As usual, feel free to e-mail your valuable comments at mehrunyusuficds.com.
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