VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH
Volume 196, August 14, 2011
St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Editors: Mohamed & Rashida Ziauddin
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent and Merciful
Volume 196, August 14, 2011
St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Editors: Mohamed & Rashida Ziauddin
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent and Merciful
Editorial:
In this E-Zine, we have discussed on issues of interfaith relations, extremism raising its ugly head again, reproductive health and human rights.
PART I
INTERFAITH RELATIONS:
AUSTRIA:
Christian-Jewish-Muslim-prayers-for-Habsburg
www.seattlepi.com
(Riflemen carry the coffins of Otto von Habsburg and his wife Regina in Mariazell, Austria Tuesday July 12, 2011. The oldest son of Austria-Hungary's last emperor and longtime head of one of Europe's most influential families had died Monday July 4, 2011 at the age of 98. His wife had died in 2010. Now the couple will be reunited. The burial is scheduled for Saturday July 16, 2011 in Vienna. Photo: Hans Punz / dapd)
AUSTRIA:
Christian-Jewish-Muslim-prayers-for-Habsburg
www.seattlepi.com
(Riflemen carry the coffins of Otto von Habsburg and his wife Regina in Mariazell, Austria Tuesday July 12, 2011. The oldest son of Austria-Hungary's last emperor and longtime head of one of Europe's most influential families had died Monday July 4, 2011 at the age of 98. His wife had died in 2010. Now the couple will be reunited. The burial is scheduled for Saturday July 16, 2011 in Vienna. Photo: Hans Punz / dapd)
VIENNA (AP)
Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders have gathered in prayer at the Vienna church where the coffins of the son of Austria's last emperor and his wife are lying in state. Praying Thursday for Otto Von Habsburg and his wife, Regina, were Auxiliary Bishop Stephan Turnovszky, Rabbi Steven Langnas and Chief Mufti Mustafa Ceric of Sarajevo.
Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders have gathered in prayer at the Vienna church where the coffins of the son of Austria's last emperor and his wife are lying in state. Praying Thursday for Otto Von Habsburg and his wife, Regina, were Auxiliary Bishop Stephan Turnovszky, Rabbi Steven Langnas and Chief Mufti Mustafa Ceric of Sarajevo.
Karl Habsburg, the oldest son of the late couple, said his father believed in religious tolerance, noting that the Austro-Hungarian empire encompassed believers of all three religions.
Habsburg died July 4 at age 98 in southern Germany. His wife died last year. The dynasty ruled for more than seven centuries until the end of World War I. They will be buried Saturday in a pomp-filled ceremony at the Emperor Tomb in Vienna.
PART II
EXTREMISM HAS RAISED ITS UGLY HEAD AGAIN:
Man seriously assaulted in Kilmarnock, UK
(www.cumnockchronicle.com)
(condensed version)
15 Jul 2011 13:30
Man seriously assaulted in Kilmarnock, UK
(www.cumnockchronicle.com)
(condensed version)
15 Jul 2011 13:30
Police at Kilmarnock are continuing enquiries and appealing for information after an elderly man was seriously assaulted in the early hours of Friday 15 July 2011.
The 71-year-old Asian man was discovered with serious facial injuries around 0130 hrs on Friday 15 July 2011 outside the Community Mosque in Hill Street, Kilmarnock.
It is believed that he was attacked prior to opening the Mosque for a prayer session and was discovered by two fellow members of the Mosque who informed the emergency services.
The injured man was taken by ambulance to Crosshouse Hospital where he is currently being treated for his injuries. Hospital staff describe his condition as stable.
Chief Inspector Wilson Brown at Kilmarnock Police Office said:
"This is a despicable act of violence carried out on a defenceless man. At this time there would appear to be no motive for this attack however we can't rule out the possibility of it being racially motivated.
"It is believed that the man was attacked prior to him opening the Mosque and it is not known how long he may have been lying on the ground injured before two fellow members discovered him.
(ED NOTE:
While it is true that there is discrimination against Muslims in the job market in Germany and many other western countries, we as Muslims should also seriously explore what are we NOT doing at the present time that we COULD be doing as an individual and as a religious group to break the negative stereotypes that they may have against us).
CAIRO – Well-qualified, ambitious and skilled German Muslims are complaining of growing discrimination against them in the job market, especially veiled women, who are taking the full brunt for their dress.
“Society is not open enough to let us work,” Erika Theissen, managing director of the Muslim Women’s Center for Encounters and Further Education (BFmF) in Cologne, told Deutsche Welle on Sunday, July 10.
Converting to Islam in the 1980s, she dons a carefully matched pastel blue headscarf to the rest of her outfit.
Noticing the changing work atmosphere in Germany, accompanied by exclusion of many Muslim women from work, Theissen established her BFmF center which employs over 50 Muslim women, some of them highly qualified.
In Dusseldorf, the North Rhine-Westphalian capital, she currently organizes a conference gathering about 80 people including scientists, politicians, activists and Muslim social workers to discuss discrimination against Muslim women in the workplace.
“People think the Muslim community doesn’t want Muslim women to work. But most Muslim women are not discriminated against by the Muslim community, but by society,” she added.
Theissen is not the only Muslim to face job market discrimination.
Collecting about 30 rejection letters, Ismahen Dabbach is a best example on the growing job discrimination in Germany.
“My name is Ismahen Dabbach, I am 26 years old, I was born in Germany and I am a trained office clerk. I am very flexible, independent and open to everything that carries me further forward in life,” the ambitious young woman used to say during job interviews. Yet, rejection was also the expected reply.
Dabbach, whose parents are Tunisians, feels that since she decided to wear hijab four months ago, her search for a job has become extremely difficult.
“They put you on a waiting list, then they invite you and tell you that they will call you, but after three days you get a rejection letter,” Dabbach asks.
“So you start asking yourself: did I make a mistake or is it the company’s fault?”
Germany has between 3.8 and 4.3 million Muslims, making up some 5 percent of the total 82 million population, according to government-commissioned studies.
Stereotyping
Social analysts agree that German Muslim, especially veiled women, have hardly any chance of getting a job.
Such a trend, according to Mario Peucker, a social scientist at the University of Melbourne, is apparent in medium-sized German companies which show clear anti-Muslim tendencies.
“Even if they don’t have personal resentments, they may think that their customers or their staff might have a negative image of Muslims and this becomes their reason for not employing Muslim men or women,” he says.
Germans have grown hostile to the Muslim presence recently, with a heated debate on the Muslim immigration into the country.
A recent poll by the Munster University found that Germans view Muslims more negatively than their European neighbors.
Germany’s daily Der Spiegel had warned last August that the country is becoming intolerant towards its Muslim minority.
According to a 2010 nationwide poll by the research institute Infratest-dimap, more than one third of the respondents would prefer “a Germany without Islam.”
Denouncing the growing prejudice, which a 2006 anti-discrimination law could not end, Peucker called for offering employers anonymous applications so they would not see a name or photo on the applicant’s resume.
But Erika Theissen thinks it’s not enough.
“I think the government must be a role model for those people who have the possibility to give jobs and then I hope, other people will think: ok, I can take a woman with a headscarf, it will not cause a big problem for my business,” she said.
Living the current tragedy, Dabbach only dreams of a normal eight-hour job in her home country Germany.
“I want to have a normal eight-hour-job, from eight to five, five days a week, where I can wear my headscarf, like an ordinary citizen,” she says.
To turn the dream into a reality, she started searching the internet for jobs offered by Muslim companies. She got a job outside Germany after only three days of search.
For this job, Dabbach, who lives in the western German town of Gütersloh, would move outside Germany.
“What should I do now?” Dabbach asked helplessly.
“I am at home in Germany, my family and friends are here. Should I just leave them? I am really torn.”
The 71-year-old Asian man was discovered with serious facial injuries around 0130 hrs on Friday 15 July 2011 outside the Community Mosque in Hill Street, Kilmarnock.
It is believed that he was attacked prior to opening the Mosque for a prayer session and was discovered by two fellow members of the Mosque who informed the emergency services.
The injured man was taken by ambulance to Crosshouse Hospital where he is currently being treated for his injuries. Hospital staff describe his condition as stable.
Chief Inspector Wilson Brown at Kilmarnock Police Office said:
"This is a despicable act of violence carried out on a defenceless man. At this time there would appear to be no motive for this attack however we can't rule out the possibility of it being racially motivated.
"It is believed that the man was attacked prior to him opening the Mosque and it is not known how long he may have been lying on the ground injured before two fellow members discovered him.
PART III:
JOB DISCRIMINATION AGAINST MUSLIMS IN THE WEST:
GERMANY
JOB DISCRIMINATION AGAINST MUSLIMS IN THE WEST:
GERMANY
(ED NOTE:
While it is true that there is discrimination against Muslims in the job market in Germany and many other western countries, we as Muslims should also seriously explore what are we NOT doing at the present time that we COULD be doing as an individual and as a religious group to break the negative stereotypes that they may have against us).
One Third of Germans Prefer a “Germany without Islam”
(via EUROPEANS AGAINST ISLAMOPHOBIA)
11 Jul 2011
CAIRO – Well-qualified, ambitious and skilled German Muslims are complaining of growing discrimination against them in the job market, especially veiled women, who are taking the full brunt for their dress.
“Society is not open enough to let us work,” Erika Theissen, managing director of the Muslim Women’s Center for Encounters and Further Education (BFmF) in Cologne, told Deutsche Welle on Sunday, July 10.
Converting to Islam in the 1980s, she dons a carefully matched pastel blue headscarf to the rest of her outfit.
Noticing the changing work atmosphere in Germany, accompanied by exclusion of many Muslim women from work, Theissen established her BFmF center which employs over 50 Muslim women, some of them highly qualified.
In Dusseldorf, the North Rhine-Westphalian capital, she currently organizes a conference gathering about 80 people including scientists, politicians, activists and Muslim social workers to discuss discrimination against Muslim women in the workplace.
“People think the Muslim community doesn’t want Muslim women to work. But most Muslim women are not discriminated against by the Muslim community, but by society,” she added.
Theissen is not the only Muslim to face job market discrimination.
Collecting about 30 rejection letters, Ismahen Dabbach is a best example on the growing job discrimination in Germany.
“My name is Ismahen Dabbach, I am 26 years old, I was born in Germany and I am a trained office clerk. I am very flexible, independent and open to everything that carries me further forward in life,” the ambitious young woman used to say during job interviews. Yet, rejection was also the expected reply.
Dabbach, whose parents are Tunisians, feels that since she decided to wear hijab four months ago, her search for a job has become extremely difficult.
“They put you on a waiting list, then they invite you and tell you that they will call you, but after three days you get a rejection letter,” Dabbach asks.
“So you start asking yourself: did I make a mistake or is it the company’s fault?”
Germany has between 3.8 and 4.3 million Muslims, making up some 5 percent of the total 82 million population, according to government-commissioned studies.
Stereotyping
Social analysts agree that German Muslim, especially veiled women, have hardly any chance of getting a job.
Such a trend, according to Mario Peucker, a social scientist at the University of Melbourne, is apparent in medium-sized German companies which show clear anti-Muslim tendencies.
“Even if they don’t have personal resentments, they may think that their customers or their staff might have a negative image of Muslims and this becomes their reason for not employing Muslim men or women,” he says.
Germans have grown hostile to the Muslim presence recently, with a heated debate on the Muslim immigration into the country.
A recent poll by the Munster University found that Germans view Muslims more negatively than their European neighbors.
Germany’s daily Der Spiegel had warned last August that the country is becoming intolerant towards its Muslim minority.
According to a 2010 nationwide poll by the research institute Infratest-dimap, more than one third of the respondents would prefer “a Germany without Islam.”
Denouncing the growing prejudice, which a 2006 anti-discrimination law could not end, Peucker called for offering employers anonymous applications so they would not see a name or photo on the applicant’s resume.
But Erika Theissen thinks it’s not enough.
“I think the government must be a role model for those people who have the possibility to give jobs and then I hope, other people will think: ok, I can take a woman with a headscarf, it will not cause a big problem for my business,” she said.
Living the current tragedy, Dabbach only dreams of a normal eight-hour job in her home country Germany.
“I want to have a normal eight-hour-job, from eight to five, five days a week, where I can wear my headscarf, like an ordinary citizen,” she says.
To turn the dream into a reality, she started searching the internet for jobs offered by Muslim companies. She got a job outside Germany after only three days of search.
For this job, Dabbach, who lives in the western German town of Gütersloh, would move outside Germany.
“What should I do now?” Dabbach asked helplessly.
“I am at home in Germany, my family and friends are here. Should I just leave them? I am really torn.”
PART IV
FIGHTING INJUSTICE
(ED NOTE:
FIGHTING INJUSTICE
(ED NOTE:
Muslims should be a leading global force to fight against injustice. Fighting injustice is mentioned both in Holy Quran and in hadith. Women who comprise half the world's population have historically and at the present time continue to face injustice in various ways. Prophet Mohamed (SAW) stated that "Women's rights are sacred". As Muslims we need to fight against injustice towards women and work for their betterment. Working towards improving their reproductive health and human rights is one of the many steps we could take as Muslims).
PART V
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND HUMAN RIGHTS:
(www.rhrealitycheck.org)
July 19, 2011
(www.rhrealitycheck.org)
July 19, 2011
Charlotte Metcalf wrote and produced this series of 12 short skits that demonstrate the violation of human rights, particularly reproductive rights, that millions of women continue to experience worldwide.
EDITORIAL COMMENTS ON ABOVE VIDEO:
Certain feminists have given up all hope about Muslims ever being genuinely concerned about women's rights and from their limited, skewed and biased sources of information, see ISLAM as an obstacle for women's rights. The moment they see a woman in hijab or niqab, instantly negative thoughts come to their mind. They see a fully clothed Muslim woman representing values that are essentially a threat to women's freedom and view them as backward.
On the other hand, certain Muslims have given up all hope that the typical Western woman could ever understand what true Islam really is.The moment they see a woman with miniskirt or in partially clothed dressing, instantly negative thoughts come to mind. They see the partially clothed western female as a threat to their supposedly maintaining a high moral ground and would take all possible efforts to prevent their Muslim female family members (in their view) be corrupted from those western females. They view feminists rights to de-cloth themselves in varying degrees as being nothing but a FODDER for men to gain free access to feast their eyes and further fuel their lusts. Such Muslims are not going to allow their own female family members to be such fodder to maximum the fantasies of men.
It is really sad that both of above two groups have a significantly negative view of each other. We had the opportunity to closely interact and know women from both the above groups. And we wanted to confirm that the practicing Muslim female is NOT an extremist. On the same token we want to emphasize that contrary to what many from non-western world may believe, the typical western women is NOT sexually permissive or a slut just because she is dressing in a different cultural style.
We argue that above extreme polarity on both sides of the moral spectrum is ultimately impairing the ability of all human beings both from the Muslim world and the western world to work on other major common issues such as for example, the ability to work together to totally eliminate FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION.
We urge sisters both from the Muslim world and the non-Muslim world to shift focus FROM their religious and cultural differences TO common goals and work towards helping millions of innocent women worldwide who have become victims mainly due to outdated brutal and vicious historical cultural values that have no place in the 21st century.
We urge sisters both from the Muslim world and the non-Muslim world to shift focus FROM their religious and cultural differences TO common goals and work towards helping millions of innocent women worldwide who have become victims mainly due to outdated brutal and vicious historical cultural values that have no place in the 21st century.
From above video, you will note that:
(a) "MILLIONS OF WOMEN ARE DENIED HEALTH CARE IN VAIN BECAUSE OF CULTURE AND RELIGION".
Pardon our ignorance, but we have not seen any text in the Holy Quran or hadith that forbids a female to get medical attention/treatment. On the contrary we would argue that it is anti-islamic act to prevent a woman from getting treatment. We need to be seriously thinking of how best we can seek help and support of our local Islamic leaders and Imams to work on weeding out the cancerous values harming our sisters in the name of CULTURE and RELIGION.
(b) "PREGNANCY AND CHILDBIRTH COMPLICATIONS KILL 585,000 WOMEN EACH YEAR”. AVERAGING DEATH OF ONE WOMAN EACH AND EVERY SINGLE MINUTE.
Sometimes huge numbers in statistics essentially NUMBS us. Please note that in this case, it is NOT "US versus THEM". It is about WOMEN who are half the world's population. It is about women who are Muslims and non-Muslims. It is about women who die and exist no more to be there in the life of their new born infant. It is about fathers becoming widows and parents losing their daughters and brothers losing their sisters.
(c) "MORE THAN A MILLION GIRLS ARE FORCED INTO PROSTITUTION EACH YEAR".
When was the last time you attended a party or function involving a teenage girl or young female adult? By any chance, in the party or discussion, where you able to see the excitement in her or to understand her dreams, hopes and aspirations for her future ?
It is really sad that more than a million girls are forced into prostitution each year and essentially being not only sexually abused but in many cases physically and emotionally abused too. Unlike other girls who may have dreams of furthering their education and selecting a particular career, getting married, having families et.c. the lives of females in forced prostitution essentially is doomed. They LIVE to service the sexual needs of men.
Their individual human right to dignity, respect and a decent & independent life with various career and family choices is all but OVER. There are thousands of Muslim sisters who were innocently lured and trapped in this vice. We are sure that Muslims can do more to prevent if not at least reduce the numbers of victims from such terrible vice besides initiating aggressive efforts to assist in identifying, locating and with help of Government and police, freeing such sisters from the clutches of pimps.
(d) "OVER TWO MILLION GIRLS ARE GENITALLY MUTILATED EACH YEAR". AVERAGING ABOUT 6000 EACH AND EVERY SINGLE DAY.
There is no question that a significantly high percentage of above victims are our own Muslim sisters. What is truly shocking is that despite above permanent sexual mutilation of 6000 girls EVERY SINGLE DAY, "business is as usual". It's like nothing happened.
WE ASK - "WHY SUCH INDIFFERENCE?”
"WHY IS THIS NOT A PRIORITY FOR THE GOVERNMENT, ISLAMIC LEADERS AND IMAMS IN AREAS, where this barbaric practice is still continued?
THE MOST TROUBLING PART IS THAT ABOVE IMPORTANT ISSUES ARE NOT THE PRIORITY IN OUR GLOBAL UMMAH'S RADAR SCREEN. YOU CAN JUDGE THIS BY FOLLOWING THE PRIORITIES IN THE AGENDA OF MUSLIM GROUPS - WHETHER IT IS THE BIGGEST GLOBAL UMMAH ENTITY, SUCH AS OIC - ORGANISATION OF ISLAMIC COOPERATION (Association of 56 Islamic countries promoting Muslim solidarity in economic, SOCIAL, and political affairs) OR IT IS A SMALL MEETING HELD IN YOUR LOCAL MOSQUE OR SOCIAL SERVICE ORGANIZATION. OF COURSE WE NEVER GET TIRED OF REPEATING TIME AND AGAIN: "WE ARE ONE UMMAH".
UNFORTUNATELY, THERE MAY BE A GENERAL TENDENCY AMONGST US TO DEFER THE SOLUTION TO ABOVE PROBLEMS BY CREATING A FALSE HOPE THAT "SOMEBODY MAY BE WORKING OR WILL WORK ON RESOLVING SUCH PROBLEMS". OF COURSE WHEN THAT "SOMEBODY" MAY BE "NOBODY", THEN WE SHOULD NOT BE SURPRISED THAT BASED ON ABOVE AVERAGE, EVEN JUST FOR TODAY AND FOR EVERY SINGLE ADDITIONAL DAY, THERE WILL BE SIX THOUSAND GIRLS, MAJORITY OF WHOM ARE MUSLIMS THAT HAVE BEEN SUBJUGATED TO SEVERE PAIN/TORTURE OF THEIR MOST INTIMATE BODY PART IN THE PROCESS OF FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION.
Now we are not even talking about the deaths OR some permanent medical conditions and many temporary medical and psychological complications that may have resulted from above extreme procedure BESIDES THE PERMANENT ELIMINATION OF THE SEXUAL PLEASURE CENTER.
WE ALSO KNOW THAT MAJORITY OF MUSLIMS ACROSS THE GLOBE HAVE THE BEST OF INTENTIONS FOR OTHER MUSLIMS, BUT IN MANY CASES, THEY DO NOT HAVE A PLATFORM AND A CLEAR ORGANIZATIONAL AND COORDINATED STRUCTURE TO TRANSLATE THEIR GOOD INTENTIONS TO HELP INTO PRACTICE.
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE ALREADY HELPING IN ALLEVIATING ABOVE PROBLEMS, (MAY ALLAH REWARD YOU), PLEASE LET US KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND THE NAME OF YOUR ORGANIZATION.
WE WOULD ALSO APPRECIATE YOUR FEEDBACK AND SUGGESTIONS OF WHAT CAN BE DONE THAT IS CURRENTLY NOT BEING DONE TO ASSIST OUR MUSLIM SISTERS WHO ARE VICTIMS OF ABOVE PROBLEMS ACROSS THE GLOBE? WE ARE ALSO COMPILING A GLOBAL DIRECTORY OF LEADERS AND RESOURCES THAT ARE INVOLVED IN ASSISTING THE VICTIMS OF ABOVE PROBLEMS IN THE GLOBAL MUSLIM COMMUNITY. IF YOU KNOW ONE OR ARE INVOLVED IN ONE SUCH ORGANIZATION, PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO E-MAIL US AT amyusuf786@ymail.com.
PART VI
COULD MUSLIMS SPEARHEAD THE FIGHT AGAINST MISOGYNY
(ED NOTE:
Muslims must be on the forefront to fight against MISOGYNY. Muslims across the globe should begin seriously thinking and exploring new ways to fight against MISOGYNY)
According to sociologist Allan G. Johnson:
"misogyny is a cultural attitude of hatred for females because they are female." *
"misogyny is a cultural attitude of hatred for females because they are female." *
Johnson argues that:
"[Misogyny] is a central part of sexist prejudice and ideology and, as such, is an important basis for the oppression of females in male-dominated societies. Misogyny is manifested in many different ways, from jokes to pornography to violence to the self-contempt women may be taught to feel for their own bodies."
Michael Flood defines misogyny as the hatred of women, and notes:
"Though most common in men, misogyny also exists in and is practiced by women against other women or even themselves. Misogyny functions as an ideology or belief system that has accompanied patriarchal, or male-dominated societies for thousands of years and continues to place women in subordinate positions with limited access to power and decision making. *
Aristotle contended that women exist as natural deformities of imperfect males
Ever since, women in Western cultures have internalised their role as societal scapegoats, influenced in the twenty-first century by multimedia objectification of women with its culturally sanctioned self-loathing and fixations on plastic surgery, anorexia and bulimia."
* (www.wikipedia)
PART VII
Did We Ever Doubt the Continuing Presence of Misogyny & Ethnocentricism?
(www.rhrealitycheck.org)
(www.rhrealitycheck.org)
July 29, 2011
Vanya Samokovareva and roommate Ralitsa Dzhambazova, two female students from Bulgaria, discovered the hidden cameras in their apartment and reported it to a local news station and the police. This perverted invasion into women's privacy - and advantage taken of foreign women, in particular - serves as evidence of the urgency with which our government needs to address all forms of discrimination against women, and the everyday infringements upon (and acceptance of these infringements upon) their human rights and freedom.
THE END
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