VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH

VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH

Volume 203, October 2, 2011
St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Editors: Mohamed & Rashida Ziauddin

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE MOST BENEFICENT AND THE MOST MERCIFUL

(www.xeniagreekmuslimah.wordpress.com)

EDITORIAL:

In this issue, we have started with review of positive news, followed by extremism, interfaith relations and Islam in Europe and cultural values impacting Islamic sexuality.

POSITIVE NEWS:

PART I-a

(ED NOTE:
Inshallah Sr. Ibtihaj Muhammad will be the first American in hijab to participate in Olympics in 2012)

OLYMPIC HOPEFUL IBTIHAJ MUHAMMAD WILL COMPETE THIS WEEKEND. FENCER WITH HEADSCARF IS A CUT ABOVE THE REST

Aimee Berg

(loonwatch.com)

When Ibtihaj Muhammad fastens her headscarf, or hijab, around her chin, one of its purposes is to deflect unwanted attention.



But when she wears a hijab in a sporting arena, it often has the opposite effect.

The New Jersey native is currently ranked 11th in the world in women’s sabre, a discipline of fencing. Only one American ranks higher: Mariel Zagunis, the two-time Olympic and world champion.

Both women will compete this weekend at a World Cup fencing event at the New York Athletic Club to earn points toward qualifying for the 2012 London Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee and the U.S. Olympic Committee do not track athletes’ religion, but if Muhammad makes the Olympic team, she would likely be the first practicing Muslim woman to represent the U.S. at the Games.

When she competes, photographers often zoom in on the name Muhammad on the back of her fencing jacket. Her mother, Denise, recently saw such a photo and said, “I realized: my God, she’s representing all of us".

PART I-b

(Council of American Islamic Relations) CAIR- NEW JERSEY THANKS GOVERNOR FOR DEFENDING MUSLIM JUDGE
(08/05/2011)

South Plainfield, New Jersey:

The New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NJ) today thanked Governor Chris Christie for his strong and rigorous defense of newly-confirmed Superior Court Judge Sohail Mohammed.

Prior to the recent swearing-in ceremony, Governor Christie publicly characterized his judicial nominee as an "extraordinary American," an "outstanding attorney," and an "outstanding human being," emphasizing the "integral role" Mohammed played in the post-September 11th period in building bridges between American Muslim community leaders and law enforcement authorities.

Governor Christie also highlighted Mohammed's "diligent and zealous" legal representation of individuals who were "inappropriately detained by FBI" following the tragic attacks on 9-11.

"We applaud Governor Christie for shining a spotlight on the tremendous contributions of Judge Sohail Mohammed," said CAIR-NJ Executive Director James Yee. "Governor Christie's praise highlights the commitment of American Muslims to building a better society. We hope the governor's comments will help stem the rising tide of Islamophobia in our society and help unify our nation."

Send a note of thanks to Gov. Christie through: http://www.state.nj.us/governor/contact/Copy to: info@cair.com

PART I-c

(ED NOTE:
Below video is an exceptional video of a truly brave Muslima who seem to try her very best to practice "sabr" (patience) while at the same time assertively defend Islam despite being pounded literally by several anti-Islamists whose verbalization's indicates pathetic ignorance of Islam).

Brave Muslim Girl Takes A Stand at TDSB Friday Prayer Protest

Uploaded by Heatchem on Jul 27, 2011

PART I-d

(ED NOTE:

We encourage all Muslims to be innovative and try in various ways to fill the void that immigrants may feel in their adopted country.)

NETHERLANDS: NEW MOROCCAN-DUTCH WOMEN'S MAGAZINE
05 Aug 2011


(Hoda Hamdaoui with the first edition of de Hoda)
Via RTV Utrecht (Dutch):

The Netherlands now has a new women's magazine. De Hoda is a lifestyle magazine for Moroccan-Dutch women about beauty, fashion, traveling and cooking.

Chief editor Hoda Hamdaoui of Veenendaal says that Moroccan women want to read different articles than ethnic Dutch, because they have different customs.

Make-up and clothing for work and school is essentially different than those for Moroccan parties, she says. She says she lacks this type of information in the already existing women's magazines.

The first edition of De Hoda is small, but if it's up to Hamdaoui, the magazine will be much bigger. It's currently published as a quarterly, but the chief editor wants to make it a monthly in a few years.

The magazine, which costs 4 euro, is available online and in various kiosks in Utrecht and Veenendaal.

PART II

UGLY HEAD OF EXTREMISM RAISES ITS HEAD AGAIN:

(ED NOTE:
As you may have noted from our previous issues, we highlight extremists from all faiths including Islam. The real danger to peace in the world is not from people of any particular religion but by extremists of all religions. One of the core values of extremists is their belief that they can impose their values on others and such a attitude is dead wrong. Other core values is their feeding on hate and violence)

PART II-a

France: Police probe Facebook call to cut Muslim throats

Via Expatica:

French police were on Friday trying to identify a Facebook user who called "to cut Muslims's throats instead of sheep" during the Eid al-Adha feast, sparking the ire of Muslim and anti-racist groups.

"Police are carrying out an investigation to identify the author of these unworthy declarations," police said in a statement, adding that the Facebook "wall" page in question had already been taken down.

Following the posting, the French Muslim Council (CFCM) contacted police and the French anti-Islamophobia

Collective (CCIF) contacted the social networking site to have the page removed.

The offending statement called on the world to mark the Feast of Sacrifice, known as Eid al-Adha, on November 6 by "cutting Muslim throats instead of sheep". "We will finally have a good reason to celebrate," it said.

PART II-b

WHY ETHNIC HAZARAS FLEE THEIR HOME
www.cathnewsindia.com
September 30, 2011

Quetta is a small city located in the Pakistani province of Baluchistan, a couple of hours by road from the Afghan border. It is the administrative centre of Baluchistan and a second home to hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees who have settled in the city following the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the subsequent outbreak of the Afghan civil war. (Hadi Zaher, newmatilda.com) Among them are tens of thousands of Hazaras, adding to an older community that arrived there a century earlier after the invasion of the Hazara homeland in Afghanistan’s central highlands by Amir Abdur Rehman, known in the British Empire as Afghanistan’s Iron Amir.

The Hazaras adhere to the Shiite branch of Islam, distinct from the Sunni Islam, by far Islam’s largest sect.

...Some of these people live legally, some have been able to obtain UNHCR refugee cards, but most have to make regular payments to local authorities and the police to avoid incarceration and deportation.

This community has become the target of killings and massacres and its members have been forced to flee for their lives.

The list of attacks specifically targeting the Hazara community is long. Members of the community, easily distinguishable for their Mongoloid features, bear the brunt of Pakistan’s sectarian violence. Almost every time the killers have got away and each time the Taliban affiliated Pakistan-based sectarian outfit Lashkar-e Jhangvi (LeJ) has claimed responsibility.

LeJ has a declared agenda to rid Pakistan of all Shiites, who they consider heretics and liable to be killed. Leaflets distributed by the group have declared Hazaras and Shiite Muslims to be “infidels”. Followers are urged to take “extreme steps”, much like ones carried out by the Taliban in Afghanistan. (Source: www.newmatilda.com)

PART III

INTERFAITH RELATIONS:

Part III-a

Jews and Muslims in America: More in Common Than We Think
(condensed version)
August 15, 2011

By Joshua Stanton, August 14, 2011

(cross-posted from AltMuslim)

A new Gallup poll shows that American Muslims and Jews – in addition to having a shared religious minority experience – share a great deal of political and social views, as well as a deeper than expected affinity.

Contrary to common assumptions, many Jewish and Muslim Americans enjoy warm relations. Yet we are only beginning to understand how and why this is so. A Gallup report released last week goes a long way to explaining this unexpected trend, which shows that the two diverse communities have more in common than is often thought.

The report, “Muslim Americans: Faith, Freedom, and the Future”, reveals that overwhelming numbers of Jewish Americans believe Muslim Americans are loyal to their country – 80 per cent to be exact. Aside from Muslims themselves, no other religious community demonstrates such confidence in the loyalty of America’s Muslim citizens.

Further, it seems that Jewish and Muslim Americans share a number of common political views –even about issues as contentious as the Middle East conflict. The same study indicates that 81 per cent of Muslim Americans and 78 per cent of Jewish Americans support a two-state solution, which would enable Israel and a future independent Palestinian state to live side by side. While dialogue about the Middle East conflict remains contentious, the vision for a long-term solution appears surprisingly similar.

How could this be? Why would two communities, so often portrayed as being at each other’s throats, not only have confidence in each other but have similar perspectives on even the most contentious issues?

....In short, Jews and Muslims share profoundly in their experience in the United States. As small religious minorities, each under two per cent of the American population – with Muslim Americans perhaps a fraction of that figure – they maintain a sense of marginalisation. Yet their response to this adversity is one of contribution to society through significant investment in personal education, which in turn creates new opportunities.

Jewish immigration to America may have peaked over a century ago, while Muslim immigration is still relatively new. But both communities share in their drive not only to make America their home but to attain a prominent role in that new found homeland. Both communities would do well to recognise the remarkable parallels in their experiences as immigrants to America – as would Americans in other religious communities. The potential for collaboration is clear, while the narrative of conflict has been significantly debunked.

Joshua M. Z. Stanton is co-founder of the Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue and Religious Freedom USA, as well as a Schusterman Rabbinical Fellow at Hebrew Union College. This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).

PART III-b

(ED NOTE:
What the world can learn from below event of young people gathering for world peace ? We hope that there are many more events on the same model)

YOUNG PEOPLE GATHER FOR WORLD PEACE
September 29, 2011
(www.cathnewsindia.com)

About 250 young people from various faiths gathered recently for an interfaith youth forum in Myanmar to gain a better understanding of their different religions and to work together for a more peaceful world.

The Shalom Foundation’s Interfaith Youth Cooperative Action for Peace (IYCAP) wing and a Buddhist monk from Wailuwon monastery in Bago Township organized the event called “Meeting towards cooperative action” at the Wailuwon monastery on September 24.

The Shalom Foundation is a Christian NGO that came to Myanmar in 2000 with the aim of working for peace and development in the country.

During the event participants listened to talks, held group discussions and played games.

“Although we are from different religions, our goals, intentions and beliefs are the same. We will be able to achieve ‘victory and peace’ if we work together,” said Saboi John, president of the IYCAP.

Ma Thiri a Muslim girl from Yangon said the gathering was the perfect opportunity for young people to have a clear understanding of other religions. “As the real meaning of Islam is ‘peace’, I do hope we will be able to work for peace among mankind together,” she said.

Venerable Po Nyaw Bartha the monk in charge of Wailuwon monastery and one of the organizers said: “We can create a good relationship with one another through gatherings like this. And we will come to realize the effectiveness of unity and cooperation in building peace.” (Source:ucanewscom)

PART IV

ISLAM IN EUROPE:

Part IV-a

ITALY:

TOWN'S KEBAB BAN ENRAGES MIGRANT COMMUNITY

(www.islamineurope.blogspot.com)

August 7, 2011

Via Deutsche Welle:

A town in northern Italy has sparked outrage among migrants after it passed a ban on the sale of "foul-smelling" foreign foods, especially kebabs.

Municipal authorities' decision to ban the sale of kebabs and other "non-traditional" food in a town in northern Italy has raised the ire of local migrants.

"To ban kebabs in Cittadella is like forbidding pizza in Paris or New York," said Abdallah Khezraji, a member of the Consulta Regionale Immigrazione for Italy's Veneto region.

PART IV-b:

NORWAY:

"HATE-CAMPAIGN AGAINST MUSLIMS SIMILAR TO JEWS IN THE 1930's"
August 4, 2011
(www.aftenposten.no)

Via Aftenposten (Norwegian):

Erna Solberg, head of the Norwegian Conservative Party, says that the hate campaign against Muslims today is like the one Jews suffered in the 1930s. She wants Norwegians to confront the everyday racism we see around us, at work, in clubs and on the internet, reports VG.

"The way the extreme, anti-Islamic groups talk of Muslims today is comparable to the way extreme, antisemitic groups spoke of Jews in the decades that led up to WWII," Solberg told VG.

Solberg stresses that Muslim don't get the same brutal treatment Jews did, but still thinks that the extreme harassment of Muslims has obvious similarities to Jew hatred.

She says that it gives pause for thought that you can't dismiss this as something coming from outside Norwegian society. The feeling is quite strong. It would have been easier to dismiss the acts if that person hadn't been raised in Norway and was apparently quite normal.

"In 2011 Norwegians are different than in 1960, and if Norwegians who have a slightly different background, who have parents from another place, constantly see a politician debate which asks if they're just as Norwegians as others, it contributes to them feeling more distanced," Solberg told VG.

PART IV-c

UNITED KINGDOM:

"WHEN ACCUSED OF TERRORISM WE ARE MUSLIMS, WHEN KILLED BY LOOTERS, WE BECOME ASIAN"
August 15, 2011

Via al-Jazeera:

There is a lively debate taking place in the UK media between left and right wing commentators as to the causes of the English riots, in which hundreds of shops and businesses have been looted. However, both sides agree that the looting has been inexcusable. I hope both sides will also agree with me that Muslims have played an important role in helping to tackle the looting and preserve public safety. This would be an especially important acknowledgment if it came from those Islamophobic commentators who consistently denigrate Muslims.

"When accused of terrorism we are Muslims, when killed by looters, we become Asian", a Muslim student explained to me. He was commenting on the media reportingof the death of three young Muslims in Birmingham on Tuesday night. Like many other Muslims, they were bravely defending shops and communities as rioters went on a violent rampage of looting.

In recent days Muslim Londoners, Muslims from Birmingham, and Muslims in towns and cities around England have been at the forefront of protecting small businesses and vulnerable communities from looting. Having worked closely with Muslim Londoners, first as a police officer and more recently as a researcher, for the last ten years this commendable bravery comes as no surprise to me. But their example of outstanding civic duty in support of neighbours is worth highlighting - especially when sections of the UK media are so quick to print negative headlines about Muslims on the flimsiest of pretexts.

PART V

ISLAMIC SEXUALITY:

(ED NOTE:

We fully support the views of Sister Selma Cook in her excellent article below titled "The Myth of Hymen Continues" and wanted to reinforce the key points.

Should it be important that evidence of blood on the first night of marriage be considered a indicator that the bride is chaste and pure ?

Above question has two components reflecting a cultural and Islamic value. The cultural component is the "evidence of blood" and the Islamic component is the "expectation of being chaste and pure". We have found no evidence either in the Holy Quran or the hadith of above cultural aspect. If you have found any such evidence please educate us by quoting the source and sorry for our ignorance.

So as Muslims, we need to ask ourselves as to why we should put a cultural value first and push the Islamic value in the back burner. While some may argue that both are interconnected, majority of scientific studies indicate that such a link may not be true in many circumstances. In other words, by clinging on to above cultural belief we may needlessly be contributing to torment and hardship faced by innocent brides who have just taken the first step of one of their most important events in their lives - "MARRIAGE".

We need not only to reverse above priorities but go beyond it. It is NOT just two lives coming together but literally two WORLDS coming together. It is fine and romantic to start off with honeymoon. But the real married life starts after the honeymoon period. The focus should be to build on common points, to exercise more tolerance to differences rather than be domineering, controlling and imposing one's views over to the other. If the goal is to sustain a lifelong healthy marital relationship, it is extremely important to learn positive coping skills to deal with difference of opinions and other complexities involving relationships with in-laws, financial, career, social and other related issues.

In Islam marriage is a legal and halal gateway for a man and woman to start leading an intimate life together.

Could excessive obsession on the issue of virginity be a deviation from the practical challenges that a newly wed couple have to face ?

In the light of above, why are certain Muslims putting culture before Islam ? Is the growing demand for reconstructing the hymen a symptom of such obsession on following the culture. To better understand the cultural causes leading to increased demand for such a surgery and what really entails in such a surgery, we have highlighted topics from various sources below.

PART V-a

HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS TOPIC FROM VARIOUS SOURCES

(1) Below paragraph from "HISTORY OF HYMEN REPAIR": (www.revirgination.net)

In some cultures, women's hymen can affect her marriage prospects, her family's reputation, and even her very life. The virginity of the bride is valued for religious, social, and even economic reasons. In many Mediterranean and African cultures, the husband's family may take revenge through violent punishments and banishment of the bride because the "non-virgin" bride "shamed" them. Clearly, those who seek Hymenoplasty believe that the procedure is necessary for their social status, happiness, and even preservation of life.

(2) Below paragraph from an article in www.msmagazine.com:

According to news reports, hymenoplasty, or “revirgination” surgery, is increasingly in vogue across Asia, in the Middle East and in Muslim communities in Western Europe and the U.K. While there is no hard data about hymenoplasties in the United States, approximately one to two thousand vaginal rejuvenation surgeries are performed in the U.S. each year.

And on promotional websites like Revirginization.net, the surgery is being billed as the Next Big Thing.

(3) Below paragraph from sub-title"THE SURGERY" (www.helium.com)

The surgery itself is a relatively simple one. It is an outpatient procedure known as a hymenorraphy. By doing this, they can ensure their patient will have a much more impressive display of virginity loss during intercourse with their partner.

Since one of the measures of virginity is the hymen itself, it is important for the surgeon to replace that thin sheet of skin. To do this, skin is removed carefully from the internal walls of the vagina so that it can be formed into the new hymen. Typically the surgeon is going to use any remaining hymen formation in order to start the procedure. For those women that were born without a hymen this of course is a much more difficult process as the complete hymen will have to be manufactured using only the available skin in that region of the body.

Once the hymen is recreated often times the surgeon is going to make it more reactive to intercourse. Since the major identifier for many of intercourse with a virgin is the presence of blood afterwards, blood becomes an important aspect of the design. This is often done through the insertion of a small gelatin pocket filled with a blood substitute in the hymen that will release when the new hymen is broken. This presence of blood will give the appearance that virginity was indeed lost.

(4) Below paragraph from subtitle:"Type of Hymen Repair" (www.revirgination.com)

Hymen repair, hymen reconstruction, hymen surgery, Hymenoplasty or revirgination refer to the comestic surgery that restore your hymen. Hymenoplasty is a simple procedure that repair torn hymen. There are two most popular type of Hymenoplasty

Simple Hymenoplasty:

Doctor will piecing together the remnant by closing the tear. It is a simple procedure and could be in three to seven day. The hymen tissue is pulled together so vagina will again cover by it. The risk of fever and infection is low since hymen is relatively avascular. However, the result is not meant to last long so it is best to perform in less than a month before your next intercourse.

Alloplant:

If you hymen can't not be restore, a Tear-through biomaterial will be insert and act as your hymen. Hymen implant is an easy procedure than can be done under local anesthetic and as a day case surgery. It takes less than two hour and patient can return to work the next day. It is not easy to notice it is not a real hymen.

(5) Condensed note from an article in New York Times titled "In Europe, Debate Over Islam and Virginity" (www.nytimes.com) by Elaine Sciolino and Souad Mekhennet

PARIS — The operation in the private clinic off the Champs-Élysées involved one semicircular cut, 10 dissolving stitches and a discounted fee of $2,900.

Dr. Marc Abecassis carries out hymen reconstruction surgery on a 23-year-old French woman of north-African origin.

But for the patient, a 23-year-old French student of Moroccan descent from Montpellier, the 30-minute procedure represented the key to a new life: the illusion of virginity.

Like an increasing number of Muslim women in Europe, she had a hymenoplasty, a restoration of her hymen, the vaginal membrane that normally breaks in the first act of intercourse.

“In my culture, not to be a virgin is to be dirt,” said the student, perched on a hospital bed as she awaited surgery on Thursday. “Right now, virginity is more important to me than life.”

Gynecologists say that in the past few years, more Muslim women are seeking certificates of virginity to provide proof to others. That in turn has created a demand among cosmetic surgeons for hymen replacements, which, if done properly, they say, will not be detected and will produce tell-tale vaginal bleeding on the wedding night. The service is widely advertised on the Internet; medical tourism packages are available to countries like Tunisia where it is less expensive.

PART V-b

THE MYTH OF HYMEN CONTINUES
Sr. Selma Cook
(www..islamicgarden.com)

Women around the world are expected to bleed on their wedding nights as proof they are pure. But modern medicine tells us not all pure women will bleed. What's more, it is illegal in Islam to accuse a pure woman of immoral behavior. Read about this controversial issue here.

While an intact hymen that bleeds when broken on a bride's wedding night has traditionally been regarded as proof of her virginity, this is a myth which has been disproven many times over in the twentieth century as the medical establishment has made it clear that:

1. Some girls are born without a hymen;

2. The hymen may tear naturally when a girl plays sports or engages in any physical activity;

3. The hymen is not always smooth but tends to be perforated and that the perforations may get bigger and cause the hymen to break once a girl menstruates;

4. The hymen can be broken by the use of tampons;

5. The hymen may be very small or very elastic so that no breakage occurs at all (some women even become pregnant while their hymens are still intact);

6. A hymen may not bleed when broken.

Given these facts, it is extremely sad that women all over the world are still expected to bleed on their wedding nights as proof that they are virgins and that they often pay severe consequences if they happen not to bleed, possibly being shamed and humiliated, instantly divorced or even killed.

To avoid such disasters, women have resorted to various tricks to ensure that they bleed, including the use of animal blood in their private parts or even cutting themselves, while wealthier women often get gynecological exams before marriage and do hymen-repair surgery in the event that no hymen is found. There is so much confidence in the idea that an intact hymen proves virginity that the trend in many countries now is to have one's daughter "officially certified" as a virgin by a clinic. This is so embarassing for the girls that a number of them (most notably in Turkey) have committed suicide rather than be touched by strangers in this bizarre, invasive manner.

As a Muslim woman, it pains me greatly to hear of lives being destroyed by such blatant ignorance. In Islam, there is no such need to prove one's virginity by bleeding on the wedding night. This is not to say, however, that it is not important that both the husband and wife should be virgins provided that they are entering into their first marriages. Sexual relationships outside the marital union are strictly prohibited in Islam and there are very serious punishments for men and women who violate this rule. It is actually very difficult to prove someone's adultery in Islam as there must be four witnesses to the act and this is seldom (if ever) achievable. One may also choose to confess to his/her own adultery while a woman's adultery is considered automatically proven should she become pregnant out of wedlock. Married men who witness their wives committing adultery do not need three additional witnesses in court but may swear four times that they have seen the act.

Islam is so fair in this case that the wife is allowed to confirm or refute her husband's accusation; if she claims innocence, she need only swear four times that she did not commit the act, and she will not be punished.

The Islamic process for verifying adultery is very cautious simply because it is such a serious crime of which to accuse someone. In fact, it is a very big sin in Islam to falsely accuse someone of adultery, and the accuser is held accountable for slander under Islamic Law. Islam has discussed all aspects of adultery and fornication from defining the terms to explaining how it is proven and how one is punished for them. In all the texts and historical references we have available to us, it is never mentioned that a woman must bleed in order to prove her virginity or that there are any physical signs of virginity (such as an intact hymen) of which we should be aware. We only know that it is prohibited to accuse another human being of illegal sexual intercourse without having sufficient proof of that as described above. If a Muslim woman (or man, by the way) is truly not a virgin and she chooses to lie about that, then she surely knows that she will face Allah with her lie on the Day of Judgment. This alone is enough to make the vast majority of Muslims abstain from illegal sexual relationships.

Unfortunately, Islamic Law is not applied to its fullest in many of our Islamic nations, and the people who have religious knowledge are not always well coordinated with the people who have scientific or medical knowledge. Even worse, it only takes one or two people in positions of power to give wrong information, and lives are changed forever. This is what is happening in parts of the Muslim world.

I was prompted to write this article after reading a disturbing essay on virginity authored by a well-known Muslim professor in the field of obstetrics and gynecology at a university in Kuwait. (I am not sure whether or not he is also a medical doctor as this is not mentioned on the website where I found his essay. It is, by the way, a very nice website with a lot of useful information about medical ethics in Islam.) In any event, the professor takes it upon himself to say that it is completely false that a hymen may tear when a girl engages in activities such as horseback riding, bicycle riding or gymnastics.

He does not give any evidence for that at all, and it does not take much reading between the lines to understand his real message: that some unchaste women who want to conceal their pasts use sports as an excuse for why they do not bleed and that women in general have become less fearful of being identified as non-virgins since science now backs them up and allows them to escape suspicion of immoral behavior.

While a small percentage of women may deceive their husbands and families in this manner, the fact is that we cannot ignore or twist scientific facts in order to enforce morality.

I am not a doctor myself but it seems like common sense that physical activity can stretch and tear the hymen which is, incidentally, not usually any thicker than a grape skin. As I researched this subject, I came across pictures of various types of hymens, and it is clear that no two women are exactly alike in how their hymens are formed. Some (as mentioned earlier) are perforated while some are smooth and elastic. Some girls do not even have a hymen. So, to state the obvious: it is outrageous to use the hymen as a means by which to gauge the chasity of any woman.

But it is still not obvious to many. The professor also writes that gynecologists are generally wary of examining single women for fear of breaking the hymen and often do pelvic examinations per rectum. Women who suffer from cryptomenorrhoea (a closed hymen which does not allow for the flow of menstrual blood and results in the blood getting backed up) only get a small incision made in the hymen so the blood can pass rather than having the hymen fully opened.

In other words, the health of women is compromised and put at risk just to ensure she will bleed after marriage and prove something Islam never asked her to prove in the first place.

I realized how scary this whole situation can be for women when I read a young woman's question on an Islamic discussion board a few months ago. She wrote:

Assalamua'alaikum dear people

I am a 22 year old muslim sister who is currently looking for a husband. My cultural background is such that people can only tell that you are a virgin if you have a hymen. Scientific fact is that some women don't have a hymen and others break theirs easily.

Although i am a virgin, i am terrified of what my wedding night holds because if there's no hymen (please Allah i hope there is), my family and even my husband (whoever he might be), would doubt my virtue. Any suggestions or advice for my fears?

A heated debate followed this question with the majority of respondents (mostly Muslims living in the West) suggesting she should not even bother with the accusations of others as they are baseless in Islam. Of course this information is correct but it does not take into account the reality of the consequences a woman may face if she is thought not to be a virgin. When a woman's life is literally at risk in such situations, then she should definitely think about this issue and decide how she will handle it. In fact, all women should think about it because it might not be you in this situation but your daughter, sister or friend one day in the future. Are we (the women) going to allow the misinformation to continue by teaching our daughters how to use animal blood and other false techniques to ensure their husbands see blood, or are we going to take the steps necessary in order to educate men and women both about this very important issue?

Apparently, it is not even enough that the husband be educated in the field of obstetrics and gynecology (as evidenced by the professor): a major, widespread effort is needed to combat this deep-rooted ignorance.

Western (non-Muslim) feminists often fail in their efforts to educate other societies about such issues because they approach the situation from the wrong direction, one which Muslims find offensive. They do not take into account the values of the Islamic religion which state that men and women both should be pure at the time of first marriage; rather they often suggest that women should be liberated from this idea and allowed to date and have boyfriends with whom they may choose to be intimate. This idea is unacceptable in Islam, and it should not have a place in the movement to educate Muslims about the nature of the hymen. Instead, the focus should be on scientific facts and on understanding the true Islamic position on this matter.

Another mistake non-Muslims often make is to blame and criticize Islam for the ignorance which can serve to oppress women. We have already seen this in the Western movement to abolish female genital mutilation: in the beginning of this movement the world was informed that this abhorrent practice is an Islamic ritual that Muslim women must undergo as a matter of religious obligation when the fact is that this practice is un-Islamic and has its roots in pre-Islamic African traditions.

While some Muslim women are circumcised, it is not because Islam asked them to do that but because they live in a society in which religious knowledge has taken second place to cultural practices.

With regards to the hymen issue, it is also wrong to blame Islam (as I have demonstrated in this article), and what's more: this problem is by no means limited to the Islamic world - women in Asia, South America, and even Europe and North America still believe in the myth of the hymen: just ask your mothers and grandmothers.

All Muslims have a responsibility to fight ignorance and oppression. If you are a Muslim, the least you can do to educate others about this issue is to start with your own family...make sure that your sons and daughters both have correct information before they get married. Open the subject with your husbands, mothers, aunts and friends as much as you can within the limits of good taste as it is not always acceptable to discuss such topics openly (depending on the culture.)

If you work in the healthcare industry, find opportunities to educate your patients even if they come to your office for another type of healthcare concern. One way to do this might be to prepare a general package of healthcare pamphlets for each patient, and the hymen can be one of the subjects covered. This way you are not embarassing or offending anyone, but you are still getting the word out. If you work in a multi-cultural society, do not forget to have the information printed in more than one language.

I thank you all for taking the time to read this lengthy article and I ask that Allah guide us all to the Truth and

Beauty of Islam as it is truly a religion and way of life which fights injustice in all its forms.

PART V-c

SWEDEN: DOCTORS UNDER FIRE FOR NEWLYWED "HYMEN TIP"
24 Aug 2011

Via the Local:

Swedish doctors have come under fire for advice to girls born into so-called honour cultures to pierce their genitals with a needle in order to draw blood on their wedding nights to satisfy tradition and the expectations of their families.

"Society should never condone or accept or promote, give fuel to this kind of madness," Eduardo Grutzky who works with social issues such integration, racism and culture at ALMA europa, told The Local on Wednesday. Grutzky expressed support for doctors on an individual level and explained that in Sweden they are faced with dual challenges on a practical and a normative level.

THE END