Unveiling the Truth about Hijab

The Muslims' Ignorance /Disregard of the Qur'anic Guidance and Its
Colossal and Recurring Cost

"Will they not, then, ponder over this Qur'an? – or are their hearts
sealed"? (Al-Qur'an 47: 24).
- "The petal of a flower may pierce through the heart of a rock – but
the Noble Word has no effect on the ignorant." – Muhammad Iqbal, bale
jibrail, preamble
By Muhammad Yunus, New Age Islam
Co-author (Jointly with Ashfaque Ullah Syed), Essential Message of
Islam, Amana Publications, USA, 2009
This is not to suggest, let alone advocate any direct incorporation of
the injunctions of the Qur'an in statecraft, or to politicise the
Qur'an in any manner, as that will enable political bodies of diverse
orientations to legitimize their respective ideologies and aspirations
by interpreting the Qur'an expediently or by venerating their own
ideologies on the strength of the Qur'an. The object of this exercise
is to inspire the believers to study this eternal book of guidance as
it should be studied (2:121), seeking the best meaning in it
(39:18/55). This is a pressing need of the day in order to deliver the
hearts and minds of the Muslim umma from the domination of
historically evolved […]

Islam is the solution. Is it? Ask Egypt

Kanchan Gupta
A year-and-a-half after the 'Lotus Revolution' that led to Hosni
Mubarak's downfall, Egypt has a President but not a Parliament. Which
way shall it go?
Those who remember the dramatic uprising in Egypt in January-February
2011 would also be able to recall the angry faces of young protesters
who had gathered at Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo. But public memory
being notoriously short and media's attention span even shorter than
that, few would remember the 'Lotus Revolution' in Egypt which
followed the 'Jasmine Revolution' in Tunisia and was, in turn,
followed by the 'Shoot the Colonel Revolution' in Libya. A brief
recount, therefore, would be in order.
When tens of thousands of young men and women flooded the streets of
Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and other cities across Egypt, demanding the
ouster of Hosni Mubarak who had been President since Anwar Sadat's
assassination on October 6, 1981, everybody was taken by surprise.
Nobody had expected such a tidal wave of protest. But then, nobody had
expected Tunisia to explode into fury either. If the Mukhabarat
(secret police) was caught unawares in both Tunisia and Egypt, so were
the CIA and Mossad. It's immaterial whether other intelligence
agencies had an inkling of the […]

WE have made this Islamic Republic such a heaven on earth that we
struggle to find words, often fight over these, to describe what its
proud sons are capable of

Just two days ago, someone asked on Twitter why our Fourth Estate
calls bloody attacks on the Shia-Hazaras in Quetta 'sectarian
violence'. "Isn't it Shia genocide?" I dived into various dictionaries
but couldn't come up with a definitive answer.
Butchery, slaughter, carnage, mass murder and of course genocide have
been variously used to describe such bloodlust as is being evidenced
in (not just) the Balochistan capital. Your vocabulary is as good as
mine.
But will finding the correct word, using the most appropriate,
accurate terminology alter the bloody ground reality or render it any
clearer? Not really. Then, aren't there even more significant
questions to be asked?
Such as what drives our propensity to hate so much that even a name
arouses the vilest of passions. How vile? Well, vile enough for us to
kill. Didn't you hear the 'motive' for the killing of a KESC official
in Karachi, was said to be his Shia-sounding name though in fact he
wasn't.
How did we get here? Don't you wish you knew? All we can see is when a
state thinks nothing of using an indoctrinated non-state cast for its
'strategic objectives' it is but a small step for some of these
villainous actors to […]

Unveiling the Truth about Hijab: Dr M. Ghitreef Shahbaz Nadwi, New Age Islam

A group of Arab Muslim women was denied entry at a French airport two
weeks ago. This may seem as an obvious example of Islamophobia, but
that was hardly the case. The women refused to uncover their faces. As
the authorities had no way of matching their identities with their
travel documents, they had little choice but to ask the women to
return to their country.
Although bizarre, such incidents are no longer rare. Many Muslim women
are willing to compromise on everything from vacations in Europe to
education and occupation rather than give up the face veil, or hijab.
No doubt they consider wearing the hijab a religious duty, and a
supreme one at that.
The significance accorded to the hijab fits into the larger context of
a woman's position in conservative Muslim society today. It is argued
that as the word for woman, عورة, means a thing worthy of being
hidden, she must cover herself from head to toe at all times. Further,
she is not supposed to travel outside her home except in the company
of her husband or another very close relative, such as a father or a
brother. This pretty much means s woman can't go to […]

In Search of a Universal Focus for Humanity

By Rashid Samnakay, New Age Islam
20 June 2012
Since its creation Mankind has at least physically, if not
intellectually been kept shackled to the earth by its gravitational
pull until only recently. Thanks to Astrophysical Sciences mankind now
soars through the heavens, orbits the Earth in the International Space
Station and walks on the moon and takes 'a giant step for mankind' and
is aiming for Mars. Men and women thus observe with their own eyes
that the earth is anything but 'flat' and therefore mankind can
conclude that the earth has no 'Centre' on its surface.
In addition to religious focuses there are other types too. For
example, politically many may believe that Washington DC is the
Earth's Centre today as was London or Brussels, Beijing, Rome,
Baghdad, Istanbul and myriads of other capitals; both in the East and
the West, were in the years gone by. However, there is one bond that
still remains for humans to break free from on this planet Earth. And
that is the Religious bondage of focuses on the face of the earth
dating from ancient to present times. Recent ones still in use are
such centres as Lhasa, Vatican, Ajodhya, Qum, Jerusalem, Mecca […]

Bangladesh's Hindu women fight for divorce rights

The case of Tarulata Rani highlights the plight of Hindu women in
Bangladesh, who until now do not have any rights of inheritance, nor
can they divorce and claim maintenance from their ex-husbands. A new
law approved by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will introduce official
marriage registration for Hindus in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, a move
designed to protect the rights of women like Rani.
Wednesday, June 27th 2012, 06:41 AM
Unlike her Muslim compatriots, Tarulata Rani is unable to inherit
anything from her family, cannot divorce and cannot claim maintenance
from her absent husband — all because she is a Bangladeshi Hindu.
Unlike Bangladeshi Muslims or Hindus in neighboring India and Nepal,
Bangladeshi Hindu women can't divorce as the legal provisions do not
exist and their marriages have not been allowed to be officially
registered.
"Is it a crime to be born a Hindu girl?" Rani, 22, who was married two
years ago, told AFP.
"I can't inherit any property. I can't divorce my husband and remarry
even though he left me for another woman and beat me all the time."
Last month Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina approved a new law that will
introduce official marriage registration for Hindus in Muslim-majority
Bangladesh in a move designed to […]

The Nation's Broad Definition of "Islamophobia"

As Islam navigates shoals of extremism, the left lumps legitimate
criticism with bigotry.
Cathy Young, June 24, 2012
Which is the more serious problem today: Islamic extremism or
anti-Islamic bigotry?
The latest contribution to this debate comes from The Nation, the
leading magazine of America's left, in its current special edition on
"Islamophobia: Anatomy of an American Panic." Its articles address a
real and serious issue — but they also illustrate the pitfalls of
ignoring its other side.
There's no doubt that virulent rhetoric depicting all Islam as
inherently evil and violent, and virtually all Muslims as potential
jihadists, has gained alarming currency on the right. Such
Muslim-bashing is not simply demeaning but can lead to violence,
harassment and infringements on the fundamental liberties of Muslim
Americans. The New York Police Department has been criticized for
overly broad surveillance of ordinary Muslims. Recent years have seen
a wave of attempts to block construction of mosques and Islamic
centers across the country. Bills seeking to outlaw the use of Shariah
law in American courts — already illegal if it infringes on citizens'
constitutional rights — could interfere with private contracts rooted
in religious law.
Yet nowhere in The Nation will one find recognition that extremism in […]

Saudi Arabia to permit women to compete in Olympics for first time

Barbara Surk, Stephen Wilson
LONDON — The Associated Press
Jun. 25 2012
Saudi Arabia has moved to send female athletes to the Olympics for the
first time at the London Games.
The ultraconservative Muslim kingdom is one of three countries which
have never included women in their Olympic teams, along with Qatar and
Brunei. The International Olympic Committee says talks have been
ongoing with Saudi Arabia to ensure participation.
"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is looking forward to its complete
participation in the London 2012 Olympic Games through the Saudi
Arabian Olympic Committee, which will oversee the participation of
women athletes who can qualify for the games," the Saudi Embassy in
London said in a statement.
An official in Saudi Arabia, who spoke on condition of anonymity on
Monday, says an announcement by King Abdullah about Saudi women's
participation in the Olympics was expected some days ago, but was
postponed after the death of Crown Prince Nayef. The official spoke on
condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Discussions on sending women to the games have been wrapped in secrecy
for fear of a backlash from the powerful religious establishment
within a deeply traditional society, in which women are severely
restricted in public life […]

Jonathan: We need new anti-terrorism tactics

Abuja – Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said on Sunday he sacked
his defence minister and national security adviser last week because
the government needed new anti-terrorism tactics.
Militant Islamist sect Boko Haram has been fighting an insurgency
against Jonathan's government since he entered office over a year ago.
Several military crackdowns and a state of emergency have failed to
stem the violence.
The presidency issued a statement on Friday saying Jonathan's two top
security chiefs had been dismissed but did not give a reason why.
"We think some new persons have to come in to change tactics in our
fight against terrorism…. It's not that they were not working but just
that we need to change tactics," Jonathan said in a meeting with
reporters aired on state television on Sunday.
Boko Haram, which is based in the remote northeast, has rapidly
overtaken militants in the oil-producing southern Niger Delta as the
country's biggest security threat.
Niger Delta militants gave up arms in return for training and stipends
in a 2009 amnesty but brief efforts to hold a dialogue with Boko Haram
earlier this year failed.
"Boko Haram has no face and government will not dialogue with a
faceless people. They must come out and tell us […]

Once more on Rowan Williams, Islam, and loyalty

Monday, 25 June 2012
Well, I contacted the author of yesterday's Observer piece on Rowan
Williams. I explained that the potentially inflammatory quotations
about Islam had been lifted out of context, and that they were
actually statements of a position that Williams rejects. The Observer
writer flatly denied that he had taken the quotes out of context.
Maybe that's my fault; maybe my post yesterday wasn't explicit enough.
So let me try this again.
Here are some excerpts from the original 2004 lecture which forms part
of Williams' new book, Faith in the Public Square. The lecture is
titled "Convictions, Loyalties, and the Secular State" – this is the
section of the book from which the quotes on Islam were taken in
yesterday's Observer. The sentences quoted in the Observer are in
bold:
… the person's religious commitment involves both an additional level
of social belonging, a membership in some other nexus of relations
than that of the state, and a formation in critical questioning of the
state's decisions, a reluctance to take for granted the legitimacy of
these decisions without some further scrutiny.
This whole cluster of issues has become more immediate and practical with […]