Saudi Arabia: Save the child bride,
Asadullah Syed
Sep 8, 2009
Fatwa against ‘political’ iftar
Fatwa against 'political' iftar
CITHARA PAUL
New Delhi, Sept. 7: The country's highest Islamic seminary has issued a fatwa against iftars hosted by political parties, saying they go against Islamic tradition.
The iftar has no place for lies, hypocrisy and politics, says the fatwa by the Darul Uloom of Deoband, discouraging Muslims from attending these iftars.
Political parties of all hues in India hold iftars — the evening meal when Muslims break their Ramazan fast — to attract the community's votes and network with its leaders. Even US President Barack Obama hosted an iftar last week.
At an iftar held by the Trinamul Congress minority cell in Calcutta yesterday, Mamata Banerjee had announced a sop, saying railway recruitment exams could now be taken in Urdu. Trinamul plans two more iftars on September 9 and 16, which Mamata is to attend.
"If the… purpose behind such gatherings is political, then religion doesn't come into the picture,'' Mufti Zahoor Nadvi of the Darul Uloom said.
Another argument against "political" iftars relates to the source of their funding. "It would be against Islam if the source of money is the liquor business or interest from loans,'' said Mubarak Hussein of the Jamiat Ulema, Delhi.
The fatwa, however, doesn't extend to politicians being invited to private iftars.
Leading Urdu dailies such as Inquilab, Siasat, Khabrein and Qurbani too have decided to boycott political iftars.
"Politicians think hosting iftars will garner them the community's support… in elections. So they wear the skullcap… but as soon as the show is over, they dump the community," Inquilab editor Shahid Latif said. "Muslims are fed up. They feel humiliated whenever such iftar showoffs take place."
Saudi Arabia: Save the child bride,
Khalaf Al-Harbi | Okaz, klf...@gmail.com
By what reason or logic do we allow a young elementary schoolgirl to marry a man in his 80s? How could this happen without anyone raising a finger? Is it appropriate to publish this news item on the front page while the entire society considers it a personal affair?
Paradoxically, the groom insisted that he was not yet 80! Maybe he is three or four days less than 18. He boasted to the bride's aunt that his marriage to her niece was not against Islam since it was based on mutual acceptance.
He said he proposed to her elder sister who turned down the offer because she was busy studying. He said the father then offered him her younger sister and allowed him to see her under Shariah law.
What is this? An older sister refuses to marry an old man and so the father willingly presents her younger sister. When the old groom was allowed to look at his would-be child bride, did he not notice any disapproval or sign of rejection on her face?
How do you expect a child to react? Who will tell us the difference between paternity and selling vegetables on the streets?
Before reading about this sad story, I was willing to believe that some foreign human rights organizations were targeting us. But after coming across this story, I thanked God that I was not a member of a human rights organization because I would definitely have targeted us.
I would have thrown away the Declaration of Human Rights in the wastepaper basket, torn off my clothes and gone into the street like Tarzan — it seems the world has turned into a jungle in which a father is willing to offer his child to a man in his 80s. It is totally disheartening that society is looking at this tragedy as a personal affair and questioning how they can object when the father has given his consent?
This marriage is a gross violation of international human rights agreements pertaining to children of which the Kingdom is a signatory. Moreover, the special committee formed by the Ministry of Health to study the phenomenon of marriages involving underage girls has resolved that such marriages cause deep health, psychological and social harms.
Islam, being a religion of humanity and providence, will not accept these harms. So how can we accept a father and an old groom stabbing our religion and society claiming, "she is his daughter and he is free to do whatever he wants with her?"
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No flogging for trouser-wearing woman in Sudan
No flogging for trouser-wearing woman in Sudan
By MOHAMED OSMAN and SARAH EL DEEB (AP)
KHARTOUM, Sudan — A woman journalist was convicted Monday of public indecency for wearing trousers, but was spared a sentence of flogging. A defiant Lubna Hussein said she would not pay a $200 fine and would take a month in prison instead to protest Sudan's draconian morality laws.
The 43-year old journalist has set out to challenge the police and courts since her arrest in July by insisting the case go to trial, aiming to embarrass the Khartoum government with the publicity. Her prosecution — and the prospect that she could get the full sentence of 40 lashes — drew an international outcry.
The judge's decision to impose a fine equivalent to $200 appeared to be an attempt to curb the criticism.
"I will not pay a penny," Hussein, who during the court session wore the same trousers that sparked her arrest, told The Associated Press after the ruling.
During the session, police rounded up about 40 women protesting outside the courthouse in support of Hussein, some of them wearing trousers as well in a sign of solidarity.
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