Listed below are news items from the Muslim World. With the exception of the last link all of these items come from the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). Their website can be found here MEMRI monitors Arabic media reports coming out of the Middle East and translates them into English for our consumption in the West. It is striking the difference between the Englsh media reports coming out of the Middle East to those written in Arabic. They provide an invaluable service and I highly recommend them to you.
- Muslim Clerics on the Religious Rulings Regarding Wife-Beating. Excerpt below, full article here.
"If the husband senses that feelings of disobedience and rebelliousness are rising against him in his wife, he should try his best to rectify her attitude by kind words, gentle persuasion, and reasoning with her. If this is not helpful, he should sleep apart from her, trying to awaken her agreeable feminine nature so that serenity may be restored, and she may respond to him in a harmonious fashion. If this approach fails, it is permissible for him to beat her lightly with his hands, avoiding her face and other sensitive parts. In no case should he resort to using a stick or any other instrument that might cause pain and injury. Rather this 'beating' should be of the kind which the Prophet (peace be on him) once, when angry with his servant, mentioned to him, saying, 'If it were not for the fear of retaliation on the Day of Resurrection, I would have beaten you with this miswak (tooth-cleaning stick)'"
- Debate in Saudi Arabia over Women's Sports. Excerpt below, full article here.
Saudi Mufti Sheikh Abd Al-'Aziz bin Abdallah Aal Al-Sheikh refused to sanction women's sports, stating that "[such] demand is tantamount to a call for wantonness, for transgressing [the rules of] modesty, and for disobeying [feminine] nature, which Allah instilled in the woman upon creation." He further stated: "A woman is expected to be a homemaker and a caregiver for her children; it is she who builds the family and shares [responsibility] for its management. If she leaves [her home] for the sake of such things [i.e. sports], she will forget herself… she will neglect her husband and children, and waste her time on games and amusement, unaware of what is happening to her and to her children. [And] what will become of [her] home?
- Public Debate in Saudi Arabia on Employment Opportunities for Women. Excerpt below, full article here
The Saudi government's decision to allow women to work in women's clothing shops, which was postponed, revoked, reintroduced, and then postponed once again, sparked a public debate on whether women's employment was permitted by shari'a. Some of the questions debated were whether work outside the home compromises a woman's honor, whether shari'a permits women to work with men, and whether shari'a differentiates between work appropriate for men and work appropriate for women.
- Saudi Human and Women's Rights Activist Wajeha Al-Huwaidar Speaks Out Against Honor Killings. Excerpt below, full article here
“Du'a Al-Aswad is a victim of the wild male madness called 'honor.' This concept is prevalent throughout the Greater Middle East [Al-Sharq Al-AwsatAl-Kabir], or perhaps I should say the Greater Filthy East [Al-Sharq Al-AwsakhAl-Kabir], since it is worthy of this label from every perspective - in particular [when it comes to] the treatment of women. From Pakistan and Afghanistan through Iran, the Middle East, and all the way to Morocco, this entire part of the world [is full of] defeated and dejected men, whose only way to gain some sort of victory is by beating their women to death.”
- Rising Criticism of Child Bride Marriages in Saudi Arabia. Excerpt below, full article here.
Saudi Mufti Sheikh 'Abd Al-'Aziz Aal-Sheikh has been inconsistent in his position on child marriage. On August 23, 2008, he advised parents to refrain from marrying their daughters to men who are their seniors by 50 years or more. Such a marriage, he stated, reflects a lack of conscience on the part of the parents, violates the girl's chastity, and may lead her to sin. He added that girls in such marriages suffer while their parents live in comfort on the dowries they receive from the groom.
Conversely, on January 14, 2009, the Mufti issued a fatwa permitting the marriage of girls under 10, stating that those who oppose this are mistaken and are causing harm to women.
- · Pleasure Marriages in Sunni and Shi'ite Islam. Excerpt below, full article here.
For over a decade, the phenomenon of marriage without commitment, called misyar marriage, has been spreading throughout the Sunni Muslim world, particularly in Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf countries. [1] In such marriages, the woman relinquishes some of the rights that Islam grants her, such as the right to a home and to financial support from her husband, and, if he has other wives, the right to an equal part of his time and attention. In most cases, these marriages are secret, without the knowledge of the man's other wives - even though a marriage contract is drawn up in the presence of witnesses, and although consent is commonly obtained from the woman's guardian, and the marriage is registered and documented at the courthouse. Demand is high for misyar marriages on online matchmaking sites, as well as through services using text messages and email.
- Cases of Female Circumcision Reported in Kurdish Communities in Northern Iraq. Excerpt below, full article here
"He said to her: 'Don't cut it off.' Take off only what is necessary. It is well known that in warm countries, the woman's physiology differs from that of women in cold and temperate climates. In warm regions, the clitoris is larger than in cold or temperate regions. Therefore, a woman is liable to be stimulated by any movement, or by any random contact, resulting from riding animals, or by performing hard work. So they cut off a little piece. But this should be performed by a doctor or by a woman experienced in this."
Can we stipulate here, that Islam still struggles with a woman’s right to self-govern? That Islam in many cases treats women despicably – even at times sub-human? That this issue is not only limited to fringe elements of rogue nations, but is present in the very fabric of mainstream Islamic culture across the world -- including such far flung locations as London, Copenhagen, and Detroit? That the idea of our wives, daughters, and sisters having to live under Islamic control would be a kind of hellish proposition that we could not even bear to contemplate? I would say yes on all counts.
So why does President Obama feel the need to draw moral equivalents where none exist.
This is an excerpt of Pres. Obama's recent speech in Egypt. Full text located here.
“Now, let me be clear: Issues of women's equality are by no means simply an issue for Islam. In Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, we've seen Muslim-majority countries elect a woman to lead. Meanwhile, the struggle for women's equality continues in many aspects of American life, and in countries around the world.”
President Obama. Is it too much to ask you to develop at least a modicum of love for the country you profess to wanting to govern? You have a lot of pent anger at yourself, at the world and apparently at the US, a country that has so graciously given you a chance to govern. Was it too much to ask you to remind the Egyptians, of the thousands upon thousands of Muslims this country have liberated at the cost of American blood. Can you please stop with the disgusting moral equivalence arguments set forth by your comparing the “woman’s rights” issues of the US with those of the barbaric treatment of women under Islam.
Please Mr. Obama stop the bashing of this great country. Stop the hate. If need be seek help now.
Let me set the scene for you. The year is 2003, and Marcus is sitting in a small prison cell. Who is Marcus you ask? I have no idea. In walks this lady, who looks like a diseased nun. She asks the inmate how he is doing? He replies rather tersely, "ask me that question in an hour", it is here that we learn that Marcus is set to be executed shortly for crimes unexplained. It was then that I noticed that the woman with him was Helena Bonham Carter, and boy does she look awful! I guess she has this excuse that she is dying of cancer or something, but come on! Where is that comely lass Miss Honeychurch last seen traipsing across Tuscany? I mean she has really let herself go! I
ts a shame really, I guess that is so typical of English women, I mean take for example the Queen Mum, she is like what 55, 56 at the most and she looks at least twice that age. Come on British women, shape up! I'm digressing I know. Anyway, Marcus is put to death. Then the scene flashes forward to 2018, where everything is utterly wasted. I guess the machines got peeved and started nuking everything in sight, which means that the landscape is littered with small fires burning on some magically inexhaustible fuel source - you know the scene I'm talking about right? Then in steps John Connor, dressed in the same outfit he was wearing in "Reign Of Fire" although he's not British in this flick. They jump down a big hole and discover a whole passel of humans stuck in cages sort of like in the move "Planet of the Apes" (which come to think of it explains why I didn't know that HBC had gone so down hill - what with the ape makeup and all). Things go badly and all his men are killed, but he manages to escape by shoving a ball point pen in the back of the neck on one of those nasty terminators. So John escapes, but doesn't break out into a rousing rendition of "Santa Fe", which is sad. Then out of the ooze (like some orc being born) escapes our former friend Marcus. Hmm I wonder what thats all about? Marcus later encounters Kyle and his deaf mute friend Moesha. Now Kyle is the 2nd cousin to Reginald. Who's Reginald you ask? He's a guy that Kyle will tell the history of the bad machines to and who will eventually go back in time and introduce Sara's future husband Frank to in her in gym class while at college. This plot gets really complicated I know. Meanwhile the machines have figured out that Kyle must die before he can make the trip back in time to help Frank and Sara meet thus bringing to fruition their love child John, who then would go on eventually defeat those nasty machines. Suffice it to say there are lots of cool chase scenes that follow, including an awesome semi-truck scene that has a tow truck smashing a bunxh of abandoned cars on the freeway and generally making a mess of things. John and Marcus eventually meet, they don't like each other much when it turns out that Marcus has the guts of Lee Majors. They all eventually meet up in SkyNet's sinister headquarters, where the Governator makes a cameo (naked of course, why is he always naked?) I was surprised by this since I would have thought Ahnold would have been too busy bankrupting Cawleefornia to be making movies. Then someone pointed out to me that it was a CG verision of the Governator. I should have guessed this since the Ahnold I saw on the screen had such a depth of character, that it couldn't have been the real actor. The movie ends with Marcus getting punched in the heart so hard that he dies. Fear not dear readers, because John is able to jump start his heart with a couple of bare 220KV wires that happened to be lying nearby - this as it turns out ends up being a pivotal scene as John later.... wait, I shouldn't go any further since after reading this riveting review you might actually want to go see the movie yourself. Bottom line this movie is pretty good, not as good as "Star Trek", but I'm sure its lots better than "Drag Me To Hell". I give "Terminator Salvation" 3 Stars.
