Sharia News Watch 75 : a collection newsquotes on Shariah, for
research & educational purposes only. [*] Shortcut URL:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shariawatch/message/75
The Shari'ah Newswatch provides a weekly update of news quotes on
Shari'a (Islamic Law) & related subjects, as appearing on the major
news searchengines: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shariawatch/
AFGHANISTAN
[Amnesty] "No-one listens to us and no-one treats us as human beings"
http://www.mongolianews.com/p/68/288f41a1d0b2.html - 06 Oct 03
[International Crisis Group] Peacebuilding in Afghanistan - 09 Oct 03
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/106571220972.htm
..
Different legal systems – customary law, sharia (religious law), and
state law – operate simultaneously. Official structures such as police
forces and the judiciary are highly politicised, corrupt, and not
trusted by most Afghans. Traditional structures such as councils of
elders do function in some areas; however, they often reflect a very
narrow, traditional view of authority, which many young people and
returning refugees are reluctant to submit to. Other councils have
been essentially creations of aid groups and the UN, used to channel
money to communities. They may have legitimacy and be relatively
representative, but their authority is not always accepted.
In this environment it is difficult to establish methods for the
containment and resolution of local disputes. Enhancing the
effectiveness of the police and judiciary is vital but takes a
generation, even with sustained assistance. Local structures need to
be developed but represent a risk of either enhancing the authority of
people responsible for much of the conflict or trampling on the rights
of the persecuted.
Reconciliation initiatives thus need active promotion at three
interdependent levels. There must be sustained international
engagement – something to which the sponsors of the Bonn Agreement
committed themselves – particularly during the run-up to elections
next year. At the same time, the Afghan central government needs to
pursue security sector reform and the disarmament, demobilisation, and
reintegration of fighters, which can improve the overall security
situation, restore the rule of law, and build confidence in processes
of political and social reconciliation. This, in turn, should create
the conditions in which the local means for solving problems can be
effective.
[full report: http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=2293 ]
Jalalabad cable operator banned for second time - 08 Oct 03
http://www.nni-news.com/current/world/news-01.htm
..
Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières) have called on
the Afghan authorities to reopen Afghan Cable Centre, a cable TV
service based in the eastern city of Jalalabad (Nangahar province)
which local authorities banned some 10 days ago despite a national
government undertaking to support the development of cable television.
..
Authorities in Jalalabad cited complaints about "shocking" programmes
as the reason for bang Afghan Cable Centre and charging its manager,
Mohammed Humayun, with breaking the law. They were apparently alluding
to programmes of Indian or western origin showing men and women
singing and dancing together, which conservatives often describe as
contrary to Islam and Afghan culture. Humayun denies violating a ban
on broadcasting "anti-Islamic images."
..
The government has meanwhile set up a commission to establish whether
the operator broke any rules. Afghan Cable Centre, which currently has
about 700 subscribers and carries six news and entertainment channels,
was previously banned by the Jalalabad authorities in December 2002. A
few weeks later, the supreme court banned cable TV throughout
Afghanistan. The government thereafter drew up a broadcasting code and
a list of authorized TV stations, and new licences were issued in May.
AUSTRIA
Voice for Muslim women terrorised by their families - 05 Oct 03
http://www.news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1102842003
..
She has published a book entitled, Sabatina: From Islam To
Christianity - A Death Sentence, in which she describes her father’s
death threats, which he made under the Muslim laws of Sharia.
[Sabatina] James comes from a Muslim family but attempted to convert
to Christianity, a decision which met with extreme hostility from her
[Pakistani] parents [in Linz, Austria].
..
The book has made James a figurehead for persecuted women in Austria
and Germany, but has also forced her to live under constant police
protection at her home in the Austrian capital Vienna. She said: "The
fear is still there. The fear that my parents could murder me under
the laws of Sharia."
BAHRAIN
Bahrain king blames clerics for attack on police - 04 Oct 03
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L0479385.htm
..
Bahrain's king blamed Muslim preachers on Saturday for fuelling
extremist behaviour two days after five policemen were injured in a
petrol bomb attack on their bus. "Speeches that encourage extremism
and violence...cannot be separated from the acts of terror, the
killing of innocents," King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa said. On
Thursday, unidentified attackers flung a petrol bomb at a police bus
with 12 policemen on board, wounding five. Clerics in different parts
of Bahrain have severely criticised the Bahrain government's
performance and policies in recent weeks.
Bahrain, headquarters of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, has arrested
this year five Bahrainis allegedly planning attacks. The motives for
Thursday's attack were not clear but Bahrain was racked by sectarian
violence in the 1990s, mainly spearheaded by Shi'ite Muslim opponents
of the Sunni Muslim dominated government. Shi'ites are the majority of
this island nation's population. Bahrainis have also rioted against
the U.S. presence in their country and their anger boiled over during
the U.S.-led war on Iraq earlier this year.
BOSNIA
Al Qaeda bogeyman at work as US rethinks Balkans - 06 Oct 03
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L06396345.htm
BULGARIA
Bulgaria's young Turks embrace old ritual - 05 Oct 03
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3FEA49FA-FB94-4832-90EE-0912CE99CDBF.htm
..
Nearly 1000 people from Bulgaria's ethnic Turkish minority have taken
part in a mass circumcision ceremony for young boys, a Muslim ritual
that was suppressed during communist times. A procession of parents
carried the boys, aged two to five and clad in white shirts and blue
hats, through the mainly Muslim town of Kardjali on Saturday.
..
Mass circumcision ceremonies are organised without charge for poor
families. Kardjali, in the southern Rhodope mountains, is the centre
of Bulgaria's Turkish minority, which represents about 10% of the
Balkan country's population of eight million. The country’s Turkish
Muslims previously suffered significant discrimination and
mistreatment, notably in the mid-1980s, under a policy of
Bulgarisation and cultural assimilation. As a result, a large number
of Bulgarian Turks fled to Turkey.
DUBAI UAE
Big families vulnerable, says police researcher - 07 Oct 03
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=99586
..
Families comprising a large number of people living together are more
prone to violence, according to a researcher at the Sharjah Police
Research Centre. .. Amna [Juma Al Kotbi] said research shows there
are many reasons for family violence such as husbands' inability to
solve problems, alcohol and drug addiction. She said other reasons are
marriage to foreigners and health problems. The violence includes
physical, verbal and psychological abuse.
EGYPT
[fatwas] Only where applicable - 09 Oct 03
http://www.cairotimes.com/news/Fatwa0726.html
..
The controversial fatwa–issued without the approval of Dar Al
Iftaa–states that dealing with Iraq's governing council is haram
(sacrilegious) because it was not established on the basis of Al
Sharia Al Islamiya (Islamic laws) and because it was not elected by
the Iraqi people, but rather appointed by the occupying power.
..
Al Eish states in the fatwa that Iraq is an Islamic country that might
lose its "Islamic identity" if it is not governed by a legitimate
Islamic council chosen and elected freely by Iraqis. He adds that Iraq
might lose the riches and stability given by God if Iraqis do not move
toward having a legitimate government.
..
Tantawi stated that the rulings of the Sheikh of Al Azhar apply only
to Egypt and that the sheikh is not permitted to do the job of Iraq's
religious leaders for them by issuing fatwas concerning their affairs.
..
Tantawi's statement, however, has not been met with approval. "There
is no one on earth who does not know and see what is happening to Iraq
and its people, in addition to the conspiracies that aim to demolish
this Islamic country," said Sabri Abdel Raouf, professor of Islamic
Law at Al Azhar University to Al Hayat on 29 August "Therefore it is
haram to deal with this governing council and it is forbidden for any
country to deal with, help or cooperate with it because it is an
unelected government."
..
"Al Eish's fatwa is ijtihad [discretionary interpretation] of some of
the verses in the Holy Quran and it should be respected by Tantawi
since Islamic jurisprudence is full of ijtihad," he said. "It is also
the first time since the establishment of Al Azhar more than one
thousand year ago that a sheikh has said that Al Azhar's role should
be only in Egypt," [a sheikh] told the Cairo Times.
..
Meanwhile, the Jordanian Islamic Action Front, the political arm of
the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood, issued a similar fatwa on 11 August.
The fatwa stated that is haram for any Muslim to join Iraq's governing
council or to cooperate with it.
Salah Eddin Muhammad Bahaa, an Islamist member of Iraq's governing
council, was quoted by Al Wafd newspaper on 27 August as saying that
he does not agree with the Jordanian fatwa, pointing out that
understanding the current sensitive situation in Iraq is essential
before passing judgment. "It is not appropriate to issue religious
fatwas to deal with political issues like the Iraqi case."
The Battle for Young Minds - 06 Oct 03
http://www.egypttoday.com/issues/0310/CDF7/0310CDF7.asp
..
What should be a national debate has taken on an international tone
after the Bush administration, as part of its war on terror, tied
millions of aid dollars in part to education reforms in the Middle
East.
..
A number of local newspapers and magazines began running reports
alleging the ministry was going to abide by US demands - allegedly
channeled through USAID - and eliminate all religious education in
both public and private schools in favor of a new subject called
Al-Akhlak (ethics), to be taught to both Muslims and Christians in the
2003-2004 school year.
..
"These were merely accusations or concerns that were being voiced,"
says Abdel Rahman El-Adawy, an MP, professor at Al Azhar's School of
Islamic Theology and member of the prominent Center for Islamic
Research. "What took place during our last session was by no means a
debate over the merits of canceling religion in schools. "Religion in
our schools cannot and will not be replaced," he stresses.
..
Ethics will be taught this school year, [the minister] confirmed, but
not as a substitute for religion.
..
The new "Morals and Ethics" (Al Qeyam wal Akhlak) book that has been
issued to students starting first grade is a series of short stories
that highlight basic virtues like responsibility, kindness,
appreciation of beauty, freedom, care for the environment, honesty,
love, cleanliness, and cooperation. The first thing you notice is that
all of the lessons try to make clear there are no differences between
Christians and Muslims; we are all brothers in humanity, and decent
behavior is common to all. The characters in the short stories
invariably seem to be threesomes, with combinations such as "Ali,
Joseph and Zeinab" or "Mohammed, Mahmoud and Gergis."
..
"It's a shame, what we've gotten ourselves into," says Sheikh Gamal
Kutb, the former head of Al Azhar's Fatwa Committee. "This new subject
that they have introduced is simply a naïve repetition of what is
taught in both the Muslim and Christian religious curriculums." [..]
..
Filling the void are new private Islamic Language schools, the rise
which has been quite noticeable over the past 10 years. There are at
least a dozen of these schools today, emphasizing Arabic and the Quran
in their daily curriculum. One new school, Al Hayah Academy, has even
gone a step further. In an attempt to tap into the growing market of
upscale, religious parents demanding quality education in five-star
facilities, Al Hayah is the first Islamic International School in
Egypt to teach an American curriculum within an overall Islamic theme.
FRANCE
50,000 French Accepted Islam In 50 Years: Intelligence - 08 Oct 03
http://www.islamonline.org/English/News/2003-10/08/article04.shtml
..
Some 50,000 French have accepted Islam since the 1950's, a French
intelligence report revealed, saying that most of the converters were
heathens "who embraced Islam to fill their spiritual vacuum." The
report, parts of which published by the daily Le Figaro Tuesday,
October 8, said converting to Islam "has become a phenomenon (in
France) that needs to be followed up closely."
The "top-secret" report, as described by the daily, warned that Salafi
groups might be behind the rising number of Muslim converters in
France. It said that L'Essonne, 17 miles (27km) southeast of Paris,
has the largest number of those who accepted Islam, with 1000 to 2000
out of a total of 50,000 converters in 53 years' time. The
intelligence report said from two to three people are visiting the
Islamic council in Evry, a department of L'Essonne, on a weekly basis
to embrace Islam.
..
The classified report further said the Pakistani Al-Da'wah and Tabligh
group (inviting people to Islam and spreading the religion) plays a
pivotal role in encouraging French youths to embrace Islam. It said
the group is heavily represented in L'Essonne with 400 members and
devotees, adding it promoted a "spiritual discourse competing with the
dominant worldly pleasures." The report argued that the group and
Salafi groups are competing, noting that the Salafis have gained more
ground over the past two years. It warned of the ideologies adopted by
Salafi groups, recalling that one of the Casablanca bombings convicts
was a French Muslim, who was sentenced to life imprisonment.
French Leftist Groups Oppose Ban On Hijab In Schools - 09 Oct 03
http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2003-10/09/article06.shtml
..
To express their opposition, several French leftist societies have
organized a gathering on Tuesday, October7 , in front of the Henri
Wallon lycee in the Paris northern suburb of Aubervilliers, during
which they called for the return of French sisters, Lila and Alma
Levy, to the institute. Lila and Alma, 18 and 16, were expelled after
the school claimed they were wearing clothes "of an ostentatious
character".
..
In the same context, French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy opposed
passing a law that bans veils in schools. "There is no need to pass a
law that bans religious symbols in France," Sarkozy said before the
Commission of Bernar Stasse that is assigned with applying secular
principles in France and preparing recommendations on the possibility
of passing a law that bans veils in schools.
..
Noting that many towns refused building permits for mosques on
technical grounds, he remarked: "We've spent more energy using zoning
laws to block the building of mosques than we have to protect our
seashores." Muslims also had no schools in France to train imams, or
prayer leaders, forcing congregations to recruit men abroad who often
speak no French and sometimes preach extremism. Sarkozy also
criticized French intellectuals who single out Islam for
discriminating against women, saying this was a problem in all
religions. "I don't see a lot of women in the Catholic Bishops'
Conference in France," he observed.
INDIA
Jhatka vs halal: Sikh body raises meaty issue - 07 Oct 03
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_407297,0008.htm
..
If the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) has its way, all
hotels, restaurants and fast-food chains will soon have to carry
displays specifying the kind of meat they serve: halal or jhatka. SGPC
honorary secretary Manjit Singh Calcutta has said he would write to
the Union government to issue a notification in this regard because
the consumption of halal meat is strictly prohibited for Sikhs. "It
is, in fact, one of the cardinal sins for a Sikh to consume halal
meat," said Calcutta. "In case a Sikh does so, he has to be
re-baptised. Hence, it's important for eating joints to display what
meat is served”.
..
J.S. Grover of Nirula's, Delhi, said that most of the non-vegetarian
items at their outlets were cut and processed with the help of
machines. "Hence, it's difficult to ascertain whether it's halal or
jhatka meat," he said.
INDONESIA
Clerics meet to push for sharia law - 08 Oct 03
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20031008.C01
..
Around 200 extremist clerics began a national two-day meeting
[National Mudzakkaroh (dialog)] here on Tuesday to push for the
introduction of sharia law in the predominantly Muslim country ahead
of the 2004 general elections. The forum is aimed at consolidating
ulemas and habaib (ethnic Arabs who claim to be able to trace their
ancestry back to the Prophet Muhammad), grouped in the Islamic
Propagation Center (Pusdai), in anticipation of a national leadership
change after the 2004 election. Committee chairman Inqa Faqurroqobah
said the participants were expected to agree on support for
presidential candidates who were committed to promoting the
implementation of sharia in Indonesia.
IRAN
[Ayatollah Khamenei] Magnificent Voice of Imam Khomeini Is Still Alive
http://www.jihadunspun.com/intheatre_internal.php?article=78367&;list=/home.php&
Ebadi thorn in side of clerical hardliners - 10 Oct 03
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&;storyID=386554
..
Iran's first woman judge before the 1979 Islamic revolution, Nobel
Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi's work as a human rights activist has
landed her in jail and seen her branded a threat to the Islamic
system.
..
The country's first woman judge, Ebadi was prevented from continuing
in that role after the Islamic revolution when Sharia law was
enforced. Women were too emotional and irrational to pass judgement in
the courtroom, Iran's new leaders said.
..
Ebadi found herself on the wrong side of the law in 2000, when she was
accused of disseminating a politically-explosive videotape of a
violent Islamic vigilante group member who confessed to links with
conservative politicians in Iran. That incident landed Ebadi in
Tehran's notorious Evin prison where scores of political dissidents
are held. She was also banned from practising law for five years.
Iranian woman executed for murder - 09 Oct 03
http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=18576&;NewsKind=Current%20Affairs
..
A 34-year-old Iranian woman convicted of murder has been executed by
hanging in a Tehran prison, the Etemad newspaper reported Thursday.
Zinat al-Sadat, a nurse, was found guilty of strangling a 70-year-old
man and his 11-year-old grandson with a rope four years ago. The woman
was charged with caring for the man, and had strangled him to rob him.
The paper said she was executed. Executions of women are rare in Iran.
Last year, some five women were executed in Iran, four of whom had
been convicted of killing their husbands.
Iranian Woman Faces Execution in Official's Death - 05 Oct 03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/05/international/middleeast/05IRAN.html?ex=1065931200&;en=b4ce7eb7e47dc69c&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE
..
An Iranian woman accused of killing a police chief in southern Iran
who she said tried to rape her has been convicted and is to be
executed, the Shargh newspaper reported Saturday. The woman, Afsaneh
Noroozi, 32, who has been in jail since 1997, said during her trial
that she stabbed the chief of police intelligence on the island of
Kish in self-defense when he tried to rape her. The police chief,
whose name has not been made public, was a friend of Ms. Noroozi's
family, and she was at his house as a guest.
IRAQ
Iraqi Religious Leaders Receive Threats from Militants - 04 Oct 03
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=D4993D6A-7F63-4AE1-891A6F7D447CC13F
..
Religious leaders in Iraq have received death threats from religious
militants and followers of former President Saddam Hussein. The
clerics say they won't give in to blackmail. Mujahedin, or religious
fundamentalists, ordered a Sunni Muslim cleric in the Adhamiyah suburb
of Baghdad recently to broadcast their message from the minaret,
calling on followers to pick up weapons to wage holy war against the
United States. When he refused, the militants said they would kill
him.
Iraq's governing council takes steps to assist Mecca pilgrimage
http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/bw/Qiraq-saudi-pilgrims.RPRL_DO5.html
.. - 05 Oct 03
Iraq's transitional Governing Council announced it was taking steps to
help people planning to make the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, Islam's
holiest site, in Saudi Arabia, Baghdad's Al-Hadath daily reported
Sunday. ..The pilgrimage, known as the Haj, will be held in January.
The committee's creation follows the scrapping of the religious
affairs ministry, the daily said.
JORDAN
Jordan, the al-Aqsa intifada and America's "war on terror"
http://infobrix.yellowbrix.com/pages/infobrix/Story.nsp?story_id=42325107
[Source: Middle East Policy journal] - 01 Oct 03
KUWAIT
Kuwait strengthens grip on charities - 05 Oct 03
http://www.arabtimesonline.com/arabtimes/kuwait/Viewdet.asp?ID=1036&;cat=a
..
Kuwait has stepped up measures to impose strict controls on assets of
local charity organizations run by Islamic groups. Al-Qabas daily
reported the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) has instructed all banks,
financial institutions and money exchange firms to comply with a
Cabinet decree banning the opening of accounts for charities without
prior approval from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour.
The decree, passed after the Sept11 , 2001 terror attacks in the
United States, also bans charities from transferring funds abroad
without securing approval from the Foreign Affairs and Social Affairs
ministries. According to the decree, charities' accounts are to be
examined by ministry auditors and funds to be sent abroad only on a
state-to-state level. Distribution of funds and donations is to be
carried out under the supervision of Kuwaiti embassies abroad. The
decree also requires charities to spend 70 per cent of raised funds in
the country.
NORWAY
Journalists given police protection over Muslim sex article - 09 Oct
03 http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_827204.html
..
Two Norwegian journalists have been given police protection after
publishing an article on how to get sex from Muslim women. It comes
after a man who shares the same name as writer Bård Torgersen was
beaten by a gang of 15 Asian youths outside his flat. Both Torgersen
and Gaute Drevdal, editor of Natt & Dag which published the article,
have now been given police protection, reports Nettavisen. They have
also apologised for using text from the Koran to illustrate the piece,
entitled Natt & Dag's guide to getting sex from Muslims. Mr Drevdal
said: "This is a frightful attack on free speech. The article is very
satirical and mocks, in all possible ways, our prejudices. "It focuses
on the cultural conventions and prejudices. However, Natt & Dag is not
a supporter of blasphemy, and I therefore apologise for using text
from the Koran."
PAKISTAN
Obituary: Azam Tariq — a Sunni supremacist - 07 Oct 03
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_7-10-2003_pg7_24
..
Maulana Muhammad Azam Tariq, gunned down on Monday near Islamabad, was
a Sunni supremacist. Under him, the Sipah-e-Sahaba [Millat-e-Islamia,
as the SSP is now known] often resorted to violence in its struggle to
have Pakistan officially declared a Sunni-Muslim state.
..
Born in Chichawatni to a family of self-described religious scholars,
Mr Tariq was schooled in madrassas in Faisalabad and Karachi. He spoke
Arabic, knew the Quran by heart and was a frequent visitor to
Afghanistan during the Taliban years.
..
Despite support from the Islamist alliance, Mr Tariq threw in his lot
with the Muslim League-Quaid. He even chided the MMA government in the
Frontier for refusing to hew the federal line and quarterbacking the
Sharia.
..
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=981CA418-E0EC-4745-B93F465761656236
..
Hundreds of Islamic seminary students went on a rampage Tuesday after
the funeral for Maulana Azam Tariq. Students ran toward Islamabad's
business district, chanting anti-Shi'ite slogans and smashing shop
windows and cars. They also tried to torch the city's only movie
theater.
..
Shiite Mob Goes on Rampage in Pakistan - 04 Oct 03
http://news.findlaw.com/ap_stories/i/1104/10-4-2003/20031004041504_3.html
..
Hundreds of Shiite Muslim protesters threw bricks at a fast food
restaurant, burned cars and damaged a gas station Saturday in southern
Pakistan before the funeral for a member of the minority group killed
in an attack on a bus.
..
Violence Wracks Sunni Politician Funeral - 07 Oct 03
http://beta.yellowbrix.com/pages/beta/Story.nsp?story_id=42401212
..
Rioters attacked police and burned Shiite Muslim mosques in several
Pakistani cities Tuesday demanding revenge as a hard-line Sunni Muslim
politician was buried a day after he was gunned down in the capital.
..
Curbing sectarian violence - By Sadia Saeed - 07 Oct 03
http://www.hipakistan.com/en/detail.php?newsId=en40985
..
Pakistan's militant Islamic groups - 07 Oct 03
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3170970.stm
[HRCP] 'Hudood Ordinance repugnant to Islam' - 06 Oct 03
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_6-10-2003_pg7_10
..
Speakers at a seminar on the Hudood Ordinance, which was promulgated
in 1979, on Sunday demanded the government repeal the law immediately
because it was unjust and against Islamic injunctions. The seminar was
held at the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) office. [..]
National body to review laws on women - 04 Oct 03
http://www.dawn.com/2003/10/04/local26.htm
..
The National Commission on the Status of Women will shortly review the
Qisas and Diyat, and the Blasphemy laws. The chairperson of the
commission, Justice Majida Rizvi (retired) told Dawn that they would
ascertain whether the two laws were affecting the status and rights of
women or not. When asked whether it was in the purview of the
commission to review the blasphemy law, Ms Rizvi stated that they were
empowered to review all laws and rules affecting the status and rights
of women. Ms Rizvi, who visited Peshawar in connection with a
consultation on Hudood ordinances, said that under the law the
commission could only put forward recommendations to the government
and had no powers of implementing them.
..
88pc women in jails due to flaws in Hudood Ord - 08 Oct 03
http://www.dawn.com/2003/10/08/nat14.htm
..
As many as 88 per cent of women prisoners in the country are
languishing in jails as a result of ambiguities in the Zina Ordinance.
This has been stated in the final report of the special committee on
Hudood Ordinance, which was constituted by the National Commission on
the Status of Women to repeal or amend the controversial law.
..
It said majority of the meetings of the committee were dedicated to
the most complicated of all the ordinances - the Zina Ordinance.
Short of conviction, women have been held for extended periods of time
on charges of Zina after they reported rape. "Therefore, majority of
the women in jails are there due to the Zina Ordinance."
..
However, after the introduction of these ordinances, in particular the
one relating to the offence of Zina and Qazf coupled with the
subsequent enforcement of Qisas and Diyat Ordinance, it has been found
that instead of remedying social ills, the laws led to an increase in
injustice against women and, in fact, became an instrument of
oppression. "There have been hundreds of incidents where a woman
subjected to rape or even gang-rape was eventually accused of Zina and
subjected to wrong and unjust persecution and great ordeal."
..
The condition of four witnesses was most of the time ignored or
sidelined depending on irrational suppositions. As a result of strong
and sustained pressure from women's rights groups in civil society, no
woman was subjected to the punishment of flogging or for that matter
"Rajam", but nevertheless, the threat remained and that in itself
caused great distress to the women who even otherwise remained the
most exploited individuals in society.
Lawyer moves Lahore High Court for enforcement of Sharia - 05 Oct 03
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_5-10-2003_pg10_2
..
Advocate MD Advocate MD Tahir on Saturday filed a petition before the
Lahore High Court, seeking the enforcement of Shariah Act 1991 and the
1973 Constitution. The petitioning lawyer also demanded the government
help Islamic countries instead of big powers. Mr Tahir said the
government should be prevented from declaring Muslim freedom fighters
terrorists. He also demanded the government take action against those
who are criticizing Hadood laws, and eradicate evils from society.
This petition will come up for hearing on Monday.
..
Plea against runaway girls' marriages - 05 Oct 03
http://www.dawn.com/2003/10/05/local31.htm
..
The Lahore High Court was requested through a writ petition filed on
Saturday to direct the federal government to frame laws to discourage
marriages of runaway girls and the legal protection being accorded to
such marriages. The petitioner, M.D. Tahir, invoked the constitutional
jurisdiction of the LHC, arguing that it was obligatory for the
federal government to implement the provisions of both the Shariat and
the 1973 Constitution, which did not permit marriages involving
runaway girls. He said the younger lot had started contracting
marriages without the consent of their parents after elopement,
leaving the parents of girls involved in such incidents with no option
but to get a Hudood case registered against the boy. However, the
courts quashed these FIRs in almost all such incidents with the
observation that nobody could interfere in these matters once two
persons had accepted each other wilfully.
..
The legislature was bound by the Shariat Act 1991 to promulgate laws
in accordance with Islam, in which there was no concept of marriages
involving runaway girls. Once a complaint has been lodged with police
by the aggrieved parents under Section 154 of the CrPC, investigation
was a must and the FIR could be quashed only if it was lodged with
malafide intentions, the petitioner submitted, seeking strict action
against the NGOs opposing the Hudood laws and supporting marriages of
runaway girls.
[Kashmir] A strange 'hudood' case? - 09 Oct 03
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_9-10-2003_pg3_1
..
In a BBC radio report last week, the case of a Pakistani woman
stranded in Held Kashmir has become highlighted. The case is several
years old and concerns a Pakistani woman who jumped into Jhelum River
with the intent to commit suicide but was washed to the other side of
the riverine boundary. The Indians arrested her for illegal (sic!)
entry and sent her to jail where she was raped by a jail official. By
the time she was out of jail she had a small daughter with her. The
Indian court decided quite rightly that pending her repatriation to
Pakistan, she should be given accommodation and a stipend from a Rs
300,000 account opened in her favour in a local bank. While her case
for repatriation was being prepared her daughter grew up and is now
able to express her views. However when the Indian border force
offered to repatriate the two through their Pakistani counterparts it
got a refusal.
It is not known clearly why the Pakistani authorities refused to
repatriate a Pakistani citizen. One reason could be that the
Indian-born daughter was not a Pakistani. How could an Indian national
be allowed entry into Pakistan? The dilemma that arises from this
observation is: how can the Pakistani authorities refuse to take back
a national of Pakistan being repatriated from another country? But the
real reason could be the Pakistani laws in force concerning the
morality of women. The woman will have to face trial in Pakistan on
two counts: the attempted suicide, which is a crime, and illegal
crossing of the border. A third case is sure to be brought against her
by the pious citizens of Pakistan: how can she account for the
illegitimate child she has brought back from India? The police will be
keen to register the case under the Hudood Ordinance concerning Zina.
She will not be able to bring four male witnesses to prove her
allegation of rape, whereafter the judge's hands will be tied to
punish her for having committed fornication, the minimum sentence for
which is stoning to death. It is much better therefore to let the
woman and her daughter rot in Held Kashmir!
[NWFP] Tribesmen get notices for sheltering Qaeda men - 05 Oct 03
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_5-10-2003_pg7_12
..
The South Waziristan Agency's political administration served notices
to the Zalikhel tribe on Saturday to hand over three people suspected
of sheltering Qaeda suspects in violation of an agreement the tribe
signed with the federal government last year.
Prayers to be compulsory in NWFP during Ramazan - 10 Oct 03
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_10-10-2003_pg1_5
..
The Sharia Council on Thursday said interest-free banking would be
launched during Ramazan in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and
offering prayers would be compulsory in all government departments.
..
The council was formed in January 2003, which prepared a comprehensive
Sharia document within three months. The document contained both the
Sharia Bill and the Hisba Act but the provincial government separated
the Hisba Act from the bill, Mufti Kafayat said.
[NWFP] PPPP terms Hasba Act supra constitutional - 06 Sep 03
http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/sep2003-daily/06-09-2003/national/n2.htm
..
Parliamentary leader of Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians
(PPPP) in the NWFP Assembly Abdul Akbar Khan has strongly opposed the
proposed Hasba Act to be presented by Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) in
the assembly and termed it as supra constitutional.
..
Akbar Khan expressed his wonder that the bill was a unique law as it
has no sections or rules but the whole authority was the provincial or
district qazi. He said that in the constitution qualification and
character of a person has been defined under section 62 and 63 but
here in the Hasba bill both the provincial and district qazi have been
empowered to disqualify a person from a parliamentary election while
their decision could not be challenged in any court therefore, it is
above the constitution.
RUSSIA
Dagestani Mujahideen made an address - 05 Oct 03
http://www.kavkazcenter.com/eng/article.php?id=1748
..
Informational Center of the United Command of the Mujahideen of
Dagestan contacted Kavkaz Center news and information agency via
e-mail and forwarded the address to the Muslims of Dagestan, which
over the past few days has been actively distributed in the form of
leaflets on the territory of the Republic (of Dagestan). [..]
..
Today Dagestan is a typical model of a so-called democratic society
deprived of any spiritual or moral values, where people are moved
solely by craving for profits and by the inept mentality where the
highest goal is to get a place at the government's sinecure. This is
the thinking they are living by without seeing the problems of the
society and of Islam behind the horizons of their home villages. And
all of it is going on by total consent and actual betrayal by the
Republic's so-called «clergy».
SAUDI ARABIA
Action Is Taken Against Erring Officials: Religious Police Chief
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&;section=0&article=33061&d=5&m=10&y=2003
.. - 05 Oct 03
Sheikh Ibrahim ibn Abdullah Al-Ghaith, president of the Commission for
the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, has admitted that his
officials have held married couples for questioning when they were
found in "suspicious circumstances". .. he said violating the
privacy of people engaged in forbidden acts was necessary in order to
protect society from crimes.
SOUTH AFRICA
Idols show forbidden, council tells Muslims - 07 Oct 03
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=vn20031007143933221C930065
SYRIA
I told you so: Syria, Oslo and the Al-Aqsa intifada - 01 Oct 03
http://infobrix.yellowbrix.com/pages/infobrix/Story.nsp?story_id=42325106
[Source: Middle East Policy journal]
TURKEY
Turkish sisters re-arrested over hijab - 07 Oct 03
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A30164A1-0E41-4C43-B452-5F648D537680.htm
..
The London-based Islamic Human Rights Commission [www.ihrc.org] said
Nurilhak and Nurcihan Saatcioglu have been arrested several times in
the past four years after they attended an anti-hijab ban rally in
1999. The pair were taken back into custody on Saturday after the
Turkish appeal court reimposed an extended sentence for their
participation in the rally in Malatya. They are currently being held
indefinitely in the Bakirkoy Woman and Child Prison in Istanbul.
..
The four women were originally charged with attempting to overthrow
the Turkish government, but the charges were changed to "violating the
gathering and demonstration act". Turkish law upholds a ban on the
hijab in universities, higher educational establishments and Islamic
colleges. Harassment of women workers who wear the headscarf is also
common in public offices, hospitals and government buildings.
UK
Ahmadiyya mosque opens in London - 04 October 03
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s959933.htm
..
An Islamic group which says it has more than 200 million followers
worldwide has inaugurated one of Europe's largest mosques. More than
10,000 followers gathered in the grounds of the Baitul Futuh mosque, a
huge white marble structure in southwest London. The Ahmadiyya
community mosque features two minarets, a library, three conference
rooms, a gym and a dome 23 metres high. It cost more than $US16
million to build and followers say it is the largest and most
sophisticated mosque in Britain. The Ahmadiyya community claims to
stand for moderation and believes Islam can not be imposed by force or
jihad.
USA
Pro-U.S. Fatwas [Source: Middle East Policy journal] - 01 Oct 03
http://beta.yellowbrix.com/pages/beta/Story.nsp?story_id=42325105
[Arts] Quest for the Muslim niche market - 04 Oct 03
http://www.msnbc.com/news/972579.asp
Iraqi war brides caught in red tape - 04 Oct 03
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/iraq_conflict/article/0,1406,KNS_9217_2321077,00.html
..
Two Florida National Guard soldiers are being investigated for
allegedly defying a commander's order by marrying Iraqi brides and the
Army is trying to prevent the women from coming to the United States,
their families said. The men, both Christians who converted to Islam
so they could be married under Iraqi law, had expected to return to
the Florida Panhandle this month, but a new Army policy that requires
troops to remain in Iraq for 12 continuous months may keep them there
until April.
..
Blackwell's wife, now working as an interpreter for an American
company in Baghdad, wrote that her husband already is being punished
because the Army has prevented him from seeing or talking to her since
the double wedding on Aug. 17.
..
McKee said the soldiers are being barred from using e-mail. For a time
they also were prohibited from calling home, but that privilege has
been restored, she said.
..
Blackwell wrote in his letter to Miller that the Army Inspector
General's office has told him he cannot be punished for getting
married, but that he could be disciplined for disobeying an order.
..
Blackwell wrote that the [Iraqi] threats began even before they were
married because of his wife's Western way of dress and thought. The
marriages just increased the threats, McKee said.
Muslim teen falls foul of anti-gang rules in US school - 10 Oct 03
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s964485.htm
..
A Muslim teenager's battle to wear her religious headdress to school
has landed her in hot water with authorities in the American state of
Oklahoma. Education officials in Muskogee have twice suspended Nashala
Hearn for violating a dress code by wearing the Muslim head scarf, or
hijab. The 11-year-old is scheduled to return to school next week
after her latest suspension, but officials say she will not be
admitted if she continues to wear the scarf. The school dress code
bans the wearing of hats, caps, bandanas or other headwear inside
school buildings, and was initially devised to deter gang-related
activity.
[North Carolina] Lawmaker targets D.C. Islam group - 05 Oct 03
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&;u_pg=54&u_sid=876767&PHPSESSID=a009595748d13aff5a6c238280e07ab4
..
U.S. Rep. Cass Ballenger blames the breakup of his 50-year marriage
partly on the stress of living near a leading American Muslim advocacy
group that he and his wife worried was so close to the U.S. Capitol
that "they could blow the place up."
WORLD
Edward Said (1935 - 2003) [a number of the obituary pieces we have
received, together with Edward Said's first and last articles for the
Weekly] http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/658/special.htm
[Fatwa] My Aunt Breastfed Me Twice: Can I Marry Her Daughter? - 04 Oct
http://www.islam-online.net/fatwaapplication/english/display.asp?hFatwaID=12569
..
Q: I proposed marriage to the daughter of my maternal aunt, but when
the time for marriage drew close my aunt told me that she had
breastfed me twice when I was little, but I had not drunk my fill on
those occasions.
A: [Sheikh M. S. Al-Munajjid, S.A.:] "It is permissible for you to
marry the daughter of your maternal aunt in this situation, because
breastfeeding (rada'ah) only makes the woman (and her daughters) the
mahrams of the child who nursed if it takes place five times. [A
mahram is a relative whom one is forbidden to marry and with whom the
rulings of hijab or covering do not apply]."
..
A: [An-Nawawi:] The majority of scholars said that the ruling applies
if breastfeeding occurs once. ..
..
A: [Sheikh Ibn 'Uthaymeen:] One session of breastfeeding does not have
any effect, rather it must be five sessions of breastfeeding that
occur before the child is weaned and before he reaches the age of two.
A person does not become the woman's (foster) child if he breastfeeds
once or twice or three or four times. It must also be five known
sessions of breastfeeding. [www.islam-qa.com]
..
[Fatwa] Siblings through Breastfeeding - 09 May 03
http://www.islam-online.net/fatwa/english/FatwaDisplay.asp?hFatwaID=36350
Authoritarianism : Southeast Asian dares to say enough is enough
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailfeatures.asp?fileid=20031005.G08
..
Challenging Authoritarianism in Southeast Asia: Comparing Indonesia
and Malaysia Edited by Ariel Heryanto and Sumit K. Mandal,
RoutledgeCurzon, London, 2003, 247 pp.
..
In the editors' words, Southeast Asian authoritarianism has been
critically challenged in the 1990s and beyond. Civil forces, which the
book examines so richly, have been shown to have resisted the
authoritarianism found in both Indonesia and Malaysia, with salutary
results. Women activists, public intellectuals, artists, the
industrial class, environmental and Islamic activists continue to make
significant inroads into hegemonic and panoptic edifices of the state.
FINANCE
Moin A Siddiqi analyses banking trends across the Middle East region
http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm?id=ZAWYA20030928112523&;Section=Industries&page=Financial%20Services
[Bahrain] Full support to Islamic banks - 06 Oct 03
http://infobrix.yellowbrix.com/pages/infobrix/Story.nsp?story_id=42375655
..
''The pioneers of modern-day Islamic banking and finance recognized
the importance and reliance on a single, international Shari'a board
to undertake the function of issuing all Shari'a standards and
requirements for Islamic investment and finance structures so that its
resolution may be binding on all. No doubt, the Shari'a Board of the
AAOIFI [Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial
Institutions] satisfies the criteria as board members are highly
respected scholars representing several Islamic countries. "The BMA
[Bahrain Monetary Agency] has accorded due recognition to the AAOIFI
Shari'a Board by adopting all Shari'a standards as well as all
accounting and auditing standards issued by the organization and
mandating them for the IFIs licensed by the agency. I urge all
monetary authorities and central banks to adopt a similar strategy and
implement all Shari'a standards and requirements issued by the
organization. [Bahrain Tribune]
[Pakistan] Banks, NBFCs to set up common Sharia board - 10 Oct 03
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_10-10-2003_pg5_3
..
Banks and non-banking financial companies interested in launching
Islamic financial products are considering setting up a joint
association to help develop the market for Islamic finance.
..
According to the source, the main reason for establishing the
association is to form a "Common Sharia Board" for the whole financial
sector to get the required fatwas on new Islamic financial products.
..
The source informed that a Sharia board at government level is
operational in Malaysia under the chairmanship of the prime minister.
"This experience is successful in Malaysia and Pakistan can share the
expertise," he said. The source added that the religious board
especially designed for the modaraba sector has been ineffective for
the last one year, which is the main cause in the delay in launching
of new Islamic products. Moulana Taqi Usmani was the chairman of the
board, but he was removed from the position due to differences with
the government.
Islamic banks can play key role in development/ Bahrain - 08 Oct 03
http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=30989
..
Chairman of Dallah Al Baraka Group, Shaikh Saleh Kamel .. speaking at
the opening session of the fifth International Conference on Islamic
Economics and Finance .. underlined the importance of Islamic banking
industry in efforts to cope with the future challenges. "Islamic banks
have remained restricted to fighting usury (riba), and hence ignored
other aspects of the Islamic economy and Shari'ah objectives with
regard to financial activity such as cultivation of land and
achievement of economic development through new innovative,
diversified and multi-activity tools having different terms and
periods,"
..
"The increase in the balanced demand is a very important aspect of the
Islamic economy which secular economic systems have ignored. They
(secular economic systems) speak about the importance of creating and
increasing demand and explain its importance, but they do not lay down
effective tools to guarantee this increase or to create effective
demand. In this respect they advise to carry out advertising,
promotion or create new tools, which are all harmful. On the other
hand, Islam creates and increases effective demand which is related to
an actual purchasing power motivated by Zakah recipients' categories,
charity, atonement, Qard-e-Hassan," he explained.
"Unfortunately, Islamic banking has exerted all efforts to get rid of
riba in form and reality. However, they (Islamic banks) have not shown
us clearly the difference between application of the Islamic banking
and riba-based banking due to the limited success achieved by Islamic
banks in use of resources by, treating money as a means of
transaction, not an instrument of transaction. In competing with
conventional banks nationally and internationally. the Islamic banks
have neglected problems of the nation such as alleviation of poverty,
countering unemployment, and providing job opportunities," he said
[Pakistan] MAP seeks permission for housing finance - 30 Sep 03
http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/sep2003-daily/30-09-2003/business/b4.htm
..
Modaraba* Association of Pakistan (MAP) has approached policymakers
and regulators to allow modaraba financing in housing sector.
..
[MAP chairman] said that many modarabas had approached the regulators
to grant permission for the start of specific housing modarabas. They
wanted to start housing finance on the basis of Islamic mortgages, he
added. He disclosed, at present, the draft of new Modaraba Ordinance
and rules were under process of approval and the policymakers were
also framing new prudential regulations for the modarabas.
..
He said during 2002-03 out of 32 modarabas 12 modarabas had declared
cash dividends ranging from 4.50 per cent to 50 per cent. Results of
15 modarabas were still awaited while the market capitalisation of
modarabas had reached Rs 9.20 billion [EUR 136 mill.].
..
* Mudaraba / Modaraba (Trust Financing)
http://www.islamicconferences.com/glossary.htm
[*] Copyright: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 -
http://liimirror.warwick.ac.uk/uscode/17/107.html - this material is
distributed without profit for research and educational purposes. If
you wish to use copyrighted material from this list for purposes that
go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright
owner. [USA: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html]
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