Sharia News Watch 105 : a collection newsquotes on Sharia, for
research & educational purposes only. [*] Shortcut URL:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shariawatch/message/105
The Sharia Newswatch provides a regular update of news quotes
on Sharia (Islamic Law) & related subjects, as appearing on the major
news searchengines. All editions :
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shariawatch/
ALGERIA
Newspapers Hit Back at Muslim Preachers - 22 Feb 04
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-briefs22.3feb22,1,598063.story
..
Independent Algerian newspapers hit back at a government-sponsored
barrage of sermons by clerics who accused the papers of betraying
Islam and urged a boycott of the press. "Hateful preachings were made
yesterday against the independent press, and particularly against our
daily, Liberté," one national paper said. Religious Affairs Minister
Bouabdallah Ghoulemallah confirmed that the government had advised the
imams on what to preach, but said it only concerned Liberté, which he
said had "offended Islamic values." The government appoints imams,
and papers have recently accused them of urging congregants to reelect
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in April.
AUSTRALIA
Australia resumes Middle East sheep export amid tight security -19 Feb
http://business-times.asia1.com.sg/story/0,4567,108442,00.html
..
Thousands of sheep have been loaded onto a ship bound for the Middle
East amid tight security, officials said on Tuesday, marking the first
live sheep export since animal rights saboteurs disrupted the trade
last year. Exports to Islamic countries came to a standstill last
November when animal rights activists broke into a feedlot and fed
pork - considered unclean in Islamic nations - to some of the 70,000
sheep due to be shipped to the Middle East. Subsequent testing found
that 1,800 of the sheep had come into contact with the pork and the
federal government ordered them to be slaughtered and turned into pet
food and halted the export of the remaining animals.
..
Australia ships live animals to Islamic countries that require halal
meat products - meat from an animal that has been killed by a Muslim
who slits its jugular vein and drains all the blood from the carcass.
Animal rights activists have called Australia's live export trade
cruel, claiming the animals suffer in hot and crowded conditions.
Prime Minister John Howard has insisted the trade, worth A$195 million
[EUR 121 m] a year, will continue despite protests.
Islam illegal under law, court told - 19 Feb 04
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/02/19/1077072778607.html
..
Islam was an illegal religion because the Koran preached violence
against Christians and Jews, a Christian group told a judge yesterday.
The group's barrister, David Perkins, said that Christianity was
established under Australia's constitution and had special protection,
especially through the blasphemy law. Mr Perkins told the Victorian
and Civil Administrative Tribunal that if the state's new religious
hatred law intended to fetter the teaching of Christian doctrine it
was invalid. Victoria's Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001
referred to lawful religion, and it was in that sense, he said, that
by preaching violence Islam was disqualified. "The Koran contradicts
Christian doctrine in a number of places and, under the blasphemy law,
is therefore illegal," he said. In the first case under the act, the
Islamic Council of Victoria has complained that Catch the Fire
Ministries, Pastor Danny Nalliah and speaker Daniel Scot, also a
pastor, vilified Muslims at a seminar in March 2002.
..
[Mr Perkins] said Australia's blasphemy law - still in force, if
little used - took precedence over the state act, and the Victorian
Parliament could not legislate away protection given by the blasphemy
law. Mr Perkins cited the Choudhury case in England, involving Salman
Rushdie's book The Satanic Verses, which held that the blasphemy law
protected only Christianity, not Islam.
DENMARK
Denmark to impose curbs on imams - 19 Feb 04
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=8&;id=36272
..
Denmark is proposing to curb the activities of radical Islamic leaders
given permission to teach in the country. The measures, to be
presented to the Danish parliament tomorrow, are aimed at imams who
preach against Western values, encourage Muslims to wear the hijab —
the Islamic head scarf, and demand that women do not work.
The initiative is part of a package of tough immigration reforms that
reflects mounting concern in Denmark about the growth of Islamic
communities who reject the country’s values. There is also alarm about
the rise of Islamic fundamentalism.
..
Christian missionary society critical of clamp-down on imams - 17 Feb
http://www.dr.dk/nyheder/fremmedsprog/English/article.jhtml?articleID=149249
..
Under the new regulations, imams who have the right to perform the
Muslim marriage ritual must be fluent in Danish or take classes in
Danish language and culture, and all imams must have "a relevant
background and education." The Danish Integration Minister told
Danish media last week that the bill went as far as possible without
infringing on the religious freedom of Muslim communities in Denmark,
but the Missionary Society disagrees. According to the Missionary
Society, the vague wording of the draft legislation gives the Danish
authorities a free hand to decide which of the imams are desirables
and which are not.
EGYPT
Cabinet approves draft laws on family court, nationality - 17 Feb 04
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/040217/2004021725.html
..
The Egyptian Cabinet approved today a final draft for the law on
family court in preparation to referring it to President Hosni Mubarak
and then to the Shura Council and People's Assembly. In statements
after the meeting, Minister of Information Safwat Al-Sherif said that
the draft law, which comes in response to an initiative by the
National Democratic Party (NDP), regulates litigation on personal
status affairs to bring in one package all matters related to the
family to expedite procedures and ease off burdens. He said that a
non-profit fund will be set up to enforce rulings on nafaqa (alimony),
which will be affiliated to the Nasser Social Bank, adding that the
fund will be financed by donations and allocations from the Finance
Ministry.
INDIA
Ulema wants pay hike for Imams, Moazzans - 19 Feb 04
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/505167.cms
..
Outlining a charter of demands, which were earlier submitted to all
the parties, he said the Muslim community should be placed under the
backward classes in view of their social status. [The All-India Sunni
Ulema Board president] also wanted the establishment of a Wakf
Commissionerate. The Wakf board should fix minimum remuneration of Rs
4,000 [EUR 70,-] per month for Imams and Rs 3,000 for Moazzans in
urban areas while fixing Rs 3,000 for Imams and Rs 2,000 for Moazzans
in rural areas, he said.
[opinion] Muslim women, dominant ideologies and the media - 23 Feb 04
http://www.asianage.com/main.asp?layout=2&;cat1=6&cat2=44&newsid=90386
..
Right from 1988, the courts have engineered divorced Muslim women's
rights through innovative interpretations of the Muslim Women's Act
(MWA), ushering in a new set of rights within the established
principles of Muslim law. Several judges declared that "provision"
contemplates "future needs" and that Parliament has replaced one set
of obligations of a Muslim husband with another. The claim under the
Muslim Women's Act does not operate through a rider of sexual purity.
The judicial pronouncements delivered divorced Muslim women from the
cumbersome burden of recurring monthly dues, which hinged upon
post-divorce chastity.
..
the advances made by divorced Muslim women under MWA have been
invisibilised and glossed over by the media. During the Shah Bano
controversy, the denial of rights of a meagre maintenance dole was
lamented by all and sundry, notwithstanding the fact that the
maintenance awarded to the wife of an advocate with a flourishing
practice was just Rs 25 in the first instance and Rs 179 [EUR 3,-] in
appeal. So long as the debate could be used as a stick to beat the
community with, these minor details didn't seem to matter. What did
matter is the fact that a communal campaign could be mounted upon a
patriarchal paradigm and thereby legitimised.
..
But how can one logically explain the recurring motif of "Muslim
appeasement" even after the Supreme Court's decision when the
controversy was finally laid to rest by upholding the constitutional
validity of the Act and simultaneously securing for the Muslim women,
maintenance rights which in actual terms are superior to the rights
bestowed upon a Hindu woman?
..
In the final battle in the Supreme Court, both sides, the women’s
rights groups who had challenged the constitutionality of the Act as
well as the Muslim religious leadership who had pressed for their
claim that the Muslim woman’s entitlement ought to be limited to three
months of iddat period, lost out. Who emerged victorious was the
divorced Muslim woman who had waged a relentless battle to defend her
rights. It’s time the media took note of this silent revolution waged
by individual Muslim women and acknowledged the fact of their agency
in bringing about changes within their personal laws.
[Uttar Pradesh] Muslims unmoved by Mulayam's Friday order
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/509244.cms - 20 Feb 04
..
A political sharpshooter, Mulayam Singh Yadav has appears to have
misfired this time. To woo the Muslim vote, he announced all Uttar
Pradesh schools to shut by noon every Friday so Muslim children could
offer namaaz . This political buckshot, however, went way off its
target. Except for a few odd clergymen, Muslims at large refused to
buy this tokenism. In fact, by showing such blatant appeasement, he
gave the Sangh Parivar ample to shout about.
..
Islamic scholar Maulana Wahiduddin Khan added: "Earlier, when Mulayam
used to attack the BJP and its brand of Hindutva, he used to get
support from Muslims. But now for political reasons, he has stopped
doing that. He, however, realises he needs Muslims for his political
survival. With this move, he wants to hold on to the Muslim votebank."
INDONESIA
Muslim body seeks kingmaker role in Indonesia poll - 19 Feb 04
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/JAK224241.htm
..
Hasyim Muzadi, chairman of the moderate Nadhlatul Ulama (NU) [40 mill.
members], said his organisation would endorse a presidential candidate
at a meeting in April after parliamentary polls in the world's most
populous Muslim nation, and may strike a deal for the vice-presidency.
..
Muzadi said the key issues for most Indonesians in the elections were
morals, law enforcement and the economy, and most were opposed to the
introduction of strict Sharia law as advocated by a number of
Islamic-based parties. "It is not necessary to formally implement
strict Islamic Sharia law, rather it is important to follow its
values. If we formalise Sharia law, then it would cause many
conflicts." The NU was working with law enforcement officials to
combat radicalism in Indonesia, which has been struck in recent years
by a series of deadly bombings blamed on Islamic militants, he said.
MUI declares lottery 'haram' - 18 Feb 04
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20040218.@02&;irec=1
..
After about a month of controversy, the planned fund-raising program
proposed by PT Metropolitan Magnum Indonesia (MMI) has been deemed to
resemble gambling and should thus be forbidden, the Indonesian Ulemas
Council (MUI) announced on Tuesday. The MUI, at a hearing with the
House of Representatives Commission VI, concluded that the fund-raiser
had the potential to exploit people. The program, which had
previously been OK'd by the Ministry of Social Affairs, aims at
raising funds for national sports through ticket sales at tournaments.
The program was expected to start early April. By offering prizes
through the tickets, as in a lucky draw, the MMI has been reiterating
that people would be encouraged to attend sports events.
..
"Although no element of gambling has been found according to the
presentation from by the MMI and the Ministry of Social Affairs, the
program tends toward gambling and other similar activities prohibited
(haram) under Islam," MUI secretary-general Din Syamsudin told the
hearing, and called upon the Ministry of Social Affairs to reevaluate
its approval for the program. The MUI also questioned the aims of the
program, given that only five percent of revenues were allocated to
sports needs. The House commission backed the MUI's edict, but, as
deputy spokesperson Anwar Arifin said, they would need to meet with
the Minister of Social Affairs and other religious community groups.
IRAN
Conservatives unlikely to tighten Islamic law - 23 Feb 04
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/02/23/1077497513708.html
..
Iran's conservatives appear to be ruling out an immediate crackdown on
recent relaxations in Islamic law following their disputed victory in
last Friday's parliamentary elections. "We have no such plans," said
Dr Riaz Sayid Ali of the Abadgaran Iran-e-Islami (Developers of
Islamic Iran), the largest parliamentary block endorsed by the
country's unelected Islamic rulers. "We are not a regressive
movement. We reject being called conservatives, as journalists always
say. We should remember that our Islamic code is ingrained in our
politics but, at the same time, we have to abide by the social roles
and we have to meet the needs of the people according to the times."
..
The head of the Abadgaran and the man likely to lead the new
parliament, Dr Gholamali Haddad-Adel, believed "every development or
change that is going to happen should be in a gradual way and in
accordance with the times, and very slow". Asked if this meant sharia
law would be tightened, Dr Haddad-Adel said only that "the last 25
years that have passed since the revolution has proven that our
understanding of Islam is not rough and terrible".
..
there has been a big change from the days of the revolution, when
religious vigilantes hunted down transgressors and women could be
assaulted, even disfigured, on the street if judged to be improperly
veiled. Although the head scarf is still compulsory, female dress
codes and other restrictions have been relaxed. The internet and free
speech are tolerated and association between unmarried members of the
opposite sex is no longer taboo.
Iran, Iraq, and two Shiite visions - 20 Feb 04
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0220/p01s02-woiq.html
..
Iran's Wilayet al-Faqih doctrine (governance of the religious jurist,
preached in the Iranian city of Qom) was devised in the mid-1970s by
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and served as the ideological underpinning
of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran which he led. It grants
absolute authority over all matters - religious, social, and political
- to a marja who has earned the title of mujtahid, a blend of judge
and theologian. Although the Wilayat al-Faqih system was successfully
introduced into Iran's homogenous Shiite society, exporting the
doctrine elsewhere has proved difficult. Its most successful
adaptation outside Iran is by Lebanon's Hizbullah organization which
considered Khomeini and then his successor Ayatollah Ali Khameini as
the group's marja. Establishing an Islamic state in Lebanon on the
Iranian model remains one of Hizbullah's ideological goals, on paper
at least. But Hizbullah long ago accepted that the tiny country's
multiconfessional character mitigates heavily against the creation of
an Islamic state.
IRAQ
Iran, Iraq differ on vision for leadership by Shiites - 20 Feb 04
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001861625_iraniraq20.html
Baghdad's book vendors doing brisk business in religious books -23 Feb
http://www.newsalert.com/bin/story?StoryId=CqdMi0aidvvnjuKfrlujpt0Tt
[alcohol] In Iraqi city, a dangerous trade - 18 Feb 04
http://beta.yellowbrix.com/pages/beta/Story.nsp?story_id=47251214
[Sunni] Muslim scholars condemn US sharia threat - 21 Feb 04
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9CBB1903-FF67-482A-B756-78970EDD1173.htm
..
The Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS) has condemned Iraq's US
administrator's remark that Islam will not be the main legislative
reference in Iraq's temporary law. The AMS issued a statement on
Friday accusing the Americans of imposing unacceptable authority on
the Iraqis, just as the former Iraqi regime did. Paul Bremer
threatened last week to use his veto should the interim Governing
Council choose Islam as the main basis for legislation.
..
Speaking to Aljazeera, spokesman of the Association of Muslim Scholars
(AMS) Sheikh Muhammad Bashar al-Faidi said that the new Iraqi
constitution should be based on the main Islamic rules. Al-Faidi has
assured that Islam, as the main legislative reference, will guarantee
the full rights of all Iraqi groups including the minorities. "The
majority of Iraqi groups are absolutely with us, and that is why US
administrator Paul Bremer threatened to veto," al-Faidi said. "Bremer
would not have threatened to veto if he was sure all Iraqi groups
would be with him," he added.
Shia rising possible Marjaiya option - 17 Feb 04
http://www.arabtimesonline.com/arabtimes/world/Viewdet.asp?ID=2005&;cat=a
..
Iraq's powerful Shiite elite has drawn up compromise proposals to
rescue the community from a heated political standoff with the
Americans over its demand for snap elections. The Marjaiya, the top
clerical body for the country's Shiite majority, has established a
series of alternatives as it awaits the findings of a UN mission
tapped to render a verdict on whether polls are possible before the
US-led occupation ends on June 30.
..
Even as the Shiite majority's clerical leadership signaled readiness
to compromise with the US-led occupation over its demand for snap
polls, the rank and file did not seem so eager to go along.
A Religious Awakening - 19 Feb 04
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ny-wohawz19q3677561feb19,0,6868781.story
..
Hemadi and other women from a Baghdad-based group, the Islamic Women's
Movement, note that Islamic scriptures accord women considerable
rights - inheriting property, for example, or declining an unwanted
husband. They say it's the way male authorities interpret those
writings that keeps women from exercising them. To address that
disparity, they want a hawza, or Shia religious academy, of their own.
Teaching women their rights under Islam, they say, is the way to end
injustices against them. "If we go to hawzas or religious classes to
learn that this is not right - that it is forbidden, that there is a
penalty - then [men] will change their actions and follow the straight
path," Hemadi said. Female experts on Islamic law could pose a
powerful challenge to male dominance in Islam, experts said. "If they
can proceed to do what they're proposing, then they would have done a
huge service to the Islamic world as a whole," said Amira Sonbol, a
Georgetown University professor who specializes in women and Islamic
law. "Give them a chance to talk from within Islamic culture, and we
will have real reform."
..
Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, barred public schools from teaching the
doctrines of Islam according to Iraq's Shia majority. While Shia men
were allowed to study in hawzas, the women had to try their luck with
Sunni-run seminaries, which rarely admitted them. "For years, I went
to the sharia college and tried to apply, but they wouldn't let me
study," said Bushra Abed Ghareeb, 34, a soft-spoken poet. When the
regime fell, Shia women eagerly joined the national religious
awakening. Mothers began teaching their daughters at home. Prominent
clerics began sending imams to mosques to lecture women. Gradually,
mosques began offering introductory religion classes for women.
..
They want to study sharia and Islamic jurisprudence, just like men,
and earn advanced religious degrees. And they also want a share of the
alms left by pilgrims at Shia religious shrines, which feed the small
stipends male seminarians live on.
..
To issue legitimate religious degrees, a women's hawza would have to
be affiliated with Al-Hawza Al-Ilmiya in Najaf, the 1,300-year-old
seminary widely regarded as the pre-eminent center of Shia learning.
Essentially, they need recognition from male religious authorities.
Iraq's largest Shia political party, the Supreme Council for the
Islamic Revolution in Iraq, supports religious education for women.
But Sheik Hamid Maalla al-Saedi, a spokesman for the group in Baghdad,
was quick to draw the line between such a project and the hawzas that
produce Shia scholars.
Ignoring Iraq's Islamists - 17 Feb 04
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/marshall200402170846.asp
..
The Minister of Higher Education, Ziad Abdel Razzaq Muhammad Aswad, a
man of Wahabbi persuasion, has fired all university presidents except
for those in the three Kurdish universities, and has replaced them
with Islamists. Several of those ousted are now afraid to speak
publicly because they fear retaliation by extremists. The new
presidents have sent circulars throughout the universities demanding
that all women in them conform to "Islamic dress." Even though the
fired presidents had been elected by their peers under Coalition
Provisional Authority supervision, Bremer has refused to intervene.
The Governing Council has also removed the politically independent
Sawson al-Sharafi, the deputy minister of agriculture, because
Islamists refused to work under a woman. Even though the growing
pressure on her was highlighted in a January 16 letter to Bremer from
Senator Rick Santorum, he again chose not to intervene. Her case is
reminiscent of Nidal Nasser Hussein, whose judicial appointment in
Najaf last July was blocked when Shiite religious authorities,
including the highest-ranking, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, issued
fatwas stating that all judges must be male. The moderate governor of
Nasriyah has also been removed from office because of pressure from
Islamists.
..
Arab female judges speak of their struggle - 18 Feb 04
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=8951
..
Nidal Nasser Jreiwo, who hails from Iraq's holy Muslim Shiite city of
Najaf, was appointed judge by the US-led civilian administration after
the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003. "A few female and male
lawyers opposed my appointment arguing that it was 'haram' (illicit
under Islam) for a woman to be a judge, prompting me to appeal to
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani," Iraq's top Shiite cleric, she said.
Sistani's reply did not contain a clear-cut ban on women being judges,
but influential members of the Najaf community nevertheless
interpreted it as rejecting her appeal, she said. "There is a backward
religious stream trying to influence people in order to prevent women
from reaching top positions, although Islam allows women to enter the
job market," Jreiwo said. According to Jreiwo there are only seven
female judges in Iraq since the 1980s.
JORDAN
Scepticism over curricula review - 20 Feb 04
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/779A6DD2-2F0C-47A0-8B57-11D635D70CA1.htm
..
A controversy is building up in Jordan and some other Arab countries
over plans to introduce "human rights and peace culture" into school
curricula.
..
The opposition Islamic Action Front (IAF), Jordan's largest political
party, considers the simultaneous declaration by pro-US governments in
Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to amend curricula as bowing to
American pressure. The front is leading a campaign to derail the move
through legal means.
..
"The plan does not run counter to the rules of Islamic sharia (law),
values of the Arab culture, the constitution or the education
philosophy and guidelines as adopted by the landmark education
conference held in 1987," [Education Minister Khalid Tuqan] said.
..
Jordanian Islamic scholars confided that they believed the textbooks
relating to Arabic and Islamic culture would be targeted with a view
to "removing Quranic verses and Prophet Mohammad's sayings that urge
jihad and martyrdom, which Western nations consider as the driving
force for alleged acts of terrorism".
KENYA
Let Kadhi's courts remain as they are, say delegates - 18 Feb 04
http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/Today/News/Review1802200466.html
..
Delegates yesterday rejected attempts to reinstate a powerful Kadhi’s
court in the draft constitution. They could not open up the debate on
the entrenchment of the courts in the constitution as they had made
their decisions by consensus, they resolved.
..
The committee had resolved not to make the Kadhi’s courts parallel to
the High Court and Court of Appeal, and had instead recommended that
they retain the legal status they enjoy today as subordinate courts.
The Kadhi's' Court will deal only with issues of a personal nature
such as marriage, divorce, inheritance and succession among Muslims.
But the reports presented to the committee yesterday questioned the
powers of the technical committee to delete entire clauses in the
original draft.
..
http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/Today/News/News2002200498.html
.. - 20 Feb 04
The Kadhis' courts will adjudicate disputes among Muslims. However,
all feuding parties must profess the Islamic faith and submit
themselves to the jurisdiction of the courts, the technical committee
on the Judiciary resolved. The courts will be subordinate to the High
Court. The committee became the first to finish revising the Zero
Draft yesterday and now awaits the report of the consensus building
team to resolve contentious issues. The draft constitution prepared by
the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission had suggested 18
commissioners among them the Chief Kadhi. But the delegates deleted
the Chief Kadhi, reduced the commissioners to 11 and included three
new members among them representatives of Christian, Muslim and .
Delegate Garvase Akhwabi also questioned the rationale of having a
Christian and a Hindu named as members of the commission.
KUWAIT
Fatwa issued for 'shameless' reality TV - 18 Feb 04
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,8718716%255E29677,00.html
..
The dean of Kuwait's Islamic Law College has issued a fatwa, or
religious edict, calling on Muslims to boycott a popular reality TV
show for its "shamelessness and decadence." Star Academy brings
together talented young men and women from different Arab countries -
including Kuwait - to learn music while they live under the same roof.
One participant is voted off each week. "Following this program or
supporting it (by voting for candidates) is sacrilegious," Mohammed
al-Tabtabai said in comments published Tuesday.
..
Star Academy is aired from Lebanon by the privately owned Lebanese
Broadcasting Corporation. Viewers can watch the participants 24 hours
a day on a satellite music channel, Nagham, as they cook, eat, fight,
hug, kiss and attend sports, music and dance classes. Men and women
have separate sleeping quarters.
MALAYSIA
Don't politicise Islam, say students - 23 Feb 04
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Tuesday/Frontpage/20040224071004/Article/indexb_html
..
Politicising Islam threatens the unity of the ummah, a large majority
of university students said in a recent survey. Sixty-eight per cent
of 2,567 students surveyed feel Islamic unity is undermined by the
religion being used for political purposes.
..
Suhaimi said two-thirds of the respondents also agreed that Malaysia
was an Islamic country, while 18 per cent disagreed. The study,
conducted between September and December last year, largely involved
final-year bachelor's degree students from seven universities.
..
Suhaimi said the study also showed that 64 per cent of the respondents
disagreed that jihad meant armed struggle, while 11 per cent said it
did. The remaining 25 per cent were either uncertain or did not know.
He said 64 per cent of the students also wanted those involved in
militancy to be held under the Internal Security Act, while 13.9 per
cent disagreed.
Institute explains what constitutes an Islamic State - 24 Feb 04
http://beta.yellowbrix.com/pages/beta/Story.nsp?story_id=47488666
.. [New Straits Times]
Implementing the hudud and qisas (Islamic penal laws) does not make a
country an Islamic State, a noted Islamic scholar said today.
Malaysian Institute of Islamic Development director-general Datuk Dr
Abdul Monir Yaacob said hudud and qisas were a small part of an
Islamic State, as there were many other elements which constituted
such a State. Among other elements that make a true Islamic State are
educational development, poverty eradication, sound economic policies
which benefit the people and social justice. He said policies which
allowed Islam to prosper such as the building of mosques and Islamic
learning centres and facilitating Muslims in the practice of their
rituals, were also characteristics of an Islamic State. "According to
these principles, we can say that Malaysia's Government has succeeded
in fulfilling its duty to develop the country into an Islamic State.
Hudud itself is a small part of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh). "In fact
our Penal Code already covers offences in hudud, such as theft and
rape. The only difference is in the penalties for such crimes," he
said at the Fiqhul Aulawiyyat (priority Islamic jurisprudence) seminar
of the Kedah Ulama and Islamic Intellectuals gathering here today.
MAURITANIA
Mauritania man says his family is enslaved - 18 Feb 04
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/africa/02/18/mauritania.slavery.ap/
..
A free man in Mauritania pleaded for the liberation of a wife and
children he said were still caught in slavery, saying they were being
held by their owners in Mauritania's remote east. The account of
Cheikhna Ould Beilil, a free-born man who says he is married to a
slave, Kelizima Mint Bota, was the second case to emerge in recent
weeks of traditional slavery that international rights groups say
still binds hundreds of thousands into servitude in West Africa.
..
Ould Beilil and his wife, both black Africans, settled just outside
the compound of the Arab family that owned her, he said. After Ould
Beilil squabbled with Mint Bota's masters, he attempted to move his
family away from the compound -- but the owners prevented her and the
children from leaving in March.
..
Traditionally, a slavewoman's children become her masters' property,
even if the father is a free man. Ould Beilil provided the AP with a
copy of what he said was a ruling from a local Sharia court, enforcing
Islamic law, in June. The alleged ruling said the family should be
together under Ould Beilil's direction. It said nothing about slavery.
Despite the ruling, Mint Bota's masters still will not allow his
family to leave their conditions of forced work -- and local police
have told him to forget the family, Ould Beilil said. "The mother and
daughters are used for housework, the boy looks after the herds," Ould
Beilil said of his family's ongoing situation.
NIGERIA
WHO begins polio campaign - 20 Feb 04
http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/4618831.html
..
The World Health Organization (WHO) will launch a massive immunization
campaign Monday targeting 63 million children in 10 African countries
as a polio outbreak spreads from heavily Muslim northern Nigeria.
Islamic leaders in the heart of the Nigerian outbreak say they will
uphold their ban on the polio vaccine, calling it part of a U.S. plot
to spread infertility or AIDS among Muslims. Health workers say the
5-month-old ban has spread the crippling disease back into seven
African countries where it had been eradicated and threatens a 16-year
effort -- the world's single-largest public health project -- to
eliminate the disease worldwide. Monday's campaign launch will send
hundreds of thousands of volunteers house to house to administer the
oral vaccine, from arid Niger on the edge of the Sahara to the
savannas of central Africa's Congo.
[Bauchi] Emir Commends Sharia Commission - 16 Feb 04
http://allafrica.com/stories/200402160852.html [This Day - Lagos]
..
The Emir of Bauchi, Suleiman Adamu, has commended the state's sharia
commission for its efforts towards the successful implementation of
the sharia legal system in the state, just as he condemned the
non-challant attitude of well-to-do Muslims to the propagation of
Islam.
..
The Emir noted with delight, the re-introduction of Zakkat by the
Commission, to assist the less privileged in the society and called on
the general public to support the sharia commission to achieve its
desired goal.
[Katsina] 200 Yrs of Sokoto Caliphate Marked - 24 Feb 04
http://www.thisdayonline.com/news/20040224sta02.html
..
Katsina Emirate Council over the weekend marked 200 years of Sokoto
Caliphate with a mini durbar, at Kofar Joto playground, opposite the
emir's palace. The dubar, signified the victory of Sheikh Uthman Dan
Fodio* 200 years ago, during the war in Hausaland in order to spread
Islam within the caliphate. Prominent citizens of the emirate,
including all district heads led their people to pay homage to the
Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Muhammadu Kabir Usman, who is the titular head
and representative of Uthman Dan Fodio jihad in the state.
..
* http://reference.allrefer.com/encyclopedia/U/Usumanda.html
..
Usuman dan Fodio 1754–1817. Fulani religious and political leader.
Beginning as an itinerant Muslim missionary in northern Nigeria, he
gained a large following for his syncretic visions, establishing a
base in Gudu. After Usuman successfully conducted jihad (holy war)
against the king of Gobir (1804–8), his followers conquered most of
the other Hausa states of northern Nigeria by 1812. He established the
Sokoto caliphate, which he left to his brother and son. After his
death, his son, Mohammed Bello, gained sole control.
PAKISTAN
New Islamic year begins as Muharram moon sighted - 22 Feb 04
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=55699
..
The Muharram-ul-Haram 1425 AH (the first month of Islamic calendar
year) has been sighted, announced Chairman Ruet Hilal Committee Mufti
Muneeb-ur-Rehman on late Saturday evening. The first Muharram will be
today (Sunday) and Aashoor (one of the most sacred day of the Islamic
calendar year would be marked on March 2 (Tuesday).
..
Security arrangements have been finalized by the district
administration Attock to avoid any untoward incident during the month
of Moharamul Haram as 20 cities including Attock district of the
Punjab were declared sensitive by the secret agencies. While, a
comprehensive plan has been chalked out to vigilant the activities of
the defunct religious outfits. The district and Tehsil nazmeen will be
responsible to maintain law and order situation. Source said, the
sensitive areas of the Punjab are include Attock, Rawalpindi,
Hafizabad, Gujranwala, Jhang, Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Toba Tak
Singh, Lodhran, Sheikhupura, Narowal, Sialkot, Sargodha, Qasur, Okara,
Layyah and Gujrat as well.
..
Pak bans Islamic clerics from travelling - 21 Feb 04
http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=28667
..
The Pakistani government has banned more than 300 hardline clerics
from leaving their home districts to prevent them inciting violence
when minority Shiites start a key holy month next week. Shiite Muslims
hold big processions and meetings during the month of Muharram, in
which they mourn the 7th century slaying of Imam Hussain, a grandson
of Prophet Mohammad. Hardliners among the Sunni Muslim consider
Muharram, expected to start on Monday, to be against the spirit of
Islam and accuse Shi-ites of making derogatory remarks against
companions of the Prophet Mohammad.
President vows action against publishing inflammatory material
http://www.balochistanexpress.com/frontpage/news.asp?news=2498&;page=FrontPage
..
Reiterating a firm commitment to fight against extremism, President
General Pervez Musharraf Thursday said strict action would be taken
against elements involved in publication of inflammatory material. The
President told a delegation of Ulema and Mashaikh, who called on him
at Aiwan-e-Sadr that the Government would continue its fight against
extremism and terrorism and deal strictly with anyone found involved
in spreading hate material. He said those who try to fan sectarian
hatred through posters and other publications not only work against
the interests of Pakistan but their actions also run counter to the
spirit of Islam, which calls for unity, love, tolerance, moderation
and brotherhood. Commenting on some Ulema's mention of the inciting
material finding its way into the country from abroad, the President
said the concerned authorities would be directed to foil any such
attempt.
..
On Ulema's pointing out some drawbacks in the Zakat distribution
system, the President agreed that the alms should be disbursed
equitably, fairly and transparently. He assured the Ulema that the
Government will look into the points raised by them for improvement in
the Zakat distribution system.
Women religious leaders set against repeal of Hudood - 20 Feb 04
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_20-2-2004_pg7_8
..
"The Hudood Ordinance merits discussion, and slight changes are
acceptable in it. But it should not be repealed," Dr Fareeda Qadri, a
member of the National Assembly belonging to the Muttahida
Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), told Daily Times. According to her, only two
articles in the ordinance carried controversial laws related to women
and the society should hold a debate for the amendments to satisfy all
segments of society.
..
Dr Qadri was a member of the National Commission on the Status of
Women (NCSW) headed by Judge (r) Majida Rizvi, which recommended the
repeal of the Hudood Ordinance. But the MNA said she opposed the NCSW
chairperson’s viewpoint in the report and suggested 'minor amendments"
purely relating to women.
..
'Before preparing my final viewpoint, I extensively visited the
country's jails and met victims of the Zina Ordinance. I saw a number
of women who were put into jail by their ex-husbands because (the
women) remarried, because there is no provision in our law which
formally registers a divorce," she said. She said she met many girls
in jails who had been imprisoned at the behest of their parents for
marrying men according to their own choice. 'This matter has nothing
to do with religion. It relates to our social values. We should
educate our people to develop friendly relationships with their
daughters," she said. For victims of rape, she was opposed to the
practice of police putting the victims in jail instead of providing
them with quick justice. "We should have investigation centres with a
magistrate and a doctor included in each of these units, which perform
instant medical checkups of the victims and provide them with
justice," she said. But she does not want the Zina law repealed. "Its
bylaws can be improved, but the law is itself is a necessity because
our normal penal laws do not consider rape an offence," Dr Qadri said.
..
There are 216 female religious schools in the country, out of which 24
are located in Karachi and 21 in the rest of Sindh. Daily Times tried
to interview women at their schools, but the institution
administrators refused all interview requests.
[Punjab] Ban on kite-flying reimposed - 23 Feb 04
http://www.hipakistan.com/en/detail.php?newsId=en54974
..
The Punjab Cabinet has decided to impose a complete ban on kite-flying
throughout the province with immediate effect. The provincial cabinet,
met on Sunday, also decided to undertake legislation to evolve a
permanent policy in this regard.
LHC moved to take action against CEC under blasphemy law
http://paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=53351 - 19 Feb 04
..
Majlis-e-Tahaffaz-e-Khatam-e-Nabuwwat (AMTKN), has filed a petition
against the chief election commissioner (CEC) in Lahore High Court
Rawalpindi bench under blasphemy laws for deletion of declaration on
finality of prophet hood from the electoral forms.
..
The petitioner, in his petition has taken the stance that parliament
had declared the Ahmadis and Qadianis non-Muslim minorities after
hectic process. In pursuance of the parliament decision, it is
imperative to mention Qadianis and Ahmadis as non Muslims in electoral
lists and all other legal documents.
[NWFP] Schools dynamited to oppose female education - 20 Feb 04
http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=28602
..
Islamic militants have dynamited seven primary schools for girls in
Pakistan's remote north in a bid to discourage female education, a
government official said on Thursday. The attacks occurred in two
districts of the mountainous northern areas but caused no injuries as
they were carried out at night, a senior government official told
Reuters from Gilgit, the region's capital. He blamed the attacks on
local tribesmen encouraged by "religious elements" opposed to
education of girls.
SAUDI ARABIA
The Writings of Liberal Saudi Journalist Raid Qusti - 20 Feb 04
http://www.memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD66504
[Batterjee] How Saudi wealth fueled holy war - 22 Feb 04
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&;u=/chitribts/20040222/ts_chicagotrib/howsaudiwealthfueledholywar
Arab female judges speak of their struggle - 18 Feb 04
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=8951
..
Mayssa Abu Dalbuh works as a "legal consultant" in a law office in the
Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah, where she deals exclusively with female
clients. "I listen to their problems and draft their cases, but I
cannot go to court to represent them and therefore I must hand the
cases over to a male colleague who will follow it up," Abu Dalbuh
said. A law regulating the legal profession in Saudi Arabia that was
issued two years ago did not make any gender difference "but tradition
is what prevents us from following court proceedings," she said.
Nevertheless, according Leila al-Doghaither, who works in a legal
office in Riyadh, "Saudi women can represent themselves in court but
not accompanied by a female lawyer". Doghaither also complained that
although there is a need for female lawyers in Saudi Arabia, only a
few have studied civil law compared to "thousands who have studied
Islamic law".
Saudi gays flaunt new freedoms - 24 Feb 04
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=493196
..
In the glass and marble shopping malls of this cosmopolitan and
comparatively laid-back city on the Red Sea, young Saudi Arabian men
are taking advantage of the emergence of an increasingly tolerated
Western-oriented gay scene. Certain malls are known as cruising
areas, and there are even gay-friendly coffee shops. A big gay disco
takes place at a private villa in the north of the city once a week.
And young Saudis who frequent these venues, many returnees from the
United States after the 11 September 2001 attacks, say that they get
to know one another through the internet. The paradox of Saudi Arabia
is that while the executioner's sword awaits anyone convicted of the
crime of sodomy, in practice homosexuality is tolerated.
..
Saudi Arabia's domestic reform initiative, combined with the kingdom's
eagerness to shed an international reputation for fostering extremism
and intolerance, may even have some benefits for this strict Islamic
society's gay community. Shortly after the attacks on America - most
of the suicide-hijackers were Saudi nationals - a Saudi diplomat in
Washington denied that the kingdom beheads homosexuals, while openly
admitting that "sodomy" is practised by consenting males in Saudi
Arabia "on a daily basis". Even the head of the notorious religious
police has since acknowledged the existence of a local gay population.
..
While homosexuality is illegal in Saudi Arabia, doubt surrounds
specific punishment for it. Some gay foreigners were deported in the
1990s, "but no Saudi has ever been prosecuted for 'being a
homosexual'. The concept just doesn't exist here," the Western
diplomat said. Since the uproar over the beheadings, the kingdom's
Internet Services Unit, responsible for blocking sites deemed
"unIslamic" or politically sensitive, unblocked access to its home
page for gay Saudi surfers after being bombarded with critical e-mails
from the US.
..
Ibrahim bin Abdullah bin Ghaith, the head of the religious police (the
Committee for the Prevention of Vice and the Promotion of Virtue)
acknowledged, in unusually tempered language, that there are gay
Saudis, while also speaking of the need "to educate the young" about
this "vice". But he denied media reports that gay and lesbian
relationships were the norm in the strictly segregated schools and
colleges, that homosexuality "is spreading".
[Mina] Religious cops bust Valentine's party - 17 Feb 04
http://iafrica.com/news/worldnews/303178.htm
..
Saudi Arabia's religious police arrested more than 200 workers from
Bangladesh and Myanmar as they celebrated St Valentine's Day outside
the holy city of Mecca, where the traditional event for lovers is
banned by fatwa or Muslim edict, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.
The cleaning workers were caught on Monday at dawn partying at a tent
camp used by pilgrims at Mina, close to Mecca, Al-Madina said. The
enforcers from the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and
Prevention of Vice found that 16 were drunk. The men, aged 16-28, were
employed by a cleaning company to clear the camp after the annual hajj
ended at the start of February. Organisers of the party, who sold
alcohol and food and brought in musicians for Sunday night, a day
after the real St Valentine's, managed to escape the clutches of the
religious police, the daily said. They charged five riyals a ticket
($1.4) without dinner, and put a large banner outside a tent where the
all-night fiesta was held, next to a site where Muslims gather to
"stone the devil" during the piligrimage.
TANZANIA
Tanzania Charity Officials Expelled - 16 Feb 04
http://www.nationaudio.com/News/EastAfrican/current/Regional/Regional1602200435.html
..
The Tanzanian branch of a Saudi charitable organisation, Al-Haramain
Islamic Foundation, has shut down its offices after two of its top
officials were deported for obtaining citizenship fraudulently.
..
The assets of Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation are said to have been
distributed among different peoples, organisations and individuals.
The Tanzania Muslim Council (Bakwata), the apex organisation of
Muslims in the country, has denied any links with Al-Haramain.
Bakwata Secretary General Alhaj Othman Ntaru told The EastAfrican,
"Most of the information we have (on it) comes from the press. We did
not know their offices or leaders and how they operated."
Muslim Missionaries Recruiting Africans For Holy War - 23 Feb 04
http://www.thewmurchannel.com/news/2867050/detail.html
..
Muslim missionaries from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Pakistan have been
visiting mosques in East Africa to recruit young men for holy war.
Moderate Muslim leaders say the part-time preachers go from mosque to
mosque spouting sermons of hate, then offer young men a chance to wage
holy war in Iraq, Afghanistan or Pakistan. A moderate Muslim leader in
Tanzania says most older clerics try to warn their congregations that
the extremists distort Islam. Most people in Zanzibar follow a
mystical form of Sufi Islam, which emphasizes peace and harmony, so
they tend to reject the missionaries' fiery rhetoric.
UK
Imams debate Muslim marriages - 21 Feb 04
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3503741.stm
..
Some of the UK's Muslim religious leaders are meeting to debate
problems arising from marriages within the community. Imams will
discuss issues including forced marriages and so-called "honour
killings". The event in Manchester has been organised by the
self-styled Muslim Parliament of Britain.
..
The conference would particularly focus on regulating Islamic
marriages which are not recognised by British law unless a civil
marriage has also taken place, Dr Siddiqui told BBC News Online.
He said he knew of a growing number of cases of women who had lost
their home and been denied a share of the marital assets because their
marriage had never been registered according to British law. The
emphasis would be on persuading imams to register their mosques as
venues for civil weddings so that Islamic marriages performed there
would be valid under British law, he added.
..
the child brides who are forced to marry in Britain - 22 Feb 04
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1153446,00.html
USA
Alabama Driver's Photo Rule Changed to Allow Hijab - 20 Feb 04
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=114-02202004
..
A prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group [CAIR]
today applauded a decision by the state of Alabama to allow Islamic
heads scarves, or hijab, in driver's license photographs.
..
According to the new policy: "The photograph of each applicant must
be a 'full face' photoAlthough variations in hairstyles and head
covering make it difficult to rigorously define the term 'face' in
general, the head of the applicant shall be shown from the top of the
forehead to the bottom of the chin and from hairline side-to-
side...Head coverings and headgear are only acceptable due to
religious beliefs or medical conditions..."
..
Hooper [CAIR] said Alabama is now in conformity with the majority of
other states that already allow religious and medical exemptions to
prohibitions against head coverings in driver's license photographs.
FINANCE
Saudi Mutual Funds Perform Better in 2003 - 22 Feb 04
http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=42173
[Saudi] Seminar to be held for publication of encyclopedia -22 Feb 04
http://www.islamicnews.org/english/en_daily.html#_Toc65228423
..
A scholarly seminar is to be held here to look into ways and means of
publishing an encyclopedia of Fiqh and Economics. The seminar is being
convened by the International Islamic Fiqh (Jurisprudence) Academy and
the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB), and is scheduled for
February 26 . The encyclopedia would be the first of its kind, and
would contain such things as the Fatwas (religious pronouncements) and
juridical rulings relating to economic matters.
[Malaysia] PUTB fund to sell out in 1 week - 20 Feb 04
http://www.theedge.com.my/article.cfm?id=28650
..
Prudential Unit Trusts Bhd (PUTB) expects its new RM300 million [EUR
63 m] Syariah- based trust fund PRUdana dinamik to be fully subscribed
within a week, says chief executive officer Mark Toh Chin Hian.
..
Toh said PUTB trust funds were likely to outperform the market again.
"Last year, the Syariah index rose 28.93% while our Syariah fund
registered a return of 53.64%." PUTB had RM 1.3 billion in assets, or
a 5% market share, under its management as at Dec 31 last year.
[*] 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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