Islamic Ignorance II

[Nonson]

WARNING:

Those of weak constitutions probably should forego reading the following article.



Posted by Muslim on May 10, 2000 at 09:43:51:

Salam alaikum,

We often find ourselves outraged at what the non-Muslims do to our sisters. However, rarely do we
stop and reflect about what our own Muslim 'brothers' are doing to our sisters. This article is scary,
not just because of the horrors it mentions (even if there are distortions), but fundamentally because
those speaking out against these horrendous crimes and helping the victims are not our scholars
or the leaders of our Islamic parties, but Westernised feminists who will brainwash our sisters and
turn them away from Allah by means of this good deed that they're doing. Heartbreakingly, it
appears that our scholars don't know how to separate culture and religion, or perhaps they're not
really prepared to because most of their followers see these acts as being part of their religion and
challenging this would mean challenging the common person's understanding of what it means to
be Muslim. May Allah guide us all to righteousness and following of His beautiful deen.

Salam alaikum,

==============================================
In Pakistan, Women Pay The Price of 'Honor'

By Pamela Constable
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday , May 8, 2000 ; A01

GUJAR KHAN, Pakistan √√ Zahida Perveen's head is shrouded in a white cotton
veil, which she self-consciously tightens every few moments. But when she
reaches down to pick up her baby daughter, the veil falls away to reveal the
face of one of Pakistan's most horrific social ills, broadly known as "honor"
crimes.

Perveen's eyes are empty sockets of unseeing flesh, her earlobes have been
sliced off, and her nose is a gaping, reddened stump of bone. Sixteen months
ago, her husband, in a fit of rage over her alleged affair with a
brother-in-law, bound her hands and feet and slashed her with a razor and
knife. She was three months' pregnant at the time.

"He came home from the mosque and accused me of having a bad character," the
tiny, 32-year-old woman murmured as she awaited a court hearing last month.
"I told him it was not true, but he didn't believe me. He caught me and tied
me up, and then he started cutting my face. He never said a word except,
'This is your last night.' "

Perveen's disfigurement is extreme, but her case is standard in its basic
elements. Thousands of Pakistani women and girls are stabbed, burned or
maimed every year by husbands, fathers or brothers who believe they have
brought them dishonor by being unfaithful, seeking a divorce, eloping with a
boyfriend or refusing to marry a man chosen by the family.

If a victim dies, the crime becomes an "honor killing," a term that has come
to symbolize the cruel irony of a conservative Islamic society that purports
to shelter women, yet often condones savage violence against them in the name
of male and family honor.

The problem of honor killings in Pakistan, while far from new or unique, has
aroused international attention since April, when Samia Sarwar, 29, was shot
dead in the law office of a leading human rights activist. It turned out that
her parents had ordered the killing because she had shamed the family by
seeking a divorce.

In the past, elected Pakistani leaders have resisted taking action against
honor killings, but last month military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf launched
a national human rights campaign, singling out honor killings for special
denunciation. Government officials said they are hoping to reduce Pakistan's
isolation abroad as well as increase domestic awareness of the issue.

"The government of Pakistan vigorously condemns the practice of so-called
honor killings," Musharraf declared. "Such acts do not find a place in our
religion or law. Killing in the name of honor is murder, and it will be
treated as such."

Such crimes occur in countries across the world and among societies of all
faiths; a jealous husband in the United States may be driven to the same act
of rage as one in Pakistan or Portugal. But such attacks tend to be taken
more seriously by authorities in developed countries, where women are more
educated about their rights.

Moreover, because the concepts of male honor and female subservience are
deeply ingrained in Islamic and Asian tribal cultures, honor crimes including
killing have occurred for years in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt and other
Muslim countries, including Pakistan, without provoking widespread outcry.

"The concept of honor killing does not exist in Islamic law, but conservative
tradition is very strong in our culture. Islam gives rights to women, but
society snuffs them out," said Nayyar Shebana, a lawyer with the Aurat
Foundation, a women's advocacy group in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital.

Only sketchy statistics are available on honor crimes, but the independent
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reported that in 1998 and 1999, more than
850 women were killed by their husbands, brothers, fathers or other relatives
in Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province. In many of those cases, the
commission said, the woman was suspected of what was considered immoral
behavior.

Another common form of domestic violence against Pakistani women is burning.
In 1998 and 1999, the commission reported more than 560 cases of women burned
at home in Punjab. In 1998, nearly half the victims died. Many cases were
suspicious, but there were only a handful of arrests. The Progressive Women's
Association, which assists attack victims, tracked 3,560 women who were
hospitalized after being attacked at home with fire, gasoline or acid between
1994 and 1999.

"We deal with these cases every day, but I have seen very few convictions,"
said Nahida Mahbooba Elahi, a lawyer and women's rights activist who
represents honor crime victims. "The men say the wife didn't obey their
orders, or was having relations with someone else. The police often say it is
a domestic matter and refuse to pursue the case. Some judges even justify it
and do not consider it murder."

Since the outcry over Samia Sarwar's killing, dozens of other cases have come
to light, largely as a result of pressure and publicity by women's groups. In
recent interviews, victims or their families described the following
incidents of extreme domestic violence:


* Perveen Aktar, 37, was severely burned in September when her husband, a
fruit peddler in Rawalpindi, threw acid on her. According to Aktar, whose
face, chest and back are badly scarred, her husband wanted to return to his
first wife, and she refused. She said she went to the police, but that her
husband paid them a series of bribes and they did not investigate. He has
since fled to another city.


* Zarina, 40, fled her home in Kashmir after her 20-year-old stepson shot her
younger sister dead; the girl had wanted to marry a boyfriend whom the
stepson did not like. Zarina said her husband sided with his son, beat her
and threatened to kill their 2-year-old daughter when Zarina asked for a
divorce. Zarina and her daughter are now in hiding in a private women's
shelter.


* Kousar Perveen, a 32-year-old mother of four from Talagang, about 100 miles
south of Islamabad, was allegedly beaten and burned to death by her in-laws
in February. According to her parents and sisters, the in-laws had forbidden
her to leave their house, even to visit her ailing parents or attend a
cousin's wedding, and she had quarreled bitterly with them.

"They killed my daughter. God help me," sobbed Manzour Hussain, 75, his limbs
shaking violently with palsy as two neighbors carried him to a protest
organized by the Progressive Women's Association at the Talagang courthouse
in April. The in-laws reportedly claimed she had been burned in a kitchen
fire, but Hussain's family said she had been tied up and murdered. Two people
are under arrest, but no trial date has been set.

According to lawyers and women's rights advocates, many such cases are never
brought to trial. They say police are easily bribed or persuaded by the men's
families to dismiss the complaints as "domestic accidents." Many victims,
especially uneducated women confined to their husband's homes, are too
intimidated to press charges. Moreover, under another Islamic legal concept
called qisas and diyat, a blood relative of a victim can formally "forgive" a
crime in exchange for payment, with specific sums prescribed for damage to
each body part.

Police officials say that many domestic crimes are never brought to their
attention, that the complaints are often without merit and that they prefer
to settle minor ones informally. But they insist that they pursue all violent
crimes and murder charges with equal vigor, no matter what the motive.

"We want to punish the man who has done this, and the authorities are
committed to doing all we can to help," said Ikramullah Niazi, a police
magistrate in Talagang who reassured Kousar Perveen's relatives outside the
courthouse. "But it is difficult to collect evidence, and whether he is
acquitted or convicted is a matter for the judiciary. There is only so much
we can do."

Women's rights advocates have praised Musharraf for his strong statement
condemning honor killings, but they note it has not been accompanied by any
moves to bolster investigations or prosecutions. They also predict that such
crimes will occur with impunity as long as the laws that enshrine men's
superiority over women remain unchanged and as long as the popular belief
persists that a woman's sexual sins must be avenged.

"Sections of society continued to regard any expression of independence by
women as an infamy, and the only way to restore the family's honor was to
promptly put an end to the life of the transgressor," the Human Rights
Commission said last year. The subordination of women was so "routine," the
group noted, that domestic violence was widely considered "normal"
behavior--even by the victims themselves.

Zahida Perveen's husband, a 40-year-old barber named Mahmoud Iqbal, does not
deny that he carved up her face with his razor on the night of Dec. 28, 1998.
His defense is based on the Islamic legal concept of ghairat, or
uncontrollable actions in the face of extreme provocation--in this case,
suspicion that his wife was being unfaithful. He took no action against the
brother-in-law with whom she was thought to be involved.

"I did these things, but I was going out of my senses," said the stocky
bearded man, shackled to a policeman with thick iron chains, as he stood on a
balcony outside the Gujar Khan courtroom, about 20 miles from Rawalpindi,
awaiting an evidence hearing in the case. "She was provoking me and ruining
my life. What I did was wrong, but I am satisfied. I did it for my honor and
prestige."

As Iqbal was taken to a police van after the hearing, several male relatives
and acquaintances approached and shook his manacled hand. Later, when
journalists showed his wife's photographs to a group of middle-class men in
Islamabad, several of them commented that she "must have deserved it" and
that her husband "did what a man has to do."

Although Pakistani law does not condone murder in the name of honor, it does
contain strict Islamic ordinances enacted in 1979 that prescribe harsh
punishment for the crime of zina, which means committing adultery or having
premarital sex.

Under these ordinances, men and women can be stoned to death or publicly
whipped 100 times for committing zina, but such charges are brought almost
exclusively against women. Harsh penalties are rarely imposed, largely
because it is very difficult to prove that the alleged sexual acts have
occurred. But women's advocates say the law intimidates women, prevents them
from demanding their rights and encourages men to abuse them with impunity.

"Usually the women are eventually acquitted, but they may spend several years
in jail meanwhile," said Shebana, the women's advocacy lawyer. "Their
families are happy to have them in prison, because they have disgraced the
family by eloping and they must be made to suffer for it."

In Pakistani society, women who are accused of zina, or who seek divorce and
are not living with their parents, are often ordered to remain in jail or in
locked government shelters while their case is pending. In theory, these
shelters are intended to protect unattached women, but in practice they also
seek to protect society from them and to ensure they do not engage in sex.

There are currently 28 women confined to the shelter in Rawalpindi. The doors
and windows to their rooms are barred, and only lawyers and relatives are
permitted to visit them. They spend their days praying, studying the Koran,
embroidering and watching television.

One pretty girl in her early twenties ran away from home after she was forced
to marry a wealthy man twice her age. Her father filed a police case against
her for eloping with a boy. In another case, a mother of five who sought a
divorce said she was kidnapped by her brothers and threatened with
mutilation. A third inmate named Usma said her husband beat her and took up
with another woman but that her parents forced her to return to him.

"My parents say it is shameful for me to want a divorce," said Usma, who has
been confined for more than a year. "They say it will ruin their reputation
and that no one will marry me if I am second-hand. I don't want to go home. I
don't want to get remarried. I just want to be free."

For Pakistani women who have been scarred by domestic violence, remarriage is
almost unthinkable; sometimes suspicious husbands disfigure them so they will
not be attractive to other men. Zahida Perveen, a slim woman with curly black
hair, may well have caught her brother-in-law's eye as a pretty young bride.

Now, her face is a scarred and sightless mask that evokes horror and disgust
from strangers. But once in a while, when her veil drops, it arouses other
emotions. Last month, as Perveen crouched outside the Gujar Khan courtroom,
an elderly woman watched her silently and began to weep. The woman let her
own veil drop, revealing a jaw and cheek that had been badly burned 20 years
before.

"It was an accident," explained a man who sat next to her.

"It was an accident," the woman repeated quickly, and readjusted the veil
over her face.


In the Name of Family Honor

Culturally sanctioned killing of women in the name of preserving the family's
honor remains a serious problem in many countries. Although little
information is available, some groups have estimated honor-killing incidents:

Bangladesh: Between 1996 and 1998, about 200 women were reported to have been
attacked with acid by husbands or close relatives; deaths unknown.

Egypt: 52 violent crimes reported against women in 1997; in some cases the
perpetrator was the victim's mother or sister.

Jordan: 20 killings reported in 1998. Human rights and women's activists have
urged amendments to the penal code, which exempts honor killings from
punishment or reduces penalties in such cases.

Lebanon: 36 honor crimes between 1996 and 1998, mostly in towns and small
villages; deaths unknown.

Pakistan: Hundreds killed each year. In Sindh province alone, more than 300
women were reported killed last year, and in Punjab province 278.

Palestine territory: In the Gaza Strip, 177 women believed killed between
1996 and 1998 in 239 reported attacks. The deaths were attributed to natural
causes.

SOURCES: UNICEF, national women's groups


╘ 2000 The Washington Post Company



Nonson
2.03.01

[kazanova3]

In the Name of Allah, most Compassionate, most Merciful


this is the site of american women converted to islam.

http://www.islamzine.com/carlo

Women in Islam : Misconceptions About Their Rights



By Sharrifa Carlo
For years, misconceptions about the roles which Muslim women play have abounded. Many people believe that Muslim women are slaves to their husbands, beaten by their husbands, forced by their husbands to cover or that they are completely devoid of rights. In essence, none of this is true. There may be individual cases where these actions may occur, but the same can be stated about any religion or culture. In Islam, however, it is very easy to differentiate between the action of the individual, and the teachings of Islam.

Islam is based upon the teachings of the Glorious Quran and the tradition of the prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. The tradition of the prophet (PBUH) is collected in a series of narrations, collectively know as the Hadiths. Through the Quran and the Hadiths, we, as Muslims can identify our roles, rights and duties.

These sources have some passages which are meant for all Muslims, male or female. There are some which have been dedicated to men, while others speak only to women. With the help of these sources, we, as Muslims, learn our freedoms and our limitations.

In reference to women, the Quran and the Hadiths have mandated various rules in regard to behavior, appearance and rights. Some of these may seem constricting to western women, causing them to pity Muslim women, but these women fail to realize that Muslim women do not feel constricted by these rules; we feel liberated, and in fact, as Muslim women we should pity western women. The Muslim woman is not forced to display herself to find a husband. She does not lower herself into competition with other women, using her body as a lure. Secondly, the Muslim women supports no man. Her property is off limits to her husband. It is his duty to provide for her and her children, regardless of her personal wealth. Thirdly, the man has no right to physically harm his wife. While some western scholars negate this by quoting from the Quran that a man is allowed to beat his wife, they fail to mention that the only condoned instrument for this beating is a siwak. (A siwak is a piece of wood, used as a toothbrush, about as thick as a pencil, and about half the length.) It is highly doubtful that this instrument could cause a child any damage, much less a woman. Yet, in the United States, there are still states which have no laws against a man beating his wife. Even, I once read an article where a man beat his girlfriend and killed her pet rabbit. This man was to six months for beating the woman but six years for killing the rabbit. What kind of society values the life of a rabbit more than the welfare of its women. Allah is the Just, the Supreme. Furthermore, Islam gave women the right to own property, work, inherit, and divorce long before the West had even decided that women were human and that they had souls.

Therefore, Western women should not preach to Muslim women about equal rights, because not only have Muslim woman had these rights, we have also had rights and privileges about which western women have not even thought.

[Nonson]

Kazanova3,

You know nothing of the laws of the United States. Your stupidity is unbounded.

How about responding to the facts, dung pusher?

Nonson
2.04.01

[kazanova3]

why you don't behave your self.i challange you that you are know nothing about religions...get out of the board and let educated people to be on this board ???

[LippyChick]

Hi Nonson,

Thank you for your post. The evidence is there, I guess Kaz is just to blind to see it.

Isn't it strange, that the countries with the worst human rights tend to be Islamic countries. Loving what?

LippyChick

[Nonson]

Hi LippyChick,

Yes. There is overwheming evidence of crimes against humanity, done in the named of Allah, or done using Islam as an excuse. The thing most maddening though is that the majority of the horrid acts are committed people of very little education, and the victims have even less.

Kaz is, indeed, too ignorant to accept what is fact. He more prefers the role of the disseminator of stupidity.

It is true that the most gruesome violations of human rights do occur in the so-called god-fearing countries of Islam. Kaz is atypical of the mental and emotional darkness from which the acts, like slime, oozes in copious amounts.

Nonson
2.06.01

[kazanova3]

will it seems that lippy and nonson are 2 faces of one coin?????????friends islam is the last religion wither you accept it or not ... http://www.it-is-truth.org pls.go and see it to know the truth by your self...and be honest with your self after you visit this site???and till me your feeling after visiting that site????/have nice time..