Western Feminism and South Asian Women

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Pakistan: Rape victim sentenced to death by stoning

In Kohat, in the North-Western Frontier Province of Pakistan, a rape victim has been sentenced to death by stoning. Zafran Bi Bi, wife of Naimat Khan from Kenri Sheikhan, is facing execution for alleged adultery, reports Pakistani Human Rights activist Shaheen Burney, who has written to President Musharraf, requesting his intervention.

Zafran Bi Bi was arrested two years back together with Akmal Khan, the brother of her husband, and accused of adultery, which is according to the Islamic Law of Pakistan punishable by stoning to death. In police custody in Gambat police station and later in the court of Additional District Judge Anwar Ali Khan, Zafran Bi Bi declared that she was innocent and had been raped by Akmal. But she was kept in detention and the case was persuaded against her, while Akmal Khan was released.

Rationalist International calls upon all friends to send email messages to the President of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf and request him to intervene and stop the execution of Zafran Bi Bi. Send a copy of your letter to Rationalist International as well.

Address of Pakistan President General Musharraf: CE@pak.gov.pk

The Zina (Enforcement of Hadd) Ordinance, 1979.



The following information regarding the zina sections of the Hudood Ordinances is extracted/based on the Commission of Inquiry for Women Report of 1997 (pages 64-75), that was headed by Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid, a serving Justice of the Supreme Court at the time. Prepared by Shirkat Gah for the JAC Meeting Peshawar May 4th 2002 on Zafran Bibi Case.

1. Zina (Enforcement of Hadd) Ordinance was introduced by General Zia regime in 1979.

- Offences covered under this law are: Zina (both fornication and adultery) rape, kidnapping, abducting or inducing a woman to illicit sex or compelling her to marriage against her will, enticement or detaining a woman with criminal intent, selling or buying a person for purposes of prostitution.

- Under the Zina law, for criminal liability for adults a girl is considered adult at 16 or on attaining puberty while a boy is considered adult at 18 or when pubert.

2. There are two sets of punishments under this law: hadd and tazir. Hadd punishment is fixed leaving no discretion with the court and has very stringent rules of evidence.

- The number and qualification of witnesses is specified in the law. A hadd sentence requires the evidence of four adult male Muslim witnesses (who are truthful persons and abstain from major sins).

- Non-Muslim males can only be witnesses when the accused is a non-Muslim.

Thus the evidentiary requirements for the punishment of hadd are discriminatory against women and non-Muslims.

- The confession of the accused before a competent court is the other form of evidence where the punishment of hadd may be awarded. If before the execution of sentence the accused retracts this confession, hadd cannot be imposed.

3. The Zina Ordinance has been a controversial law since the day it was promulgated. It has been criticised for being derogatory and biased in the context of women. Before the promulgation of this law, women could not be tried for zina since previously zina was only a crime in the form of adultery. The punishment was five years imprisonment or a fine or both. Complaints of adultery could only be made by the husband of the adulteress or in his absence by some person who had care of such woman on his behalf. But females could not be punished under this law. The crime was compoundable and bailable. If the complainant chose to drop the charges, or not to prosecute the offender, criminal proceedings against the accused were automatically dropped.

4. Statistics of appeals filed in the Federal Shariat Court (1980-87) show a high rate of acquittal. This low conviction rate indicates that an extremely large number of zina allegations are either false or based on suspicion. This is only one of the aspects of the exploitative nature of the law.

5. As soon as the law was changed to include women within the scope of its punishment, allegations of zina started to run into thousands. This clearly indicates that as long as it was only the male who could be punished for adultery, there was a reluctance to prosecute. The Ordinance became a tool in the hands of those who wished to exploit women. The former Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Mohammad Afzal Zullah, confirmed that 95% of all Hudood cases in the superior courts had been decided in favour of women. (The Muslim, Islamabad, March 9, 1993). Clearly these must have been false cases.

6. Jail figures also confirm that women are frequently victims of this law. In 1988 in Punjab jails out of a total of 657 women in jail, 306 were charged under zina. At 47% this is nearly half of all the women prisoners. 7th July 1997 figures of the following jails statistics were:



Name of jail Total under Trial of Prisoners Charged with Zina
Multan Women’s Jail 9138
D.G.Khan 2016
Rawalpindi 8922
Faisalabad 3316


7. It is often argued that false accusations must eventually result in acquittal; that the law of qazf operates as a check on such false accusations of zina; and that any law can be grossly misused. Such arguments are weak and misleading. Since the offence of zina is a cognisable offence, the accused suffers arrest and often imprisonment during the period of trial. In the case of women, the stigma of such accusations and arrests is by itself a heavy penalty. A large number of female prisoners are unable to provide surety or to get legal assistance, particularly when they have been imprisoned at the instigation of their own families. Despite this, courts nevertheless sometimes require women to bring surety of family members who are the complainant party.

Law of Qazf does not act as any deterrent and is a weak law:

- It is a non-cognisable and a bailable offence.

- The complainant cannot straightaway lodge an FIR.

- Majority of women do not have the facilities to initiate Qazf proceedings.

- The courts have ruled that during subsistence of the marriage, a husband cannot be punished on allegations of Qazf.

- Prosecution for qazf have been few and far between. The number of qazf cases is less than 1% of the number of zina cases. The figure is particularly astounding as there is a high percentage of acquittals in charges of zina.

This law is a tool of exploitation in the hands of law enforcing agencies and ‘family members’ of women who are perceived to defy ‘norms’ of society by exercising their legal rights. Most of the FIRs are filed either by the parents because their daughter has married someone of her own choice or by the former husbands on remarriage of their former wives. The COI Report mentions its own review of case law reported in the Pakistan Annual Law Digest of 1995.

Out of the 60 cases looked at by the Commission, 15 pertained to people who had married against the wishes of their families. One woman was accused of Zina even though she possessed and produced records of the Family Court and the High Court to prove that she had been legally divorced before she remarried.

That police officials collude with the families and pursuers of women has been exposed in a number of reported cases, where police officials have held inquiries on allegations of Zina even through intimation by post.

8. In rape cases the victim is often in an impossible situation: if she reports rape, she runs the risk of being accused of Zina, if she does not, her possible pregnancy may result in her being charged of zina anyway.

9. “The argument that every law can be misused may be correct to some extent. But, thus stated, it addresses the wrong question. The relevant test is not whether a piece of legislation can ever be misused but rather whether it is worth enacting at all given the potential for its abuse and the results which its enforcement would produce. This Commission is strongly of the opinion that the zina Ordinance fails this test. Abundant data testifies that the result of this law has been the victimisation rather than the protection of people, and that the law has had a particularly adverse effect on the least privileged members of society.” (COI Report 1997 page 70)

In conclusion the Commission of Inquiry made the following recommendation:

The Commission is convinced that all the Hudood laws were conceived and drafted in haste. They are not in conformity with the injunctions of Islam.

Secondly, these laws have come into direct conflict both with the country’s Constitution (such as of Article 25) and its international commitments (as made at the Fourth World Conference on Women at Beijing and under the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women).

Thirdly, in practical terms too, these laws have demonstrably failed to serve their purpose. They have not been any deterrent against crimes. And they have only led to proliferation of complaints in the courts, which, as it happens, have mostly been false or unjustified and have caused undue hardship.

It is necessary therefore that:

1. The Hudood laws are repealed.

2. The repealed provisions of the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860, are re-enacted with an amendment to make marital rape a penal offence and to impose a severer punishment for rape on a minor wife.

3. If the Parliament considers it necessary to make any further laws in this area, it should to do so after serious debate and by reaching a consensus that the proposed laws are in accordance with the injunctions of Islam. (Page 75)

Source: http://www.wluml.org/english/alerts/2002/pakistan/pak-zafran-bibi-0402.htm

Islam and the Woman

Part 2

Dr Younus Shaikh.



``Indian sub-continent suffered the humiliation and destruction under Islam, as did Africa. The Islamic General Mohammad Bin Qasim decimated great Buddhist and Hindu civilizations. Acting on the orders of a representative of the Islamic Caliph, Governor Hijaj Bin Yousaf (who was a deadly enemy of the Hazrat Ali and Hazrat Hussein`s family-some of whom have taken refuge under the Buddhist monarch Raja Dahir in Sindh), Mohammad Bin Qasim conquered the kingdom in 712 CE. His Islamic plunderers and looters demolished temples, shattered sculptures, plundered palaces and killed thousands. It took his Islamic army three days to slaughter the inhabitants of Debal, their women and children were taken into slavery. Later on he pardoned many prisoners and tried to establish a just rule of law which enraged the very Islamic and murderous Governor Hijaj Bin Yousaf; therefore Qasim again reverted to the Islamic barbarity and massacred between 6-16 thousands in Brahiminabad, their women and children were sent to Arab Islamic slave markets.

This was the beginning of the destruction of the classical ancient Indian civilization, and start of the medieval age of Islamic darkness in India. The 11th century witnessed another Islamic murderer and plunderer, Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi an agent of Islamic Caliph, who utterly ruined the great Indian civilization and looted and plundered most of its wealth. Fifty thousand Hindus were massacred in just one of his attacks at Somnath; he invaded India more than 17 times. Thousands of Hindu men and women were sent to the Islamic Afghani slave markets. The highly cultured and civilized daughters of the noble Hindu families were sold to the illiterate, un-cultured and barbaric Afghanis for equivalent of just one Frank (Pound/Dollar) each. After every Afghani Muslim had four wives each, there were lots of surplus women left; to that the evil Islamic mullahs responded with an ingenious translation of Koranic verses proving that Allah allowed each Muslim to marry 18 women at a time along with an unlimited number of women as concubines. Soon the new military instruments of the Islamic Caliph, the Turks and the Moguls followed, decimated captured Delhi and turned whole of India into a grand open-air slave camp. Sultan Firoze Shah Tughlaq- an Islamic Turk ruler had 100,000 men-slaves and thousands of female sex-slaves in his harem; the pious Islamic Mongol (Mogul) Emperor Shahjehan had 15,000 female sex-slaves and concubines for his personal harem. Indeed, the Islamic Turk invaders and rulers did the same in India as they did in Armenia-the whole races of peoples were exterminated. (However, credit must be given here to the agnostic and secular-minded, humanist Mogul Emperor Akbar the Great who refused the title of ``the King of Muslims`` and preferred to be called ``the shadow of God``- for his God, he declared (in accordance with the mind and language of his age), is the beneficial deity and protector of all-Hindus, Muslims and other races of humans and creatures alike. He gave up his faith in Islam and tried his genius in creating a pluralistic religion comprising traditions of all the prevalent religions and ideologies of India. He even invited the Christian Jesuits priests from Goa to his ideology-discussion-palace but could not swallow their childish Jesus-son-of-God myth).

The medieval Islamic Empire of the Turkish Osmania Caliphate disappeared after Axis defeat in the World War I and with the rise of the Turkish secular hero Mustafa Kemal Pasha. However, it soon metamorphosed into the modern Saudi Islamic spiritual Empire. It is noteworthy that while the very Christian Holy Roman British Empire of the West required standing armies to control the bodies of men in all its colonies, the theocratic Saudi Islamic spiritual Empire of the East depended on the standing army of clerics-Mullahs and Imams-stationed in mosques to control the minds of men-the social, cultural spiritual and psychological control. It is true that Islam dismantled the old Arab tribal loyalties and some of its taboos and traditions; however it created a new tribe in the name of Islam with prophet himself as its chieftain and his family and tribe-Hashmis and Quresh acquiring an elevated and sacred status- a replacement of old medieval tribe with a new theocratic tribe. However, it essentially continued many of the ancient pagan rituals of worship as well as many of its old taboos and traditions. The tribal blood loyalties were replaced with the new tribal religious loyalties. At intellectual level Islam is merely the continuation of the medieval Jahiliya (Ignorance) in the holy garb of Islam- the Islamic Jahilia (the Islamic Medieval Ignorance). Modern Islam is, indeed, merely a continuation of that medieval tribal ignorance and mental backwardness.

Since the advent of the Saudi oil, petrodollars started to support the Islamic extremist movements all over the world and continue to do so. The Saudi petrodollars have created thousands of Islamic centres for social and political control and propaganda- the mosques-all over the world; 1000 mosques were built in the USA only in just last few years. Islamic brainwashing and political propaganda continues in these mosques and madrassas-the religious schools, as well as through the Islamic newspapers, magazines, radios and televisions. All kind of extremist Islamic terrorism and fundamentalism emanates and flows from the `` Kernel of Evil- the Epicentre of the ugly Islamism-the Saudis``. For Allah of the Saudis makes submission to Islam obligatory for all humans. Those who refuse their submission to Allah or differ from the Saudi version of Islam are called the Satan`s party, and must be eliminated by Saudis or their paid and brainwashed zombies-the Muslims- called the Allah`s party. Saudi Arabia is in fact the worst example of Islamic medievalism, and mental, social backwardness. Slavery was legal in Saudi until 1960s when it was officially abolished on the personal request of the non-Muslim US President J F Kennedy! However, it continues in new names: the foreign female domestic servants-the private property of the Islamic Bedouin barbarians. Saudi petrodollars continue to support the extremist and fundamentalist mullahs, and continue to lure the Islamic states into the barbarity of the Islamic medieval Shariah laws, and the Saudis continue to spread Islamic mullah terrorism and Islamic theocratic totalitarianism all over the world.``

Iran basically an Islamic spiritual colony, is the godfather of the Shiite Islamic terrorism,( Saudi Sunnis are an Islamic sect like the Christian Catholics while Shiites are like the Protestant Christians). This Allah`s government in Iran is the most evil religious state today. Torture, murder and Islamic absolutism- an Islamic version of Hitler`s Nazism, Stalin`s Communism and Mussolini`s Fascism combined. There were 5,195 political and religious executions only in 1983 alone! Few years ago a bill was presented in Iranian Parliament asking that in according with the tradition of Islamic prophet, marriage should be allowed with 9 years old girl child! Human rights are definitely not allowed to exist in the Islamic Iran, where according to the English language Radio Iran, the Holy Spirit of imam Khomeni hovers over Iran all the times. Women have been hanged on suspicion of sexual crimes. Even proved virgins have been sent to gallows, however, they are hanged only after being raped, as Iranian Islam does not allow hanging of virgins. Iran had used its oil money in the interest of Islamic revolutions all over the world, and continues to do so.

Algeria, known for its Islamic civil war continues with its Islamic horrors. Islamic absolutism and totalitarianism is imposed with guns and slaughters in the interest of religion of Islam. Men are usually killed for their religio-political crimes while women are killed just for the crime of being a woman in an Islamic country. Thousands were islamically raped and more than 500 were killed only in 1993. Women have been killed for not wearing hijab (veil) or refusing to do so when imposed, for refusing to engage in Iranian-style temporary marriage, for being married to foreign men, and for working and living alone. The victims have been as young as 9 years and as old as 69 years. Women are often raped and tortured before being slaughtered. Thousands find themselves imprisoned in Islamic camps for no legitimate reasons. It is worth mentioning that women had a respectable status in society before the conquest of Algeria by Islam.

Egyptians, heir to the great Pharonic and Alexandrian civilizations continue to suffer the chronic evil of Islam. Known for the miseries of hijab and female genital mutilation, Egypt is also a centre of child prostitution for the wealthy Saudi Islamic Bedouins. In Egypt, four out of five women are forced to wear some kind of hijab. Female genital mutilation is very common; up to 73% in Cairo and 95% in rural areas. In 1995 a shaikh (religious dignity) of Al-Azhar University Cairo issued a fatwa (the religious decree or bill), which reportedly announced the procedure pf Female Genital Mutilation as ``laudable practice that does honour to women``; and stating that it was, a religious duty as important as praying to Allah.

Sudan had a long history of Islamic conquest and repression. Islamic totalitarianism and barbarity continues to this day. Recently, Sudan was brutalized by the Saudi-backed Gen.Numeri`s Islamic fascism. In 1992 a religious decree-fatwa-was issued that gave justification to the military onslaught against the non-Muslims. Islamic barbarism and genocide continues in Darfur to this day.

Indonesian Islamic army mass-murdered 200,000 East Timurian non-Muslims before East Timur got its independent. The country is known for its extreme religiosity, corruption, ethno-religious problems and Islamic extremism.

Pakistan, an experimental laboratory of Islam, had turned into a horror. Notwithstanding the hundreds of thousands of rapes, abductions and murders under the watchful eyes of the very Christian administration of the Holy Roman British Empire at the time of religious division of the Indian sub-continent in 1947 by the Christian British Empire, when half a million people were forced to migrate, Pakistan has never made any certain move towards civilization. Pakistan is a centre of Islamic fundamentalism, extremism and terrorism. Pakistan`s very Islamic army invaded her province of East Pakistan in 1971, killing hundreds of thousands of Bengali Muslims and non-Muslims and raping half a million women ranging 9-69 years in age, in its attempt to create a half breed Pak-Bengal race which would be loyal to Islam and Pakistan. In 1974 Pakistan army invaded its province of Baluchistan resulting in similar calamities. In 1980 Islamist General Zia ul Haq introduced further islamization under the Saudi pressure for introduction of the medieval and tribal Islamic Shariah.. Along with the compulsory public prayers, there were brutal Islamic laws for the very natural sexual acts and for the presumed blasphemy: the repressive Hudood Ordinance and the infamous Blasphemy laws. Thousands of innocent women continue to suffer under these and other Islamic fascist laws for mere allegations. Raped women had been sent to gallows for the crime of being raped. (Islamic Shariah is the only system of law, which punishes the victims: Fatemollah). Pakistani state has proved to be a willing and sinister instrument of the evil Islamic mullah fascism and terrorism. Pakistan created the hated Afghan Taliban and many other such organizations in Afghanistan. Similar organizations continue to flourish in Pakistan and try to create a totalitarian and fascist Islamic state. Despite all tall claims of fight against Islamic terrorism, the evil continues to flourish. Pakistan is undoubtedly a major source of supply for the Iraqi terrorism. Illicit drug trade continues with the blessings of the Islamic mullahs and the ISI (the Islamic Military Intelligence). There are Islamic prostitution centres in every Islamic city of the Islamic Pakistan where abducted and non-Muslim women are forced to suffer. The secular, liberal and rationalist intellectuals continue to suffer in Pakistan like the victims of the infamous Christian inquisition of medieval Europe. While the Christian churches burnt the heretics, Islamic mullahs get them indicted for Blasphemy.

Eternal vigilance is the price of civilization.

(to be continued)

Islam and the Woman

Part 2

Dr Younus Shaikh.



``Indian sub-continent suffered the humiliation and destruction under Islam, as did Africa. The Islamic General Mohammad Bin Qasim decimated great Buddhist and Hindu civilizations. Acting on the orders of a representative of the Islamic Caliph, Governor Hijaj Bin Yousaf (who was a deadly enemy of the Hazrat Ali and Hazrat Hussein`s family-some of whom have taken refuge under the Buddhist monarch Raja Dahir in Sindh), Mohammad Bin Qasim conquered the kingdom in 712 CE. His Islamic plunderers and looters demolished temples, shattered sculptures, plundered palaces and killed thousands. It took his Islamic army three days to slaughter the inhabitants of Debal, their women and children were taken into slavery. Later on he pardoned many prisoners and tried to establish a just rule of law which enraged the very Islamic and murderous Governor Hijaj Bin Yousaf; therefore Qasim again reverted to the Islamic barbarity and massacred between 6-16 thousands in Brahiminabad, their women and children were sent to Arab Islamic slave markets.

This was the beginning of the destruction of the classical ancient Indian civilization, and start of the medieval age of Islamic darkness in India. The 11th century witnessed another Islamic murderer and plunderer, Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi an agent of Islamic Caliph, who utterly ruined the great Indian civilization and looted and plundered most of its wealth. Fifty thousand Hindus were massacred in just one of his attacks at Somnath; he invaded India more than 17 times. Thousands of Hindu men and women were sent to the Islamic Afghani slave markets. The highly cultured and civilized daughters of the noble Hindu families were sold to the illiterate, un-cultured and barbaric Afghanis for equivalent of just one Frank (Pound/Dollar) each. After every Afghani Muslim had four wives each, there were lots of surplus women left; to that the evil Islamic mullahs responded with an ingenious translation of Koranic verses proving that Allah allowed each Muslim to marry 18 women at a time along with an unlimited number of women as concubines. Soon the new military instruments of the Islamic Caliph, the Turks and the Moguls followed, decimated captured Delhi and turned whole of India into a grand open-air slave camp. Sultan Firoze Shah Tughlaq- an Islamic Turk ruler had 100,000 men-slaves and thousands of female sex-slaves in his harem; the pious Islamic Mongol (Mogul) Emperor Shahjehan had 15,000 female sex-slaves and concubines for his personal harem. Indeed, the Islamic Turk invaders and rulers did the same in India as they did in Armenia-the whole races of peoples were exterminated. (However, credit must be given here to the agnostic and secular-minded, humanist Mogul Emperor Akbar the Great who refused the title of ``the King of Muslims`` and preferred to be called ``the shadow of God``- for his God, he declared (in accordance with the mind and language of his age), is the beneficial deity and protector of all-Hindus, Muslims and other races of humans and creatures alike. He gave up his faith in Islam and tried his genius in creating a pluralistic religion comprising traditions of all the prevalent religions and ideologies of India. He even invited the Christian Jesuits priests from Goa to his ideology-discussion-palace but could not swallow their childish Jesus-son-of-God myth).

The medieval Islamic Empire of the Turkish Osmania Caliphate disappeared after Axis defeat in the World War I and with the rise of the Turkish secular hero Mustafa Kemal Pasha. However, it soon metamorphosed into the modern Saudi Islamic spiritual Empire. It is noteworthy that while the very Christian Holy Roman British Empire of the West required standing armies to control the bodies of men in all its colonies, the theocratic Saudi Islamic spiritual Empire of the East depended on the standing army of clerics-Mullahs and Imams-stationed in mosques to control the minds of men-the social, cultural spiritual and psychological control. It is true that Islam dismantled the old Arab tribal loyalties and some of its taboos and traditions; however it created a new tribe in the name of Islam with prophet himself as its chieftain and his family and tribe-Hashmis and Quresh acquiring an elevated and sacred status- a replacement of old medieval tribe with a new theocratic tribe. However, it essentially continued many of the ancient pagan rituals of worship as well as many of its old taboos and traditions. The tribal blood loyalties were replaced with the new tribal religious loyalties. At intellectual level Islam is merely the continuation of the medieval Jahiliya (Ignorance) in the holy garb of Islam- the Islamic Jahilia (the Islamic Medieval Ignorance). Modern Islam is, indeed, merely a continuation of that medieval tribal ignorance and mental backwardness.

Since the advent of the Saudi oil, petrodollars started to support the Islamic extremist movements all over the world and continue to do so. The Saudi petrodollars have created thousands of Islamic centres for social and political control and propaganda- the mosques-all over the world; 1000 mosques were built in the USA only in just last few years. Islamic brainwashing and political propaganda continues in these mosques and madrassas-the religious schools, as well as through the Islamic newspapers, magazines, radios and televisions. All kind of extremist Islamic terrorism and fundamentalism emanates and flows from the `` Kernel of Evil- the Epicentre of the ugly Islamism-the Saudis``. For Allah of the Saudis makes submission to Islam obligatory for all humans. Those who refuse their submission to Allah or differ from the Saudi version of Islam are called the Satan`s party, and must be eliminated by Saudis or their paid and brainwashed zombies-the Muslims- called the Allah`s party. Saudi Arabia is in fact the worst example of Islamic medievalism, and mental, social backwardness. Slavery was legal in Saudi until 1960s when it was officially abolished on the personal request of the non-Muslim US President J F Kennedy! However, it continues in new names: the foreign female domestic servants-the private property of the Islamic Bedouin barbarians. Saudi petrodollars continue to support the extremist and fundamentalist mullahs, and continue to lure the Islamic states into the barbarity of the Islamic medieval Shariah laws, and the Saudis continue to spread Islamic mullah terrorism and Islamic theocratic totalitarianism all over the world.``

Iran basically an Islamic spiritual colony, is the godfather of the Shiite Islamic terrorism,( Saudi Sunnis are an Islamic sect like the Christian Catholics while Shiites are like the Protestant Christians). This Allah`s government in Iran is the most evil religious state today. Torture, murder and Islamic absolutism- an Islamic version of Hitler`s Nazism, Stalin`s Communism and Mussolini`s Fascism combined. There were 5,195 political and religious executions only in 1983 alone! Few years ago a bill was presented in Iranian Parliament asking that in according with the tradition of Islamic prophet, marriage should be allowed with 9 years old girl child! Human rights are definitely not allowed to exist in the Islamic Iran, where according to the English language Radio Iran, the Holy Spirit of imam Khomeni hovers over Iran all the times. Women have been hanged on suspicion of sexual crimes. Even proved virgins have been sent to gallows, however, they are hanged only after being raped, as Iranian Islam does not allow hanging of virgins. Iran had used its oil money in the interest of Islamic revolutions all over the world, and continues to do so.

Algeria, known for its Islamic civil war continues with its Islamic horrors. Islamic absolutism and totalitarianism is imposed with guns and slaughters in the interest of religion of Islam. Men are usually killed for their religio-political crimes while women are killed just for the crime of being a woman in an Islamic country. Thousands were islamically raped and more than 500 were killed only in 1993. Women have been killed for not wearing hijab (veil) or refusing to do so when imposed, for refusing to engage in Iranian-style temporary marriage, for being married to foreign men, and for working and living alone. The victims have been as young as 9 years and as old as 69 years. Women are often raped and tortured before being slaughtered. Thousands find themselves imprisoned in Islamic camps for no legitimate reasons. It is worth mentioning that women had a respectable status in society before the conquest of Algeria by Islam.

Egyptians, heir to the great Pharonic and Alexandrian civilizations continue to suffer the chronic evil of Islam. Known for the miseries of hijab and female genital mutilation, Egypt is also a centre of child prostitution for the wealthy Saudi Islamic Bedouins. In Egypt, four out of five women are forced to wear some kind of hijab. Female genital mutilation is very common; up to 73% in Cairo and 95% in rural areas. In 1995 a shaikh (religious dignity) of Al-Azhar University Cairo issued a fatwa (the religious decree or bill), which reportedly announced the procedure pf Female Genital Mutilation as ``laudable practice that does honour to women``; and stating that it was, a religious duty as important as praying to Allah.

Sudan had a long history of Islamic conquest and repression. Islamic totalitarianism and barbarity continues to this day. Recently, Sudan was brutalized by the Saudi-backed Gen.Numeri`s Islamic fascism. In 1992 a religious decree-fatwa-was issued that gave justification to the military onslaught against the non-Muslims. Islamic barbarism and genocide continues in Darfur to this day.

Indonesian Islamic army mass-murdered 200,000 East Timurian non-Muslims before East Timur got its independent. The country is known for its extreme religiosity, corruption, ethno-religious problems and Islamic extremism.

Pakistan, an experimental laboratory of Islam, had turned into a horror. Notwithstanding the hundreds of thousands of rapes, abductions and murders under the watchful eyes of the very Christian administration of the Holy Roman British Empire at the time of religious division of the Indian sub-continent in 1947 by the Christian British Empire, when half a million people were forced to migrate, Pakistan has never made any certain move towards civilization. Pakistan is a centre of Islamic fundamentalism, extremism and terrorism. Pakistan`s very Islamic army invaded her province of East Pakistan in 1971, killing hundreds of thousands of Bengali Muslims and non-Muslims and raping half a million women ranging 9-69 years in age, in its attempt to create a half breed Pak-Bengal race which would be loyal to Islam and Pakistan. In 1974 Pakistan army invaded its province of Baluchistan resulting in similar calamities. In 1980 Islamist General Zia ul Haq introduced further islamization under the Saudi pressure for introduction of the medieval and tribal Islamic Shariah.. Along with the compulsory public prayers, there were brutal Islamic laws for the very natural sexual acts and for the presumed blasphemy: the repressive Hudood Ordinance and the infamous Blasphemy laws. Thousands of innocent women continue to suffer under these and other Islamic fascist laws for mere allegations. Raped women had been sent to gallows for the crime of being raped. (Islamic Shariah is the only system of law, which punishes the victims: Fatemollah). Pakistani state has proved to be a willing and sinister instrument of the evil Islamic mullah fascism and terrorism. Pakistan created the hated Afghan Taliban and many other such organizations in Afghanistan. Similar organizations continue to flourish in Pakistan and try to create a totalitarian and fascist Islamic state. Despite all tall claims of fight against Islamic terrorism, the evil continues to flourish. Pakistan is undoubtedly a major source of supply for the Iraqi terrorism. Illicit drug trade continues with the blessings of the Islamic mullahs and the ISI (the Islamic Military Intelligence). There are Islamic prostitution centres in every Islamic city of the Islamic Pakistan where abducted and non-Muslim women are forced to suffer. The secular, liberal and rationalist intellectuals continue to suffer in Pakistan like the victims of the infamous Christian inquisition of medieval Europe. While the Christian churches burnt the heretics, Islamic mullahs get them indicted for Blasphemy.

Eternal vigilance is the price of civilization.

(to be continued)

The days of Kanjarr behaviour & those who support the heejRRa, Khusraa ( gay-gandoos aur gay-gaandees ( Ha Ha Haa) are OVER. No matter under what rock a muinaafique will crawl he/she will be dragged out and handed over for full Shariat treatment.

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Schlafly: Feminism is a `disease` to avoid
By Becky Bowman

Left: Conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly talks to students after her speech Tuesday night at McCormick Auditorium. Right: NU alumna Kyla Klein, of the International Socialist Organization, protests outside Norris University Center. (Photos by Jasper Chen - Daily)
Conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly called feminism a ``disease`` to be avoided in a controversial speech Tuesday night at Norris University Center`s McCormick Auditorium.
Schlafly, president of the Eagle Forum and an author, discussed the ``Curtain Falling on Feminist Follies`` with about 150 students in an hourlong speech sponsored by College Republicans, Young Americans Foundation and the Associated Student Government.

Schlafly said feminists have ``fallen on hard times,`` referring to the recently married Gloria Steinem and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), whom Schlafly said made her career ``the old-fashioned way — she married it.``

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``Feminism really is a disease. You should avoid it,`` she said. ``It is contagious. You might catch it.``
James Strong, president of College Republicans, said the group invited Schlafly because of her ardently conservative views.
``You infrequently get a socially conservative view on college campuses,`` said Strong, a Weinberg junior. ``Schlafly represents that.``

Schlafly said men and women are different in ways that prevent them from doing the same types of work, especially in occupations requiring manual labor and physical strength. Such differences, she said, cannot be reconciled through feminism.

``There are a lot of differences that changes in the times haven`t changed,`` she said.
During a question-and-answer session following the speech, many students challenged Schlafly`s conservative views.

Lexi Smith, a Weinberg junior, garnered applause when she asked Schlafly if she discounted the benefits feminism had brought in her professional life, such as the ability to have a career while raising a family.

``I didn`t benefit from the feminist view at all,`` Schlafly answered, to more applause. She said her role as a wife and mother did not prevent her from pursuing a career.

``It`s not like I was chained to my stove,`` she said. ``I was allowed to make phone calls. I was allowed to write.``
She also said she is now reaping the benefits of having a family.

``Children and grandchildren still offer the best fulfillment,`` Schlafly said. ``I`m right now experiencing the joy of 14 grandchildren, and let me tell you, it`s like being born again.``

Led by the Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Alliance, about 20 students from campus organizations protested Schlafly`s speech. Protesters demonstrated outside Norris, holding placards and circulating a petition affirming their ``outrage and indignation`` that someone with Schlafly`s views would be brought to campus.
Matthew Barbour, president of BGALA, said Schlafly is an enemy of many minorities.

``She was utterly flippant and dismissive about issues such as rape and violence,`` said Barbour, a Weinberg junior. ``I`m horrified by that.``

Adele Nicholas, who considers herself both a Republican and a feminist, agreed with Schlafly that men and women are different but disagreed with her general views on feminism.

``She was right, but that doesn`t mean that feminism is evil,`` said Nicholas, a Medill freshman. ``It doesn`t have to be a man-hating bitterness.``

Schlafly said she enjoyed her evening at Northwestern despite the vociferous protesters.

``That`s what makes it lively,`` she said.

Feminist Fantasies

Enjoy the bee-in-the-bonnet performance of Dingbats & the Reverse-footed [the disease that is being succesfully eradicated now]

Feminism`s tireless opponent
By Steven Martinovich

The debt that the conservative movement owes Phyllis Schlafly is one that can never be repaid. It was Schlafly that wrote bestseller A Choice Not An Echo, the book used to promote the candidacy of Barry Goldwater, the man many argue paved the way for the Reagan revolution a little over two decades later. For years she also worked as an influential defense policy analyst and was responsible for the highly regarded study of Henry Kissinger`s foreign policy, Kissinger on the Couch.

Her legacy, however, will be her battle against feminism and the defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment. Although she`s best known as the movement`s most prominent foe, Schlafly nearly skipped the fight. Back in the early 1970s, a current events program needed someone to oppose a feminist in a debate. A friend persuaded Schlafly to take up the challenge and since then she`s been the movement`s most persistent intellectual opponent.

That`s readily seen in Feminist Fantasies, a collection of Schlafly`s newspaper and magazine articles covering some of the most contentious issues raised in the debate over the feminist agenda. Divided into themed sections, Schlafly takes on all of the feminism`s sacred cows, whether it`s the role of women in the workforce, marriage and motherhood or the suitability of women in combat.

It is Schlafly`s contention, one she came to back in the early 1980s after her successful battle against the Equal Rights Amendment, that the feminist revolution is over. The movement began with the promise of equality only to give way to bitterness and an anti-male and anti-family agenda. Today`s mainstream woman, she writes not without some foundation, refuses to use the feminist label and many are moving back into traditional roles.

It`s an interesting argument but it may be Schlafly`s weakest one. She fails to consider that we, to paraphrase a famous declaration, are all feminists now. We have traveled so far down the road away from her view of what a woman`s role in society is that we can never recover those halcyon days that she remembers. Women are having fewer children while those that do often wait until later in life -- essentially limiting the number that they can have -- and many of those children spend their days in the prison of daycare while their parents fight the good corporate fight.

Where Schlafly`s work is more convincing are her explorations into the role of the media in promoting feminism. Without the willing assistance of the media, the feminist movement never would have been able to get out its core message that feminism was the path for the liberation -- primarily emotional, financial and sexual -- of women. As Schlafly relates, the other half of the coin sees the media fail to investigate feminism`s negative aspects for women and families.

From there Feminist Fantasies moves onto other controversial and interrelated subjects. Like a hammer on a nail, Schlafly repeatedly drives home the same point. Feminism is an artificial ideological construct that is at odds with reality and human nature. It denies the special status that is accorded women by society because of the unique gifts that they offer.

It`s an argument that resonates deeply for both women and men. Despite decades of attempted social engineering by feminists, it seems that some traditional structures refuse to die. Most women today want to be married, to have children and stay home to raise them. Economic and social changes in society may have robbed many of the opportunity to stay at home but it doesn`t change the reality that many women suffer an emotional wound by being separated from their children. Worse still are the regrets of women, and this list includes the names of many prominent feminists, who bought into the belief that having children isn`t necessary and due to their age will never have one.

Whether or not you agree with Schlafly it`s undeniable that she brings a passionate approach to her opposition to feminism. Feminist Fantasies is a convincing series of retorts to the accepted dogma of the feminist movement and a compelling defense of the values that most of us continue to hold. Whether the feminist movement is on the wane as many believe is something that only time can tell but if it is then its philosophical opponents can thank Schlafly.

Steven Martinovich is a freelance writer in Sudbury, Ontario.

Against Hijab
By Azam Kamguian

Today, in commemoration of the International Women`s Day, we, freedom - lovers and passionate advocates of women`s rights have gathered here to protest against the mandatory veiling of women in Iran.

For us, the veil is not just another kind of clothing; and opposing it is not just defending the right to freedom of clothing even though it is put forward as such. Veiling internalises the Islamic notion in women that they belong to an inferior sex, and that they are sex objects. It teaches them to limit their physical movements and their free behaviour. Veiling is a powerful tool to institutionalise women`s segregation and to implement a system of sexual apartheid. It signifies the subjugation and servitude of women based on Islamic doctrine and Koranic teachings.

Much more than a way of clothing, hijab is the manifestation of an outright Islamic misogynism and an antiquated view on women`s status. It is designed to control women`s sexuality much more effectively than any other religion or ideological system.

Furthermore, during the last thirty years, hijab has been and continues to be the political and ideological symbol of political Islam, Islamic states and Islamic movement in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia. Women have been the first - hand victims of this reactionary movement, and imposing the veil on women by Islamic movement and Islamic governments has been their fist bloody action to suppress the whole society.

Against imposing the veil on women, there exists a massive social movement of resistance and defiance of women in Iran. Hijab has become a highly serious issue for the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Therefore, on the international women`s day, in protest against hijab, we declare that:

· We fight for the abolition of compulsory veil , alongside the women`s equal rights movement in Iran,

· We struggle against the violent actions of Islamic Republic including flogging and imprisonment to impose hijab,

· We consider dress freedom as a basic right of people,

· We believe in banning the hijab for girls under 16, as it deprives them of a happy, equal and active life, and violates their basic human rights,

· We, alongside people in Iran, fight against the rule of sexual apartheid,

· We consider secularism as a pre - condition for women`s liberation; we alongside the majority of people in Iran, fight for freedom, secularism and separation of religion from the state,

Down with the Islamic Republic of Iran!

Freedom, Equality & Universal Rights for Women in Iran!

---

Azam Kamguian`s speech given at rallies held on 8 March 2001 in front of embassies of the Islamic Republic of Iran in London -UK, and Helsinki - Finland

Against Hijab
By Azam Kamguian

Today, in commemoration of the International Women`s Day, we, freedom - lovers and passionate advocates of women`s rights have gathered here to protest against the mandatory veiling of women in Iran.

For us, the veil is not just another kind of clothing; and opposing it is not just defending the right to freedom of clothing even though it is put forward as such. Veiling internalises the Islamic notion in women that they belong to an inferior sex, and that they are sex objects. It teaches them to limit their physical movements and their free behaviour. Veiling is a powerful tool to institutionalise women`s segregation and to implement a system of sexual apartheid. It signifies the subjugation and servitude of women based on Islamic doctrine and Koranic teachings.

Much more than a way of clothing, hijab is the manifestation of an outright Islamic misogynism and an antiquated view on women`s status. It is designed to control women`s sexuality much more effectively than any other religion or ideological system.

Furthermore, during the last thirty years, hijab has been and continues to be the political and ideological symbol of political Islam, Islamic states and Islamic movement in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia. Women have been the first - hand victims of this reactionary movement, and imposing the veil on women by Islamic movement and Islamic governments has been their fist bloody action to suppress the whole society.

Against imposing the veil on women, there exists a massive social movement of resistance and defiance of women in Iran. Hijab has become a highly serious issue for the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Therefore, on the international women`s day, in protest against hijab, we declare that:

· We fight for the abolition of compulsory veil , alongside the women`s equal rights movement in Iran,

· We struggle against the violent actions of Islamic Republic including flogging and imprisonment to impose hijab,

· We consider dress freedom as a basic right of people,

· We believe in banning the hijab for girls under 16, as it deprives them of a happy, equal and active life, and violates their basic human rights,

· We, alongside people in Iran, fight against the rule of sexual apartheid,

· We consider secularism as a pre - condition for women`s liberation; we alongside the majority of people in Iran, fight for freedom, secularism and separation of religion from the state,

Down with the Islamic Republic of Iran!

Freedom, Equality & Universal Rights for Women in Iran!

---

Azam Kamguian`s speech given at rallies held on 8 March 2001 in front of embassies of the Islamic Republic of Iran in London -UK, and Helsinki - Finland

Refutation of Arguments regarding THE BENEFITS OF HIJAB (COVERING) FOR WOMEN

1. Argument 1- ``For Muslim women, COVERING THE HEAD IS NOT THE SIGN OF DEGRADATION or oppression. It is a commandment from Allah, who is not male or female, and thus, would not discriminate against women, a segment of His creation. ``

Refutation 1 - Interesting argument....but nonsense because it acknowledges that such a practice is irrelevant before the almighty......so who created these practices???

2. Argument 2- ``Rather, HEAD-COVERING IS A SIGN OF PURITY AND DIGNITY. It highlights the Muslim woman as a pure, chaste woman and sets her apart from the immoral behavior associated with women who dress immodestly. ``

Refutation 2- Concealing body parts a sign of purity for whom? I am amazed that chastity belts was not known to the tribals in the early days of Islam.... It only re-inforces the concept of female body as an exclusive property of males which need to be packaged, draped for protection from other male bounty hunters......................

Argument 3-`` The HIJAB IS A SORT OF ``SCREEN`` BETWEEN THE CHASTE MUSLIM WOMAN AND THE EVIL THAT EXISTS IN THE WORLD. When a woman wears a hijab she is less likely to be harassed by men with lusty motives; SHE IS LESS LIKELY TO BE EXPLOITED FOR HER BEAUTY AND FEMINITY. ``

Argument 4- ``The hijab cuts down on competition among women. How many people in the West sacrifice financial savings and health in order to have plastic surgery - in a desperate attempt to meet up to an unrealistic standard of beauty. IN ISLAM, WOMEN ARE APPRECIATED FOR THEIR KNOWLEDGE, PIETY AND CONTRIBUTION TO SOCIETY. When women wear hijab one finds that the most beautiful women are not necessarily the most popular. Rather, a woman is assessed for her mind, and not just superficial physical traits. ``

Refutation 3 and 4- Again a propoganda that has been refuted by the #122 by ballukhan in the article ``Reclaiming Hijab or Declining Freedom?`` By Lopa Hassan

Arguemtn 5- ``The Hijab allows a woman to move about outside the confines of her home WITH HER ATTENTION ON THE TASKS SHE HAS SET OUT TO DO. The Muslim woman does not try to impress anyone but Allah when outside of her home. She is not concerned if men find her attractive, or if people are impressed because she has the latest fashions, or the newest hairstyle. She leaves her home as a SELF-CONFIDENT PART OF HUMAN RACE, not as a fashion-plate seeking stares and adoration in order to gain self-esteem. ``

Refutation 5- LOL, this makes it appear that the almighty is like a great Patriarch who overseas the performance of muslim women in their houses..........

Status of Women in Islam
By Noor Al Haqq
Jan 6, 2005, 08:23


``Why is it that so many women who have been born and brought in Europe and America are willing to reject their `liberty` and `independence` to embrace a religion that supposedly oppresses them and is widely assumed to be prejudicial to them?``

This is a question that I found on one of the sites while surfing around, and I found it an interesting question and which I`d like to draw this article around.

Can Islam be prejudice to women, and yet appeal to women? Can Islam lower the status of a woman and still have more women embracing it as their way of life than men? According to an article written by Lucy Berrington in the Times Magazine (London) dated 9th Nov. 1993: ``It is even more ironic that most British converts should be women, given the widespread view in the west that Islam treats women poorly. In the United States, women converts outnumber men by four to one, and in Britain make up the bulk of the estimated 10, 000 to 20, 000 converts, forming part of a Muslim community of 1 to 1.5 million ``

How can the case of those women be explained?!

Well, I could say that there are only one of two choices that one can decide upon. Either all those women who choose Islam don’t know what they are doing or that they discovered Islam is not prejudice to them as others have yet to discover.




New convert to Islam since September 11, US Navy petty officer, Heather Ramaha.

New convert to Islam since September 11, US Navy petty officer, Heather Ramaha.

``Islam gives us Elevation; not Degradation``

In the Noble Quran Allah (Arabic word for God) says:

``Mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another. Verily, the most honorable of you in the Sight of Allah is the believer who has Taqwa (i.e. piety and righteousness)and loves Allah most. Verily, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.``

``I shall not lose sight of the labor of any of you who labors in My way, be it man or woman; each of you is equal to the other (3:195)``

On the light of those verses, Islam declares that it has not come to disadvantage women, but in fact has been revealed to elevate women ever since 1400 years ago, when women in many parts of the world and especially in the western societies were considered objects that are owned and with little to no rights in the society they live in.

Before any other religion or system in the world Islam gave a woman the right to inherit, the right to vote and voice her opinion, the right to trade invest and improve herself financially, the right to own – buy and sell, the right to seek knowledge and have a good education, the right to work and has even gone further to oblige the males in every stage of her life, whether it was a father, brother or husband ... It`s their duty before God to take care of her, to spend on her, to provide her with the food , clothing and shelter that she needs, to provide her with a good education, to protect her from anything that can harm her and to never hesitate to put their lives in stake for her if the need calls them to do so. ``As a modern westerner with a career, of course I had to look into Islam`s attitude to women - I couldn`t be oppressed all of a sudden. But I discovered that it is pro-women and pro-men; in Islam, women had the right to vote in the year 600. Men dress modestly, women dress modestly; neither should flirt with the eyes, but rather they should lower their gaze. I think it`s unhealthy to flaunt your sexuality - it attracts the wrong energy back.`` (MTV Presenter Kristiane Backer after being a Muslim) ``Since I called myself a feminist, my early reading centered around women in Islam. I thought Islam oppressed women. In my Women`s Studies courses I had read about Muslim women who were not allowed to leave their homes and were forced to cover their heads. Of course I saw hijab as an oppressive tool imposed by men rather than as an expression of self-respect and dignity. What I discovered in my readings surprised me. Islam not only does not oppress women, but actually liberates them, having given them rights in the 6th century that we have only gained in this century in this country: the right to own property and wealth and to maintain that in her name after marriage; the right to vote; and the right to divorce.`` (Karima Slack, an American feminist from secular humanism to Islam)

Some Muslim societies today lack those values. Some people may rightly ask then, why do we see some Muslim societies lacking those values? There is a beautiful and very true example I heard from a lecture by an American Muslim called Khaled Yaseen, who said that every person can be a father; but if a father does not turn out to be a good father then it`s not fatherhood that we would blame. Similarly, Islam is a rule and order. A Muslim who does not act according to that rule and order then by all means its not Islam that should carry the blame.

Karla, a young Blonde haired Blue eyed young American from Washington DC who is a recent convert to Islam said in an interview made with her:

The main question people seem to ask, is ``How could you, an educated American woman convert to Islam--a religion that oppresses women?`` They are quick to try and equate the rights of women in Afghanistan with the rights of Muslim women everywhere. Basically, what I tell them, is that the Qur`an gives women more rights than the Bible does--in print. That was one of the things that first drew me to Islam. Unfortunately today, Islam is no longer the leader in women`s rights. I had a choice--deny what I believe (i.e. that There is only one God, and that Muhammed is a Prophet of God)...or accept what I believe, but work to change the problems that exist within the Muslim community. I chose the latter.

In the world today, one could say that the Taliban government in Afghanistan have been considered as the top example of Women Oppression in Islam. But what`s ironic is that even when a woman falls captive in the hands of those supposedly most hateful men in the world, Islam does not fail to win her heart…







Yvonne Ridley is an award-winning journalist of more than 25 years standing and author of two books, In The Hands of the Taliban and Ticket to Paradise. She has spent the last 10 years working for several prestigious Fleet Street newspapers including The Sunday Times, The Observer, The Independent on Sunday and The Sunday Express. She has also expanded into television and radio producing several documentaries from Iraq and Afghanistan. Yvonne hit the headlines in September 2001 when while working for the Daily Express she crossed illegally into Afghanistan and was subsequently held captive by the Taliban for 11 days. Following her release, she read the Qur`an as she had agreed to during her captivity, and converted to Islam in the summer of 2003.

Last but not least I would like to conclude by the blessed sayings of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him:

``It is the generous (in character) who is good to women, and it is the wicked who insults them.``

``The most perfect believers are the best in conduct and best of you are those who are best to their wives.``

``Treat your women well and be kind to them for they are your partners and committed helpers.``

© Copyright 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 by Magic City Morning Star



Yvonne Ridley is an award-winning journalist of more than 25 years standing and author of two books, In The Hands of the Taliban and Ticket to Paradise. She has spent the last 10 years working for several prestigious Fleet Street newspapers including The Sunday Times, The Observer, The Independent on Sunday and The Sunday Express. She has also expanded into television and radio producing several documentaries from Iraq and Afghanistan. Yvonne hit the headlines in September 2001 when while working for the Daily Express she crossed illegally into Afghanistan and was subsequently held captive by the Taliban for 11 days. Following her release, she read the Qur`an as she had agreed to during her captivity, and converted to Islam in the summer of 2003.

Last but not least I would like to conclude by the blessed sayings of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him:

``It is the generous (in character) who is good to women, and it is the wicked who insults them.``

``The most perfect believers are the best in conduct and best of you are those who are best to their wives.``

``Treat your women well and be kind to them for they are your partners and committed helpers.``

© Copyright 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 by Magic City Morning Star

samina,

........ mrs hamidm is an er physician and even thought it is one of the hardest jobs in the world and pays hardly anything she would not dream of giving it up for a cushy practice ........... sunday breakfast conversation is rather disgusting with gory details of removing large vegetables and candles from human orifices and morbid descriptions of horrible cases of child abuse ........... the kids use it as an excuse to move their pancakes in front of the tv ..........

..... but this woman who can jump in the shower, apply lipstick and be out the door in less than fifteen minutes for work, takes at least three hours to get ready for a party and that does not include the time at the hair dresser and the numerous trips to the mall to return perfectly fine dresses and shoes .......... a week ago she almost missed her flight because she had to apply nail polish at the last minute and then we had to stop to get yet another hair brush ............ she is a democrat who voted against the legislation to recognize gay unions but her major concern is the ``in`` colors this winter ............. she tells me black is on its way out and brown is in - and who am i to question if somone wears a bright red blouse with dark brown pants ?...... is she a feminist and just doesn`t now it ?

........... but i think my paternal grandmother was a feminist - she wore a dhoti that showed her leg all the way to her thigh; sat on the charpoy smoking her chillum while grandpa smoked his big old hooka; sometimes when she came to our house she would borrow cigarettes from my dad, break off the filter and smoke it through her clenched fist, flicking ashes carlessly all over the carpet ........ they say that in her younger days she had saved a child from drowning by jumping into a flooded kassi which carried her a mile downstream ......... rumor also has it that my grandpa was afraid of her temper even though she was the ``younger`` wife ........ was she a feminist and just didn`t know it ?

............ on the other hand i kow a lot of ``educated`` women in our city-dwelling side of the family who continue to suffer mental (and physical) abuse at the hands of their husbands and in-laws ......... not unlike hedda steinberg who probably had breakfast with gloria ........... as the doting father of two lovely daughters i worry a lot because i know too much about men ..........

``....All liberated men agree with you and all liberated women wish all men were like you. Give it a rest.......``


that is what I mean........you scratch my back I scratch yours ....and we keep our women in our harems with our brand of feminism for them..................

the debate is done


...who decides whether the status quo regarding your ``feminism`` is to be maintained or not????

#157 by Saminasha on January 6, 2005 5:03am PT

You are right..................my point is that those who deride contemporary feminism as being somehow irrelevant to the women in their lives (and claim to be speaking for those women) are somewhat ``SCARED`` of losing all the priviledges that come with their brand of feminism for their women...........................( and that includes a hot Biryani for Mr Hamid)........

the debate is done

thanks to godot for provoking us and samina/hamidm/romair for spirited exchanges

i think this is a case where online interacts exagerrate differences.. which is why we need to be all the more careful in making assumptions about the other

I did have my daily cabernet (it has those flavonoids that are good for the heart)

bertrand russell: yep.. he was one of my role models in youth.. highly recommended for those who havent read his stuff

over and out