CAIRO: The Administrative Court annulled Al-Azhar’s disciplinary committee’s decision to expel Ezzat Attiya, president of the hadith department at the university, after he issued a controversial fatwa concerning breastfeeding in 2007.
“No one can argue with a court order …we respect the Administrative Court and follow its orders without thinking twice,” said Sheikh Fawzy El-Zefzaf, head of the religions dialogue committee at Al-Azhar.
Attiya was expelled in 2007 when he suggested that symbolic breastfeeding could be a way around strict segregation of males and females. He had drawn on Islamic traditions which forbid sexual relations between a man and a woman who has breastfed him.
However, the court’s ruling did not come as a surprise to Sheikh Mahmoud Ashour, former deputy of Al-Azhar and member of the Islamic Research Center.
“This is only natural … I was sure that this was going to be the court’s decision,” Ashour said, “Attiya didn’t make anything up, it is stated in the fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) books and it’s a topic of debate among Islamic scholars with some supporting it and others opposing it,” he explained.
Both clerics agree that Attiya is an exceptional teacher and speaker. “Attiya is a great teacher and is well educated, informed and knowledgeable, plus he is a great speaker at lectures and discussions so he is always a plus to Al-Azhar University,” said Ashour.
In 2007 when the disciplinary committee had made its decision, both Islamic thinker Gamal El-Banna and Sheikh Khalid El-Gindy condemned the fatwa but maintained that Attiya shouldn’t have been expelled.
Attiya first made his statement regarding the issue on Al-Arabiya, a Dubai-based news channel, where he said that that after five breastfeeding sessions the man becomes a symbolic relative of the woman and the two were allowed to be alone together and the women could remove her headscarf in his presence.
The statement has caused a media frenzy and an uproar from Islamic scholars forcing Attiya to issue a retraction and apology. In his apology, Attiya stated that breastfeeding a male colleague at work is reserved only for a special situation and that only a minority of scholars had supported this position.
Source: thedailynewsegypt.com
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Controversy over the ’hadith reform’ (Turkey)
If you are well versed enough in the Turkish language to follow the Turkish media (and also happen to have the stomach for it), I strongly recommend reading Milli Gazete.
The daily newspaper of Milli Görüş, the Islamist movement of Necmeddin Erbakan, which is currently represented by the marginal Saadet, or Felicity, Party, Milli Gazete acts almost like a party organ. It often tries to convince its readers that the 82-year-old Erbakan’s victory over the forces of "global Zionism" is imminent. The writers of Milli Gazete dislike two groups in Turkey. The first, as you can guess, is the hard-line secularists. The second group, which you might not guess right away, is what the hard-line secularists themselves most despise: the "moderate Islamists," such as the incumbent Justice and Development Party, or AKP, and Islamic individuals or groups with "modernist" attitudes. For Milli Gazete, these misguided Muslims are the enemies within who dilute the Islamic cause and make it subservient to the demands of the Western infidels.
Reform or reinterpretation?
One of the heavyweights of Milli Gazete is Mehmet Şevket Eygi. To his credit, Eygi has some good insights about pious Muslims in Turkey, such as his critiques of their "lack of a sense of aesthetics." But on matters of theology and jurisprudence, he is way too conservative. Any deviation from the classical sources and norms of Sunni Islam is, for him, a dangerous heresy.
For some time, Eygi has been harshly criticizing the "hadith reform," as he, and the Western media, call it. This is a project initiated by Turkey’s official Directorate of Religious Affairs (also known as the Diyanet) and its aim is to revise, re-catalog and re-interpret the sayings, or hadiths, of Prophet Mohammed. Right after it began in 2006, the project made global headlines because it aimed to deal with some of the misogynistic statements in the classical hadith literature, spurring Western media, from the BBC to the Christian Science Monitor, to start talking about a "reform" in Islam.
In the Western sense, that wasn’t an incorrect statement. One of the project’s goals was to put some apparently misogynist hadiths into their rightful historical context and thus keep them from being used in the modern world to suppress women’s rights. But the term "reform" does not sound nice to Muslim ears. When they hear this word, most Muslims think that it is about excluding a fundamental part of their religion for some secular, if not completely wicked, agenda. Therefore, from the very beginning, Diyanet officials took great pains to emphasize, "This is not a reform at all."
But they could not persuade Eygi. He has been repeatedly writing about "this treacherous project carried out by Orientalists, free thinkers and even atheists," and calling on fellow Muslims to take a stand against it. "They are deleting our Prophet’s words simply to succumb to the Europeans," he argued in one of his articles, continuing:
"O Muslims! You are in deep sleep. You sleep in bed, you sleep when you are awake, you sleep when you talk. You sleep on land you sleep on the sea. But they are not sleeping! They are working day and night to delete the prophet’s hadiths!"
This ranting went on for a while, and led Diyanet Deputy President Prof. Mehmet Görmez to write a long response, which Eygi published in his column last Friday. Prof. Görmez took great pains to argue that devout Muslims (rather than "Orientalists and Jesuit priests") were carrying out the project and that its aim was not to delete the hadiths of the prophet, but to interpret them rightfully. If Eygi continued with his "unjust accusations," Prof Görmez warned, he might be held responsible for this in the eyes of "divine justice."
Whether this will convince Eygi and other conservatives in the Muslim world remains uncertain. What is certain is their reaction to the idea of "reform." Since the 19th century, modernist Muslims have repeatedly faced this hostility: They have been accused of being paid agents of the West, crypto freemasons with sinister goals and apostates who sold their souls to the devil.
Two lessons
There are two lessons to be inferred from this. First, Muslim would-be reformers should be careful in how they frame their arguments. There are tools for change within the Islamic tradition, and using them is more legitimate and efficient than pushing for revolutionary steps.
The second lesson is for Westerners. They, too, should be careful with the language they use. And they should not engage in religion building that is really not their business. Their concern over extremely conservative, sometimes violent, interpretations of Islam is quite understandable. But they should also understand that they only empower those interpretations by appearing, at least in the eyes of oversensitive beholders, as the architects of reform in a religion they don’t subscribe to.
Source Hurriyet.com.tr
The daily newspaper of Milli Görüş, the Islamist movement of Necmeddin Erbakan, which is currently represented by the marginal Saadet, or Felicity, Party, Milli Gazete acts almost like a party organ. It often tries to convince its readers that the 82-year-old Erbakan’s victory over the forces of "global Zionism" is imminent. The writers of Milli Gazete dislike two groups in Turkey. The first, as you can guess, is the hard-line secularists. The second group, which you might not guess right away, is what the hard-line secularists themselves most despise: the "moderate Islamists," such as the incumbent Justice and Development Party, or AKP, and Islamic individuals or groups with "modernist" attitudes. For Milli Gazete, these misguided Muslims are the enemies within who dilute the Islamic cause and make it subservient to the demands of the Western infidels.
Reform or reinterpretation?
One of the heavyweights of Milli Gazete is Mehmet Şevket Eygi. To his credit, Eygi has some good insights about pious Muslims in Turkey, such as his critiques of their "lack of a sense of aesthetics." But on matters of theology and jurisprudence, he is way too conservative. Any deviation from the classical sources and norms of Sunni Islam is, for him, a dangerous heresy.
For some time, Eygi has been harshly criticizing the "hadith reform," as he, and the Western media, call it. This is a project initiated by Turkey’s official Directorate of Religious Affairs (also known as the Diyanet) and its aim is to revise, re-catalog and re-interpret the sayings, or hadiths, of Prophet Mohammed. Right after it began in 2006, the project made global headlines because it aimed to deal with some of the misogynistic statements in the classical hadith literature, spurring Western media, from the BBC to the Christian Science Monitor, to start talking about a "reform" in Islam.
In the Western sense, that wasn’t an incorrect statement. One of the project’s goals was to put some apparently misogynist hadiths into their rightful historical context and thus keep them from being used in the modern world to suppress women’s rights. But the term "reform" does not sound nice to Muslim ears. When they hear this word, most Muslims think that it is about excluding a fundamental part of their religion for some secular, if not completely wicked, agenda. Therefore, from the very beginning, Diyanet officials took great pains to emphasize, "This is not a reform at all."
But they could not persuade Eygi. He has been repeatedly writing about "this treacherous project carried out by Orientalists, free thinkers and even atheists," and calling on fellow Muslims to take a stand against it. "They are deleting our Prophet’s words simply to succumb to the Europeans," he argued in one of his articles, continuing:
"O Muslims! You are in deep sleep. You sleep in bed, you sleep when you are awake, you sleep when you talk. You sleep on land you sleep on the sea. But they are not sleeping! They are working day and night to delete the prophet’s hadiths!"
This ranting went on for a while, and led Diyanet Deputy President Prof. Mehmet Görmez to write a long response, which Eygi published in his column last Friday. Prof. Görmez took great pains to argue that devout Muslims (rather than "Orientalists and Jesuit priests") were carrying out the project and that its aim was not to delete the hadiths of the prophet, but to interpret them rightfully. If Eygi continued with his "unjust accusations," Prof Görmez warned, he might be held responsible for this in the eyes of "divine justice."
Whether this will convince Eygi and other conservatives in the Muslim world remains uncertain. What is certain is their reaction to the idea of "reform." Since the 19th century, modernist Muslims have repeatedly faced this hostility: They have been accused of being paid agents of the West, crypto freemasons with sinister goals and apostates who sold their souls to the devil.
Two lessons
There are two lessons to be inferred from this. First, Muslim would-be reformers should be careful in how they frame their arguments. There are tools for change within the Islamic tradition, and using them is more legitimate and efficient than pushing for revolutionary steps.
The second lesson is for Westerners. They, too, should be careful with the language they use. And they should not engage in religion building that is really not their business. Their concern over extremely conservative, sometimes violent, interpretations of Islam is quite understandable. But they should also understand that they only empower those interpretations by appearing, at least in the eyes of oversensitive beholders, as the architects of reform in a religion they don’t subscribe to.
Source Hurriyet.com.tr
Friday, May 22, 2009
BMI told stewardess to wear Muslim robe
A BRITISH air stewardess was sacked for refusing to fly to Saudi Arabia after she was ordered to wear a traditional Islamic robe and walk behind male colleagues.
Lisa Ashton, a £15,000-a-year stewardess with BMI, was told that in public areas in Saudi Arabia she was required to wear a black robe, known as an abaya. This covers everything but the face, feet and hands. She was told to follow her male colleagues, irrespective of rank.
Ashton, 37, who was worried about security in the country, refused to fly there, claiming the instructions were discriminatory. She was sacked last April.
“It’s not the law that you have to walk behind men in Saudi Arabia, or that you have to wear an abaya, and I’m not going to be treated as a second-class citizen,” Ashton said last week.
“It’s outrageous. I’m a proud Englishwoman and I don’t want these restrictions placed on myself.”
Saudi experts and companies that recruit women to work in the country say it is a “myth” that western women are required to walk behind men. There is no requirement for them to wear the abaya in public, though many do.
Earlier this year an employment tribunal in Manchester ruled that BMI was justified in imposing “rules of a different culture” on staff and cleared it of sexual discrimination. Ashton has consulted Liberty, the human rights organisation, and may seek a judicial review of the decision.
Ashton joined BMI in March 1996, flying to the Caribbean, the United States and India. Based in Manchester, she was told in the summer of 2005 that BMI was starting a service to Saudi Arabia and she might be required to work on it.
The Foreign Office was then advising visitors of a “threat of terrorism” in the country. Ashton did not want to travel there because of the security risks, and was offended by the rules for staff travelling to the region.
A BMI document circulated to staff who might travel to Saudi Arabia stated: “It is expected that female crew members will walk behind their male counterparts in public areas such as airports no matter what rank.”
Staff were also given abayas and were required to put them on when leaving the aircraft. Ashton, a practising Christian, was advised by union officials that it was considered a part of the uniform and she could face disciplinary action if she did not wear it.
Ashton said she did not want to fly to Saudi Arabia, but wished to continue flying long-haul routes. The firm said she could transfer to short-haul flights but that would have meant a pay cut of about 20%. She declined to switch to short-haul flights.
On June 13, 2007, she was told she was rostered for a flight from London to Saudi Arabia and refused to go. She was dismissed for refusing to fly and for making it clear she would not travel to Saudi Arabia.
Her letter of dismissal said it was “proportionate” to ask female employees to walk behind men out of respect for Saudi culture. BMI has also defended its decision to require female staff to wear abayas.
The Foreign Office advises women to dress “conservatively” but does not specifically advise wearing an abaya in public places. It also does not refer to any rule or convention that western women should walk behind men.
In a legal case in 2002 Colonel Martha McSally launched a legal action over American military orders that female servicewomen should wear an abaya in public places in Saudi Arabia when American women diplomats and the wives of servicemen were not expected to wear the garment. The Senate subsequently passed legislation that prohibited defence officials from requiring female personnel to wear abayas.
In the employment tribunal decision over Ashton’s case it was ruled there was no evidence that women would regard BMI’s requirements on wearing the abaya, or walking behind men, as “placing them under any disadvantage”. Ashton’s case was dismissed.
The firm said last week the tribunal ruling was “self-explanatory” and would not comment.
Since leaving BMI, Ashton has embarked on a musical career. She said one of her first songs, Shame, Shame, Shame, performed by the band Looby, was inspired by the airline.
Source: Times on Line
Also a good comment made on the section 'Have your say'
If BMI had dimissed a black employee for refusing to walk behind white employees when they flew to pre-apartheid South Africa, would British unions and the Manchester government have argued that the black employee should accept South Africa's "different culture"? What utter rot.
Notadhimmi, USA,
Lisa Ashton, a £15,000-a-year stewardess with BMI, was told that in public areas in Saudi Arabia she was required to wear a black robe, known as an abaya. This covers everything but the face, feet and hands. She was told to follow her male colleagues, irrespective of rank.
Ashton, 37, who was worried about security in the country, refused to fly there, claiming the instructions were discriminatory. She was sacked last April.
“It’s not the law that you have to walk behind men in Saudi Arabia, or that you have to wear an abaya, and I’m not going to be treated as a second-class citizen,” Ashton said last week.
“It’s outrageous. I’m a proud Englishwoman and I don’t want these restrictions placed on myself.”
Saudi experts and companies that recruit women to work in the country say it is a “myth” that western women are required to walk behind men. There is no requirement for them to wear the abaya in public, though many do.
Earlier this year an employment tribunal in Manchester ruled that BMI was justified in imposing “rules of a different culture” on staff and cleared it of sexual discrimination. Ashton has consulted Liberty, the human rights organisation, and may seek a judicial review of the decision.
Ashton joined BMI in March 1996, flying to the Caribbean, the United States and India. Based in Manchester, she was told in the summer of 2005 that BMI was starting a service to Saudi Arabia and she might be required to work on it.
The Foreign Office was then advising visitors of a “threat of terrorism” in the country. Ashton did not want to travel there because of the security risks, and was offended by the rules for staff travelling to the region.
A BMI document circulated to staff who might travel to Saudi Arabia stated: “It is expected that female crew members will walk behind their male counterparts in public areas such as airports no matter what rank.”
Staff were also given abayas and were required to put them on when leaving the aircraft. Ashton, a practising Christian, was advised by union officials that it was considered a part of the uniform and she could face disciplinary action if she did not wear it.
Ashton said she did not want to fly to Saudi Arabia, but wished to continue flying long-haul routes. The firm said she could transfer to short-haul flights but that would have meant a pay cut of about 20%. She declined to switch to short-haul flights.
On June 13, 2007, she was told she was rostered for a flight from London to Saudi Arabia and refused to go. She was dismissed for refusing to fly and for making it clear she would not travel to Saudi Arabia.
Her letter of dismissal said it was “proportionate” to ask female employees to walk behind men out of respect for Saudi culture. BMI has also defended its decision to require female staff to wear abayas.
The Foreign Office advises women to dress “conservatively” but does not specifically advise wearing an abaya in public places. It also does not refer to any rule or convention that western women should walk behind men.
In a legal case in 2002 Colonel Martha McSally launched a legal action over American military orders that female servicewomen should wear an abaya in public places in Saudi Arabia when American women diplomats and the wives of servicemen were not expected to wear the garment. The Senate subsequently passed legislation that prohibited defence officials from requiring female personnel to wear abayas.
In the employment tribunal decision over Ashton’s case it was ruled there was no evidence that women would regard BMI’s requirements on wearing the abaya, or walking behind men, as “placing them under any disadvantage”. Ashton’s case was dismissed.
The firm said last week the tribunal ruling was “self-explanatory” and would not comment.
Since leaving BMI, Ashton has embarked on a musical career. She said one of her first songs, Shame, Shame, Shame, performed by the band Looby, was inspired by the airline.
Source: Times on Line
Also a good comment made on the section 'Have your say'
If BMI had dimissed a black employee for refusing to walk behind white employees when they flew to pre-apartheid South Africa, would British unions and the Manchester government have argued that the black employee should accept South Africa's "different culture"? What utter rot.
Notadhimmi, USA,
Friday, May 15, 2009
Taliban threatens politicians in troubled Swat, says report
ISTANBUL - Pakistani Taliban warned local politicians in the troubled Swat Valley that they and their families would be attacked unless they quit their posts protesting against the continuing army offensive in the region.
Speaking to Qatar-based Al Jazeera network yesterday, Muslim Khan, a Pakistani Taliban spokesman, gave members of the national and regional assemblies a three-day deadline to denounce the military assault on Taliban fighters.
The warning came hours after suspected Taliban militants stormed a depot in northwest Pakistan that handles supplied for NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan and torched eight trucks. Also yesterday Pakistan’s embattled President Asif Ali Zardari called for global help to avert a humanitarian catastrophe. "The warning signalled a dark turn in the unfolding events in Swat where the Pakistani army is battling Taliban fighters. They [Taliban] can make these threats and people will take them very seriously," Al Jazeera’s correspondent said.
Trapped residents
Hundreds of thousands of civilians have escaped the punishing offensive in the Swat valley, fleeing Taliban fighters who have terrorized the population in a bloody campaign to enforce Islamic law, or Shariah, and expand their control. Residents trapped in Mingora, the district's main town, told Agence France-Presse by telephone that militants had planted mines and were digging trenches. "People are becoming mentally ill, our senses have shut down, children and woman are crying, please tell the government to pull us out of here," said one shopkeeper contacted by AFP who did not want to give his name. "Forget the lack of electricity and other problems, the Taliban are everywhere and heavy exchanges of fire are routine at night."
Airstrikes targeted Taliban bastions across Swat, which has sunk from a stunning ski resort favored by Westerners to a crucible of Taliban violence, where ground troops have yet to take control. Helicopter gunships also swung into action in the neighboring district of Lower Dir, where the military has been on the offensive since April 26 after Taliban fighters advanced to within 100 kilometres (60 miles) of Islamabad.
A military spokesman reported "heavy fighting" in Swat's northern mountains at Peochar, the suspected stronghold of firebrand Taliban commander Maulana Fazlullah, where airborne commandos on Tuesday opened a new front. Overall, the military says more than 750 militants and 33 troops have been killed in its operations.
Source: Hurriyet
Speaking to Qatar-based Al Jazeera network yesterday, Muslim Khan, a Pakistani Taliban spokesman, gave members of the national and regional assemblies a three-day deadline to denounce the military assault on Taliban fighters.
The warning came hours after suspected Taliban militants stormed a depot in northwest Pakistan that handles supplied for NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan and torched eight trucks. Also yesterday Pakistan’s embattled President Asif Ali Zardari called for global help to avert a humanitarian catastrophe. "The warning signalled a dark turn in the unfolding events in Swat where the Pakistani army is battling Taliban fighters. They [Taliban] can make these threats and people will take them very seriously," Al Jazeera’s correspondent said.
Trapped residents
Hundreds of thousands of civilians have escaped the punishing offensive in the Swat valley, fleeing Taliban fighters who have terrorized the population in a bloody campaign to enforce Islamic law, or Shariah, and expand their control. Residents trapped in Mingora, the district's main town, told Agence France-Presse by telephone that militants had planted mines and were digging trenches. "People are becoming mentally ill, our senses have shut down, children and woman are crying, please tell the government to pull us out of here," said one shopkeeper contacted by AFP who did not want to give his name. "Forget the lack of electricity and other problems, the Taliban are everywhere and heavy exchanges of fire are routine at night."
Airstrikes targeted Taliban bastions across Swat, which has sunk from a stunning ski resort favored by Westerners to a crucible of Taliban violence, where ground troops have yet to take control. Helicopter gunships also swung into action in the neighboring district of Lower Dir, where the military has been on the offensive since April 26 after Taliban fighters advanced to within 100 kilometres (60 miles) of Islamabad.
A military spokesman reported "heavy fighting" in Swat's northern mountains at Peochar, the suspected stronghold of firebrand Taliban commander Maulana Fazlullah, where airborne commandos on Tuesday opened a new front. Overall, the military says more than 750 militants and 33 troops have been killed in its operations.
Source: Hurriyet
All pigs must die because they descend from Jews
All pigs must die
because they descend from Jews:
According to Egyptian Islamic scholar
by Itamar Marcus & Barbara Crook, May 13, 2009
All pigs alive today are descendants of the Jews who were turned into pigs by Allah, according to a senior Egyptian religious leader. Since all pigs are descendants of Jews, it is obligatory to kill all pigs, says Sheikh Ahmed Ali Othman.
Presumably if pigs were merely animals, they would not face destruction. It is their Jewish ancestry that condemns them to death.
The Jordanian newspaper Al-Hakika al-Dawliya adds that this is not the only opinion. It cites Sheikh Ali Abu Al-Hassan, head of the Fatwa Committee at Al-Azhar [Sunni Islamic university], who believes that all the Jews who were turned into pigs by Allah died out without reproducing, and therefore there is no relationship between today's pigs and Jews.
The following is the transcript from Al-Moheet Arab News Network:
"CAIRO -- Sheikh Ahmed Ali Othman, supervisor of the Da'awa [Islamic Indoctrination] of the Egyptian Waqf [Islamic Holy places], has issued a Religious Ruling (Fatwa) that pigs in our time have their origins in Jews who angered Allah, such that He turned them into monkeys, pigs, and Satan-worshippers, and it is obligatory to kill and slaughter them [the pigs].
Othman based his ruling on the respected Quranic verse, 'Say [to the People of the Book - Jews and Christians], Come and I shall make known to you who receives the worst retribution of all from Allah: those whom Allah has cursed and upon whom He has poured His wrath, whom He has made into monkeys and pigs, and who have served abominations. Their place is worst of all, and their deviation is the greatest of all...' (Quran, sura 5, verse 60)
Sheikh Othman noted that this verse concerning the nation of the prophet Moses descended [from Allah to the Quran], and the books of commentary confirm this. There are two opinions among the Ulama [Islamic scholars] in this regard: The first is that the Jews, whom Allah transformed and turned into pigs, remained in that state until they died, without producing descendants. The other opinion is that the Jews who turned into pigs multiplied and produced descendants, and their line continues to this day. Sheikh Othman also cited Hadiths (traditions attributed to Muhammad) as support...
The Jordanian newspaper Al-Hakika al-Dawliya quoted Othman: "I personally tend towards the view that the pigs that exist now have their origins with the Jews, and therefore their consumption is forbidden in the words of Allah: 'A carcass, and blood, and the flesh of a pig are forbidden to you....' Moreover, our master Jesus, peace be unto him - one of the tasks that he will fulfill when he descends to earth is the killing of the pigs, and this is proof that their source is Jewish.
Sheikh Othman said that whoever eats pig, it's as if he ate meat of an impure person, and stressed that this Religious Ruling is backed by the Islamic Sages of Al Azhar, but they are afraid to say this publically... so the Sages won't be accused of Anti-Semitism.
Sheikh Ali Abu Al-Hassan, head of the Fatwa Committee at Al-Azhar [Sunni Islamic university], said that the first view is accurate, because when Allah punishes a group of people he punishes only them. When Allah grew angry with the nation of Moses, He turned them into pigs and monkeys as an extraordinary punishment... but they died out without leaving descendants."
[Al-Moheet Arab News Network, May 10, 2009]
[Al-Hakika al-Dawliya, May 9, 2009]
Source: Palestinian Media Watch
because they descend from Jews:
According to Egyptian Islamic scholar
by Itamar Marcus & Barbara Crook, May 13, 2009
All pigs alive today are descendants of the Jews who were turned into pigs by Allah, according to a senior Egyptian religious leader. Since all pigs are descendants of Jews, it is obligatory to kill all pigs, says Sheikh Ahmed Ali Othman.
Presumably if pigs were merely animals, they would not face destruction. It is their Jewish ancestry that condemns them to death.
The Jordanian newspaper Al-Hakika al-Dawliya adds that this is not the only opinion. It cites Sheikh Ali Abu Al-Hassan, head of the Fatwa Committee at Al-Azhar [Sunni Islamic university], who believes that all the Jews who were turned into pigs by Allah died out without reproducing, and therefore there is no relationship between today's pigs and Jews.
The following is the transcript from Al-Moheet Arab News Network:
"CAIRO -- Sheikh Ahmed Ali Othman, supervisor of the Da'awa [Islamic Indoctrination] of the Egyptian Waqf [Islamic Holy places], has issued a Religious Ruling (Fatwa) that pigs in our time have their origins in Jews who angered Allah, such that He turned them into monkeys, pigs, and Satan-worshippers, and it is obligatory to kill and slaughter them [the pigs].
Othman based his ruling on the respected Quranic verse, 'Say [to the People of the Book - Jews and Christians], Come and I shall make known to you who receives the worst retribution of all from Allah: those whom Allah has cursed and upon whom He has poured His wrath, whom He has made into monkeys and pigs, and who have served abominations. Their place is worst of all, and their deviation is the greatest of all...' (Quran, sura 5, verse 60)
Sheikh Othman noted that this verse concerning the nation of the prophet Moses descended [from Allah to the Quran], and the books of commentary confirm this. There are two opinions among the Ulama [Islamic scholars] in this regard: The first is that the Jews, whom Allah transformed and turned into pigs, remained in that state until they died, without producing descendants. The other opinion is that the Jews who turned into pigs multiplied and produced descendants, and their line continues to this day. Sheikh Othman also cited Hadiths (traditions attributed to Muhammad) as support...
The Jordanian newspaper Al-Hakika al-Dawliya quoted Othman: "I personally tend towards the view that the pigs that exist now have their origins with the Jews, and therefore their consumption is forbidden in the words of Allah: 'A carcass, and blood, and the flesh of a pig are forbidden to you....' Moreover, our master Jesus, peace be unto him - one of the tasks that he will fulfill when he descends to earth is the killing of the pigs, and this is proof that their source is Jewish.
Sheikh Othman said that whoever eats pig, it's as if he ate meat of an impure person, and stressed that this Religious Ruling is backed by the Islamic Sages of Al Azhar, but they are afraid to say this publically... so the Sages won't be accused of Anti-Semitism.
Sheikh Ali Abu Al-Hassan, head of the Fatwa Committee at Al-Azhar [Sunni Islamic university], said that the first view is accurate, because when Allah punishes a group of people he punishes only them. When Allah grew angry with the nation of Moses, He turned them into pigs and monkeys as an extraordinary punishment... but they died out without leaving descendants."
[Al-Moheet Arab News Network, May 10, 2009]
[Al-Hakika al-Dawliya, May 9, 2009]
Source: Palestinian Media Watch
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Islamist Terrorism, Terror and Iraq
A briefing by Shimshon Issaki
April 30, 2009
http://www.meforum.org/2136/islamist-terrorism-terror-and-iraq
Shimshon Issaki is a leading expert on Islamic terrorism. He served for 44 years in the IDF and other Israeli security agencies as an intelligence analyst and operations officer, retiring with a rank equivalent to brigadier general. His new book, Terror and Iraq: How We Can Better Combat Islamic Terrorism, evaluates al-Qaeda's strategies and tactics. On April 30, Mr. Issaki addressed the Middle East Forum via conference call.
Shimshon Issaki opened with a holistic overview of al-Qaeda, from its roots in the battle against the Soviets in Afghanistan to its far-reaching terrorist activities during the past two decades.
According to Mr. Issaki, al-Qaeda opposes Christians, Jews, and even other Muslims who do not subscribe to Osama bin Laden's Wahhabi ideology; it seeks to attack and "overthrow all regimes that are non-Muslim," or that adhere to an unacceptable brand of Islam. Its preferred instrument is terrorism.
Mr. Issaki claimed that 9/11 could have been averted "if things had been done in the right way," but he sees similar barriers hindering intelligence work seven years later. In particular, he stated that Barack Obama's release of documents on enhanced interrogation techniques has done "irreversible damage to security because [terrorists] are learning how to behave" during questioning.
Asked whether American-Israeli intelligence cooperation has changed since President Obama took office, Issaki reported that it remains "very good," since "the interests [of the U.S. and Israel] are the same interests, the targets are the same targets, and the experience is the same experience."
However, he noted that significant differences of opinion between the United States and Israel have emerged over Iran, Hamas, and other strategic issues. Mr. Issaki said that the Obama administration may be "correct to explore all the possibilities. But where is the time limit? For how long?" He lamented that nothing has been done to deal with Iran since the U.S. election.
Finally, Mr. Issaki warned that al-Qaeda's demise in Iraq has been greatly exaggerated. Recent events show that the organization still is capable of generating chaos there, to the undisputed benefit of Iran.
Summary account by David Rusin.
Source: The Middle East Forum
April 30, 2009
http://www.meforum.org/2136/islamist-terrorism-terror-and-iraq
Shimshon Issaki is a leading expert on Islamic terrorism. He served for 44 years in the IDF and other Israeli security agencies as an intelligence analyst and operations officer, retiring with a rank equivalent to brigadier general. His new book, Terror and Iraq: How We Can Better Combat Islamic Terrorism, evaluates al-Qaeda's strategies and tactics. On April 30, Mr. Issaki addressed the Middle East Forum via conference call.
Shimshon Issaki opened with a holistic overview of al-Qaeda, from its roots in the battle against the Soviets in Afghanistan to its far-reaching terrorist activities during the past two decades.
According to Mr. Issaki, al-Qaeda opposes Christians, Jews, and even other Muslims who do not subscribe to Osama bin Laden's Wahhabi ideology; it seeks to attack and "overthrow all regimes that are non-Muslim," or that adhere to an unacceptable brand of Islam. Its preferred instrument is terrorism.
Mr. Issaki claimed that 9/11 could have been averted "if things had been done in the right way," but he sees similar barriers hindering intelligence work seven years later. In particular, he stated that Barack Obama's release of documents on enhanced interrogation techniques has done "irreversible damage to security because [terrorists] are learning how to behave" during questioning.
Asked whether American-Israeli intelligence cooperation has changed since President Obama took office, Issaki reported that it remains "very good," since "the interests [of the U.S. and Israel] are the same interests, the targets are the same targets, and the experience is the same experience."
However, he noted that significant differences of opinion between the United States and Israel have emerged over Iran, Hamas, and other strategic issues. Mr. Issaki said that the Obama administration may be "correct to explore all the possibilities. But where is the time limit? For how long?" He lamented that nothing has been done to deal with Iran since the U.S. election.
Finally, Mr. Issaki warned that al-Qaeda's demise in Iraq has been greatly exaggerated. Recent events show that the organization still is capable of generating chaos there, to the undisputed benefit of Iran.
Summary account by David Rusin.
Source: The Middle East Forum
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Porn dominates Saudi mobile use
Up to 70% of files exchanged between Saudi teenagers' mobile phones contain pornography, according to a study in the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom.
The study quoted in Arab News focussed on the phones of teenagers detained by religious police for harassing girls.
The same researcher also found that 88% of girls say they have been victims of harassment using Bluetooth technology.
Saudi Arabia has toughened penalties for misuse of mobile phones which challenge its strict social traditions.
"The flash memory of mobile phones taken from teenagers showed 69.7% of 1,470 files saved in them were pornographic and 8.6% were related to violence," said report author Professor Abdullah al-Rasheed.
He presented his study at a seminar organised by the King Fahd Security Academy, Arab News reports.
Social contact between genders is banned in public in Saudi Arabia, which enforces a strict interpretation of Islamic law and morality.
But the spread of Bluetooth technology, allowing wireless connection between mobile phones, has allowed for increased opportunities of communication as well as abuse by predatory young men.
Source: BBC
The study quoted in Arab News focussed on the phones of teenagers detained by religious police for harassing girls.
The same researcher also found that 88% of girls say they have been victims of harassment using Bluetooth technology.
Saudi Arabia has toughened penalties for misuse of mobile phones which challenge its strict social traditions.
"The flash memory of mobile phones taken from teenagers showed 69.7% of 1,470 files saved in them were pornographic and 8.6% were related to violence," said report author Professor Abdullah al-Rasheed.
He presented his study at a seminar organised by the King Fahd Security Academy, Arab News reports.
Social contact between genders is banned in public in Saudi Arabia, which enforces a strict interpretation of Islamic law and morality.
But the spread of Bluetooth technology, allowing wireless connection between mobile phones, has allowed for increased opportunities of communication as well as abuse by predatory young men.
Source: BBC
Cairo youth break sex taboos
As part of a series about young people in the Middle East, the BBC News website explores relationships in Cairo where sex outside wedlock is taboo - but some say not uncommon.
Fatima and her boyfriend had been together for about two years when she discovered she was pregnant.
"I had to have an abortion. I didn't want to do it, but in this society I didn't have any choice," she says, now an outspoken 27 year-old.
"I hate it when I remember it, because it was a very, very bad experience." Her family know nothing of her ordeal.
Mido, 28, has had four serious girlfriends. He has had sex several times and feels no guilt, but would never tell his parents.
"I don't have the courage to shake their beliefs - especially my father's," he says.
Niveen, 24, has been seeing her boyfriend for four months. They plan to move in together without their parents finding out.
"Whenever you have a relationship here you have to take risks, and this is the risk I'm taking," she says.
Spending the night together is difficult as both live at home with their families. Even going to a hotel means checking into different rooms and sneaking between them.
Hidden lives
With their secret lifestyles, these three young people from Cairo's liberal, intellectual elite are pushing at the limits set by a society dominated by traditional views.
Even among educated urbanites, the concept of an unmarried mother simply does not exist. A bride's virginity is so highly prized that doctors charge up to 1000 Egyptian pounds (US$173) to reconstruct a young woman's hymen.
But there are perceptions that in general, at least in Cairo, sex before marriage is widespread and increasing as spiralling costs and high unemployment push marriage ages up.
On any summer evening along Cairo's 6th October Bridge, veiled figures nestle up to young men. The couples gaze down into the Nile, engaged in intimate conversation amid the blaring horns and traffic fumes.
Locals will tell you this is increasing as it becomes more socially acceptable, and that many of these couples are from Cairo's poorer areas.
But there is debate over whether this new openness about courtship is resulting in more premarital sex.
Gynaecologist Rima Khofash works among both rich and poor in Cairo and estimates that about 50% of young people have pre-marital sex.
"I think now there is a revolution in sex between young people - they do it haphazardly - often in short-term relationships."
Abortion is illegal in Egypt in all but a few cases. Approximately one woman a month comes to her clinic with complications resulting from a backstreet termination, she says.
Dr Khofash is certain that the number of abortions is increasing: "All gynaecologists know this, but we don't know how much it is increasing by."
'Not widespread'
But Dr Sahar Tawila of Cairo University, who co-ordinated one of the most comprehensive studies ever of young people in Egypt, believes the prevalence of sex before marriage has been dramatically overblown in the Egyptian media.
"It is not widespread. Sexual relationships do exist, but they should be put in proportion."
In the 2001 nationwide study, 21% of young men with higher education said they knew someone who had had pre-marital sex - and this dropped to 1.4% among the uneducated.
Dr Tawila says young people, particularly girls, are highly aware of the risks of pre-marital sex.
For example, Shaymaa, 20, is in love with Ashraf, her boyfriend of 18 months. But she refuses anything more intimate than holding hands.
If she has sex with him, she explains, she may end up being forced to marry him, which she is not yet sure she wants to do. "Virginity is your whole life," she says.
Ashraf, 26, says he has been pushing her towards intimacy: "I just have to stop at a point when I am sure she will refuse to sleep with me - that means she is a good girl."
Many more young women say they plan to stay virgins until they marry. Several point out that girls face more pressure to do so than boys.
"Boys I know have many girlfriends, even at the same time. One of my best friends told me he made love with his girlfriend and then said 'I won't ever marry her - she's not a virgin'," one 19-year-old female student said.
Illegal operation
This pressure drives the demand for hymen reconstruction operations, which can even involve stitching a small capsule of red fluid into the vagina to ensure wedding night "bleeding".
Gynaecologist Ahdy Wahid Rizk says that each week, two or three young women visit his central Cairo clinic to ask about hymen reconstruction, despite the fact that he has always refused to carry out the illegal operation.
But even so, those having premarital sex may well still be a small minority. For those who would like to, there are still many barriers.
Mona, 27, was with her boyfriend for two years: "We didn't have full sex. We didn't have a place to do it. If it was easier, yes, I think I would have liked to. But it's also our traditions that stopped me. I felt guilty about what we did."
And many others simply believe it is wrong, like Cairo University student Mohammed Esmat, 20: "I'm a Muslim and in Islam sex before marriage is forbidden, so I am against it."
Some names have been changed to protect the identities of interviewees.
Source: BBC
Fatima and her boyfriend had been together for about two years when she discovered she was pregnant.
"I had to have an abortion. I didn't want to do it, but in this society I didn't have any choice," she says, now an outspoken 27 year-old.
"I hate it when I remember it, because it was a very, very bad experience." Her family know nothing of her ordeal.
Mido, 28, has had four serious girlfriends. He has had sex several times and feels no guilt, but would never tell his parents.
"I don't have the courage to shake their beliefs - especially my father's," he says.
Niveen, 24, has been seeing her boyfriend for four months. They plan to move in together without their parents finding out.
"Whenever you have a relationship here you have to take risks, and this is the risk I'm taking," she says.
Spending the night together is difficult as both live at home with their families. Even going to a hotel means checking into different rooms and sneaking between them.
Hidden lives
With their secret lifestyles, these three young people from Cairo's liberal, intellectual elite are pushing at the limits set by a society dominated by traditional views.
Even among educated urbanites, the concept of an unmarried mother simply does not exist. A bride's virginity is so highly prized that doctors charge up to 1000 Egyptian pounds (US$173) to reconstruct a young woman's hymen.
But there are perceptions that in general, at least in Cairo, sex before marriage is widespread and increasing as spiralling costs and high unemployment push marriage ages up.
On any summer evening along Cairo's 6th October Bridge, veiled figures nestle up to young men. The couples gaze down into the Nile, engaged in intimate conversation amid the blaring horns and traffic fumes.
Locals will tell you this is increasing as it becomes more socially acceptable, and that many of these couples are from Cairo's poorer areas.
But there is debate over whether this new openness about courtship is resulting in more premarital sex.
Gynaecologist Rima Khofash works among both rich and poor in Cairo and estimates that about 50% of young people have pre-marital sex.
"I think now there is a revolution in sex between young people - they do it haphazardly - often in short-term relationships."
Abortion is illegal in Egypt in all but a few cases. Approximately one woman a month comes to her clinic with complications resulting from a backstreet termination, she says.
Dr Khofash is certain that the number of abortions is increasing: "All gynaecologists know this, but we don't know how much it is increasing by."
'Not widespread'
But Dr Sahar Tawila of Cairo University, who co-ordinated one of the most comprehensive studies ever of young people in Egypt, believes the prevalence of sex before marriage has been dramatically overblown in the Egyptian media.
"It is not widespread. Sexual relationships do exist, but they should be put in proportion."
In the 2001 nationwide study, 21% of young men with higher education said they knew someone who had had pre-marital sex - and this dropped to 1.4% among the uneducated.
Dr Tawila says young people, particularly girls, are highly aware of the risks of pre-marital sex.
For example, Shaymaa, 20, is in love with Ashraf, her boyfriend of 18 months. But she refuses anything more intimate than holding hands.
If she has sex with him, she explains, she may end up being forced to marry him, which she is not yet sure she wants to do. "Virginity is your whole life," she says.
Ashraf, 26, says he has been pushing her towards intimacy: "I just have to stop at a point when I am sure she will refuse to sleep with me - that means she is a good girl."
Many more young women say they plan to stay virgins until they marry. Several point out that girls face more pressure to do so than boys.
"Boys I know have many girlfriends, even at the same time. One of my best friends told me he made love with his girlfriend and then said 'I won't ever marry her - she's not a virgin'," one 19-year-old female student said.
Illegal operation
This pressure drives the demand for hymen reconstruction operations, which can even involve stitching a small capsule of red fluid into the vagina to ensure wedding night "bleeding".
Gynaecologist Ahdy Wahid Rizk says that each week, two or three young women visit his central Cairo clinic to ask about hymen reconstruction, despite the fact that he has always refused to carry out the illegal operation.
But even so, those having premarital sex may well still be a small minority. For those who would like to, there are still many barriers.
Mona, 27, was with her boyfriend for two years: "We didn't have full sex. We didn't have a place to do it. If it was easier, yes, I think I would have liked to. But it's also our traditions that stopped me. I felt guilty about what we did."
And many others simply believe it is wrong, like Cairo University student Mohammed Esmat, 20: "I'm a Muslim and in Islam sex before marriage is forbidden, so I am against it."
Some names have been changed to protect the identities of interviewees.
Source: BBC
Egypt arrests 'wife swap' couple
Egyptian police have arrested a senior civil servant and his wife accusing them of swapping sex partners with other couples, local media reports say.
The pair are said to have held at least three "swinger" parties at their home in Cairo, after soliciting other married couples over the internet.
Extra-marital sex is illegal in Egypt, where the constitution says Islamic law is the main source of legislation.
Police say they are looking for others who participated in the sex acts.
The couple, who media reports say have children and used the aliases Magdy and Samira, face up to three years in prison if convicted of facilitating prostitution.
'Snooping'
Egyptian media reported that the main suspect - a government employee - set up a website to promote wife swapping and posted ads in chat rooms linked to popular Arabic porn sites.
He and his wife - a school teacher - then interviewed some 44 couples, usually at coffee shops in downtown Cairo, before they swapped partners.
Press reports said the pair turned down over 40 couples because they were not officially married, causing concern that they would not guarantee confidentiality.
It said police also arrested a lawyer at a cafe in the Cairo suburb Giza while he was finalising a swap deal, adding that another swap was set for the weekend with a young man from the Gulf and his wife.
Many of the ads on the website used by the couple are said to contain personal email addresses and phone numbers.
A human rights group, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, criticised police for snooping on the couples.
"The case raises serious concerns about due process and the privacy rights of those arrested, especially in light of press reports about police interception of defendants' electronic correspondence," spokesman Hossam Bahgat told the AFP news agency.
"We're also of course worried that police seem to be still going after many people based on the intercepted emails of the two main defendants."
The pair are said to have held at least three "swinger" parties at their home in Cairo, after soliciting other married couples over the internet.
Extra-marital sex is illegal in Egypt, where the constitution says Islamic law is the main source of legislation.
Police say they are looking for others who participated in the sex acts.
The couple, who media reports say have children and used the aliases Magdy and Samira, face up to three years in prison if convicted of facilitating prostitution.
'Snooping'
Egyptian media reported that the main suspect - a government employee - set up a website to promote wife swapping and posted ads in chat rooms linked to popular Arabic porn sites.
He and his wife - a school teacher - then interviewed some 44 couples, usually at coffee shops in downtown Cairo, before they swapped partners.
Press reports said the pair turned down over 40 couples because they were not officially married, causing concern that they would not guarantee confidentiality.
It said police also arrested a lawyer at a cafe in the Cairo suburb Giza while he was finalising a swap deal, adding that another swap was set for the weekend with a young man from the Gulf and his wife.
Many of the ads on the website used by the couple are said to contain personal email addresses and phone numbers.
A human rights group, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, criticised police for snooping on the couples.
"The case raises serious concerns about due process and the privacy rights of those arrested, especially in light of press reports about police interception of defendants' electronic correspondence," spokesman Hossam Bahgat told the AFP news agency.
"We're also of course worried that police seem to be still going after many people based on the intercepted emails of the two main defendants."
Source: BBC
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
A Peaceful Islam...
These pictures are of Muslims marching through the STREETS OF LONDON during their recent 'Religion of Peace Demonstration.'
Monday, May 4, 2009
Lebanese woman fined for losing unborn baby in Dubai car crash
DUBAI: A woman who lost her unborn baby in a Dubai road crash has been convicted of manslaughter and ordered to pay blood money, in the first such ruling in the UAE, local newspapers reported on Monday. The court found the 27-year-old Lebanese woman had failed to exercise due diligence when driving and caused her car to collide with another vehicle in October when she was nine months pregnant, the Arabic-language Al-Emarat Al-Youm said.
The National reported that the woman's car was struck from behind after she braked on a highway in Dubai, which like the rest of the UAE is notorious for fatal road accidents.
The Dubai Traffic Court ordered the mother to pay 20,000 dirhams ($5,450) in diyyah or blood money to the unborn baby's next of kin and fined her another $540 for "unintentional homicide," Al-Emarat Al-Youm said. The judge based the verdict on Islamic or sharia law, it added.
"This may be the first case of its kind and may appear unusual to some, but the case highlights the fact that an unborn foetus also has rights as any human being," chief traffic prosecutor Salah Bu Farousha was quoted as saying in The National.
Highways in the UAE have a top speed limit of 120 kilometers an hour but motorists often drive much faster. - AFP
Source: The Daily Star - Lebanon
The National reported that the woman's car was struck from behind after she braked on a highway in Dubai, which like the rest of the UAE is notorious for fatal road accidents.
The Dubai Traffic Court ordered the mother to pay 20,000 dirhams ($5,450) in diyyah or blood money to the unborn baby's next of kin and fined her another $540 for "unintentional homicide," Al-Emarat Al-Youm said. The judge based the verdict on Islamic or sharia law, it added.
"This may be the first case of its kind and may appear unusual to some, but the case highlights the fact that an unborn foetus also has rights as any human being," chief traffic prosecutor Salah Bu Farousha was quoted as saying in The National.
Highways in the UAE have a top speed limit of 120 kilometers an hour but motorists often drive much faster. - AFP
Source: The Daily Star - Lebanon
Airline sorry for omitting Israel
British airline BMI has apologised after in-flight maps on its London-Tel Aviv service did not identify Israel.
The moving maps marked Islamic holy sites but showed only the city of Haifa in Israel, identified by its Arabic name, Khefa.
Israeli officials accused BMI of trying to "hide the existence of Israel".
But BMI said it was a technical error - the maps had not been changed since the planes were taken over from a former airline which flew to the Middle East.
"If BMI had any political agenda in order not to anger neighbouring countries, it would not have invested so much in the Tel Aviv line," AFP news agency quoted a spokesman as saying.
BMED, which was taken over by BMI in 2007, had flown from the UK to many Muslim countries in the Middle East and so the maps had pointed out sites which were relevant to passengers.
A BMI spokesman told the BBC the maps should have been deactivated before the planes were deployed on the new route but "due to a technical error this did not take place".
Israeli transport ministry Director General Gideon Sitterman, said it was "unacceptable" that Israel had been "wiped off the map".
"Doing business with Israel has its advantages and disadvantages, but we will not agree to a situation where they hide the existence of Israel but want to do business with Israel," he told Israeli army radio.
BMI has withdrawn the two planes from service while new maps are installed, but said larger planes had been scheduled to take over the route last Sunday anyway.
The spokesman told the BBC there had been "quite a bit of upset" from customers but that it had been a genuine error and the airline was sorry for any offence caused.
The moving maps marked Islamic holy sites but showed only the city of Haifa in Israel, identified by its Arabic name, Khefa.
Israeli officials accused BMI of trying to "hide the existence of Israel".
But BMI said it was a technical error - the maps had not been changed since the planes were taken over from a former airline which flew to the Middle East.
"If BMI had any political agenda in order not to anger neighbouring countries, it would not have invested so much in the Tel Aviv line," AFP news agency quoted a spokesman as saying.
BMED, which was taken over by BMI in 2007, had flown from the UK to many Muslim countries in the Middle East and so the maps had pointed out sites which were relevant to passengers.
A BMI spokesman told the BBC the maps should have been deactivated before the planes were deployed on the new route but "due to a technical error this did not take place".
Israeli transport ministry Director General Gideon Sitterman, said it was "unacceptable" that Israel had been "wiped off the map".
"Doing business with Israel has its advantages and disadvantages, but we will not agree to a situation where they hide the existence of Israel but want to do business with Israel," he told Israeli army radio.
BMI has withdrawn the two planes from service while new maps are installed, but said larger planes had been scheduled to take over the route last Sunday anyway.
The spokesman told the BBC there had been "quite a bit of upset" from customers but that it had been a genuine error and the airline was sorry for any offence caused.
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