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Showing posts with label journalist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label journalist. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

'POLYGAMY FOR WOMEN' demand in Saudi Arabia sparks row in Muslim world, Islam, Women and Feminism, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam, Women and Feminism
'POLYGAMY FOR WOMEN' demand in Saudi Arabia sparks row in Muslim world

"Allow me to choose four, five or even nine men, just as my wildest imagination shall choose. I’ll pick them with different shapes and sizes, one of them will be dark and the other will be blond. ... [T]hey will be chosen from different backgrounds, religions, races and nations.”

So reads the first paragraph of Saudi journalist Nadine Bedair’s controversial article, recently published in the Egyptian independent daily Al Masry Al Youm that raised the question of why only men are allowed to practice polygamy in Islam but not women. As expected, the daring article, entitled "My Four Husbands and I," has stirred the pot among various groups.

Comments and criticism on the article continue to trickle in at a steady pace nearly a month after its publication, especially in Egypt, from where it originated. There, some Muslim authorities and lawmakers have attacked Bedair, condemning her writings as inflammatory and sexually provocative.

One of those who reacted with fury to her reflections on the alleged unfairness of polygamy in Islam was Sheikh Mohamed Gama’i. He lashed out at the Saudi journalist in an article published on an Egyptian news site, saying that “no woman has the right to attack our traditions in this manner” and said that Bedair ought to be “stopped.”

http://newageislam.com/-polygamy-for-women--demand-in-saudi-arabia-sparks-row-in-muslim-world/islam,-women-and-feminism/d/2337


Saudi Girl, 12, Married Off to 80-Year-Old Man, Islamic World News, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic World News
Saudi Girl, 12, Married Off to 80-Year-Old Man

Buraidah, Saudi Arabia (TML) – Saudi women’s rights advocates are outraged after a 12-year-old girl was sold by her father into marriage with an 80-year-old man.

A Saudi father, whose name has not been released, sold his 12-year-old daughter to his 80-year old cousin for the equivalent of $22,600. The elderly man, who lives in the city of Buraidah, stands accused of raping the girl after the wedding. He has previously married three other young girls.

“She was raped and they took her to the hospital after the wedding night,” Wajiha Al-Huwaidar, a Saudi journalist who has been banned from reporting by the government told The Media Line. “Usually when the girl is very young, the authorities tell the husband not to touch her until after puberty. When he was interviewed, the guy just said she was old enough and he didn’t know she would get hurt.”

The girl, already in the custody of the elderly man, was reported to have shouted “I don’t want him, save me!” when contacted by phone by a journalist from the Al Riyadh, a local newspaper in the Saudi capital.

The girl’s mother, who had objected strongly to the marriage, took the case to local media after her lawyer’s efforts to get it legally annulled failed.

After the case was publicized, the public prosecutor of Al-Qassim Province is said to have set up a special committee to look into the case.

“They say they’re going to look into it but nothing will really happen,” Eman Al Nafjan, a Saudi blogger and women’s rights advocate told The Media Line. “Even if they solve this case, they are not going to recommend a new law to the king. We should set a legal minimum age at which girls can be married.”

“Without a law we get people like this 80 year old guy who takes advantage of the system to fulfill his sick obsession with little girls,” she wrote on her blog. “Where else in the world can a man openly say that he is in a polygamous marriage with four underage girls and not get arrested? At this rate we might as well start a tourism industry to attract rich Muslim pedophiles.”

http://newageislam.com/saudi-girl,-12,-married-off-to-80-year-old-man/islamic-world-news/d/2411


Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Babri Masjid: Opportunity for Muslims, Spiritual Meditations, NewAgeIslam.com

Spiritual Meditations
Babri Masjid: Opportunity for Muslims

By Sultan Shahin, Editor, New Age Islam

Another option being discussed in the Press and possibly being considered by the government relaters to the recommendation of the high-powered Congress committee set up to suggest new and more credible sops to beguile the Muslim vote-bank. This is to club all the title deed cases pertaining to the Ayodhya dispute and present an omnibus case to the Supreme Court under Article 138(2) of the Constitution for expeditious disposal within a fixed timeframe. The Article binds the parties to accepting the final judgement.

The hope is that the militant Hindus would not be inclined to challenge such a decision in view of the Supreme Court ruling that what lies at the bottom of the dispute is the question of ownership of the disputed property. It is said these options are not mutually exclusive; negotiations can continue while the Supreme Court grapples with the property dispute.

Despite my almost incorrigible optimism, I find this situation quite perplexing. We have known the Muslim leaders for quite some time now. They have kept the Muslim masses embroiled in virtual non-issues for nearly half a century. I have been personally watching them closely since 1972 when I joined the Jamaat-e-Islami-run Radiance Viewsweekly as a trainee journalist.

http://newageislam.com/babri-masjid--opportunity-for-muslims/spiritual-meditations/d/1514


Monday, June 11, 2012

Mumbai Terror: William Kristol on Jihad’s True Face, Radical Islamism and Jihad, NewAgeIslam.com

Radical Islamism and Jihad
Mumbai Terror: William Kristol on Jihad’s True Face
By WILLIAM KRISTOL
Published: December 1, 2008

Why? “The former implies a cause: a national or tribal or ethnic rationale that infuses a sacrificial action with some group’s view of heroism; the latter is an assault on civilized values, everyone’s. ... To the degree barbarism is a part of the human condition, Mumbai must be understood not just as an act related to a particular group but as an outbreak of pent-up irrationality that can occur anywhere, anytime. ... It may be true that the perpetrators viewed themselves as somehow justified in attacking Indians and visiting foreigners, particularly perhaps Americans, British and Israeli nationals. But a response that is the least nationalistic is likely to be the most effective.”

If, as Leach says, “it may be true” the perpetrators viewed themselves as justified in their attacks, doesn’t this mean that they did in fact have a “rationale” that “infused” their action?

But Leach doesn’t want to discuss that rationale — even though it’s not hard to find. Ten minutes of Googling will bring you to a fine article, “The Ideologies of South Asian Jihadi Groups,” from the April 2005 issue of Current Trends in Islamist Ideology. It’s by the respected journalist and diplomat Husain Haqqani, who, as it happens, is now Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States.

http://newageislam.com/mumbai-terror--william-kristol-on-jihad%E2%80%99s-true-face--/radical-islamism-and-jihad/d/1034


Monday, May 14, 2012

Moroccan Woman Beaten, Stoned and Striped By Salafists over Revealing Dress, Islam, Women and Feminism, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam, Women and Feminism
Moroccan Woman Beaten, Stoned and Striped By Salafists over Revealing Dress

The young woman, whose name and age remains undisclosed, was said to have been beaten and stoned for wearing a "short dress" at a market place in the city of Rabat, reported North African news website Magharebia. It was not known when the incident had happened.

The assault was reportedly carried out by Salafists, an extremist group who in recent years are believed to have a link with Al-Qaeda. The attack reportedly came on the heels of an announcement made by Quran reciter Abu Zeid, who called for a particular day to be consigned to "chastity and modesty", the report said.

The incident fuelled outrage among several human support organizations, especially women's right groups, who condemned the attack and brought to light the deficit in women's freedom in the country. Many Moroccans even took to Facebook to decry the assault and necessitate the increased protection of

"Though this incident appeared in the media and gained wider attention, that does not mean it is not repeated on an almost regular or semi-daily basis in all the alleys and streets of our cities," activist journalist Nora Al-Fuari from the Al-Sabah daily said, according to the report.

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http://www.newageislam.com/islam,-women-and-feminism/new-age-islam-news-bureau/moroccan-woman-beaten,-stoned-and-striped-by-salafists-over-revealing-dress/d/7318



Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Pakistan’s surreal Urdu media — II, Islam and the Media, NewAgeIslam.com


Islam and the Media
23 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Pakistan’s surreal Urdu media — II


May 26, 2011
More than newspapers, news television knows the popular mind. This is because it responds to daily ratings and can calibrate pitch and tone accordingly. What appears on their television should worry secular Pakistanis. In what other nation would Zaid Hamid be an analyst?
Let’s have a look at the roster of Pakistan’s other television stars.
Kamran Khan is first-rate, easily the best TV journalist in Pakistan. He got nothing from US Ambassador Cameron Munter after Osama’s killing, but not for want of trying. He’s an excellent questioner and a good listener. His interview with Ishrat Husain went farther than anything before it in explaining Pakistan’s economic condition. Rahimullah Yusufzai appears on many shows but only Khan is able to extract value from the old reporter’s experience.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Why Islam totally prohibits suicides, Urdu Section, NewAgeIslam.com


Urdu Section
17 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Why Islam totally prohibits suicides


Anything that a Muslim religious scholar or even a journalist writes in the Urdu Press, must reek of Islam-supremacism and contempt for other religions based on both lack of knowledge and understanding of our own as well as that of other religions. Our so-called Ulema come from kafir-manufacturing factories where there are not taught any respect for other punts of view within or without Islam.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Growing Trend of Suicides: How and Why Islam Totally Prohibits, NewAgeIslam.com


Islamic Sharia Laws
16 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Growing Trend of Suicides: How and Why Islam Totally Prohibits Suicides


Anything that a Muslim religious scholar or even a journalist writes in the Urdu Press, must reek of Islam-supremacism and contempt for other religions based on both lack of knowledge and understanding of our own as well as that of other religions. Our so-called Ulema come from kafir-manufacturing factories where there are not taught any respect for other punts of view within or without Islam. Well, they are simply not trained into any system of thought other than the limited one of their own. Question of respect for others simply does not arise. Knowledge comes first.