The War of French Dressing: Facing An Increasingly Assertive Islam, Islam and the West, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam and the West

The War of French Dressing: Facing An Increasingly Assertive Islam

FOR American commentators who like to denounce European complacency in the face of an increasingly assertive Islam, France is an intriguing test-case. It is home to Europe’s biggest Muslim minority, numbering some 5m-6m, and it unapologetically expects Muslims to adapt to French ways. In 1994 the government began clamping down on religious symbols, including the Muslim headscarf, in state schools. Ten years later it banned all “ostentatious” religious signs, including the veil, from state schools and other public buildings. Now yet another tightening is in the works: a proposed ban on wearing the burqa in any public places.

Jean-François Copé, parliamentary leader of the ruling UMP party, this week submitted a draft law stating that “nobody, in places open to the public or on streets, may wear an outfit or an accessory whose effect is to hide the face”. A few exceptions would be made, he said, such as for carnivals. At other times, anybody refusing to take off a face-covering could be fined €750 ($1,090). He hopes parliament will debate the draft at the end of March, shortly after the regional elections.

The move by Mr Copé, an ambitious politician, is a parliamentary not a government-led initiative. Yet it has broad backing. President Nicolas Sarkozy declared last year that the burqa was “not welcome on French soil”. François Fillon, the prime minister, said this week that he backed the idea of a ban. Mr Copé says that he already has 220 deputies supporting him.

http://newageislam.com/the-war-of-french-dressing--facing-an-increasingly-assertive-islam/islam-and-the-west/d/2459

Mind set: Dilemma of a liberal Hindu, Spiritual Meditations, NewAgeIslam.com

Spiritual Meditations

Mind set: Dilemma of a liberal Hindu

By Gurcharan Das

Sept 6, 2009

With the rise in religious fundamentalism around the world, it is increasingly difficult to talk about one’s deepest beliefs. Liberal Hindus are reluctant to admit to being Hindu for fear they will be linked to the RSS. Liberal Christians and liberal Muslims abroad have had the same experience. Part of the reason that the sensible idea of secularism is having so much difficulty finding a home in India is that the most vocal and intellectual advocates of secularism were once Marxists. Not only do they not believe in God, they actually hate God. As rationalists they can only see the dark side of religion — intolerance, murderous wars and nationalism and cannot empathize with the everyday life of the common Indian for whom religion gives meaning to every moment. Secularists speak a language alien to the vast majority, so they are only able to condemn communal violence but not to stop it, as Mahatma Gandhi could, in East Bengal in 1947.

Part of the problem stems from ignorance. Our children do not grow up reading our ancient classics, certainly not with a critical mind as youth in the West read their works of literature and philosophy in school and college. In India, some get to know about epics from their grandmothers; others read the stories in Amar Chitra Katha comics or watch them in television serials.

http://newageislam.com/mind-set--dilemma-of-a-liberal-hindu/spiritual-meditations/d/1792

The American Empire vs. The Graveyard of Afghanistan, War on Terror , NewAgeIslam.com

War on Terror

The American Empire vs. The Graveyard of Afghanistan

The Empire vs. The Graveyard

Whistling Past the Afghan Graveyard, Where Empires Go To Die

by Tom Engelhardt

Published on Thursday, February 5, 2009 by TomDispatch.com

It is now a commonplace -- as a lead article in the New York Times's Week in Review pointed out recently -- that Afghanistan is "the graveyard of empires." Given Barack Obama's call for a greater focus on the Afghan War ("we took our eye off the ball when we invaded Iraq..."), and given indications that a "surge" of U.S. troops is about to get underway there, Afghanistan's dangers have been much in the news lately. Some of the writing on this subject, including recent essays by Juan Cole atSalon.com, Robert Dreyfuss at the Nation, and John Robertson at the War in Context website, has been incisive on just how the new administration's policy initiatives might transform Afghanistan and the increasingly unhinged Pakistani tribal borderlands into "Obama's War."

In other words, "the graveyard" has been getting its due. Far less attention has been paid to the "empire" part of the equation. And there's a good reason for that -- at least in Washington. Despite escalating worries about the deteriorating situation, no one in our nation's capital is ready to believe that Afghanistan could actually be the "graveyard" for the American role as the dominant hegemon on this planet.

In truth, to give "empire" its due you would have to start with a reassessment of how the Cold War ended. In 1989, which now seems centuries ago, the Berlin Wall came down; in 1991, to the amazement of the U.S. intelligence community, influential pundits, inside-the-Beltway think-tankers, and Washington's politicians, the Soviet Union, that "evil empire," that colossus of repression, that mortal enemy through nearly half a century of threatened nuclear MADness -- as in "mutually assured destruction" -- simply evaporated, almost without violence. (Soviet troops, camped out in the relatively cushy outposts of Eastern Europe, especially the former East Germany, were in no more hurry to come home to the economic misery of a collapsed empire than U.S. troops stationed in Okinawa, Japan, are likely to be in the future.)

http://newageislam.com/the-american-empire-vs.-the-graveyard-of-afghanistan--/war-on-terror/d/1175

Egyptian women break new ground at the mosque, Islam, Women and Feminism, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam, Women and Feminism

Egyptian women break new ground at the mosque

By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI

updated 12:03 a.m. ET Jan. 5, 2009

Now, with religiosity increasing in Egypt overall, more women want to engage in public prayer, increase their knowledge of Islam and do volunteer work in the community. Many Egyptian women already have had to balance their traditional place in the home with public roles at universities and jobs, so they tend to ask, "Why not a place in the mosque as well?"

These women aren't Western-style feminists seeking to change the faith's teachings on women. But their presence is challenging assumptions on women's place and turning some mosques into women-friendly social hubs.

While no statistics exist on the increasing number of Egyptian women praying outside the home, several religious scholars in Cairo say there's a clear trend of more women attending mosques and playing a greater religious role.

Khairy is typical of many of the new breed of religious women. She is in her 50s, studied engineering at university but rather than pursue a career, she married and stayed home to care for her children. About 10 years ago, she wanted to deepen her faith, so she and a group of women started meeting in each other's homes to memorize the Quran.

http://newageislam.com/egyptian-women-break-new-ground-at-the-mosque--/islam,-women-and-feminism/d/1112

Can Muslims still respect ARABS?, Islamic Sharia Laws, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic Sharia Laws

Can Muslims still respect ARABS? Asks Raja Choudhary outraged at 9 year old girl having to seek divorce in Yemen

By Raja Choudhary

To Editor@NewAgeIslam.com, ………………

Salam brothers and sisters:

A medical examination showed that she had been sexually molested but was still technically a virgin

Arwa's audacity in seeking a divorce was inspired by the example of Nujood, another young girl from the capital, Sanaa, who has become a national celebrity.

Prophet's example

A third girl, Reem is still waiting for the court's decision and says her two ambitions are to get a divorce and go to college.

Married at 12, she describes the moment when her 30-year-old husband insisted on sex. When she resisted, he choked and bit her and dragged her by the hair, overwhelming her with force.

Reem wants a divorce and then a college education

She was imprisoned for 11 days in his house and tried to kill herself with a kitchen knife before being rescued by her mother.

Although Yemen has a law stating that 15 is the marriageable age, it is frequently flouted, particularly in poor rural areas where society is run along tribal lines.

Members of Parliament have recently been debating an amendment raising the age limit to 18, but progress has ground to a halt in the face of strong opposition from conservatives.

Sheikh Hamoud Hashim al-Tharihi is general secretary of the increasingly influential Vice and Virtue Committee and a member of the Islah Party. He cites the example of the Prophet Muhammad who married six-year-old Aisha but waited for consummation till she was a little older.

http://newageislam.com/can-muslims-still-respect-arabs?-asks-raja-choudhary-outraged-at-9-year-old-girl-having-to-seek-divorce-in-yemen/islamic-sharia-laws/d/972

An Islamic rule of law for Lebanon?, Islam and Politics, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam and Politics

An Islamic rule of law for Lebanon?

By Muhamad Mugraby

October 15, 2008

The central role of the Maronite Church, before and after Lebanon achieved statehood, and its political leadership of a distinctly Christian political establishment, cannot be ignored. The rise of the power of the Maronite Church must be seen in its historical perspective. This church started as independent and outside the mainstream before reaching full affiliation with the Roman Catholic Church.

The Roman Catholic Church had little or no presence in the Middle East until the Crusades. The first crusade commenced in 1096 on the calling of Pope Urban II in the Council of Clemont which he had convened on November 25, 1095. It took two centuries for the various crusades to be finally defeated. Within that period, the Roman Catholic Church established increasingly strong links with various independent Middle Eastern churches, including the Maronite Church, leading, by the 18th century, to the full incorporation of the Maronite Church as an autonomous unit of the Roman Catholic Church and, by the 20th century, to the patriarch of the Maronite Church becoming a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.

http://newageislam.com/an-islamic-rule-of-law-for-lebanon?/islam-and-politics/d/885

Ten French soldiers killed in Taliban ambush in Afghanistan, War on Terror, NewAgeIslam.com

War on Terror

Ten French soldiers killed in Taliban ambush in Afghanistan

20 Aug 2008, AFP

News of the attack came as the resurgent Taliban attempted a mass suicide attack on a US military base, in a defiant reminder that tens of thousands of international troops have not been able to keep the Islamic militants at bay.

"Yesterday 10 of our soldiers... were killed in Afghanistan, 21 others were wounded during a joint reconnaissance mission with the Afghan national army," Sarkozy said in a statement issued in Paris.

"In its struggle against terrorism, France has just been hit hard."

The ambush took place in the district of Sarobi, just 50 kilometres (30 miles) east of Kabul, the Afghan capital, which has been increasingly targeted by the Taliban insurgency.

Around 100 insurgents attacked a patrol of French and Afghan troops, said NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), under which about 3,000 French soldiers serve.

http://newageislam.com/ten-french-soldiers-killed-in-taliban-ambush-in-afghanistan/war-on-terror/d/602

Bal Thackeray: He Loves to Hate, War on Terror, NewAgeIslam.com

War on Terror

Bal Thackeray: He Loves to Hate

Thackeray's comments could invite criminal proceedings under Section 153-A of the Indian Penal Code, since it amounts to promoting communal hatred.
It is welcome that the BJP and the Congress have condemned his statements, but it is unlikely that the administration will take any strong measures.
That's because moving against Thackeray raises the spectre of violence by his followers. Sadly, the inability of the political and police establishment to take on Thackeray over the years has led to a situation where he can do or say virtually what he likes.
Our society's ability to tolerate intolerance has also steadily, and sadly, increased. It's unfortunate, but true, that voices that argue in favour of liberal and democratic principles across the country are increasingly drowning in a cacophony of competitive identity politics.
Nowhere is this truer than in Maharashtra, especially in Mumbai. The metropolis that we once held up as a fine example of cosmopolitanism and inclusive public life is fast turning into a cauldron of animosities.
The Shiv Sena has, over the years, targeted migrants — south Indians, Gujaratis and Biharis to name a few — and Muslims.

http://newageislam.com/bal-thackeray--he-loves-to-hate/war-on-terror/d/110