Wednesday, April 30, 2008
euraktiva
Tickle's Original Inkblot Test
My Result: Peace
You are driven by a desire to encourage others to think about the positive side of things instead of focusing on the negative. The reason your unconscious is consumed by this might stem from an innate fear of war and turmoil. Thus, to avoid that uncomfortable place for you, your unconscious seeks out the peace in your environment.
Usually, the thing that underlies this unconscious drive is a deep respect for humankind. You care about the future of the world, even beyond your own involvement in it. As a result, your personal integrity acts as a surrogate for your deeper drive toward peace and guides you in daily life towards decisions that are respectful toward yourself and others.
Hindu's, Muslims, and Buddhist dance together (Drums)
CULTURE BUT NOT NURTURE...THIS IS AN ILLUSION OF TRUTH
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Banned In America - French Documentary Film Pulled from YouTube and Google
Banned In America - French Documentary Film Pulled from YouTube and Google
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Why Muslims Must Follow the Sunna As Well As the Quran
Allah SWT says repeatedly in the Quran to obey both Him and the Messenger. One example is Surah an-Nisa ayah 59.
Ya ayyuha alladhina amanu ati Allaha wa ati ar-Rasul wa ulu'l-amr min kum. Fa in tanaza'tun fi shay'in fa rudduhu ilaAllahi wa ar-Rasul in kuntum tu'minuna bIllahi wa'l-Yawmi al-Akhir. Dhalika khayrun wa ahsanu ta'wil.O you, those who have faith, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. And if you dispute over a thing, then return it to Allah and the Messenger, if you have faith in Allah and the Last Day. That is better and more beautiful of interpretation.
He says that the Prophet (sAas) has been sent to explain the Quran, not just to deliver it (Surah an-Nahl ayah 44).
Bi al-bayyinat wa az-Zubur wa anzalna ilayka adh-Dhikra li-tubayyina li an-nas maa nuzzila ilayhim wa la'allahum yatafakkarun.By clear proofs and scriptures, and We have sent down on you (O Prophet) the Reminder, that you can explain to humankind what is sent down for them and in order that they may reflect.
He says that people do not have faith if they do not take the Prophet (sAas) as the judge of their disputes (Surah an-Nisa ayah 65).
Fa laa wa Rabbika laa yu'minuna hatta yuhakkimuka fi maa shajara baynahum thumma laa yajidu fi anfusihim haraj min maa qadayta wa yusallimu taslima.No, by your Lord and Sustainer, they do not have faith until they have you (O Prophet) judge what is disputed among them, then they do not find in their souls any distress at what you have decided, and they accept it wholly and completely.
He says that when He and the Prophet (sAas) have decided a matter, it is not for any believing man or woman to do anything but obey (Surah al-Ahzab ayah 36).
Wa maa kana li mu'min wa laa mu'minah idha qadaAllahu wa Rasuluhu amran an yakuna lahum al-khiyarat min amrihim wa man ya'siAllaha wa Rasulaha faqad dalla dalala mubin.And it is not ever for a faithful man or a faithful woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided an affair that there is any choice for them in their affair, and who disobeys Allah and His Messenger, so he is indeed wandering far astray.
He says that what the Messenger gives, people should take, and what he prohibits, they should abstain from (Surah al-Hashr ayah 7).
...Wa maa atakum ar-Rasul fa khudhuhu wa maa nahakhum anhu fa intahu. Wa ittaquAllah innAllaha Shadid al-Iqab....And what the Messenger gives you, so take it, and what he prohibits you, so refrain from it. And be in awe of Allah. Surely Allah is Stern of Punishment.
How do we determine what the Prophet (sAas) has ordered, in order to obey it?
How do we find out what he judged in disputes so that we can abide by it?
How do we know what he has decided on matters, so that we can submit to it?
How do we discover what he has given, so that we can take it, or what he has prohibited, so we can abstain from it?
The answer to all these questions is very simple: we look to the SUNNA. If you deny the validity of the Sunna then you may end up disobeying what the Prophet (sAas) has commanded, turning away from what he has judged, rejecting what he has decided, ignoring what he has given, and doing what he has prohibited.
And if you do these acts of disobedience, turning-away, rejecting, ignoring, and doing-the-prohibite d then YOU HAVE DISOBEYED ALLAH. It's that simple. It is incumbent upon every Muslim to obey both the Quran and the Sunna. Read the verses I have cited for yourself. What do you think they mean?
Very often, those who proclaim that they follow the Quran only, ignore the Sunna and concentrate on the hadiths. They assume that if they can refute or disprove the hadiths, they have proved their own position.
Their mistake is to assume that the Sunna and the hadiths are the same thing. This is incorrect. No scholar of Islam has ever claimed that the sources of Shari'a are "the Quran and the hadiths". Rather, the correct statement is that the sources of Shari'a are the Quran and the SUNNA.
The hadiths are a textual source for determining what the Sunna is. But they are not by themselves the Sunna.
The scholars of Islam have developed a sophisticated methodology for collecting the hadiths and for determining from them what the Sunna is.
Collecting the hadiths: Briefly, the great collectors of hadiths such as Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim followed a methodology that they collected everything that there was on a subject, and they marked down how authentic it was. Rather than discarding the material they felt was not wholly authentic, so that it became lost to history, they included it. This means that other scholars can examine the evidence for themselves, and make their own determination of what is authentic.
The above description of the methodology of the hadith collectors should make it abundantly clear why there are hadiths that appear to be contradictory, hadiths with variant wordings, and all the other problems with hadiths that the rejectors point to. Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim, and the other great hadith collectors, were not incompetent. Rather, they saw their job to be preserving the evidence so that each later scholar could make his own determination.
Simply put, the rejectors are attempting to take the honesty of Imam Bukhari, Imam Muslim, and the others and to twist it to prove their own point.
There is no reason for any Muslim to be confused or feel doubt because of variant hadiths in the collections. It is simply a matter of learning about the methodologies and procedures of the scholars.
Here are some links that provide information about the methodology of the hadith scholars:
Modern Historical Methodology Versus Hadith Methodology - This essay discusses the methodology of the hadith collectors in quite a bit of detail and compares it to modern historiographical methods
An Introduction to the Science of Hadith - This essay discusses in detail the methodology for classifying and rejecting hadiths, and the terminology used
Issues Concerning Hadith - This page contains several essays discussing specific concerns that have been raised about the hadiths
Determining the Sunna: The science of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) is the science of deriving rulings from the sources of Shari'a. Part of fiqh is determining from the hadiths what the Sunna is. This too is a sophisticated science.
First, all the hadiths on a given subject should be gathered. Next, the scholar studies their authenticity to determine which give a correct report of what the Prophet (sAas) said, did, or allowed. He may consider such factors as what the practice of the Muslims in the matter has been, if the absence of reports to the contrary actually indicates a consensus of the Sahaba (rAa) behind the existing reports, even if only a few people have transmitted them, and other issues.
It is only after this analysis that the scholar has made his determination of what the Sunna is. He does not simply pick and choose hadiths at random, or take their text out of context. The reason he may only quote one or two is that he has determined that it or they express most clearly what the Sunna is.
Here are some links that provide information about the science of fiqh:
Sources of Islamic Law - This essay discusses the many sources of Shari'a beyond just the literal text of a hadith, and also how different schools of fiqh developed with slightly different methodologies
Usul al-Fiqh: Source Methodology In Islamic Law - This essay also discusses the history of fiqh, and different methodologies that are used
Inshallah, the information provided at the above links should be more than enough to reassure any Muslim that the collection of hadiths and the derivation of rulings from them is anything but haphazard. The claims made by the hadith rejectors are based on ignorance. If they had studied Islamic science, they would see how ridiculous what they say is.
Suggestion for further reading: If you have the money, and are interested in educating yourself further on this issue, I highly recommend purchasing "Studies In Early Hadith Literature" by M.M. Azami. It is available from IslamicBookstore. com. Shaykh Azami has studied the history of the transmission and preservation of the hadiths in great depth. It is not possible to have any doubts about the authenticity and truth of the hadiths after reading this book. Mashallah!
One of the favorite tricks of the hadith rejectors is to announce that it is not obligatory for the Muslim woman to cover her hair. Surah an-Nur ayah 31 says in part, "Tell the faithful women...to extend their KHUMUR to cover their bosoms". The word "khumur" is the plural of "khimar". According to the hadith rejectors the meaning of "khimar" is simply "a covering" because the root KHAMARA means "to cover". Thus, they say, the Quran here only tells the women to extend a covering over their bosoms. They say that the Quran does not mention the covering of the head.
Is this true? Because of the importance of hijab, it is worth exploring this issue in depth.
The hijab of the Muslim woman has been set out in two verses of the Quran, Surah an-Nur ayah 31 and Surah al-Ahzab ayah 59. The list of commands contained in these verses is as follows:
1) Lower the gaze (24:31)
2) Guard the private parts (24:31)
3) Not display their beauty "except what is apparent of it" (24:31)
4) Extend the khimar to cover the bosom (24:31)
5) Not display their beauty beyond "what is apparent of it" except to the people listed in 24:31
6) Not stamp their feet so as to reveal hidden beauty (24:31)
7) Draw the jilbab close around them when abroad (33:59)
What does "except what is apparent" mean? This is one of the passages in the Quran that is not clear in meaning (see Surah Ali Imran ayah 7). This is one of the passages in the Quran that the Prophet (sAas) needs to explain. And Surah an-Nahl ayah 44 (see above) tells us that the Prophet will explain the Quran. The Prophet's explanation of "what is apparent" is the face and the hands (to see dalils for this claim, go to Opinions of scholars in favor of displaying the face and hands). Therefore, following what the Prophet (sAas) has explained of the Quran, we can re-write the list this way:
1) Lower the gaze (24:31)
2) Guard the private parts (24:31)
3) Not display their beauty except their faces and hands (24:31)
4) Extend the khimar to cover the bosom (24:31)
5) Not display their beauty beyond the face and hands except to the people listed in 24:31
6) Not stamp their feet so as to reveal hidden beauty (24:31)
7) Draw the jilbab close around them when abroad (33:59)
Now, it is very clear. If a woman must conceal all of her beauty except her face and hands, she must necessarily be concealing her hair. Even if "not to display their beauty except what is apparent" were the only text in the verse, yet as the Prophet (sAas) has explained the meaning of the Quran, a woman would still have to cover everything but her face and hands.
We can also look at the meaning of the word "khimar". The word "khimar" comes from the root KHAMARA meaning "to cover". However, the particular form "khimar" may have a more specific meaning. Let's look at what it is:
1) In the Arabic of the Prophet (sAas), the word "khimar" referred to a HEADCOVERING. This can be seen in the hadiths in which the Prophet (sAas) wiped his wet hands over his khimar and his socks, from which the scholars have derived that it is halal to wipe wet hands over the HEADCOVERING and the socks.
2) The authorities on classical Arabic have defined the word "khimar" as a HEADCOVERING. For instance the dictionary Aqrab al-Mawarid defines the word "khimar" as, "All such pieces of cloth which are used to cover the head. It is a piece of cloth which is used by a woman to cover her head". The great scholar Imam Abu'l-Fida ibn Kathir defines the word "khimar" in the following words, "Khumur is the plural of khimar which means something that covers, and is what is used to cover the head. This is what is known among the people as a khimar". A modern scholar, Shaykh Muhammad al-Munajjid says, "Khimar comes from the word khamr, the root meaning of which is to cover. For example, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: 'Khammiru aaniyatakum (cover your vessels).' Everything that covers something else is called its khimar. But in common usage khimar has come to be used as a name for the garment with which a woman covers her head; in some cases this does not go against the linguistic meaning of khimar. Some of the fuqaha have defined it as that which covers the head, the temples and the neck. The difference between the hijab and the khimar is that the hijab is something which covers all of a woman’s body, whilst the khimar in general is something with which a woman covers her head".
3) Imam Abu Abdullah Qurtubi describes the historical circumstances relating to the wearing of the khimar in pre-Islamic Arabia as follows, "Women in those days used to cover their heads with the khimar, throwing its ends upon their backs. This left the neck and the upper part of the chest bare, along with the ears, in the manner of the Christians. Then Allah commanded them to cover those parts with the khimar". Similarly, Imam Abu'l-Fida ibn Kathir reports, "'Draw their khumur to cover their bosoms' means that they should wear the khimarextend their khimars to cover their bosoms" means. in such a way that they cover their chests so that they will be different from the women of the jahiliyyah who did not do that but would pass in front of men with their chests uncovered and with their necks, forelocks, hair and earrings uncovered". Both of these descriptions provide clear, explicit, specific explanations of what "
4) The scholars have agreed unanimously that the khimar is a HEADCOVERING.
Please do not try to interpret the Quran by just looking up in some dictionary what the meaning of the root KHAMARA means. Each of the forms derived from this root may have a specific meaning. In order to interpret the Quran properly you need to know what the specific meaning of the particular form "khimar" was in the Arabic of the Prophet (sAas). According to the common usage recorded from that time (in the hadiths), to dictionaries that have preserved the classical Arabic, and to the reports of the actual practice of the women of that time, the khimar is a HEADCOVERING. Can you present any hadiths or other Arabic writing of the time of the Prophet (sAas) that use the word "khimar" to mean a shirt or any type of covering other than a HEADCOVERING? Can you present entries from dictionaries of classical Arabic that fail to give HEADCOVERING as a defintion of "khimar"? Can you present reports of the dress of the pre-Islamic Arab women that apply the word "khimar" to other than a HEADCOVERING? Can you present opinions of the ulama that the khimar is other than a HEADCOVERING? If not, you have not refuted any of the evidence presented here. The examples I have given above are the accepted ways of determining what the meaning of the Quran is.
Now, if I told you "extend your hat to cover your ears" you would know automatically that the hat is a heacovering because that is what the word "hat" means in English, and you would understand automatically that the hat is to remain on the head while being extended down to cover the ears. Likewise the Arabs, when they were told "extend your khimar to cover your bosom", knew automatically that the khimar was a HEADCOVERING because that is what the word "khimar" means in Arabic, and they understood automatically that the khimar was to remain on the head while being extended to cover the bosom.
There can be no doubt about it, the meaning of the Arabic word "khimar" is HEADCOVERING. The Quran doesn't mention the word "head" separately because there is no need to, any more than English-speakers need to be told that a hat is worn on the head.
So let's have a third go at that list of commands for hijab:
1) Lower the gaze (24:31)
2) Guard the private parts (24:31)
3) Not display their beauty except their faces and hands (24:31)
4) Extend the HEADCOVERING to cover the bosom (24:31)
5) Not display the beauty beyond the face and hands except to the people listed in 24:31
6) Not stamp the feet so as to reveal hidden beauty (24:31)
7) Draw the jilbab close around them when abroad (33:59)
From this we can see that the Muslim woman has been given two directives in regard to covering the hair. The first directive is that the hair, along with the rest of the body except the face and the hands, must be concealed except before the people listed in 24:31. The second directive is that the hair should specifically be covered by the khimar, which must also extend to cover the neck and upper chest.
The directives of the Quran and Sunnah are quite clear and they quite clearly direct women to wear HEADSCARVES and to cover all of their bodies except the face and hands. Along with the jilbab (outergarment) and the modest conduct of lowering the gaze, guarding the private parts, and not stamping the feet, THIS IS HIJAB.
This is what Allah SWT and His Messenger have decided in this matter. It is not for a believing man or a believing woman to say anything further or to disobey (Quran 33:36).
A multi-part article: The Quran on:
- The Obligation of Believing in the Prophet
- The Prophet Will Explain the Quran
- The Obligation of Obeying the Prophet
- The Obligation of Imitating the Prophet
- The Prophet Conveyed What is in the Quran and What is Not
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Islam and 'Honor Killings
| by IMAM ZAID SHAKIR For that reason, we ordained for the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul for other than murder or spreading corruption in the land, it is as if he has killed the whole of humanity… (Qur’an 5:35) One of the gravest charges levied against Islam, in terms of its alleged antipathy towards women, is the claim that it encourages a phenomenon known as honor killings. This un-Islamic practice consists of the murder of female family members who are seen as dishonoring their families through real or perceived acts of indiscretion, such as premarital sexual relations or unapproved dating. This charge has been intensified recently due to the tragic murder of a Pakistani Canadian teenage girl, Aqsa Parvez. The practice of honor killings has absolutely no sanction in the Qur’an, the Prophetic practice, or in the evolved systems of Islamic law. In the case of fornication or adultery, the only way a charge can be levied against an individual, male or female, is through confession, which is discouraged, or by four people actually witnessing the male organ penetrating the female. Even if four people witnessed a naked man engaged with a naked woman, but could not actually testify that they witnessed penetration, their testimony would be rejected. In a somewhat related issue, it should be noted that in three of the four Sunni schools of law, as is the case with all of the major Shiite schools, pregnancy is not a proof of fornication, as the possibility of rape exists in such a case. Therefore, if a single woman were to become pregnant, according to the overwhelming majority of Islamic jurists, there is no basis for punishing her. In the few well-publicized instances where a pregnant woman has been threatened with death, the minority opinion of the Maliki School of law was unjustly evoked, as occurred in Nigeria, or criminal malfeasance occurred as is the case in Pakistan. In the case of dating, there is no Islamically- mandated punishment for a male or a female seeing a member of the opposite sex against the wishes of their families. Such situations should be handled with counseling, compassion and a healthy dose of common sense. Muslim immigrants who have migrated to the West should realize that they have placed their children in an environment where there is a tremendous amount of un-Islamic peer pressure. This is especially true if they have placed their children, as was the case of the young lady who was recently murdered in Canada, in public schools. Children who succumb to that pressure should not be seen as “bad” kids, for by the standards of the society that has shaped them, no matter how strong their home environment is, they are normal. To kill a female guilty of an offense such as dating or dressing like her peers under such circumstances is nothing short of cold-blooded murder, and no Islamic authority can argue otherwise. The overwhelming majority of Muslim societies are free from the practice of honor killing, although it does endure in some parts of the Middle East and South Asia. According to statistics released by the United Nations in 2000 there are approximately 5,000 deaths annually from “honor” killings. Even if one killing occurred due to such barbarity, it would be one too many, as the Qur’an emphasizes. However, to use the existence of such killings to smear Islam shows the desperation and misplaced priorities of many of those levying such attacks. Most of those deaths are the pathetic acts of sick individuals, who are far removed from the letter, as we have shown above, and the spirit of Islam. An example of such an individual is Muhammad Riaz, a British Muslim of South Asian descent who died as a result of a fire he set to burn to death his wife and four daughters, allegedly because his wife resisted his attempt to arrange marriages for his daughters. His wife and daughters did perish in that fire. To present Riaz, whose daughters had neither fornicated nor dated, as anything other than a sick individual is a sad attempt to defame Islam. To attack Islam from this angle is a case of misplaced priorities because it can distract attention from far graver abuses of women that demand immediate redress. For example, the State Department estimates that approximately 800,000 women and girls are trafficked as sexual slaves annually. The overwhelming majority of these females are taken from and sent to nominally Christian countries. Over the last five years well over one thousand women have been kidnapped and then gruesomely murdered in Guatemala. Their bodies usually turn up after a few days, mutilated and in some instances with messages such as “death to bitches” written on them. To date only three men have been incarcerated in connection with those attacks. Would it proper for us to infer from that situation the conclusion that the “Christians” of Guatemala, an overwhelmingly Christian nation, have no regard for the suffering of their women? Of course it would not. At the end of the day, attacks such as the one that resulted in the death of Aqsa Parvez are acts of domestic violence resulting from rage that emanates from a total neglect of Islamic teachings. Ms. Parvez lost her life due to such violence and perhaps there are a few other instances where Muslims women in Canada or here in the United States, have been similarly victimized. However, these instances should be kept in perspective. In the United States there are approximately 1,200 women killed every year by their husbands or intimate partners. There are other “Christian” nations where murders of this type are even higher. The United States, Guatemala, and other countries we could mention where similar abuses occur are Christian nations. However, it would be disingenuous to use such statistics as an indictment against Christianity. These issues are an affront to humanity and require our collective attention. Until we all view the problem this way, we are in jeopardizing the health and integrity of our society. Saying this is not to minimize the gravity of so-called honor killings to the extent that they do occur in Muslim societies. As Muslims, we are commanded to be committed to justice. That commitment entails that as a community we oppose in the strongest terms “honor” killings and take immediate action to end such a practice in our communities. Practical steps include the following: 1. Emphasize that such killings have no sanction in the Qur’an, the Prophetic practice, or in Islamic law. 2. Declare anyone guilty of involvement in honor killings to be a cold-blooded murderer. 3. Encourage judicial authorities to enact the harshest penalties possible for anyone accused of involvement in such killings. 4. Educate our Muslim communities, especially in the West, about the un-Islamic nature of honor killings, and the pressures, nuances, challenges and complications facing young Muslims, male and female in the West. 5. Work to eliminate the double standards, and to expose the hypocrisy that exist in our communities, generally, concerning attitudes and standards relating to the indiscretions of males as opposed to females. In conclusion, Islam honors the female, and values femininity. It is up to every Muslim to translate teachings in that regard into a beautiful reality that helps to elevate the status of women in all societies. Honor killings, domestic violence in general, murders of the type terrorizing women in Guatemala, female sexual slavery and trafficking, pornography, especially its more violent manifestations, are all crimes against humanity that we should oppose in the strongest terms and work strenuously to eliminate. If our women are not safe, psychically, emotionally, spiritually, or psychologically we are all at risk, for without women men are incomplete, and without men women are incomplete. Our Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him alluded to this complementariness when he said, peace upon him, “Women are the complimenting halves of men.” We must all work harder to make our societies whole. ____________ ________ IMAM ZAID SHAKIR is a scholar-in-residenc e at the Zaytuna Institute in Hayward, California, and author of the book Scattered Pictures: Reflections of an American Muslim, which was published in 2005 |
Sanction for Authority in Islam
The Prophet, on him be peace, ordered his Community to appoint authorities over them, and commanded these authorities to fulfil their trusts and when judging between people to judge fairly. He ordered them to obey those in authority in obedience to God, Exalted is He.
In the Sunan of Abu Dawud we have it on the authority of Abu Said that the Messenger of God said: "When three men go on a journey let them put one of their number in command." In the Musnad of Imam Ahmed we learn on the authority of Abdullah ibn Umar that the Prophet said: "It is not permissible for three men to be in a desert place without putting one of their number in command."
Now since the Prophet demanded of the smallest groups and most limited societies that one person be put in charge, we must admit the same obligation where greater numbers are involved.
Source:
"Public Duties in Islam" - Ibn Taymiya, p. 22
In the Sunan of Abu Dawud we have it on the authority of Abu Said that the Messenger of God said: "When three men go on a journey let them put one of their number in command." In the Musnad of Imam Ahmed we learn on the authority of Abdullah ibn Umar that the Prophet said: "It is not permissible for three men to be in a desert place without putting one of their number in command."
Now since the Prophet demanded of the smallest groups and most limited societies that one person be put in charge, we must admit the same obligation where greater numbers are involved.
Source:
"Public Duties in Islam" - Ibn Taymiya, p. 22
Friday, April 04, 2008
The Soul of the Ummah is Dead
Within the Muslim psyche there is a shameful degree of pessimism. We believe that we are not capable of overcoming the challenges faced by the Ummah. That the problems are too widespread, that divisions are irreconcilable, or maybe we believe that there is no personal accountability.
Our collective mentality is to succumb to what we perceive to be inevitable. We are not capable of comprehending how change can occur and what our own role within that change is. How quick we are to extinguish the distant flame of hope, how very sad.
Our fallback is to criticise the efforts of others. We tell them they will not succeed that their efforts are in vain. We mock and belittle every step they make on the road to change. In fact some may be the obstacle that prevents change.
Where is the humility in this? Where is the fear of our own infallibility? That we would be so ready to judge.
It is folly to talk of the beauty of Islam about the mercy of Quran when our mindset is such. What it shows is that the words have not penetrated the heart, they lay dormant on our tongues. The so called love we claim to have is just an illusion within our own minds.
Until we are unified we always be in this state. Until we have the wisdom to really understand the nature of our accountability we will always be in this state. Until we understand that piety leads to sincerity of deeds we will always be in this state. Until we are prepared to live and understand the true Spirit of Islam we will always, always be in this state.
It is not deeds that make you pious it is piety that makes you strive to do good deeds.
It saddens me but I believe the Soul of the Ummah is dead, but there are those who have chosen to revive it…..why not join them?
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Saudi woman killed for chatting on Facebook
Posted: 01 Apr 2008 01:56 PM CDT
The latest crime “in the name of social customs and religious rules.”
A young Saudi Arabian woman was murdered by her father for chatting on the social network site Facebook, it has emerged.
The unnamed woman from Riyadh was beaten and shot after she was discovered in the middle of an online conversation with a man, the al-Arabiya website reported.
The case was reported on a Saudi Arabian news site as an example of the “strife” the social networking site is causing in the Islamic nation.
Saudi preacher Ali al-Maliki has emerged as the leading critic of Facebook, claiming the network is corrupting the youth of the nation.
“Facebook is a door to lust and young women and men are spending more on their mobile phones and the Internet than they are spending on food,” he said.
The woman was murdered in August but her death was highlighted following Maliki’s comments.
Social customs and religious rules oblige women in Saudi Arabia to cover their head and figure with a veil so that men are not distracted by the female form.
Critics also allege that Facebook is an avenue for the promotion of homosexual relations in Saudi Arabia. More than 6,500 people have signed the online petition in a bid to stop the conservative Muslim kingdom following Syria in banning access to the network from local internet servers.
There are estimated to be more than 30,000 Facebook users in the oil-rich kingdom. Many Saudi women use nicknames and post comic images or drawings on their pages instead of photographs. Some Saudi bloggers have dubbed the network “Faceless”.
Women users’ contact details and email addresses are often pseudonymous. The popularity of sites for singles has broken taboos on people making contact outside family and class connections.
One of the most popular Facebook groups among Saudi Arabian youth is Single and Looking in Saudi Arabia, which has 1,823 members and hosts many sexually explicit images. [Source]
The latest crime “in the name of social customs and religious rules.”
A young Saudi Arabian woman was murdered by her father for chatting on the social network site Facebook, it has emerged.
The unnamed woman from Riyadh was beaten and shot after she was discovered in the middle of an online conversation with a man, the al-Arabiya website reported.
The case was reported on a Saudi Arabian news site as an example of the “strife” the social networking site is causing in the Islamic nation.
Saudi preacher Ali al-Maliki has emerged as the leading critic of Facebook, claiming the network is corrupting the youth of the nation.
“Facebook is a door to lust and young women and men are spending more on their mobile phones and the Internet than they are spending on food,” he said.
The woman was murdered in August but her death was highlighted following Maliki’s comments.
Social customs and religious rules oblige women in Saudi Arabia to cover their head and figure with a veil so that men are not distracted by the female form.
Critics also allege that Facebook is an avenue for the promotion of homosexual relations in Saudi Arabia. More than 6,500 people have signed the online petition in a bid to stop the conservative Muslim kingdom following Syria in banning access to the network from local internet servers.
There are estimated to be more than 30,000 Facebook users in the oil-rich kingdom. Many Saudi women use nicknames and post comic images or drawings on their pages instead of photographs. Some Saudi bloggers have dubbed the network “Faceless”.
Women users’ contact details and email addresses are often pseudonymous. The popularity of sites for singles has broken taboos on people making contact outside family and class connections.
One of the most popular Facebook groups among Saudi Arabian youth is Single and Looking in Saudi Arabia, which has 1,823 members and hosts many sexually explicit images. [Source]
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