Sometimes We Must Say NO! By HJS

Sometimes, we must say NO!

HJS Comments: In the holy Quran, sura 33, ayat 59, one reads:

“O prophet, tell your wives and daughters and women-folk of the
believers to draw their robes close to them; that is more appropriate as a way for them to be recognized and not be vexed. God is forgiving and
compassionate.”

On the basis of this ayat (verse) women are condemned to wear the clothing you see on TV, use separate sidewalks in some cities, and cover up everything but their hands and eyes. And now someone wants them to cover up their eyes?

I expect a few honorable souls might remind me that there are three other ayats discussing head-coverings or veils. The hijab, as you may know it today, is another garment that covers up the hair. Women are told they must wear this headscarf; in fact, a number of very young schoolgirls were not allowed to escape a burning building because they were not able to get to their hijabs. Yet, no such ordinance appears in the Quran, that wearing a hijab is mandatory. With the exception of France, Europe has surrendered to the misinformation about the hijabs—each capitulation to non-existing Quranic laws, weakens the European laws and traditions just that much more.

To follow the thread of non-existing rules for a moment, you may know that our attorney general has reacted to another non-existing rule. Although the individual Muslim, it is true, must try to make the pilgrimage, the requirement is only once per lifetime and only if health and finances permit. If one has a job and one can be discharged from a hard-to-find job if one disappears for the period involved, one could very well conclude that health-wise the travel may be fine, but finances are definitely at risk—unless one is rich; in which case one may not need the job anyway, making the entire issue ridiculous.

Returning to the matter at hand, two of the three ayats I mentioned discuss hijabs; that is true. However, the discussed hijabs were not headgear at the time, but a screen in a home to separate women from callers (33:53), and a screen between men and Allah (42:51). In both cases, the Arabic word hijab (screen) was used.

In the ayat 24:31, a head-covering—khimar—was mentioned (the plural form is bikhumurihinna—note: heavy shawls to protect from sun and blowing sand). The ayat said,

“And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and to be mindful of their chastity, and not to display their charms in public beyond what may decently be apparent thereof; hence let them draw their head-coverings over
their bosoms (note: at that time, not all bosoms were covered). And let them not display more of their charms to any but their husbands, of their fathers, or their husbands’ fathers…”

Saudi Arabia: Women with "seditious eyes" must cover up

No, this isn't from the Onion. Sharia Alert from the Kingdom of the Two Holy Places: "Women with 'seditious' eyes must cover up," from Emirates 247.com, November 14 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

Women unveiling their eyes in public in Saudi Arabia will be forced to fully cover up their faces if their eyes are found to be seditious, according to the Gulf Kingdom's most feared Islamic law-enforcement group.

The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice was reacting to last week's fight between one its members and a Saudi husband, who was maddened by the man's orders to his wife to cover up her face, the Saudi Arabic language daily Alwatan reported on Sunday.
Police are still investigating the incident, in which the husband was stabbed in the back during the fight in the southern province of Hael.

"The Commission members have orders to tell any women in public to cover up her face if they find that her eyes are seditious," the paper said, quoting Sheikh Mutlaq Al Nabit, a Commission spokesman in Hael.

Women in Saudi Arabia, one of the most conservative Muslim nations, must veil their faces in public but some of them uncover their eyes.

Nabit did not explain how the Commission members determine that a woman's eyes are seditious.

Posted by Robert on December 17, 2010 6:54 AM

Sudan: Women are punished with "600,000" lashes a year

"So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah
hath guarded. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them." -- Qur'an 4:34

"Sudan: Women are punished with '600,000' lashes a year," from AKI, December 16 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

Khartoum, 16 Dec. (AKI) - Forty thousand women in Sudan are subject to police whippings for moral transgressions each year, a figure that came to light after a video was circulated on the Internet which showed the public thrashing of a Khartoum woman.

Sudanese feminist and political figure Mariam al-Sadiq al-Madi brought the issue to the attention of authorities, the Sudanese daily al-Sharq al-Awsat reported.

The drama of the physical punishments against women in Sudan is much more serious than previously believed," al-Madi said. She said that each year around 600,000 lashes are dealt to women in Sudan.

"The situation was worsened by a 1991 law that increased violence against them," she added.
The so-called 'law 152' allows for women to be whipped for an array of 'moral' crimes including wearing trousers as in the case of a journalist, Lubna Ahmad Hussein, who was found guilty of this 'crime' last year.

According to lawyer Nabil Adib, "a vast array of crimes allows for whippings," she said, citing the excessive use of alcohol and gambling to washing one's car in an incorrect location as crimes punishable by flogging.

Posted by Robert on December 17, 2010