Saudi cleric fired for advocating mixing of sexes
— AP: “The head of Saudi Arabia’s powerful religious police has fired the chief of the Mecca branch for advocating the mixing of the sexes, an official from the force said Tuesday.”
— “Ahmed bin Qassim al-Ghamidi’s suggestion in a newspaper interview this week that men and women should be left to mingle freely directly clashed with a central preoccupation of the force.”
Saudi Gazette – April 6, 2010: “Segregation of sexes: Hai’a chief stands by his comment”
— “Ahmed Qassim Al-Ghamdi, the head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (the Hai’a) in Makkah, has said he will not go back on his previous comments on the segregation of the sexes, and described opposition to his views from within his own organization as disgruntled individuals trying to ‘get their own back’.”
— “With a notable security presence and an audience of both sexes, Al-Ghamdi addressed the Taif Literary Club Sunday on a series of sensitive topics, although questions put to him concerning his views on segregation were blocked by the chairman and any attempt to broach the subject from other angles was quickly put paid to.”
— “Al-Ghamdi said, however, that the policy was not of his making.”
— “‘I didn’t ask the club to bar the subject or any questions on it from discussion,” Al-Ghamdi told Okaz. ‘You can write in the newspaper from my own mouth that I still hold to the view I expressed on ikhtilat, and I won’t go back on it, and I’ll continue to repeat what I wrote.'”
— “In an interview reported by Saudi Gazette last December Al-Ghamdi spoke at length on the subject of the mixing of sexes – “ikhtilat” – in which he described it in the current usage as ‘a recent adoption unknown to the early people of knowledge’.”
— “‘Mixing used to be part of normal life for the Ummah and its societies,’ he said, adding that the word ‘in its contemporary meaning has entered customary jurisprudential terminology from outside’.”
— “‘Those who prohibit ikhtilat cling to weak ahadith, while the correct ahadith prove that mixing is permissible, contrary to what they claim,’ Al-Ghamdi said.”
— “The Sheikh revealed, however, that among those who opposed his views were some Hai’a officials who he had previously ‘punished for administrative irregularities’.”
— “‘Their response was a form of vengeance. They were trying to stir trouble and get their own back,’ he said, believing them to have seen the interview as a ‘provocation’ and a chance to take revenge for being punished. “Some of them were extremists in thought, something which we won’t accept in the Hai’a,” he said.” December 11, 2009 – Saudi Gazette: Hai’a chief: Kaust an ‘extraordinary move and huge accomplishment’ — “The head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Makkah has added his voice of support to the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Kaust) and addressed the issue of “ikhtilat” – the mixing of the sexes – that has prompted numerous scholars and commentators to speak out in recent months.”
— “‘The term ‘ikhtilat’ in this usage is a recent adoption that was unknown to the early people of knowledge,’ Sheikh Ahmed Al-Ghamdi said in a lengthy interview with Okaz.”
— “‘Mixing was part of normal life for the Ummah and its societies.'”
— “‘The word in its contemporary meaning has entered customary jurisprudential terminology from outside,’ Al-Ghamdi said.”
— “‘Those who prohibit the mixing of the genders actually live it in their real lives, which is an objectionable contradiction, as every fair-minded Muslim should follow Shariah judgments without excess or negligence,’ Al-Ghamdi said.”
— “‘In many Muslim houses – even those of Muslims who say mixing is haram – you can find female servants working around unrelated males,’ he said.”
— “Two Muslim girls have been stopped from travelling abroad in what is thought to be the first case of its kind in Northern Ireland, after a judge feared they were being sent for forced marriages. High Court judge Mr Justice Stephens, sitting in Belfast, imposed a forced marriage protection order for the girls aged 12 and 14. Mr Justice Stephens ruled on behalf of the children, identified as G and D, after the authorities claimed false documents were produced as part of a planned deception by their parents. An unnamed Trust alleged a claim the girls were to be sent for several years’ education in Pakistan was a pretext for the real motive.”
Egyptian Cleric Mazen Al-Sarsawi Cites 7th-Century Muslim Scholar: If Your Wife Bothers You – Beat Her with the Rod
— MEMRI reports: “In a recent TV sermon, Egyptian cleric Mazen Al-Sarsawi extolled the virtues of corporal punishment to keep wives in check. Using stories from the early days of Islam to support his argument, Al-Sawsawi said that when there are marital problems, ‘the solution is to give the man a free hand to discipline his family members and to control them. By no means can a woman be the head [of the family].'”
— “In the sermon, aired January 7, 2010 on the Egyptian Islamic channel Al-Nas TV, Al-Sawsawi recounted the story of Said Ibn Al-Musayyib, a 7th-century Muslim scholar known for his piety, who married off his daughter to his student, Abu Wada’. Al-Musayyib imparted to his son-in-law advice on how to deal with his new wife: ‘If she bothers you – if something annoys you, or if you suspect anything – beat her on the spot with the rod. Break her head.'”
— “He continued with another story – that of Asmaa, the daughter of the Caliph Abu Bakr, whose husband Zubeir would tie her to his other wife by their hair and beat them both. When Asmaa complained to her father about this unfairness, (‘he beat me black and blue, even though I didn’t do a thing”), Abu Bakr’s response was: ‘Go back to Zubeir. He is a good man, and he may become your husband in Paradise.'”
— “Al-Sarsawi blamed modern media – television and the movies – for fomenting ‘a revolution in domestic leadership,’ such that today ‘in many homes, the woman is the man. She tells her husband what to do, and he says: ‘Yes, ma’am.'” He warned that handing over the leadership to women, who “cannot drive a car, let alone head a home, or anything beyond that,’ is destroying Muslim homes.”
— “Al-Sarsawi also lashed out at women’s rights supporters, saying that they hate women and “bring them down to sin.” He said that women who go out to work expect equality and want to discuss everything – with the result that the home is turned “into a parliament.” “Women’s rights supporters in Europe and America are all swindlers,’ he said.”
Clip 1 from MEMRI Translation of Egyptian Cleric Mazen Al-Sarsawi Television Broadcast on Women (Photo: MEMRI)Clip 2 from MEMRI Translation of Egyptian Cleric Mazen Al-Sarsawi Television Broadcast on Women (Photo: MEMRI)Clip 3 from MEMRI Translation of Egyptian Cleric Mazen Al-Sarsawi Television Broadcast on Women (Photo: MEMRI)
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Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) supports our unqualified, universal human rights for all people.
Australia: Jordanian Refugee jailed for strangling ‘too Australian’ wife
— The Age reports: “A man who killed his wife by using her veil to strangle her in their Melbourne home did so in the belief he was entitled to dominate her, a Supreme Court judge has found.”
— “Soltan Azizi was today sentenced to 22 years’ jail by Justice Betty King, who said the Afghani refugee had been physically abusive towards Marzieh Rahimi throughout their 14-year marriage.”
R.E.A.L. summarizes reports on a new proposed domestic violence bill in Pakistan, opposition to it, and reports on domestic violence in Pakistan. In August 2009, a similar bill was reportedly “passed” by the Pakistan National Assembly, but was rejected due to inaction by the Pakistan Senate and the rest of the Pakistan government by December 2009. In January 2010, the U.S. government announced plans for $7.5 billion in aid for Pakistan.
— April 8, 2010: AP reports: “Pakistan edges closer to banning domestic violence” — after acid attack on her face, destroying her left eye, wife Zakia Perveen said “I just thought it was my destiny, my fate.”
— “Rights advocates hope a proposed law banning domestic violence will chip away at such attitudes, giving women a more even playing field and bringing Pakistan in line with a growing number of developing nations that have outlawed spousal abuse.”
— “But Islamist lawmakers in Parliament are objecting, claiming the law could tear apart the social fabric by undermining families.”
— “In 2008, there were at least 7,571 incidents of acid attacks, rapes, spousal beatings and other violence against women, according to The Aurat Foundation, a women’s rights group. Because the group relied mostly on media reports, the figure is likely a vast undercount.”
— “Other surveys have shown up to 80 percent of wives in rural parts of Pakistan fear physical violence from their husbands, while 50 percent of women in urban areas admit their husbands beat them, according to a 2009 U.S. State Department report on Pakistan.”
Pakistan: Abused Wife Zakia Perveen - who was attacked with acid in her face by her husband - losing her left eye (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash)
“The number of cases of violence in different categories of offenses and their province-wise breakdown is as follows. There were:
— 1384 cases of murder:
(752 in Punjab; 288 in Sindh; 266 in NWFP; 39 in Balochistan; 39 in Islamabad);
— 604 cases of honor killing:
(245 in Punjab; 284in Sindh; 14 in NWFP; 59 in Balochistan; 2 in Islamabad);
— 1987 cases of abduction/kidnapping:
(1698 in Punjab; 160 in Sindh; 64 in NWFP; 13 in Balochistan; 52 in Islamabad);
— 608 cases of domestic violence:
(271 in Punjab; 134 in Sindh; 163 in NWFP; 22 in Balochistan; 18 in Islamabad);
— 683 cases of suicide:
( 448 in Punjab; 176 in Sindh; 43 in NWFP; 10 in Balochistan; 6 in Islamabad);
— 928 cases of rape/gang-rape:
(786 in Punjab; 122 in Sindh; 7 in NWFP; 4 in Balochistan; 9 in Islamabad);
— 274 cases of sexual assault:
(227 in Punjab; 44 in Sindh; 0 in NWFP; 2 in Balochistan; 1 in Islamabad);
— 50 cases of stove burning:
(33 in Punjab; 10 in Sindh; 4 in NWFP; 1 in Balochistan; 2 in Islamabad);
— 53 cases of acid throwing:
(42 in Punjab; 9 in Sindh; 1 in NWFP; 0 in Balochistan; 1 in Islamabad);
— 1977 cases of violence were of miscellaneous nature (vanni/swara, custodial violence, torture, trafficking, child marriages, incest, threat to violence, sexual harassment, attempted murder, suicide & rape) in the four provinces and Islamabad.”
A year ago, similar media reports stated efforts were in progress on a new domestic violence law in Pakistan. In August 2009, Dawn reported that a “private bill” on domestic violence had passed in the Pakistan National Assembly, which required approval by the Pakistan Senate. The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) in Pakistan has previously warned that a law against domestic violence will “push up divorce rates,” according to Dawn. But by December 25, 2009, ANI reported “the [Pakistan] Government has seemingly lost sight of it.” On December 25, 2009, ANI reported: “when the bill was sent to the Senate, Mohammad Khan Sheerani, of the JUI-F, raised some objections, leading to a deferment of hearing, and then the Government slept on the matter and now the bill has lapsed… to make it a law the Government was required to get the bill passed through the upper house within 90 days of its receipt.”
— In another report by Shirin Sadeghi, Pakistan group Women Protection Project’s Dr. Khola Iram states “When you talk about domestic violence in Pakistan, some men in the educated classes, for instance, say that women are not the ones who are dying, it’s the police officers, they are all males… They don’t consider citizen security as security of women also.”
— Shirin Sadeghi reports “Dr. Iram is subdued as she explains that Pakistan, a nation of over 90 million women and girls, does not have a domestic violence law.”
— Shirin Sadeghi also tells of how Pakistani women have been “married” to inanimate objects and even pigeons to save their inheritance. Shirin Sadeghi reports: “The concept of marrying a female family member to an inanimate object, such as the Koran, or an animal, is too often employed to ensure that the inheritance will never be lost. ‘We had a case in Bhawalpur where the lady was married to a pigeon just to save the inheritance. I mean, what kind of Islam is that?’ Dr. Iram says.”
Pakistan: Report on Al-Huda International – “Many girls have been ‘transformed’ by Ms Hashmi who now believe in limiting their existence to the four walls of the house”
