Absolute Stupidity: Wear Your Abaya or Burn to Death?

Security Guard Beats Girls Attempting to Escape a Burning Building

In a similar story that attracted world wide condemnation a few years ago, a security guard for a girls school refused to let female pupils from exiting a building with a fire.

In an area called Khamis Musayt (in the south of the Country), six

pupils were taken to hospital and 21 suffered minor injuries.The school principle also reportedly suffered minor injuries.
There are 670 pupils registered with the school.

The parents met with the security guard outside and angry confrontations occurred.

The fire reportedly started in discarded papers beneath a staircase in the school and the rising smoke led pupils to flee in panic into the school courtyard where the guard, according to witnesses of the event, wielded a stick to prevent them from leaving the premises.

What an absolute load of rubbish. I would love to pick up that stick and beat that man with it for his sheer stupidity. So a young girl is best to burn to death then exit a building without abaya and hijab???? This is not Islam.

Page Taken from Saudi Gazette: A Woman's Right to Drive is Gaining Momentum

‘Shariah does not bar women from driving’

By Metib Al-Awwad

HAIL – Abdullah Al-Mutlaq, a professor of Comparative Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence) and a former judge at Hail court, has called for women to be allowed to drive, saying that there are no objections to it in Shariah and that “customs and traditions in our society must not rule us absolutely.”
Al-Mutlaq, speaking to Okaz newspaper, said that the study he was currently carrying out on the issue was motivated by a wish to tackle problems associated with foreign drivers being responsible for transporting Saudi females.
Al-Mutlaq said the move would serve to “prevent corruption” and noted “many negative observations concerning drivers.”
Al-Mutlaq said women should be allowed to drive, and cited the fact that many already do in rural areas with no resultant problems.
“They have earned respect with their abidance of traffic laws,” he said.
Al-Mutlaq called upon youth to respect women driving and expressed a wish for the issue to be treated as “normal”.
Al-Mutlaq’s comments support those expressed by Islamic thinker and former Minister of Information Dr. Mohammed Abdo Yamani, who told Al-Watan newspaper on Wednesday that women should be allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia.
Yamani appealed in an interview with Al-Watan to “the Grand Mufti, the Board of Senior Ulema’ and the Shoura Council to resolve the issue and relieve Saudi women of this injustice”.
“How can a person stop his wife and daughters driving a car without a Shariah text to support him, and then go and permit them to get in a car with a foreign man?” Yamani asked.
Yamani was quoted by the newspaper as calling for “some adaptation to the requirements of the age, as has happened in other cases.”

First Female Muslim Judge in UAE

Abu Dhabi: “I’m not afraid of taking on the responsibility of a judge, it’s an honour for me,” the first female Emirati judge told Gulf News on Friday.

Kholoud Al Daheri, who was appointed as a judge in the Abu Dhabi courts last week, said: “I know some people do not accept women as judges and don’t prefer them in their cases, but the court system doesn’t give parties in any case the right to choose the judges.”

The United Arab Emirates yesterday got its first woman judge, a job hitherto reserved for men.

UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, acting in his capacity as ruler of Abu Dhabi, named Kholoud Ahmad Jouan Al-Dhahiri as a judge in the emirate, the largest in the seven-member UAE federation, state news agency WAM reported.

The move made the UAE the second Arab country in the Gulf after Bahrain to name a female judge.

The appointment reflects “the government’s keenness to involve women in the development drive” and “boost their role in society,” said Sultan Saaed Al-Badi, a senior official of Abu Dhabi’s judiciary.

For her part, Al-Dhahiri thanked the UAE leadership for its confidence in her. “I will endeavor to perform my functions with utmost (competence) … in order to provide a successful model of Emirati women working in the judiciary,” Dhahiri was quoted by WAM as saying.

She added that the UAE women had shown great capability in many fields, adding that the judiciary would be another challenge for women.

The new judge graduated in law and shariah (Islamic law) from UAE University and has been a practicing lawyer for eight years, the news agency said.

The UAE Cabinet includes four women. Nine women also sit on the 40-member Federal National Council, an assembly that advises the government.

Kuwaiti Women Won Four Seats in Parliment

KUWAIT (Reuters) - Women won four seats in Kuwait's parliament, a first for the Gulf Arab state, in an election that also saw liberals and Shi'ites claw five seats away from Sunni Islamists who have long dominated the 50-seat assembly.

Former minister Massouma al-Mubarak smiles at a polling station in Kuwait City May 16, 2009. (REUTERS/Stephanie McGehee)

The gains at the expense of Islamists, who have led parliamentary opposition to the government's economic reform efforts and who are allied to conservative tribal figures who won 25 seats, may not be enough to end the long-running tussle.

"The results of the elections were a surprise for all but many of the 'deadlock' MPs returned, especially from the tribal areas. It remains to be seen how the government will deal with economic reforms," political analyst Shamlan al-Eissa said.

Kuwait's ruler, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, called the election after dissolving the assembly two months ago to end the standoff between parliament and the government, which is heavily influenced by the ruling family.

The move allowed the government and al-Sabah to push ahead with a $5 billion stimulus package to soften the effects of the global financial crisis. The new assembly must now vote on the plan again.

FEWER SUNNI LAWMAKERS

Sunni Islamists won just 11 seats on Saturday, down from 21 in the last assembly. Liberals won eight seats, up from seven last year. Lawmakers representing the Shi'ite community, which comprises a third of Kuwait's population, rose by four to nine.

Kuwait's first women lawmakers include Massouma al-Mubarak, who became Kuwait's first female minister in 2005, the year women were first given the right to vote and run for office. The others are U.S.-educated professors Salwa al-Jassar and Aseel Awadhi and leading economist Rola Dashti.

No women won seats in the 2006 and 2008 elections in the conservative Muslim country where politics is still widely seen as a man's domain.

The Salafist Movement, a Sunni Islamist bloc, had called on voters to boycott female candidates though analysts predicted the move could backfire.

"Islamists have lost a lot of their credibility. They focus on matters like segregation and not able to take us anywhere," political analyst Shafiq al-Ghabra said before the poll.

Sixteen women were among the 210 candidates. Some 384,790 Kuwaitis, over half of them women, were eligible to vote.

Its so harfd to believe that Kuwait is in the same region as Saudi Arabia, yet Saudi Arabia still denies the basic right of driving (freedom of movement) to women (foreigners and natives).

Iranian Candidate Wants to Pay Housewives

Tehran, 22 May (AKI) - One of Iran's four presidential candidates on Friday pledged to pay a salary to Iranian housewives, the country's labour news agency ILNA said. "I will not only use women in key positions but also use their potential in management and will further legalise the job of housewife and pay housewives a salary," said Mohsen Rezaie current secretary of the Expediency Council, former war veteran and presidential hopeful.

Rezaie suggested tapping into a very valuable resource, as up to 70 percent of Iran's university graduates are women.

"Tens of thousands of women have in the recent years graduated in various fields and why should we not make use of this huge potential?," said Rezaie.

On Wednesday, the Iranian electoral watchdog or Guardian Council approved the country's four presidential candidates, out of an original 450 candidates, who will stand for election in the country's upcoming polls on 12 June.

The other candidates include incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is seeking a second term in office, reformist candidate Mehdi Karroubi who is a former speaker of the parliament or Majlis, and former prime minister Mir-Hossein Moussavi.

Iran's Guardian Council is an unelected religious oversight body that vets all election candidates and assesses their moral values and support for the country's system of Islamic government.

More than 450 Iranians, including 42 women, have registered as prospective presidential candidates. More than 46 million Iranians are eligible to take part in the vote.

Here is Somethign Funny!

While I was shopping I came across this packaging for a blow up pool.....

This is a regular sight in Saudi Arabia, where semi clad women are blacked out with permanent marker before they hit the shelves.....

The Muslim Version of Cosmo Magazine: "Sisters"

There is an awesome magazine for Muslim women called "Sisters". You can order it at http://www.sisters-magazine.com/

It focuses on the self, family, world and of course includes fashion, recipes etc.

Islamic Sport

As many more Muslim women are exercising in the public sphere, many companies have developed sporting abayas that cover women according to Islamic standards.

The best company I have found is at http://www.islamicdesignhouse.com

How do Women in Niquaab Eat????

Living in Australia, I always wondered how Muslim women who wear the Niquaab (face covering) eat when they are out. I thought I would do a small blog so you all know!

Firstly, most women sit in family sections that are screened or in a position where the women face away from the other men in the restaurant so they can remove their face veils. However, most saudi women do not seem to mind flipping the niquaab back over their heads when they are eating.

Other women, who do not wish to expose their faces, have a different way they can still eat! They have the food in one hand and with the other hand they raise their niquaab and put the food in their mouths. They are used to eating like this, but I am still learning and still find icecream hard to eat without getting it on my veil!

'We the Women' Saudi Women Pushing for Change

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There is a growing push for change in Saudi Arabia, specifically to allow women the right to drive.

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world to have a law stating women (Foreign and Saudi) are banned from driving.

Women either have to rely on male relatives or taxis with Pakistanis or Bangladeshis to drive them around. The taxis are usually unsafe, unclean and the women are generally harassed by the drivers.

A saudi woman has started a forum to promote discuss the issue of women driving and to generate a change in policy.

The right to drive for women is a huge issue in Saudi and there are growing voices of the domestic and international community to allow women to drive.
Even Princess Amira al-Taweel, who is one global tycoon Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s wives, told the Saudi daily Al-Watan that she already drives when she travels abroad.

“Certainly I’m ready to drive a car,” said al-Taweel, whose husband is a nephew of Saudi King Abdallah and is ranked as the world’s 13th-richest person by Forbes magazine. “I have an international driver’s license, and I drive a car in all the countries I travel to.”

Her answer came after the interviewer noted that her husband had said in a previous interview he would be the first to let his wife and daughter drive if the ban was lifted.

The Monarchy has to balance the demands of the religious clerics in this country but I always think of Umm Salamah who emigrated from Mecca to Medina ALONE on a camel through the desert. Where is there any evidence in the Quran or Sunnah that bans a woman to drive? In actual fact, the use of taxis places women in the company of a non related male.

Feel free to copy the below image and put it on your bags, cars, even your abayas!!!!

Saudi Taxis are CRAP

I hate Saudi Taxis. I hate the Taxi Drivers. I hate everything about them. I hate the fact that you have to barter with them. I hate how they smell of cigarette smoke. I hate how the air con is always crap. I hate how the drivers always ask me where I am from and if I am Muslim. I hate I have to wait ages for them. I hate how much this country sucks-they say its haram for women to drive and be with strange men but then the only option is to catch taxis and have drivers-STUPID! I also hate how there is no public transport here.
Finally, I hate how there is no I.D in the majority of taxis so u don't know who the hell is driving you around.

Shelter for Abused Women in Saudi

Al-Nahdha shelter for abused women

By Aysha

Al-Faifi

RIYADH – The Al-Nahdha Charity offers one of the few safe places for female victims of domestic violence to turn to, offering them protection and a dignified standard of living.
The women who are currently sheltered there are in no doubt of the value of its services. Some of them have been refused divorce by their husbands, others have taken refuge from violence committed against them and their children.
A woman, who preferred not to give her name, has lived at the facility for over a year after fleeing from her drug-addict husband.
“I reported him to the police after he hit me and they sent me here,” she said. “The police issued a warrant for his arrest but he has still not been caught. Al-Nahdha has helped me and my children recover from the psychological effects of my husband’s violence.”
The only thing she seeks is a divorce from her husband. “My application for help from the Social Security Department was rejected because I am married,” she said.
Another resident, an Arab journalist, has been with Al-Nahdha for the last two years and is seeking repatriation to her home country via the courts, a process which she says is being deliberately delayed by her husband.
According to sociologist Sameera Al-Sufiyani, the charity’s policy is to not house non-Saudis, but they made an exception in this woman’s case because of her unique circumstances. “Arab embassies do not care for their nationals as well as the embassies of other countries,” Al-Sufiyani said.
Al-Nahdha is under the supervision of the Ministry of Social Affairs and is open 24 hours a day to admit women who face temporary social, health, economic or legal difficulties.
There are no plans for expansion as the policy of the charity is to not encourage residence outside the family home except in extreme circumstances.
The society only admits individuals after a medical report has been submitted verifying any claims of violence.
“Previously the police used to send us anyone claiming to be a victim of domestic violence without any background check,” said Nida’a Al-Olaiyan, head of the Social Service Department at the charity.
“Some girls come to us with bruises and claim they are victims of violence at home, only for us to discover after checking the facts that they have deliberately bruised themselves just to have somewhere to stay after running away from home.”
Al-Olaiyan said an official process was in place for the admission of women seeking care, with formal references to the police, the governor’s office, and other governmental bodies.
“Each case is studied individually and registered in our records as part of an ongoing database,” Al-Olaiyan said

New Internet Cafe Laws

New hidden camera rule for Internet cafés

By Aaref Al-Odaila (taken from saudigazette.com)

ONAIZA – The Ministry of Interior has made it mandatory for Internet cafés to install hidden cameras and provide a record of names and identities of their customers.
The new security regulations include a ban on using any Internet service subscription, prepaid cards or unlicensed satellite Internet other than the one certified for use by the café. Those under 18 years of age will not be allowed entry into the cafés, which must close by midnight. Also, a Saudi must be employed and all phone lines must be in the name of the licensed café , not the owner’s or anybody else’s name.
Police have started visiting Internet cafés to issue the new regulations.

Men are the only ones allowed into internet cafes-women are forced to either use the internet at home or not at all.

MUSLIM WOMEN

For Muslim Sisters to attend-Be Proactive about the Deen.

UN Makes Religious Defamation a Human Rights Violation

U.N. rights council passes religious defamation resolution

March 26, 2009

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- A U.N. body has passed a resolution condemning "defamation of religion" as a human rights violation.

The resolution, introduced by Pakistan on behalf of a group of Muslim nations in the U.N. Human Rights Council, passed Thursday by a vote of 23-11, with 13 absentions.

Opposition primarily came from Western nations, who say such a resolution would restrict freedom of speech. Proponents said they wanted to prevent such things as the defamation of Islam, as in the case of the cartoons of the prophet Muhammad, which sparked angry Muslims protests in Europe three years ago.

"Defamation of religion is a serious affront to human dignity leading to a restriction on the freedom of their adherents and incitement to religious violence," the adopted text said. "Islam is frequently and wrongly associated with human rights violations and terrorism."

The World Jewish Congress condemned Thursday's vote. "We see it as weakening the rights of individuals to express their views and criticize other religions, and, in the case of this specific resolution, particularly Islam,” WJC President Ronald Lauder said. "This resolution is an attempt to bring to the international body the blasphemy laws prevalent in some Muslim countries." I think its ironic that it was the ability to persecute and defame jewish people which led to the jewish holocaust during world war 2. At first, the Germans used propaganda to demonize Jewish people and Judaism and then came 'Crystal Night', etc.

Language condemning defamation of religion recently was removed from a draft declaration for the Durban II conference on racism in an attempt to get the United States and other Western countries to attend the parley.

-Taken from the Global News Services for Jewish People

Saudi Women Pushing for the Right to Buy Underwear From WOMEN!

Saudi women boycott lingerie shops

JEDDAH – A group of Saudi women launched a campaign Tuesday to boycott lingerie stores until they employ saleswomen.
The boycott was launched by about 50 women who gathered here at the Al-Bidaya Breast-feeding Resource and Women’s Awareness Center, which is run by Modie Batterjee, one of the boycott organizers.
The aim is to push for implementation of a law that has been on the books since 2006 which says only female staff can be employed in women’s apparel stores.
“We are raising awareness and calling for the implementation of the law,” said Reem Asaad, a finance lecturer at Dar Al-Hikma Women’s College in Jeddah, who supports the boycott.
The campaign calls on women to shop at the country’s few women-only lingerie stores. Usually stand-alone boutiques are located in malls that have women-only sections. These shops have no windows to ensure passing men cannot look in – and giving women the freedom to actually try things on.
However, it is unclear how much impact the boycott call will have.
Almost 1,700 people signed an online petition posted by Asaad on the social networking web site Facebook.
Before her wedding last year, Huda Batterjee, Modie’s sister, went abroad to buy her bridal lingerie.
She just couldn’t bear the humiliation of discussing her most intimate apparel with a man. She had little choice: there are almost no saleswomen in Saudi Arabia.
“When I buy underwear in Saudi Arabia, some salesmen say: ‘This is not the right size for you’,” said Batterjee.
“You feel almost taken advantage of. Why is he looking at me in this way?”

Heba Al-Akki, a businesswoman who supports the boycott, said when she shops for underwear, “I go to a store, pick this, this and that and leave quickly. It’s as if I’m buying illegal stuff.”

“Even in such open regions as the US and Europe, men do not sell underwear to women,” said store manager Husam Al-Mutayim, a 27-year-old Egyptian. “I don’t let any of my female relatives buy underwear from men. It’s just too embarrassing.” “I have bras with sizes ranging from 32 to 38 because I can’t get to try them on,” said Modie Batterjee. – AP

New T-Shirts For Israelis

I came across a Newspaper Article (Associated press) that really made me sad. The media is so quick to show images of war from the Palestinian side but the image and story below will never make it on mainstream news forums.

''An Israeli model poses with a T-shirt that reads in Hebrew “Sniper platoon” in Tel Aviv. It shows a pregnant woman in a rifle’s cross-hairs with the slogan “1 Shot 2 Kills.” Another shirt is of a gun-toting child with the words, “The smaller they are, the harder it is.” A third T-shirt design shows a dead Palestinian baby and the words “Better use Durex” (condoms). Haaretz newspaper said the customized shirts are often ordered when troops finish training courses''. – AP

Mauritania: Where Being FAT is Beautiful!!!

When I first heard about a Country that ENCOURAGES its women to be FAT, i thought 'Gee, I wonder if I can move there! And its not just being a bit chubby or having a muffin top. 'To men here, fat is sexy. And in this patriarchal region, many Mauritanian women do everything possible - and have everything possible done to them - to put on pounds'. The men in this country LOVE women with chunks and chunks of fat-its the absolute opposite of the western notion of what is beautiful. Being OBESE is revered in this Country but there is a horrific story of whats expected of Mauritanian women.

Girls as young as 7 years old are force fed ('gavage') (all day) high fat foods (Such as dates, cous cous and camels milk) so they begin the process of being fattened up.There are even 'farms' you can send your children to, like a fat farm-for them to gain weight. A lady that runs a 'farm' said: "I make them do this all morning. Then they have a rest. In the afternoon we start again. We do this three times a day - the morning, the afternoon and the evening." .Girls as young as 5 and as old as 19 have to drink up to five gallons of fat-rich camel’s or cow’s milk daily, aiming for silvery stretch marks on their upper arms. If a girl refused or vomited, the village weight-gain specialist might squeeze her foot between sticks, pull her ear, pinch her inner thigh, bend her finger backward or force her to drink her own vomit'. Drugs are also sold (many of them for animals) for women to gain weight.

There are several factors that influence the cultural construct of what is beautiful. Traditionally, the people lived in the desert so having a plump daughter or wife was a sign of status, wealth and kindness. Also, once a girl starts the fattening up process she will often get her period sooner which means she can be married off.

Although there is a huge push to educate people in the country that force feeding is a form of abuse, its a long and slow road to changing these cultural perceptions of beauty.Many women can now be seen (often with their veils hiding their face for fear that someone would see them....our version of being caught at an all you can eat buffet perhaps????) exercising around the local stadium.

Intro to the Abaya: Fashion & Islam

Saudi Arabia is a land of paradoxes and a land of contradictions!


Before I arrived I was honestly more than a little scared. Every time I researched the country it just confirmed my fears that the whole population were religious extremists who hated the west-the images of the women dressed in black depressed me (even though I was curious about wearing the niquaab/face covering).
And I am not exactly what you would call 'uneducated'!

I now think that Saudi's isolationist mentality and the western stereotypes of saudi do nothing to dispel these misconceptions.

Anyway I have been here a few months and have settled in. Although I still miss my country and at times saudi is just plain WEIRD to me, i am getting used to the difference in culture.

What i didnt expect was how saudi people have introduced concepts of status and class into aspects of the religion. Now what I mean with this is specific to the issue of wearing the hijab and islamic dress for women. I have noticed that the upper class and upper middle class do not wear hijab or they wear the scarf but not as strictly. They don't mind if their hair shows etc. They are also less likely to wear the niquaab. Also, the way a woman wears her scarf and her abaya also reflects the social status/class of that woman.

A great advantage about living in Jeddah is that it is more 'free' than Riyadh (the capital). More women are wearing abayas that show their personality while still adhering to the Islamic standards of dress. They are no longer wearing the plain black abayas. They have crystal designs and beautiful colourful fabric that is under a sheer black cloth. They often are reversible so you can wear the colourful abayas when your with family or with friends at social gatherings. Many young women wear these abayas and you can often see a pair of converse all stars (cons) peaking from under their abayas! Muslim women take A LOT of care in what abaya they wear and items such as shoes and bags are used inject personality and again, status. I was very surprised to find uni students clutching ther louis vuittons etc and it really frustrated me because they hardly ever had anything larger than a small notepad for taking notes for class because they didnt want to either hold their books or risk damaging their bags!