Islam's Soft Revolution
Three decades after Iran's upheaval established Islamic clerical rule for the first time in 14 centuries, a quieter and more profound revolution is transforming the Muslim world. Dalia Ziada is a part of it.
When Ziada was 8, her mother told her to don a white party dress for a surprise celebration. It turned out to be a painful circumcision. But Ziada decided to fight back. The young Egyptian spent years arguing with her father and uncles against the genital mutilation of her sister and cousins, a campaign she eventually developed into a wider movement. She now champions everything from freedom of speech to women's rights and political prisoners. To promote civil disobedience, Ziada last year translated into Arabic a comic-book history about Martin Luther King Jr. and distributed 2,000 copies from Morocco to Yemen. (See pictures of Islam's revolution.)
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This is so fascinating. And Astaghfirullah, the idea of FGM makes me sick. I can't believe that there are so many people that think that Islam calls for removing the sex organs of little girls so they'll remain "obedient" and "loyal" to their husbands. Last time I checked, self-harm was prohibited in Islam, and it is a wife's Islamic right to be sexually satisfied by her husband.
ReplyDeleteThe sad thing about FGM is that it is mainly perpetuated by the women. I know from talking to close family friends that the men are more supportive of abolishing it in general than the women are.
ReplyDeleteI loved the little hijabi learning karate!
Ladies this article is about more than that. Check out what they are doing about troublesome hadiths and the place Obama has in the Islamic world
ReplyDeleteI had posted about this on my previous blog and was assured that clerics in Egypt and KSA would never allow such works to be published.
ReplyDeleteIn a post I had done a detailed linguistic analysis of one particular hadith (women less in intelligence and religion) - I'm a discourse analyst - and some poor woman in Pakistan linked to it and shared it on Orkut saying "good news women! We are not going to Hell after all. The sister explains it so well."
A day later some man posted on Orkut that *I* must be stopped since when the Prophet said that women will be in majority in Hell, they will be. Women are stupid and lacking in religion.
I must have had at least 50 comments from Pakistani men - some were imams and shiekhs telling me that I should know my place and accept that women will go to Hell!
I honestly couldn't believe my eyes. There I was defending Muhammad and saying he couldn't have said it, and here were Muslim men telling me he did say it and I was wrong. I gave it up. No use fighting a crazy battle. I just apologized for wasting their time and said I agree, Muslim women will be in majority in Hell :D
If I - a nobody - could stir such commotion, imagine how Muslim men would react to Turkish Muslims. Khaled Abou Fadl writes extensively on such ahadith in "Speaking in God's Name" (must read book) and just go to Muslim Matters to read what 'educated and informed' Muslims have to say about him.
It is very disheartening.
Achelois: it would be nice if it was true and they could publish their book. Because there is no way that the prophet said anything of the sort! That is why you can't believe every Sheik.
ReplyDeleteIsn't there a counteracting hadith that says women will also be the majority in heaven? Because more women exist on the earth to begin with?
This is why I take hadith with a grain of salt. If it contradicts the prophet and the Qur'an, most likely Muhammad did not say it. He was HUGE into equality. He didnt even condemn non muslims to hell so why would he condemn muslim women? So rediculous I cant even believe people can believe that stuff.
and I will try to remember that book :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this article - great read!
ReplyDeleteI'm really looking forward to the Turkish Hadith book - that sounds like such an interesting project!