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One: The Islamic Era Article

EBSCOhost http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=8&hid=114&sid=99dbc7d0-8e5d-4d3e-ab39-69f14f2e0308%40sessionmgr102#AN0021167297-7 The Islamic Era. Subject(s): INDIA -- History; INDIANS -- Religion; ISLAM -- India; MUSLIMS; RELIGIONS Geographic Terms: INDIA Author(s): Patel, Mohammad Source: Muslims in India: The Growth & Influence of Islam in the Nations of Asia & Central Asia, 2007, p26 Document Type: Book Chapter Abstract: This chapter features the history of Islam in India. At about the time King Harsha was consolidating his control in northern India, a religious and political struggle was beginning on the Arabian Peninsula. Out of that struggle emerged a faith, Islam, which would spawn powerful political empires and have a major influence on the course of Indian history. The remarkable expansion of Islam in such a relatively short period can be explained by several factors. First, Muslim armies were fierce, well organized, and highly motivated. Second, for many people the tenets of Islam held considerable appeal. A Muslim in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, bows toward Mecca in prayer. He is among the more than 135 million Indians who follow the Islamic faith. Accession Number: 21167297 ISBN: 1590-848810 Lexile: 1130 Persistent link to this record: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=khh&AN=21167297&site=ehost-live Database History Reference Center

The Islamic Era

(missing pictures)

At about the time King Harsha was consolidating his control in northern India, a religious and political struggle was beginning more than 2,000 miles (3,220km) to the west, on the Arabian Peninsula. Out of that struggle emerged a new faith, Islam, which would spawn powerful political empires and have a major influence on the course of Indian history.

Muslim pilgrims pray before the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Before the triumph of the prophet Muhammad and his followers in A.D. 630, this ancient shrine--which Muslims believe was constructed by the patriarch Abraham and his son Ishmael and which they consider the holiest place on earth--contained pagan idols. The Prophet

Islam's roots lie in Mecca, a town in the mountainous Hejaz region of the western Arabian Peninsula. Located in a ravine at the crossroads of important caravan routes, Mecca was, by the sixth century A.D., a prosperous trading center. It was also an important destination for religious pilgrims, who flocked to Mecca to worship the many idols housed in a cube-like shrine known as the Kaaba. Arabs at this time were polytheistic; they worshiped several hundred gods and goddesses.

Islam's founder, Muhammad, was born in Mecca around 570. His tribe, the Quraysh, effectively functioned as Mecca's ruling class; the tribe controlled the Kaaba shrine and included the town's leading merchants. Muhammad's father died before the boy's birth; six years later, when his mother died, Muhammad became an orphan. He was raised by an uncle, Abu Talib.

Muhammad tended sheep and worked as a camel driver during his youth. He gained a reputation for honesty and trustworthiness, qualities that attracted the attention of a wealthy Meccan widow named Khadija, for whom Muhammad worked as a caravan agent. In 595, when Muhammad was about 25 years old and Khadija 40, they married.

Muhammad settled into the life of a merchant, but be was distressed at the idolatrous religious practices of his fellow Arabs and at the way wealthy Meccans treated the poor. Over the years, he retreated periodically to a cave on nearby Mount Hira in order to contemplate. Muslims believe that there, around 610, Muhammad received the first of what would be a lifelong series of revelations from Allah (the Arabic word for "God"), conveyed by the angel Gabriel. These revelations would later be transcribed as the Qur'an (also spelled Koran), Islam's holy scripture.

Initially, Muhammad shared his revelations only with Khadija and a small group of close friends and relatives. By 612, however, he had begun preaching Allah's message more openly. This led to conflict with Mecca's Quraysh leaders and merchants, for what Muhammad had to say directly threatened their privileged status.

Islam fundamentally challenged the status quo in Mecca first because of its monotheism. Muhammad said that there is but one God, and that everyone must submit to His will (the word Islam comes from an Arabic term meaning "submission" or "surrender"). In polytheistic Mecca, this proposition contradicted people's basic religious beliefs. But it also had significant economic implications: if pagan idols were not to be worshiped, the Quraysh stood to lose the considerable money they made from pilgrims to the Kaaba. Furthermore, Muhammad preached that the rich had an obligation to treat the poor with respect--and must even share some of their wealth with the less fortunate.

As more people--particularly among the lower classes--were attracted to Muhammad's message and became Muslims ("those who surrender" to God), Mecca's leaders took steps to contain Islam. They passed laws forbidding all social and business relations between Muslims and non-Muslims. This caused great hardship for the Muslims, some of whom were unable to earn a living and starved to death. More violent forms of persecution followed. Muslims were beaten and sometimes even murdered. A plot was hatched to kill Muhammad.

Finally, in 622, Muhammad and his followers fled to the town of Yathrib, located about 210 miles (338 km) north of Mecca. This event, known as the Hijra, is conventionally said to mark the beginning of the Islamic era.

In Yathrib, Muhammad and his followers established the first Muslim community and built the first mosque. The town was soon renamed Madinat al-Nabi ("City of the Prophet"). Today it is known in English as Medina.

Tensions between the Muslims and the Meccans persisted even though the two groups were now separated by hundreds of miles of desert. Warfare erupted in 624 when Muhammad led a 300-man force against a Meccan caravan in what became known as the Battle of Badr. Though the Meccans enjoyed a three-to-one numerical advantage, the Muslims triumphed. Over the next few years, the fighting continued intermittently. As more Arab tribes converted to Islam, the advantage swung to the Muslim forces. In 630, defeated and dispirited, Mecca surrendered to Muhammad, and most of the town converted voluntarily to Islam.

A page from the Qur'an, Islam's sacred scripture. Muslims believe the Qur'an contains the actual words of Allah (God) as revealed to the prophet Muhammad.

(Above) This painting depicts the Hijra, the exodus of Muhammad's followers from Mecca in A.D. 622. The embattled group settled in the oasis town of Yathrib, north of Mecca. (Right) After the Hijra, Muhammad and his followers established--and successfully defended--the first Islamic society. Yathrib was renamed Madinat al-Nabi ("City of the Prophet"); today it is better known to English-speakers as Medina. This photo shows Medina's Prophet's Mosque, whose initial construction dates to the year 622. The Spread of Islam

At the time of Muhammad's death in 632, Islam had spread across the Arabian Peninsula. Within a century a vast Islamic empire had been established. In the west, it streched across North Africa and into Europe's Iberian Peninsula (present-day Spain and Portugal); in the east it encompassed what is today called the Middle East and reached into Central Asia.

The remarkable expansion of Islam in such a relatively short period can be explained by several factors. First, Muslim armies were fierce, well organized, and highly motivated. They won much territory for Islam by the sword. Second, for many people the tenets of Islam held considerable appeal. Islam's values are egalitarian and its rituals relatively simple and straightforward; Islam emphasizes the believer's direct relationship with God rather than requiring the performance of esoteric rituals or the intercession of a specialized clergy. Anyone can become a Muslim by making a simple profession of faith, called the shahada ("There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is His Messenger"), and following a few basic duties of believers. In addition to the shahada, the fundamental obligations of the faithful, or Five Pillars of Islam, are salat, prayers performed rive times daily; zakat, the giving of a portion of one's wealth to charity; sawm, fasting between dawn and dusk during the holy month of Ramadan; and hajj, a ritual pilgrimage to Mecca, which all believers who are able must undertake at least once in their lifetime. As the Islamic empire expanded, many people who came under its rule willingly converted because of Islam's spiritual appeal. For pagan peoples, however, the choice was frequently between conversion and death (even though the Qur'an forbids forced conversion). While Jewish and Christian subjects were generally not compelled to convert, they did have to pay a special tax, known as the jizya, and were considered dhimmi, protected (if in many ways second-class) citizens. Economic considerations thus spurred some Christians and Jews to become Muslims.

A Muslim in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, bows toward Mecca in prayer. He is among the more than 135 million Indians who follow the Islamic faith. Islam on the Indian Subcontinent

Islam is believed to have first reached the Indian Subcontinent around the middle of the seventh century, with seafaring Arabs who traded in the region of Sind, in present-day southern Pakistan. In 711, ostensibly in response to the piracy of an Arab vessel, the Muslim governor of Iraq launched an invasion of Sind. The Arab forces crossed Baluchistan (in present-day western Pakistan), swept into the Indus Valley, and overwhelmed the area's Hindu rajas, or rulers. Initially, Hindus who refused to convert were killed; later they were granted dhimmi status.

For more than two centuries Islamic control on the Indian Subcontinent was largely limited to Sind. In the late 10th century, however, Muslim armies crossed the rugged mountains of Afghanistan and thrust into northwestern India, inaugurating a period of raiding and, eventually, conquest and consolidation that brought the Punjab region under Muslim control.

The first raid from Afghanistan was conducted in 986 by Subuktigin, the Turk ruler of Ghazni and founder of the Ghaznevid dynasty. Alter Subuktigin's death in 997, his son Mahmud of Ghazni continued these incursions into India. Beginning around 1000, Mahmud (971-1030) launched as many as 17 raids, ultimately taking his armies across northern India to the banks of the Ganges River.

Mahmud seems to have been motivated in part by a desire to spread Islam through jihad, or "holy war." Known as "the Idol Smasher," he destroyed Hindu idols, artwork, and temples; he also massacred large numbers of "infidel" Hindus. But plunder was probably at least an equally important motive. Mahmud looted gold and jewels and carried thousands of women and slaves back to Ghazni. Among the important Hindu cities Mahmud sacked were Somnath (in the present-day Indian state of Gujarat) and Mathura and Kannauj (both in Uttar Pradesh). By 1026 Mahmud had annexed the Punjab into his empire.

Muslim chroniclers wrote many accounts of Mahmud's exploits. A number of these writers demonstrate little or no first-hand knowledge of India, and there is good reason to suspect that some of the stories they include are not entirely accurate. Nevertheless, a vivid picture emerges of great destruction, suffering, and carnage inflicted upon Hindus by the Muslims. For example, in the account written by Utbi, Mahmud's personal secretary, the sultan is said to have taken 500,000 slaves alter defeating the Hindu king Jaipal in 1001. Mahmud destroyed 10,000 temples, Utbi reports, alter taking Kannauj in 1019. And when Mahmud sacked Somnath about rive years later, Utbi says that more than 50,000 Hindus were slaughtered in a single day. While scholars doubt that Utbi accompanied Mahmud on any of his raids, and while he may have exaggerated the scope of the sultan's exploits, clearly Mahmud's fierce reputation was not entirely undeserved.

A chronicler who did accompany Mahmud to India, in 1017, was the Persian mathematician, astronomer, and scholar Muhammad ibn-Ahmad al-Biruni. Open-minded and inquisitive, Al-Biruni mastered Sanskrit, consulted Indian experts, and studied their texts on mathematics, natural sciences, literature, philosophy, and religion. He translated astronomy and mathematics treatises that influenced the Arab world and eventually Europe. The Arabic numerals we use today, the decimal system, and the concept of zero were among the Hindu ideas the Muslims adapted and refined. In his book Ta'rikh al-Hind (History of India), Al-Biruni observed:

In all manners and usages, [the Hindus] differ from us to such a degree as to frighten their children with us, with our dress, and our ways and customs, and as to declare us to be devil's breed, and our doings as the very opposite of all that is good and proper. By the bye, we must confess, in order to be just, that a similar depreciation of foreigners not only prevails among us and the Hindus, but is common to all nations towards each other.

The small kingdoms of northwestern and northern India, while they shared the Hindu religion, were too fragmented to present a unified defense against the Muslim invaders. These kingdoms were ruled by members of a Hindu warrior caste known as the Rajputs, who were deeply divided by clan loyalties. Although Mahmud raided at will, he did not pay much attention to consolidating his rule in the territories he plundered. Alter he died, his empire disintegrated, and the Muslims lost control of the Punjab.

This 14th-century illustration depicts Mahmud of Ghazni receiving ambassadors, including an Indian delegation (seated atop the elephant). For a quarter century, the Muslim sultan raided and plundered northern India from his base in Afghanistan.

At Mahmud's death in 1030, his empire included India's Punjab region. His successors were unable to hold on to that territory, however. The Delhi Sultanate

Around the middle of the 12th century, a Persian Islamic dynasty known as the Ghurids took control of Ghazni in Afghanistan. In 1173 the Ghurid prince Muhammad of Ghur was made the sultan of Ghazni. Two years later he invaded northern India, and within two decades Muhammad had conquered as far as Delhi. Returning to Afghanistan, Muhammad left his most trusted general, a Turkic slave named Qutb-ud-din-Aybak, in charge of the conquered territory in India.

After Muhammad was assassinated in 1206, Qutb proclaimed himself the first sultan of Delhi. Over the succeeding centuries the Delhi Sultanate, India's first Muslim kingdom, would see rive major dynasties: the Slave (or Mamluk) dynasty (1206-1290), the Khalji dynasty (1290-1320), the Tughlaq dynasty (1320-1413), the Sayyid dynasty (1414-1451), and the Lodi dynasty (1451-1526). The Delhi Sultanate's power waxed and waned, and relations with Hindus varied, during the reigns of different sultans.

The first sultan, Qutb-ud-din-Aybak, died in a fall from his polo pony in 1210. He was succeeded by his son-in-law, Shams-ud-din Iltemish (Iltutmish), who guaranteed Hindus dhimmi status and allowed Hindu chiefs who paid revenues to control their territories. Shams-ud-din Iltemish's daughter Raziyya became the only Muslim woman to rule on Indian land.

The Khalji dynasty sultan Ala-ud-Din, who ruled from 1295 to 1315, brought large new territories in the southern part of India under Muslim control. Ala-ud-Din treated his Hindu subjects rather harshly, imposing high jizya taxes on them and compelling peasants to sell their grain only to his licensed dealers.

Muhammad ibn Tughlaq (ruled 1325-1351), founder of the Tughlaq dynasty, was more sympathetic to Hindus; he even appointed a Hindu amir (the highest official except for the sultan). But Ibn Tughlaq's personal eccentricities and his pursuit of some unpopular and ill-advised policies spurred a series of rebellions, and territories in southern India that Ala-ud-Din had won began to break away. These included the Hindu Vijayanagar kingdom, founded in 1336; it would grow into a powerful empire and stand as a bulwark against Muslim intrusion in southern India for two centuries. Also lost to the Delhi Sultanate during Ibn Tughlaq's reign was the Muslim Bahmani kingdom, established in 1347 by Bengal's rebellious military governor; it eventually broke into rive South Indian states ruled by Turks and Indian Muslims (this cultural blend influenced Hyderabad, which remained a princely state until 1948).

The last strong Delhi sultan was the Tughlaq dynasty's Firuz Shah (ruled 1351-1388). An orthodox Muslim, he is credited, according to historian Stanley Wolpert, with the construction of 40 mosques, along with 30 colleges, 100 hospitals, 50 dams and reservoirs, and 200 new towns. He was also hostile to Hindus. Visiting a village where a Hindu fair was being held, Firuz ordered the fair's organizers put to death. He had a Brahman burned alive for worshiping in public. He demolished many Hindu temples and replaced them with mosques.

Though it lingered for more than 135 years alter Firuz Shah's death, the Delhi Sultanate was reduced to little more than a local power by the Turkish conqueror Timur Lenk (better known to Westerners as Tamerlane). The grandson of the feared Mongol leader Genghis Khan, Timur (1336-1405) sacked Delhi in 1398. His armies killed countless Hindus and took some 100,000 slaves before Timur left India in 1399 alter reaching Meerut.

The Sayyid dynasty, whose rulers came from the family of Timur's viceroy, claimed power in Delhi in 1414. But their power did not extend much beyond the city of Delhi itself, and by 1451 they had been overthrown by the Afghan Lodis.

Ruins of the Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagar, which broke away from the Delhi Sultanate in 1336 and stood in the way of Muslim expansion into southern India for more than two centuries.

By Mohammad Patel Source: Muslims in India: The Growth & Influence of Islam in the Nations of Asia & Central Asia, 2007, p26, 14p Item: 21167297

Two:Phenomena of Faith Article

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A PDF version of this work is available here: Image:Cultures Paper Source 2.pdf

Phenomena of Faith. Source: Harvard International Review; Winter2005, Vol. 26 Issue 4, p20-23, 4p, 3bw Document Type: Interview Subject Terms: COLLEGE teachers PEACE -- Religious aspects TERRORISM WAR -- Religious aspects LITTLE, David -- Interviews Abstract: Interviews David Little, a professor of the Practice in Religion, Ethnicity and International Conflict and faculty associate at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University, about the religious dimensions in conflicts and peace. Role of religion in conflicts in Sri Lanka, Sudan and Israel-Palestine; Factors contributing to the reduction of conflict in Northern Ireland and Bosnia; Degree to which religion influences terrorist acts. ISSN: 0739-1854 Accession Number: 16091342 Persistent link to this record: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=16091342&site=ehost-live Database MasterFILE Premier

Three: Loophole Saves Woman From Death By Stoning

LOOPHOLE SAVES WOMAN FROM DEATH BY STONING. Source: Herizons; Spring2002, Vol. 15 Issue 4, p6, 1/6p Document Type: Article Subject Terms: ISLAMIC law POLICE questioning WOMEN Geographic Terms: NIGERIA Abstract: Focuses on the police interrogation on raped and impregnated women in Nigeria. Impact of Islamic law on divorced mother; Provisions of shaira; Concept of the Islamic law for adultery. Full Text Word Count: 155 ISSN: 0711-7485 Accession Number: 6672703 Persistent link to this record: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=6672703&site=ehost-live Database MasterFILE Premier

A Nigerian woman at the centre of an international lobbying campaign has won her life.

Safiya Husaini was sentenced to be buried to her waist and stoned to death after she confessed under police interrogation that she had been raped and impregnated by her cousin in Soko state where she lives. The divorced mother of six was sentenced according to sharia (Islamic law) custom for adultery as soon as her daughter was weaned. As luck would have it, under the provisions of sharia it takes four eyewitnesses to convict a man of adultery, so her cousin was not charged.

Women in the country fought for the sentence to be withdrawn and Husaini's lawyer successfully argued that according to the traditions of the Koran, a pregnancy can remain in the womb for seven years, which would make the father Ms. Husaini's ex-husband. Copyright of Herizons is the property of Herizons, Inc.. The copyright in an individual article may be maintained by the author in certain cases. Content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. Source: Herizons, Spring2002, Vol. 15 Issue 4, p6, 1p Item: 6672703

Four: Courts open old wounds Article

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Courts open old wounds. Authors: Omaar, Rageh Source: New Statesman; 8/28/2006, Vol. 135 Issue 4807, p12-13, 2p Document Type: Article Subject Terms: ISLAMIC law JIHAD SOMALIA -- Politics & government -- 1991- WARLORDISM ISLAMIC fundamentalists TALIBAN UNITED States. Armed Forces Geographic Terms: MOGADISHU (Somalia) Abstract: The article discusses the political changes in Somalia that took place after the withdrawal of United States forces. In early 2006, a radical Islamist movement took over Mogadishu, running out the warlords who controlled the country for thirteen years. A Taliban movement was started in the country and implemented a court system based on sharia law. At first a popular change from the warlords, the new government now includes jihadists and militant Islamists, which worries surrounding countries. ISSN: 1364-7431 Accession Number: 22059836 Persistent link to this record: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=22059836&site=ehost-live Database MasterFILE Premier

Five: Reforming Islamic Family Law Article

Reforming Islamic Family Law. Authors: Weedon, Emily Source: Washington Report on Middle East Affairs; Jan/Feb2006, Vol. 25 Issue 1, p66-67, 2p, 1c Document Type: Article Subject Terms: COLLECTIF 95 (Organization) -- Political activity ISLAMIC law WOMEN & religion WOMEN'S rights REFORMS Abstract: The article presents information on the reforms in the women's rights in Islam. The Women's Learning Partnership, in conjunction with the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies Dialogue Project, invited Mahnaz Afkhami, Rabéa Naciri and Zainah Anwar to discuss the role of women in Muslim-majority countries. Each speaker emphasized the difference between the role of women in Islam versus that of women under Islamic law, a human interpretation of the scriptures. The current debate among theologians over interpretations of the Qur'an allowed the Collectif 95 Maghreb-Egalité to promote different interpretations of the relationship between men and women as set forth by Islam. Full Text Word Count: 749 ISSN: 8755-4917 Accession Number: 19300701 Persistent link to this record: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=19300701&site=ehost-live Database MasterFILE Premier

Reforming Islamic Family Law Section: Human Rights

The Women's Learning Partnership (WLP), in conjunction with the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) Dialogue Project, invited Mahnaz Afkhami, Rabéa Naciri and Zainah Anwar to discuss the role of women in Muslim-majority countries. The panelists were optimistic about recent advances made in conjunction with Collectif 95 Maghreb-Egalité, a campaign which proposed ways that Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria could revise their interpretations of Islamic law to address women's rights more fairly. Each speaker emphasized the difference between the role of women in Islam versus that of women under Islamic law, a human interpretation of the scriptures.

Azar Nafisi, author of the best-selling Reading Lolita in Tehran, introduced and mediated the panel. She began by recounting The Tale of King Shahriyar and his Brother Shahzaman, a fable in which the king's new bride, Shahrazad, avoided certain death by intriguing the king with nightly stories and changing his attitude toward women.

This, Nafisi argued, is what must happen in Muslim culture today. In her opinion, it will not be sufficient to amend the current political structures of these countries. Instead, the mindset of their populations must be augmented so that women are respected as equal members of society. Nafisi refuted those who dismiss the struggles of Muslim women by saying, "it's their culture." This is not an excuse for inaction, she asserted, but a signal of the need for change.

Mahnaz Afkhami, WLP founder and president, discussed the West's difficulty in both understanding and approaching the issue of family law within Islamic culture. Family law, she explained, is "an envelope in which all aspects of a woman's life" takes place, a concept difficult to understand when one's own life has not been dictated in such a manner. Echoing Nafisi's sentiments, Afkhami agreed that outsiders found this issue difficult to approach. Specifically, she posited that NGOs and other foreign actors are "frightened into inaction" because of their belief that family law is culturally based. While stressing that global solidarity and understanding were important, Afkhami argued that change must be ignited from within Muslim-majority countries.

The success of the Collectif 95 Maghreb-Egalité's campaign for gender equality was discussed at length by Rabéa Naciri, former president of the organization, a coalition of women's and labor organizations which engaged North African governments in a debate over the interpretation of Islamic law and ratification of universal human rights charters. The current debate among theologians over interpretations of the Qur'an allowed the Collectif 95 Maghreb-Egalité to promote different interpretations of the relationship between men and women as set forth by Islam. The dichotomy between Muslim-majority countries' current treatment of women and the standard set under various international human rights treaties was also stressed as cause for change.

Zainah Anwar, who has been fighting for legislative change in Malaysia as executive director of the Sisters of Islam, noted another obstacle faced by women fighting for equal rights in Muslim-majority countries. Often, she noted, the struggle for women's rights is seen as an un-Islamic act, a push of Western culture on Islamic countries. The success of the Collectif 95 Maghreb-Egalité, Anwar said, presents a great opportunity for solidarity, as she can now demonstrate to her government that Islamic countries have modernized their interpretations of Islamic and family law. Anwar said she now focuses on a "frame-work approach," in which she wants to stop amending Islamic law piecemeal and instead illustrate that the classical interpretation of family law is no longer applicable in Islamic culture. Anwar hopes to do so, in part, by emphasizing the verses of the Qur'an which speak of equality and mutual protection between husband and wife.

The panel's message was clear. The women agreed that Islam does not promote gender inequality, but rather that the latter is the result of current interpretation of Islamic law. Family law, Anwar stressed, is based on a classical interpretation of the Qur'an that no longer is applicable in modern society and must be changed through a reinterpretation of the scriptures.

For more information on the Women's Learning Partnership, visit its Web site at <www.learningpartnership.org>. The English-language translation of the Collectif 95 Maghreb-Egalité's book, Guide to Equality in the Family in the Mahgreb, can be purchased through the WLP, at <www.store.yahoo.com/learningpartnership/gutoeqinfain.html>.

By Emily Weedon Source: Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Jan/Feb2006, Vol. 25 Issue 1, p66, 2p Item: 19300701

Six: A Man's World? Sheet

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A Man's World? Source: Current Events; 10/7/2005, Vol. 105 Issue 5, p4-4, 1/6p, 1 cartoon Document Type: Article Subject Terms: CARICATURES & cartoons HUSSEIN, Saddam IRAQIS ISLAMIC law WOMEN -- Legal status, laws, etc. WOMEN'S rights Geographic Terms: IRAQ Abstract: The article states that there could be a new role for women in Iraq--as insurgents and also presents a cartoon related to it. In this cartoon, angry women storm into a room where Iraqi men are drafting the country's constitution. Many Iraqi women fear that if strict Islamic law becomes an integral part of Iraq's new government, they will have fewer rights than they had under President Saddam Hussein's rule. Full Text Word Count: 92 ISSN: 0011-3492 Accession Number: 18404729 Persistent link to this record: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=18404729&site=ehost-live Database MasterFILE Premier

A Man's World?

News Cartoon

There could be a new role for women in Iraq — as insurgents. In this cartoon, angry women storm into a room where Iraqi men are drafting the country's constitution. Many Iraqi women fear that if strict Islamic law becomes an integral part of Iraq's new government, they will have fewer rights than they had under Saddam Hussein's rule. According to the cartoonist, how are Iraqi women faring? Why does the Iraqi man call the women "insurgents"? Explain your answers.

CARTOON

Source: Current Events, 10/7/2005, Vol. 105 Issue 5, p4, 1p Item: 18404729

Seven

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1161294618111&call_pageid=968332188492 retrived 10/23/2006

The Union of Islamic Courts Oct. 20, 2006. 05:16 AM

Somalia has been without a government since the presidency of Gen. Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991. In the 15 years since, fighting between rival warlords, as well as famine and disease have led to the deaths of up to

1 million people. Mogadishu descended into anarchy.

In June, a group known as the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), seized control of Mogadishu and implemented sharia law. Some compare its authoritarian rule, which allows women to be punished if their heads are not covered and the public executions of criminals, to the rule of Afghanistan's Taliban. But the group has brought unprecedented security and enjoys support among many secular and war-weary Somalis.

A shaky UN-backed transitional federal government is supported by neighbouring Ethiopia and accuses the Islamists of links to Al Qaeda. With Eritrea supporting the UIC, there are fears a regional war may break out.

Eight

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=91&ItemID=11217 10/23/06 retrived Z Mag Indonesia: Gays Fight Sharia Laws by Doug Ireland

October 18, 2006 DIRELAND Printer Friendly Version EMail Article to a Friend Indonesia's fledgling LGBT group, Arus Pelangi (Rainbow Flag), last Monday launched a national campaign against a welter of ultra-homophobic regional statutes based on Muslim Sharia law.

"Many LGBT people are arrested and detained, often without charges or clear reason, only to be released after a few days," said Widodo "Dodo" Budi Darmo, the 35-year-old director of campaigning for Arus Pelangi, which was formed in January this year as Indonesia's first explicitly activist LGBT group on the legal and political fronts.

"In 2004, the region of Palembang introduced a regional law that proscribes homosexuality as an act of prostitution that 'violates the norms of common decency, religion, and legal norms as they apply to societal rule,'" Dodo -- a co-founder of Arus Pelangi -- told Gay City News from Jakarta. "That law says that included under the term 'act of prostitution' are 'homosexual sex, lesbians, sodomy, sexual harassment, and other pornographic acts.'"

Dodo said that "this regional law was part of a chain of similar laws across Sumatra and Java that base themselves on Sharia law from the Koran," and that "52 regions have adopted or put forward such laws." In the special capital district of Jakarta itself, he said, "all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and transsexual people are legally considered cacat, or mentally handicapped, and as such are not protected by law. This contradiction of LGBT people falling outside the law while still being subjected to it is one of the injustices that Arus Pelangi hopes to combat."

Some 88 percent of Indonesia's quarter of a billion people identify as Muslims, making it the world's largest Islamic nation. Islamic beliefs take various forms in the country -- there are the orthodox, Mecca-oriented santri, and also another Muslim current called kebatinan, or Javanism, which is an amalgam of Islamic (especially Sufi) beliefs colored by indigenous animist and Hindu-Buddhist influences, as well as ethnic traditions, in a country where 300 languages are spoken.

Three-fifths of the nation's population lives on the island of Java and Islamic precepts continue to frame public debate. There is considerable political coherence among traditionalist and modernist Muslim currents -- all of them doctrinally opposed to homosexuality.

"There are many Islamic fundamentalist groups in Indonesia that thrive on premanism, or thuggery, against anyone that goes against what they feel their religion dictates," said Dodo. "These groups -- in Jakarta they are most predominantly the FPI (the Front of Supporters of Islam) and the FBR (Betawi Council Forum) -- will attack the offices, workplaces, and homes of people they consider to be of particular threat to the morals and values of Islam, and that includes LGBT people."

The International Herald Tribune noted in an October 9 article on Indonesia, "President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been criticized by some for failing to speak out clearly against" the "persistent [Muslim-instigated] violence."

Last Monday, Dodo recounted, "We had a forum with the Department of Justice and Human Rights, and met with the head of the office regarding regional laws in order to push the issue of discrimination against LGBT people evidenced in those laws, and as well to attempt to break through channels in order to meet with the only two people in Indonesian politics able to quash laws still in deliberation (the minister of Internal Affairs) or already made (President Yudhoyono.)" So far, Arus Pelangi has had no success in arranging those breakthrough meetings.

Arus Pelangi also has been lobbying hard against final passage of a sweeping "Law Against Pornography and Porno-Action" that is being pushed by Islamic-oriented political parties, and could be used to stifle any pro-gay agitation or writing. This draconian, homophobic law would prohibit any writing or audio-visual presentation -- including songs, poetry, films, paintings, and photographs -- that "exploit the notion of persons engaging in sexual relations" or "engaging in activities leading to sexual relations with persons of the same sex." Even portrayals of "kissing on the lips" of any gender combinations would be forbidden under this proposed legislation. Violations of this law would be punishable not only by fines but by prison terms of up to seven years as well.

"There are a few supporters within the Indonesian Parliament who are willing to help us seek equal rights for LGBT people in Indonesia," Dodo said, "and these are mainly from the PDI-P (Party for the Indonesian Democracy Struggle) and the PKB (National Awakening Party), and though their members are few, they have greatly supported Arus Pelangi's cause and have enabled us to come further in political discussions and alliances as a result."

Arus Pelangi is also striving, against great odds, to have sexual orientation included in a new Minority Rights law being considered by Parliament that was originally presented as a bill on ethnic and racial discrimination.

"There has been strong opposition from various [Islamic] fundamentalist and conservative parties who have threatened to block the Minority Rights bill should the LGBT issue be inserted," Dodo said, "but we are currently working in coalition with several [non-governmental organizations] and a few members of Parliament to further this issue."

Less than a year old, Arus Pelangi has some 400 members -- about 40 percent are lesbians, 30 percent gay men, and 30 percent transsexuals. The large number of lesbians is in part due to the success of bi-weekly lesbian discussion groups the organization runs in Jakarta which, Dodo said, "have been successful in uniting groups with little to no ties with each other previously. They've become a popular forum for lesbians who are open about their sexuality as well as with those who have yet to come out," and involve discussions of everyday problems, violations of their human rights, and consciousness-raising.

Arus Pelangi has already facilitated the establishment of three autonomous branches outside Jakarta. In Surabaya, the LGBT organization Us was formed with the support of Arus Pelangi staff, and participates in the activities generated by the Jakarta office. An Arus Pelangi chapter has started in Medan to target LGBT issues in Northern Sumatra. And in Purwokerto, a new LGBT organization has been formed as a result of Arus Pelangi's activities in the region in response to the murder last year of Vera, a transsexual.

"The case of Vera, a transsexual who was murdered last October 28 in Purwokerto, Central Java, has received little attention from the local police," Dodo said. "Our staff traveled to the area, met with witnesses and the victim's family, and received permission to take this case to court. We've developed a network of partners to insure the protection of witnesses, only four of whom have as yet been questioned by the police but with no concrete action as a result."

In another horrendous case that is the focus of Arus Pelangi's work, three transsexuals were murdered in Jakarta by the Indonesian police.

"We've begun investigations with the families of the victims who live in Jakarta, and have raised the issue with the National Human Rights Commission," said Dodo, "but this case will require an extremely long process of data collection and campaigning with government authorities, as it involves charges being brought against the police. We've taken up cases like these, and are trying to build up our local communities and empower them to support themselves and each other, to decrease the fear experienced by LGBT people."

In fact, it is difficult to quantify with any specificity the level of bias-related anti-gay violence in the country because, until the founding of Arus Pelangi, there was no gay group collecting such information in Indonesia. A group called Lambda Indonesia was founded in 1985, sponsored social gatherings, consciousness-raising, and issued a newsletter, but it petered out in the 1990s. Gaya Nusantara is a gay group focusing on health issues like AIDS, and operating mainly in Surabaya, East Java. Yayasan Srikandi Sejati, founded in 1998, focuses specifically on health issue of the transgendered, running a free health clinic that provides HIV/AIDS counseling and free condoms to transsexual sex workers.

"In general, the public here is not well-informed about HIV/AIDS," Dodo said. "There is no sex education in the schools, except for that done by these other organizations with very limited means and despite hostility from school authorities. Because the other LGBT organizations before Arus Pelangi exclusively focused on health issues, they inadvertently perpetuated the notion of AIDS as a 'gay disease' and thus the stigmatization of the LGBT community concerning this issue. However, the stereotype of people with AIDS now leans more toward drug users and Papuans, the indigenous people living in the easternmost province of Indonesia."

Legal and police abuse of gay people in Indonesia is hard to document, said Julie Van Dassen, Arus Pelangi's Canadian-born international advocacy secretary, "because people often do not report cases due to their sexuality, and thus data is very hard to come by. Frequently, LGBT people are arrested for other reasons, or with no charges at all, which happens often enough in Indonesia, especially in certain regions (Aceh being the worst), and though it is obvious that they are scapegoated because of their sexual orientation, this is never formally issued as a charge, and thus hard to prove or not reported as a crime of discrimination at all."

In addition to this, Van Dassen said, "often gays, once taken into jail, are submitted to sexual abuse far beyond that of other prisoners because of their sexual orientation. These cases are also very hard to prove, especially as many of the victims are very traumatized and remain silent out of fear of returning to jail and being subjected to abuse, rape, and beatings again."

A good example of this police abuse, she said, is the case of Adang, a gay man who was one of many arrested in a protest against the opening of a an environmentally poisonous dump site in Bojong, Bogor, West Java.

"Adang was suffering from a mild form of tuberculosis at the time of his arrest," Van Dassan explained. "He informed authorities of this, but received no medical attention. He was further criminalized in jail, forced to kiss, masturbate for, and perform fellatio on the guards at the prison and other inmates were encouraged to take advantage of him sexually because he was a gay man, 'so he must love it.' His condition worsened while in jail, he was beaten and still received no medical attention. Upon his release, after seven months in jail, he received medical attention but died three weeks later due to complications connected to his injuries and tuberculosis."

Dodo dismisses the notion that a gay identity is a "Western" notion foreign to Asian or Islamic cultures.

"We have to make a separation between religion and sexual orientation," he said, "because sexual orientation is natural, it's a human right that needs to be respected and valued. My family was very open and pluralistic, so I was lucky to be raised in a family that was not too focused on religious rules or ethos. In Indonesia, religion is forced, you are not afforded the opportunity not to choose a religion -- and as a result, many of the social norms, political policies, and laws are deeply rooted in Islamic ties and morals. I was not as affected by this as most others were."

In fact, said Van Dassen, "Dodo is one of very few (three, at most) of our staff that has actually come out to his family and friends. Most of the staff, even though they are passionate enough about supporting LGBT rights to work full-time without wages for Arus Pelangi, are still afraid to come out to the people close to them."

Van Dassen explained that "their reasons vary -- some come from moderate or more conservative Muslim families and are afraid to come out and be alienated from their families; some are less afraid of the reaction of their families but more the reaction of their community and the shame it would bring upon their entire family, which could have mild to severe social and economic effects -- their business would no longer be used, they would be ostracized in social circles. Still others, and this was the most shocking for me, is that some, not working in Arus Pelangi but connected to it, are ashamed to admit it to themselves. They were raised in Muslim families and feel that their natural sexual inclinations are a sin, and have no idea of what to do about it."

Arus Pelangi can be contacted at Jl. Purwodadi No. 29, Menteng, Jakarta 10310, Indonesia; Telephone-Fax. 021-390-6258; or e-mail arus_pelangi@yahoo.co.id.

Doug Ireland, a longtime radical journalist and media critic, runs the blog DIRELAND, where this article appeared Oct. 18, 2006. The article was originally written for Gay City News, New York City's largest weekly gay newspaper.

Nine

http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=JAK192425 retrived 10/23/2006 Indonesia vows to maintain religious pluralism Wed 18 Oct 2006 8:44 AM ET

By Jerry Norton

JAKARTA, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Indonesia stands by religious pluralism, and radical Islamists are a small minority in the world's most populous Muslim nation, presidential spokesman and adviser Andi Mallarangeng said on Wednesday.

In recent years Indonesia has suffered from a series of deadly attacks on Western targets blamed on Islamic militants, while an increasing number of local and regional rules and regulations have been passed that are in line with Sharia, or Islamic law.

But Mallarangeng, speaking to foreign correspondents and diplomats on a panel about President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's first two years in office, said most Indonesian Muslims rejected the more extreme versions of the faith.

"Indonesian Islam is not like that," he said.

He also said election trends as well as recent polls suggest support for political parties who want to make Indonesia an Islamic state is dropping.

As far as Yudhoyono's government is concerned, Mallarangeng said: "Pancasila is final in Indonesia as the state foundation ... those people just need to face it."

Propounded as the country's basic political philosophy in 1945 by Indonesian founding father Sukarno, Pancasila includes faith in God, but tolerance of different religions.

Indonesia is the world's fourth most populous country, with 220 million people, 85 percent of whom follow Islam.

However, secular parties have a majority in Indonesia's parliament, and a poll released last Sunday supported Mallarangeng's argument that backing for their Islamist competitors is decreasing.

But the same poll showed around one Indonesian Muslim in 10 endorsed jihad, or holy struggle, violence and justified bombing attacks on Indonesia's tourist island of Bali, where 202 people were killed in blasts three years ago attributed to the militant Jemaah Islamiah network.

Mallarangeng said Yudhoyono's government was doing all it could to go after violent Islamists.

"I think our record is good. We fight them, we chase them, we destroy their cells, we put them in jail and we sentence them to death," he said.

In the latest legal development, prosecutors in the Central Java capital of Semarang on Wednesday demanded the death sentence for Islamic militant Subur Sugiyarto, who is on trial for possession of explosives and firearms, the state's Antara news agency reported.

The prosecutors also said Sugiyarto was an associate of fugitive bombing suspect Noordin Top.

Three men convicted of terrorism over the 2002 Bali bombings are already on death row, although they have yet to be executed and are appealing their sentences.

On the issue of the increasing number of regional and local regulations in line with Islamic law, Mallarangeng said generally they did not explicitly refer to Sharia, but the central government was reviewing statutes to see if they violated national law and the constitution.

He also said individuals and private groups were free to challenge such laws in court themselves.

Ten

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/special/islam/3198285.stm Retrieved 10/23/06 Viewpoint: Women and Sharia law

Aina Khan Lawyer specialising in Islamic law

Aina Khan is a solicitor in London. Her family is originally from Pakistan, and she has grown up with a strong commitment to women's rights in Islam. She specialises in achieving solutions using Sharia law principles in the English courts.

In my practice as a Muslim woman solicitor in London, I daily handle cases in which clients wish to have their Islamic legal rights recognised under English law.

A common problem is that some Muslim women have never had their marriages registered under English law.

We register our cars, should we not also register our marriage? If the Islamic ceremony takes place in the UK, it is essential to also have a civil registration.

Otherwise the woman has no matrimonial rights and is left with the much lesser rights of a 'cohabitee'.

Although there are moves to increase these rights, at present the view is that marriage should be given a higher status than merely living together.

When my client is a cohabitee, I have to obtain a 'Declaration of Trust' from the court, which decides in what shares the couple intended to hold any assets.

This is a complex matter, and it is so much easier to get an equitable settlement under matrimonial rights.

It is surprisingly common for even well-educated Muslim women not to register their marriages, deeming it unnecessary, only to face enormous problems on divorce or death.

We are living as British citizens - if we register our cars, should we not also register our marriage?

Financial rights

Sharia (Islamic) law states that after marriage, a woman keeps the money and property she owns.

It is a husband's primary duty to financially maintain his wife and children This was a startling concept when Islam introduced it 1400 years ago - until the 19th century, women could not even own property in the UK!

It belonged either to her male relatives or to her husband.

For Muslims, it is a husband's primary duty to financially maintain his wife and children, with any contribution the wife makes being voluntary.

Further, to avoid disputes later on, the wife is given a set financial sum at the time of the marriage, which is written down as a term of the 'Nikah' or marriage contract.

This sum is known as 'Haq Mehr', and is intended to give the wife enough to survive on in the event of divorce or widowhood.

Often, a husband refuses to pay the 'Haq Mehr', which we then enforce in English law as a contractual right.

Also, the use of prenuptial agreements is becoming more common in the UK.

The 'Nikah Nama', or Islamic marriage certificate, can be viewed as such an agreement, since it addresses the issue of the financial settlement and is signed before witnesses.

Forced marriages

Muslim girls from Britain participate in the opening ceremony of the Third Muslim Women Games in Tehran Islam liberated women says Aina Khan In Islam, a woman's consent has to be obtained for marriage.

This was a truly liberating right, as it was given at a time when families arranged marriages to align power and fortunes.

In spite of being set free by Islam so long ago, many women - from the Indian sub-continent in particular - are still becoming victims of forced marriages today.

The family forces a woman to marry a man of their choice, often from 'back home', and her wishes are overridden.

The woman is stuck in a loveless, miserable marriage.

Once she becomes aware that such a marriage is not acceptable under Islam, she can obtain a simple annulment from the Sharia Council in the UK.

Under English law, we help her obtain a Nullity decree, which declares that the marriage was void from the start because of the 'duress' used.

English law can be extremely accommodating of Shariah law rights This enables the woman to state that she was never legally married, an important point when divorce can so often be a stigma.

It is essential to state that a common misconception is that if the woman can prove she is a virgin, she can obtain a Nullity decree.

Quite aside from the fact that the courts would find it distasteful to subject a girl to providing such medical evidence, there is a legal bar - the marriage can only be void if there is 'wilful non-consummation' by the other party i.e. (usually) the man is refusing to consummate.

Since the reality is usually the opposite, this option is not available to many. English law can be extremely accommodating of Sharia law rights.

With the growth in numbers of practicing Muslims in the UK, and more women increasingly proud of their Islamic legal rights, there is an increasing need for UK lawyers who recognise the work that can be done to ensure equality and justice under English law.

Do you have any comments about this article? Send us your views using the form at the top right of this page.

Your comments:

An excellent article highlighting the equal status of women in Islam. Sharia law does allow a man to marry four wives but only on certain strict circumstances like war, when there are more widows and less men. People sometimes get so carried away in propounding leniency that they do so at the stake of justice. If only they pondered a little on the various reasons as to why Islam prescribes laws that it prescribes. They would have found them to be well-reasoned and just. Mohd Anisul Karim, UAE

Those who criticise Sharia law should know that this law gave rights to men, to women and to children long before they were even a concern in this country. In fact, Sharia law also gave animals rights, which are relatively new compared to other rights in the west. Talal, UK

There is no doubt that Islam respects women rights, how can we open a debate about Islam when advertisement companies in the west cannot advertise anything without using a woman's body? Is that the kind of respect you are talking about? If that is what is happening then I would prefer to be called a fundamentalist Moslem...at least our women are given there rights but not to cross the red lines of discipline and dignity.. Ahmed Lashin, Cairo, Egypt

People with a legal status under one law system, but living under another, have a problem in general. This is not unique to Muslim immigrants or to Muslim women; we see similar issues on a smaller scale where UK law and US law differ. What do you do, if your marriage, divorce, inheritance right or duty to maintain your parent or second wife is not recognised either by the court, or by the social welfare department, adoption agency, whatever? You need a lawyer like Aina Khan who knows both systems, and can find ways of expressing your right or duty or status in terms acceptable to UK law. This is not the same as having a dual system of law, or abandoning the secular basis of western law. More power to her elbow. We need more like her, not just practicing law but also advising government departments on policy-making and specific cases. Sen McGlinn, The Netherlands

It's not about what women want or what men want Rizwanullah, Pakistan The problem is you've got a civilization which believes in 'this life' and the will of the people, versus one which believes in an afterlife and the will of God, hence the gulf. Also, it is shocking that people with Muslim names in the West explain away major tenets of their faith as chauvinistic 'interpretations' by obscurantist men. Look, the basis of this faith, Islam, is "There is no God but God, and Muhammad is his Messenger." This is the faith. Our perpetually changing prejudices should not be allowed to tamper with the integrity of the faith. It's not about what women want or what men want; it is about what God wants as relayed by His prophet. That's all. Rizwanullah, Pakistan

What a fascinating and enlightening article - and what an even more engaging debate following it! As an atheist, I have neither axe to grind nor a candle to hold for any religion. The debate around this article often focuses on people's own beliefs being used to justify their prejudices about Islam (both for and against). From my reading of Islam, it is a deeply honourable, spiritual and relevant faith. But its advocates too often seem to be rooted in its past, using ancient legal systems to justify their narrow attitudes. In the West, we need to hear more stories like that of Aina Khan, who is trying to relate Islam to the modern world. I welcome the fabulous diversity of culture in our country and I reject bigots of all hues. James, UK

I'm from Egypt and I cannot have a legal marriage based only on Shariah Abdellatif Ahmed, Egypt The truth is that most Muslim countries have marriage regulations which are not mentioned in, and which are even not accepted by Shariah. So marriage in the UK should be registered under UK regulations, the same as in any other Western or Eastern country as is the case in Egypt, Jordan, etc. I'm from Egypt and I cannot have a legal marriage based only on Shariah. Islam and Christianity are not relevant to this discussion which is being used to highlight weak points and practice attack techniques. Abdellatif Ahmed, Egypt

There seems to be some hypocrisy in this otherwise interesting article. If it is true that Islam 'gave women equal rights', why is it still possible for husbands to divorce their wives by a simple verbal declaration? Why are females treated, apparently, as the property of their fathers or husbands? And why do so many Muslim women and even small girls feel forced to cover themselves from head to foot? I read a book by a woman Muslim scholar who said that this practice is not actually demanded by the Quran, but based merely on the interpretation of one verse by some authorities. In other words, it is a cultural, not a religious practice. What may have been progressive 1000 years ago or so may not be anything of the sort in the modern world. Laurence, UK

I envy women living in the UK and the rights they have, I recently have been a victim of Islam and shariaa law and the lack of civil rights to protect me. Islam is against women all the way and that is from experience. Rim, Dubai

Under the Sharia law, I would be severely punished Peter, Germany I'm a gay man. Under the Sharia law, I would be severely punished if found out - probably killed -although I didn't choose my sexuality freely. So, I'm really scared when I read that Sharia law is being applied in the UK. Peter, Germany

People talk about "stoning to death" because they read a story about a women in Africa and have become experts on the matter without knowing or understanding anything about it. Nobody mentioned that men can also be adulterous and punished the same way. More importantly, nobody mentioned that in order to prove that someone is guilty of adultery four witnesses must testify that they have seen the actual intercourse, which is almost impossible to happen. Nobody mentioned that a woman or a man need only swear that they are innocent to have the accusation refuted. It applies to men and women who are married and have stable marital lives. The only way someone can be stoned is if they choose to come forward and ask for this punishment in order to repent¿ Leena Carr, Canada

I am appalled that sharia law seems to be in some senses running in parallel to British law. If Muslims live in Britain they must abide by British laws, and British laws alone. Sharia is atavistic, repressive and divisive. Damian Lanigan, UK / USA

Women rights in the West were developed over the course of many centuries Malik Abd'Al-Malik, US While some very ugly things were said about Islam here, I don't believe that malice was behind them but ignorance. Firstly, and I can't speak for the UK, but here in the US any clergyman of any religion need only fill out a registration form so that he can perform legally binding marriages. Secondly, it is true that today's western women enjoy more liberty, than their Muslim counterparts in the third world, but it is equally true that this is a relatively recent phenomenon (within the last century or so). Women rights in the West were developed over the course of many centuries; the Third World should be given the same chance to develop without outside coercion. Malik Abd'Al-Malik, US

The writer here chooses to ignore the injustices to women prescribed in the Sharia, considering only the points which will make the Sharia attractive. Do you really think the UK should accept a law which prescribes cold-blooded murder by stoning for adultery for the woman concerned and a nominal fine for the man for the same offence? A law which allows men to marry 4 women at the same time. A law which allows the man to obtain a divorce, without any reasons, just by uttering the word 'talaq'. A law which does not recognise the right of the women to vote or to choose their ruler. These are only some of the injustices under Sharia. Jon Adams, Bristol, UK

The women in Muslim (not Islamic!) countries is not representative of Islam H Shaker, UK I do believe that Islam itself did raise the status of women before any 'modern' civilisation but I also agree, as a Muslim, that the status of the women in Muslim (not Islamic!) countries is not representative of Islam. Over many centuries due to various reasons, women have gone from being pillars of society at the time of Prophet Mohamed to simply being almost nothing in many Muslim countries where many backward non-Islamic traditions have been introduced into Muslim life e.g. female circumcision, honour killings etc. H Shaker, UK

I am constantly baffled by the assertions of distinguished Muslims, women as well as men - that Muslim women have the same dignity and rights as men, when to non-Muslims it is blatantly obvious that, whatever the Quran states, in daily life here in the UK and around the world, Muslim women are treated at best, as the intellectual and moral inferiors of men, and at worst, as subhuman. Having worked as a journalist in several Islamic states over the years, I am also shocked at the disrespect shown by Muslim men to non-Muslim women, including myself. I have always been scrupulous about how I dress and behave in such circumstances. Having an open mind, and a desire to understand other cultures and theologies, I would appreciate answers to how so many men who consider themselves devout Muslims, simply ignore those parts of the Quran which don't suit their desire to control the female half of their societies. Thank You Marian Shiels, UK

When Islamic laws were set up 1400 years ago they probably were very modern for those days, especially considering they were introduced in a tribal society with pagan customs. The problem is that they have not changed a bit during those centuries and are now hopelessly lagging behind. They have been overtaken by reality and modernism. Roeland, Amsterdam, NL

Let people practice what they practice as long as it doesn't impose on others Ali, UK I can't believe those on this page who go on about democracy. Do they really understand what democracy is? Let people practice what they practice as long as it doesn't impose on others, be they Muslim, Jewish, Christian or whatever. That applies as much to Muslims as non-Muslims. After all isn't that the fundamental rule of Democracy? Ali, UK

The sources of Islamic law are divine revelation in the form of Quran & Sunnah. Obviously non-Muslims will not believe in these sources as divine. Secular systems have their basis in human intellect, making laws exercised via a select few powerful members of society; capitalist democracies are not inherently beneficial to humanity. On the other hand Islam promotes the abolition of tyranny and exploitation of humans by humans. Ansari, USA

How would Sharia Law be imposed on non-Moslems? A system that doesn't treat people equally has no place as part of democratic justice. Matt, UK

Islam was by no means the first religion to give "rights" to women Helen, England Islam was by no means the first religion to give "rights" to women. Ancient Egypt is one example of a society which did not institutionalise discrimination on grounds of gender. The Romans were among the worst discriminators against women - women had almost no access to Roman law - quite a contrast to the Anglo-Saxons and as someone else has said the Celts. The Prophet himself appears to have intended his foundation to be benign rather than repressive - for example the hijab or Islamic head covering signifies that the individual is under the protection of Islam, and should therefore be shown respect. The problem for Islam (as for other religions and philosophical systems) is that it is practiced by a very diverse range of people, many of whom are not of an egalitarian mind. Helen, England

Judging from many of the comments posted on the forum, it is evident that most do not understand the true Shari'ah laws regarding women. I am a British born Muslim woman, and would really appreciate it if those living in the West would get to know me first before I am judged. I hear people speaking on 'my behalf', making everyone aware of how 'oppressed' I am. I wonder how many people know how it feels to have to sit back and watch the media and society make such assumptions about you? I personally find this more oppressive than any Shari'ah law. Fatima Mahmood, England

Khan seems to be providing a good and sensible service Jen, UK I find some of these comments incredible! Aina Khan is not trying to replace British law with Sharia, but helping Muslims to understand what the legal situation is here. Telling Muslims to register their marriages under English law, helping those women forced into marriages by giving them a way out under English law. No one is suggesting here that English law should be changed to chop limbs off or make women cover their heads. Khan seems to be providing a good and sensible service. Thanks for an interesting and thought-provoking piece. Jen, UK

I think what Ms Khan means is that there is a conceptual overlap between sharia and English law in the area of marriage. Sharia cannot [and will not] be used in the UK because that would need the consent of Parliament. Jorge, UK

I certainly wouldn't want to live under Sharia law Peter Shields, UK I certainly wouldn't want to live under Sharia law - everywhere it is implemented it seems to bring tyranny and mob rule. However, those who argue that national laws should be entirely secular seem to be unaware that secularism is also a faith-based worldview. To say that religion should have no part in forming a country's statutes is naive, prejudiced, intolerant and discriminatory - in fact, all the things they tend to accuse religion of! Peter Shields, UK

As a Swede living in Malaysia, I find it interesting to hear Ms Khan argue that Sharia law can be seen to promote women's interests. Here in Malaysia, the current hot topic is whether Muslim men can divorce one of their wives by sending an SMS message with the required Arabic formula. Much to the embarrassment of the comparatively progressive Malaysian government, a state Sharia court found that this was indeed the case. Harald, Malaysia

If a Muslim woman lives in the UK and has been married under the Sharia law of Islam, she should be obliged to have a civil English marriage. This is especially true if she resides in the UK or has become a citizen of the UK. If this is not done, then the marriage must be considered to be cohabitation without the legal rights of a civilian marriage in England. Joe Nigrin, Guatemala

In my opinion if you live in this country, you abide by UK law. We can't start making exception; it'll be chaos. Helen, UK

I would worry about any law based on religion. I am a (practising) Christian and I am aware that most UK laws are at least roughly based on Christian law. However, these laws are relatively free to change and be re-interpreted. If the law is based on a text, or worse, is taken to be the literal word of God, that law can never change. It is by this method that society gets trapped in a never-ending regressive cycle. Mark, UK

Islam is heavily restrictive of women's rights James McNaught, UK I read here comments about how Islam was the first religion to give women equal rights. This is not strictly true as the Qura'an states that a woman's testimony in court is only worth half that of a man's - only one example of restrictions on women. At the time, Islam may have been quite liberating but compared to modern society, Islam is heavily restrictive of women's rights James McNaught, UK

Women in the West face hardships supporting themselves and their children and are used as objects by the media. Is this what the West perceives as giving rights to women? Under Sharia Law, women are given full rights and more than men. They are not obliged to work and be provided by their husbands. Ismail, UK

I agree completely with John Mullins below. How can a law that condemns a woman to be stoned to death because she had a child outside of the wedlock, be accommodated within the law of the democratic Western society is beyond me. Byungmoon Cho, South Korean living in London

Sharia law comes with the precept that the law should bring satisfaction not fairness John Mullins, UK Sharia law comes with the precept that the law should bring satisfaction not fairness. It does not give power to the people, but takes power from them and hand it to the mob culture that Sharia inevitably breeds. Militant Islamism is the biggest threat to Islam today - not the West. If Islam cannot mature as a culture and take care of its extremist fringes, including Sharia, there will always be a resolute defence, by the West, of its own philosophies and values using prejudice and force, if necessary. As for all the poor citizens that have to live under an immoral tyranny created by the fear and loathing that Sharia spews, the time will come when your freedom will be at hand. John Mullins, UK

When will we stop calling names and painting whole nations with a single brush? It is exactly that type or reasoning that has led to terrorist acts in both the East and West. Islam is a great religion and I should think that we would not base our understanding of almost one billion people on articles posted on BBC or any other site. For every one case of abuse in the Muslim world related on BBC or any other news program, there are hundreds of thousands of good incidents that are never heard of. Who wants to hear about Muslims building wells in Sudan, or Muslims funding schools in Africa, or Muslims rebuilding homes? These stories won't sell in the media. As for living in the West, what about Muslims who were born here? Where should we send them back to? Cilia, USA

I am against any religion having a public or prescriptive role in our society Lizzie, UK It is nonsensical to impose religious dogma as part of the law within a democracy; particularly given the struggle that women have gone through to achieve relative freedom within this democracy. I am against any religion having a public or prescriptive role in our society and wish that 'faith schools' did not exist. Once you put God/religion in front of a statement you can justify just about anything - including cutting a hand off someone for theft. Who defines theft? Are we not all guilty of some kind of theft? Should we then all be limbless? No please keep religion in the church, synagogue, mosque etc for those who wish to partake and leave the rest of us to claim by the sanctity of reason. Lizzie, UK

Lizzie's comments surprise me. Atheism is often presented as a wholly reasoned approach but there are foundational assumptions in atheism just as there are in religion. To tell all people with a religious faith that there is no place for this in public life is simply to impose your own atheistic worldview on others - a bit strange when tolerance is almost a religious creed to atheists. Beth, Australia

Thank you for an article that shows Islam and the UK in a positive light. What a pleasant change. Nadia Abdul-Sabur, UK / Egypt

A two-tier system of law will destroy the West Jane, California, USA If Muslims are not able to live under Western secular law, they shouldn't be living in the West. A two-tiered form of justice is not workable. It doesn't work in India (where Muslim personal law is recognized) and it won't work in the West. Our nations were formed under the 2,000 year-old Western principle of individual rights before the law, not on "group" rights. A two-tier system of law will destroy the West. Jane, California, USA

Why wouldn't a Muslim man in the UK register his marriage? Does he not acknowledge the government's right to create laws to govern the populace? It seems only logical. Muslim countries also pass additional laws and regulations not found in the Sharia, don't they? This point is not clear in the article. Joshua Godinez, United States of America

The essential problem with so called 'Islamic Law' is that it has little or no validity in N Europe or non Arab cultures. What is needed is a Western Interpretation of Islamic law to sit alongside those of the four great schools Andrew Stone, UK

The laws of a state should be secular and not based on any one religion Neelkumar Patel, UK So if sharia law is valid in the UK, should a husband who wants his wife stoned to death because she has committed adultery be allowed to have her stoned because it is his Islamic legal right which is recognised under English law? Maybe Islamic law is beneficial in some ways but there are some grim sides to it also. I think that the laws of a state should be secular and not based on any one religion. Neelkumar Patel, UK

As far as I know, Islamic law has little or no regard for the right of women. Case study in Nigeria: how could a woman be sentenced to death for adultery, and the man with whom she committed the offence should not share the same penalty. Solomon Villa, Sierra Leone

Actually the fact that women were not allowed to own property in the UK until the 19th century is a common fallacy. In Celtic society women could inherit property and retain the wealth they brought into a marriage. Also, they were entitled to a split of the goods in family. Plus they were allowed to have a say in the running of the tribe, be judges, advocates or priests and even divorce their husbands for being impotent, adulterous or grossly overweight. While property laws did change in the UK in the Middle Ages, the idea that Islam was some sort of advanced liberating ideology bringing equality to women is frankly ridiculous. Take a look at the current position of women within Muslim societies all around the world; women are in no way as equal as they are in non-Muslim western societies. Richard Evans, UK

One of the posts says: "While property laws did change in the UK in the Middle Ages, the idea that Islam was some sort of advanced liberating ideology bringing equality to women is frankly ridiculous." Why is it 'frankly ridiculous?' Is it ridiculous because it was, oh my God, an Islamic ideology? I don't see anything ridiculous in recognizing the historical fact that Muslim women were much more advanced in being endowed with unprecedented civil and social rights. Nazim Haqqani, US

Islam offered a defence for women in its time and left space for supple interpretation Suzan, Sweden Islam offered a defence for women in its time and left space for supple interpretation. One can also read the Qura'an and find no dogma about the veil nor adultery. It stresses proper evaluation and encourages insight in several passages. It leaves space for a broader form of thinking; this seems to be disregarded by Muslim men. Suzan, Sweden

In response to H Brooke, UK: The slave owners were better off than the slaves also. The West controls eastern economies using all sorts of tools including generating wars. People are simply flocking to the West for economic reasons. Let's open our eyes and get real. We should take the best of both the West and Islam. A Rana, London, UK

I find this article and the site "Islam and the West" indicative of the BBC's continued bias in favour of totalitarian regimes. The fact that citizens in western societies are rich, better off and enjoy far greater human rights than any country under the Islam yoke cannot be ignored. There is no mass immigration to any Muslim country, precisely the opposite - people are leaving these countries in droves and for good reason. They are run by dictators, religious police and tyrants. Women are treated little better than slaves, which is why I find the 'Viewpoint' article the epitome of your biased coverage. Women are being stoned, forced into marriage, killed by their families in so-called honour killings - but does the BBC mention this - oh no! Instead we get some political correct pap about how 'liberated' Muslim women are and how 'oppressed' they are by coming to Britain. H Brooke, UK

Please will H. Brooke distinguish between religion and culture? A lot of what he says is related to culture and not to religion. Zoyz Gul, Leeds, UK

H Brooke is, like many others, confusing Islamic views with extremism. Islam was the first religion to give women equal rights. And the only reason people 'flock' to the West is to escape the fruits of the West's doing. The US put Saddam in power, the CIA supplied Osama Bin Laden with weapons, Palestinians and Jews were living peacefully until Britain occupied the area, the same can be said of Hindus and Muslims in India. South Africa would not have gone through the Apartheid period if it were not for Britain, and Africa is in tatters due to the slave trade and occupation by Western countries. So why should we not come to the West? Islam does not teach violence but we only see the extremists in the media, which is obviously biased. I've never read about the IRA being 'extremist Christian fundamentalists'. Q Alam, UK

Q. Alam, like many others, seems to believe that for some reason, Islam along with other cultures he mentions are somehow fundamentally inferior, victims of another culture. Does this line of reasoning mean that the West somehow is 'superior' and can go willy nilly imposing it's will on other cultures, and that those cultures should simply rot in some nihilistic quagmire, unable or unwilling to do anything about it? D. Biasutti, Toronto, Canada