‘The word “tradition” should alert a person to the very modern forces it connotes, and often conceals.’
Author: Ophelia Benson
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David Edmonds and Nigel Warburton: Ethics Bites
Each week they talk to a philosopher about issues like death, censorship and historical blame.
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It is not just in the west
Ziauddin Sardar sets the archbishop straight.
It is not just in the west, as the archbishop suggests, that the sharia is misunderstood, or where it conjures up instant images of oppression and brutality. It is also misunderstood by most Muslims in countries other than Britain, countries where it is seen as a total system of divine origin, and where it sometimes leads to oppression and brutality…The sharia needs to be reformed totally before it can be implemented anywhere – among the Muslim minorities in liberal democracies or in the Muslim-majority states. Giving the sharia as it stands legal sanction in Britain, even in limited areas, will replicate all the problems of gender inequality that it has produced in Muslim countries.
It would be nice if the archbishop could write that clearly and forthrightly (and succinctly).
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How’s that again?
I don’t understand this. I must (as so often) be missing something. Roger Scruton says we we owe to ‘the Christian legacy’ the idea that law is and ought to be a secular institution, then he says we owe it to Roman law, but he goes on saying it’s a Christian legacy.
[O]ne of the things that we owe to [the Christian] legacy is the idea that law is and ought to be a secular institution, whose authority is founded in human decisions and is independent of, and in an important respect takes precedence over, divine commands…The privatisation of religious law was clearly a part of Jesus’s mission…His striking pronouncement in the story of the tribute money, that we should render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s, has served for many centuries as authority for the view that, in public matters, it is human and not divine government that should be obeyed. This idea gained credibility through St Paul’s letters, influenced as they were by Roman law and by the knowledge that the early church enjoyed the protection of a developed system of law.
In other words there was an existing system of secular law which influenced Paul, and one catchy phrase is attributed to Jesus – and that makes secular law a Christian legacy? It looks to me much more like a Roman legacy (and an Athenian legacy before that). What am I missing?
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The Sound of Mullahs
Sung by a chorus of dancing mullahs:
SHARIA
She’s by a tree with young Ali
Her husband is away.
We see here there
And grab her hair, she knows she’s going to pay–
And poor Ali he had to flee his parents couldn’t bear
To see him stoned for doing what is natural…..
She doesn’t seem repentant,
So we choose the largest stones;
The Prophet calls it mercy
(plus they’re good for breaking bones)
And young Ali has joined us
As a witness on his own;
We’re going to make her pay for what seems natural….
—I’d like to say a word before we throw….
Then say it Mullah Ibrihim
–Sharia says ‘Aim low.’
(Chorus)
O, How do you solve a problem like sharia?
How can we make the heathen understand….
How do we make the devils know sharia–
Is coming your way and soon will rule your land!
Oh great is the wisdom found in our sharia
Such wisdom cannot be equaled on the earth–
But how do we make you stay,
And listen to what we say–
Why do you spurn our Prophet and our God?
Oh how can we make you learn to love sharia–
Why does it always have to end in blood?
(Recitative)
When I read it I get chills
Paradisaical thrills
Emanate from every page my eyes do scan.
Full of justice full of love,
Full of vengeance from above,
It can only have been written by a man!
Just as fair as fair can be
Plain for everyone to see
Tit for tat and quid pro quo and eyes for eyes!
It ‘s amazing how it rings–
Allah’s wrath to all it brings
Swords on fire smiting liars for their lies!
It is truthful, it is just
It’s a mouthful, it’s a must–
It’s alarming—It’s disarming (giggle)
It’s the law!
Your daughters had better learn to love sharia.
The mullahs have said they ought to wear hijab
It’s all very clearly written in Sharia:
A snip of the clit by kindly Doc Hallab.
Your women will be protected by sharia
It keeps them at home and faithful in their bed.
The husband is smiling greatly for sharia
Says “Better off faithful to your vows than dead”
(Process to centre stage)
Oh great is the wisdom found in our sharia–
Such wisdom cannot be equaled on the earth.
But how do we make you stay
And listen to what we say–
Why do you spurn our Prophet and our God?
Oh how can we make you learn to love sharia–
Why does it always have to end in blood?
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Protection Needed for Targets of Death Threats
Ayaan Hirsi Ali has appealed to the EU to create a fund to help protect people under threat.
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Dane Starts ‘Sorry, Mo’ Group on Facebook
‘That is why I apologise for being a Dane coming from Denmark,’ Anders explains.
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Cross-dressers in Sharia Court in Nigeria
‘Under Sharia law a man must dress like a man and woman must dress like a woman.’
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The Guardian on Tasneem Khalil
HRW accuses international community of ignoring Bangladesh’s clandestine detention and torture system.
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HRW Says Torture is Rampant in Bangladesh
Many of the people arrested under the emergency rules have been tortured to extract confessions.
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CNN on Tasneem Khalil
‘I’m going to tell my story again and again and again,’ Khalil told CNN. ‘It’s not only my story.’
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Human rights in Bangladesh (there aren’t any)
More on Tasneem. From the Guardian.
“Rampant illegal detention and torture are clear evidence of Bangladesh’s security forces running amok”, said Brad Adams, [HRW’s] Asia director…Tens of thousands of people were arrested in the weeks that followed the declaration of a state of emergency, and security forces have been accused of flouting standard arrest and detention procedures. Khalil said there was now a culture of “self-censorship” in the country, and people were afraid of the consequences of speaking out. “I am taking a calculated risk in speaking out because I still have family in Bangladesh,” he said. “But I feel it is important that people know what is really going on in my country.”
From CNN (Tasneem has reported for them at times).
Human Rights Watch on Thursday issued a first-person account of the incarceration and torture in Bangladesh of one of its consultants – an outspoken human rights advocate, journalist and blogger…”Tasneem Khalil’s prominence as a critical journalist may have prompted his arrest, but it also may have saved his life. Ordinary Bangladeshis held by the security forces under the emergency rules have no such protections.” Khalil was freed “after tremendous international and national pressure,” the group said.
Tens of thousands of other Bangladeshis aren’t so fortunate. We’ll have to pay attention to Bangladesh. Two, three, many human rights advocates and bloggers – the thing to do is outnumber them. Bastards.
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Organisation for Women’s Liberation Conference
In commemoration of the 8 March centennial, OWL is organising a conference against religious and traditional misogynist practices. Violence against women justified by defence of family honour, forced marriages and imposition of the veil on underage girls are only a few brutal examples of such practices. In light of the Islamist movement’s offensive on women’s rights and lives, not only in counties under the rule of Islam but also in the west, and a global campaign to promote Shalria law, OWL feels the urgent need to mobilize a global force to counter political Islam and promote secularism in order to safeguard women’s rights and safety. Secularism is an important pillar of a society free of misogyny. This conference is a step towards this goal.
Veteran women’s rights activists, secularists, experts in socio-therapeutical work aiding victims of violence, and artists are coming together to make a memorable evening in defence of women’s rights and secularism, and against political islam, Islamist offensive and the new wave of religious movements.
OWL will also like to use this important occasion to bring to the attention of the world the lot of many imprisoned opposition activists in Iran, among them women’s right actvists, labour and student activists. A well-known Iranian poet and playwright, who has launched an important campaign to free student activists, is invited to read some of his poems.
Come and join us to celebrate the 8 March centennial together and join forces to push back the religious offensive and build an international secularist movement for women’s rights and a better world.
The conference will be in English, Swedish and Persian.
Speakers and guests:
Homa Arjmand, Coordinator of Campaign against Sharia Law
Diba Ali Khani, women’s right activist and organiser of 8 March events in Sanandaj, Iran
Rasool Awla, sociologist and psychologist, from Organisation of Men Against Violence Against Women
Maria Hagberg, social worker and the chair for a shelter for girls threatened by “honour violence”
Iraj Janati Ataei, poet, playwright and human rights activist
Azar Majedi, Chair of Organisation for Women’s Liberation- Iran
Houzan Mahmoud, spokes-woman Organisation of Women’s Freedom-Iraq
Sara Mohammad, Chair of Never Forget Pela and Fadme (two victims of honour killings)
Mitra Iranian, modern choreographer and dancer, performing a dance entitled Freedom
Venue: Gothenburg, Sweden
Lundby centrum, Wieselgrensplatsen ovanpå Coop Forum
Date: Friday 7 March 2008
Time: 19:00-23:00
Contact: Shahla Noori, phone: +46- (0)737 262622
Azar Majedi, azarmajedi@yahoo.com
If you have any queries, do not hesitate to contact us. If you would like to participate, please register.
Organisation for Women’s Liberation
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HRW Report on the Torture of Tasneem Khalil
‘They were hitting me so hard that I’m not sure whether it was just the force that hurt like this or if it was electricity.’
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HRW on Torture in Bangladesh
How the Bangladesh military abuses its power under the state of emergency.
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Pragna Patel on Religious Law and Women
The archbishop’s sentiments are indicative of those who call themselves liberal but are often the most insidious.
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Bangladesh gives itself a free hand
Remember last year when we heard that Tasneem Khalil had been arrested in the middle of the night? Well now we know what happened to him while he was held. He was violently beaten, threatened, and terrorized, that’s what. He’s safe now – but Bangladesh has successfully gotten rid of a reporter who had been investigating human rights abuses of just the kind perpetrated on him. So Bangladesh can presumably do what it likes without any pesky reporters telling the world what Bangladesh likes to do – not unless those pesky reporters are eager to be beaten up and probably killed.