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The wonderfulness of Sharia councils. After fleeing a forced marriage characterised by rape and physical violence, Nasrin applied for an Islamic divorce from a Sharia council; that was almost 10 years ago now. Despite countless emails, letters and telephone calls to the Sharia council as well as joint mediation and reconciliation meetings, the Sharia council [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Sharia’
Egypt, meet sharia
April 4th, 2012 
Ophelia Benson Oh hey gee what do you know, the Muslim Brotherhood hasn’t turned all that “moderate” after all. How about that: when they said they had they were just bullshitting people so that they could win elections and then drop the mask. What a surprise! CAIRO (Reuters) – The Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate for the Egyptian presidency, [...]
“If I hear that anything is said against the holy Prophet Muhammad”
January 17th, 2012 Ophelia Benson Yesterday evening, One Law for All Co-Spokesperson Anne Marie Waters was to speak at a meeting on Sharia Law and Human Rights at the University of London. Maryam continues: It was cancelled by the atheist group organisers after police had to be called in due to Islamist threats. One Islamist filmed everyone at the meeting [...]
Tenets of Islam are not subject to change
December 10th, 2011 Ophelia Benson UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay went to the Maldives, and there she said some things. She said some things relevant to human rights. In an address delivered in parliament last Thursday, Pillay said the practice of flogging women found guilty of extra-marital sex “constitutes one of the most inhumane and degrading forms [...]
Posted in Notes and Comment Blog 
Tags: Flogging, Religious coercion, Sharia, Theocracy 
20 Comments »Oh yes, go right ahead
December 2nd, 2011 Ophelia Benson Memri reports a fatwa that says it’s fine for mujahideen to kidnap “the infidels’ women” and rape them, because once they’ve been kidnapped the infidel men don’t own them any more. The inquiry in response to which Al-Athari issued the fatwa reads as follows:[1] “Is it permissible for mujahideen in jihad fronts to kidnap the [...]
And they lived happily ever after
December 1st, 2011 Ophelia Benson Oh how sweet, Hamid Karzai has pardoned a woman who was serving a 12 year prison sentence for…arson? Armed robbery? GBH? No; for being raped. That’s what women who are raped get in Afghanistan (and not only there): they get long prison sentences, and that’s if they’re lucky; the less fortunate ones get stoned to [...]
One hand is enough
September 19th, 2011 Ophelia Benson It doesn’t matter what you believe. The important thing is how you live. An Islamic sharia court in Nigeria has sentenced two men to amputation at their right wrists for stealing a bull, with the amputation to be carried out in public if it is given final approval.
Do the right thing, Tunisia
September 13th, 2011 Ophelia Benson A bit of good news, potentially (though it could be just window dressing, or good intentions, or doomed): Tunisia “has become the first country in the region to withdraw all its specific reservations regarding Cedaw – the international convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.” This is an important step, Brian [...]
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