”I am not afraid of you. I am not afraid of you” –Pussy Riots


The Russian authorities have an exceptional talent for letting their mistakes be blown out of proportion.

Pussy Riot Found Guilty and Sentenced.

Three members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot were found guilty of “hooliganism” and sentenced to two years in prison today in Russia. The maximum sentence for the charges was seven years. In a case that has garnered international attention, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, and Marina Alyokhina, 24, have been in jail since March, when they were arrested after performing (video) a “punk prayer” on the altar of Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral in dissent of Vladimir Putin.

The members entered the church wearing bright colors and balaclavas, singing “Mother of God, Blessed Virgin, drive out Putin!” They noted later that their intent was to challenge the Church’s political support for Putin and to show their dissatisfaction with Putin’s 12-year political dominance.

The Associated Press reports that Boris Akunin, one of Russia’s best known authors, said: “This is all nonsense. I can’t believe that in the 21st century a judge in a secular court is talking about devilish movements. I can’t believe that a government official is quoting medieval church councils.”

Musicians, activists and human rights groups worldwide have been standing in solidarity with Pussy Riot both online and in the streets. Amnesty International has named the women prisoners of conscience, and artists including Sting, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bjork, Madonna, and Chloe Sevigny have been speaking out in support. Activists have marked August 17 as Pussy Riot Global Day and are staging solidarity protests all over the world. Although the women have experienced an outpouring of international support and solidarity, opinion polls indicate that Russians themselves are not very sympathetic. The case has shed international light on the Russian government’s intolerance of dissent.

In her closing statement at the trial, Alyokhina said, “I am not afraid of you. I am not afraid of you and I am not afraid of the thinly veneered deceit of your verdict at this ‘so-called’ trial. My truth lives with me. I believe that honesty, free-speaking and the thirst for truth will make us all a little freer. We will see this come to pass.”

A New Dark Age has descended upon Russia. A New Dark Age has descended upon humanity.

Islam needs to be offended by millions. How many people will they arrest?

Egyptian teacher is arrested for offending Islam on Facebook.

Bishoy Kamel, a Coptic-Christian teacher from the Upper Egyptian Governorate of Sohag, was arrested on Monday for sharing cartoons on a Facebook page that allegedly defamed the Islamic faith and the Prophet Muhammad.

Mohamed Safwat, an Egyptian citizen who has pressed charges against Kamel, also claimed that the latter had insulted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and members of his own family.

Kamel, who has been detained for four days pending investigation, has admitted to managing the Facebook page in question. He claims, however, that he was not responsible for the content of the page, which, he said, had been hacked on Saturday.

In June of last year, Naguib Sawiris, Coptic billionaire and founder of the liberal Free Egyptians party, was severely criticized after posting a cartoon of Disney characters Mickey and Minnie Mouse dressed in Islamic garb.

Several Islamist lawyers subsequently lodged a complaint with Egypt’s attorney-general against Sawiris, whom they accused of offending Islam.

Thousands of men and women all over the world have been arrested, imprisoned, exiled, killed for criticizing Islam. Most people shut their mouth out of fear. Hamza Kashgari in Saudi Arabia who posted blasphemous messages on Twitter was arrested and deported. Indonesian atheist Alex Aan has been sentenced to two and a half years for saying ‘There is no god’ on Facebook. Muslim Brotherhood already started working for ethnic cleansing of non-Muslims and talibanization of Egypt.

No progress in society is possible if there is no freedom of expression. Islam, like all other religions, is not compatible with democracy, human rights and women’s rights. Millions of people should commit blasphemy against Islam for the sake of humanity. How many blasphemers will corrupt and repressive regimes arrest?

Homeless Everywhere


“Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of herself/himself and of her/his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond her/his control.”
– Universal Declaration of Human Rights

There are few things we find common among people in the East and people in the West, or people in the South and people in the North. There are rich and there are poor.

The rich in every country are having the same luxury lifestyle. They have everything including expensive houses.

Houses in five continents:America, Asia,Africa, Australia, Europe

It is nice to have nice beautiful houses. I wish I had one. I wish everyone had one. But I would like to know whether Mukesh Ambani from his 1.8 billion dollar tower home with 27 floors, nine elevators and three helipads can see Mumbai slums where almost half of the city’s 20.5 million population live.

People are homeless both in developed and developing countries. More than 100 million people are homeless worldwide and over 1.2 billion lack adequate housing. 3 million people are homeless in European Union and 18 million live in inadequate housing. 100,000 people sleep on the streets of Australia everyday. 44% of homeless people in Australia are female, 12% of homeless people in Australia are children under the age of 12. Women and Children are the fastest growing group of those who are homeless in Canada.In Brazil, there is a deficit of 6.6 Million housing units, equaling 20 million homeless people, who live in favela (shanty town), shared clandestine rooms, hovels or under bridges and viaducts, or are squatters. 1 million people are homeless in France. 78 million people are homeless in India despite the country growing in global economic stature. India is home to 63% of all slum dwellers in South Asia. 25,296 people are homeless in Japan.In Mexico City an estimated 40% of people live in informal housing.More than 70,000 people live in shack settlements in Namibia. 30,000 people are homeless in the Netherlands. By 2015, there will be an estimated homeless population of 24.4 million people in Nigeria.Around 24,145 Palestinian homes have been demolished in the Occupied Territories since 1967. 40% of the population,32.8million, in Philippines, live in slums. 5 million people are homeless in Russia. Around 17,800 people are homeless in Sweden. Homeless figures in the United States range from 600,000 to 2.5 million.

There are different contributing causes for homelessness. 1. Family breakdown 2. Armed conflict 3. Poverty 4. Natural and man-made disasters 5. Famine 6. Physical and sexual abuse. 7. Exploitation by adults 8. Dislocation through migration 9.Urbanization and overcrowding 10. Acculturation 11. HIV/AIDS 12. Drug and Alcohol related problems 13. Unemployment 14. Low wages 15. Mental disorder 16. Physical Disabilities 18. Domestic violence 19. Lack of affordable housing 20. Social exclusion etc.

Homeless people in five continents. America, Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe

The world has enough money to solve the problems of homelessness but to my surprise I see that the number of homeless people worldwide is increasing.

I often think of a totally different kind of homelessness. They are not literally homeless but they feel homeless. Many women who live in a nice big house know very well that the house belongs to someone else. They are scared to be ‘homeless’, so they compromise with their abusive husbands to get a space in the house, but unfortunately that doesn’t stop them from having a feeling of homelessness. It is a very hopeless and helpless feeling.

I am homeless too. I do not sleep on the street but I feel homeless. I was thrown out of my home 18 years ago. My husband did not do it because I did not have a husband. It was the government. The government literally drag me out of my home and locked the door forever. The religious fanatics demanded for my execution by hanging, instead of supporting me and my freedom of expression, the government supported the religious fanatics for their own narrow political interests. I have been forced to live in the places I do not like to live. Not only me, hundreds of thousands of people are forced to live in exile. Many of them feel homeless for the rest of their lives.

Beware of Muslim Brotherhood!

“God is our objective; the Quran is our constitution, the Prophet is our leader; Jihad is our way; and death for the sake of God is the highest of our aspirations.” –Muslim Brotherhood

Millions of people were excited about the Arab Spring. We were dreaming of a secular Arab world. We thought non-corrupt non-religious politicians would rule Egypt. But the holy Arab Spring brought the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists. What a shock! Many of us now worried about the future of Egypt.

Muslim Brotherhood was Founded in Egypt in 1928. Its ideas had gained it supporters throughout the Arab world and influenced other Islamist groups with its “model of political activism combined with Islamic charity work”. Muslim Brotherhood believes Islam is the solution to all problems. They built schools, hospitals, orphanages, commercial enterprises etc. to gain trust and influence people.
Many Egyptians got Muslim Brotherhood’s Islamic charity. They voted for Brotherhood. If Mubarak started the process of secularization of judicial, educational and social systems, the vote results could have been different.

Muslim Brotherhood claims they believe in democracy and freedom of expression. But you can read their dangerous manifesto which is totally against the basic rights and freedom of people. Manifesto is nothing but the violation of human rights. Muslim Brotherhood is a political movement to make the world Darul Islam or land of Islam. Let’s read some of their wishes.

* A strengthening of the armed forces, and an increase in the number of youth groups; the inspiration of the latter with zeal on the bases of Islamic jihad.

* A strengthening of the bonds between all Islamic countries, especially the Arab countries, to pave the way for practical and serious consideration of the matter of the departed Caliphate.

* The diffusion of the Islamic spirit throughout all departments of the government, so that all its employees will feel responsible for adhering to Islamic teachings.

* Weighing all acts of the government acts in the scales of Islamic wisdom and doctrines; the organization of all celebrations, receptions, official conferences, prisons and hospitals so as not to be incompatible with Islamic teaching; the arranging of work-schedules so that they will not conflict with hours of prayer.

*Conditioning the people to respect public morality, and the issuance of directives fortified by the aegis of the law on this subject; the imposition of severe penalties for moral offences.

*Treatment of the problem of women in a way which combines the progressive and the protective, in accordance with Islamic teachings, so that this problem – one of the most important social problems – will not be abandoned to the biased pens and deviant notions of those who err in the directions of deficiency or excess.

* The recognition of fornication, whatever the circumstances, as a detestable crime whose perpetrator must be flogged.

*A campaign against ostentation in dress and loose behavior; the instruction of women in what is proper, with particular strictness as regards female instructors, pupils, physicians, and students, and all those in similar categories.

*A review of the curricula offered to girls and the necessity of making them distinct from the boys’ curricula in many of the stages of education.

*Segregation of male and female students; private meetings between men and women, unless between the permitted degrees [of relationship] to be counted as a crime for which both will be censored.

*The closure of morally undesirable ballrooms and dance halls, and the prohibition of dancing and other such pastimes.

*The surveillance of theatres and cinemas, and a rigorous selection of plays and films.

*The expurgation of songs, and a rigorous selection and censorship of them.

*The careful selection of lectures, songs, and subjects to be broadcast to the nation; the use of radio broadcasting for the education of the nation in a virtuous and moral way.

*The confiscation of provocative stories and books that implant the seeds of skepticism in an insidious manner, and newspapers which strive to disseminate immorality and capitalize indecently on lustful desires.

* Due consideration for the claims of the moral censorship, and punishment of all who are proved to have infringed any Islamic doctrine or attacked it, such as breaking the fast of Ramadan, wilful neglect of prayers, insulting the faith, or any such act.

*The designation of religious instruction as a basic subject in all schools, in each according to its type, as well as in the universities.

*Active instigation to memorize the Qur’an in all the free elementary schools; making this memorization mandatory for obtaining diplomas in the areas of religion and (Arabic) language; the stipulation that a portion of it be memorized in every school.

*The promulgation of a firm educational policy which will advance and raise the level of education, and will supply it, in all its varieties, with common goals and purposes; which will bring the different cultures represented in the nation closer together, and will make the first stage of its process one dedicated to inculcating a virtuous, patriotic spirit and an unwavering moral code.

*The cultivation of the Arabic language at every stage of instruction; the use of Arabic alone, as opposed to any foreign language, in the primary stages.

*The cultivation of Islamic history, and of the national history and national culture, and the history of Islamic civilization.

*Consideration of ways to arrive gradually at a uniform mode of dress for the nation.

*An end to the foreign spirit in our homes with regard to language, manners, dress, governesses, nurses, etc; all these to be Egyptianized, especially in upper class homes.

*To give journalism a proper orientation, and to encourage authors and writers to undertake Islamic, Eastern subjects.

*The organization of zakat (charity) in terms of income and expenditure, according to the teachings of the magnanimous Sacred Law; invoking its assistance in carrying out necessary benevolent projects, such as homes for the aged, the poor, and orphans, and strengthening the armed forces.

Islamists led by the Muslim Brotherhood and radical Salafists worked to gain the presidency of Egypt. They have been celebrating victory in Tahrir Square. Not long ago hundreds of thousands of young people were crying for democracy in the square. Not many people could imagine that the Islamists would finally make everybody fool and parade with their flags through the same Tahrir Square!

Many of us are worried about Egypt and the Arab world. Many of us are worried about women who would be forced to give up their rights to live under strict Islamic rules. Many of us are worried about women who would be flogged and stoned to death for every little thing.

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Don’t say ‘Vagina’. Vagina is a bad word, Vagina is a nasty thing! Say ‘non-penis’.

Women Reps in Michigan barred from speaking, one for “vagina” mention.

Two women serving in the state House have been barred from participating in floor debates for one day. The sanction is a punishment for things they said during a debate on anti-abortion legislation.

State Representatives Lisa Brown and Barb Byrum are both Democrats. Brown made a reference to her vagina in a floor statement.

“I’m flattered that you’re all so interested in my vagina,” she said, “but ‘no’ means ‘no.’”

Byrum shouted at the presiding officer after she was not recognized to speak.

Ari Adler is the spokesman for the House Republican leadership.

“It is the responsibility of every member who serves in the House of Representatives to maintain decorum on the House floor and when they do not do that, there can be actions because of that. And the action today is to not recognize either representative to speak on the House floor,” he said.

Brown was speaking during a debate on anti-abortion bills, and has no apologies for what she said.

“I used an anatomically correct word. I said ‘vagina,'” she said. “Can I not say ‘elbow?’ I don’t see what the difference is.”

This is the first time in memory that lawmakers have been formally barred from participating in floor debates.

And then

Two Democratic lawmakers say they have been barred from speaking during House debates.

The House Republican leadership confirms that state Representative Lisa Brown will not be recognized during debates as a sanction for mentioning her vagina during a debate on anti-abortion legislation.

State Representative Barb Byrum also says she has been barred from speaking in the future because of an outburst after she was not called on during the abortion debate.

It is so unbelievable!
Is it America? Or is it Saudi Arabia? It is a nasty war on women’s health. It is a war on women by nasty men.

Be brave. Fight it out.

Sometimes I feel that men who are against abortion, against choice, against women’s reproductive health, are exactly like those men who used to beat women up on the streets because they demanded voting rights for women.


‘Several times constables and plain-clothes men who were in the crowds passed their arms round me from the back and clutched hold of my breasts in as public a manner as possible, and men in the crowd followed their example. I was also pummeled in the chest […] my skirt was lifted up as high as possible and the constable attempted to lift me off the ground by raising his knee. This he could not do, so he threw me into the crowd and incited the men to treat me as they wished. 18 NOVEMBER 1910.’

Time has passed So much has changed. But the hatred against women has remained the same.

Irresponsible Irrational Indonesia! Islamic Idiotic Insane Indonesia!

Alexander Aan is sentenced to 2.5 years in prison in Indonesia for saying ‘God doesn’t exist.’

We live in an insane world where we get exiled, we get banned, we get burned, we get sentenced to death,sentenced to life in prison,sentenced to years in prison if we tell the simple truth, ‘God doesn’t exist.’

The truth is imprisoned. The lie is free.

Indonesia is not Saudi Arabia or Sudan. It is not Pakistan or Afghanistan.

Indonesians are a mix of almost everything. The diversity of Indonesia’s many religions, languages, cultures and ethnicities is a treasure to be appreciated. Indonesia has world’s largest Muslim population but it has always been a tolerant country.

Indonesian national airlines Garuda was named after the Hindu mythical bird Garuda.


Hindus believe that Garuda is the carrier of the God Vishnu.

Good old Indonesia has now started having Sharia Laws that discriminate against women and non-Muslims and it has started harassing and arresting atheists, secularists, humanists and thinking minds.

Religion makes people insane. In today’s world, Islamic faith makes people more insane than any other faiths.

Many atheist organizations including Atheist Ireland started a campaign for the release of Alexander Aan and for the repeal of blasphemy laws.

Let’s join the campaign to fight not only Islamists but also Islam to save humanity.

The male dominated world was against women’s education


Kalighat Painting, “Woman Striking Man With Broom,” Calcutta, India, 1875


Kalighat Painting, Role changed. Man is nursing his wife. Calcutta, India. 1875

These are famous Kalighat paintings.

Once upon a time women did not have the right to get an education. Male-dominated world prevented women from becoming educated.

Women in Bengal got the right to education in the nineteenth century. Most men were scared, stressed and unhappy. Newspapers and magazines started publishing satirical cartoons against women’s education. Almost everybody feared that after getting an education women would not accept men as their masters. Social norms will be ridiculously upside down. Instead of a husband beating his wife, a wife will start beating her husband. Wives will go to schools, colleges, and offices, husbands will stay at home and take care of their wives. The social roles of men and women will be reversed forever.

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Resistance against intolerance

For ages, nobody drew Muhammad. Artists freely drew the Virgin Mary, Jesus the Christ, Gautama the Buddha, Hindu gods and goddesses, and whoever else that they liked. But Muhammad, fanatics have objected to his being drawn even though Muslim artists drew him in the Middle Ages. Recently someone broke the rule. A Danish cartoonist drew Muhammad. It was obvious he was angry with Muhammad’s followers who were terrorizing the world.

And then the whole world witnessed madness. The followers burned down everything and killed people. The artist had to go into hiding to save his life. The world was shocked. People became angry with the followers who were issuing fatwas and death threats against people whoever criticized Islam. They were behaving like a bunch of monsters. Monsters do not believe in democracy, human rights and freedom of expression.

Resistance against violation of freedom of expression grew. As a protest, people who believe in freedom of expression started drawing Muhammad. They even created a ‘Everybody Draw Muhammad Day.’ Muhammad was portrayed as a wise man or a saint in medieval times, but he is portrayed as a crooked man or a terrorist today even by peace-loving people who did not hate the prophet before, not even after 9/11. All artists are not peace-loving. There are some artists in the crowd who praise their own religion but criticize Islam. They draw Muhammad and pretend to be believers of freedom of expression.
It is true that if Muslim fanatics did not show their intolerance towards the Danish cartoonist, nobody would have started drawing Muhammad.

Let’s see Muhammad through the eyes of medieval artists.

Today’s pictures about Muhammad are almost all offensive, for freedom of expression encourages variety, and this has resulted in the prophet’s followers ruining his reputation.

The Internet is now flooded with Muhammad cartoons. Large numbers of professional and amateur artists have been drawing Muhammad since 20 May 2010. So how many artists do the fanatics hope to kill? Are they ignorant of the fact that throughout history whenever there is intolerance there is a resistance? When Christian churches ruled, they terrorized the world and killed those who committed blasphemy. Resistance grew, however, and the churches lost their power. In a free society today, Christian fanatics cannot harm those who loudly say, “Fuck you, Jesus!”

Forbidden Words

 

[Dwikhandito ( The life divided), the third part of my autobiography has been banned in Bangladesh since 2003. The book was also  banned in West Bengal, India in 2003 but Kolkata  high court lifted the ban on the book in 2005. The book is now  free but heavily censored. The readers are still not allowed to read a few pages of the book .  I was physically attacked by the Muslim fundamentalists for  writing this book.

A price (unlimited amount of money) was set on my head.  Here are the forbidden words! Translated from original Bengali.]

 

 

 

” …. I could not accept at all that the religion had ever brought any light to  mankind. Religion had not spread anything other than darkness. Religion had grown out of ignorance and the fear of death. The monotheistic men had created religion for their own pleasure and to enjoy themselves in this life. Islamic history tells us that the Arabs used to live in caves and newborn girls were buried alive, and Muhammad ended all this misery. But I believe that more misery has been created after the advent of Islam. Previously, women were business people, they used to take part in wars, chose their own husbands and also divorced their husbands. Muhammad’s first wife Khadija was a businesswoman and Muhammad was her third husband and was also much younger than her. If girls were buried alive, then there would be fewer women in this world. The men used to marry more than one woman, but where did they find all these women? There would be scarcity of women if they were buried alive. But that did not happen. The Arabs used to pass their days in merriment and pleasure, they used to dine and drink well, they believed that there was no other life than this one and they used to enjoy themselves as much as possible in this world. Muhammad brought an avalanche upon this belief. He used the religion he created as a  weapon to seize power. He killed people unhesitatingly, he bathed in the blood of members of other tribes, he brutally killed people of other religions, and he hoisted the flag of victory after invading Jewish areas with his own troops and looting their wealth and raping their women. This religion was never a spiritual one, it was a political one from beginning to end. He did not deprive himself of any earthly pleasures. He had done everything he wanted to do and he did it all in the name of Allah. After killing somebody, he said that he did it on the orders of Allah. Of course, he said at the outset that nobody can speak against the orders of Allah. Muhammad divided the hours of the night to spend time with his more than a dozen wives in the harem. He created a scene on the night he was due to spend with his wife Hafsa. Hafsa went to her father’s house that day but when she returned before the scheduled time, she found the bedroom door locked from inside. Why was the door shut? Who was in the room? Her husband, prophet Muhammad, the  messenger of Allah, was in the room having sex with a slave girl called Maria. Hafsa was furious and told all the other wives about this. Muhammad, to hide his own guilt, dragged  Allah down from the sky and said that he didn’t do it willingly, it was Allah’s will and he had only obeyed Allah’s orders, it was nothing more than that. There is a saying in Bengali, ‘The thief is bragging after stealing’. This episode was also like that. Far from being humble after doing wrong and without speaking to his wives in a subdued voice with his head bowed, he proclaimed a word of caution to his wives that Allah had told him, ‘If you divorce any of your wives, then Allah will provide more beautiful, more tolerant, more submissive, more shy and more trustworthy maidens or widows for you to marry’. Muhammad married his foster son’s wife Zainab and this time too he justified his misdeed by mentioning the name of  Allah who, apparently, had told him to marry his daughter-in-law. Muhammad’s very young, beautiful and wise wife, Ayesha, said something excellent, ‘I see that your Lord always  rushes to you to satisfy all your desires’. His friends used to look at Ayesha and Muhammad was very jealous of that so he put all his wives behind a curtain and gradually he ordered all women to cover themselves with an extra set of clothes. Islam is supposed to have given women much honour. Is this called  honour! Allah’s resounding voice comes across the seven skies, ‘Men have the right to dominate over women, because Allah has created men as superior human beings to women and because men spend their money for women.’

 

What can I say! This is the character of the  hypocrite  known as our prophet and his hoax in the name of Allah. Millions of believers in this world are still keeping this religion alive but there is nothing behind it except the game of politics. Bangladesh is no exception. As his boat was sinking, President Ershad was desperately clinging on to Islam to find a port as he couldn’t find one any other way.

 

‘A carrot for the next life has been dangled in front of you,

Fear and temptation are always there before you.

Now wear a blinker of dark blindness over your eyes,

The more blind you are, the more faithful you will be.

Take your eyes out and throw them with this belief,

And lock up the cells of learning in your brain.

Well done! You are now a true faithful…’

 

They do not believe in freedom of expression

 

 

“It was a shocking thing to say and I knew it was a shocking thing to say. But no one has the right to live without being shocked. No one has the right to spend their life without being offended. Nobody has to read this book. Nobody has to pick it up. Nobody has to open it. And if you open it and read it, you don’t have to like it. And if you read it and you dislike it, you don’t have to remain silent about it. You can write to me, you can complain about it, you can write to the publisher, you can write to the papers, you can write your own book. You can do all those things, but there your rights stop. No one has the right to stop me writing this book. No one has the right to stop it being published, or bought, or sold or read. That’s all I have to say on that subject.” — Philip Pullman, the author of The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ.

 

American Historian Peter Heehs is facing expulsion from his home of 41 years.   He wrote a  book on Indian spiritual Guru  Sri Aurobindo.  The disciples of   Aurobindo claim that the  book is  blasphemous because Heehs wrote Aurobindo was schizophrenic and  had a romantic  relationship with  one of his disciples.

Aurobindo was  a  talented man, a  freedom fighter, philosopher,yogi, guru, and a poet. If he were alive today, he would probably  not have allowed his disciples to expel  Peter Heehs from his ashram.

We are now witnessing a gradual Islamization of  Hinduism.

 

The   disciples  or the believers or the worshipers  create  problems. They can’t stand the truth.

They could not stand  the truth Pakistani Dr. Sheikh Yunus  said. During his  lecture at a medical college, he said that  Muhammad did not become a Muslim  until the age of 40 when  he received his  first revelation  from God, and also that Muhammad’s parents were non-Muslims because they died before Islam was created, and  that Muhammad  married his first wife when he was 25, without an Islamic marriage contract, and that he  was not circumcised.

Sheikh Yunus  was sentenced to death by hanging.

 

We have been  paying  the price  for their  collective ignorance big time.