Movie star condemned for choosing not to wear head scarf

“Hijab is a choice”.

We hear this claim from Muslims whenever freethinkers and feminists question the coercion in Islam with regard to female attire.

Now read this.

Fans of popular Malay actress Uqasha Senrose have turned on her and accused the 23-year-old of “deriding” Islam after she decided to stop wearing a headscarf.

After donning the headscarf over the last three years, her decision to go without one has been met with fierce criticism, mostly from her male followers, who took to her Facebook page and accused her of being “undignified” and a “hypocrite.”

“You’ve lost your dignity as a Muslim, so you will also lose your fans because your fans are looking to go to heaven and not to hell,” fan Ahmad Faisal Ahmad Ziad posted.

“I really pity you. Why is your heart so black. Until you’re willing to play with religion,” another social media user Akil Mustafa Madu said.

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Burkini ban – The French double standards exposed by social media

Ever since the photograph of armed French Policemen surrounding and allegedly forcing a woman to  take off her Burkini on a beach in Nice went viral, the social media is buzzing with reactions to #burkiniban.

Staunch supporters of the ban were seen underlining the supposed to be strict secular nature of French Republic.

Mayor David Lisnard of Cannes while banning Burkini has explained in the order that  “access to beaches and for swimming is banned to anyone who does not have (bathing apparel) which respects good customs and secularism,” which is a founding principle of the French republic.

“Beachwear which ostentatiously displays religious affiliation, when France and places of worship are currently the target of terrorist attacks, is liable to create risks of disrupting public order (crowds, scuffles etc) which it is necessary to prevent,”

But soon the French double standards on secularism was exposed by many by uploading pictures of Christian nuns wearing outfits similar to Burkini enjoying the French beaches.

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As long as the Christian nun outfits are not banned, no one can argue rationally that Burkini ban is to respect secularism by preventing display of religious symbols in public sphere.

The former French President Sarkozy strongly supports the ban. He said :

it is time to end the presence of burkinis on French beaches.
Wearing a burkini is a political act, it’s militant, a provocation.

If you agree with Sarkozy, how can you not agree with a Muslim who says drawing Mohammed is a similar provocative militant political act ?

 

‘Liberal’ France imposes outfits ‘respecting’ secularism on beaches

Liberté, égalité, fraternité or Liberty, Equality, Fraternity is the national motto of French Republic.

Article IV of Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, a fundamental document of French Revolution reads like this:

Liberty consists of doing anything which does not harm others: thus, the exercise of the natural rights of each man has only those borders which assure other members of the society the enjoyment of these same rights.

Now see some recent news reports from France.

On Tuesday a 34-year-old mother of two, whose family have been French citizens for at least three generations, told French news agency AFP she had been fined on the beach in Cannes, 18 miles from Nice, for wearing leggings, a top and a headscarf.

The former air-hostess from Toulouse was issued a ticket saying she was not wearing “an outfit respecting good morals and secularism”.

“I was sitting on a beach with my family,” she said. “I wasn’t even planning to swim, just to dip my feet.”

This was more shocking.

Armed police have forced a woman on a beach in Nice to remove her burkini as part of a controversial new ban.

The incident occurred on the beach at the city’s Promenade des Anglais, the location of the lorry attack on Bastille Day in which 84 people were killed last month.

Photographs show four police officers armed with handguns, batons and pepper spray standing round the woman who was lying on the beach wearing a blue headscarf and matching top.

After speaking to the woman, she appears to remove the blue long-sleeve top.

She is thought to have been issued with a fine and warned about the new dress code on the beach.

Several women have now been fined in France for wearing the swim wear.

It seems the French authorities believe wearing a burkini traumatise others while banning it do not infringe on the right of Liberty enshrined as the motto of their republic.

I feel any woman, whatever be the religion, born and brought up in South Asia, may feel more comfortable in a burkini than a bikini. Is it not better to allow the person concerned to choose their attire ?

Imposition of dress code by religion has to be defeated. But State doing the same will not help that cause.

France is shamefully violating the very same ideals on which the French nation was established.

France is walking backwards by imposing dress codes.

Malaysian rapper arrested for allegation of insulting Islam

In a music video produced by the popular Malaysian Rapper Namewee, five non Muslim characters were seen uttering the word Allah (God). Also a scene in a song was supposed to be in front of a mosque. This was enough for him to be nabbed from the airport as he returned to the country from a foreign trip and put in jail.

The musician, whose real name is Wee Meng Chee, 33, was arrested at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport yesterday after returning from an overseas trip.

He was brought to Penang late last night and taken to the Penang courthouse this morning. The singer-songwriter is being investigated under Section 295 of the Penal Code for defiling a place of worship with intention to insult the religion. The section carries a jail term of up to two years, or a fine or both, upon conviction. Assistant court registrar Ahmad Tajudin Zaini granted a four-day remand, which ends on August 25. Several religious groups had previously lodged police reports against Wee over his music video, claiming that it insulted Islam.

Namewee - Getty images

Namewee – Getty images

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Atheists taking pot shots at feminism ?

Many a time I had seen this, both online and offline, in the West and in the East. I never understood the logic and reason behind it. It seems some atheists just hate feminism, though they claim themselves to be feminists.

I just happened to see this tweet this morning.

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What did he mean ?  His tweet is addressing feminists. He is implying that ALL feminists will criticise patriarchal religious values only if it is from Christianity. He is of the firm opinion that feminists do not and will not criticise patriarchal values seen in other religions, especially Islam.

He is supposed to be a rationalist, so before forming an opinion people will expect him to have solid evidence for his claim that feminists as a class do not criticise misogyny of Islam. But it seems he is selectively blind.  I can’t believe that he has not seen this picture.

I can’t also believe that he has not heard and read atheist feminists Ophelia Benson, Maryam Namazie , Taslima Nasreen and countless others who are vocally critical of misogyny in Islam.

So why he is generalising and branding all feminists with the same brush?  May be he wants people to think bad about feminism. May be he want people to think ALL feminists are hypocrites and are afraid of criticising Islam. What ever the motive, for me it is in very bad taste.

A fatwa in support for transgender rights

Homosexuality is legally disallowed in all countries of Indian subcontinent. But transgender people, though abused and pushed into sex trade, have some legal provisions to protect their rights. Now we have an Islamic fatwa too, supporting transgender rights, from Pakistan.

A man offers money to Sonia, 26, a transgender Pakistani, while dancing at a birthday party in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

A man offers money to Sonia, 26, a transgender Pakistani, while dancing at a birthday party in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

At least 50 clerics affiliated with a little known Tanzeem Ittehad-i-Ummat have issued a fatwa (religious decree) that marriage with a transgender person is lawful.

The fatwa, released on Sunday, said a transgender person having “visible signs of being a male” may marry a woman or a transgender with “visible signs of being a female” and vice versa.

But, the fatwa added, a transgender person carrying “visible signs of both genders” may not marry anyone.

It declared that robbing transgender people of their share in inheritance was unlawful and that parents who deprive their transgender sons/daughters of inheritance were “inviting the wrath of God”.

The clerics called upon the government to take action against such parents.

The decree also dwelt upon societal attitudes towards transgenders. It went to the extent of terming ‘haraam’ any act intended to “humiliate, insult or tease” them.

The fatwa ended with a word on last rites, declaring that all funeral rituals for a transgender person will be the same as for any other Muslim man or woman.

So if a devout Muslim abuse a transgender person, he can be at least told that what he is doing is haraam ( against Islam). No such fatwa for homosexuals though. They remain haraam.

Now an 8th century Kerala mosque opens it doors to women

After the success of the struggle of Hindu women to enter the Lord Saturn temple in Maharashtra with the help of judiciary, a historical Sunni mosque has opened its doors to Muslim women.

The mosque at Tazhathangady in Kottayam town of Kerala is supposed to be as old as 8th century. It is famous for its beautiful architectural style and exquisite wood carvings.

Thazhathangadi Juma Masjid. Photo: Maya Menon... Read more at: http://travel.manoramaonline.com/travel/travel-news/when-thazhathangadi-juma-masjid-opened-its-doors-to-women.html

Thazhathangadi Juma Masjid. Photo: Maya Menon

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False liberals having high regard for anti-liberal religion

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The Charlie Hebdo editorial did create a lot of confusion among Left liberals. Many liberals in the  west thought it was Islamophobic and racist. But for those who had directly witnessed  the fascist nature of the religion,, there was not much confusion. May be real life experience determines our perspective.

Here listen to what Eiynah, the Pakistani atheist, now living in Canada, have to say in her podcast.

She says :

We must be wary,,careful to walk that very thin line between Islamist apologist parts of Left and the anti Muslim parts of the Right. True secularism resides somewhere in between those extremes. Somewhere I think Charlie Hebdo hits perfectly. Which is why it causes scurrying panic among false rebels who for some reason wish to hold anti liberal religions in high regard.

Imposition or choice ?

Sushama Swaraj , the external affairs minister of India, visited Iran recently. From Tehran she went to Moscow for a joint meeting between foreign ministers of India, China and Russia.

From Twitter feed of Sushama Swaraj

From Twitter feed of Sushama Swaraj

 

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj pose before their meeting in Moscow, Russia, (PTI)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj pose before their meeting in Moscow, Russia, (PTI)

The irony is many a time Islam imposes dress code even on non-Muslim visitors but claim Muslim women follow dress code as a choice. And some people fall for it too.