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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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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Diphtheria deaths in Malaysia and Vietnam too

Diphtheria is coming back with vengeance  in parts of Asia where it had been well controlled. Malaysia and Vietnam has reported several cases of Diphtheria in last two months along with Kerala state in south India. There has been 5 deaths in Malaysia, 3 in Vietnam and 2 in Kerala. Both in Kerala and Malaysia, adults some as old as 65, are among suspected cases.

All three areas had similarly good control of Diphtheria for several years now , with only a handful of cases yearly and no deaths. In Malaysia and Kerala, religion based superstitions about vaccinations was found to be a major driving factor for poor vaccination coverage and there by reemergence of the disease. In Vietnam too, the propagation of myths about vaccines has reduced its acceptance.

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