Tag Archives: Islam

The Kingdom Centre building in Riyadh. Buen Viajero, via Flickr
Commentary

An Endgame for Iran: A Saudi-Style Revolution from Above

Experiencing firsthand the dramatic reforms that Saudi Arabia has made in the two decades since I lived there gives me hope for another Muslim nation held in thrall by fundamentalists.


In Riyadh for a business trip, I found myself with a couple of hours to kill. I decided to wander around Al Olaya, the Saudi capital’s commercial core and upscale shopping district. In a gleaming shopping mall surrounding my hotel, I saw familiar brand logos on either side, a glitzy array of high-end storefronts much like those you’d find in any major Western city—except for the stylized Arabic lettering. Eventually, I came across the garish window display of a Victoria’s Secret. There I stopped, amazed.

Creative Commons logoI had actually lived in Riyadh two decades earlier, having come to Saudi Arabia to work as a physician. At the time, there were no Victoria’s Secret stores to be found. The company’s website was even blocked by the religious authorities. Women could buy lingerie, but they had to do so in a general store—and all the shops back then were staffed exclusively by male attendants (women were not allowed to work in most public spaces). All these prohibitions had made shopping for intimate apparel a singularly humiliating experience.

So much had changed in Saudi Arabia, and it wasn’t just about the overt femininity of a lingerie store. I walked into another familiar Western store, a Louis Vuitton boutique. The fall collection was being displayed—luxury scarves, elegant handbags—much the same as it would be in New York City. The mannequins wore shorts and dresses with bare plastic legs. But what captured my attention were their heads—molded plastic, with detailed facial features. Two decades ago, that depiction of the female form was forbidden. The mannequins back then would have been headless.

I must have looked ever so slightly lunatic in that store, gawking at the mannequins. Soon enough, a store clerk approached me, and we began talking about my impressions of the new Saudi Arabia. A group of attendants—all of them, notably, women—began to gather, curious about my excited chatter. I explained to them that when I lived in Riyadh, the mall had a designated floor just for women, the only place in this mall where we were allowed to shop. Even having that women-only space had been an advance at the time; other malls would only let women shop during restricted hours when men would not be present.

As I told the women about their country’s recent past, I felt like a time traveler speaking of unimaginable sights. All the store clerks were young—not surprising in a country where two-thirds of the population is under thirty. While some of them wore headscarves, others did not. They seemed to find my enthusiasm infectious, and they asked many questions. We ended our impromptu chat with the conclusion that, yes, this was Islam: the freedom for a woman to choose how to observe, to choose how to be.

Since I’ve returned from my trip, I’ve thought often about how much Saudi Arabia has changed—and whether another Muslim country, Iran, might take a similar path. For several months beginning in September, Iran was paralyzed by massive protests unlike any the country had seen since the 1979 revolution. The spark of this explosive rage was the suspicious death of Mahsa Jina Amini, a twenty-two-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman who had been detained by police for “improperly” wearing her hijab.

Continue reading An Endgame for Iran: A Saudi-Style Revolution from Above →

Qanta A. Ahmed, MD, is a senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum and a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

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The first girls to graduate from high school in Deh'Subz, an Afghan district outside Kabul. Photo by Beth Murphy, Principle Pictures.
Washington, DC
Reviews

Taught, Post-Taliban: A Review of What Tomorrow Brings

What Tomorrow Brings is an intimate portrait of a girls’ school in rural Afghanistan and the challenges its students face in trying to get an education.


In an early scene of What Tomorrow Brings, Pashtana, a seventh-grader at a girls’ school in rural Afghanistan, describes just how much her education means to her. “My biggest hope is to finish school,” she says, smiling brightly. “That’s how my life will turn the corner, and I’ll be on my way.”

Her smile fades. “But I’m worried there are people around me who will try to stop me.”

Continue reading Taught, Post-Taliban: A Review of What Tomorrow Brings →

Chelsea Rudman is an international development professional and freelance writer who lives in Washington, DC. Her writing has previously been published in the NY Press and Matador Travel.

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Muslims Defend Free Speech of Anti-Muslim Extremist


What a difference seven years makes. In 2006, violent protests exploded across Muslim societies in the Middle East and Africa, resulting in the deaths of at least 200 people. What sparked the riots was the publication of a series of cartoons in a Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, that included images — some critical, others benign — of the Muslim prophet Muhammad. (Many Sunni Muslims find any depiction of Muhammad’s image to be blasphemous.) The Islamic Society in Denmark played a key role in stirring up worldwide Muslim anger over the cartoons.

Jump ahead to the present. A wide array of Danish Muslim leaders from various organizations are firmly defending the free-speech rights of Lars Hedegaard, a polemicist who can perhaps charitably be described as a brutally harsh critic of their religion. Hope Not Hate, a British antiracist group, identified Hedegaard as one of the six leading anti-Muslim figures in Europe.

On February 5, Hedegaard was the target of an attempted assassination when  someone dressed as a postal worker shot at him and barely missed his head. In response, Danes at first united in outrage against political violence. But then, as more of Hedegaard’s writings and remarks became known, some Danes wondered whether he had brought this attack on himself.  “I think that Hedegaard wanted this conflict,” said Mikael Rothstein, a scholar of religious history at the University of Copenhagen. “Brutal words can be as strong as the brutal physical act of violence.”

Then the Muslim voices emerged. And they spoke with one voice: freedom of speech must be defended. Minhaj-ul-Quran International helped put together a protest in Copenhagen to condemn the assassination attempt on Hedegaard. As one Danish-born Muslim put it: “We don’t defend Hedegaard’s views but do defend his right to speak. He can say what he wants.” The Islamic Society of Denmark not only denounced the attack and defended free speech, they also said that they regretted what they had done after the publication of the cartoons seven years ago.

So far Hedegaard has not been moved by the outpouring of Muslim support for him and his freedoms. He declares that Muslims in Denmark will never embrace their new homeland’s belief in free expression. “There is no such thing as ‘moderate’ Islam, and there never has been,” Hedegaard said. “There may be shades of opinion among Muslims, but as a totalitarian system of thought, Islam has remained unchanged for at least 1,200 years.”

But Hedegaard is an anti-Muslim extremist, so his attitude is unsurprising. More reasonable observers recognize that Muslims in Denmark are taking this opportunity to show that they want to be both Muslims and Danes — that they can respect Danish political values while remaining true to their faith. Muslims “have changed their approach,” said Karen Haekkerup, Denmark’s minister for social affairs and integration. She considers their actions “a good sign.”

Diversity isn’t easy. It’s even harder in countries like Denmark that have, until recently, had very few immigrants from Muslim countries. When you add religion to the mix of language and culture, it’s still harder. Throw in the tensions between Muslims and the West in a post-9/11 world, and now you’re talking about a really daunting challenge. But it is a challenge Europeans, Americans, and every diverse society must overcome. And seeing this kind of progress in Denmark, coming from some of the same people who were at the center of fomenting violence in 2006 — well, that gives me reason to hope.

Ian Reifowitz is the author of Obama’s America: A Transformative Vision of Our National Identity. Twitter: @IanReifowitz

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Religion advocating for the environment


According to the media, one of the latest green movements is happening in churches, synagogues, and mosques around the country. Several news organizations have already done stories about people from different faiths who all have the same goal of saving the environment.

The Weather Channel’s "Forecast Earth" profiles Baptist pastor and environmental advocate Dr. Gerald Durely, who was inspired by the environmental film The Great Warming. Dr. Durely says in the piece: "As one who believes that the Earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, is that we have an obligation to ensure that what God has created, we keep together." The pastor has taken his environmental message and movement to his congregation because he says it will "make a difference for my children, my grandchildren, and generations to come when we begin to conserve and do what it is on this Earth that is so important."

ABC News looked into a North Carolina church that for the second year in a row is having a so-called "carbon fast" for Lent:

"Lent is a traditional time when we talk about reducing," said the United Church’s pastor, Richard Edens.

Lent is the 40-day period in which Christians fast and atone to prepare for Easter. This year the congregation has weekly themes; for example, one week they save water, another week they eat only locally-grown produce. And they are part of a growing international movement of carbon-fasters.

New Jersey Jewish News reports on a Jewish environmental organization’s call to synagogues to become more environmentally friendly by changing their old incandescent lightbulbs to energy-efficient ones:

"We’re trying to make our synagogue more energy-efficient, so it was a natural process," [Kevin Fried of Montclair, NJ’s Bnai Keshet synagogue] said. "We’re doing our part to help the environment. A couple of weeks ago we held a screening of An Inconvenient Truth (Al Gore’s documentary on global warming) and had CFLs [compact fluorescent lightbulbs]" on hand for people to see and purchase.

The article also features other energy-saving tips from the Coalition for the Environment in Jewish Life.

CNN reports on the "greenest" Canadian Church that is a model of eco-renovation. Father Paul Cusack of St. Gabriel’s Parish says he is "trying to raise the consciousness of people through the beauty of creation." And asks his parish: "What are we going to do as individuals in this community to change our lifestyle or anything else to facilitate the healing of the Earth?" The renovated church itself is a model of environmental-friendly architechture.  Among its Earth-friendly features are large windows to draw in solar heat and a living wall that is a natural air purifier. And as Father Paul says, "It’s not words that make the difference, it’s actions."

The Washington Post and Newsweek‘s "On Faith" section online addressed interfaith environmental care. Eboo Patel’s Interfaith Youth Core brings together Evangelicals and Muslims to work for the greater good. Patel writes:

The Holy Qur’an teaches that God created Adam to be His servant and representative on Earth with the primary task of caring for the beauty and diversity of creation…In my Muslim outlook, I believe this is moving creation in line with the intention of the Creator.

Among Patel’s interfaith initiatives are Earth Day programs involving different faiths.

keeping the earth ever green

*Please note that ever green is religion neutral and does not advocate for or against any religion, but I am always happy to report on anyone or anything that is helping the environment regardless of motivation.

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Fatwa frenzy


"We have to be clear what is at stake here…When each and every person's unqualified opinion is considered a fatwa, we lost a tool that is of the utmost importance to rein in extremism and preserve the flexibility and balance of Islamic law."

— Sheikh Ali Gomaa, Egypt's Grand Mufti (or Muslim cleric holding the highest official post for Islamic law) quoted in today’s New York Times article about the problems arising from the proliferation of fatwas, or non-binding legal opinions.

The article highlights two highly publicized and amusingly embarrassing fatwas about urine drinking and breast feeding, but it does point to a significant issue: the decentralized nature of authority in Islamic law and a proliferation — helped by technology such as the Internet, phones, and satellite television — of fatwas, many of which typically concern mundane questions that arise in quotidian life about what is appropriate and in accordance with Islamic law. What the article neglects to sufficiently underscore, however, is the fact that there has always been a wealth of legal opinions in the field of Islamic law — the quantity of fatwas should not, in themselves, be alarming. Rather, what is newer and more relevant is the proliferation of new religious authorities in societies where, as the proportion of individuals receiving a traditional religious education declines, the criteria by which to judge a religious authority can be blurred, unclear, or insufficiently scrutinized.

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The Pope backtracks


“The change highlights the importance of inter-religious dialogue.”

—Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State, stating to the Italian newspaper La Stampa that the Vatican would rescind its previous decision and will restore the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue as its own department.

Pope Benedict XVI downgraded the council, which addresses the Islamic world, in March 2006 and sent its president, Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, to Cairo as a Papal Nuncio (diplomatic representative) to Egypt and to serve as the Vatican's representative at the Arab League in Cairo. By reversing his previous decision to merge the council with the Vatican's culture ministry, the Pope is clearly acknowledging the need to directly engage with the Islamic world, but it has not been announced whether he will also reinstate Archbishop Fitzgerald — a seasoned veteran in his former post — as head of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue.

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Feeling safe


How difficult is it to feel safe when fundamentalism is on the rise so close to home? Pretty easy, actually.

In late March, a man entered an Internet cafe, allegedly to view "jihadist" websites. The cafe owner's son asked the man to leave, prompting the man to detonate a bomb he had hidden under his clothing. The perpetrator, Abdelfattah Raydi, died and a few others were injured.

Then, on Tuesday, April 10, police approached an apartment in Casablanca's impoverished Hay Farah district. One man, Mohamed Rachidi, fled to the roof and detonated a bomb inside his shirt. Another man inside the apartment started to detonate his own bomb, but a policeman shot him first. He was identified as Mohamed Mentala. A third man, later identified as Ayyoub Raydi, the brother of Abdelfattah Raydi, detonated a bomb as well, killing himself and a police officer and wounding several, including a seven-year-old boy.

Over the past two days, news sources and experts have speculated whether or not the bombings were related to those in Algiers, or if the Moroccan perpetrators were linked, perhaps with Al-Qaeda. Enough speculation to scare my friends back home anyway.

Meanwhile, tourist boards are teeming with questions about the safety of Morocco. "Are Moroccans targeting Americans?" "Is it safe to visit Marrakech?"

I certainly can't say for sure, but in the two years I've lived in this country, I have never once been the target of any anti-American sentiment whatsoever. Nor have I been a target for anything else, except a bit of obnoxious sexual harrassment (which I am not playing down, of course, but compared to actual danger, a few whistles or catcalls seems extremely minor, even to my sensitive American psyche).

Look, the point is, Moroccans are not against America. Perhaps it's government (but I can count on one hand my American friends who aren't against the government!), sure, but America or Americans? Moroccans line up at Internet cafes every autumn to fill out Diversity Lottery visa applications. They watch American movies and American TV, listen to American music. That is not to say that there isn't some trepidation when it comes to American behaviors, but on the whole, this is not an anti-Western society. This is a country whose border is only eight miles from Europe — a country which has had so much French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Roman influence over the centuries that, aside from its religion, is more Western than Eastern.

So although I can't say I'll be visiting the slums of Casablanca anytime soon, I certainly feel safe and right at home for now.

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Translating for God


“I decided it either has to have a different meaning, or I can’t keep translating…I couldn’t believe that God would sanction harming another human being except in war.”
— Laleh Bakhtiar, speaking about Chapter 4, Verse 34 of the Muslim holy text the Qur’an, which concerns the appropriate treatment for a rebellious woman. The appropriate meaning and translation of the verse has been debated, and Laleh Bakhtiar plans next month to add her new translation to the 20-odd extant translations of the Qur’an. Among the interpretations of the verse is the understanding that it advocates a three-fold measure in which the woman is first reprimanded, then abandoned in bed, and then beaten, which is one meaning of the verb “daraba.” Laleh Bakhtiar has, to significant controversy, translated the instruction as “go away from them.”

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Jailed for blogging in Egypt


Despite the fact that Egypt is scheduled to host a forum in 2009 on the topic of Internet governance, Egypt today put a blogger behind bars for four years after he was convicted of insulting Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s seemingly eternal president, and insulting Islam.

Abdel Karim Suleiman, 22, a former law student at Egypt’s al-Azhar University, a traditional seat of learning, was sentenced during his five-minute court session to one year for insulting President Mubarak and three years for insulting Islam.

Amnesty International decried the sentence as “yet another slap in the face of freedom of expression in Egypt.”

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Muslims and terrorists


China has been busy this week quashing Muslim terrorists and defending stability in China, as the government asserts, or possibly just stifling Muslim belief and the ethnic minority, Uygur Muslims, as supporters might contend.

On Monday the Chinese police announced that they raided a suspected terrorist training camp in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, killing 18 alleged terrorists in the process and seizing a hoard of hand-made grenades that were both completed and being made. Chinese police claim that the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, which the United Nations considers a terrorist organization, ran the camp.

Some eight million Muslim Uyghurs, who are ethnic Turks, live in the Xinjiang province, and some groups of Uyghurs are violently petitioning to establish an Islamic state independent of China.

The training camp may well have been a terrorist training camp. However, it’s difficult to ignore the timing, on Sunday, of China’s increased urgency to target Uyghurs and to denounce Rebiya Kadeer, an exiled dissident and nominee for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, as a separatist and “terrorist.” Rebiya Kadeer has been based in the U.S. since March of 2005; she was jailed six years ago for “leaking state secrets,” which was, in effect, communicating with her U.S.-based husband about Chinese reporting on the Uyghurs.

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Kill or covert


"It's an incredibly violent video game… Sure, there is no blood. (The dead just fade off the screen.) But you are mowing down your enemy with a gun. It pushes a message of religious intolerance. You can either play for the 'good side' by trying to convert nonbelievers to your side or join the Antichrist." —Clark Stevens, co-director of the Campaign to Defend the Constitution, speaking about the PC game Left Behind: Eternal Forces, in which players can convert or kill non-believers.

The game is based on the Left Behind series of novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, which takes place in the apocalyptic post-Rapture world, in which Jesus has raised true believers in him to heaven while non-believers were left behind to face the Antichrist. Over 60 million copies of the books, which are ostensibly based on the Book of Revelations, have sold since 1996.

Those who play Left Behind: Eternal Forces may choose to join the Antichrist’s minions and play for his team, which includes fictional rock stars individuals with Arab and Muslim-sounding names.

Jeffrey Frichner, president of Left Behind Games, blithely dismissed accusations of racism and religious intolerance with the statement that, "Muslims are not believers in Jesus Christ." The ramifications of being a non-believer in Frichner’s scheme, then, is that they ought to be slaughtered if they cannot be converted.

 

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