Muslimah Writers Alliance Petitions King Abdullah to Stop Forced Divorces

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Muslimah Writers Alliance (MWA), in support of women throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and in protest of an appellate court ruling in the Eastern Province that threatens to adversely affect Muslim women worldwide, announces the launch of its "Say 'No' To Forced Divorce - 'Yes' to Reforms" international online petition drive. The petition addresses King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz on the issue of forced divorce and the need for reforms relating to women's rights.

Washington, D.C. (PRWEB) February 14, 2007 -- A January 28, 2007, appeals court decision in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, threatens to set a precedent delivering a major setback in eliminating tribal and gender bias against women in Arab and Muslim societies, unless King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz agrees to forward the case to the Kingdom's High Court.

The original legal action resulted in the forced divorce of Fatima and Mansour Al-Timani. Filed by Fatima's half-brothers after the death of her father, the petition claimed that Al-Timani misrepresented his tribal affiliation (or social status) when he sought permission to marry Fatima.

Al-Timani denied the charge, and in the single court appearance Fatima was made aware of, she adamantly declared to Justice Ibrahim Al-Farraj, that she did not wish to be divorced from her husband.

Their attorney, Abdul Rahman Al-Lahem, has since requested that King Abdullah intercede in the matter. "The High Court is the only legal establishment that can overrule the appeals court if it finds the ruling contrary to the Shariah," Al-Lahem told the Saudi Gazette.

"On learning that the appellate court upheld the July 20, 2005 lower court ruling, obtained absentia, forcefully divorcing Fatima and Mansour Al-Timani on the basis of his alleged lower social status, there was no doubt in my mind that Muslimah Writers Alliance would join in petitioning King Abdullah to reverse this travesty of justice," stated MWA director, Aishah Schwartz.

Schwartz added, "In August of 2005, just seven days into his reign, King Abdullah pardoned three jailed dissidents who had plotted to assassinate him, and was subsequently applauded for having lived up to his reputation of being a 'staunch supporter of reforms and being close to the people'."

"And yet, a blind-eye seems to have been turned in the case of Fatima and Mansour Al-Timani. Fatima has spent the past seven months caring for her infant son in a prison out of fear that if she returned to the guardianship of her step-brothers, they would immediately move to have her remarried to a man of their own choosing," Schwartz continued. (Women of any age in Saudi Arabia require a legal male guardian, or mahram, who could be either their husbands or other male relatives.)

Schwartz further stated, "By sending Fatima and Mansour Al-Timani's case to the High Court, King Abdullah has an opportunity to show the world that he is, indeed, committed to reforms reaffirming the God-given rights of women set out in true Islamic teachings.""Repealing local, tribal, and socially backward man-made, convenience-based, gender biased laws, is a moral obligation we must strive for on behalf of Muslim women world-wide," Schwartz concluded.

"In Islam there is not meant to be any discrimination in terms of color, nationality or race. But the tribal element is still strong in Saudi Arabia," Al-Lahem says.

In support of the ongoing efforts by Saudi women journalists calling for the reunion of Fatima and Mansour Al-Timani, MWA encourages you to sign the "Say 'No' To Forced Divorce - 'Yes' to Reforms" petition.

The petition calls for corrective measures and guidelines to ensure rejection of future, frivolous and non-Shariah compliant divorce cases brought by parties other than the husband and wife.

The petition also calls for re-evaluation of the laws pertaining to guardianship of competent, adult women.

"Every signature on this petition is critical considering that reports indicate there are already approximately 19 known forced divorce or annulment cases pending judiciary proceeding," stated Schwartz.

In September 2006 Muslimah Writers Alliance launched an online petition drive in protest of a proposal outlined in a report compiled by a committee of scholars at the request of King Abdullah. The proposal, set forth as a plan to eliminate the prayer area for women within the mataaf (circumambulation area around the Holy Kaaba), was met by a global chorus of outrage.

The MWA Grand Mosque Equal Access for Women Petition brought international attention to the matter, and by its eleventh day the deputy head of Grand Mosque affairs, Mohammed bin Nasser al-Khozayem, announced to the press that, "The presidency (committee) [has decided to adopt a second proposal, which is to expand two special places for women's prayer, in addition to the one that already exists."

Margot Badran, author and a senior fellow at the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., called the collaborative effort, "The most striking example to date of Muslim women collaborating in global protest and one that authorities could not ignore."

For the sake of Fatima, her husband, their children, and the Muslim community at large, let us pray that King Abdullah will listen once again.

SIGN THE PETITION
"Say 'No' To Forced Divorce - 'Yes' to Reforms"

Click here for a complete media documented history of the Fatima and Mansour Al-Timani case

Photo: Mansour Al-Timani and daughter, Noha, age 2; courtesy of The Saudi Gazette.

SOURCE

Download this press release as an Adobe PDF document.

###

For the Love of a Cat...

Assalamu Alaikum,

I just had to share something that tickled me silly a minute ago.

The sofa in the living room is a sectional with a recliner on each end. Over to my left is a single-seated recliner - that is where my roomie usually sits with her laptop, and I usually sit on the recliner end of the sofa to her right, with MY laptop. *smile* Well, this afternoon, I'm sitting here in my spot on the sofa, madly reading and typing away, completely focused to the point that I scarcely noticed that Princess (my roomie's 15lb. Siamese-mix cat) jumping onto the seat cushion to my right --- that is, until, *lol* all of a sudden it dawned on me that her front paws were feverishly plowing up and down into the nice cushiony area otherwise known as my belly, to the point of making me down at her and exclaiming, "All right! All right! All right!" *lol*

You should have seen the way she looked back at me with her boulder-marble blue eyes, as if to say, "Whaaaaaaaaaaat?!?!" before turning away.

I swear at this very minute she is now sitting perched, as if at attention, looking directly at me, to the left of my feet on the foot lounger extension as if to say, "Can I come back now??"

And before I finish typing the words you've just read...up she marched and is now laying across BOTH my arms!!! (Purring no less...)

Cats...gotta love 'em! But I gotta WORK!!!!

Hope you're enjoying your day!

Ma'Salaama,
`Aishah

P.S. - Geez! Despite the fact that I am managing to type with her laying across my arms, she is not happy with the slight movement caused by my typing and she has started growling as if grumbling under her breath at me...interesting though...my computer adhan has been playing while I was typing this and she suddenly got quiet. Hmm...subhan'Allah...

Muslimah Writers Alliance Joins Al-Timani Attorney and Saudi Women Activists in Petitioning for Reversal of Forced Divorce

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

King Abdullah Urged to Continue Support of Advances Made in the Elimination of Gender Bias Against Women

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Feb. 5, 2007 (MWANET) A January 28, 2007, appeals court decision in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, threatens to set a precedent effectively delivering a major setback in the progress made toward eliminating cultural and gender bias against women in Arab and Muslim societies, unless King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz agrees to forward the case to the Kingdom's High Court.

"On learning about the appellate court decision to uphold the July 20, 2005 lower court ruling, obtained absentia, forcefully divorcing Fatima and Mansour Al-Timani on the basis of his alleged lower social status, there was no doubt in my mind that Muslimah Writers Alliance would join in supporting their attorney, and scores of Saudi women activists and reporters, in appealing to the widely reported track record of mercy on the part of King Abdullah, in whose hands lay the power to reverse this travesty of justice," stated Aishah Schwartz, Founder and Director of the Washington, D.C.-based organization.

Ms. Schwartz added, "In August of 2005, just seven days into his reign King Abdullah pardoned three jailed dissidents who had plotted to assassinate him, and was subsequently applauded for having lived up to his reputation of being a 'staunch supporter of reforms and being close to the people', in addition to being called 'great man with the interest of the nation at heart'. Indeed, a tough enough course of action to live down in light of the fact that a nursing mother is sitting in a jail suffering the loss of the beloved father of her children, and fearing for her life due to no fault of her own."

"By forwarding Fatima and Mansour Al-Timani's case to the High Court, King Abdullah has an opportunity to reinforce his established trend of reform by mandating, implementing, and enforcing existing, pending, and/or proposed measures designed to ensure that women's rights in marriage and divorce, as well as various other aspects of daily life, are dealt with in accordance to the Shariah. Repealing local, cultural and socially backward man-made, convenience-based laws, is a moral obligation we must strive for on behalf of Muslim women world-wide," Ms. Schwartz concluded.

Leading the charge in providing media coverage in her capacity as correspondent for The Saudi Gazette, Suzan Zawawi reported Sunday that the couple's lawyer, Abdul Rahman Al-Lahem, who appealed the lower court decision on October 7, 2006, affirmed that, "The High Court is the only legal establishment that can overrule the appeals court if it finds the ruling contrary to the Shariah."

The original legal action, filed by Fatima's half-brothers after the death of her father, claimed that Al-Timani misrepresented his tribal affiliation (or social status) when he sought permission to marry Fatima. Al-Timani denied the charge, and in the single court appearance Fatima was made aware of, she adamantly declared to Justice Ibrahim Al-Farraj, that she did not wish to be divorced from her husband.

Despite the fact that under Shariah law, tribal affiliation is not a consideration for a legitimate marriage, we are confronted with the question of how this case is still front page news in Saudi society seven months after-the-fact.

It may very well behoove the Royal Court to be reminded of the Kingdom's 1970 Memorandum purporting to offer various reasons why it has abstained from signing either 'The International Human Rights Declaration' or 'The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights'.

The Memorandum states that the Kingdom's abstention from signing either document was not to be misconstrued as indicating disapproval of the aims presented, but, "because of our determination to let the dignity of a human person be protected by us without any distinction between one man and another under the impetus of the divine Islamic creed and not by the material law."

Furthermore, included in the Kingdom's "Principles of Human Rights in Islam", which contains legal provisions forming National Law pertaining particularly to freedom from discrimination, adherence to the call for unity of the human race, adherence to the call for mutual cooperation, and the right to live peaceably, there is a provision that states, in part:

"There are 'countless' other Islamic religious laws for the protection of the basic, inalienable human rights of mankind. These laws also [allegedly] deal in a 'comprehensive way' with man's economic, social and cultural rights from the humanitarian and idealistic aspects, which [allegedly], do not make any distinction, or allow for any kind of distinction between one human being and another, particularly concerning sex, color, language, religion, opinion, wealth, country, or national or social origin."

An example of this is recorded in Islamic history through the story of Al Sayeda Khadijah Bint Khuwaylid, who was not only the first person to embrace Islam, but was also the first wife of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).

Khadijah, observing the Prophet's reputation for honesty and aptitude for business matters, took the decision upon herself that he would make the best of the husbands. This came as a surprise to all that knew her, as she had already declined numerous marriage proposals from within her own tribe, the Quraish.

In fact, it is further reported that Khadijah also initiated the marriage proposal!

After the Prophet's uncle, Abu Talib, had given the proposed marriage his blessing, Muhammad and Khadijah were married.

How could such a divine example of non-gender biased human rights possibly be denied?

Fast forward and we have a young mother of two, who, after fleeing with her husband to Jeddah after the initial divorce ruling, was unceremoniously arrested and imprisoned in Damman, where she remains to this day, for refusing to return to the family home under the guardianship of her half-brothers. Women of any age in Saudi Arabia require a legal male guardian, or mahram, who could be either their husbands or other male relatives, and Fatima's father, subsequent to blessing her marriage to Al-Timani, passed away.

Here we read of a young woman who has endured seven heart-wrenching months of inability to fulfill her natural instinct to nurture her children, and to be a companion to the man that she loves as a result of the appellate court decision upholding her forced divorce, or should we say, because the courts did not uphold Fatima's right to choose her own life partner.

Fatima willingly remains in a Dammam prison, where she has been for the past seven months after being arrested in Jeddah for fleeing with her husband in search of a resolution to their predicament. Although she is free to leave the prison, Fatima is fearful that her step-brothers will arrange for her to be remarried before King Abdullah makes a final decision to grant a reprieve in her case.

Fatima told The Arab News in November, "I'm leaving this place on one condition only: that I go back to my husband."

Prior to the appellate court ruling Fatima was only allowed once-weekly, 15 minute visits with her husband in order to share time between their 1-year old son, who remains with Fatima, and their two-year old daughter, Noha, who remains in the care of her father.

Unfortunately the bad news gets worse, as due to the status of their divorce Al-Timani is no longer allowed to visit Fatima, compounding the couple's grief at being separated from one another.

"Fatimah's and numerous other cases are basically rooted in the right of the guardian to control life, marriage, and in our cases, education and travel," stated renowned Saudi poet and activist, Nimah Ismail Nawwab.

Nawwb further asserted, "Women all over the world are being harmed because of it [guardianship] and our local, legal decisions are being picked up by others and cited as precedents, creating a domino effect that is widespread and tragically timeless."

"We are simply embracing the ruling of traditions and customs over that of religion," stated Maysoon Dakhiel, associate professor of Education and Psychology at the Girls College in Jeddah.

MWA applauds and supports the valiant efforts of Saudi women throughout the Kingdom who launched a petition this week for presentation to King Abdullah on behalf of Fatima and Mansour Al-Timani. The petition urges that the Al-Timani case to be forwarded to the High Court, and calls for the reversal of the appellate court's ruling so that Fatima and her husband can be reunited.

Additional measures are requested in the petition that would effectuate guidelines to ensure rejection of future, frivolous and non-Shariah compliant divorce cases brought by parties other than the husband and wife. These measures are critical considering that there are already approximately 19 known forced divorce or annulment cases pending judiciary proceeding. The petition also calls for re-evaluation of the laws pertaining to guardianship of competent, adult women.

"Networking among Muslim women all over the world has become a necessity and a survival strategy, stated Fatin Yousef Bundagji, Director of Women Empowerment and Research at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Ms. Bundagji added, "You need never forget that a younger female generation is patiently waiting for you to secure its future."

Despite the unsettling turn of events in the case of Fatima and Mansour Al-Timani, it is important to acknowledge documented signs of change regarding issues pertaining to the rights of women within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

In 2000 the Kingdom signed the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women. A nine-point program that aims to increase the role of women in the workplace was adopted by the Council of Ministers in 2004.

However, there is still an uphill battle to be forged in implementing and enforcing these changes.

A more recent manifestation of King Abdullah's commitment to supporting women's issues materialized as the result of a collaborative effort supported by Muslimah Writers Alliance through an online petition drive in September 2006. The petition was launched in protest of a proposal outlined in a report compiled by a committee of scholars at the request of King Abdullah. The proposal, set forth as a plan to eliminate the prayer area for women within the mataaf (circumambulation area around the Holy Kaaba), was met with a chorus of global outrage.

Within days the MWA Grand Mosque Equal Access for Women Petition collected nearly 2,000 signatures.

By the petition's eleventh day deputy head of Grand Mosque affairs, Mohammed bin Nasser al-Khozayem, announced to the press that, 'The presidency (committee) [has] decided to adopt a second proposal, which is to expand two special places for women's prayer, in addition to the one that already exists.'

Margot Badran, author and a senior fellow at the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., called the collaborative effort, "The most striking example to date of concerted Islamic feminist global protest and one that authorities could not ignore."

In revisiting the Kingdom's "Principles of Human Rights in Islam", and reflecting upon the call for acquaintance and cooperation for the common good, as well as for the performance of all kinds of righteous deeds towards all human beings, regardless of their citizenship or religion, in conformity with the Quranic verse [translation of the meaning]: "O mankind we created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female and made you into nations and tribes that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise each other). Verily the most honored of you in the sight of God is he who is the most righteous of you." (Surah al-Hujurat (49:13)

Let us pray for the sake of Fatima, her husband, their children, and the Muslim Ummah at large, that King Abdullah is listening now.

Photo: Mansour Al-Timani and daughter, Noha, age 2.

Courtesy: The Saudi Gazette

For a complete media documented history of the case visit:

http://muslimahwritersalliance.com/mwa-community/al-timani_case_chronology.htm

----------------

Aishah Schwartz is a Muslim American revert and freelance writer. She has catalogued her journeys through Islam in a series of articles found at http://www.sisteraishah.com. She is also Founder and Director of Muslimah Writers Alliance (http://www.muslimahwritersalliance.com) based in Washington, D.C., a member of the National Association of Women Writers and member of the National Association.

Copyright MWA © 2007
Permission is granted to circulate among private individuals and groups, to post on Internet sites and to publish in full text and subject title in not-for-profit publications. Contact author for all other rights, which are reserved.

Violence Fails Both Our Religions

By Rev. F. Vernon Wright and Zachary Wright - 01/25/07

(Rev. F. Vernon Wright is currently the pastor of Plymouth Congregational Church UCC in Helena, Montana, and is the director of the Progressive Clergy Alliance. Zachary Wright Wright, his brother, is a PhD student in African-Islamic History at Northwestern University, and a licensed muqaddam (teacher) trained by the Senegalese Shaykh Hassan Cisse, one of the world's more renowned Muslim scholars.)

In today's political and religious climate there is growing perception that Muslims and Christians are at odds. For my brother and me from New Hampshire, this is not the case. Though we both grew up in a traditional New England Congregational church, one of us has become a Congregational United Church of Christ minister, and the other has embraced Islam. Our faiths have inevitably been the cause of heated debates, but they have also provided the basis for us to remain fond of each other, even through difficult times that would perhaps have alienated us if not for our mutual love and trust in God.

As persons of faith in Christianity and Islam respectfully, we feel jointly compelled to condemn the political and theological implications of current US militarism. In the last ten years, the American government has been steadily directing us on a course of global, military-backed imperialism.

According to the 1996 and 2000 Joint Chiefs of Staff's vision for the military, America should prepare to implement "full spectrum dominance," through which the military can control any "situation," military or otherwise, throughout the globe. Though the vision for military dominance was begun in the Clinton administration, our military commitments have intensified drastically under the Bush administration. We are behaving less like a democracy, guiding the world by exemplary respect for human rights and self-government, and more like an empire dominating the world through force of arms.

Such militarism is frightening enough, but it is positively catastrophic when combined with religious fanaticism. Recent articles by Lawrence Davidson and Gary North reveal the real reason for Protestant Fundamentalist "Dispensationalist" support for American imperialism in the Middle East: to hasten the Rapture and Tribulation and God's judgment on the non-Christians. Under-girding the new American Empire is thus a pernicious theology of "the righteous nation at war with the enemies of God."

Despite what fanatics and power-mongers on both sides would have us believe, religion can and should serve as the basis for mutual understanding and common concern. As Christian and Muslim citizens of this nation, we are infuriated that fundamental precepts to both our religions continue to be violated and neglected right here at home with our dangerous distraction in Iraq. Christianity and Islam prohibit neglect of the poor, unjust imprisonment and torture, subjugation of religious or ethnic minorities, abandoning the education of children, the rape of the environment, and not providing care for the sick or elderly. With the amount the U.S. has spent on Iraq, we could have fixed social security and provided universal health insurance, revived a public school system in crisis, and provided people with a living wage. All of these would have been acts of great faith in a Loving and Merciful God. Instead we have the privilege of being engaged in a disastrous and deadly conflict.

Christians and Muslims have a responsibility to testify to our duties to promote loving, humanitarian assistance and to establish societies of justice and peace. Ultimately Christ as interpreted by most main line Christians is the prince of peace instructing us that the Reign of God will be fulfilled not at the jack boots of advancing armies but as neighbors and enemies alike love one another. The Qur'an declares that God's purpose in creating diversity among humanity is that the various communities and tribes should come to know one another, not to show enmity towards each other. In the end, those who would use their faith for the murdering of innocent civilians of another religion, whether by hijacked planes or cluster bombs, have not taken to heart their own faith.

"Full Spectrum Dominance," combined with the theology of "hastening the rapture," goes beyond the need for a nation to defend itself from attack. It constitutes nothing less than an anti-Christian, anti-Muslim, ungodly assault; not only on thousands of children, women and innocent civilians murdered by US military attacks, but on American citizens themselves. Too many of us are marginalized, unfed, uneducated and forgotten. Let the people of faith unite to spread the message of the Merciful God, who requires us all to feed the hungry, care for the sick, be kind to our neighbor and educate our children. Together, let us put down the weapons and rhetoric of tyrants, and revive the ideal that has always inspired this nation: a merciful and just society which would stand as a beacon of light to the world.

SOURCE: http://www.helenair.com/articles/2007/01/25/opinions/a04012507_02.prt

Alexandria, Egypt - Vol. I

Cat Madness! South Carolina Cats! Colorado Cats! Pakistan Cats! Virginia Cats!

BOOK REVIEW: Living Islam Out Loud: American Muslim Women Speak

edited by Saleemah Abdul-Ghafur

Written by David Barker
Published January 22, 2007

PURCHASE ONLINE HERE

Living Islam Out Loud is one of the best non–fiction works I have read in a long time. It is a collection of pieces by Islamic women living in the United States. Their stories reflect a diversity of experience — from growing up within the tradition–laden strictures of immigrant families, to Afro–American women who are children and grandchildren of Nation of Islam founders. A common theme beneath these accounts is the hyphenated nature of existence for Islamic women living in a predominantly secular/Christian culture.

When I was a child growing up within Ontario's public education system, I was exposed — like thousands of others my age — to a social studies curriculum that betrayed more than a small hint of anxiety about the Canadian identity question. How were we to resist the looming presence of American culture creeping up from the south? One answer, as a matter of educational policy, was to teach us that there were differences, however subtle. One difference was the American melting–pot/Canadian mosaic distinction. Both countries are peopled predominantly by immigrants imposed on dwindling native populations. When immigrants come to America, there is a tacit expectation that they will blend in, dress in jeans, eat at McDonald's, watch Hollywood movies, and (of course) learn to speak English. But in Canada, perhaps because of Québec's presence as a constitutionally protected "distinct society," there is less pressure — at least officially — for newcomers to blend in. We belong to a mosaic. The hyphen is essential to our identity. And so we are Indian–Canadian, Euro–Canadian, Chinese–Canadian, and so on.

Sometimes I'm skeptical whether there is any truth to the official indoctrination we received as children. However, at least conceptually, we understand what it means to have a hyphenated identity, and, at least conceptually, we have little problem with the idea that a person might want to assert the part they have brought with them from their homeland. And so the voices I encounter within Living Islam Out Loud strike me as more assertive than necessary. Then I remember: I am not an American reader.

One of the boldest pieces within the collection is "The Muslim in the Mirror," by Mohja Kahf, and it perfectly illustrates the demand to be acknowledged as distinctive, She writes: "If there's anyone I was more sick and tired of than Muslims, it's Muslim–bashers. No one is allowed to criticize Islam and Muslims but those who do it from love. Those who do it from hate, step aside. And step aside, those who do it as a way to fame and fortune funded by neo–conservatives who think they can kaCHING up genuine "reform" in Islam and manufacture docile little McMuslims for the maintenance of U.S. McHegemony in the world. Neocons can kiss my Islamic ass.

"Not exactly the writing we expect from our stereotypical woman of Islam, demure in her hijab! But that is one of the points of the book — with women claiming identity from so many different sources, there is no such thing as a stereotypical woman of Islam.

Perhaps it is increasingly difficult for people in the U.S. to maintain the story of America as a cultural melting pot. I think of Ada Maria Isasi—Diaz, author of En la Lucha (In the Struggle): A Hispanic Women's Liberation Theology, who writes of mujerista theology among Hispanic women in America. There is a growing trend among Hispanic women to expect not only their faith, but also their social services, including education and health care, to happen on their terms, to be delivered in Spanish, and to be sensitive to the particularity of their culture and history as a distinctive people. What may strike some Americans as uppity (or even as bordering on treasonous) is a 350–year–old fact of life on Canadian soil — and no one seems to be worse for it. In fact, the converse may be true. It may be that we find ourselves enriched for allowing those we encounter to live on their own terms. Could America be moving in the same direction?

However, it would be misleading to suggest that the women contributing to this collection are primarily engaged in struggles against a hegemonic American culture bent upon pouring them into Barbie molds. For many of the contributors — certainly all those born to immigrants — the greatest points of tension arise from within Islam. The question of hijab is the least of their worries. Or perhaps, by its many different understandings, it reflects the complexity of life for women. For some, wearing hijab is an attempt at earnest devotion, for others, a bold assertion of identity, for still others, a great way to deal with a bad hair day, but for many, it represents views of sexuality whose unhealthiness has intensified once transplanted to American soil. Surprisingly (for a Westerner like me), if there is oppression of women, few of these writers find it in Islam itself. Like the Bible, the Qu'ran can be interpreted to support all sorts of nastiness, but these women read it in ways which affirm them. Instead, most oppression in their experience arises from an insecure foothold in a strange new land.

So, for example, Samina Ali tells how she came with her family to Minneapolis from Hyderabad, India. When she married, she had to be a virgin. If not, she would be useless to her husband and would bring dishonour to her family. Along with her Islamic friends (making lasting friendships with Americans was out of the question), she was married off to a young man from India.

"Our parents plucked these men out of their homelands for this very reason: the daughter's purity should match her groom's, a man not exposed to and perhaps even controlled in some invisible way by demonic Western possession. In this manner, the daughters of the community became mere vessels of parental legacy.

"Utterly naive, Samina Ali blamed herself when, after the wedding, her husband refused to touch her and was repulsed by her body to the point of vomiting. She was convinced that she must have done something wrong. Even after he confessed that he was gay and left her, she continued to believe that her own faithlessness was to blame for the failed marriage. Family and friends disbelieved her story and assumed she was slandering her husband. Her husband could not possibly be gay; she was merely failing in her duties as a wife. What followed was the difficult work to establish a sense of herself apart from family and faith, before re–entering her faith with a more mature understanding.

But we must be careful not to presume too much sexual oppression. "A Day In The Life," a poem by Su'ad Abdul–Khabeer, makes it clear that if we use Western mores as our yardstick, we may find ourselves on questionable ground:

"And their mani–pedi
consorts
talk smack,
frontin'
like they kick it
with freedom on the regular
their angular
sentiments
under the guise
of liberty.
Free yourself!
they tell me,
patting my hand
tugging my scarf,
From the tyranny of Faith —
So ...I can be neatly chained
to a thong?"

Another struggle from within Islam arises from the segregationist practices of many mosques, which require women to use separate entrances and to pray behind a curtain or wall. In 1994, only one-third of American mosques had instituted this practice, but by 2000, the number had risen to two-thirds. In "Being the Leader I Want to See in the World," Asra Q. Nomani tells how, despite feelings of inadequacy, she found herself inevitably challenging the practices of her mosque in Morgantown, WV. It began as personal indignation, and grew into a national media event that brought about change and resulted in "An Islamic Bill of Rights for Women in Mosques" and "An Islamic Bill of Rights for Women in the Bedroom."

Although this book is about gender and identity and asserting power over one's own destiny, all these themes get rolled into a larger theme — this is a book about spirituality. It isn't surprising, given that Abdul–Ghafur serves on the Board of Directors of the Progressive Muslim Union, that her book includes several progressive contributions. So, for example, Mohja Kahf concludes her piece with two wonderful paragraphs that seem to rise out of Islam resonate across the faiths. They begin with:

"...I began to free myself of the false god who lived within, the god whose obsession is obedience. I had been battered by an internalized idea of this god. My prior clumsy attempts to make my way around him by myself gave me that crazy schizoid feeling — that I must be doing something terribly wrong in going outside the house of tradition, disobeying, while a yaqin–certainty told me that not to do so violated everything I knew to be sacred.

"And near the end, Inas Younis offers "My Son The Mystic," which grounds some of the most profound reflections on the nature of spirit in the experience of dealing with an autistic child. Her reflection runs in two directions. Looking one way, she asks: how could it be wrong for her to make room for ego when it was the absence of ego which lay at the heart of her son's disease? And looking in the opposite direction: was there not something strangely holy about her son who lived permanently in a state that only the holiest of Sufi mystics ever knows? While the challenge which Younis must confront differs considerably from the challenges of the other contributors, she follows their path insofar as she rejects a simplistic understanding of Islam and moves to a more mature engagement with her faith. Perhaps that is all any of us, whatever our faith, can or even should aspire to.

Theoblogger - a forty-something ex-lawyer theologian from Toronto dedicated to finding the nuggets beneath the mountains of crap that some try to pass off as belief.

Happy Birthday To Me!