Dear Mrs Bush and her fellow oppressed, socially subjugated and blinded female supporters,
After hearing your demeaning and malicious address aimed at us women in the Middle Eastern societies i.e. Muslims, I felt compelled to produce this reply. During what was supposedly an Economic Forum today in Jordan, you made an agenda to highlight the ‘lack of literacy, education, freedom and rights as well as the severe oppression faced by the Muslimah’. Well, Laura, it seems that you had your business suit on too tight and have become blinded by the false reassurance of your latest makeover and hairstyle. Either that, or you are completely ignorant of Islamic culture while being accustomed to the unnatural atrocities and constant humiliation faced by women in the West. Therefore I will address your speech; I will then advise YOU and YOUR society on the terrible oppression YOU as women are facing…
- Mrs. Bush, you live in a society where pornography is normal and the depiction of women in humiliating poses and demeaning acts is considered an ‘expression of freedom’. A dozen men committing animalistic acts upon a single woman is your society’s idea of a ‘turn on’. Even the advertising of a sports car or a chocolate bar requires a demeaning image of a half naked woman used as a mere visual device.
Islam forbids the performing of jobs which aim to exploit and demean a woman's femininity.
- Your society is one which deems the natural God given beauty of motherhood as a ‘hindrance to one’s career and needs to be put on hold’. You have even gone as far as demonizing child birth as a horrific and painful experience which results in ‘depression’ and ‘losing one’s curvaceous figure’.
In Islam the concept of child birth is such an honor that a woman who dies during childbirth is described as a 'martyr'.
- You live in a society where an adulterous husband is acceptable i.e. there is no law punishing such illicit behavior. Just ask your predecessor, Hilary, to know first hand the humiliation and dishonor of a cheating husband who is not held accountable. In fact pre-nuptial agreements related to mistrust within relationships even before marriages occur is now a ‘norm’ in your society.
Islam punishes the adulterer and the fornicator.
- Your society indoctrinates teenage girls through the various media forms that the preservation of one’s virginity is something shameful and a lack of 'boyfriends' a reflection of their inadequacy to attract the opposite sex.
Islam encourages marriage at an early age thus satisfying the instincts in a civilized manner, not that of promiscuous animals who have no recognition of the person they woke up with the following morning. The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: “Oh you who are young. Whoever amongst you who can afford to marry should marry”.
- Prostitutes and their Pimps on sidewalks i.e. ‘free’ women who have to sell their bodies for a living, are commonplace in your ‘free’ society.
Islam makes it obligatory upon the man to earn money to look after his family, but not for the woman. Rather it is permitted for her whether she wishes to work or does not wish to work. Allah (SWT) said: “Let the rich man (zu sa’atin) spend according to his means”. [At- Talaq: 7] (The ‘zu’ being used in the masculine gender only). And He (SWT) says: “But the father of the child shall bear the cost of the mother’s food and clothing” [Al-Baqarah: 233]
- Mrs. Bush, you spoke of the need for our women to be successful – is that the 'success' of more than 90% of female Hollywood celebrities who have had to bare their flesh or wear scantily clad dresses at award ceremonies to get any hope of recognition for their talent? Is it the same kind of 'success' that drove actress Halle Berry to be completely naked in a movie so that she could be the first African American woman to receive an Oscar?
In Islam the true meaning of success is to do that which pleases my Creator, Allah SWT , and to refrain from what he has forbidden me from – therefore attaining eternal Paradise, Inshallah.
- ‘First Lady’ you are, of a society that terms women who wish to devote their time bringing up their children and being with their husbands as ‘failures wasting their potential’. Surely Mrs. Bush, if you’d have spent more time at home with your own children instead of gallivanting around the world with your inferiority complex, surely then your daughter wouldn’t have had her drinking problem?
- Speaking of motherhood Mrs. Bush, you mentioned the importance of 'educating' mothers in your speech. Well, we all know that America has a really high opinion of 'mothers'. Phrases such as "motherf***er", "Bitch" and "Whoare" are casually and commonly used terms of the western youth who are 'educated' with your hedonistically sacrilegious pop culture. Incidentally the latter expression (whoare) was stolen by your Christian forefathers after the massacre and slaughter of innocent Muslims in the satanic Crusades. The term 'houreeh" as mentioned in the Noble Qur'an, refers to the pure chaste women of Jannah (heaven). In an attempt to deface our Islamic values, the Crusaders adopted and used the term in a derogatory manner so as to insult and corrupt the notion of the 'Women of Jannah'. Is it no coincidence Laura, that with your speech you too are attempting to achieve the same thing with the Muslimah of today?
Islam silences the tongues of those who speak badly of and slander the honor of women. The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: “Avoid the seven great destructive sins”. The people enquired,“Oh Allah’s Messenger! What are they?” He (SAW) said: “to associate partners along with Allah, to practice sorcery, to kill the life which Allah has forbidden, to eat up Riba (usury), to eat up an orphan’s wealth, to retreat in front of the enemy at the time of fighting, and to accuse chaste and unaware women believers”.
- With regards to the education you so passionately want for us – does that include the numerous books of classical English literature which glamorize adultery and fornication? Does it include the numerous daytime television programs which satisfy your society by offering them pathetic escapism from their mundane lives by showing facial makeovers, hot spas and dream homes? Is it the same education where mindless gibberish about soap operas, Hollywood gossip and movies are deemed the main topic of discussion? Does it include an education system which aims at destroying the Islamic values in turn for the self centered individualistic approach of Capitalism? Oh Laura, haven't you heard of Umm al Mu'mineen, Aisha (ra) who was a Mujthahida? Islam demands education and literacy but with our culture and values including Fiqh, Usul, Tilawa etc. Which will benefit or educate me and my children more - reading Laurence's 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' or Ibn Ishaq's 'Heyat ar Rasul'? I don't need to guess which one you've read. Indeed your quality 'education' has made your nation of cheerleading American youths to reject YOU as a role model in preference to the highly 'literate and conceptual' Britney Spears.
In Islam the pursuance of knowledge and understanding is an obligation, the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: “Seeking knowledge is obligatory upon every Muslim.”
- You spoke of domestic violence as if it was a serious disease spreading in the Middle East. How ironic coming from a woman whose society glorifies and glamorizes the beating, humiliation and rape of women through their various media forms of music and movies.
- Oh Laura! How dare you talk of the need for protection of women in the Middle East when it is an established fact that the rape rate in America is the highest in the world. What we do need protection from is your society's corrupt ideas and values which have created such an atmosphere of fear and evil that women in America are afraid to walk the streets alone at night. Even an elderly woman is afraid of answering the door, not just from a burglary but of the common possibility that she too will be gagged and gang raped by a product of your ideology. Will you deny that it's not common for a woman in America to be mugged or raped in a public place, such as the subway, and have her screams for help completely ignored?
In Islam a woman is deemed such an honor that her dignity is protected at all costs. Such is the magnitude of Islam's high view of women, that a Muslim man who dies defending his honor is given the blessing of being a martyr. The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “Whoever is killed defending his Ahal (kin) is a martyr.” The Arabic word Ahal, includes the wife, the mother and the daughter.
- So Laura, when is the ‘nip and tuck’ due or the upcoming ‘facelift’? Your oppressive society has made women so self conscious and feeling inadequate that plastic surgery is almost a fashion accessory. Is America really producing, strong, confident women if they are turning to breast implants and collagen lips for an ego boost?
The example of the woman who openly accounted Caliph Umar ibn al Khattab (ra) because of a proposal to restrict the dowry is a vivid example of the kind of supreme confidence and rights Islam empowers a woman with.
While you may correctly argue that many of the examples of oppression within the West of which I have mentioned also occur in the Muslims lands, let us be frank though, Laura dear. These issues are occurring in our societies because of our LACK of an ISLAMIC society and the cultural invasion of your Capitalist scourge within our lands. Your culture tirelessly works to turn 'Nancy Agram' and 'Ruby' into our role models and simultaneously forget Nusaybah bint Kab and Safiyah bint Abdul Mutallib (ra), yet your speech indicates that even that is not corrupt enough. I pray to Allah SWT that he gives us women of the Islamic Ummah the strength to sacrifice our wealth, energy, children and lives for the resumption of an Islamic Society so that you and your misguided counterparts can witness how a woman is truly 'liberated'.
Yours sincerely
Ahlam Amro (Umm Habibah – and proud of it)
P.S. Just to let you know, in the News today they have decided to outlaw Body Sushi in China (the eating of food from a naked woman’s body), NOT because it is completely derogatory to women but because it is now considered unhygienic. Now that’s food for thought eh Laura?
posted
Stanley, What do we mean by the liberation of women?
1. Women are equal under the law 2. They have a right to marry who they want and get a divorce if they want one 3. They cannot be told how to dress after they are adults 4. They have a right to an education, an education of their choice. 5. They own 50% of the family property with their husbands. 6. Employers cannot refuse to hire them because they are women.
Thgis is pretty basic stuff and it will become the way of life in the middle east. Islam is fine but it needs to be kept in the Mosque and out of government. We are no longer going to allow you to impose Muslim law on everyone in the country whether they want it or not.
Dear Mrs Bush and her fellow oppressed, socially subjugated and blinded female supporters,
After hearing your demeaning and malicious address aimed at us women in the Middle Eastern societies i.e. Muslims, I felt compelled to produce this reply. During what was supposedly an Economic Forum today in Jordan, you made an agenda to highlight the ‘lack of literacy, education, freedom and rights as well as the severe oppression faced by the Muslimah’. Well, Laura, it seems that you had your business suit on too tight and have become blinded by the false reassurance of your latest makeover and hairstyle. Either that, or you are completely ignorant of Islamic culture while being accustomed to the unnatural atrocities and constant humiliation faced by women in the West. Therefore I will address your speech; I will then advise YOU and YOUR society on the terrible oppression YOU as women are facing…
- Mrs. Bush, you live in a society where pornography is normal and the depiction of women in humiliating poses and demeaning acts is considered an ‘expression of freedom’. A dozen men committing animalistic acts upon a single woman is your society’s idea of a ‘turn on’. Even the advertising of a sports car or a chocolate bar requires a demeaning image of a half naked woman used as a mere visual device.
Islam forbids the performing of jobs which aim to exploit and demean a woman's femininity.
- Your society is one which deems the natural God given beauty of motherhood as a ‘hindrance to one’s career and needs to be put on hold’. You have even gone as far as demonizing child birth as a horrific and painful experience which results in ‘depression’ and ‘losing one’s curvaceous figure’.
In Islam the concept of child birth is such an honor that a woman who dies during childbirth is described as a 'martyr'.
- You live in a society where an adulterous husband is acceptable i.e. there is no law punishing such illicit behavior. Just ask your predecessor, Hilary, to know first hand the humiliation and dishonor of a cheating husband who is not held accountable. In fact pre-nuptial agreements related to mistrust within relationships even before marriages occur is now a ‘norm’ in your society.
Islam punishes the adulterer and the fornicator.
- Your society indoctrinates teenage girls through the various media forms that the preservation of one’s virginity is something shameful and a lack of 'boyfriends' a reflection of their inadequacy to attract the opposite sex.
Islam encourages marriage at an early age thus satisfying the instincts in a civilized manner, not that of promiscuous animals who have no recognition of the person they woke up with the following morning. The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: “Oh you who are young. Whoever amongst you who can afford to marry should marry”.
- Prostitutes and their Pimps on sidewalks i.e. ‘free’ women who have to sell their bodies for a living, are commonplace in your ‘free’ society.
Islam makes it obligatory upon the man to earn money to look after his family, but not for the woman. Rather it is permitted for her whether she wishes to work or does not wish to work. Allah (SWT) said: “Let the rich man (zu sa’atin) spend according to his means”. [At- Talaq: 7] (The ‘zu’ being used in the masculine gender only). And He (SWT) says: “But the father of the child shall bear the cost of the mother’s food and clothing” [Al-Baqarah: 233]
- Mrs. Bush, you spoke of the need for our women to be successful – is that the 'success' of more than 90% of female Hollywood celebrities who have had to bare their flesh or wear scantily clad dresses at award ceremonies to get any hope of recognition for their talent? Is it the same kind of 'success' that drove actress Halle Berry to be completely naked in a movie so that she could be the first African American woman to receive an Oscar?
In Islam the true meaning of success is to do that which pleases my Creator, Allah SWT , and to refrain from what he has forbidden me from – therefore attaining eternal Paradise, Inshallah.
- ‘First Lady’ you are, of a society that terms women who wish to devote their time bringing up their children and being with their husbands as ‘failures wasting their potential’. Surely Mrs. Bush, if you’d have spent more time at home with your own children instead of gallivanting around the world with your inferiority complex, surely then your daughter wouldn’t have had her drinking problem?
- Speaking of motherhood Mrs. Bush, you mentioned the importance of 'educating' mothers in your speech. Well, we all know that America has a really high opinion of 'mothers'. Phrases such as "motherf***er", "Bitch" and "Whoare" are casually and commonly used terms of the western youth who are 'educated' with your hedonistically sacrilegious pop culture. Incidentally the latter expression (whoare) was stolen by your Christian forefathers after the massacre and slaughter of innocent Muslims in the satanic Crusades. The term 'houreeh" as mentioned in the Noble Qur'an, refers to the pure chaste women of Jannah (heaven). In an attempt to deface our Islamic values, the Crusaders adopted and used the term in a derogatory manner so as to insult and corrupt the notion of the 'Women of Jannah'. Is it no coincidence Laura, that with your speech you too are attempting to achieve the same thing with the Muslimah of today?
Islam silences the tongues of those who speak badly of and slander the honor of women. The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: “Avoid the seven great destructive sins”. The people enquired,“Oh Allah’s Messenger! What are they?” He (SAW) said: “to associate partners along with Allah, to practice sorcery, to kill the life which Allah has forbidden, to eat up Riba (usury), to eat up an orphan’s wealth, to retreat in front of the enemy at the time of fighting, and to accuse chaste and unaware women believers”.
- With regards to the education you so passionately want for us – does that include the numerous books of classical English literature which glamorize adultery and fornication? Does it include the numerous daytime television programs which satisfy your society by offering them pathetic escapism from their mundane lives by showing facial makeovers, hot spas and dream homes? Is it the same education where mindless gibberish about soap operas, Hollywood gossip and movies are deemed the main topic of discussion? Does it include an education system which aims at destroying the Islamic values in turn for the self centered individualistic approach of Capitalism? Oh Laura, haven't you heard of Umm al Mu'mineen, Aisha (ra) who was a Mujthahida? Islam demands education and literacy but with our culture and values including Fiqh, Usul, Tilawa etc. Which will benefit or educate me and my children more - reading Laurence's 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' or Ibn Ishaq's 'Heyat ar Rasul'? I don't need to guess which one you've read. Indeed your quality 'education' has made your nation of cheerleading American youths to reject YOU as a role model in preference to the highly 'literate and conceptual' Britney Spears.
In Islam the pursuance of knowledge and understanding is an obligation, the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: “Seeking knowledge is obligatory upon every Muslim.”
- You spoke of domestic violence as if it was a serious disease spreading in the Middle East. How ironic coming from a woman whose society glorifies and glamorizes the beating, humiliation and rape of women through their various media forms of music and movies.
- Oh Laura! How dare you talk of the need for protection of women in the Middle East when it is an established fact that the rape rate in America is the highest in the world. What we do need protection from is your society's corrupt ideas and values which have created such an atmosphere of fear and evil that women in America are afraid to walk the streets alone at night. Even an elderly woman is afraid of answering the door, not just from a burglary but of the common possibility that she too will be gagged and gang raped by a product of your ideology. Will you deny that it's not common for a woman in America to be mugged or raped in a public place, such as the subway, and have her screams for help completely ignored?
In Islam a woman is deemed such an honor that her dignity is protected at all costs. Such is the magnitude of Islam's high view of women, that a Muslim man who dies defending his honor is given the blessing of being a martyr. The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “Whoever is killed defending his Ahal (kin) is a martyr.” The Arabic word Ahal, includes the wife, the mother and the daughter.
- So Laura, when is the ‘nip and tuck’ due or the upcoming ‘facelift’? Your oppressive society has made women so self conscious and feeling inadequate that plastic surgery is almost a fashion accessory. Is America really producing, strong, confident women if they are turning to breast implants and collagen lips for an ego boost?
The example of the woman who openly accounted Caliph Umar ibn al Khattab (ra) because of a proposal to restrict the dowry is a vivid example of the kind of supreme confidence and rights Islam empowers a woman with.
While you may correctly argue that many of the examples of oppression within the West of which I have mentioned also occur in the Muslims lands, let us be frank though, Laura dear. These issues are occurring in our societies because of our LACK of an ISLAMIC society and the cultural invasion of your Capitalist scourge within our lands. Your culture tirelessly works to turn 'Nancy Agram' and 'Ruby' into our role models and simultaneously forget Nusaybah bint Kab and Safiyah bint Abdul Mutallib (ra), yet your speech indicates that even that is not corrupt enough. I pray to Allah SWT that he gives us women of the Islamic Ummah the strength to sacrifice our wealth, energy, children and lives for the resumption of an Islamic Society so that you and your misguided counterparts can witness how a woman is truly 'liberated'.
Yours sincerely
Ahlam Amro (Umm Habibah – and proud of it)
P.S. Just to let you know, in the News today they have decided to outlaw Body Sushi in China (the eating of food from a naked woman’s body), NOT because it is completely derogatory to women but because it is now considered unhygienic. Now that’s food for thought eh Laura?
Subhanallah ! I LOVED TO READ THIS!!! tHANK YOU
Naturally people will try to dispute this because misery loves company, but wallahi I think you hit this one PERFECTLY. Salaam.
Posts: 1706 | From: Dallas, Texas, USA | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
What a load of rubbish. Even I know that Mrs. Bush speaks out against the things you list in her own country. Education of women is a problem in the Middle East and Africa. To deny that is to choose to be deaf, dumb and blind. What a disservice to women everywhere. And, Noor, with all the education you claim, how can you deny that to other women and not speak up. I would think you would stand up and let your voice be heard loud and clear on the rights of women. Women aren't even allowed to drive themselves in Saudi Arabia. Is that right? NO! Women hold up half of the sky and should be able to choose their own life. And don't give me that rubbish about women having more freedom under Islam. We all know the religion may say that but culturally it's just not being implemented in many countries.
Posts: 34 | From: London, UK | Registered: May 2005
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Lassie, This is what we mean when we talk about bringing these people out of the 7th century. They are going to lose on this issue. The trend of history for the last few centuries in toward MORE freedom, not less. You don't discriminate against someone based on what kind of reproductive organs they have. When you see the car bombs go off it is the last gasp of the old order in the middle east.
Posts: 5822 | From: USA | Registered: Jan 2004
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posted
Just saw on TV recently a bit on an American Muslim woman who is leading a movement for the rights of Muslim women. Her family was from Pakistan I believe. She has a book called "Standing Alone in Mecca." She has been praying with the men in her local mosque, the one her father founded, and has been meeting resistence. Here's something I found on her:
"As President Bush is preparing to invade Iraq, Wall Street Journal correspondent Asra Nomani embarks on a dangerous journey from Middle America to the Middle East to join more than two million fellow Muslims on the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca required of all Muslims once in their lifetime. Mecca is Islam's most sacred city and strictly off limits to non-Muslims. On a journey perilous enough for any American reporter, Nomani is determined to take along her infant son, Shibli -- living proof that she, an unmarried Muslim woman, is guilty of zina, or "illegal sex." If she is found out, the puritanical Islamic law of the Wahabbis in Saudi Arabia may mete out terrifying punishment. But Nomani discovers she is not alone. She is following in the four-thousand-year-old footsteps of another single mother, Hajar (known in the West as Hagar), the original pilgrim to Mecca and mother of the Islamic nation.
Each day of her hajj evokes for Nomani the history of a different Muslim matriarch: Eve, from whom she learns about sin and redemption; Hajar, the single mother abandoned in the desert who teaches her about courage; Khadijah, the first benefactor of Islam and trailblazer for a Muslim woman's right to self-determination; and Aisha, the favorite wife of the Prophet Muhammad and Islam's first female theologian. Inspired by these heroic Muslim women, Nomani returns to America to confront the sexism and intolerance in her local mosque and to fight for the rights of modern Muslim women who are tired of standing alone against the repressive rules and regulations imposed by reactionary fundamentalists.
Nomani shows how many of the freedoms enjoyed centuries ago have been erased by the conservative brand of Islam practiced today, giving the West a false image of Muslim women as veiled and isolated from the world. Standing Alone in Mecca is a personal narrative, relating the modern-day lives of the author and other Muslim women to the lives of those who came before, bringing the changing face of women in Islam into focus through the unique lens of the hajj. Interweaving reportage, political analysis, cultural history, and spiritual travelogue, this is a modern woman's jihad, offering for Westerners a never-before-seen look inside the heart of Islam and the emerging role of Muslim women."
She seems to have quite a following.
Posts: 34 | From: London, UK | Registered: May 2005
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| For Children | Post 9/11 | Progressive Islam | Reclaiming Women's Rights | Zafar Nomani |
Daily News: My answered prayer Daily News March 20, 2005
My answered prayer
By ASRA Q. NOMANI
Friday, March 18, 2005, will be remembered as the day when about 130 Muslim women and men stood shoulder-to-shoulder behind a woman on Manhattan's upper West Side and took their faith back from the extremists who had tried to define Islam on Sept. 11, 2001. I was proud to be in the front row.
On that clear day in the Synod House on the campus of St. John the Divine, this band of Muslims braved death threats and changed the course of history for not only Muslim women, but for Islam.
Outside, Muslim protesters damned us for daring to defy centuries of tradition that force women into the shadows in not only the mosque but the Muslim world. One sign read "Gender Mixed Prayer Today. Hell Fire Tomorrow." The Internet buzzed with an E-mail with the subject: "Stop Women from Leading Friday Mixed Prayers."
In the quiet of our sacred space, though, Amina Wadud, a scholar of Islam at Virginia Commonwealth University, took her place before me, the first woman in the modern day to lead women and men in a public Friday prayer.
I beamed. After a bomb threat had forced a SoHo gallery owner to rescind his offer to host our prayer, I searched desperately for a new venue. After call after call to alternative sites ended with discussions about "liability" and "insurance," I trembled at the power of the extremists. But then I called Mary Lyons, a coordinator at St. John, and she offered the Synod House.
"Why are you helping us?" I asked.
"Why not?" she answered. Indeed, why not. Why not allow women to reclaim their rights within Islam? Why not open the doors of the Muslim world? Why not practice what Islam preaches about justice, tolerance and women's rights?
We had realized our dream to move from the back of the mosque to the front. We had created a new reality in the Muslim world. A Muslim man greeted me with respect and kindness. A woman freely breast-fed her baby below her shirt. I stood before the congregation and introduced an Islamic Bill of Rights for Women in the Mosque.
I saw tears in the eyes of a woman from my hometown in Morgantown, W.Va., where we had been told a woman's voice is not to be heard in the mosque.
Another woman, Suehyla El-Attar, sang to the heavens the call to prayer that is heard throughout the Muslim world only through the voices of men. And I sang with a woman, Saleemah Abdul-Ghafur, as she led us in chanting, "Oh light. Oh light. Oh light," 33 times. We are the light. We reject the darkness.
New York City has been a beacon to the world for its courage after 9/11. Our prayer makes New York a city of light to the Muslim world. As Wadud said her final blessings, I turned to Abdul-Ghafur, an Atlanta writer and activist who helped me organize the prayer, along with the sponsorship of MuslimWakeUp.com, and I exclaimed: "We did it!"
I haven't been able to stop smiling ever since.
Nomani is the author of "Standing Alone in Mecca: An American Woman's Struggle for the Soul of Islam."
Posts: 34 | From: London, UK | Registered: May 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Yi Peng: I also question why Muslim men can have 4 wifes and Muslim women can only have 1 husband. This is not liberation. The best is 1 man, 1 wife.
"Best" is a relative term. Maybe for you but people should be able to choose. Don't know many women who'd want to put up with more than one hubby and men don't share well. If a woman chooses to be married to a man who has more than one wife, that's fine with me. I see nothing wrong with it.
Posts: 34 | From: London, UK | Registered: May 2005
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Dear Mrs Bush and her fellow oppressed, socially subjugated and blinded female supporters,
After hearing your demeaning and malicious address aimed at us women in the Middle Eastern societies i.e. Muslims, I felt compelled to produce this reply. During what was supposedly an Economic Forum today in Jordan, you made an agenda to highlight the ‘lack of literacy, education, freedom and rights as well as the severe oppression faced by the Muslimah’. Well, Laura, it seems that you had your business suit on too tight and have become blinded by the false reassurance of your latest makeover and hairstyle. Either that, or you are completely ignorant of Islamic culture while being accustomed to the unnatural atrocities and constant humiliation faced by women in the West. Therefore I will address your speech; I will then advise YOU and YOUR society on the terrible oppression YOU as women are facing…
- Mrs. Bush, you live in a society where pornography is normal and the depiction of women in humiliating poses and demeaning acts is considered an ‘expression of freedom’. A dozen men committing animalistic acts upon a single woman is your society’s idea of a ‘turn on’. Even the advertising of a sports car or a chocolate bar requires a demeaning image of a half naked woman used as a mere visual device.
Islam forbids the performing of jobs which aim to exploit and demean a woman's femininity.
- Your society is one which deems the natural God given beauty of motherhood as a ‘hindrance to one’s career and needs to be put on hold’. You have even gone as far as demonizing child birth as a horrific and painful experience which results in ‘depression’ and ‘losing one’s curvaceous figure’.
In Islam the concept of child birth is such an honor that a woman who dies during childbirth is described as a 'martyr'.
- You live in a society where an adulterous husband is acceptable i.e. there is no law punishing such illicit behavior. Just ask your predecessor, Hilary, to know first hand the humiliation and dishonor of a cheating husband who is not held accountable. In fact pre-nuptial agreements related to mistrust within relationships even before marriages occur is now a ‘norm’ in your society.
Islam punishes the adulterer and the fornicator.
- Your society indoctrinates teenage girls through the various media forms that the preservation of one’s virginity is something shameful and a lack of 'boyfriends' a reflection of their inadequacy to attract the opposite sex.
Islam encourages marriage at an early age thus satisfying the instincts in a civilized manner, not that of promiscuous animals who have no recognition of the person they woke up with the following morning. The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: “Oh you who are young. Whoever amongst you who can afford to marry should marry”.
- Prostitutes and their Pimps on sidewalks i.e. ‘free’ women who have to sell their bodies for a living, are commonplace in your ‘free’ society.
Islam makes it obligatory upon the man to earn money to look after his family, but not for the woman. Rather it is permitted for her whether she wishes to work or does not wish to work. Allah (SWT) said: “Let the rich man (zu sa’atin) spend according to his means”. [At- Talaq: 7] (The ‘zu’ being used in the masculine gender only). And He (SWT) says: “But the father of the child shall bear the cost of the mother’s food and clothing” [Al-Baqarah: 233]
- Mrs. Bush, you spoke of the need for our women to be successful – is that the 'success' of more than 90% of female Hollywood celebrities who have had to bare their flesh or wear scantily clad dresses at award ceremonies to get any hope of recognition for their talent? Is it the same kind of 'success' that drove actress Halle Berry to be completely naked in a movie so that she could be the first African American woman to receive an Oscar?
In Islam the true meaning of success is to do that which pleases my Creator, Allah SWT , and to refrain from what he has forbidden me from – therefore attaining eternal Paradise, Inshallah.
- ‘First Lady’ you are, of a society that terms women who wish to devote their time bringing up their children and being with their husbands as ‘failures wasting their potential’. Surely Mrs. Bush, if you’d have spent more time at home with your own children instead of gallivanting around the world with your inferiority complex, surely then your daughter wouldn’t have had her drinking problem?
- Speaking of motherhood Mrs. Bush, you mentioned the importance of 'educating' mothers in your speech. Well, we all know that America has a really high opinion of 'mothers'. Phrases such as "motherf***er", "Bitch" and "Whoare" are casually and commonly used terms of the western youth who are 'educated' with your hedonistically sacrilegious pop culture. Incidentally the latter expression (whoare) was stolen by your Christian forefathers after the massacre and slaughter of innocent Muslims in the satanic Crusades. The term 'houreeh" as mentioned in the Noble Qur'an, refers to the pure chaste women of Jannah (heaven). In an attempt to deface our Islamic values, the Crusaders adopted and used the term in a derogatory manner so as to insult and corrupt the notion of the 'Women of Jannah'. Is it no coincidence Laura, that with your speech you too are attempting to achieve the same thing with the Muslimah of today?
Islam silences the tongues of those who speak badly of and slander the honor of women. The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: “Avoid the seven great destructive sins”. The people enquired,“Oh Allah’s Messenger! What are they?” He (SAW) said: “to associate partners along with Allah, to practice sorcery, to kill the life which Allah has forbidden, to eat up Riba (usury), to eat up an orphan’s wealth, to retreat in front of the enemy at the time of fighting, and to accuse chaste and unaware women believers”.
- With regards to the education you so passionately want for us – does that include the numerous books of classical English literature which glamorize adultery and fornication? Does it include the numerous daytime television programs which satisfy your society by offering them pathetic escapism from their mundane lives by showing facial makeovers, hot spas and dream homes? Is it the same education where mindless gibberish about soap operas, Hollywood gossip and movies are deemed the main topic of discussion? Does it include an education system which aims at destroying the Islamic values in turn for the self centered individualistic approach of Capitalism? Oh Laura, haven't you heard of Umm al Mu'mineen, Aisha (ra) who was a Mujthahida? Islam demands education and literacy but with our culture and values including Fiqh, Usul, Tilawa etc. Which will benefit or educate me and my children more - reading Laurence's 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' or Ibn Ishaq's 'Heyat ar Rasul'? I don't need to guess which one you've read. Indeed your quality 'education' has made your nation of cheerleading American youths to reject YOU as a role model in preference to the highly 'literate and conceptual' Britney Spears.
In Islam the pursuance of knowledge and understanding is an obligation, the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: “Seeking knowledge is obligatory upon every Muslim.”
- You spoke of domestic violence as if it was a serious disease spreading in the Middle East. How ironic coming from a woman whose society glorifies and glamorizes the beating, humiliation and rape of women through their various media forms of music and movies.
- Oh Laura! How dare you talk of the need for protection of women in the Middle East when it is an established fact that the rape rate in America is the highest in the world. What we do need protection from is your society's corrupt ideas and values which have created such an atmosphere of fear and evil that women in America are afraid to walk the streets alone at night. Even an elderly woman is afraid of answering the door, not just from a burglary but of the common possibility that she too will be gagged and gang raped by a product of your ideology. Will you deny that it's not common for a woman in America to be mugged or raped in a public place, such as the subway, and have her screams for help completely ignored?
In Islam a woman is deemed such an honor that her dignity is protected at all costs. Such is the magnitude of Islam's high view of women, that a Muslim man who dies defending his honor is given the blessing of being a martyr. The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “Whoever is killed defending his Ahal (kin) is a martyr.” The Arabic word Ahal, includes the wife, the mother and the daughter.
- So Laura, when is the ‘nip and tuck’ due or the upcoming ‘facelift’? Your oppressive society has made women so self conscious and feeling inadequate that plastic surgery is almost a fashion accessory. Is America really producing, strong, confident women if they are turning to breast implants and collagen lips for an ego boost?
The example of the woman who openly accounted Caliph Umar ibn al Khattab (ra) because of a proposal to restrict the dowry is a vivid example of the kind of supreme confidence and rights Islam empowers a woman with.
While you may correctly argue that many of the examples of oppression within the West of which I have mentioned also occur in the Muslims lands, let us be frank though, Laura dear. These issues are occurring in our societies because of our LACK of an ISLAMIC society and the cultural invasion of your Capitalist scourge within our lands. Your culture tirelessly works to turn 'Nancy Agram' and 'Ruby' into our role models and simultaneously forget Nusaybah bint Kab and Safiyah bint Abdul Mutallib (ra), yet your speech indicates that even that is not corrupt enough. I pray to Allah SWT that he gives us women of the Islamic Ummah the strength to sacrifice our wealth, energy, children and lives for the resumption of an Islamic Society so that you and your misguided counterparts can witness how a woman is truly 'liberated'.
Yours sincerely
Ahlam Amro (Umm Habibah – and proud of it)
P.S. Just to let you know, in the News today they have decided to outlaw Body Sushi in China (the eating of food from a naked woman’s body), NOT because it is completely derogatory to women but because it is now considered unhygienic. Now that’s food for thought eh Laura?
I think the issue of this letter written was interesting. Why do people think they should give advice when their own lives are screwed up? Not only that, giving advice on women's issues when the issues of women in her own country are so skewed. I will agree, Laura Bush seems like a good person. I won't hit someone for no reason. She does a lot for women's issues. When I saw her on the news giving lectures around the world, speaking to women in middle eastern countries, I thought, 'why?'. Isn't she the first lady of America?? WAllahi help your own country's women FIRST believe me, you have a lot of issues here to keep you busy for many many terms!
[This message has been edited by nooralhaq (edited 26 May 2005).]
Posts: 1706 | From: Dallas, Texas, USA | Registered: Nov 2004
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I read the speeches Mrs. Bush gave in Jordan and Egypt. They were about:
1. All children should receive an education - boys and girls. 2. Women should be allow to participate in the political process of their country through the right to vote and to hold public office if they want.
Which of these two do you disagree with?
Posts: 34 | From: London, UK | Registered: May 2005
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I think that is correct Noor. They should be able to do it everywhere. Now in both Iraq and Afghanistan they not only vote but hold public office as well.
Posts: 5822 | From: USA | Registered: Jan 2004
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quote:Originally posted by nooralhaq: do they not do this in Jordan and Egypt?
She complimented both Jordan and Egypt in her speeches for their accomplishments in education. But spoke on the fact that this is, sadly, not the case everywhere. Now, what do you not agree with.
Posts: 34 | From: London, UK | Registered: May 2005
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once again, the issue is simply that as the wife of the President of the United States of America, it seems to me her place would be better suited in America taking care of the problems there. Would we like it if the wife of the Afghan president came here to speak out on women's issues? Wouldn't we kind of question it? The question isn't as simple as you state, that is a set up question that requires only one sane response. You need to ask different questions.
Posts: 1706 | From: Dallas, Texas, USA | Registered: Nov 2004
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quote:Originally posted by nooralhaq: once again, the issue is simply that as the wife of the President of the United States of America, it seems to me her place would be better suited in America taking care of the problems there. Would we like it if the wife of the Afghan president came here to speak out on women's issues? Wouldn't we kind of question it? The question isn't as simple as you state, that is a set up question that requires only one sane response. You need to ask different questions.
She had been invited to speak to an international conference in Jordan. She has the right to accept. She was invited to Egypt by the Egyptian president's wife where she toured schools for women. Women should speak out for other women no matter where they are. You can't tell me that other international figures don't come to the US and speak out on social issues. I see it on the news.
Posts: 34 | From: London, UK | Registered: May 2005
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how much money do jordan and egypt governments get from usa again? I keep forgetting
Posts: 166 | From: Cairo, Egypt | Registered: May 2005
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