Death for leaving Islam?

A new draft bill before a committee of Pakistan's National Assembly would require men who leave Islam to be put to death. Women convicted of "apostasy" would be sentenced to life in prison.
Under the Apostasy Act 2006, the testimony of two adults that another person has left the Muslim religion — or a confession by the accused — is all that would be needed for conviction if the bill is adopted into law. The accused would be given up to 30 days to renounce the decision and return to Islam, yet even then still could be punished by up to two years in prison. All property belonging to an offender would be forfeited to Muslim relatives as well as custody of their children.

To read more click here

Malaysian Christian convert loses battle in court to have the word "Islam' removed from ID card

Malaysia's best-known Christian convert, Lina Joy, has lost a six-year battle to have the word "Islam" removed from her identity card, after the country's highest court rejected the change.
The court's ruling helps define religious freedoms in multi-racial Malaysia, whose constitution guarantees freedom of worship but deems all ethnic Malays like Joy to be Muslims, subject to Islamic laws that bar her conversion to another faith.
"You can't at whim and fancy convert from one religion to another," Federal Court Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim said in delivering judgment in the case, which has stirred religious tensions in the mainly Muslim nation.
About 200 Muslims, mostly youths, had gathered outside the domed courthouse for the ruling. They welcomed the news with shouts of "Allah-o-Akbar" (God is great).
The three-judge appeal bench ruled 2-1 against Joy. The dissenting judge was the only non-Muslim on the bench.
The chief justice said the country's highest civil court had no jurisdiction in the case and said it should be dealt with by the country's Islamic or sharia court system.
"The issue of apostasy is related to Islamic law, so it's under the sharia court. The civil court cannot intervene," Ahmad Fairuz said.
In practice, sharia courts do not allow Muslims to formally renounce Islam.
They often end up in legal limbo, unable to register their new religious affiliations or legally marry non-Muslims. Many keep silent about their choice or emigrate.

Read full story at The Sydney Morning Herald

Christian Convert Fights Malaysian Law

Lina Joy has been disowned by her family, shunned by friends and forced into hiding - all because she renounced Islam and embraced Christianity in Muslim-majority Malaysia.
Now, after a seven-year legal struggle, Malaysia's highest court will decide on Wednesday whether her constitutional right to choose her religion overrides an Islamic law that prohibits Malay Muslims from leaving Islam.
Either way, the verdict will have profound implications on society in a country where Islam is increasingly conflicting with minority religions, challenging Malaysia's reputation as a moderate Muslim and multicultural nation that guarantees freedom of worship.
Joy's case began in 1998 when, after converting, she applied for a name change on her government identity card. The National Registration Department obliged but refused to drop Muslim from the religion column.
She appealed the decision to a civil court but was told she must take it to Islamic Shariah courts. But Joy, 42, has argued that she should not be bound by Shariah law because she is a Christian.
Subsequent appeals all ruled that the Shariah court should decide the case until it reached the highest court, the Federal Court, which will make the final decision on whether Muslims who renounce their faith must still answer to the country's Islamic courts.
About 60 percent of Malaysia's 26 million people are Malay Muslims, whose civil, family, marriage and personal rights are decided by Shariah courts. The minorities - the ethnic Chinese, Indians and other smaller communities - are governed by civil courts.
But the constitution does not say who has the final say in cases such as Joy's when Islam confronts Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism or other religions.

If Joy loses her appeal and continues to insist she is a Christian, it could lead to charges of apostasy and a possible jail sentence.

Read on complete article here at Forbes.com

The number of Maldivians leaving Islam is increasing...

Ever since 'the great king Gadanaadeethiya the Prosperous" beheaded the last remaining Buddhist monks and drove those who would not embrace islam out of their villages in 1194 AD, Islam has been the state religion of Maldives except for the period reigned by King Monoel (otherwise known as King Hassan IX). Even in recent times in an effort to enforce this conformity, the government of Mullah Maumoon and his Arab ideologues have come up with the "Dhivehi Raiyithunge Deenee Ebbaivanthakamuge Gaanoon".
But the unprecedented access to information is having its effects. More people are choosing to follow the dictates of their conscience. Some are becoming athiests. Others are reverting to Buddhism, religion of our forefathers. And others are accepting Jesus Christ as their Saviour.
Even the Maldivian Muslims are now diverging. While a strong group of Arab educated missionaries are spreading their vision of Islam (Wahhabism, Sakafism, etc) , other Maldivians are beginning to interprete Islam in their own way.
Some Maldivian Muslims are trying to find answers without the use of the Hadiths. They are not restrained by the thought that without Hadiths and Sirat, no one can know anything about Mohammed or the history of Islam. even though you cannot even understand the Quran and its context without the help from Hadiths and Tafseers (Which inturn relies on Hadiths) and you cannot even have Pillars of islam without these sources it is not holding them back.
It is all coming to the point where sooner rather than later, people must be allowed to follow their conscience regarding religion.

Head of the Al-Azhar Hadith Department explains how Breastfeeding Allows a Woman to Be With a Man in Private

Dr. Izzat Atiyya explained his fatwa in an interview with Al-Watani Al-Yawm, the weekly of Egypt's ruling National Democratic Front party. He said: "The religious ruling that appears in the Prophet's conduct [Sunna] confirms that breastfeeding allows a man and a woman to be together in private, even if they are not family and if the woman did not nurse the man in his infancy, before he was weaned - providing that their being together serves some purpose, religious or secular...
"Being together in private means being in a room with the door closed, so that nobody can see them... A man and a woman who are not family members are not permitted [to do this], because it raises suspicions and doubts. A man and a woman who are alone together are not [necessarily] having sex, but this possibility exists, and breastfeeding provides a solution to this problem... I also insist that the breastfeeding relationship be officially documented in writing... The contract will state that this woman has suckled this man... After this, the woman may remove her hijab and expose her hair in the man's [presence]...
Dr. Atiyya further explained that the breastfeeding does not necessarily have to be done by the woman herself. "The important point," he said, "is that the man and the woman must be related through breastfeeding. [This can also be achieved] by means of the man's mother or sister suckling the woman, or by means of the woman's mother or sister suckling the man, since [all of these solutions legally] turn them into brother and sister...
"The logic behind [the concept] of breastfeeding an adult is to transform the bestial relationship between [two people] into a religious relationship based on [religious] duties... Since [this] breastfeeding takes place between [two] adults, the man is still permitted to marry the woman [who breastfed him], whereas [a woman] who nursed [a man] in his infancy is not permitted to marry him...
"The adult must suckle directly from the [woman's] breast... [This according to a hadith attributed to Aisha, wife of the Prophet's Muhammad], which tells of Salem [the adopted son of Abu Hudheifa] who was breastfed by Abu-Hudheifa's wife when he was already a grown man with a beard, by the Prophet's order... Other methods, such as [transferring] the milk to a container, are [less desirable]...
"[As for the possibility of using a breast-pump, which] increases the production of the milk glands... that is a matter for doctors and religious scholars who must determine if the milk [thus produced] is real milk, i.e., if its composition is identical to that of the [woman's] original milk. If it is, this method is permissible...
Dr. Atiyya also said: "The fact that the hadith regarding the breastfeeding of an adult is inconceivable to the mind does not make it invalid. This is a reliable hadith, and rejecting it is tantamount to rejecting Allah's Messenger and questioning the Prophet's tradition."

With thanks to THE MIDDLE EAST MEDIA RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Note: In response to the uproar caused by the fatwa, Al-Azhar university formed a committee of several experts on hadiths to investigate the matter. After examination, Al-Azhar has suspended Dr. Atiyya.

Question: Does anyone know if Dr. Atiya has been among the missionaries from Al-Azhar who visit Maldives every year and if he has given "waul" at Islaamee marukaz?

More of Great Muslim Scientific Inventions

The womens bicycle with a cabin which conceals half of the cyclist's body is now scheduled to appear in Maldives very soon. To this list we are today proudly adding the - Auto Wudu Washer. Read on.....













An automated Wudu (ablution) system that promises Muslims a time-efficient performance before each prayer has won qualified approval from scholars in the UAE.
The Auto Wudu Washer, developed by a Malaysian and endorsed by the Islamic Council of Qatar and Islamic Council of New South Wales, claims to be the world's first automatic pre-prayer washing and drying system.
"It has inbuilt washing units for ear, face, hands and foot, which allows a person to perform all functions without water spillage," said Anthony Gomez, chairman of AACE Worldwide and developer of the system, which will be displayed in Dubai this month.
Shaikh Ahmad Zu Al Nourain, member of the Iftaa Committee, said the device can be used provided it completely washes the body parts. Shaikh Mohammad Al Hakami, a religious scholar, said any technology that helps Muslims perform their religious duties properly is welcome.


With thanks to Dina Aboul Hosn, Staff Reporter, Gulfnews.

Azhar University professors fatwa allows "BREASTFEEDING COLLEAGUES"

The only way to remain in private with a female colleague in the workplace is to let her breastfeed you, according to a fatwa (Egyptian religious decree) of two theologists from al-Azhar which has sparked scandals and polemics in the Egyptian media over the past days. The Islam bans a person from being in private in one and the same room with a person from the opposite sex - unless they are married or have close relations (parents and children, brothers and sisters, and so forth).
The fatwa in question was issued recently by Izat Atiyah and Abd el-Mahdi Abd el-Kader, professors at the Cairo-based al-Azhar University, the world's most important centre of Sunni theology. According to them, a woman can lift her veil and remain in private with a male colleague at their workplace only if she had breastfed him five times already.
"Entering a public office you should not be surprised if you one day happen upon a 50-year-old employee who is sucking milk from his colleague," ridiculed the al-Distur independent newspaper. A theologian from al-Azhar judged as "senseless" the discussion of a topic of the kind. "If the al-Azhar Mufti himself said such things, he would be a non-respected person and would be considered crazy," theologian Malika Yussef said, quoted by the independent daily al-Karama.
Another al-Azhar theologian, Mabruk Attia, believes that the fatwa in question is a wrong interpretation of a "particular case" from the times of Prophet Mohammed. The latter is believed to have advised a woman to give milk to her adopted son, already grown up, in order to become his milk mother, after adoption was banned by the Islam. The woman gave him her milk to drink from a container, and not via direct breast feeding.
With thanks to ANSAmed

When will Nasheed stop blabbering about Golhaabo and answer my question?

Probably never.
I asked the questions of the esteemed Minister-Blogger in his comments box a few days back. I tried today again to get a response out of him by writing another comment. But this was the answer - Too many comments have been submitted from you in a short period of time. Please try again in a short while.
Maybe I have been relegated to the one-stupid-question-a-week category. I will not be surprised if I am banned altogether-
Soon after I visted Nasheed, a Subhaanahoo Watha Aala Team (SWAT) was there from the Maldives Islamic Blog Police (or Men In Buruga People as I call them). Their agent, a Mr. Sameeu promptly classified me as a Christian missionary and accused me of supporting Israel and Western Imperialism among other things. He is wrong on everything except my support for Israel.
I asked serious questions regarding Maldivian culture, history and the dissemination of information.

Has the traditional "rumaa falhi" been officially replaced by the black burugaa in the womens national costume?
Do you think that wearing the Arabic black burugaa instead of the "rumaa falhi" is an accurate depiction of Maldivian traditional costume and culture?

Mr. Nasheed is too busy blabbering about the Golhaabo nickname to answer me. He is also conveniently forgetting all the slander, libel and dehumanizing of Jews that Maldivians are practising. It is almost impossible to go through a day without hearing that the Jews are this or that or they are to blame for all the troubles of this world.
I am still hoping that the esteemed Minister-Blogger will find the time and inclination to respond to my query and not cave into the intimidation of the MIBP.

Coming to Maldives in the near future - Dress code enforcement

'My father sold me'

SHABANA, A pretty Afghan teenager with a modern haircut, was 12 years old when she was forced to marry a man 38 years her senior to settle her father's 600-dollar gambling debt. Two years later, she is unhappy and angry. She doesn't like her husband, 52-year-old farmer Mohammad Asef.
"He is wild - he destroyed my hopes," she said in their humble mudbrick home in the northern province of Balkh, speaking out only when Asef went into another room to take a call. She doesn't get on with her husband's first wife, who is aged 42 and lives with them. And she is disgusted with her father. "He sold me," she told AFP.

Read the full story at WomenOne.org.

Chicks with Sticks

Coming to Dhivehistan soon - A bike with a cabin that will encourage women's sports...

Iran is to start manufacturing "Islamic bicycles" for women that conceal their figure.
"This bike has a cabin which conceals half of the cyclist's body," said Elaheh Sofali, an architect of the project. "It would encourage women's sports."
Faezeh Hashemi, a daughter of former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, was instrumental in encouraging women to take to the saddle in the 1990s when she was in charge of women's participation in the Olympics.
But she was opposed by Islamic hardliners.

From Gulf Daily News

OIC: ‘Islamophobia Worst Form of Terrorism’

The worst form of terrorism. Worse than flying commericial airliners into high-rise office buildings. Worse than beheading preteen Christian girls on their way to school. Worse than launching attacks from civilian areas in order to use retaliatory actions to score propaganda points. The worst form of terrorism.

And with Ban Ki-Moon vowing to do the OIC's bidding more zealously than ever, watch for the UN to call for muzzling of all "criticism of Islam," i.e., exploration of the elements of Islam that the jihadists are using to encourage violence. And that will allow the jihadists to operate unhindered.

"‘Islamophobia Worst Form of Terrorism,’" by Siraj Wahab for Arab News, with thanks to LGF:

ISLAMABAD, 17 May 2007 — Foreign ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) yesterday expressed grave concern at the rising tide of discrimination and intolerance against Muslims, especially in Europe and North America. “It is something that has assumed xenophobic proportions,” they said in unison.
Speaking at a special brainstorming session on the sidelines of the 34th Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers (ICFM), the foreign ministers termed Islamophobia the worst form of terrorism and called for practical steps to counter it.
The ministers described Islamophobia as a deliberate defamation of Islam and discrimination and intolerance against Muslims. “This campaign of calumny against Muslims resulted in the publication of the blasphemous cartoons depicting Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in a Danish newspaper and the issuance of the inflammatory statement by Pope Benedict XVI,” they said. During a speech in Germany last year, the Pope quoted a 14th Century Christian emperor who said the Prophet had brought the world only “evil and inhuman” things. The Pope’s remarks aroused the anger of the whole Islamic world.
“The increasingly negative political and media discourse targeting Muslims and Islam in the United States and Europe has made things all the more difficult,” the foreign ministers said. “Islamophobia became a source of concern, especially after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, but the phenomenon was already there in Western societies in one form or the other,” they pointed out. “It gained further momentum after the Madrid and London bombings. The killing of Dutch film director Theo van Gogh in 2004 was used in a wicked manner by certain quarters to stir up a frenzy against Muslims,” the ministers pointed out. Van Gogh had made a controversial film about Muslim culture.
The OIC foreign ministers deplored the misrepresentation in the Western media of Islam and Muslims in the context of terrorism. “The linkage of terrorists and extremists with Islam in a generalized manner is unacceptable,” they said. “This is further inciting negative sentiments and hatred in the West against Muslims,” they said. The ministers also pointed out that whenever the issue of Islamophobia was discussed in international forums, the Western bloc, particularly some members of the European Union, tried to avoid discussing the core issue and instead diverted the attention from their region to the situation of non-Muslims and human rights in the OIC member states.
Of course, it is the "terrorists" and "extremists" who keep linking their actions with Islam, not the Westerners who dare to speak openly of the link they make. But the OIC, like so many, would not have you noticing that.

With thanks to Robert Spencer from JihadWatch.

Maldivian dancing girls in traditional costume and wearing Arab headdress shaking ass on tropical island beach for National Geographic Channel

To see this click here.

What will they do next? Swim and Hoola Hoop in Burqini?

Buddhist couple beheaded in front of 3-year old daughter

After gunning down Praphan Ponlarak, 36, and his wife Chaddakan, the assailants decapitated Praphan, making him the 29th victim to be beheaded in Thailand's troubled deep South since the region's separatist insurgency took a turn for the worse in January 2004.
Their daughter was admitted to Bannang Sata hospital, 780 kilometres south of Bangkok, for treatment .

Read it all at Monsters and Critics