After Norway: Women's Voices for the Way Forward

Floral tributes to those who lost their lives in Norway  
© Johanne Dohlie Saltnes

The attacks in Norway are a wake-up call for all of us. Social polarization among Europe`s diverse ethnic and religious communities has the potential to challenge the fundaments of social cohesion which is the fabric that holds open societies together. Stereotypical assumptions about “the other” rather than robust bridgebuilding efforts have set the stage for the ideologies of hate, social polarization and exclusion.

Norwegian flag flies at half mast © Johanne Dohlie Saltnes

Multiculturalism is not a promise and not a threat, but always a work in progress, and its success is based on open communication, participation and fairness from and for all parties involved. Our daily observations will certainly confirm research findings showing that interactions across communities have not been established except for high-level dialogue efforts which have tended to take place between elites, while prejudice, real and projected problems and mutual suspicion in society at large have persisted. Systematic people-to-people contact across community divides at all levels need to be encouraged. The function that women can play in this regard is significant. Their role as educators of the next generation and key players of civil society is often under-estimated or overlooked.

SAVE is currently reaching out particularly to mothers to build their self-confidence and political awareness, and sensitize them to currents of radicalization in their communities in order to position them as key allies in the creation of the social cohesion needed to ensure a stable future for all of us.

Please read the perspectives of SAVE Sisters and leading women from around the globe on how Europe and the wider world can move towards a future where we are able to live together peacefully.

Farah Pandith, Special Representative to Muslim Communities, U.S. State Department
In my role as Special Representative to Muslim Communities, I have traveled all over the world -- to every region -- and I see firsthand the impact lexicon and actions have to communities. How we talk about each other, treat each other, and talk with each other matters. It is important that people of every faith, ethnicity, gender, and socio-economic group treat each other with dignity and respect. Knowledge of “the other” is immensely important. If you can learn about someone who is different, you can form the foundation for a relationship and increased understanding. One way to build respect is to work on projects or issues that are of mutual interest to distinct communities. By working together on challenges like health, childhood education, or the environment, bonds can be formed that are stronger than the differences between people. At the U.S. State Department we are mobilizing President Obama’s call to action for mutual interest and mutual respect. This year, Secretary Clinton launched the 2011 Hours Against Hate campaign (www.facebook.com/2011hoursagainsthate), which asks young people around the world to volunteer their time for someone who doesn’t look like them, live like them, pray like them. Bigotry and hate-language is increasing around the world, while at the same time I see young people across the planet talking about the world they want to live in—a world where old barriers are broken and people can come together to work on common challenges. This campaign is one small step toward creating stronger communities that embrace and celebrate diversity. We all must do our part.


Anita Pratap, Indian journalist living in Oslo
This tragedy is so deep it has wounded Norway's soul. Not even in their wildest nightmares could Norwegians conceive that a disaster of such epic proportions would strike them. A shocked and bereaved nation stands united. They are united not only in their grief, but also in their shared values. This tragedy is a wake up call to remind us that serpents lurk even in Eden. For, if there is a paradise on earth, it is indeed Norway - not only for its spectacular natural landscape but also in epitomizing the best human values of tolerance, peace, egalitariaism, gender rights, transparency, ethics and rule of law. While they could not prevent this tragedy, Norwegians have also shown us how to move forward - with the silent majority strongly reaffirming multiculturalism as well as these cherished universal human values that Norway epitomizes. Muslim immigrants and ethnic Christian Norwegians mourned together - for among the dead were young Muslims who had integrated with the democratic political mainstream. Despite the national outrage against the perpetrator, Norwegian citizenry defended his legal rights. It is by exercising our cherished human values and reaffirming our faith in multiculturalism during times of gravest provocation that we defeat violent extremists who are the real enemies of peace and tolerance.

Sasha Havlicek, CEO/Director, Institute for Strategic Dialogue, London
What we have seen with the tragic events in Norway is how certain narratives that have regained mainstream momentum across Europe can provide a sense of moral justification to those that would do harm. With such painful evidence of how dangerous extremist ideology is in all its guises, we must also tackle the subtler, widespread narratives that serve to part-justify those views. We must stand together across communities to be successful. Women who have been directly affected by extremism are doing just that through SAVE. Whether extremisms lead to violence or just to fuelling suspicion and division, they are a problem that weaken our society and that we have to address together.

Hibaaq Osman, SAVE Board Member, Cairo
This tragedy has touched me in a very personal way. I have children the same age and I send them to camps and just to think that these kids were shot at close range is despicable. The Islamophobia in Europe and the US has been of the utmost concern to us, politically and otherwise, and this tragedy should be blamed on all the political parties, media, bloggers and radio programs that are encouraging these right wing groups and campaigning on this issue. The hatred is now focused on the Muslims but soon it could be on everyone who looks different and thinks different. We should fight together against terrorism, racism and extremism by remembering and taking to heart Pastor Martin Niemöller’s courageous words:

First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Fahmia Al-Fotih, SAVE Yemen
We have not recovered yet from the heinous terrorist acts that hit Bombay recently. An now the mass killings in Norway have strongly shaken the world specially as the act happened in a place known for peace and a country that annually presents Noble Prize for peace! The heinous act has also shaken some common concepts and stereotypes related to terrorism and extremism in which Muslims are always the first suspect. That has also reassured the world that terrorism knows no religion, no culture and no specific place. It is a threat for all and which rings the alarm for all of us that we should work collectively and look for serious actions and ways to prevent more massacres.

Carla Goldstein, Director of the Women’s Institute of the Omega Institute, New York
The Norway tragedy could happen anywhere - no place or people are immune from terrorist violence. The ending of extreme violence will not happen solely by traditional law enforcement, military, or retributive responses, so we must take up the extraordinary effort of building a new way of living on the planet together. Globalization connected us through transportation and information superhighways, and now we must build a new kind of superhighway – an empathy superhighway -- based on the understanding that the well-being of every individual is deeply connected to the well-being of all people and all living things. This empathy superhighway will connect us through compassionate and loving relationships, and will provide the networks and mechanisms to reconcile our differences, heal past traumas, and find ways to share the world’s precious resources more equitably and sustainably. The good news is that this work is well underway, and women are taking a leadership role in communities around the globe. Women who have suffered from losing their loved ones through violence, or who themselves have suffered from rape or domestic violence, are joining a global anti-violence movement and saying “enough is enough.” They are risking everything to reach across enemy lines and build a more peaceful world. Throughout history there has been a call to the women of the world to join together to end the bloodshed of war -- and the profound grief from Norway raises again the urgency of that call.

Norma Shearer, CEO of Training for Women Network, Research Partner of Women without Borders, Belfast
I stand in solidarity with Norwegian women and the people of Norway following the unacceptable violent attacks on 22 July 2011. This violence is an assault on democracy itself and young people attempting to engage with democratic processes. We in Northern Ireland know something of the grief which accompanies these horrendous and indiscriminate acts of violence and our thoughts and prayers are with the surviving victims and the many grieving families who are left so devastated. Of note in the wake of the attack was the speculation that those responsible were Islamic extremists which brings to light the anti-Muslim ‘tendencies’ that are attempting to embed themselves into Western Europe. There needs to be a policy debate and action from all state actors over whether governments are too ‘tunnel-visioned’ when it comes to combating extremist violence. There is the danger that by focussing solely on Islamic militants it contributes and encourages greater anti-Muslim sentiments as well as detracting from the threat of home-grown radicals not associated with Islam. Combating radical extremism requires dealing with these embedded ‘tendencies’ which in so many cases are learnt in the home, highlighting the important role of the mother in educating the next generation as either radical extremists or tolerant accepters of the “other”. My prayers and thoughts go out to all those in Oslo who have lost innocent loved ones and friends who are the very fabric of the future of society. It will take many years for the grief and hurt to heal and if any good can come of such a tragedy it will require courage, vision and education in order to allow us all to live in peace, understanding and tolerance.”

Siham Abu Awwad, SAVE Palestine
As a human being and especially as a woman, I believe we can always solve our problems through non-violent actions. I believe that Islam is always the religion of peace so I am sending my support to the Norwegian people in the hope that it’s the last violent action in Norway. I live in a crazy country full of violence and daily I meet mothers who are full of pain. As a member of SAVE, I, my organization and my nation are against all the faces of terror.

Pamela Philipose, Senior Journalist and Director of Women's Feature Service, Delhi
I remember reading somewhere (I think it was in Rushdie's Midnight's Children), that on the day Gandhi was shot dead, the one thought running through the minds of Muslims in India was this: "God, let it not be a Muslim." The presence of terrorism inspired by Islam is without doubt undeniable, but the Norway tragedy reminds us how untenable and dangerous are facile positions like "All terrorists are Muslims". In fact it is precisely such attitudes that contribute towards creating the horrifyingly delusional world of killers like Breivek. The Norwegian tragedy reminds us that geographical stereotyping doesn't work in a world connected by rapid travel, the internet and hatreds of various kinds. The bomb attack and shooting exposed the fact that reality is always far more complex than the human imagination can comprehend. This attack should be seized as a moment to build bridges between Europe's diverse communities in ways that are imaginative, humane and non-bureaucratic. The main vehicle for this is education, education and more education. Not just in schools but also in neighbourhoods and government apparatuses. Women are largely absent in conflict resolution. Their voices and experiences must inform policy discussions at all levels.

Beatriz Abril Alegre, who lost her brother Óscar in the 2004 Madrid train bombings
We have just come to realize how dangerous racism is. Maybe some people thought that the threats in Europe come from the outside; however, now we see that this is not a question of nationality or religion, but a question of extremism, whichever form it may take, all of them with fatal consequences. I send my condolences to all those families who have lost their loved ones, whose life has changed forever. I encourage them to fight their grief not with hatred or revenge, but with tolerance and peace: the only way to a better world.

The Hijab and women in Afghanistan

The Burqa ban has inspired much debate around Europe and the world. In this article first published in Foreign Policy blogs, Tahera Nassrat explains women's motivations for wearing the Hijab, considers the family's role in preventing women from achieving independence, and suggests how families can better follow the Quran through equal treatment of girls and boys.

Hijab is the Arabic word for “Curtain, or Cover”. It is taken from Hajb meaning to cover, to veil, to shelter. Muslim women wear the Hijab for different reasons. Some wear the Hijab to delight their God- in reference to holy Quran. Some to please their families and some to obey the Islamic law.

Afghanistan is one of the Islamic countries where women wear Hijab by law, not by choice. The law which powerful Islamic groups created misuses the concept of Hijab in the Quran and forces women to cover and remain home. The holy Quran asks Muslim women to wear an outer garment when going out to differentiate them from non-Muslims and identify them as “believing” women in the society. The holy Quran does not say that women should be veiled and kept at home away from mixed society. Conversely, it insisted on full participation of women in society and religious practices.

Women in Muslim countries like Afghanistan are compelled to behave in a certain way from the very beginning. When a girl is born, different treatment is afforded to the girl. They are told to avoid men’s room, talking among elders, walking without a veil and joking with boys. Girls are always shown to be weak human beings while boys are seen as strong. It is common among families, that when a boy cries, the parent says, “Are you a girl to cry?” or “A boy never cries”. Boys get the sense of being a strong human being. Girls get the sense of being weak, dependent and followers of men.

This internal discrimination germinates a feeling inside Muslim men that they no longer wish their wives and sisters to be independent and uncovered. They meet and make relations with non-Muslim women who are not veiled and treat them respectfully, but do not provide the same respectful treatment to Muslim women.
Motivation, support and equality are not delivered to the girls in the families. Rather, discrimination spreads out into the society, where women find it hard to stand up and speak for their rights. So, why such a discrimination from parents to their children? Why should women should dress and behave against their wishes when men do not?

I think reconciliation of these incorrect concepts is necessary. Families should educate themselves and deliver equal treatments to their children. They need to understand that personality, Islam and religion is not an appearance. It is in you and the way you behave and treat others. People should increase their level of awareness and avoid practices like forced marriages and limiting women from society. They should instead sponsor a poor family or provide shelter, food, clothes and medication for those who are suffering.

Follow this link to watch an interesting short video from "60 Minutes" about the Burqa and Hijab bans in Australia and Europe.

Misperceptions work both ways: Muslim and secular women need to work for inclusive dialogue

Greater understanding is needed between Muslim and secular women. Instead of criticizing one another's way of life, women should conduct an inclusive dialogue that recognizes the common ground that all women have. Arzu Merali of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, describes common misperceptions from both sides and why we should work to respect everyone's point of view.

They hate women, don't they?

"It must be terrible having to wear all that," a friend of mine was told last December as she attended a meeting to discuss the future of Afghanistan, particularly its women - "all that" being some baggy clothing and a headscarf. "Not particularly," she retorted, putting an abrupt end both to the conversation and to the prospect of building bridges between Muslim and secular feminists.

My friend is the founder of an NGO dedicated to penal reform. A convert to Islam, she is as British and as white as the participant who so earnestly assumed she was a victim of the Taliban and in need of liberation. No doubt the woman meant well, but no amount of good intentions justifies the way that she, like many others, berates Islam for embodying all things anti-women. This misconception predates the Rushdie era - indeed, so oppressed were we deemed to be in the 80s that even an illicit affair with Ricky Butcher in EastEnders provided an avenue of liberation.

The Islamic Human Rights Commission receives case after case of employers and educators using this image of the downtrodden Muslim woman to excuse discrimination. Muslim women are denied many opportunities on the assumption that they will - if not on a whim then by force - get married, or have many children. Or they face the horrendous dilemma of having to choose between employment and their Islamic garb.

Muslim women have become an absolute symbol of oppression, and distorted images of them permeate news coverage. While Daisy Cutters began to thunder down on Afghans last year, journalists from across the political spectrum - from Boris Johnson in the [conservative] Daily Telegraph to Polly Toynbee in the [left-wing] Guardian - maintained that it was Islam that oppressed Afghan women. Beware Muslims, they screamed in their unlikely unanimity. They hate women, don't they?

As soon as they turn their attentions to Islam, commentators become missionaries. Muslim women must be saved from a religion that reviles, objectifies and veils them. Everything is proof of this. Afghan women had to wear the head-to-toe burka (although it turns out they did not); were not allowed to work (although they did); and could not vote (nor could men under Mullah Omar's regime).

Even an Iranian (yes, Iranian) movie has become part of the iconography of the campaign to rescue the Afghan and, by extension, Islamic woman. Mohsen Makhmalbaf's Kandahar has been held up as a critique of Islam and its treatment of women. The fact that it may actually be an appraisal of the Taliban's prejudices is a subtlety grasped only by a few. It is almost impossible to find a mainstream critique of the horror of the Taliban that is not itself an Islamophobic diatribe. Muslims, who could provide such a critique, are left out of the debate. Their reactions might as well not exist.

The cartoonish realisation of long-held prejudices in the Taliban's Afghanistan has given succour to an anti-Islamic clamour that the experiences of "western" and "Muslim" women are utterly distinct. While western women are assumed to have, or at least be approaching, equality with men, Muslim women are simply the victims of terror and oppression. So unfettered are western women in this scenario that they are what, according to Johnson, "Islamic terrorists" are really afraid of.

But this language of liberation disguises an exclusionary discourse. Conversions in the west are increasing and more women than men opt for the faith. Perhaps, the argument goes, they are not able to see how oppressive their choice is. Donning the headscarf as a means of negotiating modernity invites contempt for Muslim women's non-conformity to a single vision of female emancipation. "No letters please from British women who have taken the veil and claim it's liberating," Polly Toynbee wrote not so long ago. "It is their right in a tolerant society to wear anything, including rubber fetishes." Either insane or masochistic, the motives and beliefs of Muslim women are voiced by everybody except themselves.

The polarisation and misrepresentation works both ways, however. Marginalised Muslims have accused liberal society of objectifying, reviling and unveiling women. Western society, they charge, is pornographic, voyeuristic and exploitative. The gender pay gap is shocking. None of this would happen in a truly Islamic society. Women's financial independence and property rights are absolute in Islam. No woman is considered a commodity and pornographers would face punishments.

While the gap between Muslims and the west is widening the most striking feature of each other's critiques of their treatment of women is the lack of dissimilarity. Violence, workplace discrimination, educational opportunity and a desire for basic respect from men are universal issues.

Whether we are western, Muslim, both or neither, we must wake up to the possibility that what we see as problematic for women is much the same whoever and wherever we are. Plastered over billboards, or banished from view, women are subjugated by patriarchy. Demeaning Islam excludes the voices of Islamic women and that liberates no one.

· Arzu Merali is director of research for the Islamic Human Rights Commission.

The Guardian (London) Friday June 21, 2002

We Muslims Must Move Beyond Medieval Laws, by Ed Husain

Most Islamic nations do not stone or flog women. It is time Iran moved out of the past.

Why are male clerics so obsessed with controlling female sexuality? In an Iranian prison today, a Muslim mother in her forties, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, awaits her fate for the alleged crime of adultery. She has been in jail for five years, received 99 lashes and awaits the manner of her execution for the crime, now that the authorities say she will not be stoned to death.


I write as a human, Muslim, son, brother to sisters and proud father of two baby daughters. And nothing, nothing warrants a mob of men stoning women to death or lashing them. The vast majority of the world’s Muslims feel the same way. We know that as a fact because, from Indonesia in the Far East to Bosnia in Europe, Muslim-majority nations do not stone people to death for adultery. The Muslim consensus, or ijma in Arabic, therefore, is against such outmoded penal codes.


Sadly, in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Sudan this popular ijma is rejected. They seek a reading of Sharia that is harsh, literalist and disregards human rights. And in that, they are supported by hardline male clerics who draw rulings from medieval textbooks that are defunct in the modern world. This clerical opposition to modernity stems from a crisis of scholarship within contemporary Islam, an institutional failure to understand religious text within a 21st-century context. That paralysis leads to clerical silence on Iran’s desire to stone or lash a woman accused of adultery.


When I meet leading Muslim scholars in private in Syria or Egypt, they readily admit that stoning and flogging belong firmly in Muslim past, but dare not say as much in public lest they lose scholarly credentials among their more conservative peers. Muslim scholars see themselves as transmitters of a tradition rather than as agents of change. But for how much longer will Muslim clerics remain silent? Where is their compassion and humanity? Do our women not deserve better than living in fear of capricious male punishment?


One senior cleric who has broken ranks in Iran is none other than the grandson of the man who founded the “Islamic republic” in 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini. His grandson, Ayatollah Hussein Khomeini, has in clear terms, within an Islamic framework, called on his grandfather’s followers to end floggings and stoning of adulterers. As humans, we are not sinless and perfect—as worldly, flawed beings it is not our duty be [sic] judge, jury and executioner on private aspects of people’s lives.


Once upon a time, Jews and Christians implemented Old Testament teachings from the Book of Leviticus, which also advocated stoning adulterers and flogging fornicators. But Jews and Christians understood those instructions within their historical milieu. And Islam adopted these teachings within our tradition. Fortunately most Muslims relegate these practices to history—illustrated by most Muslim-majority states not equating these teachings with state law today. The countries that do, however, shame us all.


Iran is home to an ancient civilization, the proud owners of a rich Persian language and deep culture. Tabriz, where Ms Ashtiani is imprisoned for allegations of adultery, produced poets and dervishes who taught Europe about mysticism and joy of religion. Rumi—a 13th century poet whose work is a bestseller in the US today—was inspired and taught by the mystic Shams of Tabriz 700 years ago.


In the 11th century, Persia gave us the great Omar Khayyam who in his famed Rubaiyyat called for freedom, joy, love, wine-drinking, and, some say, hedonism. Victorian Englishmen found liberation in Khayyam’s poetry. What happened to that Iran?


In Iran today, the practice of mut’a, or temporary marriage, is legal and widespread. A man and woman can contract a marriage that can last for one day, or one year. Critics have lambasted these arrangements as glorified prostitution and demeaning to women. Iran’s clerics are renowned for not only authorizing such fluidity in relationships, but luxuriating in such arrangements themselves; and often with more than one woman at any one time.


Ms Ashtiani has pleaded her innocence repeatedly and still been lashed and imprisoned. But she is not alone—seven other women are in a similar predicament in Iran today. According to the Iranian Embassy in London, Tehran says that Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani will not be stoned. That is welcome news, but not enough. Ms Ashtiani and others deserve more—freedom, compensation, and a repeal of Iran’s penal laws.


As a fellow Muslim with huge respect for Iran’s past and admiration for its cultural and religious icons of Rumi, Hafez, and Sadi, I call on its leaders to live up to the teaching and spirit of the Prophet Muhammad. Be compassionate, merciful and loving: show the world that Iran was, and is, a civilized nation. Release Ms Ashtiani and change the laws. Let Muslim women be proud of their religion and heritage, and not live in fear of it.

This article was first published in The Times on July 9, 2010

The Ghost of Terrorism in Yemen, by Fahmia al Fotih'

The whole Yemeni society was rocked last week when a high-school graduate blew himself up in front of the British ambassador convoy. Thank God that the ambassador was not hurt—only three passersby were slightly injured. It might be true that such a horrific act is not the first of its kind in Yemen, but the reactions of Yemeni people were outraged by such a crime that is considered a new phenomenon for Yemenis.


This looming act has occupied all the daily newspapers, TV and Radio programs, and even in ordinary people's chit-chats. Indeed, it has replaced and put off the heated debates on child brides issue that have been the most controversial topic in Yemen for weeks.


The attack was condemned nationwide by all the Yemeni society segments alike. I still remember my grandma' reaction: she held her head between her hands and exclaimed, "That young boy must be insane! He is going to hell!" At the moment, a group of students have started touring seven governorates to raise awareness about the threat that terrorism is posing among youth.


It might be true that the violent act was not the first of its kind in Yemen, but in a way it was surprising. People here were all caught up in and overwhelmed by their own problems, which has forced them to unconsciously forget about al-Qaeda and terrorists. But such time-to-time violent acts come to wake them up and remind them about the ghost that haunts us and which is more fatal!!


Until now, nobody has claimed the responsibility of the attack despite the fact that Yemeni security bodies have confirmed that the attack had al-Qaeda style. But I doubt that as first, the attacker had primitive explosive materials and second, we did not hear anything from al-Qaeda. If it was al-Qaeda, they would be boasting about it!!! It is not al-Qaeda style!! That increases our fears and worries.


Even more, it becomes obvious that it is difficult to identify what a terrorist looks like! I was staring into the photo of the young suicide bomber examining his facial features in attempt to find criminal hints. I have always thought that criminals and terrorists have “bad guy” marks and that they could be more or less recognized by their facial expressions and characteristics (I guess I am very much influenced by the bad guys in Hollywood movies). But Othman's face, the suicide bomber, had the same innocent features that I see in the majority of young people of his age! Carrying the school bag and pretending to jog had added more innocence to his character on the day of attack. That is why, I think, the master terrorists chose him for this dreadful act.


I have been reading and reading all the news related to Othman’s life and trying to analyze all stories that talked about Othman’s life. He excelled in his studies (usually terrorists tend to target and recruit smart young people). His father said that he did not know his son's friends and Othman used to spend periods away from home. It seems that there was a stage when there was no communication between the son and his parents. With whom did Othman stay in Marib, where he was supposedly trained as a terrorist? How did he end up in Marib? For sure, Othman must have gone through stages of radicalization. If a correct intervention was made at any stage, Othman might have not chosen the radical path that led to death. Othman's friends say that he did not have the guts to kill a fly!!! How was he then able to go and explode himself? Othman, according to the news, did not trigger the explosive but somebody else did it from far away.


Yet still I feel there is something missing and nobody can explain except for the ones who were close to him, like his mother. I am curious to meet his mother and learn more about him. It is essential to know and study the details and lives of these suicide bombers so we can learn how to protect more young people.


Without a doubt, there are many factors intertwined here. It is not just the family role here, there is also Othman's institute, which happens to be AL-Eman University, which is believed to be the extremists' academia. Was it a coincidence? It was reported that even the department which Othman was attending is teaching Islamic teachings and Shara'iah! The violent act carried out by one of its graduates has nothing to do with Islam. One of the core teachings of Islam is that life is valued, and taking one's own life is one of the biggest sins. Besides, the one who kills himself is guilty of a big crime.


There are ample misunderstandings about jihad and about Islam, and the majority of mosques reinforce these misconceptions. Add to that an educational curriculum that is full of jihad and calling for violence instead of highlighting the peaceful side of Islam that calls for tolerance and respecting the other. There is a dire need for overall reform for our school curricula, and our mosques need open-minded and tolerant preachers.


Yemenis already have enough problems and such violent acts only worsen the situation and make it more complicated. Strengthening security measures and carrying preemptive actions are not enough to dry up the terrorism sources and end up radicalization.


The attack of course has spread fear and terror among the foreigners as well as Yemenis but at the same time this case poses a number of question marks and challenges. Parents find themselves in a puzzle. Some wonder what the hell makes these young people finish their lives in a second at an age when they are just blossoming! Most importantly, parents start to seriously question how they can protect their young and their beloved ones from the ghost of terrorism and from falling in the hands of terrorists! Many questions that just leave one wondering: when will the day come when we can all live in a terror-free world?

The Triangle of Peacebuilding, by Lily Zakiyah Munir

Women, faith, and peace are crucial elements of a peacebuilding process. A woman with faith and peace is a powerful force in peacebuilding both at home and in public. A mother of a peaceful home radiates love and peace to her loved ones in the family. It goes along with an Arabic saying, “Family is the first school in one’s life.” A mother is the first teacher who will lay the foundation for her children’s future. The natural blood bond between a mother and a child is fundamental for this purpose.


However, this important role will not materialize if the mother is entangled in a violent situation in her family. Domestic violence has an unimaginable and multi-pronged impact on women. Dehumanized, helpless, deprived, worthless, inferior—these are some of the adjectives that can illustrate the feelings of a victim of domestic violence. It is no surprise, therefore, that peace has been declared as a prerequisite for women to achieve equality and development. This trilogy of equality, peace, and development was coined back in 1985 in Nairobi as a forward-looking strategy for the advancement of women. This momentum was preceded by the decade for women in 1975-1985. The spirit of equality, development, and peace was reinforced in Beijing in 1995, where 35,000 women from all over the world gathered and expressed their solidarity and mutual support for each other in a global sisterhood.


Now, how is faith related with women and peace? Faith is like a double-edged sword. It can be a source of inspiration for peace and peacebuilding. But it can also be hijacked to crush peace. Islam, for example, literally means “peace and submission.” The religion is laden with teachings on peace, tolerance, respect for diversity, freedom of religion, equality of all human beings, and more. But these teachings are not always manifested in the lives of the Muslims. Thus, there are people who claim to be Muslims but do not implement Islamic values and principles on peace.


The gap between Islamic teachings and their reality is also found in the area of women and gender. There are numerous verses in the Qur’an which are explicit about women’s equal status with men as well as women’s rights and their obligations in both public and private spheres. But these teachings that would serve to emancipate women do not seem to be internalized and absorbed in the minds of many Muslims. Their mindsets, often shaped by patriarchal cultures, are too resistant to discern new progressive ideas regarding women.


Women, constituting half of humankind, cannot be left neglected. We need to tap into their potential as valuable resources. Along with other advances, women have moved forward from passive recipients of peace to becoming active agents of peacebuilding. The important role of women in peace building is recognized globally as stated in the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325.


Women worldwide, stand up! Fight against oppression and injustices. With your active role, our dream for peace will come true…


Lily Zakiyah Munir is a noted Islamic scholar and activist in Indonesia as well as the founding member of SAVE Indonesia. In Indonesia, she is the director of the Center for Pesantren and Democracy Studies (CePDeS), an NGO which she co-founded in 2003. CePDeS envisions the birth of progressive Muslim leaders through democracy and human rights education in Muslim society. SAVE Indonesia, which has mobilized several hundred students against violence and terrorism to date, and maintains their network through monthly reunion meetings. Lily started the youth camps “because of deep concerns about the violence which has emerged using religious doctrines and dogmas mainly targeted at youth. We hope these camps will give birth to a new generation of Indonesian youth who will internalize the values of love, peace, and appreciation of diversity.” You can find more of Lily's work here. For more information about Women without Borders or SAVE, you can visit us on the web at www.women-without-borders.org, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SAVEalerts, and join us on Facebook!

The hypocrisy of child abuse in many Muslim countries, by Shaista Gohir

Shaista Gohir says that child marriage and pederasty are tolerated in Muslim societies where homosexuality is strictly condemned. She discusses this chilling phenomenon here.


Some Muslims are fond of condemning western morality – alcoholism, nudity, premarital sex and homosexuality often being cited as examples. But Muslims do not have a monopoly on morality. In the west, child marriages and sex with children are illegal. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for many Muslim countries.


I recently saw the documentary on the Dancing Boys of Afghanistan. It exposed an ancient custom called "bacha bazi" (boy for play), where rich men buy boys as young as 11 from impoverished families for sexual slavery. The boys are dressed in women's clothes and made to dance and sing at parties, before being carted away by the men for sex. Owning boys is considered a symbol of status and one former warlord boasted of having up to 3,000 boys over a 20-year period, even though he was married, with two sons. The involvement of the police and inaction of the government means this form of child prostitution is widespread.


The moral hypocrisy is outrageous in a country where homosexuality is not only strictly forbidden but savagely punished, even between two consenting adults. However, men who sodomise young boys are not considered homosexuals or paedophiles. The love of young boys is not a phenomenon restricted to Afghanistan; homosexual pederasty is common in neighbouring Pakistan, too. In my view, repression of sexuality and extreme gender apartheid is to blame.


And in the Middle East, it's young girls who are considered desirable and men are able to satisfy their lusts legally through child marriages. In Yemen, more than a quarter of girls are married before the age of 15. Cases of girls dying during childbirth are not unusual, and recently, one 12-year-old child bride even died from internal bleeding following sexual intercourse. In another case, a 12-year-old girl was married to an 80-year-old man in Saudi Arabia.


So why is the practice of child marriage sanctioned in Muslim countries? Unfortunately, ultra-conservative religious authorities justify this old tribal custom by citing the prophet Muhammad's marriage to Aisha. They allege Aisha was nine years old when the prophet married her. But they focus conveniently on selected Islamic texts to support their opinions, while ignoring vast number of other texts and historical information, which suggests Aisha was much older, putting her age of marriage at 19. Child marriage is against Islam as the Qur'an is clear that intellectual maturity is the basis for deciding age of marriage, and not puberty, as suggested by these clerics.


Whatever one's view on the prophet's marriage, no faith can claim moral superiority since child marriages have been practised in various cultures and societies across the world at one time or another. In modern times, though, marrying children is no longer acceptable and no excuse should be used to justify this.


I find the false adherence to Islamic principles and the "holier than thou" attitude of some Muslim societies similar to the blatant hypocrisy and double standards of 19th-century Victorian Britain, where the outward appearance of dignity and prudishness camouflaged an extreme prevalence of sexual and moral depravity behind closed doors. In those days, too, there were many men willing to pay to have sex with children – until a plethora of social movements arose that resulted in changes in laws and attitudes in society.


A similar shift in social attitudes is also required in traditional Muslim societies. Having boy sex slaves or child brides should not be seen as badges of honour. Instead, Muslims need to do more to attach shame to such practices; otherwise, acceptance of this behaviour will make them complicit in the sexual exploitation of children. I fail to understand why Muslims are so vocal on abuses by the west in Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo, Iraq and Afghanistan, but display moral blindness when it comes to children? It's about time this silence was broken, so these violations of innocence can be stopped.


A too-passive attitude in dealing with child abuse has rubbed off on Muslim communities in Britain, too. I have heard many stories at first hand of child sexual abuse and rape, which show that the issue is not being addressed at all. Those who have had the courage to speak out have been met with reactions of denial and shame. Such attitudes mean that children will continue to suffer in silence. Sexual abuse of children happens in all communities, as has been revealed by the recent Catholic church scandal. At least, they have finally started to take action. Muslim communities should learn from this and also start being more open, instead of continuing to sweeping the issue under the carpet.


I am finding that more and more Muslims feel it is their duty to criticise others for actions they consider sinful – quoting the following popular saying of Muhammad to justify their interference:

"If you see something wrong, you should correct it with your hand and if you are unable to, then speak out against it and if you cannot do that, then feel that it is wrong in your heart."

I wonder how, then, Muslims can remain silent when it comes to the sexual abuse of children?


This article was originally printed in The Guardian as an op-ed. You can find it here. Shaista Gohir was a founding member of SAVE in 2008, and until recently served as a member of the National Muslim Women's Advisory Group in the UK. She recently resigned from that post to protest its ineffectiveness. She wrote an op-ed about her decision and the reasons behind it, which you can read here.


For more information about SAVE and Women without Borders, please visit our website at www.women-without-borders.org or send us an email at office@women-without-borders.org.

"Death, Be Not Proud" by Ali Khan Mahmudabad

Submitted by Archana Kapoor
Previously published in The Times of India, January 21, 2010

Death, Be Not Proud:
The Use Of Suicide Bombing Has No Theological Support

Suicide attacks have been used in history by various cultures, and the motivation has not always been religious. Germans, Japanese, Sri Lankans and Vietnamese have used suicide attacks as a weapon in war but, in popular imagination, suicide attacks are irrevocably and primarily associated with Islamist militancy. The death tolls of suicide attacks have been rising exponentially and recent times perhaps have been the bloodiest in Pakistan's history. This has forced members of the ulema to address the problem of suicide attacks according to Islamic jurisprudence. Jurists have come out to unequivocally state that this form of fighting is absolutely impermissible.