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[Muslim Youth Need Sex Education]

We welcome guest writer and researcher Sobia Ali Faisal, who recently earned her doctoral degree from the University of Windsor. Her research is compelling and was turned into an info graphic. Below, she succinctly explains what her research findings were and why it is so important for our communities to begin making a commitment to sex education for Muslim youth. We congratulate Sobia for such compelling research and look forward to more of her work in this field.

Muslim Youth Need Sex Education

Yes they do. Why? Because Muslim youth are having sex. I surveyed 403 Muslims in Canada and the US between the ages of 17 and 35. More than half (221) reported they had engaged in sex. I did not ask for any particular time frame. I was simply asking if they had ever had sex. Of those 221, two-thirds (148) said they had done so before marriage. Before anyone thinks that most of those 148 people were men, I found these proportions were the same for men and women ? two-thirds of the women and two-thirds of the men had sex before marriage.

Even when looking at those who had not engaged in sex before marriage, half of those Muslims reported that they had considered doing so.

It?s clear that sex is relevant to Muslim youth. Previous research on the sexual education of Muslim youth (done mostly in New Zealand or the UK) has found Muslim parents DO want their children to have sexual education, but not until they are getting married. Knowing that Muslims are having sex before marriage means that having them wait until they are getting married to provide them with this education is too late and, not to mention, dangerous. They clearly need to know about issues of contraception, pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, consent, violence in relationships, and healthy sexual decision making long before that time.

The Greatest Source of Sex Ed is the Media and Parents are the Least Likely Source

I asked my participants to rate, on a scale from 0 ? 4, how much sexual education they received from the media, their friends, and their parents. Media received the highest rating and was statistically significantly higher than the rating given to parents as a source of education.

This isn?t unique to Muslims, but it highlights the problem that plagues all young people ? parents aren?t talking about issues of sex and sexual health so the school systems need to provide this education. My research simply points out that Muslim youth are no different than their non-Muslim counterparts in this regard.


Lack of Sexual Knowledge -> Fear of Negative Sexual Self-Judgement -> Unhealthy Relationships

The main focus of my dissertation was sexual guilt and sexual anxiety of young Muslim adults. Previous research has found belief in sexual myths and lack of sexual knowledge to be related to higher levels of sexual guilt. Sexual guilt is a fear of negatively judging oneself for either engaging in or possibly engaging in sexual activity.

Previous research has also found a sexual guilt to be related to greater sexual dissatisfaction, higher frequency of sexual problems, and dissatisfaction with a current sexual relationship, which in turn has been found to be related to decreased relationship and marital satisfaction.

Lack of sexual knowledge can therefore result in negative feelings about sexual activity which will have an impact on sexual and romantic relationships.


Conclusion
My conclusion is the same as before ? young Muslims need sexual health education, just as their non-Muslim counterparts do.

Link: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/heartfelt/2015/11/what-does-the-research-say-that-muslim-youth-need-sex-education/

Infographic: http://wp.production.patheos.com/blogs/heartfelt/files/2015/10/infographic.jpg

Any thoughts or experiences based on this research?

[Maliha Latif started looking for a mosque to join after her divorce. She soon discovered that as a 35-year-old Muslim divorcee, she faced a special challenge in finding a spiritual home. Latif did not reveal her marital status during what she calls her ?masjid-hopping period? (masjid is the Arabic word for mosque). She instinctively knew that was a bad idea.?Divorce is still a taboo in most Muslim communities,? said Zia Makhdoom, an Afghan-born imam in Alexandria, Virginia. ?There?s an Afghan saying: ?Once you enter someone?s house as a bride, the only way for you to leave that house is in a coffin,?? he said. ?It is literally, ?Till death do us part.?? He added that while few American Muslims would interpret marriage quite that starkly, there is robust social pressure against divorce inside Muslim-American communities. That was one of the motivations for Makhdoom to start his own Muslim organization, called Make Space, which seeks to ?un-mosque? Muslims, and to make Islam appealing and relevant to women, young people, and others who feel excluded from the faith.Islam is the world?s fastest-growing religion. In the United States, the number of Muslims has doubled over a span of seven years, according to a Pew study. But generational changes are presenting a challenge to Muslim leaders in the U.S. Some say Millennials and Generation X-ers are less likely to stay affiliated with the mosque they grew up in than their parents because they feel hemmed in by the expectations, rules, and practices. This is especially the case for immigrant Muslims, who make up 63 percent of America?s Muslim population.Latif?s parents are from India, and growing up in Rhode Island, she spent a lot of time at their South Asian-run mosque, where her father was on the board. There, she learned to dress modestly, and to always cover her hair while praying. Those habits continued into adulthood, but when she started exploring new places to pray, she worried that she?d be criticized for the ways in which she is more liberal than other Muslim women: wearing pants rather than skirts while visiting the mosque, and not covering her hair outside of the mosque. As a just-divorced adult, Latif hoped to find a community where people were more focused on the broad principles of Islam than on the modern-day application of the Koranic dress code.Imam Mohamed Magid has witnessed the broadening of the American Muslim identity firsthand. Magid runs one of the largest mosques on the east coast, the All Dulles Area Muslim Society. As he put it: ?There has been no institutional absorption of this changing identity.? American mosques are still largely run by first-generation American Muslims, which means there is usually little English spoken and the social expectations are more traditional. As a result, many young Muslims simply opt out of practicing Islam, according to Magid. ?All or nothing is not good for the Muslim community in America,? he said.Despite having lived in Afghanistan until his twenties, Makhdoom has never been convinced by ?the very rigid conservative interpretation of Islam.? Once in the U.S., he found himself chafing against the Afghan-run mosque in D.C. where he worked for 12 years. ?Like a lot of mosques, it was run by folks who grew up overseas and brought the mindset and cultural practices with them,? he said. ?They mean well, but often end up being exclusive.? Makhdoom and his wife, Fatimah Popal, became especially disillusioned when they noticed that while women did a lot of the work in the mosque, they had very little say about how things were actually run. ?The women would put on a nice event, but be forced to sit in the back, behind a curtain or a barrier, and watch from afar,? he said.The two decided to leave the mosque shortly after. ?I knew we weren?t just going to start another mosque. We had to be different,? he said. ?We had to be more inclusive, particularly for young people and women.? That?s how Make Space was born. Although it does many of the things that mosques do?holding Friday prayers, teaching the Koran to young people?it has no building, no dome, no minaret. Instead, Makhdoom holds Friday prayers in a restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia. Events and lectures are held in what they call ?third spaces,? meaning somewhere other than the home or the mosque, such as recreation centers and university libraries.The ideas behind the un-mosquing movement first surfaced in the Bay Area in the early 2000s, and gained more momentum among Muslim Americans in 2012. A 2014 film called UnMosqued documents some of the reasons that these Muslims want to leave their mosques, such as a lack of democracy, transparency, and equality. There are groups around the country, such as the Ta?leef Collective in the Bay Area and the Lighthouse Initiative in Long Island that share Make Space?s goals. Muslim literature encourages women to pray at home, and when they do attend the mosque, women are traditionally separated from the men, to prevent sexual distraction from prayer. A 2011 survey showed that two-thirds of U.S. mosques use dividers of some kind to demarcate women?s prayer spaces during daily prayers. In some mosques, the women?s prayer area is in the back of the prayer hall, behind a low barrier. But in most U.S. mosques, women are hidden behind a high barrier or placed in a different room, where they can hear, but not see, the imam.There are some alternative Muslim spaces in the U.S. in which men and women are encouraged to pray side by side, or where women are even told they do not need to cover their heads during prayer. At Make Space, women do pray in the same room, with no barrier dividing them from the men, but they tend to gravitate toward their own section at the back of the hall, and they all cover their heads to pray. Still, Makhdoom said that during Ramadan this year, the hall was so full some days that women and men had to pray side by side. In a mosque, that would be unthinkable, but at Make Space, no one made a big deal about it.Makhdoom wants to see Islam, as it is practiced in the U.S. today, become more accessible and appealing. He thinks mosque boards should include women and young people (his own board has an equal number of men and women serving on it). He also believes that as long as women dress appropriately to pray, it does not matter if their sweaters do not cover their entire wrists. He thinks Muslim communities should open their doors to divorcees if they consider themselves Muslim.One way that Makhdoom tries to achieve that is through writing his sermons by committee. He has a group of volunteers who help draft content for it each week. He admits it is unusual?he hasn?t heard of any other religious leader doing anything like this?but, he said, ?When you have a group of people acting as conduit to the community, the suggestions they give you are going to reflect what the community needs.? It makes his sermons feel ?rich and refreshing,? he says, and that is what he hopes more people will feel about Islam as a whole.]

Full version: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/10/the-un-mosquing-of-american-muslims/411103

Maliha Latif started looking for a mosque to join after her divorce. She soon discovered that as a 35-year-old Muslim divorcee, she faced a special challenge in finding a spiritual home. Latif did not reveal her marital status during what she calls her ?masjid-hopping period? (masjid is the Arabic word for mosque). She instinctively knew that was a bad idea.

?Divorce is still a taboo in most Muslim communities,? said Zia Makhdoom, an Afghan-born imam in Alexandria, Virginia. ?There?s an Afghan saying: ?Once you enter someone?s house as a bride, the only way for you to leave that house is in a coffin,?? he said. ?It is literally, ?Till death do us part.?? He added that while few American Muslims would interpret marriage quite that starkly, there is robust social pressure against divorce inside Muslim-American communities. That was one of the motivations for Makhdoom to start his own Muslim organization,  called Make Space, which seeks to ?un-mosque? Muslims, and to make Islam appealing and relevant to women, young people, and others who feel excluded from the faith.

Islam is the world?s fastest-growing religion. In the United States, the number of Muslims has doubled over a span of seven years, according to a Pew study. But generational changes are presenting a challenge to Muslim leaders in the U.S. Some say Millennials and Generation X-ers are less likely to stay affiliated with the mosque they grew up in than their parents because they feel hemmed in by the expectations, rules, and practices. This is especially the case for immigrant Muslims, who make up 63 percent of America?s Muslim population.

Latif?s parents are from India, and growing up in Rhode Island, she spent a lot of time at their South Asian-run mosque, where her father was on the board. There, she learned to dress modestly, and to always cover her hair while praying. Those habits continued into adulthood, but when she started exploring new places to pray, she worried that she?d be criticized for the ways in which she is more liberal than other Muslim women: wearing pants rather than skirts while visiting the mosque, and not covering her hair outside of the mosque. As a just-divorced adult, Latif hoped to find a community where people were more focused on the broad principles of Islam than on the modern-day application of the Koranic dress code.

Imam Mohamed Magid has witnessed the broadening of the American Muslim identity firsthand. Magid runs one of the largest mosques on the east coast, the All Dulles Area Muslim Society. As he put it: ?There has been no institutional absorption of this changing identity.? American mosques are still largely run by first-generation American Muslims, which means there is usually little English spoken and the social expectations are more traditional. As a result, many young Muslims simply opt out of practicing Islam, according to Magid. ?All or nothing is not good for the Muslim community in America,? he said.

Despite having lived in Afghanistan until his twenties, Makhdoom has never been convinced by ?the very rigid conservative interpretation of Islam.? Once in the U.S., he found himself chafing against the Afghan-run mosque in D.C. where he worked for 12 years. ?Like a lot of mosques, it was run by folks who grew up overseas and brought the mindset and cultural practices with them,? he said. ?They mean well, but often end up being exclusive.? 

Makhdoom and his wife, Fatimah Popal, became especially disillusioned when they noticed that while women did a lot of the work in the mosque, they had very little say about how things were actually run. ?The women would put on a nice event, but be forced to sit in the back, behind a curtain or a barrier, and watch from afar,? he said.

The two decided to leave the mosque shortly after. ?I knew we weren?t just going to start another mosque. We had to be different,? he said. ?We had to be more inclusive, particularly for young people and women.? That?s how Make Space was born. Although it does many of the things that mosques do?holding Friday prayers, teaching the Koran to young people?it has no building, no dome, no minaret. Instead, Makhdoom holds Friday prayers in a restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia. Events and lectures are held in what they call ?third spaces,? meaning somewhere other than the home or the mosque, such as recreation centers and university libraries.

The ideas behind the un-mosquing movement first surfaced in the Bay Area in the early 2000s, and gained more momentum among Muslim Americans in 2012. A 2014 film called UnMosqued documents some of the reasons that these Muslims want to leave their mosques, such as a lack of democracy, transparency, and equality. There are groups around the country, such as the Ta?leef Collective in the Bay Area and the Lighthouse Initiative in Long Island that share Make Space?s goals.   


Muslim literature encourages women to pray at home, and when they do attend the mosque, women are traditionally separated from the men, to prevent sexual distraction from prayer. A 2011 survey showed that two-thirds of U.S. mosques use dividers of some kind to demarcate women?s prayer spaces during daily prayers. In some mosques, the women?s prayer area is in the back of the prayer hall, behind a low barrier. But in most U.S. mosques, women are hidden behind a high barrier or placed in a different room, where they can hear, but not see, the imam.

There are some alternative Muslim spaces in the U.S. in which men and women are encouraged to pray side by side, or where women are even told they do not need to cover their heads during prayer. At Make Space, women do pray in the same room, with no barrier dividing them from the men, but they tend to gravitate toward their own section at the back of the hall, and they all cover their heads to pray. Still, Makhdoom said that during Ramadan this year, the hall was so full some days that women and men had to pray side by side. In a mosque, that would be unthinkable, but at Make Space, no one made a big deal about it.

Makhdoom wants to see Islam, as it is practiced in the U.S. today, become more accessible and appealing. He thinks mosque boards should include women and young people (his own board has an equal number of men and women serving on it). He also believes that as long as women dress appropriately to pray, it does not matter if their sweaters do not cover their entire wrists. He thinks Muslim communities should open their doors to divorcees if they consider themselves Muslim.

One way that Makhdoom tries to achieve that is through writing his sermons by committee. He has a group of volunteers who help draft content for it each week. He admits it is unusual?he hasn?t heard of any other religious leader doing anything like this?but, he said, ?When you have a group of people acting as conduit to the community, the suggestions they give you are going to reflect what the community needs.? It makes his sermons feel ?rich and refreshing,? he says, and that is what he hopes more people will feel about Islam as a whole.


As a person who is currently living in a country where the Muslims are very tiny minority, the state and conditions of the mosques here are not known since I don't go there in first place.  What are the mosques like in the country you're currently living? Do you have any experience in the religious community which cause you to question the conditions of the people around you?

[95.5%, i.e., 4499 women have not heard of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board.]

Now the time has come...

http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2015/08/21/muslim-women-talaq_n_8018674.html

Majority of Muslim women In India want a complete ban on oral and unilateral divorce, a survey by an NGO that fights for the rights of the community in India have revealed in a survey.

92.1% of women wanted a total ban on oral and unilateral talaq, 75.5% women want the age of marriage to be above 18 years for girls and 93% favoured an arbitration process to be mandatory before divorce, according to the survey by the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) released on Thursday.

Muslim women have also unequivocally opposed polygamy, with 91.7% saying they do not want their husbands to marry another woman in the subsistence of first marriage.

Here are some other highlights from the survey:

88.3% want talaak-e-Ahsan to be the method of divorce.
93% want arbitration process to be mandatory before divorce.
72.3% want the arbitration process to be between 3 to 6 months.
88.5% want the qazi to be punished who sends notice of oral divorce.
The annual income of 73.1% of the families is below Rs.50,000.
55.3% have married before the age of 18.
46.5% of the women surveyed have 1 or 2 children.
53.2% of the surveyed women have faced domestic violence.
78.7% of the women are home makers.
95.5%, i.e., 4499 women have not heard of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board.   
88.9% want women to retain the custody of children after divorce.
95.6% want ex-husband to pay for children?s maintenance even if she holds their custody.
92.7% want consent and well being of the child to be the deciding factor for custody.
79.8% want the adopted child to be treated as a natural heir to the property.

Indian Muslim women have expressed concern over divorce through social media platforms such as Skype and Facebook. The divorce is instant and binding. The study of 4499 respondents, or 95.5%, have also revealed that these women have not heard of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board.

53.2% of the women interviewed have faced domestic violence, the survey, which covered states like West Bengal, Maharashtra, Bihar and Jharkhand, found. Most of the respondents live in poverty and half of the numbers polled have faced domestic violence.

?This is a very important finding which suggests that women want an elaborate codified law based on the Quranic justice framework to cover matters such as age of marriage, divorce, polygamy, maintenance and custody of children,? the Hindustan Times quoted Mumbai-based Noorjehan Safia Niaz, who along with Zakia Soman conducted the survey.

"In 2014, of the 235 cases that came to women Sharia adalats that we run, 80% were of oral talaq,'' Soman told Times of India.

BMMA plans to take the issue up with the government, Law Commission and the National Commission for Women, the TOI report added.

[How Saudi Arabia set up Wahabi centres in India?]

New Delhi, June 25: Last year violence broke out near a Mosque in Bommanhalli, Bengaluru and what was being termed as minor tiff was in fact a case of some youth trying to impose the Wahabi preachings.

When the seniors in the administration of the Mosque opposed these youth, there were clashes in which 4 persons were injured seriously.

In another incident that occurred in Maharashtra, Wahabi scholars bribed some members of the Mosque and attempted taking over the administration. While the Muslims in many states have opposed the Wahabis tooth and nail, success for the Saudi Arabia sponsored Wahabis was highest in Kerala.

These are instances that could be read with the recent Wikileaks documents which suggested that Saudi Arabia is worried about the growing influence of Iran over India and the outreach by Tehran to the Shia community was worrying. The Muslim World League also requests Saudi Arabia to establish Wahabi centres in India to counter the threat from the Shias.

How Saudi Arabia set up Wahabi centres in India?
Saudi Arabia realizes that the Shias in India are a threat to the dominance of the Sunni community. India houses a large number of Shias and this according to the Saudis gives Iran an upper hand in India. However for Saudi the Sunnis in India have not followed the violent Wahabi style of Islam and there are many seniors in the Muslim community who will not allow that to happen. The only way Saudi could instill a radical thinking in the minds of the Sunni Muslims in India was by the establishment of Wahabi centres. The Wahabis are an extremely orthodox set of Sunni Muslims. There are several Muslims in India who subscribe to the Wahabi view. As a first step, Saudi sent in several Wahabi preachers into India an Intelligence Bureau report states. The years 2011 to 2013 alone saw a record number of 25,000 Wahabis coming to India and conducting seminars in various parts of the country. With them they brought in Rs 1700 crore in several installments and used it to propagate the Wahabi style of Islam.

Wahabism found success in Kerala:
The drive by Saudi to impose the Wahabi culture in India has not been entirely a success. The highest rate of success that they have witnessed is in Kerala. This is a lot to do with the fact that there is a large population of people who go to Saudi in search of employment. Many in Kerala have welcomed with open arms the Wahabi style of preaching and this has let the Saudi controlled lot take control over nearly 75 Mosques in the state. The newer Mosques that are coming up in Kerala are also constructed in the manner in which they done in Saudi Arabia. This is just one small indicator of how much people of the state are willing to follow the radical style preached by the Wahabi scholars. Moreover the inflow of funds into Kerala from Saudi is the highest when compared to any other part of the country. It was in Kerala that one got to see posters mourning the death of Osama Bin Laden and also a prayer for Ajmal Kasab after he was hanged. Intelligence Bureau officials tell OneIndia that a large number of youth appear to be attracted to this radical style of Islam, but also add that there are some elders who are trying to oppose it.

The Wahabi rule book in India:
Each time a Wahabi preacher comes to India, he comes in with a rule book. What they intend to do is ensure that the rule book is circulated in the Mosques. However when the administration of the Mosques have opposed this it has led to clashes. The rule book has a set of guidelines which need to be ahdhered to failing which the horrific Sharia law would be imposed.
Here are a couple of guidelines that have been set as per the Wahabi rule book:
? Shrines shall be forbidden
? Every Muslim woman should wear purdah or be subject to severe punishment ? Men have to compulsorily grow beards
? Women should not be allowed to work. Exception can be made only if the family is in need.
? Men and women should not mingle together in public.
? No weeping loudly at funerals.
? Abide by the Shariat law; every offence committed shall be punishable under this law.
? All men should wear trousers which are above their ankles.
? No laughing loudly or listening to music; no dancing or watching television.

Wahabi universities being set up:
The Saudi sponsored Wahabis are aiming to set up their own education system in India as well. Out of the total Rs 1700 crore that has been earmarked for the cause, Rs 800 crore is being spent on setting up Universities in different parts of the country. One such university was seen in Andhra Pradesh as well. Over all they propose to set up 4 such universities which will only cater to Wahabi preachings. With the take over of the existing Mosques becoming extremely difficult, they have earmarked Rs 400 crore to set up 40 Mosques adhering only to Wahabi preachings in different parts of the country. A sum of Rs 300 has been been earmarked to set up Madrasas while the remaining Rs 200 crore has been set aside as miscellaneous costs which also would include bribes to paid off to Mosque authorities as was seen in Maharashtra.

The birth of the Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith:
The birth of the Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith took place in India in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. As a first step they wielded their influence on the various Mosques which began preaching the Sharia law as mandated by the Wahabis. The next stop was Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh following which they began wielding influence heavily in Kerala. The Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith was the umbrella body which oversaw the flow of Wahabi scholars into India. The same outfit is also making efforts to spread their ideology into Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and until last year Karantaka.

Read more at: http://www.oneindia.com/india/wikileaks-how-saudi-funded-rs-1-700-crore-wahabi-influence-india-1787820.html


More related links:
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/in-wikileaks-how-saudis-wanted-to-match-iranian-influence-over-india/
http://nation.com.pk/international/29-Jun-2015/india-pumped-with-saudi-funds-to-propogate-wahhabism-wikileaks

[Manga Version of Koran to Be Published in Japan]

This is interesting.

Manga Version of Koran to Be Published in Japan

Team Banmikasu's manga adaptation of the Koran, Manga de Dokuha: Koran (Reading Through with Manga: The Koran), will ship in Japan on Sunday. The adaptation of the Islamic religious text will be the latest installment in Japanese publisher East Press' Manga de Dokuha series of classic literature.

East Press describes the book on its website:

The Koran is the foundation of the daily life and ideology of people who believe in the teachings of Islam. The name Islam is often heard in the daily news, but because we Japanese aren't usually familiar with it, a perverted image [of Islam] as abstemious or linked to terrorism is liable to persist. So what kind of teachings do [Muslims] actually believe in? What are they thinking about? To understand the modern international community and Islam, let's try to experience the scriptures where all that is written down.

The Manga de Dokuha series launched in 2007 and includes 133 famous works by Japanese and international authors. Popular books in the series include the manga version of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler's manifesto Mein Kampf and an adaptation of Karl Marx's Das Kapital treatise. The series released manga of the Old Testament and New Testament, the two sections of the Christian Bible, in 2010.

The East Press series' debut title was Osamu Dezai's No Longer Human novel that JManga, a platform for reading legal manga online, added in 2011. JManga also added Variety Art Works' version of the Manga de Dokuha series' The Word of Buddha in 2012. North American publisher One Peace Books released the series' versions of Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote, F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, James Joyce's Ulysses, and H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds novels in 2012.

The Bible has previously received several manga adaptations, including Tyndale House Publishers' Manga Bible in 2007.

Link: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-02-14/manga-version-of-koran-to-be-published-in-japan/.84441

Salaam people,
Lately, I'm currently doing my research on what factors cause anti-Muslim sentiment in Europe, the West, and India for my academic essay. I'm writing this topic along with events that cause Islamophobia like 9/11 and ISIS. Since Islamist powers have contribute fear of Muslims, I will add the depth of Islamism in my research paper. While researching online, I can find information of 9/11 and ISIS easily, but I have trouble of finding information about how Islamism was introduced. Here are the other  Islamist powers I know of:
-Iran Revolution (I know it responded the corrupt government of Shah but I don't know how Ayatollah Khomeina got power)
-Taliban (In early times, it got supported to fight against the Soviets)
- Muslim Brotherhood ( I know this group wants to dominate Egypt)

I have a trouble on finding the beginning of Islamist powers and the audience response to them. Do you know any sources or keywords about the beginning of Islamism?
and.... If you live in Europe, Americas, or India, do you know any anti-Muslim attacks or Islamists groups in your region?

Thanks.

Nowadays, gender segregation is common in Muslim majority areas including the mosques.
I know the gender segregation in mosques originated from Caliph Umar's time, but I have a trouble on researching how Muslims started gender segregation practice that are widely practiced outside the mosque like purdah. How they are justified as 'Islamic' practice?

This is the page I found that mentions this practice: http://ibnbattuta.berkeley.edu/12westafrica.html

After all, he must have thought, he was a special visitor that should be pampered. And even more offensive were some different customs which Ibn Battuta thought were not appropriate for good Muslims. For example, he was used to the sexes being separated. On one occasion he entered in a qadi's (judge's) house to find a young and beautiful woman to greet him. She was the judge's friend! On another occasion Ibn Battuta called on a scholar and found the man's wife chatting with a strange man in the courtyard. Ibn Battuta expressed his disapproval and the man answered, "the association of women with men is agreeable to us and a part of good manners, to which no suspicion attaches. They are not like the women of your country."

I read the other pages about Ibn Battuta's journey. He comes from Morroco, where gender segregation was practiced while in Mali, gender mixing is norm. This shows that gender segregation was not practiced in all of the Muslim majority countries in 1300s.

Do you know any good source about the history of gender segregation or purdah?

This article http://www.buzzfeed.com/mariyakarimjee/my-friend-wears-a-hijab-and-i-judge-her-for-it?s&s=mobile

What do you think of this story? Can you relate the situation?

Salaam people,
  I am back after the long days of not creating topics and hardly participating in replying threads. The reason I hardly write something here is because of bunch of homework from my school that I don't have enough time to write within my deep insight
  Lately, I'm interested in Muslim women's issues within South Asia(focusing in India) because I have strong experience with Muslims Indians. I see lots of flaws within Muslim Indians, including to those who are 'non-practicing'.
Most of you guys are familiar with India's sexism (sexual harassment, rape, killing babies, lack of education). This exclusive form of sexism applies to Muslims in a different way.

 
This news http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/indian-presenter-gauahar-khan-slapped-live-on-air-by-man-from-the-audience-for-wearing-revealing-clothes-9894802.html  lead me to think about this issue because ignorance and patriarchy are strongly entrenched in Muslim Indians. It's extremely hard to find an Indian mosque that allows a space for women to pray even if it is a tiny room. Women cannot enter the graveyards and funerals. Under the so called 'Islamic' Marriage Laws in Indian government, men can marry any women up to 4 women without permission from his first wife, Muslim women cannot marry Jewish or Christian man while Muslim man can, and ridiculous 3 times talaaq divorce for men that it can even be applied to text message!
This news makes me feel sick including the comments of ignorance: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/muslim-girl-marriageable-age-15-years-or-puberty-gujarat-high-court/1/405495.html

  This one http://www.deccanherald.com/content/444615/trend-wearing-hijab-growing-kashmir.html makes me glad that hijabi women can wear any form of clothing without any  haram police because of Wahhabi influenced Kashmiri women on restrictive dress code decades ago. But based on my experience, Wahhabi-Salafi have strong influence in Muslim majority areas in Northern India. There, you'll see most of men wearing cap and long beard while women donning abayas (It's common to see niqaabis as well). The organizations and publishers are commonly linked to Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries.
I honestly feel sadness to see them blindly following based on what maulana says and baseless hadiths. Ask any Indian Muslim if they had read the Qur'an in original Arabic and the answer will be obviously yes. For reading Qur'an in Hindi,Urdu, or English? They will answer no and the religious conservatives will add that it's better for them to follow maulana 'cos 'they know the best'. The conservatives will based on what is haram and halal mostly on hadiths and little on Qur'an.
  The problem is not within the orthodox Muslims only, even 'secular' or 'moderate' Muslims believe in some parts of ignorance. I met a non-practicing Indian man with his wife and 3 young daughters. His wife was really nice and caring woman and I thought they have a stable life.Later on, I was told by my family member that he have polygamous father and might followed his footsteps which I was not bothered much about it. Few months later, there was a real news that the man planned to marry second women through polygamy because he was sick of his first wife bearing daughters and wanted to have a son by using his 2nd wife as son-making machine. I was also told that his first wife was against his polygamy plan, shocked, and was very very sad and depressed. She cannot leave her marriage because she cannot provide herself even though she hates to live in polygamy. My brains was hurt when I found out this tragedy.
  Also, I met another non-practicing Indian family, the women was arranged to of course another Muslim man and her family were saving money to give the dowry to the future groom's family instead of reverse. Not all Muslim families have bride's family giving dowry to the husband, but it is practiced there.
   
I think it's possible to remove problems if Indian society...

1. gives good education to both of the genders and encourage them to choose the subjects they prefer when they are in college.

2. Teach men how to NOT rape, provoke, and harass women rather then women how to not be raped, harassed, or provoked by men.

3. Let the Muslims whether young or old to read the Qur'an in the language they understand rather than blind-following.

4. Give Muslims the history of hadith origination and Orthodox Sunnism so that they can be aware of how the rules are used differently.

5. End sexism by treating women as human beings rather than sexual temptress objects to be controlled.

These are the main point and there are more points to remove problems,
They can not only help Muslims and also Hindus and other religious minorities who faced similar problem.


The Muslim woman today continues to face the brunt of a discriminatory law. She is divorced either orally, or in writing, and unilaterally, she gets meager or no mehr amounts, her husband continues to remarry with impunity; her consent is not taken at the time of marriage, she is forced to undergo halala, she faces intolerable restrictions during her iddat and so on. It is a tragedy that while Quran bestows many rights on the Muslim women, they are not able to access them. The Quranic injunctions must be made legally enforceable by adding it to the constitution of India.

http://muslimwomenpersonallaw.com/aboutus.html
 

Today I found this Quran-Only article about female modesty.

http://www.detailedquran.com/quran_data/The%20Quranic%20dress%20code%20for%20women.htm

Just like other Koranic modesty article, I thought it would mention that hijab is not needed. When I actually read it, I was surprised that they believe headcovering is fard based on Qu'ran.

  In my opinion, the author does have some 'point' about the interpretation especially the context but how do we know if the women at that time wore khimar on their heads 24/7 with every single hair strands hidden? I doubt about the assumption on how they wore the khimar especially after this verse 24:31 came out (like do they remove khimar from the head all together? use part of the cloth? loosen up the headcovering? etc)

Is there is any good evidence about how women at that time wore khimar or cover themselves after 24:31 that contradicts mainstream modesty interpretation of Islam.
Or perhaps any ways to refute this article?

["Inside The Chilling Online World Of The Women Of ISIS"]

"Inside The Chilling Online World Of The Women Of ISIS"
http://www.buzzfeed.com/ellievhall/inside-the-online-world-of-the-women-of-isis#2dhq66r

Some short paragraphs from this link:

"Twenty-year-old Aqsa Mahmood recently made headlines around the world when her parents revealed that she had run away from her home in Scotland and traveled to Syria to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and marry a militant."

"A look at her blog?s archive reveals her intense interest in Islam and apparent desire to become a jihadi. It also shows communications with other like-minded women, such as the one below, which was posted before Mahmood left her home in November 2013."

"In Syria, Mahmood began updating her blog with descriptions of her life as a member of ISIS. In April 2014, she posted that she had set up a new Twitter account."

"Under ISIS? rule, women are required to cover themselves in public. The niqab, a head covering that only reveals a woman?s eyes, is mandatory."

"Marriage to a fighter is essentially a requirement for all women who join ISIS. Since they are forbidden from engaging in armed combat, their primary role appears to be taking care of their husbands, and, eventually, children."

"In a chilling exchange, one woman jokes and laughs with a friend about the first time they saw a dead body."

Seeing one of the ISIS news like this makes my brain bleed, and this news is one of the worst one from today I read so far.
  I wonder why social media platforms are not taking a strong action to block these members of the terrorist group who are promoting violence and hatred?

         

  I am raised in secular-moderate Muslim(Sunni) family. My mother who is sceptic about some beliefs based on hadiths, is supportive of my Quranism approach. The rest of my religious family members does not even know that I don't believe in upholding hadiths. So the reaction wasn't that dramatic after all unless I told my religious family members.
  I have only one friend who is non-Muslim knows my beliefs, but she is not bothered about it.
The reasons I didn't tell to the rest of my friends is because my high school is dominated with mainstream Protestant Christians. My classmates (and some teachers) does not even know that I'm a Muslim except my close friends.
  So the reaction is generally okay, I'm thankful for having open-minded parents.

What reactions from your family and friends did you get for your Quranism beliefs?

Assalumu Alaikum People, 

This will be my first time fasting in Ramadan full time (I fasted for few days when I was a small kid) and I would like to know some helpful tips on fasting.
-Some ways to avoid dehydrating? (I live in the super hot and humid place)
-Any type of food that is suitable for fasting?
-Any tips on waking up early morning? (Alarm clock is totally useless for me)
-Last of all, some ways to have a spirit in Ramadan season.

Yeah that's pretty much I want to know

[Ireland 'leads the world in Islamic values as Muslim states lag']

This is a very interesting article here

Ireland 'leads the world in Islamic values as Muslim states lag'
Ireland best embodies the Islamic values of opportunity and justice, according to a survey by a leading US academic


The Koran's teachings are better represented in Western societies than in Islamic countries, which have failed to embrace the values of their own faith in politics, business, law and society, a leading academic at George Washington University has said.


A study of 208 countries and territories has found that the top countries in both economic achievement and social values are Ireland, Demark, Luxembourg and New Zealand. Britain also ranks in the top ten.


The first Muslim-majority nation is Malaysia ranking at 33, while the only other state in the top 50 is Kuwait at 48.


Hossein Askari, an Iranian-born professor of International Business and International Affairs at George Washington University, said Muslim countries used religion as an instrument of state control. He said: ?We must emphasise that many countries that profess Islam and are called Islamic are unjust, corrupt, and underdeveloped and are in fact not ?Islamic? by any stretch of the imagination.


?Looking at an index of Economic Islamicity, or how closely the policies and achievements of countries reflect Islamic economic teachings - Ireland, Denmark, Luxembourg, Sweden, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Singapore, Finland, Norway, and Belgium round up the first 10?.

?If a country, society, or community displays characteristics such as unelected, corrupt, oppressive, and unjust rulers, inequality before the law, unequal opportunities for human development, absence of freedom of choice (including that of religion), opulence alongside poverty, force, and aggression as the instruments of conflict resolution as opposed to dialogue and reconciliation, and, above all, the prevalence of injustice of any kind, it is prima facie evidence that it is not an Islamic community,? he said.

An Overall Islamicity Index analysing social rules and human rights measures found that similar rankings were generated in 2010.

"New Zealand, Luxembourg, Ireland, Iceland, Finland, Denmark, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Netherlands; and again only Malaysia (38) and Kuwait (48) make it into the top 50 from Muslim countries,? he said. ?Islam is, and has been for centuries, the articulation of the universal love of Allah for his creation and for its unity, and all that this implies for all-encompassing human and economic development."


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ireland/10888707/Ireland-leads-the-world-in-Islamic-values-as-Muslim-states-lag.html

What do you think? 

[Do not marry unbelieving women (idolaters), until they believe: A slave woman who believes is better than an unbelieving woman, even though she allures you. Nor marry (your girls) to unbelievers until they believe: A man slave who believes is better than an unbeliever, even though he allures you. Unbelievers do (but) beckon you to the Fire. But God beckons by His Grace to the Garden (of bliss) and forgiveness, and makes His Signs clear to mankind: That they may celebrate His praise. 2:221]

Salaamu Alaikum,
 
I'm recently researching about interfaith marriage in Islam (through Qu'ran).
As a result, according to traditional Muslims, men can marry People of the Book but women are forbidden to marry any non-Muslim men. Their reasoning is based on cultural justification and using a portion of the original verse.I find it absurd because of the way they interpret it.


Here are the verse about interfaith marriage (using Yusuf Ali translation):

Do not marry unbelieving women (idolaters), until they believe: A slave woman who believes is better than an unbelieving woman, even though she allures you. Nor marry (your girls) to unbelievers until they believe: A man slave who believes is better than an unbeliever, even though he allures you. Unbelievers do (but) beckon you to the Fire. But God beckons by His Grace to the Garden (of bliss) and forgiveness, and makes His Signs clear to mankind: That they may celebrate His praise. 2:221

This day are (all) things good and pure made lawful unto you. The food of the People of the Book is lawful unto you and yours is lawful unto them. (Lawful unto you in marriage) are (not only) chaste women who are believers, but chaste women among the People of the Book, revealed before your time,- when ye give them their due dowers, and desire chastity, not lewdness, nor secret intrigues if any one rejects faith, fruitless is his work, and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all spiritual good). 5:5



  So, one verse forbids Muslim men AND women to marry polytheist/unbelieving people and the another verse expresses the permission for Muslim men to marry Christian and Jewish women. Nowhere in the Qu'ran forbids Muslim women to marry nor expresses the permission to marry men from the People of the Book.

  Traditional Muslims forbids women to marry non-Muslims by implying the 'unbelieving men' are Christians and Jews with the polytheists.
If unbelievers=Christians/Jews, then they are also implying to the verse 2:221, forbidding Muslim men marrying 'unbelievers' and the contradiction to the verse 5:5, the permission the marry women from the People of the Book.
Just because the Qu'ran is silent about the issue of Muslim women marrying People of the Book, that does not mean it is forbidden.

My conclusion is that Muslim women are not forbidden to marry non-Muslims that are not 'unbelievers'.

But here are the questions that I am stuck with:

1.What are 'believers' according to Qu'ran? Are they only Muslims or they can belong to any monotheist religions?

2.What are 'unbelievers' according to Qu'ran? What are the characteristics of them and can they be implied to Muslims too?