Photo: Kerala HC Allows Muslim Women to Wear Hijab for All India Pre-Medical Test
Kerala HC Allows Muslim Women to Wear Hijab for All India Pre-Medical Test
Meet the Daredevil Activists Changing the Game for Women in Swat, Pakistan
The British Muslim Women Who Have Been Seeking To Inspire Others
These Millennial Muslim Women Are Clapping Back Against Stereotypes
Women Attend Pakistan Jamaat-I-Islami Shoora for First Time
Powerful Prince Says Saudi Arabia Is Still Not Ready For Women Drivers
Iranians Worry As Morality Police Go Undercover
Gulf Artists Stand Up For Women’s Rights
Seminar on 'Women’s Rights in Islam' To Be Held in Pakistan's Quetta
Compiled by New Age Islam Bureau
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‘I Was Called a Filthy Arab - Then They Emptied Their Beer Cans on My Hijab’
April 26, 2016
Muslim women have revealed shocking incidents of Islamophobia and some feel many such incidents go unaccounted for.
Incidents included a medical student abused by patients she is trying to help and a mum targeted alongside her children because she was brave enough to report the abuse to police.
One of the growing numbers of victims of Islamophobia are women.
A single mother of two speaks of her incessant harassment because she has chosen to wear the Hijab and Abayas.
“I’ve been wearing the Hijab out of choice since I was 20. My mum doesn’t wear Hijab, neither do my sisters.
“I never had an issue because of my headscarf before.
“It’s only in the last year that I have experienced this type of racism. I’ve been called ‘Bin Laden’s wife’ and ‘traitor’ in the streets.
“Somehow I have become accustomed to verbal abuse and hard stares when I am out.
“But when the abuse came to my home, I had to take action.
“I had eggs smashed through my letterbox one evening. It was the same day that a local group of boys threw a fizzy drink over me and called me a ‘lazy immigrant.’
“I called the police that evening.
“The police were very good- they arrived immediately and were incredibly empathetic. The next day they cautioned the gang.
“Later that day, it was no coincidence that my car window got smashed.
“I can’t live with my children in fear like this. Perhaps the gang see me as an easier target because I have young children and I don’t have a husband.
“I have since moved.”
A PhD student, 26, tells us how she is repeatedly intimidated on public transport. “I wear Niqab. That’s my choice. I don’t even discuss religion with my colleagues. It never comes into the equation.
“Yet strangers seem more upset by my fashion choice than anyone who knows me.
“Because I am in the lab for long hours, I often don’t leave until quite late.
“This means I am on the train during unsociable hours.
“People will avoid sitting next to me.
“I have seen people who think they are subtle taking pictures of me. No doubt they have posted them on social media.
“Once a guy made a mock gun sign with his hand as he stared at me.
“I have encountered more than a fair share of drunken men who make their feelings very clear.
“I’ve been called a filthy Arab by a group of men who then emptied their beer cans on my Hijab.
“When the train is moving, there is no escape until the next stop.
“In shopping centres I have had security men following me around. It’s easier just to leave to be honest.”
A medical student who wears a Hijab reveals how she has been blatantly discriminated at by patients.
“Too many patients have refused to give me their patient history, for no apparent reason.
“When my supervisor told one particularly irate patient that I was perfectly capable to take her medical history, she spat at me.
asianimage.co.uk/news/14450762.___I_was_called_a_filthy_Arab___then_they_emptied_their_beer_cans_on_my_hijab___/?ref=ebmpn
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Kerala HC Allows Muslim Women to Wear Hijab for All India Pre-Medical Test
April 27, 2016
The Kerala High Court on Tuesday ordered that Muslim women candidates be allowed to appear for the All India Pre-Medical/Pre-Dental Entrance Test (AIPMT)-2016 scheduled on May 1 wearing Hijab (headscarf) and full-sleeve dress, a dress code prescribed by their religion. Justice A. Muhamed Mustaq, however, allowed frisking of such candidates by women invigilators.
The court, while allowing a writ petition filed by Amnah bint Basheer of Thrissur against the dress code prescribed by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), observed that “the right of women to have the choice of dress based on religious injunctions is a fundamental right protected under Article 25(1), when such prescription of dress is an essential part of the religion”.
Part of religion
The court found that covering the head and wearing long-sleeve dress by Muslim women had been treated as an essential part of the Islamic religion. Article 25(1) protected such prescription of dress code.
Curbing malpractices
The court added that the rationale for prescribing a dress code by the Board was to avoid malpractices in the examination. The interest of the Board could be safeguarded by allowing the invigilator to frisk such candidates, including by removing the scarf. However, the safeguard had to be ensured that this must be done honouring the religious sentiments of the candidates. Therefore, women invigilators could be permitted to frisk such candidates.
The Judge pointed out that reasonable restrictions under Article 25 could be invoked to protect public order, morality and health. In fact, the prescription of a dress code was not invoked in the interest of public order or morals of society by the Board.
The court also observed that the right to practice the essential part of the religion as guaranteed by Article 25(1) “is insulated from interference by the authority or the State except in situation” referred to in Article 25.Therefore, the Board could not restrict of the claim of any similarly situated persons. The court ordered that all similarly situated persons would be entitled to the benefits of the court order.
The court said that the safeguards set by the High Court last year in a similar case could be followed for this year as well. The Board could take steps to protect the religious rights while inviting the application from next year onwards.
thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/kerala-hc-allows-muslim-women-to-wear-hijab-for-aipmt/article8526739.ece?utm
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Meet the daredevil activists changing the game for women in Swat
April 27, 2016
Tabassum Adnan was becoming concerned with how little women in Swat knew about their basic rights. It disturbed her that Swati women were not in control of their own security, and had little knowledge of their right to vote. Victims of violence rarely knew where they could go for help or what options they had, legally or otherwise.
Spurred by the void, she established Khwendo Jirga (Sister’s Council), a sensitisation space where women come together to discuss problems ranging from chilling acid attacks to collectively improving their security.
“I received a positive response [from the community] and formed the Jirga,” Tabassum says, “Women from different areas gather, discuss their issues and resolve them.”
Drawn to this unique space, women began to meet regularly in the Sister’s Council to talk about honour killings, acid attacks, and other violations in the community.
The council has dealt with some heinous cases. There was a woman whose nose was chopped off by her husband, another whose leg was axed by her husband, and a third whose husband threw acid on her face. The sisters collectively provided emotional support and strategised how to find a safe space for these women.
Much more than a space for dialogue, the council is a tightly-knit network of women across the valley that monitors rights violation inside homes. When members are alerted of a crime or wrongdoing, they rally other members to reach the spot and immediately take it up with the relevant government department or authority.
“We have stopped several cases of swara, a tradition in which a girl is forcefully married to a man of a rival family to resolve disputes,” Tabassum says. There are several other examples. Tabassum has liaised with police to stop six cases of swara and violence, resulting in police action to save those women.
Home to the spirited Nobel Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai, the Swat valley has no dearth of brave women. Over one million of them—with their children— have witnessed a full-fledged military operation.
Explore: Meet the heroic mothers who raise children with special needs
But women like Tabassum have stepped up in turbulent environments to start campaigns aimed at promoting women's education.
Neelam Chattan, Shama Khalil, Gul-e-Khandana are some of the other women active in the valley.
No to toy guns
Through her unique movement, Neelam Chattan campaigns against the sale and use of toy weapons in Swat.
The three years of militancy in the valley have left a deep impact on the minds of children. She feels children are dangerously inspired by their weaponised environment and thus began re-enacting violent scene with their own toy weapons.
To divert these young minds from the trauma of the conflict and to dissuade children from using weapons, social worker and peace activist launched her anti-toy gun movement.
“Toy weapons create a criminal mindset in children,” Neelam says. “Research has proven that toy weapons play a key role in promoting violence in society.”
She believes that unless the government bans toy guns to promote a peaceful and developed society, children will be drawn towards terrorism, street crime and violence.
The 22-year-old has founded ‘Peace For New Generation’, which brings young women and men to spread awareness amongst children.
Together, they plan healthy, non-violent activities for younger kids, such as sports activities, skits and theatre performances that divert children's attention from playing with guns.
A home for widows and orphans
In 2009, Shama Khalil, a young entrepreneur in lower Swat, decided to do something about women who had nowhere to go. Many were widowed in the conflict while some were abandoned by their families.
Concerned with the absence of financial and personal security of these women, Shama decided to open a rehabilitation center where they could live comfortably without having to rely on a male guardian.
Her initiative Shama Vocational Center (SVC) houses not just widows, but also orphaned girls.
Since the vocational center opened, Shama has trained over 2,000 women in sewing and embroidery work. These women make clothes, bags and accessories which are sold locally in Swat and in other parts of the country. With more women joining the center, the craft of Swati embroidery— which took a hit during the insurgency— is once again flourishing.
Shama's center is not the only one. Her model has been adopted by others, such as Gul-e-Khandana in upper Swat, who opened the Women Welfare Development Organization (WWDO).
“I could not stand to see their suffering,” Shama says, “I wanted to provide a space where these women could share their burdens but I also wanted to provide a space where they could learn skills and earn their livelihood in a respectful way.”
dawn.com/news/1252883/meet-the-daredevil-activists-changing-the-game-for-women-in-swat
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The British Muslim Women who have been seeking to inspire others
April 26, 2016
As British Muslim women we believe in the principles of democracy, human rights, peaceful co-existence and respect for life. These are being daily undermined by extremists and terrorists who murder, rape and steal in the name of Islam. We declare that groups like Islamic State, Al Qaeda and Boko Haram do not represent our faith and pose a very real and dangerous threat to our communities and to women’s rights and lives.
‘Making A Stand’
We launched this campaign in 2014 because we wanted to stop the damage caused by extremists poisoning young minds in our communities. As mothers we were losing our children as they turned their backs on us, choosing instead to join the murderous so-called Islamic state having been radicalised online by hate preachers pushing their messages of a false Islam.
Listening to women as they told us of their suffering and unimaginable grief on discovering that their sons and daughters had turned their backs on the family to join ISIS made us realise that if we came together our voice would be stronger.
We decided to make a stand to utterly and unequivocally reject the barbarism of the so-called Islamic state and to reject extremists and radicalisers such as Boko Haram and Al Shabaab.
We were determined to ensure that these terrorists would no longer be able to prey on our children with impunity.
Women now feel empowered to stand up and say: “No more. Enough is enough.” Building on the success of the campaign so far, we visited Birmingham, Luton, Cardiff, Leeds, Burnley, , Bristol, West and East London in order to spread the word.
We are thankful to the Home Office for supporting our Making A Stand campaign. The funding received to deliver projects into communities has helped provide women with an opportunity to better understand how they can protect their children from radicalisation and extremism.
‘Taking the Lead’
Women are the first defence against radicalisers in our communities.
So as women in our communities we will declare our abhorrence of extremism and take the lead in stopping radicalisers preying on our children and grooming them for violence.
‘Our Commitment’
Through #makingastand we commit ourselves to rejecting terrorism and violence practised in the name of Islam. Together we will:
Challenge hatred and extremism wherever we find it.
Exert influence in our Mosques and communities.
Create local support networks and partner with statutory agencies.
Equip our communities with counter-narratives and help families identify the signs of radicalisation.
Spread the word with the use of the #makingastand campaign.
newsfixboard.com/t15664p50-the-british-muslim-women-who-have-been-seeking-to-inspire-others
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These Millennial Muslim Women Are Clapping Back Against Stereotypes
April 26, 2016
"Kill them all, and let their Allah take care of them." Laila Alawa was just a teenager in Potsdam, New York, when she spotted a guy wearing that slogan on a T-shirt and hoped her 6-year-old twin sisters couldn't read it. Alawa had started wearing a headscarf when she was 10, a year after 9/11, and endured people on the street telling her to "go back to Iraq" and calling her a terrorist. She was used to being the outsider - born in Denmark, she'd moved with her family often - but then the kids in her grade school refused to associate with her, and the isolation got so bad that her mother decided to homeschool Alawa and her siblings. "I made a vow as a 13-year-old that when I grew up, I'd make sure no girl or no woman ever felt alienated," she says.
Now 24 and living in Washington, D.C., Alawa is making good on her vow as the creator of the feminist Muslim website The Tempest. The site, originally launched as Coming of Faith in 2013, publishes personal essays and editorials advocating for gender and ethnic equality like "Confessional: My High School Counselor Was Racist" and "Aisha Saeed Talks Diversity in Publishing" alongside jokey listicles like "10-Year-Old Me, Don't You Dare Shave Your Arms" ("I know Abu's razor is right there, but you'll only leave behind an impossible mess for me to have to deal with ten years later.") "My work with The Tempest comes out of a fierce refusal to allow anyone to be silenced," Alawa says.
Alawa is one of a handful of young Muslim women trying to flip American media's portrayal of Muslims as male terrorists or oppressed women from faraway lands. There are 3.3 million Muslims in America, according to a recent report from the Pew Research Center (Pew estimates that number will more than double by 2050), and a significant portion of them are Millennial women. A 2011 Current Population Survey by Pew found that 59 percent of adult American Muslims are 18 to 39 (compared to 40 percent of non-Muslim adults), and 45 percent are female. Alawa and her cohorts at MuslimGirl, MissMuslim, and #GoodMuslimBadMuslim are using their publications to show the complexity of the Muslim experience by producing Muslim-centric viral content around dating, faith, makeup, music, body issues, family, and politics for their booming audience.
We didn't get a seat at the table, so we built our own.
The fastest-growing Millennial Muslim startup for women is MuslimGirl (tagline: "Muslim Women Talk Back"), founded by 23-year-old Amani Al-Khatahtbeh, who was just named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 list. The New Jersey native launched MuslimGirl in high school as a LiveJournal community. "We wanted a place to talk about things that might have been too embarrassing for mom, like getting bullied in school or our periods, and to eliminate stereotypes through the spirit of interfaith sisterhood," Al-Khatahtbeh says. One thousand girls joined her LiveJournal group in the first five days.
In 2009, she bought a domain name, and now Al-Khatahtbeh's bedroom operation has grown into a New York-based company with five paid staffers and more than 50 freelance writers. Al-Khatahtbeh says thousands of loyal followers now read the site's features, like "Top 10 Instagram Looks of the Week," maps of anti-Muslim attacks that have occurred in the presidential campaign cycle, and sharable GIFs of Al-Khatahtbeh speaking on a panel recently with former President Bill Clinton. One of MuslimGirl's most viral hits is a 2015 video response to the inflammatory "draw Muhammad" contest in Garland, Texas, that asked people to sketch the Islamic prophet, resulting in obviously offensive submissions. MuslimGirl deflated the power of the campaign by riffing on the theme: They offered people on the street the chance to draw a picture of any Muhammad they know. (Muhammad is one of the most common boys names in the world, so there's no shortage.) "We didn't get a seat at the table, so we built our own, and anyone can sit with us," Al-Khatahtbeh says. "Our goal is to become the first mainstream media network by and for Muslim women."
yahoo.com/celebrity/millennial-muslim-women-clapping-back-141609410.html
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Women Attend Pakistan Jamaat-I-Islami Shoora for First Time
April 27, 2016
LAHORE: For the first time in 76-year history of the Jamaat-i-Islami, women members of the Shoora attended a meeting of the consultative body whose sitting started here on Tuesday and will continue till Thursday.
Through an amendment to the party’s constitution the previous year, 10 seats had been reserved for women Arakeen (members with voting rights) in the central consultative body.
One each seat has been reserved for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan and four each for Punjab and Sindh.
Interestingly, only in KP the party has managed to form a coalition government – first in 2002-07 with Maulana Fazl’s JUI-F and presently with the PTI – but to the astonishment of many just one seat has been reserved for the province which has proven to be its stronghold.
The 10 Shoora members have been elected through a secret vote by 5,000 women Arakeen, says a party official.
dawn.com/news/1254728/women-attend-ji-shoora-for-first-time
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Powerful prince says Saudi Arabia is still not ready for women drivers
Wednesday, 27 April, 2016
Saudi Arabia isn’t ready to end the world’s only ban on women driving, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said, arguing it’s not just a matter of ending strictures imposed by the kingdom’s austere form of Islam.
Allowing women to drive is “not a religious issue as much as it is an issue that relates to the community itself that either accepts it or refuses it,” said the 30-year-old prince, who has amassed unprecedented powers since his father, King Salman, ascended to the throne. “The community is not convinced about women driving” and sees negative consequences if it’s allowed, the prince said on Monday after outlining a plan to reduce the kingdom’s reliance on oil.
The prince had signaled his support for more freedom for women during an interview this month, saying “we believe women have rights in Islam that they’ve yet to obtain.” But when asked about the driving ban by a reporter on Monday, he said reform couldn’t be rushed. “Changes could happen in the future and we always hope they will be positive changes,” he said. [Saudi Defence Minister and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman answers questions during a press conference in Riyadh on MOnday. Photo: AFP]
Attempts at broad social liberalisation could jeopardise the closer ties that the Al Saud family struck with Wahhabi clerics after armed fundamentalists in 1979 seized Mecca’s Grand Mosque and demanded an end to efforts to modernise the Saudi state. Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh recently said allowing women to drive was “a dangerous matter that should not be permitted.”
Yet the sort of industries Prince Mohammed wants to lure to Saudi Arabia to wean it off its oil dependency are unlikely to come to a country with major strictures on women.
Saudi women also need a guardian’s consent to receive a passport, travel outside the country or marry. A 2015 gender gap index by the World Economic Forum ranked Saudi Arabia as among the worst countries to be a woman, placing it at 134 out of 145 nations.
King Abdullah had expanded the rights of women in the world’s biggest oil exporter before his death in early 2015. Amid opposition from traditionalist clerics and their followers, the late king opened the first coeducational university, named the first female deputy minister and said women can vote and run in municipal polls. Many Saudi women want more rapid change.
“We were very disappointed,” said Muneerah Sulaiman, a 26-year-old lawyer in Riyadh, after the prince’s comments on Monday.
“I don’t understand the argument of people who oppose it on religious grounds,” she said. “How is it OK to have a strange man drive women around, which is against Islamic teachings, but not OK to drive yourself around? It doesn’t make any sense.”
scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/1938946/powerful-prince-says-saudi-arabia-still-not-ready-women
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Iranians worry as morality police go undercover
April 26, 2016
Tehran resident Sousan Heidari has stopped letting her headscarf slip casually down over her neck and shoulders while driving in the Iranian capital. These days, the 22-year-old with a taste for bold makeup makes sure to pull it tightly over her dark hair, fearful of running afoul of a newly established undercover division of the morality police.
"Every single man or woman could be a member of the unit," she cautioned. "I don't know. Maybe some plainclothes have already reported me because of heavy makeup."
Tehran police chief Gen. Hossein Sajedinia recently announced his department had deployed 7,000 male and female officers for a new plainclothes division - the largest such undercover assignment in memory. Authorities say the division, which started work last week, will patrol major Tehran streets and intersections, policing transgressions including harassment against women and excessive car honking and engine noise.
Critics fear the unit's main focus, however, will be enforcing the government-mandated Islamic dress code, which requires women be modestly covered from head to toe. They see it as the latest flashpoint in the struggle between relative moderates such as President Hassan Rouhani and establishment hard-liners who fear looser social norms will weaken the Islamic Republic's values and priciples.
Iranian women these days, particularly younger ones, often forego the traditional long black long veil known as the chador and opt instead for trendy dresses and fashionable headscarves. More and more, they are daring to let their scarves slip down to their shoulders while driving.
Influential ayatollah Mohammad Ali Movahedi Kermani alluded to those concerns about moral erosion during a recent Friday sermon in Tehran, saying that a woman driving without a veil, "cannot be called freedom."
Avoiding sartorial trouble in Iran has been fairly straightforward up until now. Police assigned to the morality-enforcement beat normally wore the same dark green uniform of regular Iranian police, and were stationed out in the open at major squares and crossroads.
They would take a range of approaches to enforcing dress codes, including handing out scarves as gifts, giving verbal warnings or having female officers physically remove excessive makeup.
At worst, offenders would be sent to court and face fines of up to $250 or hauled to the local police station until their family members gave a written promise that they would never commit the same offense again.
Azizeh Shirazi, a mother of two college-aged daughters, said last week's announcement of the new force has left her worried that something might happen to them on the way to university. "When the girls do not answer my phone calls during the day, my heart beats faster," she said.
The outcry over the new undercover police force extends to senior officials.
Shahindokht Molaverdi, vice president for women and family affairs, criticized the decision and expressed concern that it would be "limited to giving warnings to women over improper attire," according to local media reports.
Molaverdi said many citizens have complained to her about the police decision, and she vowed that the Rouhani administration will review the proposed force.
Even the popular Hamshahri daily, which is linked to conservative opponents of Rouhani's government, raised questions about the plan in an editorial, asking why it was necessary now and whether there would be any way to verify the unit's reports.
Police responded to the criticism by saying that "demands by the people" led to the creation of the new unit and that concerned citizens could contact police about any ambiguities.
They have found support from hard-liners, including female parliamentarian Fatemeh Rahbar - who said the previous practice of uniformed morality police was too easy for violators to spot and evade.
"The police are thinking about a more precise, more effective and more functional method since the previous open method did not bear fruit," she said.
On Sunday, the spokesman of the hard-line dominated judiciary, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi, added his voice of support, saying the "judiciary definitely supports the police plan to confront open social corruption."
Tehran-based political analyst Saeed Leilaz believes the new unit is a reaction to the resounding defeat of hard-line and conservative candidates in Tehran during recent parliamentary elections. A bloc led by moderates and reformists won a majority of seats around the country, but captured all 30 seats representing the capital in the 290-seat parliament. A runoff election for 68 remaining undecided seats will be held Friday.
Leilaz noted that these new plainclothes units have only been announced for Tehran, not for any other major Iranian city.
"This is part of the establishment's reaction toward Tehran residents' attitude in the election," he said. "It's an expression of discontent and taking revenge, as well as applying efforts in restricting President Rouhani."
Leilaz said the new initiative suggests previous hard-line dress code policies have failed. And he questioned how effective the new division would be.
"The plan, as usual will have a short-term limited impact. Soon people will return to their routines," he said.
cbsnews.com/news/iran-islamic-morality-police-patrol-tehran-plain-clothes/
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Gulf Artists Stand Up For Women’s Rights
April 27, 2016
After its inaugural exhibition in Kuwait in May 2015, Abolish 153 is hosting its second art exhibition in Dubai at JAMM gallery to raise funds for its campaign to create awareness about women’s rights.
The show, titled “Abolish Article 153”, features 40 works by emerging artists from the region, such as Musa Al Shadeedi from Iraq, Iranian Mehdi Darvishi, Bahraini Zuhair Al Saeed and Kuwaiti artists Maha Al Asaker, Farah Salem, Thuraya Lynn Al Jasem, Zahra Al Mahdi, Amani Al Thuwaini, Deena Qabazard, Tagreed Al Bagshi and Tareq Sultan. The works have been created especially for the show, and half the sale proceeds will go to the Abolish 153 campaign.
This is a cause that is close to the heart of Lulu Al Sabah, founder of JAMM gallery, and a member of the Kuwaiti royal family. “Abolish 153 is a campaign that aims to abolish Article 153 from Kuwait’s penal code, which gives men regulatory, judicial and executive power over their female kin in blatant disregard of the Constitution, international agreements on human and women’s rights and even the Islamic Sharia.
This law states that any man who surprises his mother, sister, daughter or wife in an unsavoury act with a man and kills her or him or both will be treated as committing a misdemeanour punishable by a maximum of three years’ jail time and/or a fine of Rs3,000 [currently equivalent to KD14, or Dh170]. Our aim is to also build coalitions across the GCC and the Arab world to abolish similar laws across the region.
Ultimately our aim is to create a safe environment where women are protected from all forms of violence and to raise awareness of these violent practices and the legislation that sanctions them. I know that the laws will not be abolished overnight, but we want to create as much awareness about this as possible,” she says.
The show presents various perspectives on the situation of women in the region. Farah Salem’s photographs of women trapped in boxes in various landscapes comment on the restrictions put on women by society as well as the constraints they internalise in their own minds.
Maha Al Asaker has used flowers and the female form to highlight the beauty and the fragility of a woman. Zahra Al Mahdi’s “Zouz The Bird” illustrations of “impregnation capsules” with price tags attached highlight the right of women to control their own bodies, sexuality and reproductive organs. Thuraya Lynn Al Jasem’s ink and marker pen dreamscapes are full of symbolism and metaphor about a woman’s world. Amani Al Thuwaini has created silk prints in seven layers to express her feelings about gender issues.
With her mixed media and embroidery on paper works titled, “Assisted Disappearing Act”, Deena (Machina) Qabazard makes a powerful statement on the way men see women. Tareq Sultan subverts the expression of an Arabic term of endearment (Ba3ad Chabdi), which translates as “My Liver”, using the balance held by Lady Justice — the allegorical personification of the moral force in judicial systems to highlight the sinister reality of honour killings.
Mehdi Darvishi has created an innovative interactive installation comprising a painting and two intaglio prints, which have to be viewed via the camera on a cellphone after activating a negative filter, commenting on the way women are viewed by society.
Musa Al Shadeedi’s photographic work references the 1814 Orientalist painting by Ingres, “La Grande Odalisque”, to speak about how modern men still view women as objects they own, that can be used for their pleasure, covered, or even killed according to their whims.
Zuhair Al Saeed affirms his support for the cause with a series of mixed media works featuring faded, disintegrated text about Article 153.
“Every artist in this show hopes that Article 153 will be abolished. And we want to thank them for their contributions and their support for our campaign,” Al Sabah says.
Jyoti Kalsi is an arts-enthusiast based in Dubai.
“Abolish Article 153” will run at JAMM gallery, Al Quoz, until May 8. For more information about Abolish 153 and to register your support for the cause, visit abolish153.org
gulfnews.com/culture/arts/artists-stand-up-for-women-s-rights-1.1812896
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Seminar on 'Women’s Rights in Islam' to be held in Pakistan's Quetta
April 27, 2016
A seminar is planned in the Pakistani city of Quetta later this week on women’s rights in Islam.
AhlulBayt News Agency - A seminar is planned in the Pakistani city of Quetta later this week on women’s rights in Islam.
The Khatam-al-Anbia Mosque in Queatta will host the event on Friday, April 29.
The al-Munji religious group is organizing the seminar, which will be addressed by Hojat-ol-Islam Juma Jafari.
Role of women in society’s progress, Islam and women’s rights, and the unfavorable status of women in Western societies are some of themes to be discussed at the program.
There will also be a question and answer session at the end of the seminar.
en.abna24.com/service/centeral-asia-subcontinent/archive/2016/04/27/750270/story.html
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