Islam and the West *The Burqa Debate: understanding the backdrop <http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1509>*
France has also been a pioneer of sorts when it comes to the feminist movement of the world. Feminism was conceived and practiced first in France and has been a source of inspiration all over the world. France is also known for its outspoken feminine sexuality which might sometimes be beyond the comprehension of the eastern mind-set. Catherine Breillat, for instance, is a movie-maker whose films have created ripples worldwide on this issue but even their concept couldn’t have been imagined in Asian or Middle Eastern societies. French society is a developed society today but it has sacrificed a lot in reaching where it has. Sarkozy’s remark can be viewed as a result of a compelling pressure of French ethos and its history as Burqa is the symbol of the regressive civilization of medieval ages which is gaining currency in French society amongst immigrant Muslims. To any French national who knows the history of his liberal culture that set women free from medieval bonds, this might seem like an imminent threat to his society’s value system. But we should also try to understand the psychology of the Muslims world over who are under constant attack from Western Media and who are facing military aggression as well. Muslims are suffering from a loss of identity especially in the western world. -- *Shamshad Elahee Ansari* More..<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1509> Islam, Women and Feminism *The Burqa: Don’t ban it, question it <http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1510>* Above all, to question the veil, Muslims must challenge what the US-based academic of Hyderabad origin, Muqtadar Khan, calls the “epistemological hijab”, the curtain that the male Muslim clergy has kept between Islamic scripture and women. Muslims engaged in ripping apart this epistemological curtain can see that during the lifetime of the Prophet and for a while thereafter, the Muslim woman was acknowledged as an autonomous human being. She was considered a person in her own right, not just a mother, sister, wife or daughter. Over fourteen centuries ago, it was both an obligation and a right of Muslim women to participate actively in the religious, economic, social and political life of the community. The clergy must explain how it happened that the female sex subsequently got pushed out of the common public space. The “pious burqa” is but a manifestation of this subversion of early Islam. -- *Javed Anand * More...<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1510> Islamic Ideology *The Beauty of Islam that attracts intellectuals like Kamala Das <http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1503>* Kamala Das had converted to Islam on 12 December 1999. Kamala Suraiya - her Islamic name - was considered to be one of the finest authors. She was also a good poet. Known as a tradition-defying iconoclast, she had sought to convince her readers that inequality among humans is most inhuman. After a long creative life and having pondered over the ideology of Islam and presumably comparing it with other religions, for a long time, she decided to take refuge in Islam. After her conversion in a grand ceremony organized at Chohi in Kerala, she observed in a T.V interview: “I didn’t accept Islam under any pressure; it’s my spontaneous and personal decision. So I don’t care about any criticism, Islam is the most precious treasure for me and it is dear to me more than my life”. -- *Maulana Nadeem Al-Wajidee *Translated from Urdu by *Syed Raihan Ahmad Nezami* More<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1503> -- Syed.Asadullah --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Asalam o Alaikum, You Are Receiving This Message, Because You Are A Member Of FOCUS ON ISLAM, A Google Group [..:: The Best Group For Nice Islamic Mails ::..] \/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<>\/ You can Post Your Comments and Suggestions to Me [Moderator of this Group] on this email address: [email protected] To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.google.com/group/focusonislam/ To post messages/mails to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] Please forward our Mails to Your friends, and convence them to join our Group. Wanna subscribe to this group, send email to [email protected] \/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<>\/ *********************************************************** The Official Website of Group is LAUNCHED, http://www.geocities.co -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
