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| Afghanistan/South Asia | |
| Protest against India rape fatwa | |
| 2005-07-01 | |
A ruling by a Muslim seminary in India that a woman allegedly raped by her father-in law must separate from her husband has been met with protests. The religious edict or fatwa was issued by the Darul-Uloom Deoband, a powerful Islamic school which was established more than 150 years ago. The Deoband school promote a radical brand of Islam which is said to have inspired the Taleban in Afghanistan.
The alleged rape attracted widespread attention after reports that reports that a Muslim council of community elders had ordered the victim to marry her father-in-law. On Friday, the alleged victim failed to appear before a Sharia court set up by Darul-uloom Deoband to hear the case, the Press Trust of India reports. Earlier reports quoted her as saying she would abide by the fatwa. A body of Muslim women said the Deoband ruling was "against the spirit and essence of Islam, which gives equal rights to women". "The Islamic clerics have failed to differentiate between sex by consent and rape by force," Shaista Amber, president of the All India Muslim Women's Personal Law Board, is quoted as saying by the Asian Age newspaper. Feroze Mithoborwala of the Muslim Youth of India described the fatwa as absurd. "Why should she be punished for no fault of hers?" he told the Times of India newspaper. Another Muslim women's organisations, Awaz-e-Niswan, said the fatwa was "shocking". "Who has given these people the power to issue fatwas? "We will mobilise public opinion against this fatwa," Hasina Khan of the Awaz-e-Niswan said. On Thursday, women's groups protested in the northern city of Muzaffarnagar, where the alleged rape took place. It coincided with the visit of a team from India's National Commission of Women, sent to investigate the case. "We want justice for the woman," NCW head Girija Vyas told journalists after meeting the alleged victim. In its ruling the Darul-Uloom Deoband did not endorse the village council's order that the victim had to marry her father-in-law but said she could no longer live with her husband. "She had a physical relationship with her father-in-law. It does not matter if it was consensual or forced," Mohammad Masood Madani, a cleric at Deoband, told Reuters. The woman's father-in-law has been arrested and is in jail. | |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #13 You are a positive fount of information, john. :-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-07-01 23:39 |
| #12 Deoband arose as a reaction to muslim defeat (the fall of the mughal empire to the British). |
| Posted by: john 2005-07-01 22:53 |
| #11 hmmmm can muslim women be taught to carry torches, pitch forks, and big scissors? Might have something there.... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-07-01 20:36 |
| #10 Or maybe she just doesn't want to burned alive, Muck. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2005-07-01 19:28 |
| #9 Earlier reports quoted her as saying she would abide by the fatwa. mebbe her fahter inlaw purdy loded. |
| Posted by: muck4doo 2005-07-01 16:31 |
| #8 The point has been raised here before that Deobandi and Salafi/Wahabbi are similarly extremist sects, but arose independently -- one in Arabia, the other amongst the Muslims of India. Wow. It's almost like they're working off the same source material. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-07-01 15:18 |
| #7 It's not sick, it's Islam. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-07-01 15:00 |
| #6 Deobandi seem to be a Hanifi-type Sufi, not Wahabbi. |
| Posted by: James 2005-07-01 15:00 |
| #5 The point has been raised here before that Deobandi and Salafi/Wahabbi are similarly extremist sects, but arose independently -- one in Arabia, the other amongst the Muslims of India. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-07-01 13:49 |
| #4 The women causing all this trouble will most likely be sentenced to public gang rape. That ought to teach em. As for that whole equality for women thing, that's a new one on me. Have these broads ever heard of Sharia? The Deoband school sounds like it is indeed a Wahabbi sect and pobably pulls that sharia stuff out of their ass all the time to handle uppity housewives. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2005-07-01 10:05 |
| #3 So all a guy has to do to marry the 'girl of his dreams' is to rape her? Excuse me but that is just sick! |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2005-07-01 09:26 |
| #2 "She had a physical relationship with her father-in-law. It does not matter if it was consensual or forced," Mohammad Masood Madani, a cleric at Deoband So we should stick you in our prisons to have a physical relationship with a man. Then we can stone you to death for same sex relationships, under your islamic laws. Brilliant! |
| Posted by: mmurray821 2005-07-01 09:11 |
| #1 So the local muslim wimmins suggest the fatwa is "against the spirit and essence of Islam, which gives equal rights to women"? Methinks the bebearded ones might consider that as bordering on apostacy. The darn book lays out the rules pretty clearly and equality isn't part of the grand scheme for islamowomenfolkchattel. You'd do well to watch your step ladies! |
| Posted by: Tkat 2005-07-01 09:10 |