TresSugar

Send Them to Rehab? Program Could Answer Gitmo Problem

LibertySugar — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 03:00:14 -0800

Following President Obama's order to close Guantanamo Bay prison within a year, the US is looking for responsible ways to relocate prisoners. Since one suggested location - Alcatraz - won't do, US lawmakers might consider "jihad rehab."

CNN reports that a Saudi rehab program, which uses religious teachers to re-educate Islamic radicals, could solve the US's dilemma of closing the prison while also keeping Americans safe. Saudi officials say that of the 218 participants that were arrested for engaging in terrorist activities only nine have been rearrested. That's less than .05 percent, and much better than the 11 percent re-engagement rate for prisoners released from Guantanamo. The program tries to neutralize dangerous ideology, explaining that killing goes against Muslim teachings, and also helps prisoners lead a normal life once they leave. One participant described his life before the program: "They told me Americans kill Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. . . and they brainwash me. . . They said it's the honorable thing to do to go fight Americans."

Since keeping detainees at Guantanamo Bay with limited rights could have increased anti-American sentiment among many prisoners, a more enlightened approach might serve everyone's interests.

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First Interview: Obama Tells Arab World US Wants to Be Friends

LibertySugar — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 11:00:14 -0800

Granting his first official interview as president to Al-Arabiya, a major Dubai-based Arab network, Barack Obama reached out to the Muslim world telling them "the Americans are not your enemy."

Some highlights from yesterday's interview include:

On the US role in negotiating peace between Palestine and Israel: And so what I told him [Mideast envoy George Mitchell] is start by listening, because all too often the United States starts by dictating. . . . Ultimately, we cannot tell either the Israelis or the Palestinians what's best for them. They're going to have to make some decisions. But I do believe that the moment is ripe for both sides to realize that the path that they are on is one that is not going to result in prosperity and security for their people.
On the notion of a Palestinian state: I think it is possible for us to see a Palestinian state - I'm not going to put a time frame on it - that is contiguous, that allows freedom of movement for its people, that allows for trade with other countries, that allows the creation of businesses and commerce so that people have a better life.
On al-Qaeda: They seem nervous . . . what that tells me is that their ideas are bankrupt. There's no actions that they've taken that say a child in the Muslim world is getting a better education because of them, or has better healthcare because of them.
On US relations with the Muslim world: My job is to communicate to the American people that the Muslim world is filled with extraordinary people who simply want to live their lives and see their children live better lives. My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy.

Are you surprised that Obama chose an Arab network for his first TV interview?

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Dubai: Land of $1.5 Billion Hotel, More Modern Muslims

LibertySugar — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 03:00:27 -0700

A $1.5 billion Atlantis hotel will open tomorrow on Dubai's palm tree-shaped island. The lavish digs include: dolphins flown 30 hours from the South Pacific, a $25,000 a night suite, an open-air tank with 65,000 fish, stingrays, and other sea creatures, and 16 restaurants.

Compared to the rest of the Arab world, where Islamic faith is gaining significance in the lives of youth, residents of Dubai can choose to worship more modern wonders like nightclubs and casual girlfriends. Religion has become a personal choice, rather than a collective identity, according to a recent New York Times profile.

Young workers explain that Dubai, an Islamic state, allows Muslims to embrace a religious life if they choose, while also achieving career advancement and lifestyle comforts. Still others are confused, saying that the contradicting culture - "you can have prostitutes, but don't get caught with a woman" - takes time to get used to.

Perhaps economic growth could mean a new way of life in the Middle East.

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Islamic Sharia Courts Legally Binding in UK

LibertySugar — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:00:08 -0700

Taking advantage of the 1996 Arbitration Act, a new network of sharia law courts in Britain have legal authority in some marriage, financial, inheritance, or domestic violence disputes. Even the UK's High Court must enforce the decisions of the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal panels set up in five major cities.

The lawyer who set up the courts last Summer explained:

We realized that under the Arbitration Act we can make rulings which can be enforced by county and High Courts. The Act allows disputes to be resolved using alternatives like tribunals. This method is called alternative dispute resolution, which for Muslims is what the sharia courts are.

To see how the panels' decisions can impact women differently than men, read more.

In a recent inheritance case, two sons got twice as much as the daughter according to sharia law. And in domestic abuse cases, which are usually treated as criminal cases in Britain, husbands were ordered to take anger management and receive mentoring from elders.

Businesses use alternative dispute resolution contracts all the time - perhaps the Muslim community just wants to work towards more expedient and culturally appropriate results, too. Even so, should rules based on Muslim or other religious law be signaled out as an unacceptable basis for alternative dispute resolution?

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What Would You Wish For? Saudi Arabia Debates Birthdays

CitizenSugar — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:30:00 -0700

Though it's a lightning rod in its own right, My Super Sweet Sixteen pales in comparison to the birthday controversy blowing its way through Saudi Arabia. The country's most senior Muslim cleric has recently denounced birthday parties as an unwanted foreign influence, going head-to-head with another cleric who's said pony rides and cake are just dandy.

Under the strict interpretation, even modest birthday celebrations are "haram," or banned. The Saudi ban on birthdays is observed by the conservative Wahhabi sect that is dominant in the kingdom. Their belief is that all Christian celebrations, plus most Muslim feasts celebrated elsewhere in the Islamic world, are nixed as alien customs.

The cupcake controversy started when the more lenient cleric announced on TV that it's OK to celebrate milestones like birthdays as long as the word "eid" (feast) isn't used to describe them. The blowback was swift and pointed (especially if you've been to a Hallmark store lately) from the cleric: "Christians have Mother's Day, an eid for trees, and an eid for every occasion. And on every birthday, candles are lit and food is given out." Between no birthdays for Muslims and no voting for Jehovah's Witnesses, what would you give up for religion?

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Teen Suspended For Telling Muslim-American to Take Off Hijab

TresSugar — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:00:00 -0700

Heather Lawrence, a 16-year-old from Spring Hill, FL, may want to rethink what it means to be a patriotic American.

A junior ROTC member who wants to enlist in the Army next Summer, Lawrence was recently suspended for chastising a fellow student in the halls who was wearing a hijab, saying, “Take that thing off your head and act like you're proud to be an American." She first took offense at the girl when she noticed that she didn’t stand for the pledge of allegiance. Lawrence's parents, outraged that she was suspended for five days, are thinking of taking legal action. (The girl Lawrence confronted didn't complain, but a teacher overheard the remarks and reported her.)

Lawrence’s parents say that it’s Heather’s First Amendment right to “speak her mind,” but Springstead High’s principal sees Heather’s behavior as a of violation the district’s policy against bullying and harassment. According to a school staffer who asked Lawrence why she confronted the student, her harassment seemed to have a prejudicial tinge. "She began to rant,” said the staffer, “that she was enlisting and was going to Iraq and that basically because the girl looks Middle Eastern, that makes her an enemy because all Iraqis are Middle Eastern."

We’ve talked before about how Muslim women wearing hijabs seems to set a lot of people off. As for having to say the pledge of allegiance, last year the US Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a provision in Florida law mandating that people must stand for the pledge.

What do you think of Lawrence’s treatment of the hijab-wearing Muslim-American and her subsequent suspension? When does patriotism go too far?

Muslims, Marriage, and Reconstructive Hymen Surgery

LibertySugar — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 11:00:00 -0700

All it takes is about $3,000, a semicircular cut, and 10 dissolving stitches for European Muslim women to get their hymens restored and keep new husbands happy by appearing to be virgins as a result of wedding-night blood.

One doctor interviewed by the New York Times said:

If you’re a Muslim woman growing up in more open societies in Europe, you can easily end up having sex before marriage. So if you’re looking to marry a Muslim and don’t want to have problems, you’ll try to recapture your virginity.

So what kind of problems do these modern Muslims face? Recently a French court upheld an annulment of a marriage that was founded on a lie about the bride's virginity. But now, under the pressure of secular critics, the justice minister, Rachida Dait, has changed her mind and granted an appeal. We'll have to stay tuned to see how that goes.

When women can appease their husbands by creating faux virginity with a medical procedure, it demonstrates how nominal virginity can be. But, to some this deception might be unforgivable deceit. Do you blame these women for getting this form of plastic surgery? Do you think the annulment would have been granted if the husband had lied about his virginity and the woman brought the case?

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UK Muslim Grassroots Group Wants to Eradicate Extremism

LibertySugar — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 03:00:55 -0700

A group of reformed-extremists, want to eradicate extremism in Britain's Muslim community. The Quilliam Foundation wants to help mainstream Muslims spread the message that a vast majority of Muslims are peaceful.

By countering al-Qaeda's narrative, the group hopes to facilitate a reconciliation between the West and Islam, beginning in London. The foundation is named after a 19th century Englishman who converted to Islam.

The think tank's website says that as former activists of radical Islamist organizations, the founders are familiar with the mindset and methods of extremist groups. But, now they hope to help Western Muslims flourish without the cultural and political baggage of India and the Middle East.

Do you think a grassroots effort is the right way counter extremism and change public perceptions? Or, should energy be directed toward major international players?

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Union Trades Labor Day For Muslim Holiday at Tyson Factory

LibertySugar — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 06:00:45 -0700

Union workers at a Tennessee Tyson Food poultry factory will not get paid to barbecue chicken this Labor Day. A new five-year contract makes a paid holiday substitution, trading Labor Day for the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr. Instead of marking the end of summer, the employees will mark the end of Ramadan.

The Tennessee plant has 700 Muslim workers, out of 1,200 total. Tyson says the switch has nothing to do with religion, but is instead a contractual agreement (which only applies to union members) reached because the majority of the workers asked for it. Union leaders and supportive employees think it makes sense to accommodate the Muslim workers, too.

Other workers lament the loss of an "American holiday," and it appears that they are not alone. Some in the community are calling for a boycott of all Tyson products, arguing that immigrants need to adapt to the American way of life.

Should Tyson keep Labor Day no matter what, give employees an option to choose between the two holidays, or simply meet the contractual desires of the majority of workers, who are ready to give up Labor Day?

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Muslim Travelers May Avoid Sniffer Dog Checks Citing Religion

CitizenSugar — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 13:00:51 -0700

Transportation police in the UK might be losing a safety tool: Muslim passengers are objecting to the use of danger-sniffing dogs, saying that the practice is against Islam. According to the religion, dogs are considered to be spiritually “unclean."

Though the animals may be able to touch passengers’ luggage as a more acceptable alternative, the ban may hinder the effectiveness of dogs who've been trained to identify terrorists. Though a police spokesman said sniffer dogs would still be used regardless of faith, but handlers will be vigilant of “cultural sensitivities.” The chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission disagrees that the measure is enough, saying that even dogs touching baggage would be an issue for a Muslim preparing to pray. He stressed the importance of finding a method to allow dogs to check passengers without physical contact.

Are machines an alternative? Perhaps not. In a trial following the 2005 London bombings, some Muslim women said the use of a body scanner was also unacceptable because it was the equivalent of being forced to strip. Should religious beliefs trump safety practices? Where should the line be?

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