imperial liberals
The news about the shut down of the brothel in Islamabad (the capital of Pakistan) – led me to do some google searches to find out more about the school that the sisters are affiliated with… Here is what I find interesting, the school has over 3,000 female students – yet, according to most of the corporate media – they are all being “Talebanized.” But I thought the very definition of “Taleban”, according to most corporate media, was that they did not allow female students.
Infact, one of rallying cries of 10/7/2001 was that the bombing of innocent Afghans would lead to a liberation of Afghan women, who could then get an education. So, what is going on here? And what kind of fear mongering are the liberals upto this time?
Well, perhaps a quote by this so-called “women’s rights activist” of Pakistan, Tahira Abdullah, might give an idea: For this enlightened liberal “activist,” the women of this school are:
“Just like these girls look like ninja turtles – in that all encompassing veil, just like they look like that, their brains are like that. They’re atrophied. Totally rusted.
“The IQ levels must be going down all the time if someone was to do tests on them. They’re not allowed to think for themselves, to question, they’re not allowed to reason. Their spirit of inquiry is stifled.”
This kind of elitest liberal attitude is similar to an article that was circulating earlier on the internet by an Egyptian liberal, Yasmin Amin:
It was a bit of a shock to me to see this mass of black! A black niqab, where even the two tiny holes where the eyes would be were covered in black gauze, entered the room.
There maybe valid questions about the ideology of the school, and their relationship with schools of Islam other than their own. But, one should watch, and Urdu speakers should listen, to this earlier protest, when they occupied a library to prevent the demolition of a masjid on the orders of the US puppet Musharraf.
The sisters sound not only confident, and assertive – but also far more articulate than the rantings of liberal “activists” who appear to be spewing a projection of their own classist racist orientalist Islamophobia, rather than any thought out critique.
For additional perspectives, listen also to this show on Femperialism
My Lord, bless Muhammad and the Household of Muhammad,
the distinguished, the chosen, the honoured, the brought nigh,
with the most excellent of Your blessings, benedict him
with the most complete of Your benedictions, and have mercy upon him
with the most enjoyable of Your mercies! (Sahifa al-Kamilah, dua #47)
the brothel and the bamboo danda
“We are not authorised by the government to arrest them, but we are authorised by our religion, because this [prostitution] is evil.”
She said they would not be harmed and would be released if they promised to close the brothel.”" (Female seminary student Seema Zubair, 20, told The Associated Press)
A whole group of women took over a brothel in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan – and shut it down. Now, I don’t wanna glorify this situation too much – ’cause I know these sisters probably don’t have a very positive view about Shi’a Muslims. At the same time, I gotta say: good for them!
There is an interesting twist to all of this: According to most of the corporate media, this action is a sign of “Taleban type activities” spreading in Pakistan, and poses a challenge to the “authority” of the US puppet Musharraf.
Since when exactly, did such an action by Muslim women students become a “Taleban type” action? But I do agree, the US puppet probably does derive at least some of his support from the men who frequent these places, and who are only too happy to have a puppet ruling Pakistan whose definition of being “enlightened” “moderate” and “liberal” includes tolerating casinos, alcohol clubs and bars, and brothels.
Pakistan does have a long history of prostitution – so I won’t put the blame entirely on the puppet. However, there is a correlation between prostitution and the capitalist/free market economics (obviously). A few links to some interesting readings below:
Women in the Labor Market by Bernard Shaw
The Sex Industry and Global Capitalism
Globalization, Militarism, and Sex Trafficking
Don’t endorse the Amman “message”
Abu Sinan has a comment on the Amman statement on “sectarianism” that is circulating the blogsphere. (There are couple of areas I don’t agree with Abu Sinan on… regular readers of this blog will know which areas…).
There are a couple of issues that should be considered with regards to this statement.
1. Just because Ingrid Mattson and Hamza Yusuf or even representatives of Ayatullah Sistani have endorsed this statement, does not mean it is just OK to just blindly endorse this document.
2. The document is written in a way that gives credibility to the “king” of Jordan — it begins like this:
The Amman Message started as a detailed statement released the eve of the 27th of Ramadan 1425 AH / 9th November 2004 CE by H.M. King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein in Amman, Jordan
This “king” of Jordan is the same dude who cast suspicion on Shias in the first place, and suggested that the “shia crescent” is a threat to the “mid-east” (do google searches if you don’t remember what he said).
The guy is the same who chose to – support “israel,” and formed part of the axes that opposed the resistance, while “israel” was attacking Shias in South Lebanon just a bare few months back. So, now we Shias are just supposed to forget about who this guy is, and praise those Sunnis who are promoting this document?! Sorry, no deal.
Here is a deal: Hamza Yusuf, who has endorsed this document, might do well to, instead of signing statements, do some serious outreach to Shia masajid in the San Francisco Bay Area. He might, for example, invite Shi’a scholars to Zaytuna to give a few talks – and in the same vein, the Shi’a masajid, in the area, might also reciprocate.
Such a gesture, even if symbolic will go a long way towards actually dealing with sectarianism, instead of signing on to statements “initiated” by imperial puppets such as the “king” of Jordan.
