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Darul Uloom Deoband Now Says One Wife Is Enough

Position Change

Darul Uloom Deoband is an Islamic school that is highly respected across the Indian subcontinent. It used to support plural marriages since under Sharia law, a Muslim man can have four wives at a time. However, this famous Sunni seminary has changed its stand when it issued a recent fatwa, or religious ruling, that advises [...]

Should Britain Criminalize Forced Marriage?

Extent of Forced Marriages In Britain

Last year the UK’s Forced Marriage Unit gave advice or support related to a possible forced marriage in 1468 cases. 66 involved people with disabilities (56 with learning disabilities). 78% of the victims were female and 22% male. Some 400 (29%) were minors, and the youngest of these was only 5 [...]

Impunity For Extrajudicial Killings Is Serious Problem In India

Prevalence Of Honor Killings In India

India’s National Crimes Record Bureau says that 8,391 brides were murdered over dowry-related issues in 2010. This works out to one murder every hour – and that is just for dowry-related killings. Just imagine what the number must be for all honor killings. One reason for such high numbers is that [...]

UK – Muslim Women Find It Hard To Exit Bad Marriages

Tough Life For A Married Muslim Woman

Life has been very difficult for Nasrin, a young Muslim woman in the U.K. First, she was forced into an arranged marriage at a very tender age. Then her husband, instead of loving and caring for his defenseless and vulnerable wife, has repeatedly heaped emotional and physical abuses onto her.

One would [...]

Gay Muslim Couple Marries In S. Africa, Settles In France

An Unusual If Audacious Union

Ludovic Mohamed Zahed and Qiyam Al Din are brave – reckless would be a more fitting term if one disapproves of their sexual orientation – indeed. Both are Muslim men, Ludovic Mohamed Zahed an AIDS patient and a French national of Algerian ancestry, while Qiyam Al Din is native South African. Recently, [...]

In Afghanistan Fleeing Forced Marriage and Abuse Can Be Moral Crime For Women

Prevalence Of Moral Crime in Afghanistan

There are some 400 women and girls in prison in Afghanistan for moral crimes. They make up 50% of all women prisoners and nearly all teenage girls in juvenile detention facilities. A Human Rights Watch publication, entitled “I Had To Run Away”, focuses on the imprisonment of females for one particular [...]

Honor Killing – Is Riddance The Solution?

A Possession?

When a possession is spoilt or contaminated, the simplest solution for the owner is to discard it, if it is an inanimate object.  What if it is a defective animal?  Some race horse owners will have a horse with a broken leg shot because it is too costly to keep it alive. When it comes [...]

Egyptian Cleric Forbids Celebration Of Mother’s Day

A Man’s Dilemma About Mother’s Day

An Egyptian cleric has declared that Mother’s Day should not be celebrated “even if that saddens your mother”. He was answering a query by a man who did not agree with his sister’s suggestion that they jointly buy some house furnishings that their mother needed, as a present for her on [...]

First Case Of Honor Killing Of White Girl In UK?

Murder Of Laura Wilson

The murder of 17-year-old Laura Wilson by her boyfriend Ashtiaq Ashgar in October 2010 is thought to be the first case of honor killing of a white victim in the UK. So what did Laura Wilson do to cause loss of honor? And what do today’s young “Asian” men (ie, men from the [...]

Canada – Second Chance For Muslim Lesbian Couple Fighting Deportation

“Repeatedly Threatened”

A Muslim lesbian couple who fled Israel to Canada has just been given a second chance in their fight against deportation.  Having failed to obtain refugee status, the couple presented fresh information to the Federal Court of Canada and the judge hearing the appeal has now ordered the Immigration and Refugee Board to give the [...]