What safeguards are in place -- are there any? -- to keep Islamic clerics in Britain and the state-approved sharia courts from being complicit in the abuses that result from polygamous marriage? Those abuses can range from the failure to inform one wife that there are others, to the settlement of resulting divorces, to fraud committed against the state for welfare benefits (though the state currently recognizes polygamous unions if the wedding took place legally in another country). Or would demanding transparency, accountability, and generally legal and ethical behavior be "Islamophobic?"
"How Sahar Daftary's death fall exposed polygamy in Britain," by Dominic Kennedy for the Times Online, December 28 (thanks to all who sent this in):
The death of a model who learnt that her husband was already married has shone a light into the murky world of Muslim polygamy in Britain.
Sahar Daftary, 23, fell 150ft from the twelfth storey of a block of flats where she had gone to collect her belongings at the home of a businessman whom she had married in a religious ceremony last year.
Her husband, Rashid Jamil, 33, was arrested on suspicion of murder but bailed by police after they found no evidence that the death was anything other than an accident or suicide.
Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, the head of the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain, told The Times: “This story is very common, unfortunately. We have tried to plug some of the holes in the whole system, but unfortunately our clerics do not live on this planet.
“They don’t understand. For them, controlling the sexuality of the woman is far more important than justice, so we have this problem.”
Ms Daftary, a Sunni Muslim from London whose family comes from Afghanistan, was crowned Miss Face of Asia in a beauty contest last year. She was found critically injured by the apartment block in Salford Quays near the Manchester United football ground on Saturday. She had been helping with make-up at a fashion show in the city but left early to collect clothes from Mr Jamil’s home.
Ms Daftary also wanted to arrange an Islamic divorce from him. She had undergone a Muslim wedding ceremony in Brentford, West London, only to learn later that her husband already had a wife.
Her sister, Mariya Massumi, a hairdresser, said: “A few months after they got married we had a phone call from Narissa Amjad, and she said she was Rashid’s wife. We were very shocked and we confronted him.” Relatives learnt that Ms Amjad, 29, a marketing executive, was expecting a second child by Mr Jamil.
Islam traditionally allows husbands to take up to four wives at a time. A confrontation took place at Mr Jamil’s detached house in Altrincham, Manchester, where Ms Amjad lived.
Ms Massumi said: “When we arrived he was very calm. He said to Sahar he was not happy with his wife. He said in front of his wife he wanted to live with Sahar. His wife Narissa was also very calm and said that was OK. We were all so shocked. Rashid told Sahar he loved her.”
Mr Jamil also had a former wife, Sebina Malik, a lawyer. They had a daughter but were formally divorced. According to relatives, Mr Jamil had also undergone an arranged marriage in Pakistan that ended in divorce.
Dr Siddiqui said some British Muslim clerics performed polygamous marriages. The ceremonies are unrecog-nised by law. Clerics let husbands end marriages by saying “I divorce you” three times. Ex-wives have no rights.
Ahmad Thomson, a barrister and founder of the Association of Muslim Lawyers, said that polygamous marriages could work in Britain if all parties were open and in agreement. But he added: “Sometimes the husband has tried to keep the earlier marriage secret. When the second or third wife finds out, it’s devastating.”
Shades of Carl Andre and Ana Mendieta in SoHo NYC:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE6D81531F933A25755C0A966958260
Yet again, a woman of color is expendable and justice is not pursued. This is beyond islam, this is just pure hatred of ethnic women. Why is there no justice for her? I can't believe this of Britain!!!
Uh, just quick timeout here for this POS
Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, the head of the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain:
Really? (dripping with sarcasm....)
Let's review their agenda, err, Manifesto...
Would any our cousins care to comment?
And you can read the entire 32 page pdf file here:
Muslim Manifesto
Have a few large-size barf bags before reading.
Hey, Boneshack! Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
Howdy, Champ!
Long time, no chat! Best to you and yours in 2009!
Aw, brings about long memories of our troll bashing about a year ago!
See ya round the farm!
Oh God! Boneshack-I got to page 5 and then barfed right onto my laptop! A "muslim" parliament in the U.K.? Disgusting!!!!
Surely the Brits know all this and have mounted a full-scale rebuttal?
Well, I am signing off... enough depressing news for the day.
But-Once again-I repeat:
STAND TALL ISRAEL!!!!!!
Lorfalcon,
Thanks. Keep reading. The deeper you get into this document, the more you will want to wretch your supper.
Unf*cking real what these zombies say. You may need a whole box of 30 gallon trash bags at your side to get to the end of this manifesto.
I apologize if I appear to be beating a dead horse with my exposes of the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain, but I feel that this group, any, zombie command center, needs to be exposed and brought under the microscope.
So, when you thought you had enough with the above link, here is one more very interesting read (which, I'm sure) will make you quite frustrated:
The Muslim Parliament of Great Britain: Political innovation and adaptation
To borrow a slogan from one of the dhimmi broadcast channels, "TMYK"...The More You Know.
From the article above:
"Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, the head of the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain, told The Times"...
Now, as Hugh likes to do, here's the Errata Sheet:
For 'head of the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain', read:
'head of the so-called "Muslim Parliament of Great Britain"'.
Ahmad Thomson, a barrister and founder of the Association of Muslim Lawyers, said that polygamous marriages could work in Britain if all parties were open and in agreement. But he added: “Sometimes the husband has tried to keep the earlier marriage secret. When the second or third wife finds out, it’s devastating.” - above
See how sneaky that is? You see, polygamy is only a problem if it's kept secret. Now why didn't we realize that before?
Both Ayaan Hirsi Ali's 'Infidel' and V S Naipaul's 'Beyond Belief' contain observations on the terrible psychological and social fallout from Muslim polygyny.
I understand that Nonie Darwish's 'Now They Call Me Infidel' also contains some trenchant discussion of the same topic; she speaks from the experience of a person who grew up inside Muslim society, living under what she calls 'family sharia' (that very same 'family sharia' that has been allowed to set up shop in Britain, that is permitted to operate among Muslims in India, and which Muslims want to be able to impose in every Muslim enclave within the non-Muslim world, as an entering wedge, of course, for the imposition of sharia on *everybody* as soon as Muslims can gain control of the levers of power).
Here, from a speech given by Darwish at Berkeley in 2007
http://frontpagemag.com/articles/Read.aspx?GUID=17069DA6-6C04-4E06-81C7-010C9F29AD55
is Darwish on life inside the Muslim world:
"After my father’s death, my mother had to face life alone with five children in a culture that gave respect only to families headed by a man.
"In the 50’s few women drove cars and she was criticized and called names for buying a car to take us to school.
"Arab women are expected to sacrifice their family by giving up their husbands and sons to martyrdom, but are given little respect to live their life with freedom and dignity.
"I lived for 30 years in oppressive dictatorships and police states. I witnessed honor killing of girls (our maid), oppression of women and female genital mutilation....
"The global war we are fighting against Islamo-fascism and jihad is not just about bombs and hijacked planes;
" It’s also about tyranny and oppression of women.
"Oppression of women and support of terror are two facets of the same fundamentalist mentality.
" Islamic law – Sharia – that terrorists are fighting to impose upon the world, would create a global state of gender apartheid.
"Under criminal Sharia, punishment could be flogging, stoning, beheading and amputation of limbs. Cruel and unusual punishment by Western and humane standards. Leaving Islam is punishable by death. If the State fails to kill an apostate, his death is guaranteed at the hands of a street mob.
"That makes Islam more than a religion; it is a one party state; and also an elaborate legal system, called Sharia, that can put you to death if you leave Islam.
"Sharia must guarantee there is no defection from the Berlin Wall of the Muslim State.
"Amazingly, the majority of Muslim countries don’t practice criminal Sharia because they cannot stomach it.
"I have lived under Family Sharia for 30 years of my life.
"This is practiced in all Muslim countries;
"it allows only men the right to an easy divorce,
"having up to 4 wives,
"allows wife beating,
" half the inheritance of a man to a woman
"and her testimony in court is only half valid.
"She is respected only when she shields her body, face and even her identity.
"As many as seventy-five percent of women in Pakistani prison are behind bars for the crime of having been raped.
" Sharia codified into permanent Law a 7th century Arabian Peninsula tribal culture for every Muslim in any culture forever.
"Under Sharia, the Muslim Khalifa or Amir, meaning leader, is exempt from being punished under Sharia. Islamic Sharia law is a dictator’s dream handed to him by Allah.
"*Polygamy has a devastating effect on family dynamics, husband/wife relationship and women relationships* {my emphasis added - dda}.
"Many Moslem men only have one wife,
"but the damage to wife/husband relationship has already been done in the Muslim marriage contract itself;
"where a man does not pledge loyalty to his wife and the wife cannot expect his loyalty.
"The marriage contract has 3 more spaces to be filled out by other women if the man wishes.
"That is why a good Muslim woman must accept her destiny under Sharia Law for one simple reason, challenging Allah’s Law is like challenging Allah himself."..
Hey DDA!
I was married in Alexandria, Egypt, and though I couldn't read the dang marriage contract, I don't remember 3 other spaces for other wives... They would've been right next to my signature right?
I DO remember that Egyptian Civil law required my ex to reveal if he had had previous wives or was currently married. But, even though this was required to be written in English for me, I believe that in theory, it could be easily hidden and certainly not at all punishable in practice.
Heheheh... I also remember the euphemism "virgin" in the dang contract. It said I was a 36 year old virgin... NOT... LOL!!!!! That poor 80 year old woman in Iran who wants to marry had better be certain she can prove her virginity or its to the hills and stoning for her(it's in the contract, dude!)!!!!! Poor thing....
I'm sure the woman just accidentally fell out of the 12th storey window.
Happens to Muslim women all the time.
Or will ... if they get uppity.
So to speak.
lorfalcon
I'm only quoting Nonie Darwish. One would have to check her book, perhaps - she may give more information there.
It is quite possible that her statement reflects the state of affairs that prevailed when she lived in Egypt as a girl and as a young woman. That is, that particular practice may have been changed between when she lived in Egypt, and when you were married.
Irrespective of the detail about the contract, her reference to the damage done by polygyny is borne out by Ayaan Hirsi Ali's account of her own parents' lives, and by the life stories of assorted Muslims that V S Naipaul met in Iran, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia.
DDA!
That was a fascinating read, thanks. I find it interesting that Nonie states Nasser was trying to unify the Arab states. I wonder to what end.
When I was in Egypt, I was told by a few muslim women that Nasser was assassinated because of extremists who were unhappy with his civil laws allowing women to demand divorce. I wonder now if that is true or just a glorification of oriental culture.
Thanks again!
Cultures that can't even maintain a definition of marriage as being between a man and a women, are not going to be able to maintain a definition of marriage as being between a man and only one woman.
It's not rocket science.