| FrontPageMag.com | By Robert Spencer | By Hugh Fitzgerald | Books | Jihad Watch | Islam 101 | Qur'an Blog | Raymond Ibrahim | Robert Spencer |  |
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|
A case study in the obstacle that sharia poses for the advancement of women's rights: Islam elevates women, and we've got sharia law, so what more can they ask for? The mentality is comparable to a short-sighted (though apocryphal) pronouncement often attributed to Bill Gates, circa 1981, that "640K [of RAM] ought to be enough for anybody," where sharia is the "640K": It's all you "need," and all you're going to get.
"Bahrain Shiite clergy feud with parliament over family law," from Agence France-Presse, January 3:
MANAMA (AFP) — Bahraini Shiite Muslim clergymen on Saturday declared that a proposed family law cannot pass parliament and insisted that only the Shiite religious authority has jurisdiction over family matters.
The six Shiite clergymen said the law, which was referred to parliament for approval on Saturday, should be drafted by clergymen and approved by the highest Shiite marjaia (Shiite religious authority) Ali al-Sistani.
"Such a regulation dealing with Islamic law must have the approval of the highest Shiite marjaia and not a council of representatives with no expertise on sharia (Islamic law)," Sheikh Mohammed al-Shihabi of the Shiite Muslim Scholar Council told AFP.
In the absence of a personal status law in Bahrain, sharia, in both its Sunni and Shiite interpretations, has been the only arbiter when it comes to marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance.
Islamic Sunni and Shiite courts rule on family and other personal cases.
The Shiite clerics in December said a plan for the Gulf kingdom's legislative authority to bring in a family law was an unnecessary and provocative move.
Bahraini women activists have long been demanding that a law regulating personal status issues be enacted and that related disputes be referred to civil courts, instead of to religious courts headed by clergymen.
Meanwhile, Britain has accommodated activists lobbying for the opposite.
Posted by Marisol at January 4, 2009 12:31 PM
Print this entry
| Email this entry
| Digg this
| del.icio.us
"The six Shiite clergymen said the law, which was referred to parliament for approval on Saturday, should be drafted by clergymen and approved by the highest Shiite marjaia (Shiite religious authority) Ali al-Sistani.
'Such a regulation dealing with Islamic law must have the approval of the highest Shiite marjaia and not a council of representatives with no expertise on sharia (Islamic law)," Sheikh Mohammed al-Shihabi of the Shiite Muslim Scholar Council told AFP.'"
-- from the article above
"The title to this article -- Bahrain: Shi'ite, Sunni clerics protest plans for civil family law -- misleads. It is Shi'a clerics who, according to the actual text, are objecting to the Sunni Arabs who run Bahrain (which has a population that is 70% Shi'a, deeply worrisome to the Sunni ruler who, as these things go in the Gulf, is an enlightened one) actually considering a "secular" legal system -- meaning one not quite so modelled on the Shari'a. In this case, in other words, it seems that the Ruler of Bahrain, and his Sunni fellows, are likely to be the more enlightened ones, and the Shi'a, note, look to Ali Al-Sistani as the sole authority to be looked to for decidiing whether the legal code is to be obeyed.
Remember Al-Sistani? A great deal was made of him, and how wonderful he was supposed to be. Why, the egregious Tom Friedman, always full of bubbly advice for the world, suggested that Al-Sistani be awarded a Nobel Prize. Some party-pooper at this site pointed out that Al-Sistani's own website listed, among things that are "unclean" (urine, semen, feces, blood, that sort of thing) were "Infidels." That somehow made Al-Sistani just a bit less attractive as a Nobel Prize candidate -- but still, is he really less offensive, say, than such previous winners as Yassir Arafat and Jimmy Carter?
Have you ever seen that splendid fellow Ali al-Sistani? Perhaps his cheerful mien will impress you as much as it does me. It was Ayatollah Khomeini who said that there is "no humor in Islam." Well, just to prove him wrong, take a look at Ali Al-Sistani, and imagine what a sense of humor he must have:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5ULN-aJJ2c&feature=related
And for even zanier humor, don't forget the late Ayatollah Al-Hakim, giving a lively reading to his followers that causes him to be overcome with emotion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTTP61_9Acc
If you'd like it without the music, so you can hear Ayatollah Al-Hakim's voice, and with English subtitles, just go here and start at about 18:30:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4l4ISfnY5WQ&feature=related
Oh, there's plenty of humor in Islam, if you have the right perspective.
Posted by: Hugh![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/nav-commenters.gif)
at January 4, 2009 7:54 PM
Al-Hakim without music? Only for the driest, the dustiest of scholars!
After all, it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
Posted by: Marwan'sDaughter at January 4, 2009 8:03 PM
Bill Gates didn't really say that? Marisol, you've ruined my evening!
Posted by: Family Values at January 4, 2009 10:07 PM
I think that 640K RAM comment was by Steve Balmer, rather than Gates, when DOS was the only thing one had on computers, and no, DOS then did not mean 'denial of service', as it does today.
Posted by: Infidel Pride at January 5, 2009 5:49 AM
"only the Shiite religious authority has jurisdiction over family matters."
Islam is not like any other religion. It is a complete way of life. I refuse to denigrate other religions by referring to Islam a "major religion". I will concede that it is a cult. But that is as far as I will go.
at January 5, 2009 8:47 AM
It's all about the power.
at January 5, 2009 7:40 PM
Comments are turned off and archived for this entry.
(Note: The Comments section is provided in the interests of free speech only. It is mostly unmoderated, but comments that are off-topic, offensive, slanderous, or otherwise annoying stand a chance of being deleted. The fact that any comment remains on the site IN NO WAY constitutes an endorsement by Jihad Watch or Dhimmi Watch, or by Robert Spencer or any other Jihad Watch or Dhimmi Watch writer, of any view expressed, fact alleged, or link provided in that comment.)