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Why we don’t see more Islamic reformers: Pro-Sharia group sues Muslim reform group over its use of the word “Islam” in its name

Mar 22, 2010 4:40 am By Robert Spencer

Sisters In Islam angered Sharia supremacists by opposing the caning of women for drinking alcohol, polygamy, and child marriage, and so a Muslim group is suing it to stop it from using the word “Islam” in its name. Apparently caning, polygamy and child marriage are so much a part of Islam in the view of the Malaysian Assembly of Mosque Youths that to oppose them places one outside the realm of Islam.

Isn’t that ironic? In the West, if you point out that Islam allows for such things as caning, polygamy and child marriage, you are likely to be called “Islamophobic,” hateful, bigoted and worse by self-appointed Islamic spokesmen — witness Tarek Fatah’s malicious savaging of Wafa Sultan for pointing out that Muhammad consummated his marriage with Aisha when he was 54 and she was 9. But in Malaysia, apparently, Tarek Fatah and others like him would be regarded as un-Islamic in the eyes of the Malaysian Assembly of Mosque Youths and other groups like it.

“Malaysia women’s group sued over ‘Islam’ in name,” by Sean Yoong for The Associated Press, March 22:

Muslim activists filed a lawsuit Monday against a Malaysian women’s group, asking it to remove the word “Islam” from its name on the ground that it misleads people to believe it speaks for all Muslims.

The suit against Sisters in Islam, one of the most well-known nongovernment groups in this Muslim-majority country, comes after it angered conservative Muslims by criticizing Islamic Shariah laws that allow the caning of women for offenses such as drinking alcohol.

Note to AP: “conservatives” don’t generally favor caning women for drinking alcohol.

Numerous Muslim groups have in recent months accused Sisters in Islam of misinterpreting religious principles, highlighting a divide between Muslims who demand strict enforcement of Islamic morality laws and others who fear religious intolerance is threatening the moderate practice of their religion.

The lawsuit was filed by Malaysian Assembly of Mosque Youths, whose leader, Mohammad Nawar Ariffin, said Sisters in Islam never obtained formal approval for the name with the government’s registrar of societies.

“The use of the word ‘Islam’ in names must be restricted and protected,” Mohammad Nawar told The Associated Press. “The so-called Sisters in Islam uses the word to attract attention, but it issues statements that contradict what other Muslims believe. It causes confusion among Muslims who might think that the group represents Islam.”…

Hamidah Marican, executive director of Sisters in Islam, declined to comment on the case, saying the group’s lawyers need to study the suit before they can issue any statement. However, she defended the group’s work as being “driven by the tenets of the Quran and Islam.”

Established in 1988, Sisters in Islam has long been the most outspoken advocate of reforms involving Muslim laws that allegedly fail to protect the rights of women, such as regarding polygamy and child marriages. Its official name is SIS Forum (Malaysia), but it uses Sisters in Islam on its Web site and publications….

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Filed Under: Malaysia, Moderate Muslims, women's rights in Islam


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