Adil Najam
This photograph was published in Daily Times, January 12, 2009. The caption read:
“Women are not allowed in the market,” reads a banner displayed at the entrance of a market in Mingora. Taliban have banned the entry of women in markets and ordered the killing of women who violate the ban. Most shop owners have sold or shut down their businesses because of falling sales following the restriction.
What would have made this tragic depiction comical had the context been different is that from the picture this is clearly a textile and cloth market – the type of market where, in Pakistan, you would expect most customers to be women!
I wonder what the so called army operation is doing in Sawat when schools, especially those of girls, are being blasted or closed and innocent people being butchered.
As to what is Islam, it is not the issue presently, as any thing can be proved if we search the plethora of islamic literature produced during the last 14 centuries. The question which we face to day is whether we can allow imposing any type of religion by force or terror as is being done in Sawat today.
@Sikandar Hayat
The sad thing is army has apparently failed to check the Taliban onslaught and this Pakiland, God forbid, is going to be turned into Talibani Afghanistan sooner or later or become shaheed as there seems to be no committed force to check it within Pakistan. In fact no body is even aware of the danger we are facing today except Altaf Hussain of MQM who has been raising the alarm since long and now Sikandar Hayat has taken it up forcefully.
The stories coming out of Swat are really horrendous. These people are really brutal and inhuman and ruling with fear. You are doing a great service by highlighting what is happening there and reminding us all that we are indeed at war with these extremists.
I once had a chance to listen to a song by Jaques Brel, a famous Belgian francophone. This song reminds me of the butchers operating in our Pakhtoonkhwa (also known as NWFP) province. What Brel sings about in
I feel extremely satisfied to see that there are a lot of people across who think and believe in the same things. Extremism and mixing of religion and politics is a plague that has crippled the subcontinent for many decades now. We need to fight it. And a good debate like this is the best place to start. Best of luck to us all!
Why do you put these items and everyday something on Taliban at the top of the page?
Just to give Pakistan and Muslims a bad name in the world?
Assalam alaikum
This just goes to show that the Taliban do not even have the most basic knowledge of Islam.
There is nothing in the Islamic sources to restrain the freedom of movement of women as long as they feel safe. The only restriction is that when and where it is unsafe to do so, women should venture out only while being accompanied by a mahram or in safe company of other women. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) never restricted women’s movements. He only told them that they should not travel a journey of three days and three nights without a mahram. This was because of the safety issue, for molestation and kidnapping were all too common in the unsafe conditions of Arabia at the time, where the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) began his mission. Making Arabia safe for women was an issue of utmost concern for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) even in the early days of his mission. This fact is clear from a statement he made in Makkah: “I will continue to struggle with this mission until a woman can travel freely all by herself without any fear of molestation!” We must remember while making the above statement, he and his followers were being persecuted by the Makkans.
Furthermore, we also learn from the authentic Sunnah and the biography of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that women Companions of the Prophet were not confined to their homes; rather, they used to go around doing their business in the city. It is well known that the second caliph, `Umar, appointed a woman called Ash-Shifaa’ as a supervisor of markets in Madinah. How could he do so if women were supposed to be confined to their homes? We also know that even the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) were accustomed to travel for Hajj and `Umrah without mahram in the safe company of other women. No one can fault the most honorable Mothers of the Faithful (may Allah be pleased with them all) for ignorance of such vital rules of Islam, including rules of travel for women. Among the wives of the Prophet who traveled were `A’ishah and Umm Salamah, who were considered unsurpassed in their expert knowledge of Hadith and fiqh.
@tinwoman, a rant camouflaged in sophmoric (read flawad) logic, is still a rant. I have no idea how living in the “gulf” makes one an expert on anything, but bigotry (and purposely distorting arguments for teh purpose of inciting hate against a particular belief set) remains exactly that no matter where you live.
By arguing that Taliban “are not ‘real Muslims’” one does not automatically argue that liberal Muslims are. Nor does the group that quotes most often from scripture automatically become the most authentic. Political scoundrels quote most often from constitutions and religious scoundrels most often from scriptures. Of course, the only people who quote even more often from religious text are those who do not believe in teh text and wish merely to discredit it.
All religious texts can be (and are) quoted out of context. At this point its is the Quran that seems to be abused the most, specially those who wish to change its intent and meaning to sit their own ignorance – i.e., extremists on both sides (Taliban and religion bashers).
Have people noticed that the only people who think that the Taliban actions are “Islamic” are those who don’t like Islam and spread bigoted hate-filled messages against other’s religions.
I just think that is an interesting little thing that tells us a lot about (a) who the Taliban are and (b) who there real ‘supporters’ are!