Pakistan at War: No Women Allowed

Posted on January 16, 2009
Filed Under >Adil Najam, Law & Justice, Photo of the Day, Society, Women
111 Comments
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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!

111 responses to “Pakistan at War: No Women Allowed”

  1. Muslim says:

    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?

  2. Jawad Falak says:

    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.

  3. Tehseen says:

    @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).

  4. Arastoo says:

    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!

  5. Naeem says:

    @Tinwoman

    the world is bound to notice the muslim shouting the loudest, even killing and maiming. as it should. timothy mcviegh’s name is slightly more likely to stick, than thos eof the millions of other lanky young men roaming the main streets of the american mid-west.

    zia used his absolute power to introduce laws that the taliban would have been proud of. (ironically, and painfully and humiliatingly so for pakistani moderates, he got the red carpet treatment in washington + lots of money, and european capitals). musharraf used his absolute power to do next to nothing about correcting zia’s wrongs. indeed, he milked the gangrinous wounds that the diseases introduced by zia had become. (equally ironically, he too received royal treatment + pleanty of dollars, in the west, to the despair and disillusionment of pakistani moderates and democrats.)

    it is an existential battle for pakistan and pakistani moderates. we’ll fight it and drag the appeasers and the cowards along with us, no matter how many and what excuses they make.

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