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Bangladesh Bans Compulsory "Islamic" Dress
Bangladesh Bans Compulsory "Islamic" Dress
BY Irfan al-Alawi and Stephen Schwartz
September 8, 2010 11:36 AM
While its former “partner” and ruler from the other side of India, Pakistan, contends with--and often appears to accommodate--the aggression of the Taliban, Bangladesh (population 160 million, almost entirely Muslim), has quietly adopted a more vigorous policy of legal action to curb Islamist radicals.
Bangladesh has a woman at the head of its government, who also bears the religious title “sheikh”: Hasina Wajed of the secular Awami League, daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (1920-75), the architect of the country’s independence. It has a parliamentary system and an energetic, critical media. Its political elite is guiding the country toward reinforcement of democracy and away from Islamic rule. Bangladesh and Bangladeshis of all opinions deserve more attention and encouragement from the rest of the world, Muslim and non-Muslim alike.
Late in August the country’s Supreme Court, from its capital, Dhaka, declared illegal the imposition of face veils (niqab) for women and skullcaps for men in workplaces and schools. As reported here, the ruling responded to an attempt to force all females to wear the veil at a college in the country’s north. The college is a state institution, and the court ordered that “wearing religious attire should be the personal choice of the students or the employees. No one can be forced to wear them,” according to a barrister, Mahbub Shafique. He added, “some schools force children as young as five years old to wear veils and skull caps.” He further explained, “this particular ruling today doesn’t apply only on females; it also applies to males as well.”
The decision regarding religious dress was only the latest in a series of measures adopted in Bangladesh against the symbols and doctrines of extremist Muslim ideology. In April, the Supreme Court had barred schools from requiring that face veils or headscarves be worn by women teachers and administrators. That action came after a school headmistress said she was verbally abused by a government official for not covering her hair in a staff meeting. The country has experienced increased sexual harassment in schools, and authorities have sent plain-clothes police into Dhaka’s educational facilities to stop girl students from being browbeaten if they do not hew to the Islamist dress code. Some Islamic schools have indicated that they will continue to bar entry to their premises by women students who do not wear niqab and the burqa.
In July, Bangladesh took the extraordinary initiative of banning the books of Abu’l-Ala Maududi (1903-79), the Indian-born ideologue of modern South Asian jihadism, from libraries and mosques. Maududi founded Jama’at e-Islami (JI, or Community for Islam), which remains the most influential radical party in Pakistan and Bangladesh today, and is allied with the Deobandi school, who inspire the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban, as well as the Saudi Wahhabis. Maududi’s supporters have penetrated the large contingent of Bangladeshi Muslims in Britain, and they control a leading national Muslim group in the U.S., the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA). ICNA directs numerous American mosques with South Asian congregations.
Maududi’s writings undermine the peaceful and traditional interpretations of Islam the Dhaka government supports, according to Shamim Mohammad Afjal, director-general of the Islamic Foundation in Bangladesh, and it is “not correct to keep books of Mr. Maududi in mosques.” Some 24,000 mosque libraries began removal of his books after the government’s order. A JI representative in Bangladesh, Abu Torab Muhammad Azharul Islam, denounced the removal of Maududi’s works as a measure against Islam. On the other side, the Tariqat Council, representing the spiritual Sufis who are widely influential in Bangladesh, have accused JI of endangering Islam.
The Bangladesh authorities appear to side with the Sufis, since at the end of June, the government detained 65 JI leaders and activists on grounds that their activities are seditious and harmful to Islam. JI cadres are also accused of committing atrocities during the 1971 independence war that brought Bangladesh into being. JI sided with the rulers in then-West Pakistan, and prominent Bangladeshis have unsuccessfully demanded gestures from Pakistan in recognition of the horrors perpetrated by radical Islamists at that time.
Irfan al-Alawi is executive director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, based in the UK. Stephen Schwartz is author of The Two Faces of Islam and The Other Islam: Sufism and the Road to Global Harmony.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/bangladesh-bans-compulsory-islamic-dress
BY Irfan al-Alawi and Stephen Schwartz
September 8, 2010 11:36 AM
While its former “partner” and ruler from the other side of India, Pakistan, contends with--and often appears to accommodate--the aggression of the Taliban, Bangladesh (population 160 million, almost entirely Muslim), has quietly adopted a more vigorous policy of legal action to curb Islamist radicals.
Bangladesh has a woman at the head of its government, who also bears the religious title “sheikh”: Hasina Wajed of the secular Awami League, daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (1920-75), the architect of the country’s independence. It has a parliamentary system and an energetic, critical media. Its political elite is guiding the country toward reinforcement of democracy and away from Islamic rule. Bangladesh and Bangladeshis of all opinions deserve more attention and encouragement from the rest of the world, Muslim and non-Muslim alike.
Late in August the country’s Supreme Court, from its capital, Dhaka, declared illegal the imposition of face veils (niqab) for women and skullcaps for men in workplaces and schools. As reported here, the ruling responded to an attempt to force all females to wear the veil at a college in the country’s north. The college is a state institution, and the court ordered that “wearing religious attire should be the personal choice of the students or the employees. No one can be forced to wear them,” according to a barrister, Mahbub Shafique. He added, “some schools force children as young as five years old to wear veils and skull caps.” He further explained, “this particular ruling today doesn’t apply only on females; it also applies to males as well.”
The decision regarding religious dress was only the latest in a series of measures adopted in Bangladesh against the symbols and doctrines of extremist Muslim ideology. In April, the Supreme Court had barred schools from requiring that face veils or headscarves be worn by women teachers and administrators. That action came after a school headmistress said she was verbally abused by a government official for not covering her hair in a staff meeting. The country has experienced increased sexual harassment in schools, and authorities have sent plain-clothes police into Dhaka’s educational facilities to stop girl students from being browbeaten if they do not hew to the Islamist dress code. Some Islamic schools have indicated that they will continue to bar entry to their premises by women students who do not wear niqab and the burqa.
In July, Bangladesh took the extraordinary initiative of banning the books of Abu’l-Ala Maududi (1903-79), the Indian-born ideologue of modern South Asian jihadism, from libraries and mosques. Maududi founded Jama’at e-Islami (JI, or Community for Islam), which remains the most influential radical party in Pakistan and Bangladesh today, and is allied with the Deobandi school, who inspire the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban, as well as the Saudi Wahhabis. Maududi’s supporters have penetrated the large contingent of Bangladeshi Muslims in Britain, and they control a leading national Muslim group in the U.S., the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA). ICNA directs numerous American mosques with South Asian congregations.
Maududi’s writings undermine the peaceful and traditional interpretations of Islam the Dhaka government supports, according to Shamim Mohammad Afjal, director-general of the Islamic Foundation in Bangladesh, and it is “not correct to keep books of Mr. Maududi in mosques.” Some 24,000 mosque libraries began removal of his books after the government’s order. A JI representative in Bangladesh, Abu Torab Muhammad Azharul Islam, denounced the removal of Maududi’s works as a measure against Islam. On the other side, the Tariqat Council, representing the spiritual Sufis who are widely influential in Bangladesh, have accused JI of endangering Islam.
The Bangladesh authorities appear to side with the Sufis, since at the end of June, the government detained 65 JI leaders and activists on grounds that their activities are seditious and harmful to Islam. JI cadres are also accused of committing atrocities during the 1971 independence war that brought Bangladesh into being. JI sided with the rulers in then-West Pakistan, and prominent Bangladeshis have unsuccessfully demanded gestures from Pakistan in recognition of the horrors perpetrated by radical Islamists at that time.
Irfan al-Alawi is executive director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, based in the UK. Stephen Schwartz is author of The Two Faces of Islam and The Other Islam: Sufism and the Road to Global Harmony.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/bangladesh-bans-compulsory-islamic-dress
I sure do agree with you there. Nazi Germany is fascinating in a sick way. So many were brainwashed by a madman. This to me though is beginning to look a bit like what happened to the Japanese after Pearl Harbor. Even though I don't believe everyone hates them, the distrust is there..and that's all it took then as well.
I don't think that all Muslims are out to kill us. But I always remember how few Nazis it took to take the whole world to war. And what a small minority of the Russians were Bolsheviks (17% if memory from a high school paper serves) it took to bring misery to half of Europe for generations. It just doesn't take a majority or even many. All it takes is enough people willing to appease or look the other way.
And yes, there have been some atrocities in the name of Christ. But I believe it was of Satan and false prophets.
And there is definitely something wrong with that "self proclaimed pastor" in Florida. But as I said, it doesn't take many to cause a lot of trouble.
And yes, there have been some atrocities in the name of Christ. But I believe it was of Satan and false prophets.
And there is definitely something wrong with that "self proclaimed pastor" in Florida. But as I said, it doesn't take many to cause a lot of trouble.
You are correct that the RADICALS consider those not conforming to Sharia law are not considered innocents. Moderates do not interpret the same way. The Qaran is not so different from the Bible in that 2 different people can read it and get 2 very different views on what was intended.
Something everyone is forgetting, or at least not mentioning. The moderates in the Middle East and in the west are also being targeted by the radicals for being moderate. The radicals do not consider them true followers of Islam either. Also, Muslims have been living peacefully here and in the US for a very long time. The act of crazy people on 911 is the only thing that has changed. A major life changing event to be certain, but I still think far to many are confusing all Muslims as radicals.
I consider this Qaran burning pastor to be a lunatic, and would even go so far as to call what he is doing an act of domestic terrorism. He is a Christian like me, and I certainly wouldn't want anyone to confuse my belief system with his or the KKK or any other Christian terrorist organization past or present. This is no different.
Something everyone is forgetting, or at least not mentioning. The moderates in the Middle East and in the west are also being targeted by the radicals for being moderate. The radicals do not consider them true followers of Islam either. Also, Muslims have been living peacefully here and in the US for a very long time. The act of crazy people on 911 is the only thing that has changed. A major life changing event to be certain, but I still think far to many are confusing all Muslims as radicals.
I consider this Qaran burning pastor to be a lunatic, and would even go so far as to call what he is doing an act of domestic terrorism. He is a Christian like me, and I certainly wouldn't want anyone to confuse my belief system with his or the KKK or any other Christian terrorist organization past or present. This is no different.
Facts? Looks like a blog to me, which means it is someones opinion yes? And speaking of history, anyone remember Jim Jones? You know, he was the one that had a bunch of followers that ended up drinking poison, because they had all been convinced the government was the boogieman? Or how about Waaco, or how about them guys waiting to catch a ride on the comet who commited suicide and I could go on and on. Remember when Catholics were treated the same as muslims are being treated now? Lots of bad things happened in the name of religion, and it wasnt muslims only either. KKK claimed they did what they did in the name of god too, and all those people that had slaves and whipped em and raped em and bred babies with em were christian people too. Gee I have no clue why no one has held all us christians accountable. We sure have given them plenty of reason to, if you apply the same reasoning that is being applied now to the muslim people. Talk about ignorant! See what happens when you mix church and state! Well now ya know why that might not be a wonderful idea eh?
I'm just stating facts. If you don't like the facts, I guess you could do what other liberals like to do and revise history to something that makes you feel better. Something warm and fuzzy. And Ignoring facts is called ignorance.
Forewarned is forearmed.
Forewarned is forearmed.
It sure sounds like you think ALL Muslims are bad and they ALL want to kill us. That is called racism.
Bangladesh is such a poor country. They need all the help they can get.
France and other European countries are really pushing back against the Sharia law. I'll try to find the article but in Denmark there are neighborhoods that police don't venture into because they are considered unclean infidels. They would be killed.
By the way, when an Imam says the Qaran bans killing of innocents. What they aren't telling you is that any non Muslim or Muslim who is not conforming to Sharia law to the fullest extent is not considered an innocent. In other words, the 9/11 attack was not against innocents in the eyes of Muslims. Nor would your murder.
France and other European countries are really pushing back against the Sharia law. I'll try to find the article but in Denmark there are neighborhoods that police don't venture into because they are considered unclean infidels. They would be killed.
By the way, when an Imam says the Qaran bans killing of innocents. What they aren't telling you is that any non Muslim or Muslim who is not conforming to Sharia law to the fullest extent is not considered an innocent. In other words, the 9/11 attack was not against innocents in the eyes of Muslims. Nor would your murder.
I believe President Sarkozy of France did something recently and forbad the wearing of the Burkah in public due to the security risks of hiding bombs inside the flowing clothing.It is sad that these school girls would be harrassed like that Bangladesh could use some encoragement from us all .,good article ..
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