Travel Warning: Don't Get Flogged In the Maldives

 Maldivian Islamic groups call for arrest of UN High Commissioner on Human Rights

Minivan News

Protestors gathered outside the United Nations Building in Male’ on Friday afternoon to condemn UN Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay for her criticism of the Maldivian constitution, namely its provisions endorsing flogging and mandating that every Maldivian be a Muslim.

The protestors carried signboards with angry slogans, including “Islam is not a toy”, “Ban UN” and “Flog Pillay”, and called on authorities to arrest the UN High Commisioner.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam told Minivan News that the sizeable protest was contained and there were no confrontations.

“Police cordoned off the area so people could not enter the UN building or the roads leading to the building. The protest was pretty heated, but there were no confrontations or arrests,” he said.

After a break for Sunset Prayer, protesters renewed their efforts at the Tsunami Memorial.

Shiyam said police guarded the UN building during the evening protest, and kept appraised of its movements.

No concerns have been voiced to the police by the UN.

During a press conference on Thursday evening, Pillay again called for the government and the judiciary to issue a moratorium on flogging.

“Flogging is a form of punishment that is cruel and demeaning to women. I have as High Commissioner traveled to very many Islamic countries, and apart from the Maldives and one other country that practices stoning, flogging is not a practice that is condoned,” she said.

“The issue needs to be examined, and therefore I called for a countrywide discussion. It is much better if the issue is transparent and debated.”

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Muslim Artist defies Islamic Prudes by Baring All on the Web

Strips Despite her Country's Conservative Culture

Aliaa Magda Elmahdy/Facebook

Facebook photo of Aliaa Magda Elmahdy.

An Egyptian blogger is defying the Islamic prudes in her country by taking it all off — and posting the pictures on the web.

Aliaa Magda Elmahdy said it’s her body to bare.

NY Daily News

“I have the right to live freely in any place,” Elmahdy wrote on her blog. “I feel happy and self satisfied when I feel that I’m really free,” she said.

Under the heading “fan a’ry,” which means nude art, Elmahdy posted several pictures of herself in the buff, including one with strategically placed yellow rectangles.

“The yellow rectangles on my eyes, mouth and sex organ resemble the censoring of our knowledge, expression and sexuality,” wrote Elmahdy, who turns 20 on Wednesday.

On her Facebook page, Elmahdy wrote that she was “echoing screams against a society of violence, racism, sexism, sexual harassment and hypocrisy.”

A media arts student at the American University in Cairo, Elmahdy took the pictures at her parent’s place. Her blog also has a photo of a seated naked man holding a guitar.

While placing provocative pictures on the Web rarely raise eyebrows in the West, in an increasingly conservative Egypt what Elmahdy did is an unprecedented act of defiance.

Egyptian women have long enjoyed relatively more personal freedom than their female counterparts in other parts of the Arab world, but a worrying result of the ouster of longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak has been the rise of the Islamic Brotherhood and other religious parties.

Western clothing, once common for middle class women, has given way increasingly to head scarves and more modest attire.

And art students like Elmhady can no longer draw nude models because they’ve been banned.

International Business Times

Egyptian Blogger Poses Nude to Protest Islamic Extremism

...   An Egyptian blogger posed naked in a series of pictures published on Twitter under her real name sparking mixed reactions among her followers. Some praised her move, while others left outraged comments.

Liberal, Feminist, Vegetarian, Individualist Egyptian". In a tweet, she said "I took my nude photo myself in my parent's home months before I met @Kareemamer [her boyfriend] and I'm atheist since I was 16".

According to Italian news agency Ansa, more than 100,000 people clicked on her blog to see the pictures. Elmahdy posted eight naked pictures on her blog under the title "fan a'ry'" (naked art). In some pictures, she appears with yellow bands covering her private parts.

She explains that "the yellow rectangles on my eyes, mouth and sex organ resemble the censoring of our knowledge, expression and sexuality."

"I am echoing screams against a society of violence, racism, sexism, sexual harassment and hypocrisy," she said.

"My view is that the veil is not a personal choice in Egypt, but the results of religious and social pressure," she said in Facebook. "The women with head veil that I know wear it because of their families or because they don't want to be beaten in the streets. I don't see why they always dictate to women, and not to men, what they should wear."

For this reason, Aliaa Elmahdy also supports a controversial Facebook event called "Men should wear the veil". On Twitter, many people intervened in the debate created under the hash tag #NudePhotoRevolutionary.

"A feminist #Jan25 revolutionary posted her nude photo on the internet to express her freedom. I'm totally taken back by her bravery," tweeted Ahmen Awadalla, who works in the field of human rights, health, sexuality and gender.

But some people fear that Elmahdy's pictures might affect the revolutionary image. "Egyptian liberals will now be seen as pro-nudity, and that could really damage their election campaign," said Ruwayda Mustafah, blogger for the Huffington Post and Global Voices.

Several prominent human rights groups in Egypt have turned down an invitation from the authorities to take part in discussions about the constituent assembly which will draft a new constitution. They say the government and the ruling military council must first "prove their respect for the dignity and rights of the Egyptian people".

Egypt's parliamentary elections begin Nov. 28 and will be held in stages. The new parliament is due to convene in January.

Breaking News: Cause of Homosexuality ... Misunderstanding of Human Rights!

Misunderstanding of Human Rights is the cause of Homosexuality 

My Joy Online

Hajia Sadika Bonsu Yeboah, President of the Ladies Association of the Ahmadiyya Muslims Mission, on Sunday attributed the rise of homosexuality in society to the negative influences of human rights.

According to her, homosexuality had been on earth for a long time, but had become more popular in recent times due to negative effects of human rights.

He said for this reason, society must abhor it and fight against other negative influences of human rights.

Hajia Yeboah was speaking at a marriage seminar dubbed: "The Islamic Marriage Systems: The Role of an Ahmadi" organised by the Greater Accra Ladies Association of Ahmadiyya Muslims Mission.

The seminar aimed at enlightening the Jamaat on the need to marry from the mission and the benefits to be derived. It also aimed at educating the Jamaat on how to select right partners.

Hajia Yeboah said the world had now seen a new era, where marriage was no longer considered necessary or even significant, adding that, Allah had laid down rules and regulations for marriage and considered marriage an important and essential part of a Muslim's life.

She said man had strayed far from the teaching of God and instituted their marriage in the name of human rights.

“They doubt that Allah Almighty arraigned marriages for men and women to find comfort in one another and also for progeny”, she said.

Dr. Maulvi Wahab Bin Adam, Ameer and Missionary-In-Charge of Ahmadiyya Muslims defined marriage as a noble institution that curbed promiscuity and sustained society, adding that it should be treated as sacred.

He said flirtation had become rampant among the current generation due to courtship.

“This trend must stop if we are to restore discipline and morality in the society,” he said.

He called on members of the Mission to work hard to facilitate marriages to make them worthwhile.

Sharia Law: Reaping the Harvest of Arab Spring