#believing women in Islam

[stars-and-soda]

I'm a little late but the Taliban in Afghanistan is enforcing new moral laws including women must cover their faces, women cannot read outloud or sing in public, they cannot leave their home without a "male guardian" and more. Wishing safety, peace and freedom to all Afghans

[roobylavender]

This whole thread is so....

https://twitter.com/orikkunn/status/1754831427903074488?t=WbVE9Fu585pxZFXPbr_JlQ&s=19

It's pissing me off actually and I search the word hijab on their account and in one of their tweets they said "I think hijab is a bad thing" ??? I need non-muslims who speak on Islam without any knowledge to stfu

i'm going to apologize beforehand if this is upsetting in any way bc i'm sure you were expecting a different response but while i feel like op's wording could have been better in this thread specifically—i like their wording in this thread more—i do generally agree with them. i definitely understand there's a gut reaction to any critique of islamic practices esp in the context of modern orientalism and islamophobic sentiment, but i also think that muslims (and people of any religious faith, really) can simultaneously acknowledge that some criticisms of faith, while driven by racism and/or xenophobia, are also validly driven by a worthwhile contention with women's material circumstances over the course of history. in the other thread i linked above i think op is very much correct in that it's not constructive nor useful to criticize individual people. many individuals do choose to dress more modestly of their own volition and are privileged enough to have that available to them as a choice and nothing more bc of the environment they grow up in and the familial interpretation of religious tenets they're taught. but i don't think people are wrong when they acknowledge the larger context within which women are advised to dress modestly and how those standards of modest dress compare with those imposed on men in comparison. there's an undeniable dichotomy there and at least in my islamic upbringing i've been taught that the way some of these things diverge along the lines of gender is preordained and not meant to be perceived as inherently oppressive towards one gender or the other. a thing is simply bc it is. but religion isn't really something you can view within a vacuum much as that would be ideal. it is connected to the material circumstances of women in the real world and i do allow myself to sit with that reality even if it's weird to process at times bc i still consider myself a muslim and have no plans on ex-communicating myself

personally i like to dress modestly in the sense that i don't wear very exposing clothing. i've grown up wearing pants for my entire life. my parents are lax enough that i'm allowed to wear t-shirts but i can't wear anything where my armpits are directly exposed so that means no sleeveless tops. i can't wear anything with a deep neckline either unless i have a higher positioned undershirt on underneath. and again, i'm not particularly bothered by any of that. i do toe the line on a few occasions but generally i'm ok with how i dress bc by now i'm used to it. that being said, i know the reason i've come to be okay with dressing this way is bc it's how i was taught to dress, and towards the specific end of maintaining modesty and emphasizing on the shape of my figure as minimally as is possible without having to outright wear a bag lol. that is at large a structural reality of muslim practice towards women, regardless of what individual women choose to do in their own homes where they have the liberty to choose. and as i mentioned above, i do think we have to sit with that reality even if we acknowledge it opens us up to abuse by other people who may not have the best intentions. this is why, for example, i've really come to frown upon the way ex-muslims (esp when they're women) are almost mocked by the extant muslim community for logically reacting to patriarchal oppression under the guise of religion. bc at the outset, materially, there is no choice presented to these people. and even if there is ideologically a choice within the tenets of the religion itself, with respect to women in particular, there is still a defined gender dichotomy and hierarchy that cannot be denied and that is quite regularly used to perpetuate the oppression that many of them try to escape

what's hard to do and what requires a knowledgeable, concerted effort on our part as muslims is trying to balance the nuance of the oppression we are accessory to against the nuance of our own oppression for who we are. it's certainly cruel that we have to do so much to parse all of this because racist, xenophobic imperialists are incorrigible people who will co-opt anything if it's beneficial to them. but all the same, we do have that responsibility at minimum. we have to learn to sit in the uncomfortable reality that while many of us as individuals may choose to practice the way we do, that choice may yet be colored by how we grew up within organized religion, and it obscures our ability to recognize that while we think it's a choice for us as individuals, it's certainly not a choice on a structural level, and that's something we should vehemently argue against maintaining the status quo of

[soltlane1]

Explaining Sahih Muslim Book 4 - Hadith 149-162

Explaining Sahih Muslim Book 4 – Hadith 149-162 Chapter 29: The Command to Women Who Are Praying Behind Men Not to Raise Their Heads from Prostration Before the Men Have Done So. Sahl b. Sa’d reported: I saw men having tied (the ends) of their lower garments around their necks, like children, due to shortage of cloth and offering their prayers behind the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). One of the…

[jangillman]

To all the "Hands Off" Protesters (Democrats):

We are currently at a critical juncture with a national debt of $36.5 trillion, increasing by $2 trillion each year. This is a critical issue, and most experts are warning us that we have relatively few years left to take decisive action before America faces a financial crisis that would have catastrophic consequences for this country and the world.

Amid all your protests, the burning of Teslas, and your petulant vitriol, one crucial element is glaringly missing: any plan to cut government spending. Instead, your goal appears to be to spend even more.

We finally have leaders in President Trump and Elon Musk who are courageous enough to finally focus on sustainable spending practices that are critical to avoid risking our economic future. Time is of the essence—instead of being in the way, let’s act together before it’s too late.

If not...

HANDS OFF - my tax dollars, which were not intended for your pet projects and the corrupt, virtue-signaling Socialists who spew the garbage you all take as gospel. It’s not a slush fund and a money laundering operation through left-wing NGO's to make politicians rich.

HANDS OFF - my child at school. Teach them the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic. They are not there to be indoctrinated into your Marxist ideologies.

HANDS OFF - trying to force American women and girls to compete against biological men, and then adding insult to injury, forcing them to change and shower in front of them. Stop forcing your fu@ked up theories on the rest of us.

HANDS OFF - all the property you destroy in the name of whatever cause you’re supporting that given week. Other people’s vehicles are not yours to destroy. Neither are statues or all the other s#it you light on fire.

HANDS OFF - our college campuses. Decent kids are there to learn. Free speech is protected. Violence, intimidation, and taking over buildings are not. By the way, if your cause is so just, take off the masks and show yourself. Cowards one and all.

HANDS OFF - our president, who was duly elected to clean up the mess y’all created. We sat by and watched as you supported a puppet who was practically dead. It damn near destroyed the nation. Financially, from a security standpoint, and morally.

HANDS OFF - to all the federal district judges. Your power does not supersede the executive branch. And, stop using Lawfare by going after your political opponents.

HANDS OFF - our ICE Agents, who are taking violent gang bangers out of our country and forcing people who want to come here to do so legally. It should be the only way. Period. End of story.

HANDS OFF - our Free Speech rights. For years, you have used the process of cancelling people who simply wanted to express their own ideas. In your world, you think free speech can only be allowed if it agrees with your screwed up ideologies.

HANDS OFF - the American family. You have done everything possible to destabilize the concept of families because you believe that our ultimate allegiance should be to the government.

HANDS OFF - from imposing your Marxist views of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and the methods you’ve used to implement them through Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Most Americans are compassionate individuals who believe in judging people based on their character rather than the color of their skin.

These principles are what the vast majority of Americans voted for.

You don’t like it, be like that slob Rosie O'Donnell and move to Europe, which is being taken over by radical Islam.

So, to borrow your stupid little slogan…. Hands Off...

Love,

MAGA Country...

[mossadspypigeon]

if you think being anti islamism is “racist” or “bigoted”…so you’re saying the taliban, muslim brotherhood, hamas, etc represent islam and all muslims?

how is that not bigoted? so child marriage is islam? beheading jews and other non muslims is islam? women not being able to speak in public is islam? hmmm doubt it.

a. islam is a religion, not a race.

b. islamism and islam are very different things. acting like they are the same thing and therefore somehow above criticism is actually prejudicial. if you somehow believe what the taliban and irgc do to their people and others is just “their culture,” there is something wrong with you and you know nothing about islam or its movements.

islamism does not represent muslims. calling it out shows that and shows what islam actually is: a religion with millions of followers that do not hate anyone and do not support terrorists or oppression.

so yes, call out islamism, but also DIFFERENTIATE between islamism and islam.

[uzumaki-rebellion]

Sinners and Hoodoo

I appreciate how the film "Sinners" doesn't demonize Hoodoo. As someone who grew up around Hoodoo lineages from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Georgia, and who also practices it myself, it is a breath of fresh air to see that part of my culture presented in such a thoughtful way. (Shoutout to Ryan and Zinzi Coogler for bringing Professor Yvonne P. Chireau on the production as a consultant to get the depiction historically accurate).

I personally think a lot of Christians who take issue with Hoodoo being highlighted positively are finally being presented with an alternative view from what they've been ingrained to believe is evil. Colonial religions are a type of brainwashing that many of us have been subjected to whether it is Christianity (or Islam). Black people who were forced to take on these different religions during slavery days in the diaspora did what we always do, take the worst of what we're given and transform it into something that works for us.

Black people bring the spirit to colonizer religions. It's why our ceremonies, gospel music, and ways of worship hit harder at a deeper level than white people's. We call God and the ancestral spirits down, and often, they ride us. We call it getting happy. Catching the spirit. Or the holy ghost took over. Or a Loa/Orixa chose us to ride as their horse. I've had it happen to me in New Orleans at a little club while Big Chief Victor Harris, the Spirit of Fi Yi Yi, was performing with the Mandingo Warriors. I'd been feeling 'touched" all day doing some writing research at Tulane, handling some personal spiritual work, and visiting the late great Big Chief Tootie Montana. The drums got to going, I got to dancing and shouting, and the next thing I know is...transcendence and coming back to myself.

A lot of Black people are taught to be afraid of Hoodoo even though Hoodoo practitioners sit right next to them in church. Pray over them. Take care of the shut-in. Provide food at baptisms and funerals. Teach Sunday school and sing in the choir. A lot of us practice Hoodoo ways at home and simply think , "Oh that's what my mom/dad/grandmother/grandfather/cousin/aunt/uncle used to always do." Some of our laughed about superstitions are Hoodoo. Do you clean your house and eat black-eyed peas for New Years Eve? Hoodoo. Do you burn the hair cleaned out from your comb/brush and never throw it in the garbage? Hoodoo. You don't let just anybody touch/play in your hair period? Hoodoo. Keep your purse from touching the floor? Hoodoo? Throw salt over your left shoulder? Yeah. Hoodoo ways.

All these TikTok videos going around calling "Sinners" demonic for highlighting Hoodoo as a force of good (just like the discourse over Annie being a mammy figure) has shown me that Black folks are struggling with the misinformation about us as a people that has been perpetuated for centuries. I promise you, had Hoodoo been played with in the film as an evil force, Christians wouldn't have much to say because it aligns with their biblical-taught beliefs about so-called witches/mediums/spiritualists. It's why some are tripping out and calling Michael Bakari Jordan a devil-worshipper because he was given his middle name by a Babalawo. Can't make this shit up.

I love "Sinners.". I love how it loves Blackness and Black people. I love how it connects us to our roots through music, dance, and Black American folklore. (I hope the people who believe that Black Americans don't have a distinct culture of our own--several actually-- finally shut the hell up throughout the diaspora. You know who you are). I love Hoodoo practitioner Annie Moore played by the beautiful and insanely talented Wunmi Mosaku. She played the role with respect, reverence, and joy. I feel so seen by all the cultures I'm descended from shown in the movie, from the Mississippi sharecroppers to the Choctaw people, the blues, women like Annie, Pearline, and Mary. Men like Smoke, Stack, Delta Slim, Cornbread, and Sammie.

At this point, Ryan Coogler doesn't make movies. He creates time capsule moments that will reverberate into the future. I am eternally grateful to experience it while it's happening. My Hoodoo heart is happy.

[femanthropy]

I read a reply on twitterX that really stuck with me. When someone asked MaryCateDelvey why she makes fun/calls out trans women not trans men. She said “I have sympathy for self hating women but not for creepy men” (can’t remember the exact reply).

Exactly. Even if a woman is furious at radical feminism and biological reality I will have endless sympathy and empathy (I was in that position once upon a time).

I empathise the feeling of being forced into a societal role of what it means to be female. To be objectified, to be violated. To be told that boys will be boys. To be taught (I was raised Christian) that I was responsible for male urges and needed to hide bra straps, nipples, breasts.

To save the poor boys and men from learning that I menstruate. Hiding pads in my sleeves when grabbing them from my locker. Males will make all the fart shit piss jokes but as soon as menstruation is brought up they are squeamish and disgusted. I thought I was the chewed up gum. The ripped off ductape. Losing its adhesive every time it was on somebody new.

From medical misogyny and gaslighting. From body image to makeup to cosmetic surgery to pregnancy to birth.

I wanted to escape too. When facing down the barrel of a patriarchy full of cruelty and subjugation. Of course I wanted to choose something I believed would free me from it.

It’s not that simple for people in Afghanistan. It’s not that simple for women and girls living in countries under Islamic regime. It’s not that simple for women and girls who are Mormon, Amish, Fundamental Christians, Muslim. For women and children who are trafficked and sold as a service to sick sick men.

They can’t identify out of their oppression. So why could I? Well the truth is no matter what. I couldn’t. I could lessen the blow somewhat because I was fortunate enough to leave Christianity and reject feeling ashamed of my female body. I couldn’t identify out of the assaults. I couldn’t identify out of being objectified. I couldn’t identify out of being a spectacle for being same-sex attracted and showing affection to another girl in high school.

I have empathy and compassion for girls with rapid onset gender dysphoria. I have empathy and compassion for the women and girls who think that transitioning will make them heterosexual.

I have not an ounce of compassion, sympathy or care for autogynephelic men. For pornsick men. For men who think they are more of a woman than a female person. For men shoehorning their way into feminism under the guise of “trans misogyny”. I will not ignore all of the times the thing that “never happens”, HAPPENS.

[curtwilde]

Taliban has announced that women in Afghanistan will be stoned to death in public for adultery.

The Afghan Taliban’s supreme leader, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, has issued a disturbing proclamation, vowing to implement brutal punishments against women in public. In a chilling voice message broadcasted on state television, Akhundzada directly addressed Western officials, dismissing concerns about violating women’s rights by stoning them to death.

"You say it’s a violation of women’s rights when we stone them to death," Akhundzada stated. "But we will soon implement the punishment for adultery. We will flog women in public. We will stone them to death in public," he declared, marking his most severe rhetoric since the Taliban seized control of Kabul in August 2021.

These grim statements, purportedly from Akhundzada, who has seldom been seen in public except for a few outdated portraits, emanate from Afghanistan’s state TV, now under Taliban control. Akhundzada is believed to be located in southern Kandahar, the Taliban's stronghold. Despite early assurances of a more moderate regime, the Taliban swiftly reverted to harsh public penalties reminiscent of their previous rule in the late 1990s, including public executions and floggings. The United Nations has vehemently criticised these actions, urging the Taliban to cease such practices.

In his message, Akhundzada asserted that the women's rights advocated by the international community contradicted the Taliban’s strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law. Akhundzada emphasised resilience among Taliban fighters, urging them to oppose women's rights persistently. "I told the Mujahedin that we tell the Westerners that we fought against you for 20 years and we will fight 20 and even more years against you," he stated.

His remarks have sparked outrage among Afghans, with many calling for increased international pressure on the Taliban.

"The money that they receive from the international community as humanitarian aid is just feeding them against women," lamented Tala, a former civil servant from Kabul.

"As a woman, I don’t feel safe and secure in Afghanistan. Each morning starts with a barrage of notices and orders imposing restrictions and stringent rules on women, stripping away even the smallest joys and extinguishing hope for a brighter future," she added.

"We, the women, are living in prison," Tala emphasised, "And the Taliban are making it smaller for us every passing day."

Taliban authorities have also barred 330,000 girls from returning to secondary school for the third consecutive year. University doors were closed to women in December 2022 and participation in the workforce is heavily restricted.

[sxorpiomooon]

ASTROLOGY OBSERVATIONS

Check out my paid readings, i do astrology as well as tarot!!!

Buy me a coffee!!

- the thing that people with prominent rahu placements have to face is SHAME it can be of anything social, financial, family wise etc anything but shame is one thing that is very engraved in them since birth for something and they might lie alot to hide it.

- people with mars in their 6h should be careful with machines, pointed things, fire and agriculture tools etc

- saturn in 12h makes it hard for people to fall asleep

- I recently read somewhere that Islam is ruled by Scorpio and Hinduism by cancer and it makes SO MUCH sense if you can think about it

-> Islam obviously being a religion whose people are very dedicated to it, very loyal believers etc for hinduism the importance that it gives to women especially mothers, milk etc

-> look at your 12h to understand how your birth must have been like for your mother for example someone who has capricorn in their 12h their mother might have had them after alot of pain or suffering considering that capricorn is hadwork and is rules by Saturn itself

-> people with Venus in their 12h might see their lovers in their dreams way before they might actually meet them

-> good and prominent rahu placements indicate being good in business, stalks and social media but one must take care as rahu is also illusion and addiction

-> look at your 8h and 12h, the signs and planets that you have their will show you the kind of people you don't vibe with

-> the 8h sign would mean that you might go through alot with people of this sign or alot of your transformational knowledge might come after getting out of some bond with this person whereas your 12h sign might represent the people that you absolutely cannot stand and feel like they can't stand you either. You might not even realise why they have some sort of power over you but they do

-> Gemini placements have a very hard time being formal for which alot of times people might find them disrespectful (mainly earth placements lmao)

-> if you are feeling creatively blocked try to look at your 5h to see what to do

-> people with Jupiter in their 8h have alot of hidden knowledge that people might not think that they have and people with Jupiter in their 8h might just not be aware of it lmao

- another thing that I've seen is that for people with jupiter in their 8h it's best if they stay quiet about the things that they want unless they've gotten it and about their knowledge as well

- people with jupiter in their 2h are one of the luckiest people ever imo

- I've noticed this alot but somehow people who have saturn in retrograde tend to lose their father at a young age?

- people with beneficial planet in their 11th house especially Jupiter might win in giveaways very easily.

- people with a 5h stellium LOVE PIERCINGS

Thankyou!!!

[tamamita]

idk much about islam but i do believe you were put on this earth to draw jalter sucking off water bottle slut style so it's ok they put women like you on this earth for a reason

I was put on this Earth to provide humanity with porn of Jalter, because as we all know, there is no porn of her.

[mossadspypigeon]

Can you recommend any zionist youtubers who talk about israel/palestine? I am an anti-zionist (staunchly so) but I want to understand the zionist perspective better, especially from the ones who say they are leftist. thanks a lot!

thank you for asking anon! how do you know what side you are on or if you even have a side without educating yourself first? read both like you want to do and continue to read both 💙 i still read pro palestine sources and i recommend doing so.

i’m not on youtube as much as i used to be, but:

camera isnt zionist per say, but is dedicated to discussing and pointing out bias in media.

the first is Dr Einat Wilf (she has an amazing course on zionism vs antizionism too if you want the link). i dont think she has a channel so if you want the best books and videos by her, let me know. she has the We Should All Be Zionists podcast with blake flayton.

Oren is amazing. i recommend his and maybe Noa’s accounts first and then move on to the rest. Camera, Honest Reporting, and MEMRI are necessary for debunking media. the others are educational across the board.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsksduy16U5IOdj1B3k7oV2LZeUZTxi3m&si=qzUHFjVZdpt2ajuC

jns’s the quad is a diverse group of jewish women who discuss various topics every week

others:

Honest Reporting

Jonathan Sacerdoti

Rawan Osman

Eylon Levy

Yasmine Muhammad

(yasmine also talks about negative experiences with islam and while i do not believe islam is bad etc, i still think it’s important to listen to all perspectives. she has some great interviews. btw, islamism is the terrible thing, not islam.)

i dont agree with every opinion all of these people have. a few might think trump is good for israel. i disagree. but also i can agree with people on one thing and disagree on another. i like the quad for instance because they constantly disagree and present nuance.

okay, so i gave you zionist jews and pro israel non jews. i personally dont agree with non jews being zionists. that’s like me, a non indigenous american, joining the AIM movement. just no, zionism is not for non jews, allyship is. that is MY own opinion, before anyone comes for me, but i want you to have a diverse education and hear from jews and non jews.

i have more instagram recs and website recs if you want them.

friends here, anyone have recs?

[eretzyisrael]

by POTKIN AZARMEHR

‘Pro-Palestine’ protests have become a near-weekly occurrence across Britain. Since Hamas’s 7 October massacre, regular marches have been drawing in a growing number of young people, marked by passionate advocacy and fervent slogans. Yet despite their zeal, many of these protesters lack a fundamental understanding of the conflict they are so vociferously decrying.

In the past six months, I have attended many of these marches. Having engaged with numerous protesters, I have noticed a startling disconnect between their strong opinions on the Gaza conflict and their shaky grasp of basic facts about it. Among the most perplexing are the LGBT and feminist groups (the ‘Queers for Palestine’ types) who flirt with justifying Hamas’s atrocities. This is a bewildering alliance, given that Hamas’s Islamist ideology is clearly antithetical to the rights and values these groups claim to champion. Its reactionary agenda is profoundly hostile to women’s rights and LGBT individuals.

Protesters seem eager to make excuses for Hamas, but are conspicuously uninformed about exactly what or who this terrorist group represents. On 18 May, during a protest at Piccadilly Circus in London, I spoke to demonstrators who firmly believed that Hamas represents all Palestinians. When I questioned a well-educated participant about the last Palestinian election, she was unaware that none had occurred since 2006, when Hamas gained power in Gaza.

It wasn’t just young people who were uninformed. An older woman with an American accent, seemingly a veteran protester, admitted she knew that Hamas was linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, but had no deeper knowledge of its ideology or history. Others, such as members of revolutionary socialist groups, displayed similar gaps in understanding, unaware of critical events like the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

That revolution gave birth to the Islamic Republic of Iran, a theocratic regime that brutally oppresses its own citizens. It also sponsors Islamist groups like Hamas. I left Iran for the UK not long after that regime began and have spent years resisting its religious extremism and ruthless political intolerance. Protesters were not only unaware of these facts about the Iranian regime, but also ill-informed about the struggle against it, such as the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ protests against the government that began in 2022.

One particularly telling conversation involved a man advocating for a ‘Global Intifada’ to replace capitalism with socialism. When asked about successful socialist models, he was unfamiliar with the Israeli kibbutzim, one of history’s few successful egalitarian experiments. His ignorance of these communal settlements in Israel, built by socialist Jewish immigrants, was all too typical.

Perhaps the most telling moment was captured by commentator Konstantin Kisin earlier this year, when he encountered a young man holding a ‘Socialist Intifada’ placard. The protester admitted he had no idea what this meant and that he had taken the sign simply because it was handed to him.

Reflecting on past movements, such as the American anti-Vietnam War protests of the 1960s and the British Anti-Apartheid Movement of the 1980s, one can’t help but note a stark contrast. Protesters then were generally well-informed about their causes. Today’s pro-Palestine protests, however, seem to be driven more by unthinking fervour than by an understanding of the issues at hand.

Throughout all these protests, I am yet to encounter a single participant who condemns Hamas or carries a placard denouncing its terrorism. This not only undermines the protesters’ cause, but also risks aligning them with groups whose values fundamentally oppose the very rights and freedoms they claim to support. It appears that today’s young protesters are high on ideology, but woefully thin on facts.

Potkin Azarmehr is an Iranian activist and journalist who left Iran for the UK after the revolution of 1979.

[nicklloydnow]

“May I be permitted to say a few words? I am an Edinburgh graduate (MA 1975) who studied Persian, Arabic & Islamic History under William Montgomery Watt & Laurence Elwell Sutton, 2 of Britain ‘s great Middle East experts. I later went on to do a PhD at Cambridge & to teach Arabic & Islamic Studies at Newcastle University . Naturally, I am the author of several books & 100s of articles in this field.

I say all that to show that I am well informed in Middle Eastern affairs & that, for that reason, I am shocked & disheartened for a simple reason: there is not & has never been a system of apartheid in Israel. That is not my opinion, that is fact that can be tested against reality should anyone choose to visit Israel.

Let me spell this out, since I have the impression that many students are absolutely clueless in matters concerning Israel, & that they are, in all likelihood, the victims of extremely biased propaganda coming from the anti-Israel lobby.

Hating Israel

Being anti-Israel is not in itself objectionable. But I’m not talking about ordinary criticism of Israel . I’m speaking of a hatred that permits itself no boundaries in the lies & myths it pours out. Thus, Israel is repeatedly referred to as a “Nazi” state. In what sense is this true, even as a metaphor? Where are the Israeli concentration camps? The einzatsgruppen? The SS? The Nuremberg Laws?

None of these things nor anything remotely resembling them exists in Israel, precisely because the Jews, more than anyone on earth, understand what Nazism stood for. It is claimed that there has been an Israeli Holocaust in Gaza (or elsewhere). Where? When?

No honest historian would treat that claim with anything but the contempt. But calling Jews Nazis and saying they have committed a Holocaust is a way to subvert historical fact. Likewise apartheid.

No Apartheid

For apartheid to exist, there would have to be a situation that closely resembled how things were in South Africa under the apartheid regime. Unfortunately for those who believe this, a day in any part of Israel would be enough to show how ridiculous this is.

The most obvious focus for apartheid would be the country’s 20% Arab population. Under Israeli law, Arab Israelis have exactly the same rights as Jews or anyone else; Muslims have the same rights as Jews or Christians; Baha’is, severely persecuted in Iran, flourish in Israel, where they have their world center; Ahmadi Muslims, severely persecuted in Pakistan & elsewhere, are kept safe by Israel; or anyone else; the holy places of all religions are protected by Israeli law.

Free Arab Israelis

Arabs form 20% of the university population (an exact echo of their percentage in the general population). In Iran , the Bahai’s (the largest religious minority) are forbidden to study in any university or to run their own universities: why aren’t your members boycotting Iran ?

Arabs in Israel can go anywhere they want, unlike blacks in apartheid South Africa. They use public transport, they eat in restaurants, they go to swimming pools, they use libraries, they go to cinemas alongside Jews — something no blacks were able to do in South Africa.

Israeli hospitals not only treat Jews & Arabs, they also treat Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank. On the same wards, in the same operating theatres.

Women’s Rights

In Israel, women have the same rights as men: there is no gender apartheid. Gay men & women face no restrictions, and Palestinian gays oftn escape into Israel, knowing they may be killed at home.

It seems bizarre to me that LGBT groups call for a boycott of Israel & say nothing about countries like Iran, where gay men are hanged or stoned to death. That illustrates a mindset that beggars belief.

Intelligent students thinking it’s better to be silent about regimes that kill gay people, but good to condemn the only country in the Middle East that rescues and protects gay people. Is that supposed to be a sick joke?

(…)

I do not object to well-documented criticism of Israel. I do object when supposedly intelligent people single the Jewish state out above states that are horrific in their treatment of their populations.

(…)

Israeli citizens, Jews & Arabs alike, do not rebel (though they are free to protest). Yet Edinburgh students mount no demonstrations & call for no boycotts against Libya , Bahrain , Saudi Arabia , Yemen , & Iran. They prefer to make false accusations against one of the world’s freest countries, the only country in the Middle East that has taken in Darfur refugees, the only country in the ME that gives refuge to gay men & women, the only country in the ME that protects the Bahai’s…. Need I go on?

(…)

Your generation has a duty to ensure that the perennial racism of anti-Semitism never sets down roots among you. Today, however, there are clear signs that it has done so and is putting down more.”

[theconstitutionisgayculture]

THANK YOU for finally saying it: modern Islam is poison. It's not even about supremacy, if your religion allows you to straight-up murder your own daughters subject them to a lifetime of rape and abuse for the sake of "family honor", there's something deeply wrong with it. Hell I would argue that it's not even Islam as Mohammed originally intended it even more, just a massive self-delusion perpetrated by psychopaths as an excuse to do whatever they want.

No, no, this is exactly Islam as Muhammad created it. The Koran goes into great detail about taking sex slaves and murdering non-believers and how nearly any crime is acceptable when you're waging Jihad. Muhammad was a pedophiliac bandit who was banished from his tribe and used his made up religion to bring other bandits together with the promise of slaves and plunder if they fought his enemies in the name of Islam. The first thing he did was go back to Mecca and kill or convert the tribe that originally kicked him out. Then he launched his holy war against the rest of the world. It only took about 100 or so years after he founded Islam for the hordes of Jihadis to pillage and plunder their way across half of what used to be called Christendom; what we now refer to as the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The only way to save yourself from being killed or taken as a sex slave was to say "There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet" You didn't even need to mean the words. You just had to say them, and then you were protected from Islam and could call upon the Islamic faithful to support you in your own wars against the unbelievers.

So don't get it wrong, Islam was founded as a violent, expansionist empire that explicitly promises sex slaves to its followers. There are so many Islamic texts from the early days of Muhammad and right after extolling the sexual "virtues" of blonde, Byzantine women, who, according to Muslims, were beautiful and wanton and were all waiting for virile Muslim men to take them and rape them because they were filled with uncontrollable lust. And these are texts that are revered by modern Muslim scholars today.

Read the book Sword and Scimitar by Raymond Ibrahim. It's a great look at Islamic belief and how that belief influenced the last 1500 of conflict between Islam and the Christian world.

[feministfang]

A majority of victims of grooming gangs in UK are young white girls. A majority of perpetrators are brown Pakistani muslim men. The far left doesn’t want to speak about it because they are afraid of being labelled as "racists" and "Islamophobes". But i am not, so i will speak!

The majority of oppressors of white girls in Europe are brown men. UK needs a mass deportation of paki muslim immigrants and i don’t care if paki women and children will be deported too. British-Pakistani muslim women are not saints. They are male-cantered pick mes. They will always protect and worship their mullah cult men over protecting non-muslim women while also settling their hypocritical asses in west. They enjoy all the privileges of western culture while men from their families are out there grooming, kidnapping, murdering and raping white girls. All muslims are united in dehumanising non-muslims because they are arrogant shitheads who believe they will go straight to heaven by inflicting harm upon the "enemies of Allah" or non-believers.

My heart goes out to all European women. I will betray my own race and blood to stand with them. They are protesting against immigrant men since ages just to get accused of racism by the left-wingers and getting silenced. Their safety is what matters, not the feelings of brown/muslim people.

Fuck Pakistanis! Fuck Islam! Fuck brown men!

[duckprintspress]

Celebrate Eid al-Fitr with 6 Queer Muslim Reads

Eid Mubarak! Ramadan is ending, and Eid al-Fitr is beginning, and we’re celebrating with a modest list of queer books with Muslim characters. The contributors to the list are: Meera S., Linnea Peterson, Nina Waters, and Adrian Harley.

We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir by Samra Habib

How do you find yourself when the world tells you that you don’t exist? Samra Habib has spent most of their life searching for the safety to be themself. As an Ahmadi Muslim growing up in Pakistan, they faced regular threats from Islamic extremists who believed the small, dynamic sect to be blasphemous. From their parents, they internalized the lesson that revealing their identity could put them in grave danger. When their family came to Canada as refugees, Samra encountered a whole new host of bullies, racism, the threat of poverty, and an arranged marriage. Backed into a corner, their need for a safe space–in which to grow and nurture their creative, feminist spirit–became dire. The men in Samra’s life wanted to police them, the women in their life had only shown them the example of pious obedience, and their body was a problem to be solved. So begins an exploration of faith, art, love, and queer sexuality, a journey that takes them to the far reaches of the globe to uncover a truth that was within them all along. A triumphant memoir of forgiveness and family, both chosen and not, We Have Always Been Here is a rallying cry for anyone who has ever felt out of place and a testament to the power of fearlessly inhabiting one’s truest self.

Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H

When fourteen-year-old Lamya H realizes she has a crush on her teacher–her female teacher–she covers up her attraction, an attraction she can’t yet name, by playing up her roles as overachiever and class clown. Born in South Asia, she moved to the Middle East at a young age and has spent years feeling out of place, like her own desires and dreams don’t matter, and it’s easier to hide in plain sight. To disappear. But one day in Quran class, she reads a passage about Maryam that changes everything: when Maryam learned that she was pregnant, she insisted no man had touched her. Could Maryam, uninterested in men, be . . . like Lamya? From that moment on, Lamya makes sense of her struggles and triumphs by comparing her experiences with some of the most famous stories in the Quran. She juxtaposes her coming out with Musa liberating his people from the pharoah; asks if Allah, who is neither male nor female, might instead be nonbinary; and, drawing on the faith and hope Nuh needed to construct his ark, begins to build a life of her own–ultimately finding that the answer to her lifelong quest for community and belonging lies in owning her identity as a queer, devout Muslim immigrant.

Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar

Everyone likes Humaira “Hani” Khan—she’s easy going and one of the most popular girls at school. But when she comes out to her friends as bisexual, they invalidate her identity, saying she can’t be bi if she’s only dated guys. Panicked, Hani blurts out that she’s in a relationship…with a girl her friends absolutely hate—Ishita “Ishu” Dey. Ishu is the complete opposite of Hani. She’s an academic overachiever who hopes that becoming head girl will set her on the right track for college. But Ishita agrees to help Hani, if Hani will help her become more popular so that she stands a chance of being elected head girl. Despite their mutually beneficial pact, they start developing real feelings for each other. But relationships are complicated, and some people will do anything to stop two Bengali girls from achieving happily ever after.

Tell Me How You Really Feel by Aminah Mae Safi

Sana Khan is a cheerleader and a straight A student. She’s the classic (somewhat obnoxious) overachiever determined to win. Rachel Recht is a wannabe director who’s obsesssed with movies and ready to make her own masterpiece. As she’s casting her senior film project, she knows she’s found the perfect lead – Sana. There’s only one problem. Rachel hates Sana. Rachel was the first girl Sana ever asked out, but Rachel thought it was a cruel prank and has detested Sana ever since. Told in alternative viewpoints and inspired by classic romantic comedies, this engaging and edgy YA novel follows two strongwilled young women falling for each other despite themselves.

DeadEndia by Hamish Steele

Barney Guttman’s life has been turned upside down. His family is struggling to fully embrace his trans identity, but thanks to his best friend Norma, he’s just landed a job at Phoenix Parks, a Dollywood-esque amusement park inspired by the long life and career of mysteriously youthful actress and singer Pauline Phoenix. Soon, Barney and his dog, Pugsley, secretly move into the haunted house attraction. Little does Barney know, the house contains a portal to the demonic planes of Hell. When Courtney, Barney’s devilish new roommate, invites a demon king to Earth through the portal, they offer Barney and Norma as flesh vessels for the king, but in a strange twist, Pugsley is possessed instead! It’s a race through the park to save Pugsley—and the world—from the demon king’s reign of terror that leaves Pugsley with strange and magical side effects. With all of this chaos going on, Barney is also discovering he has crush on park employee, Logan, so he must face his biggest fear of all… talking to someone he likes. Follow the lives of this diverse group of friends in this hilarious and moving graphic novel series, complete with talking pugs, vengeful ghosts, and first love.

Shubeik Lubeik by Deena Mohamed

Shubeik Lubeik–a fairytale rhyme meaning “Your Wish is My Command” in Arabic–is the story of three characters navigating a world where wishes are literally for sale; mired in bureaucracy and the familiar prejudices of our world, the more expensive the wish, the more powerful and therefore the more likely to work as intended. The novel’s three distinct parts tell the story of three first class wishes as used by Aziza, Nour, and Shokry, each grappling with the challenge inherent in trying to make your most deeply held desire come true.

What are YOUR favorite Queer Muslim books? (We definitely need some recs ourselves!)

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