by Mathias Hariyadi

Fancy perms and photo albums made before marriage are ‘haram’, i.e. contrary to Islamic religion and morality. Two East Java educational institutions issue the ruling in order to preserve the “purity” of customs. Indonesia’s Ulema Council describes the fatwa as “exaggerated”.

Jakarta (AsiaNews) – Wearing elaborate hairdos and being photographed before one’s wedding are haram, against the Islamic religion and morality. Two all-female educational institutions (pesantren) issued a fatwa to that effect. In doing so, they add more fuel to an already heated debate over bans. In fact, a ban has been imposed on smoking in public places and on women wearing tight jeans or travelling on motorbikes.

The controversial ruling on women’s hairdos comes from the All-Girl Islamic Educational Institutions Forum of East Java Province. Fussing over one’s hair, getting a perm, having one’s hair curled too much or coloured are deemed “morally illicit” and contrary to the principles of Islam.

Premarital photos are also condemned as haram because they favour “extra-marital relations”, and give photographs the opportunity to retouch female bodies to show them in storefronts in order to “attract new customers”.

The fatwa was issued during 12th Female Bahtsul Masail Forum held at the Lirboyo pesantren in Kediri (East Java). Its purpose, activists believe, is to preserve the “purity” of marriage between bride and groom by helping them avoid morally unacceptable behaviour.

Iswatun Hasanah, who chairs the forum, said that the ruling was “to prevent extra-marital relations” before the marriage, and applies to bride and groom, photographers, clothes designers and make-up artists. Physical contacts during photo shoots, kissing on the lips, walking hand in hand are unacceptable behaviours because” the people involved “are not yet married.”

Photographers are guilty of accentuating the “sensuality” of their subjects and of manipulating the pictures shown in public in order to attract new customers.

In the last few years, thousands of couples have had photo albums about themselves made and handed them out to family and friends on their wedding day. This has generated business worth millions of rupees and attracted a growing number of customers.

Indonesia’s Ulema Council (MIU) has reacted to the fatwa by downplaying the whole matter.

MUI leader Cholil Ridwan said that the fatwa against hairdos is exaggerated, especially since it is addressed to women who do not wear the jilbab or Islamic headscarf.

MUSLIM WOMEN REJECT THE FATWA

Muslim women in Surabaya, East Java, have flatly rejected a fatwa recently issued by local clerics, who said women changing the color and form of their hair using the rebonding technique is forbidden under Islam.

“Hair coloring and straightening are just a matter of fashion, and have nothing to do with one’s level faith,” university student Ulfa Damayanti, 19, told The Jakarta Post on the weekend, after undergoing a rebonding treatment at a stylist in Surabaya.

Ulfa said she would continue visiting the hair stylist every three months, to have her hair done, something she has been doing for the last five years.

Ulfa had her parents’ permision to have her hair cut, she said.

Last week, a problem-solving forum of leaders of Islamic boarding schools for female students, from across Java and Madura islands, issued an edict stating it is haram for Muslim women to color and change the form of their hair.

During the meeting, held Thursday at Lirboyo Islamic boarding school in Kediri, East Java, the clerics argued that hair straightening could invite immoral acts if the intention was only to change physical appearance.

The forum also banned women from working as ojek (motorcycle taxi) drivers or from using ojek services to go to certain places or to pass quiet areas because it could incite immoral acts.

Riding on an ojek could bring women into contact with the male ojek drivers’ skin, and expose aurat (parts of the body that must not be exposed).

Ulfa said rebonding had nothing to do with the causes and effects of immoral acts.

Citing an example she pointed to rape cases allegedly committed by Muslim teacher As’ad Syukur Fauzanni of Kedung Rukem, Surabaya, involving 17 of his own female students in 2008.

“Even a few months ago, a santri [Islamic boarding school student] in Surabaya raped his fellow female santri at an Islamic boarding school. This means immoral acts can just occur anywhere,” Ulfa said.

Separately, housewife Ida Ayu Rohmana, 34, voiced a similar objection.

“I’m also an obedient Muslim, but I’m proud to know a woman who works as an ojek driver. I see it as proof that today’s women are much more capable of doing manly jobs,” she said.

“If ulema ban women from working as ojek drivers and then the women have to earn a living by working as prostitutes or by stealing, what will they say?” Ida asked.

Ida, who goes to the market to shop everyday on an ojek also said she would continue using this form of transport since she considered it safer than riding a motorcycle on her own. “I’m afraid of being robbed if I take a motorcycle on my own. Once a woman was murdered like that.”

Thirty four Islamic scholars in Mauritania have signed a fatwa, or religious opinion, banning the practice of female genital mutilation.

The fatwa, signed in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott, states that the procedure has been proven to be harmful either at the time or subsequently.

Many Mauritanian women have welcomed the move.

Female genital mutilation has been recognised globally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women.

But that message has been slow to filter down in parts of north, east and west Africa where the practice is still widespread.

Health campaigners estimate that more than 70 percent of Mauritanian girls undergo the partial or total removal of their external genitalia for non-medical reasons.

The World Health Organisation says there are no health benefits and many potentially damaging consequences, from severe pain and blood loss to recurrent infections, infertility and an increased risk of complications in childbirth.

Taboo 'smashed'

Mutilations are carried out for a mix of cultural and social reasons, and many believe the practice has Islamic religious support, even if this isn't always the case.

A law professor at Nouakchott University said the collective fatwa would greatly reduce female genital mutilation in Mauritania because it would remove what he called the religious mask that the practice hides behind.

Mauritanian women in Nouakchott also welcomed what one said was the smashing of a religious taboo.

However, others have cautioned that a publicity campaign will now be needed if the fatwa's message is to be spread into outlying areas where genital mutilation is most common.

New Delhi, Jan 18 (IANS) The government is committed to the welfare of minorities but “fairness” in implementing schemes is needed to avoid questions being raised, Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said Monday and assured that a commission to deal with discrimination on the basis of religion, caste, gender and language will be created soon.
“There is nothing to worry about (for minorities). We are committed. We have programmes for their welfare but let’s implement them with fairness so that no questions are raised,” Khurshid told reporters here.

He was speaking at the 10th editors’ conference on social sector issues.

The minister said the government has “entirely” accepted the recommendations, barring one, of the Rajinder Sachar Committee, which was appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to study the social and economic status of minorities in India.

The Sachar Committee report suggested mechanisms to ensure equity and equality of opportunity in jobs and education to Muslims, who form the largest minority in India.

Of India’s 1.2 billion population, Muslims constitute 14 percent followed by Christians at 2.3 percent, Sikhs at 1.9 percent, Buddhists at 0.8 percent, Jains at 0.4 percent and others including Parsis at 0.6 percent.

Salman Khurshid said an equal opportunities commission will be formed soon to deal with discrimination faced by minorities in areas like employment, education and housing.

“The report on the equal opportunities commission is close to draft legislation. It will take the social justice discourse to a new higher level,” he said.

The minister said that the commission won’t be specific to minority communities only.

“It will work among identified groups who have suffered deprivation. It will ensure that equal opportunities are given to all,” he said.

He said the government has identified 90 districts in the country where Muslims comprise 25 percent and has earmarked Rs.3,700 crore for the development of these districts in the current Five Year Plan (2007-12).

Khurshid said the government was in the process of finalizing a bill to ensure that the Wakf boards - trusts which look after Muslim mosques, shrines and allied properties - function in a streamlined fashion.

The records of Wakf boards will also be computerized “to ensure proper survey and cross checking of Wakf data in all states and improve office efficiency and preparation of timely reports on various administrative matters”, he said.

The scheme will streamline record keeping and introduce transparency in Wakf properties.

The scheme will be uniformly applicable across all the 29 state Wakf boards except for Jammu and Kashmir, he said.

CAIRO – Union Home Minister Shri P Chidambram’s remarks linking jihad to terrorism are infuriating Indian Muslims for misinterpreting the true meaning of the Islamic term.

"It is a gross misrepresentation of 'Jihad' and also betrays sheer ignorance on the part of your speech writer," the All India Muslim Majlis-E-Mushawarat, an umbrella body of Indian Muslim organisations, in a statement mailed to IslamOnline.net on Monday, January 4.

Addressing an intelligence lecture on December 23, Minister Chidambram linked jihad to terrorism.

 "Just as the Cold War came to an end, we witnessed the emergence of another kind of war, namely, jihad," he said.

"Unlike the original Crusades, jihad is not fought like a conventional war. Jihad employs terror as an instrument to achieve its objectives."

    * Jihad: Its True Meaning and Purpose

The Muslim umbrella organization said the controversial remarks demonstrate ignorance of the true meaning of Jihad.

"Jihad is a defensive war against invaders and occupiers like the one our forefathers fought against the British occupiers of India."

It explained that jihad is divided into two categories; "Greater Jihad" and "Lesser Jihad".

"The greater one is against one’s own shortcomings and waywardness while the lesser one is against foreign enemies who invade us and occupy our lands. Such struggle is the duty of every faithful lover of his/her country."

Manipulated

The Indian Muslim organization said the term "Jihad" is now misused by the US to justify the takeover of foreign lands and resources.

"It all started with their training, arming and financing fighters in Afghanistan against the Soviet occupation and it was hailed as 'Jihad' by the US-controlled media," it noted.

"Later their own creation turned against them."

Karen Armstrong, a prominent and prolific British writer on all three monotheistic religions, has criticized the West's abuse of the word Jihad for certain purposes.

The All India Muslim Majlis-E-Mushawarat insisted that Indian Muslims have never used violence against their country.

"No Indian Muslim has taken part in such activities whether in the Indian part of Kashmir or in Afghanistan or Iraq or elsewhere."

The organization accused the Home Ministry of turning a blind eye to anti-Muslim smearing campaigns.

"Various departments of your ministry are still beating about the bush, making tall claims about 'Islamic terrorism' while there is none as far as Indian Muslims are concerned."

There are some 140 million Muslims in Hindu-majority India, the world's third-largest Muslim population after those of Indonesia and Pakistan.

"It is my sincere advice to you as a learned, sincere and secular leader, to look beyond the popular clichés and the vague claims of your officials, and try to curb the real terror within the boundaries of our country," said the All India Muslim Majlis-E-Mushawarat President Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan.

"Kindly leave the so-called 'Jihad' for America to tackle as it is the creator and beneficiary of this monster to this day in its quest to control energy resources of the Middle East."