C L O S E R

Liefde op maat: partnerkeuze van Turkse en Marokkaanse jongeren

Posted on June 15th, 2005 by .
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Young Muslims, Youth culture (as a practice).

Leen Sterckx en Carolien Bouw van SISWO hebben hun rapport Liefde op maat: partnerkeuze van Turkse en Marokkaanse jongeren gereed.

�Ik heb een keer zomaar gechat en verder niks bijzonders, toen gaf hij zijn emailadres. Ik vraag gewoon waar kom je vandaan, wat doe je en zo. Gewoon van die kleine verhaaltjes, het gaat helemaal nergens over. Maar op een gegeven moment hebben we echt lang gemaild. En toen bleken we echt veel gemeen te hebben. Hij studeerde aan dezelfde universiteit. Hij is ook alevitisch. Onze families kenden elkaar indirect. Zijn ouders kwamen toevallig uit hetzelfde dorp als mijn ouders. Dat paste allemaal in het plaatje.�
Turkse vrouw, 21 jaar, 1 jaar verloofd

Op dinsdagavond 14 juni debatteren Turkse en Marokkaanse jongeren over de vraag, hoe het komt dat zoveel van hen nog steeds hun bruid of bruidegom uit het land van hun ouders halen. Waarom blijft het trouwen met iemand uit het land van herkomst zo populair?
Om op deze vraag een antwoord te geven, hebben de Turkse moskeekoepel Milli G�r�ş-Nederland en haar Marokaanse tegenhangers de moslimorganisatie UMMON en de moskeeorganisatie UMMAO opdracht gegeven voor een onderzoek aan SISWO/Social Policy Research. Socioloog Leen Sterckx en antropoloog Carolien Bouw hebben gesproken met tientallen jongeren en hun ouders en daarvan verslag gedaan in het boek �Liefde op maat. Partnerkeuze van Turkse en Marokkaanse jongeren�. Het boek is uitgegeven bij het Spinhuis.

Driekwart van de Turken en Marokkanen in Nederland is getrouwd met een partner die hij of zij uit Turkije of Marokko liet overkomen. Naarmate migranten zich meer aanpassen aan en wortelen in de samenleving waar zij zich vestigen, zou de partnerkeuze zich als vanzelf meer moeten richten op het nieuwe land. Dat nog steeds zoveel Turkse en Marokkaanse jongeren hun bruid en bruidegom uit het land van hun ouders halen, wekt verbazing en bezorgdheid.
Gezinsvormende migratie is een probleem als dat leidt tot een voortdurende instroom van migranten met dezelfde aanpassingsproblemen als de voormalige gastarbeiders. Want dan staat niet alleen de integratie van de nieuwkomer zelf maar ook die van de kinderen op het spel.
Ook belangenorganisaties van Turken en Marokkanen in Nederland hebben problemen met de populariteit van deze huwelijken. Zij zien de voortdurende instroom van nieuwkomers als rem op de sociale mobiliteit van hun achterban.
Sterckx en Bouw gingen na wat er schuil gaat achter het transnationaal trouwen. Waarom komen jonge Turken en Marokkanen op zoek naar een levenspartner tot nu toe vaker uit in het land van herkomst dan in Nederland? Hoe verloopt het proces van partnerkeuze, welke ontwikkelingen zijn daarin te ontdekken en welke factoren hebben daarop invloed? Zij ontrafelen dat complexe proces, komen tot een typologie van huwelijken en signaleren de trends.

Het onderzoek sluit aardig aan bij het onderzoek van mij en Edien Bartels naar gedwongen huwelijken onder Turken, Marokkanen en Hindostanen dat binnenkort uitkomt via de ACVZ (Adviescommissie Vreemdelingenzaken) van minister Verdonk.

0 comments.

Moslimomroep neemt belang in soap ONM – telegraaf.nl [Prive]

Posted on June 13th, 2005 by .
Categories: Multiculti Issues, Young Muslims, Youth culture (as a practice).

Moslimomroep neemt belang in soap ONM – telegraaf.nl [Prive]
Moslimomroep neemt belang in soap ONM
HILVERSUM – De Nederlandse Moslim Omroep (NMO) gaat deelnemen in de soap Onderweg naar Morgen. Dat liet de omroep zondag weten in het mediaprogramma Antenne 2 van de Avro. In ruil voor een financieel belang in de serie wil de omroep er voor zorgen dat moslimpersonages die hierin meespelen een betere afspiegeling van de realiteit geven.

Moslimomroep neemt belang in soap ONM

“Wij zijn in Onderweg Naar Morgen gestapt om ervoor te zorgen dat de moslimpersonages die er al in zitten iets meer gaan corresponderen met de realiteit”, aldus het hoofd tv-aankoop van de NMO, R. Alibux.

Met de overeenkomst verwerft de NMO invloed op de verhaallijnen. Alibux: ” Ik denk dat moslimjongeren die naar de soap kijken zich beter in de serie gaan herkennen”.

De soap verkast het komende tv-seizoen (vanaf september) van Yorin naar BNN die de serie op Nederland 2 gaat uitzenden. Hoeveel de NMO bijdraagt in het programma kon Alibux nog niet zeggen. De invloed van de moslimomroep moet vanaf 2006 naar voren komen.

0 comments.

The Dutch-Muslim Culture War – Yahoo! News

Posted on June 12th, 2005 by .
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Internal Debates, Islam in the Netherlands, Murder on theo Van Gogh and related issues, My Research, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

In The Nation an article of Deborah Scroggins (placed on Yahoo! News) on The Dutch-Muslim Culture War

It has become a nice article that centres around Hirsi Ali. I have a small contribution in it (in italics) and for the record, no I do not investigate jihadi-groups. And I also do not work at Leiden University but at ISIM in Leiden.

Meanwhile, Hirsi Ali focused her broadsides more and more plainly on Islam itself. She wrote that the Prophet Mohammed was a “despicable” individual who had married “the 9-year-old daughter of his best friend.” “Mohammed is, by our Western standards, a perverse man,” she wrote. “A tyrant. He is against free speech. If you do not do what he says, then you will have an unhappy ending. It makes me think of all those megalomaniac rulers in the Middle East: bin Laden, Khomeini, Saddam.” By this point, Hirsi Ali had gravitated further to the right; she left the Labor Party for the center-right Liberal VVD Party and won a parliamentary seat in 2003.

Hirsi Ali’s many critics contend that far from being a revolutionary, she brings a message that the West is all too willing to hear. They say that in calling for European governments to protect Muslim women from Muslim men, she and her admirers recycle the same Orientalist tropes that the West has used since colonial times as an excuse to control and subjugate Muslims. “White men saving black women from black men–it’s a very old fantasy that is always popular,” Annelies Moors, a University of Amsterdam anthropologist who writes about Islamic gender relations, said dryly. “But I don’t think male violence against women, a phenomenon known to every society in history, can be explained by a few Koranic verses.”

Moors and others don’t dispute the existence of the social problems Hirsi Ali identifies. Many Dutch Muslim women do live in segregated “parallel cities” where Islamic social codes are enforced. Muslims make up only 5.5 percent of the Dutch population, but they account for more than half the women in battered women’s shelters and more than half of those seeking abortions. Muslim girls have far higher suicide rates than non-Muslim girls. Some Muslim girls, mostly African, are genitally mutilated. But in putting all the blame on Islam, they say, Hirsi Ali ignores the influence of patriarchal custom as well as the work of a generation of Muslim feminists. They point to thinkers like Fatima Mernissi and Amina Wadud, who have shown that Islam’s sacred texts can be interpreted in a more female-friendly way. And they say Hirsi Ali avoids mention of the role the West has played and continues to play in assisting the rise of the Islamist movements. “The rightist forces and the radical Islamists feed on each other, and she contributes to that,” Moors said.

Karima Belhaj is the director of the largest women’s shelter in Amsterdam. She’s also one of the organizers of the “Stop the Witchhunt!” campaign against what she sees as anti-Muslim hysteria. On the day we talked, she was despondent. Arsonists had set fire for the second time to an Islamic school in the town of Uden. A few days later a regional police unit warned that the rise of right-wing Dutch youth gangs potentially presents a more dangerous threat to the country than Islamist terrorism. “The rise of Islamism is not the problem,” Belhaj said. “The problem is that hatred against Arabs and Muslims is shown in this country without any shame.” With her message that Muslim women must give up their faith and their families if they want to be liberated, Hirsi Ali is actually driving women into the arms of the fundamentalists, said Belhaj: “She attacks their values, so they are wearing more and more veils. It frightens me. I’m losing my country. I’m losing my people.”

If Belhaj was sad, another “Stop the Witchhunt!” organizer was angry. Like Belhaj, Miriyam Aouragh is a second-generation immigrant of Moroccan background. A self-described peace and women’s activist, Aouragh was the first in her family to attend university. She’s now studying for a PhD in anthropology. She scoffs at the idea that Hirsi Ali is a champion of oppressed Muslim women. “She’s nothing but an Uncle Tom,” Aouragh said. “She has never fought for the oppressed. In fact, she’s done the opposite. She uses these problems as a cover to attack Islam. She insults me and she makes my life as a feminist ten times harder because she forces me to be associated with anti-Muslim attacks.”

Aouragh accuses Hirsi Ali and her political allies of deliberately fostering the hostility that has led to the attacks on Islamic institutions and to police brutality against young Muslim men. “I’m surprised the Arab-Muslim community isn’t more angry with her,” Aouragh said. “When she talks about Muslims as violent people, and Muslim men as rapists, this is very insulting. She calls the Prophet a pedophile. Theo van Gogh called the Prophet a pimp, a goat-fucker. Well, no, we don’t accept that.”

Although the press has focused on the threats against critics of Islam like Hirsi Ali and Geert Wilders, Aouragh says that there have been many more attacks on Dutch Muslims than on non-Muslims. She suspects that what the Dutch really fear is not Islamic fundamentalism but the prospect of having to deal with a new generation of highly educated young Muslims who demand a fair hearing for their values. “We are telling them, ‘We have rights, too. You have to change your idea about freedom or face the consequences.'”

Whatever happens to Hirsi Ali, the debate she helped polarize over women and Islam is sure to spread and intensify all over Europe in the next few years. As Ronald Inglehart and Pippa Norris have argued in their book Rising Tide, the true clash of opinions between Islam and the West is not about democracy but sex. Successive World Values Surveys, in which social scientists polled public opinion in more than eighty countries between 1981 and 2001, have shown that people in Muslim countries share broadly the same views on political participation as people in the West. What they disagree strongly about is gender equality and sexual liberalization.

In the United States the distinction is not as sharply drawn. Conservative Muslims are not the only religious group here opposed to what they see as sexual license; it’s their opposition to Israel and US foreign policy, not their sexual politics, that sets American Muslims apart from the rest of the right. But in Europe, acceptance of gender equality and homosexuality have become core values across the political spectrum, said Jocelyne Cesari, a Harvard research associate and the author of When Islam and Democracy Meet. “Here it is part of a national debate that doesn’t involve immigrants only,” Cesari said. “In Europe, this is seen as proof that Muslims are still outsiders whose values are in contradiction to ours.”

Islamist thinkers have often argued that women are the key to culture, since they have the responsibility of raising children. An emerging coalition of European feminist and anti-immigration forces seems to be adopting the same view. In France, Belgium, Germany and Scandinavia, as in the Netherlands, the “woman question” is at the center of the debate over how to integrate the Muslim community. “I know most of my Muslim friends will disagree with me, but in my opinion the gender issue is the most important issue,” says Martijn de Koning, an anthropologist at Leiden University who studies jihadi groups. “The head scarf, the Islamic schools, the policy of family reunification–every debate here more or less concerns the position of women.”

Hirsi Ali is only the most prominent of a number of young Muslim women who have lately begun to criticize their own communities for their treatment of women. In Sweden, Fadime Sahindal campaigned against forced marriages before her father killed her in 2002 for having a relationship with a Swedish man. In France, Fadela Amara heads the Ni Putes ni Soumises (“Neither Whores nor Submissives”) movement against Islamist groups she calls “the green fascists.” In Germany, where six honor killings have taken place just this year, Seyran Ates, a Berlin-based lawyer, has charged the government with allowing Islamic fundamentalism to flourish under a policy of false tolerance.

I really do think the gender-issues is the key-issue, at least in Europe (as Cesari also acknowledges in this article) It is for Muslims as well as for non-Muslims. That is not very surprisingly. Gender-issues are often the most important boundary-markers between insiders and outsiders for all groups. Of course it is more than a boundary marker. There are some real issues like domestic violence. It isn’t true however that half of the women in women’s shelters are Muslim. It is probably about one third; still too much of course. I don’t know exactly about the suicide rates, but they are higher among most of the immigrant girls compared to native dutch. Also all these statistics don’t include Muslims but ethnicity and nationality. So it is implied that every Turk or Moroccan woman is also a (practising) Muslim.

(more…)

0 comments.

Protected: NRC Handelsblad – Binnenland: Kabinet wil haatzaaiende zenders weren

Posted on June 11th, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: International Terrorism, Murder on theo Van Gogh and related issues, Young Muslims.

Enter your password to view comments.

Van waterdruppel tot mens: Moslims, evolutie & intelligent design

Posted on June 5th, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Internal Debates, Islam in the Netherlands, Multiculti Issues, Religious and Political Radicalization, Some personal considerations, Young Muslims.

Nou ja ik ben iets te jong om de Big Bang meegemaakt te hebben en volgens mijn moeder ook nog eens een wandelend Intelligent Design (…maar hoever ben je nu eigenlijk met je proefschrift?), maar heb toch wel wat te zeggen over het door minister Van der Hoeven aangezwengelde debat.

Van der Hoeven’s pleidooi voor een debat over ID hoeft helemaal niet weggegooid te worden, maar als ze denkt hiermee multiculti spanningen op te lossen, slaat ze de plank mis. Vragen als ‘wat zegt de islam over de evolutietheorie’ of ‘wat zegt de koran over de schepping’ zijn wel interessant voor moslims, maar zijn totaal onbelangrijk als we houding en gedrag van moslims in Nederland willen verklaren. Wanneer we daar iets meer van willen weten, moeten we niet met de Koran beginnen, maar moeten we onderzoeken hoe moslims zelf, binnen de gegeven politieke, juridische, economische en sociale omstandigheden, betekenis geven aan hun leven in Nederland. Dat is ook waar mijn proefschrift en dat van anderen zoals Welmoet Boender van het ISIM en Susan Ketner van de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen over gaat. Misschien moeten we toch maar eens opschieten met dat proefschrift.

(more…)

1 comment.

Van waterdruppel tot mens: Moslims, evolutie & intelligent design

Posted on June 5th, 2005 by .
Categories: Internal Debates, Islam in the Netherlands, Multiculti Issues, Religious and Political Radicalization, Some personal considerations, Young Muslims.

Nou ja ik ben iets te jong om de Big Bang meegemaakt te hebben en volgens mijn moeder ook nog eens een wandelend Intelligent Design (…maar hoever ben je nu eigenlijk met je proefschrift?), maar heb toch wel wat te zeggen over het door minister Van der Hoeven aangezwengelde debat.

Van der Hoeven’s pleidooi voor een debat over ID hoeft helemaal niet weggegooid te worden, maar als ze denkt hiermee multiculti spanningen op te lossen, slaat ze de plank mis. Vragen als ‘wat zegt de islam over de evolutietheorie’ of ‘wat zegt de koran over de schepping’ zijn wel interessant voor moslims, maar zijn totaal onbelangrijk als we houding en gedrag van moslims in Nederland willen verklaren. Wanneer we daar iets meer van willen weten, moeten we niet met de Koran beginnen, maar moeten we onderzoeken hoe moslims zelf, binnen de gegeven politieke, juridische, economische en sociale omstandigheden, betekenis geven aan hun leven in Nederland. Dat is ook waar mijn proefschrift en dat van anderen zoals Welmoet Boender van het ISIM en Susan Ketner van de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen over gaat. Misschien moeten we toch maar eens opschieten met dat proefschrift.

(more…)

1 comment.

expertmeeting jongeren en extremisme

Posted on June 1st, 2005 by .
Categories: Multiculti Issues, Young Muslims, Youth culture (as a practice).

Jeugdwerkadviesbureau de Heuvel uit Rotterdam

Dagelijks is het in het nieuws: hoe om te gaan met extremistische uitingen als het gaat om standpunten over de islam of rechtsextremisme.
De Heuvel organiseert op donderdagmiddag 2 juni 2005 van 11.00 � 15.00 uur een expertmeeting voor jongerenwerkers en vrijwilligers in Rotterdam. Wat komen zij tegen, wat zien zij als knelpunten, en is hoe kun je met je jongeren op een zinvolle wijze hierover aan de praat raken. En welke rol kiezen zij als het gaat om omgaan met dit thema?
Ervaringen worden uitgewisseld, twee gastsprekers op het terrein van moslimextremisme en rechtsextremisme worden uitgenodigd, en in workshops wordt besproken hoe er in de dagelijkse praktijk mee verder te komen. De expertmeeting wordt afgesloten met een hapje en een drankje.

0 comments.

Protected: Trouw, opvoeding & onderwijs – 'Vader als autoriteit verdwijnt in rap tempo'

Posted on June 1st, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Important Publications, Young Muslims.

Enter your password to view comments.

Protected: Trouw, opvoeding & onderwijs – ‘Vader als autoriteit verdwijnt in rap tempo’

Posted on June 1st, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Important Publications, Young Muslims.

Enter your password to view comments.

Protected: Trouw, nieuws & achtergronden – Terreur / Franse AIVD vreest radicalisering

Posted on May 27th, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

Enter your password to view comments.

The Daily Star – Arts & Culture – Muslim women combine tradition and trendy fashion

Posted on May 25th, 2005 by .
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Young Muslims, Youth culture (as a practice).

In the Daily Start in article on Muslim women who combine tradition and trendy fashion

Dr. Hassan Hammoud, associate professor of sociology at the Lebanese American University, explains that women in Lebanon are bombarded by messages and images of how fashionable a woman ought to be in terms of outfit and physical shape. “Young girls try to fit into this model,” he says. “They build an image of themselves made out of what they hear, see and expect themselves to be.”

And if veiled women come from an immediate environment that values fashion, then their clothes will be fashionable, too. “A veiled woman, like any other woman, holds an image of what is acceptable versus what is unacceptable, based on the values of her peer group, her family, her community,” Hammoud explains.

Sheikh Abdel-Aziz Shafii, assistant to the judge at the Sunni Sharia Court, gave the trendy veil phenomenon an even more significant denotation, affirming that it indicates a religious revival among liberal Muslim circles. “The veil is not limited to traditional communities anymore,” he explains. “It is now being embraced by liberal people who were originally trendy.”

Such religious revival among new social circles is all the more important because it isn’t only manifested in non-traditional veiling but also in more liberal viewpoints, politics and approach to religion among Muslim societies, Shafii adds.

0 comments.

The Daily Star – Arts & Culture – Muslim women combine tradition and trendy fashion

Posted on May 25th, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Young Muslims, Youth culture (as a practice).

In the Daily Start in article on Muslim women who combine tradition and trendy fashion

Dr. Hassan Hammoud, associate professor of sociology at the Lebanese American University, explains that women in Lebanon are bombarded by messages and images of how fashionable a woman ought to be in terms of outfit and physical shape. “Young girls try to fit into this model,” he says. “They build an image of themselves made out of what they hear, see and expect themselves to be.”

And if veiled women come from an immediate environment that values fashion, then their clothes will be fashionable, too. “A veiled woman, like any other woman, holds an image of what is acceptable versus what is unacceptable, based on the values of her peer group, her family, her community,” Hammoud explains.

Sheikh Abdel-Aziz Shafii, assistant to the judge at the Sunni Sharia Court, gave the trendy veil phenomenon an even more significant denotation, affirming that it indicates a religious revival among liberal Muslim circles. “The veil is not limited to traditional communities anymore,” he explains. “It is now being embraced by liberal people who were originally trendy.”

Such religious revival among new social circles is all the more important because it isn’t only manifested in non-traditional veiling but also in more liberal viewpoints, politics and approach to religion among Muslim societies, Shafii adds.

0 comments.

i d e a n t: Open Ijtihad

Posted on May 11th, 2005 by .
Categories: Internal Debates, Research International, Young Muslims.

i d e a n t: Open Ijtihad

[The following presentation was made at the Los Angeles Latino Muslim Association’s annual meeting, April 16 2005.]

Open Ijtihad:
Technology and New Opportunities for Community Building and Activism

ijtihackers

I want to cover four major themes in this presentation. First, I want to say a couple of words about ijtihad, or independent reasoning in Islam. Then, I want to use the concept of open source software to help illustrate the differences between a closed and an open religious system. Third, I want to suggest a methodology for those of us committed to practicing ijtihad in an open system. And finally, I want to suggest ways to use new information and communication technologies to aid in this process. As an example of such applications of technology, I will give a brief introduction to blogs, or web journals.

If we think back to the so-called ‘golden age’ of Islam, we would recognize many characteristics of the kind of ‘open’ system I have summarized here: research, independent reasoning, debate, the forming of networks across spaces and institutions, and even across different religious and cultural affinities. Innovation was encouraged then. Ijtihad was seen as a necessity. But with innovation and ijtihad came responsibility. Let’s embrace that responsibility again, and let’s do our part in ensuring that all of humanity works together towards a more peaceful, just and enlightened existence.

0 comments.

Fjordman: Is Swedish Democracy Collapsing?

Posted on May 6th, 2005 by .
Categories: Internal Debates, Multiculti Issues, Young Muslims.

Fjordman: Is Swedish Democracy Collapsing?

A top Muslim scholar said the Muslim minority in Sweden would abide by Swedish law in confronting a Christian preacher who insulted Prophet Muhammad, urging his fellow Swedish Muslims not to take the law into their own hands or commit any violent acts to avenge the remarks of the Christian cleric. Norwegian celebrity evangelist preacher Runar S�gaard, in a sermon at Filadelfia church in Stockholm on March 20, repeated claims that Muhammad was “a confused pedophile” since his wives included a girl aged nine years old. S�gaard is under protection by Swedish police after receiving death threats. The sermon has triggered fears of a religious war in Sweden. It is essential according to Islamic teachings to respond to those who defame Muhammad. Muslim extremists in Sweden have urged Al-Qaida’s al-Zarqawi to take action in the matter, and radicals of the Salafyist variety have posted a very explicit threat to launch a wave of terrorist attacks against Sweden because of the “insult”. The threats were posted on a number of known Islamist forums and were accompanied by rather lurid graphics.

It’s seem like Sweden gets its share of problems with militants. Many of the problems and issues described in Fjordman’s piece, are probably familiar for the Dutch, certainly for the Fortuynists. I was wondering however, as we can see a kind of countermovement (well the early beginning of it) against these anti-western militants on many of the Dutch forums and MSN-groups, is there a kind of countermovement among Muslims in Sweden?

The message of the Swedish militants is strikingly similar of that of the Dutch: jihad, jihad and again jihad. What to do after jihad? They don’t know. When you look at the questions and needs of most young Muslims, you will see that these militants don’t have an answer. They only have some kind of answer on some political issues. Their religious language therefore can not conceal that we are dealing with political militants and not religious militants per s�.

The connect gangraping and all that with Islam (muslims) is ridiculous (and nowhere is the proof in the article) but nevertheless very important for the image of muslims among non-muslims. It is also an example of what happens in the rest of the article of Fjordman. The anti-establishment message is connected with crime-issues, migration and (a lack of) swedish culture and identity. It looks somewhat like a pre-fortuyn era in Sweden and when someone like Fortuyn will show up there, he/she will probably be able to get a lot of votes.

Sweden is already a banana republic, perhaps on its way to becoming an Islamic republic. Swedish culture is disappearing with astonishing speed in front of our eyes. If the trend isn’t stopped, the Swedish nation will simply cease to exist in any meaningful way during the first half of this century. The country that gave us Bergman, ABBA and Volvo could become known as the Bosnia of northern Europe. The “Swedish model” will no longer refer to a stable and peaceful state with an advanced economy, but an Eurabian horror story of utopian multiculturalism, Socialist mismanagement and runaway immigration. Sweden has national elections in 2006. This will be one of the last opportunities the country has to resolve its towering internal tensions in peaceful and civilized ways. Some fear it’s already too late.

Let’s hope for the Swedes that they will realize in time that multiculturalism isn’t the solution for the problems and that Fortuynesque politics isn’t the solution either.

0 comments.

Protected: jonge Maassluizer mag leven beteren in moskee

Posted on May 2nd, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Young Muslims, Youth culture (as a practice).

Enter your password to view comments.

Protected: 21minuten.nl: positief over de toekomst

Posted on April 23rd, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Important Publications, Religious and Political Radicalization, Some personal considerations, Young Muslims.

Enter your password to view comments.

“Women’s Rights” in Islam

Posted on April 17th, 2005 by .
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Internal Debates, Some personal considerations, Young Muslims.

Yesterday, see below, i had an entry called “Welles Nietes: de vrouw in de Koran” (It is, it isn’t, women in the Quran) about a Dutch discussion on the place of women in Islam. One female Muslim participant said Islam oppresses women, the other said Islam does not. This in itself is not very interesting and surprising. The same goes for Idiocy of Gender Equality: The Case of the Woman Imam by Yamin Zakaria. What is interesting in all these contributions is how people use ‘Islam’ and ‘the West’ to legitimize their opinions. Zakaria states:

It is only rational and consistent to protect the rights of everyone including women by invoking the Islamic laws instead of resorting to secular arguments that are rooted in feminism. If secular values are the criteria then it makes little sense to interpret Islam to fit into the secular garb but far greater sense to simply abandon it. Why go for secular compatible Islam instead of pure secularism? It simply makes no sense. Unfortunately there are even feminists in Hijab along with their male apologists in leash, many of whom are also disguised as Islamic scholars with their beards and robes, are using Islamic texts to promote non-Islamic ideas like woman�s rights, gender equality as Islamic, wittingly or unwittingly. If a man or a woman has been denied their rights, we invoke the Islamic laws as remedy instead of viewing the problem as though it is rooted in gender differences.

Had Islam and Muslim men been the real oppressors of women, the feminist movement would have arisen from within the Islamic societies. Indeed, the origin of such movements perhaps reflects where the real oppression of women existed and still exists! No one can explain why Islam supposedly anti-Woman continues to attract more women than men. Both, logic and Islamic texts dictates that woman�s rights have no place in Islam, those who speak in its name has the worst track record in violating the rights of womankind. It is a political tool like the UN resolutions, employed selectively against opponents. Otherwise we would have seen it deployed in a consistent manner.

In response to the issue of women�s equality being pressed into the face of Islam, we as Muslim�s have to set our own agenda and not be baited by mischief makers who have a malignant intent towards Islam and Muslims. With this self inspection we must face truths about the broad experience of Muslim�s across the world and the variable application of the Islamic laws, which is causing problems.

Although he makes a distorted sketch of the West, she certainly has a point. Who decides what women’s rights are, what emancipation is? Musims or secular non-muslims? By asking himself these questions he also shows some inconsistencies in the arguments of Muslims who want to copy the ‘western-style’ feminism into Islam. She did this in another article for example, where she (among other things) criticized Amina Wudud:

Amina Abdul Wadud led a mix congregation of male and female Muslims in a Friday (Jumma) prayer for the first time in the 1500 years of Islamic history. Again the impetus for such acts emanates from the hostile secular environment. After the prayer, she are her clique stated that they were instilling gender equality and women�s rights. Ironically, Amina Abdul Wadud did that whilst wearing the Islamic headscarf (Hijab) which is considered by many to be at odds with gender equality and a symbol of the oppression of women!

Her claims of reinterpreting the text to establish �justice� for women displays her arrogance. Let us put aside the �evil� and impartial men. At the very beginnings of Islam there were the wives of the Prophet (SAW) with many other female personalities, followed by the successive generation of women scholars for centuries. Do we assume that they have all failed in their fundamental duty and hence overlooked their legitimate right to lead the Friday prayer of mix congregation? To the contrary segregation of prayers was established from the onset, as women were instructed to pray behind the men. If that is the case then how women can lead the men in prayer while the rest of the women are behind the men in the first place.

In any case, justice for Amina Abdul Wadud is not from within Islam but a reformed version that is in compliance to her preconceived secular values like gender equality; – the real arbiter. And not surprisingly she also favour homosexual marriages and detests the clear cut penal codes in the Quran. A clear act of apostasy!

Gender equality is only an example of the general drive by the moderate brigades to constantly prove the compatibility of Islam with secular values. If Islam is proven to be compatible to secular notions, what reasons remain than for adhering to Islam? Why not simply adopt the original yard stick of secularism instead of clinging on to the secular-compatible �Islam�. The exercise is very much an own goal scoring and completely folly. Given the choice between a genuine Rolls Royce and a close imitation it is well-known what most rational people would opt for.

The moderate brigade constantly shout about Women�s rights in Islam as a means to deflect criticisms emanating from the secular camp without once thinking about the credentials of those who are dispensing the criticisms. Do the critics have the right? To answer this question we need to examine their track record against what they preach. If they pass the test only then it makes sense to entertain their charges. Otherwise it is a pointless exercise to entertain the words of hypocrites.

What he says here is more or less, why should we remain Muslims if it is fully compatible, no even the same, as secularism? It is one of the most heard comments on ‘western-style’ feminism: we want emancipation, but we don’t want to be like you. What we see nowadays among young female Muslims is exactly that standpoint. We want equal rights, we want all the rights, including the right to live our religion the way we want to. And this is seems to be quite confusing for many people; Muslims and non-Muslims. Ow yes, the articles are written by a male Muslim.

You can find both articles of Zakaria below:
(more…)

0 comments.

"Women's Rights" in Islam

Posted on April 17th, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Internal Debates, Some personal considerations, Young Muslims.

Yesterday, see below, i had an entry called “Welles Nietes: de vrouw in de Koran” (It is, it isn’t, women in the Quran) about a Dutch discussion on the place of women in Islam. One female Muslim participant said Islam oppresses women, the other said Islam does not. This in itself is not very interesting and surprising. The same goes for Idiocy of Gender Equality: The Case of the Woman Imam by Yamin Zakaria. What is interesting in all these contributions is how people use ‘Islam’ and ‘the West’ to legitimize their opinions. Zakaria states:

It is only rational and consistent to protect the rights of everyone including women by invoking the Islamic laws instead of resorting to secular arguments that are rooted in feminism. If secular values are the criteria then it makes little sense to interpret Islam to fit into the secular garb but far greater sense to simply abandon it. Why go for secular compatible Islam instead of pure secularism? It simply makes no sense. Unfortunately there are even feminists in Hijab along with their male apologists in leash, many of whom are also disguised as Islamic scholars with their beards and robes, are using Islamic texts to promote non-Islamic ideas like woman�s rights, gender equality as Islamic, wittingly or unwittingly. If a man or a woman has been denied their rights, we invoke the Islamic laws as remedy instead of viewing the problem as though it is rooted in gender differences.

Had Islam and Muslim men been the real oppressors of women, the feminist movement would have arisen from within the Islamic societies. Indeed, the origin of such movements perhaps reflects where the real oppression of women existed and still exists! No one can explain why Islam supposedly anti-Woman continues to attract more women than men. Both, logic and Islamic texts dictates that woman�s rights have no place in Islam, those who speak in its name has the worst track record in violating the rights of womankind. It is a political tool like the UN resolutions, employed selectively against opponents. Otherwise we would have seen it deployed in a consistent manner.

In response to the issue of women�s equality being pressed into the face of Islam, we as Muslim�s have to set our own agenda and not be baited by mischief makers who have a malignant intent towards Islam and Muslims. With this self inspection we must face truths about the broad experience of Muslim�s across the world and the variable application of the Islamic laws, which is causing problems.

Although he makes a distorted sketch of the West, she certainly has a point. Who decides what women’s rights are, what emancipation is? Musims or secular non-muslims? By asking himself these questions he also shows some inconsistencies in the arguments of Muslims who want to copy the ‘western-style’ feminism into Islam. She did this in another article for example, where she (among other things) criticized Amina Wudud:

Amina Abdul Wadud led a mix congregation of male and female Muslims in a Friday (Jumma) prayer for the first time in the 1500 years of Islamic history. Again the impetus for such acts emanates from the hostile secular environment. After the prayer, she are her clique stated that they were instilling gender equality and women�s rights. Ironically, Amina Abdul Wadud did that whilst wearing the Islamic headscarf (Hijab) which is considered by many to be at odds with gender equality and a symbol of the oppression of women!

Her claims of reinterpreting the text to establish �justice� for women displays her arrogance. Let us put aside the �evil� and impartial men. At the very beginnings of Islam there were the wives of the Prophet (SAW) with many other female personalities, followed by the successive generation of women scholars for centuries. Do we assume that they have all failed in their fundamental duty and hence overlooked their legitimate right to lead the Friday prayer of mix congregation? To the contrary segregation of prayers was established from the onset, as women were instructed to pray behind the men. If that is the case then how women can lead the men in prayer while the rest of the women are behind the men in the first place.

In any case, justice for Amina Abdul Wadud is not from within Islam but a reformed version that is in compliance to her preconceived secular values like gender equality; – the real arbiter. And not surprisingly she also favour homosexual marriages and detests the clear cut penal codes in the Quran. A clear act of apostasy!

Gender equality is only an example of the general drive by the moderate brigades to constantly prove the compatibility of Islam with secular values. If Islam is proven to be compatible to secular notions, what reasons remain than for adhering to Islam? Why not simply adopt the original yard stick of secularism instead of clinging on to the secular-compatible �Islam�. The exercise is very much an own goal scoring and completely folly. Given the choice between a genuine Rolls Royce and a close imitation it is well-known what most rational people would opt for.

The moderate brigade constantly shout about Women�s rights in Islam as a means to deflect criticisms emanating from the secular camp without once thinking about the credentials of those who are dispensing the criticisms. Do the critics have the right? To answer this question we need to examine their track record against what they preach. If they pass the test only then it makes sense to entertain their charges. Otherwise it is a pointless exercise to entertain the words of hypocrites.

What he says here is more or less, why should we remain Muslims if it is fully compatible, no even the same, as secularism? It is one of the most heard comments on ‘western-style’ feminism: we want emancipation, but we don’t want to be like you. What we see nowadays among young female Muslims is exactly that standpoint. We want equal rights, we want all the rights, including the right to live our religion the way we want to. And this is seems to be quite confusing for many people; Muslims and non-Muslims. Ow yes, the articles are written by a male Muslim.

You can find both articles of Zakaria below:
(more…)

0 comments.

Virtual people’s virtual Islam – Media Monitors Network (MMN)

Posted on April 14th, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Internal Debates, Public Islam, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

Home / Headlines / Virtual people’s virtual Islam – Media Monitors Network (MMN)
Virtual people’s virtual Islam
by Abid Ullah Jan
(Sunday 10 April 2005)

“Young people in the Muslim world, with lust for sex and the glittering Western world before their eyes, find themselves sitting in this virtual world for hours on end, pausing only briefly and then going back on to chat as soon as they are done with other affairs. Many parents are totally oblivious of what their teenagers are doing late at night on the internet. Even watching pornography becomes a blessing by comparison with these chat rooms and infiltrator’s moderated groups for the simple reason that pornography does not change their ideological orientation against Islam and it does not make one hate everything that is related to Muslims and Islam.”

0 comments.

Virtual people's virtual Islam – Media Monitors Network (MMN)

Posted on April 14th, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Internal Debates, Public Islam, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

Home / Headlines / Virtual people’s virtual Islam – Media Monitors Network (MMN)
Virtual people’s virtual Islam
by Abid Ullah Jan
(Sunday 10 April 2005)

“Young people in the Muslim world, with lust for sex and the glittering Western world before their eyes, find themselves sitting in this virtual world for hours on end, pausing only briefly and then going back on to chat as soon as they are done with other affairs. Many parents are totally oblivious of what their teenagers are doing late at night on the internet. Even watching pornography becomes a blessing by comparison with these chat rooms and infiltrator’s moderated groups for the simple reason that pornography does not change their ideological orientation against Islam and it does not make one hate everything that is related to Muslims and Islam.”

0 comments.

Weerbaarheid tegen radicalisering

Posted on April 14th, 2005 by .
Categories: Murder on theo Van Gogh and related issues, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

Minister Verdonk is gister met een plan gekomen: Weerbaarheid tegen radicalisering (pdf-file). De Tweede Kamer vond het echter allemaal nogal vaag.

0 comments.

Mohammed B. CD

Posted on April 13th, 2005 by .
Categories: Murder on theo Van Gogh and related issues, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

Nee gewoon een flauw grapje (moet toch wel kunnen?) over de CD die een belangrijke bron zou vormen voor de radicale gedachten en handelingen van Mohammed B die vandaag voor moest komen. Hij hield een pleidooi voor zijn broer, maar liet het daar verder bij.

Overigens heeft het OM uitgebreide updates over deze zaak, net als de vorige keer.

0 comments.

Mohammed B. and Samir A.

Posted on April 13th, 2005 by .
Categories: Murder on theo Van Gogh and related issues, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

After the acquittal of Samir A. last week, he was arrested again today for assaulting a journalist. Today also was the second ‘pro forma’ hearing in the Mohammed B. trial.

0 comments.

Samir A.

Posted on April 6th, 2005 by .
Categories: International Terrorism, Murder on theo Van Gogh and related issues, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

Samir A. gaat vrijuit in de aanklacht voorbereiden van terroristische aanslagen wegens gebrek aan bewijs:

(Novum) – Samir A. is vrijgesproken voor het voorbereiden van terroristische aanslagen. Dat heeft de rechtbank van Rotterdam woensdag bepaald.

De 18-jarige terreurverdachte kreeg wel drie maanden voor verboden wapenbezit, maar die straf heeft hij in voorarrest al uitgezeten. Samir A. werd vrijgesproken voor het plegen van een overval op een supermarkt en het voorbereiden van een terroristische aanslag.

Volgens de rechtbank waren de voorwerpen die bij Samir A. thuis werden gevonden los van elkaar niet gevaarlijk, maar kan de combinatie wel gevaarlijk zijn. Bij hem thuis in Rotterdam werden patroonhouders, een geluiddemper, munitie, een kogelvrij vest en een nachtkijker gevonden. Maar het kan volgens de rechtbank niet bewezen worden dat A. hiermee aanslagen wilde plegen. Wel stelt de rechtbank dat A. – op basis van de informatie die op diskettes van hem zijn gevonden – een bovengemiddelde interesse heeft voor ‘religieus extremistsche geweld’.

De rechtbank gaf aan dat evenmin bewezen is dat A. betrokken was bij een overval op een supermarkt vorig jaar. Wel is duidelijk dat hij een rolluik heeft opengedaan op de dag van de overval. Ook is bekend dat hij een van de overvallers kende.

0 comments.

Europe’s Boys of Jihad

Posted on April 5th, 2005 by .
Categories: Islam in the Netherlands, Murder on theo Van Gogh and related issues, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims, Youth culture (as a practice).

An article in the LA Times refers to events here in the Netherlands.

Last year, a group of young Internet enthusiasts was charged with unleashing terrorism in the Netherlands: the killing of filmmaker Theo van Gogh and a plot to assassinate politicians. Police captured Jason Walters, 19, in a raid that left him and three officers wounded. His 17-year-old brother was also jailed.

Walters’ Internet chats reveal a casual, adolescent cold-bloodedness, according to excerpts published in the Dutch media. A spokesman for the AIVD intelligence service, the leading Dutch anti-terrorism agency, confirmed that the transcripts were authentic.

In an Internet conversation on Sept. 28, 2003, Walters joked about beheading the Dutch prime minister and bragged about a monthlong training session at an Afghan terrorism camp. The son of a Dutch mother and American father said he had fooled his family into thinking he was in Britain.

He urged his chat partner, “Galas03,” to join him on a future trip. “They will train you how to use guns,” Walters wrote, using the name “Mujaheed.” “I can assemble and dismantle a Kalashnikov blindfolded.”

“Is shooting difficult?” Galas03 asked.

“No way, man, it is not that hard,” Walters responded. “I even had to roll over with a pistol and then shoot and that went all right, praise Allah.”

Walters became radicalized at about 16, investigators say. Fellow suspect Samir Azzouz, 18, was equally precocious. Azzouz was first detained in 2002 in Ukraine en route to joining Muslim combatants in Chechnya, AIVD spokesman Vincent van Steen said.

For the whole article: (more…)

0 comments.

« Previous Page — Older » « Newer — Next Page »