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Ramadan 2013 – Day 16 – Forced Marriages

2013 Ramadan PrayerA video of an 11-year-old Yemeni girl and her escape from a forced marriage has gone viral since being posted by MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute). The Internet video posted on July 21, 2013 has received nearly 6 million views and brings the issue of forced marriage to the attention of people across the world. Most often forced marriages are between young girls and much older men.

Although most frequently occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, forced marriages of child brides can be found throughout the world. According to Plan UK, 14 million girls under the age of 18 marry each year that means that there are 38,461 marriages of girls under the age of 18 every day.

In Niger, Chad and Mali the rate of early or forced marriage is greater than 70% of all marriages. Countries in Europe with the highest rate of forced marriage are Georgia (17% of marriages), Turkey (14%), and Ukraine (10%). In Britain and France at least 10% of adolescents marry before the age of 18. The Tahirih Justice Center in the United States discovered that there have been over 3,000 forced marriages in the U.S. in the past two years. In Australia, figures released from 2011 revealed that more than 200 17-year-old girls were granted “prospective spouse visas” to enter the country with hundreds more 18, 19 and 20 year-olds. The majority of the teenagers were from the Middle East or Southeast Asia.

The reasons for forced marriages in western nations vary. In some cases parents may force their daughters to marry to keep them from becoming too “westernized” or for family honor or to gain economic security. Tahirih explains, “Whatever the rationale, the result may subject the woman or girl to severe and sustained harm, including domestic abuse, marital rape, and other forms of violence. It is important to note that child marriages are not limited to members of the Islamic faith, however Muslim men following the way of Muhammad can justify marrying children. “

In many Muslim traditions, Muhammad’s wife, Aisha is described as his most beloved wife. The Hadith (Bukhari 58:234 and Muslim 8:3309) describes Muhammad becoming engaged to Aisha when she was only six years old and consummating the marriage when she was nine. A prominent Muslim cleric in Saudi Arabia issued a fatwa in 2011 “asserting that there is no minimum age for marriage, and that girls can be married ‘even if they are in the cradle.’”

Two Yemeni girls have died due to marriage at such a young age. A 13-year-old-girl died five days after her wedding after she suffered a rupture in her sex organs and bled to death, and another 12-year-old child died during childbirth. This practice whether due to religious or cultural practices is an abuse of the basic human rights of children.

Prayer Points:

Pray that the international community will speak out loud and clear regarding young girls being forced into marriage and possible abuse when they are too young to understand what is taking place or too young to take on this responsibility.

When parents are taught in their culture that child marriage is acceptable, ask God to open their eyes to the truth that this will most likely be frightening and harmful to the young girls.

Pray for strong Christian marriages to be an example to other cultures and religions of God’s plan for a husband to have one wife and to live in an atmosphere of love and mutual respect – rather than a subservient relationship based on fear.

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Islam in the U.S. – 2012

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With major news events such as the re-election of President Barack Obama, mass shootings in Connecticut and Colorado and major destruction from Hurricane Sandy, radical Islam did not dominate the headlines of American news outlets in 2012. However the continuing efforts of radical Islamists to wage holy war did not diminish.

Since 9-11-2001, TheReligionofPeace.com has recorded Islamic attacks around the world. In 2012, there were 2,546 Islamic attacks resulting in 11,306 casualties and 20,210 wounded. Many of these attacks have been on Christians. Open Doors, a Christian ministry that supports and strengthens persecuted Christians around the world releases a Watch List each year of nations where Christians are persecuted for their faith. The list ranks the top 50 persecuting nations from extreme to sparse persecution. In the most recent listing, ten out of eleven nations listed as practicing extreme persecution of Christians are Islamic nations.

In the U.S., at least three Islamic terror plots planned for Tampa, Florida, the U.S. Capitol, and the New York Federal Reserve building were uncovered and prevented during 2012. Despite evidence that there are continuing threats to United States citizens from radical Islamists, both local and federal law enforcement agencies faced increasing criticism and censorship not only by Muslim groups such as the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR), but also by individuals within our own federal government.

For example, CAIR was reportedly the driving force behind two articles and an Op-Ed by the New York Times criticizing the use of the film, The Third Jihad: Radical Islam’s Vision for America, for counterterrorism training for the New York City Police Department. The articles called the documentary a “hate-filled film about Muslims” and quoted CAIR saying the film “defiled our faith and misrepresented everything we stood for.” The film, narrated by Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, a practicing Muslim boldly states at the beginning, “This is not a film about Islam. It is about the threat of radical Islam. Only a small percentage of the world’s 1.3 billion Muslims are radical.” The NY Times failed to mention that CAIR was an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation trial, the largest terrorism financing trial in U.S. history. The NYPD no longer uses the film.

FBI Director, Robert Mueller met with a coalition of Muslim groups (which included the Islamic Society of North America – also an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation Trial) in February to reveal that the FBI had removed more than 700 documents and 300 presentations on Islam from FBI training materials that were deemed “offensive.” Some of the documents removed included articles and presentations that defined jihad as “holy war” and portrayed the Muslim Brotherhood as an organization that planned to take over the world. In order to purge the documents from the FBI training materials, the agency must ignore the words of Hasan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, which state, “It is the nature of Islam to dominate, not to be dominated, to impose its law on all nations and to extend its power to the entire planet.” In addition, FBI agents reported FBI headquarters had banned offices from inviting counter-terrorism specialists who were considered “anti-Islam,” and in June this policy extended to the military at the National Defense University when they suspended Lt. Col Matthew A. Dooley, an instructor of a college course that suggested the U.S. was “at war with Islam.”

The State Department removed sections from its Country Reports on Human Rights that discussed the status of religious freedom, which meant the reports did not include any information about the status of Christians and other minorities in Muslim nations that were a part of the Arab Spring revolutions in countries such as Egypt and Libya.

Six Army officers received administrative punishments for burning Qur’ans used by detainees at the Parwan Detention Facility in Afghanistan to exchange messages. NBC reported the punishments would most likely result in the end of their military careers. The Qur’ans and other religious material were burned in February. It was reported that up to 75% of the material contained extremist inscriptions on them. The material including Qur’ans had been boxed for storage, but were accidently sent to an incinerator. When Afghan workers discovered the burned Qur’ans, violent protests erupted. After several days of protest, 30 people were killed including four Americans and over 200 were wounded. Following this incident, the U.S. military released an advisory on the proper way to dispose of Islamic religious material. The material states, “If in doubt about the religious significance of any material, assume it is SACRED!” and “Non-Muslims should not handle a Quran.” The training even goes so far to say, “Any copy of a Quranic verse containing the name of Allah is an equally sacred text and should be handled the same as a Quran.”

As the U.S. government continually capitulated to the demands of Islamist groups, five members of Congress, Representatives Michele Bachmann, Louie Gohmert, Trent Franks, Thomas Rooney and Lynn Westmoreland sent letters to the Inspectors General of the Department of Defense, Department of Justice, Department of State, Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence questioning the direct influence within the intelligence community of members of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Representatives requested that the offices conduct investigations into the extent of the Muslim Brotherhood involvement into their agencies. Rather than investigations beginning, the Representatives were met with vicious personal attacks.

Congressional investigations continue into the deaths of four Americans including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens killed in a terrorist attack at the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya on 9-11-2012. Initially the Obama administration blamed the attack on a YouTube video that was critical of Islam rather than a pre-planned act of terror against the United States.

As 2012, came to a close the Washington Times reported about the draft of the U.S. Army’s new handbook to be given to U.S. troops heading to Afghanistan. The draft of the handbook, reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, blames recent deadly attacks by Afghan soldiers against American troops on Western ignorance of Afghan culture. The handbook gives soldiers a list of topics to avoid which include, “making derogatory comments about the Taliban,” “advocating women’s rights,” “any criticism of pedophilia,” directing any criticism toward Afghans,” “mentioning homosexuality and homosexual conduct,” and “anything related to Islam.”

Although it may not have been in the headlines, Islamists inflicted great damage on the security and freedoms of American citizens in 2012 through the efforts of those who ignorant of their agenda. We as citizens must continue to be watchmen, sounding the warning of the threat as we move into 2013.

 

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Ramadan Day 22 – Family: “Saudi Arabia and the Olympics”

News outlets around the world reported today about Saudi Arabian runner Sarah Attar at the Olympics.  Sarah, with dual U.S. and Saudi Arabian citizenship, competed in the women’s 800-meter race for Saudi Arabia. She received a standing ovation as she crossed the finish line, finishing more than a half-minute slower than her nearest competitor.

Sarah has reportedly has spent little time in Saudi Arabia. She was born and raised in California, graduated from an American high school and attends Pepperdine University where she is a member of their track team. She and another young woman named Wojdan Shaherkani were the first women to ever represent Saudi Arabia in the Olympics.

After several months of pressure by the International Olympic Committee including the threat of banning Saudi Arabia from the games if they did not allow women participants, the Saudi Olympic Committee overturned a ban on women athletes. They demanded however that all female competitors be dressed “to preserve their dignity” which meant both competitors wore long-sleeved garments and a hijab to cover their hair. The rules regarding headscarves had to be revised to allow Shaherkani to participate because they had been previously banned in judo. Prior to Attar’s Olympic debut, Pepperdine University received a request to remove photos of Attar from an online biography because they showed her in shorts, a tank top and without the Saudi required hijab.

Some reported the presence of the women athletes as a win in the “war for women in their home country,” but others do not believe the presence of the two women will change anything in the strict shariah adherent nation.

The presence of the women at the games brought condemnation from Saudi religious scholars and others. The state owned press barely mentioned their participation, and the Twitter conversations about them has been quite hostile referring to them as “prostitutes.”

Sarah Attar is fortunate in that she will return to the United States, but Wojdan Shaherkani returns to a nation that according to a Human Rights Watch report has one of the worst records regarding women’s rights in the world.

She returns to a nation where women are not allowed to play in official sports clubs or even go to a stadium and watch matches. Only private schools are allowed to provide physical education for women.

Every Saudi woman must have a male guardian, typically her father or husband who makes decisions on her behalf. This places women in a permanent state of being treated like a legal minor who is entitled to little authority over her own life. Women must have her guardian’s permission to leave her home, seek medical care and even make decisions regarding her own children.  As adults,  women are not allowed to drive a car and have been arrested and jailed for defying a ban on driving.

At a time when politicians and lobbying groups are debating the prohibition of foreign laws in American courts, the lives of these two women clearly show why it is necessary for the protection of future generations of women to preserve the principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all.

PRAYER FOR FAMILY:

  • Pray for Sarah Attar and Wojdan Shaherkani. There have been comments made on social media disassociating Wojdan from being Muslim. Pray that there is no backlash against either woman after the Olympics.
  • Pray for those in Saudi Arabia and other Islamic nations who have spoken out in support of these young women and for reforms in nations such as Saudi Arabia.
  • Pray that men and women around the world will see the stark contrast between the lives of these two young women – one born in a nation of western culture and laws and another born in bondage to shariah law.
  • Pray that Muslim women around the world suffering under the oppressive system of shariah laws will be set free physically, mentally and spiritually.
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Ramadan Prayer Day 10 – Family: “Shariah and FGM”

In 1776 the United States colonies declared their independence from Britain with the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In part the Declaration reads, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This document is one of the foundations of our nation. Our adversaries also frequently twist it in their attempts to destroy, not enhance, the crucial underpinnings of our democracy as embodied in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.  Take the following example where Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) attempts to wrap the subjugating, medieval shariah law with the liberating political writings embodied in our founding documents.

In May, after signing legislation barring the use of foreign laws in court decisions, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback met with harsh criticism from Muslim groups.  Nedhira Al-Khalili, the CAIR legal council said, “This clearly unconstitutional legislation, like all the others targeting Muslims’ religious rights nationwide, invites a legal challenge. The unmistakable and un-American bigotry espoused by the sponsors of these bills should be repudiated by Americans of all faiths.”  Naeem Baig, Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) VP of Public Affairs said, “This goes against the noble principles of freedom of religion in America. Most people don’t realize that outlawing the use of Shariah would be akin to outlawing the Ten Commandments, Talmudic law, or the Gospels of Jesus. American Muslims observing Shariah are being discriminated against.”

As you can see Muslim groups use the idea of religious discrimination (though Islam is certainly among the most discriminatory of the world’s faiths) as a basis to counter this type of legislation. However, we must question what happens when Islamic religious practices take away Americans’ right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in direct opposition to both the meaning and purpose of our founding documents.

An example of a portion of shariah law that is in direct conflict with U.S. Federal law is female genital mutilation (FGM). FGM refers to the practice of partially or totally removing the external female genitalia, frequently without anesthesia. In yet another example of politically correct terminology and multiculturalism, the procedure is also referred in a U.S. government flyer as female circumcision and female genital cutting (FGC). The flyer explains, “Some people fear that parents may resent the implication that they are ’mutilating’ their daughters by participating in this largely cultural event and so reject the term FGM in favor of FGC. Some people point out that the word ‘cutting’ is less judgmental and relates better to terms used in many local languages.”

Regardless, the practice often causes serious physical and psychological effects. The World Health Organization says the practice has no health benefits and can cause a range of health problems including “severe bleeding and problem urinating, and later cysts, infections, infertility as well as complications in childbirth.” Federal law in the United States prohibited FGM in 1996, but the Center for Disease Control or CDC estimated in 2010 between 150,000 to 200,000 girls in the U.S. are in danger of being taken overseas to undergo the procedure.

The flyer produced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services further says, “Although many people believe that FGC is associated with Islam, it is not. FGC is not supported by any religion and is condemned by many religious leaders.”

Although it is certainly true FGM predates Islam and is still practiced by people from different religious backgrounds, there are Islamic shariah scholars who support and encourage FGM. The “Reliance of the Traveller: A Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law” specifically addresses female circumcision. The International Institute of Islamic Thought, the Fiqh Council of North America and the prestigious Islamic Al Azhar University have endorsed this manual.

This shariah law text states, “Circumcision is obligatory (O: for both men and women. For men it consists of removing the prepuce from the penis, and for women, removing the prepuce (Ar. Bazr) of the clitoris (n: not the clitoris itself, as some mistakenly assert). (A: Hanbalis hold that circumcision of women is not obligatory but sunna [meaning, the normal custom, or a practice decided by Mohammad], while Hanafis consider it a mere courtesy to the husband.) 

Dr. Hatem al-Haj, PhD, MD, senior committee member of the Association of Muslims Jurists of America (AMJA) said in his paper entitled, “Circumcision of Girls: Jurisprudence and Medicine,” female genital mutilation is “at the very least it can be said that for women it is an honor.” After his paper, written in Arabic, was translated in April of 2012 and posted in part by Jihad Watch, Dr. al-Haj was fired by the Mayo Clinic for his position. He has since stated he only supported a “ritual nick” which is still prohibited by federal law.

Even more revealing, especially with U.S. support of the newly elected Muslim Brotherhood president in Egypt is the legal ruling by Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood who said, “The [Islamic] hadith indicates that circumcision is better for a woman’s health and it enhances her conjugal relation with her husband.”

PRAYER FOR THE FAMILY:

  • Pray that all Americans regardless of cultural or religious background will continue to possess and cherish the unalienable rights our forefathers considered self-evident – life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
  • Pray that Islamist advocacy groups will not be able to twist American freedoms to push a system that is the opposite of the founding documents of our nation.
  • Pray that Americans will demand that our government refuse to bow to multicultural and politically correct influences.
  • Pray for young women in our nation and around the world that may become victims of FGM.
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Ramadan Prayer Day 9 – Media: “The Scales Fall When Faced With the Truth”

Filmmaker Eric Allen Bell learned firsthand of U.S. media bias toward Islam. Bell, taking a break from his work in Hollywood, had moved to Murfreesboro, TN. He found himself in the middle of a controversy that continues today.

The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro was planning to build a 53,000 square foot mosque on some farmland on the outer edge of town. Bell, not a fan of religion as he describes himself, felt the controversy was one of fanatical Evangelicals bullying peaceful Muslims who simply wanted to build a place of worship. When he learned of an anti-mosque parade planned for the community, he decided to make a documentary to illustrate what he believed to be typical Christian intolerance.  This documentary was to be titled “Not Welcome.”

The dominant liberal, mainstream media picked up on his project and soon he wrote several pieces for Michael Moore and others. He returned to California to show a short version of his documentary attempting to gain additional support to finish the project. He found someone who promised they would back him to finish the movie. The documentary on the Murfreesboro mosque would be used to focus on what he considered America’s “religious lunatic fringe” ignoring any serious investigation into the Muslims.

Around this time he returned to Tennessee and while in a taxi driven by an Egyptian cab driver, his views began to change. It began when he asked the driver, a Coptic Christian, how he felt about the fall of Mubarak. The cab driver replied he was concerned because he feared for his family back home. He said if the Muslims took control, it would become very dangerous for his family.  After this conversation, Bell took a fresh look at Islam. He began to read reports from authors like Robert Spencer and Frank Gaffney, and he did his own independent research, which verified this newly discovered information for him.  Indeed, this fear is especially well founded when considering how the most ancient of Christian populations is being driven from their homes in many nations in the Middle East including Iraq and Egypt.  This is a good example of an Islamist government taking over from a Sunni, secular government and then systematically persecuting Christians.

Bell’s change of perspective did not endear him to his former supporters as he soon discovered as he began to share his findings with them. They told Bell his judgment was unsound and unclear and suggested he step away from the project. He was even told to make the documentary the way it was originally planned painting a strong negative perspective on Christians or to return the money. To his credit, he decided to stick to the truth.

In January of 2012, he wrote three articles for Daily Kos. The first was called, “Loonwatch.com and Radical Islam” asserting Loonwatch was “fundamentally a radical Islamic front for terrorism, spreading distorted information about the reality of rapidly spreading Islamic fundamentalism – through lies of omission.” The next day Loonwatch.com called Eric Bell the “Loon at Large.” All three articles were ultimately met with cries of Islamophobia and “hate speech.”  The attacks were not on the truth of the information he presented, rather they were personal attacks no his character. His final article called, “Are You in Favor of Human Rights?” led to him being banned from Daily Kos.

Unfortunately, Eric Bell’s experiences are not unique, as we have seen recently with the personal attacks against Rep. Michele Bachmann.

PRAYER FOR MEDIA:

  • Pray that more members of the press will have their eyes open to the truth and have the strength to stand up to the personal attacks.
  • Pray that Americans will stop tolerating personal attacks by journalists and demand that media outlets present facts without prejudice.
  • Like Eric Bell, pray that American Muslims will begin to question the Islamist agenda and those that claim to speak for them. Pray that as they question they will come to know the truth about the system of Islam and come to know the one who is the Truth, Jesus Christ.
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Ramadan Prayer Day 4 – Family: The Real War on Women

Earlier this year, media networks began to report about “the war on women” as part of their coverage of the presidential primaries. Some described the war in economic terms as they reported on equal pay legislation. Others tend to have a definition of the war on women like the ACLU’s who defined the “War on Women” as the “legislative and rhetorical attacks on women and women’s rights taking place across the nation.” The ACLU’s examples of these attacks on women include waiting periods before abortion and ending Planned Parenthood funding.

The real war on women in the U.S. however is being waged by Shariah proponent groups who are attempting to hide behind the concept of the freedom of religion guaranteed in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. One such group known as the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) has launched a $3 million campaign to “help the public understand Shariah and counter the rise of Islamophobia in America.”

On the ICNA website Naeem Baig, Executive Director of the ICNA Council for Social Justice states, “[Because of the freedoms granted under the First Amendment] Jewish family law is acceptable in civil courts today…Muslims are as American as any other faith group, and are deserving of these rights as well.”

Shariah law however differs greatly from Judeo-Christian law. Under shariah law women are considered inferior to men. The Qur’an says, “Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other…”(Q 4:34) Inheritance laws within Islam further reflect this attitude with a woman inheriting half of what a man inherits (Q 4:11). Her testimony in a court of law is also only worth half of the testimony of a man’s (Q 2:282). Under shariah a husband is allowed to beat (Q4:34) and rape (Q2:223) his wife.

Arguments are made that these types of laws would not apply to women living in the United States, however a report issued by the Center for Security Policy examined 50 Appellate Court decisions from 23 states where shariah law had been considered in the case. Out of these 50 cases, the majority affected women and children with shariah being considered in marriage law and child custody cases. You may download a copy of the comprehensive report here.

Although often blamed on cultural traditions rather than shariah law by Islamic apologists, women around the world and in recent years in the United States have been the victims of forced marriages, honor killings and female genital mutilation. The Tahirih Justice Center conducted a survey on forced marriage in immigrant communities in 2011. Based upon the survey, there were as many as 3,000 cases of forced marriage in the past two years in the U.S. although the survey did not reveal how many of the marriages were Islamic.

A study of worldwide trends in honor killings revealed 91% of honor killings in North America were due to unacceptable “westernization”. Examples in our nation include Noor Almaleki. An article in Marie Clare describes the vision Noor had for herself, “Having lived in the U.S. for 16 years, she held dreams of becoming a teacher, or marrying a man she loved, and most importantly of making her own choices.” Her Iraqi father felt his daughter was dishonoring his family by desiring to choose her own mate and dress in a western fashion. So in October of 2009 as Noor and a friend walked across a parking lot her father driving close to 30 miles an hour hit Noor and her friend. The impact knocked Noor onto a median so her father swerved his SUV onto the median and ran over his daughter fracturing her face and spine. He was eventually apprehended in England. From jail her father defended himself, “I’m not a criminal. I didn’t kill someone randomly…For an Iraqi, honor is the most valuable thing.”

Eighteen year old Amina Said and her seventeen year old sister, Sarah were shot in 2008 by their father also for being typical teenage girls. Amina and Sarah had a cell phones and dated American boys. Their father, an Egyptian Muslim wanted his daughters to be Muslims and to marry husbands that he would choose. He had threatened the girls and finally on New Years Day of 2008, he shot them. A 911 call by Sarah as she was dying identified her father as her killer. Yaser Abdel Said is still at large. Even if the girls’ father is apprehended under shariah law a Muslim father is not subject to retaliation for killing his own children according to The Reliance of the Traveller, a manual of Islamic Sacred Law (approved by al-Azhar University and the International Institute of Islamic Thought).

Although our series deals with Islam in the United States, a quick look at the rights of women in any Muslim majority country clearly shows how shariah laws subjugate women discriminating against them through laws that give men control in marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance. For more information and personal stories of women affected in our nation by shariah law, visit End the Shariah War on Women.

PRAYER FOR THE FAMILY:

  • Pray for the truth about shariah to be revealed in all aspects of our society.
  • Pray that news outlets and law enforcement agencies will report truthfully when crimes against women are the result of religious law and not bow to political correctness.
  • Pray that state legislatures across the nation will begin to understand shariah law is being used in our nation and to pass legislation to stop any foreign laws from being considered in American Courts.
  • Pray for Muslim women and children in our nation who are most often the victims of the implementation of shariah law.