Judges reject bid to make Islamic marriages legally binding

A bid to make religious marriages legally binding in the UK has been rejected by judges, dashing the hopes of campaigners who say women are left penniless with no support after the break-up of sharia unions.

Campaigners claimed the landmark judgment, handed down at the Court of Appeal on Friday, could have “profoundly discriminatory consequences” for women and upholds an antiquated system of marriage.

The Court of Appeal overturned a family court judge’s decision that a woman was entitled to apply for maintenance payments from her estranged husband despite the fact they were not legally married. The attorney general had appealed the ruling.

Nasreen Akhter had a nikah, an Islamic marriage ceremony, that led to a Muslim marriage contract between herself and Mohammed Khan. The couple were married for 18 years and have four children together.

Ms Akhter, a 47-year-old solicitor, said she was keen to have a civil marriage and presumed it was on the cards, but her husband refused. She alleges their relationship ended after he said he wanted to take another wife; they separated in 2016. [The Independent] Read more

Appeal Court rules Islamic marriages invalid in UK

A court has reversed a judgment from two years ago which found that a couple who had an Islamic wedding ceremony could legally divorce.

The High Court ruled in 2018 that the couple's Islamic "nikah" ceremony fell within English marriage law.

But the Court of Appeal has now said it was an "invalid" non-legal ceremony.

Judges said the fact they intended to have a further civil ceremony meant they must have known their Islamic marriage had no legal effect in the UK.

The Attorney General appealed against the original court decision.

The case involved the divorce of Nasreen Akhter and Mohammed Shabaz Khan, who have four children.

The couple had an Islamic wedding ceremony in a west London restaurant in 1998 in the presence of an imam and about 150 guests, but no civil ceremony subsequently took place, despite Mrs Akhter repeatedly raising the issue.

They separated in 2016 and Mr Khan tried to block his wife's divorce petition two years ago on the basis they had not been legally married in the first place. [BBC] Read more

Islamic faith marriages not valid in English law, appeal court rules

Islamic faith marriages are not valid under English law, the court of appeal has ruled, in a blow to thousands of Muslim women who have no rights when it comes to divorce.

The judgment, delivered on Friday, overturned an earlier high court ruling that an Islamic marriage, known as a nikah, fell within the scope of English matrimonial law.

The appeal court has confirmed that nikah marriages are legally “non-marriages”, meaning spouses have no redress to the courts for a division of matrimonial assets such as the family home and spouse’s pension if a marriage breaks down.

Many couples who undergo nikah ceremonies believe they are lawfully married. But their marriages are only legal if they additionally go through a civil ceremony.

A survey in 2017 found nearly all married Muslim women in the UK had had a nikah and almost two-thirds had not had a separate civil ceremony. [The Guardian] Read more

'Million woman' march hits streets of Iraq demanding end to violence

Thousands of women assembled on streets across Iraq on Thursday for large-scale marches against the staggering levels of violence waged against anti-government protesters by security forces and armed militia groups.

The unique all-women marches, which have been organised in key Iraqi cities including central Baghdad, Basra, Nasiriyah, Najaf and Karbala, also aim to highlight women's participation in the demonstrations - which have already brought down a government - and show solidarity with male protesters, organisers said on social media.

The Iraqi Women's League on Tuesday condemned the "excessive violence committed by the Iraqi security services".

Over 600 protesters have been killed and at least 18,000 others the four month period since the predominantly peaceful protests began. [The New Arab] Read more

Hundreds of Iraqi women defy cleric to protest authorities

Hundreds of Iraqi women of all ages flooded central Baghdad Thursday alongside male anti-government protesters, defying an order by powerful cleric Moqtada Sadr to separate the genders in the rallies.

Some were veiled, others not, still more wrapped their faces in black-and-white checkered scarves. Most carried roses, Iraqi flags or signs defending their role in the regime change demonstrations.

They marched through a tunnel and spilled out into Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the youth-dominated movement in a country where vast regions remain socially conservative.

"We want to protect women's role in the protests as we're just like the men. There are efforts to kick us out of Tahrir but we'll only come back stronger," said Zainab Ahmad, a pharmacy student.

.... On Saturday, the militiaman-turned-politician had alleged drug and alcohol use among the protesters and said it was immoral for men and women to mix there.

And a few moments before Thursday's women's march began, Sadr once again took to Twitter to slam the protests as being rife with "nudity, promiscuity, drunkenness, immorality, debauchery ... and non-believers". [AFP] Read more

Afghan sports coach says she will flee after dog shot dead

Sahba Barakzai, her family and seven-month-old husky Aseman, tried to get out into the mountains near their home in western Afghanistan every Friday.

But last Friday, the hike turned to tragedy after an unidentified group of men approached the family and shot Sahba's beloved puppy dead.

The attackers told her a woman could not own a dog.

But Sabha fears this may have been something more - that it may have been to do with her teaching girls sport.

"We still don't know about their goal but we think it is because of her career," her sister Setayesh told the BBC. "She was the first woman who has her own club and these things are taboo."

Sahba was used to threats - she had been teaching karate to children in Herat, Afghanistan's third largest city, for 10 years.

She had also set up a cycling club for teenage and young girls - a very public sport in a country where, less than two decades ago, women were banned from going to school, working or even leaving the house without a male chaperone. [BBC] Read more

Court in Pakistan Validates Forced Conversion, Marriage of Christian Girl to Muslim

A high court ruling in Pakistan validating the marriage and forced conversion to Islam of a 14-year-old Christian girl has heightened fears that it will encourage others to commit such crimes, sources said.

The High Court in Sindh Province on Feb. 3 dismissed a petition to have the marriage and forced conversion of a Catholic girl overturned, ruling that both were valid since a girl under sharia (Islamic law) can marry after her first menstrual cycle.

Huma Younus was taken from her home in Karachi’s Zia Colony on Oct. 10 while her parents were away and was forced to marry the man who abducted her, identified as Abdul Jabbar of Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab Province, her attorney said.

“The hearing on Feb. 3 lasted only five minutes,” the family’s attorney, Tabassum Yousaf, told Morning Star News. “The court, in just a few words citing the sharia, has justified the violation of the girl’s body since she has already had her first period.” [Morningstar News] Read more

Iran chess champion ponders next move after slip of the hijab

When she was nine years old, Shohreh Bayat’s father took out a chess set and taught her how to play. He picked it because it was one of the few sports where he could watch his daughter compete: swimming, even football, would have been out of the question under the laws of the Islamic Republic.

She excelled. Within a few years Bayat was ranked No 1 in Iran for her age. Soon afterwards she joined the national team — representing her country across the world. She loved the mental gymnastics of chess, the depth, the endless combinations of moves.

Today, at 32, she is the highest-ranked female chess arbiter (referee) in Asia. With her well-cut suits, loosely slung headscarf and red lipstick, she seemed the ideal of the modern Iranian woman. But two weeks ago her life collapsed when a photographer at the women’s world chess championships in Shanghai published a picture that appeared to show Bayat without her headscarf. [The Times (£)] Read more

Hamburg court rules against school niqab and burqa ban

The ruling stopped a school's attempt to ban a 16-year-old girl from wearing a full-face veil during classes. The state's education senator is now calling for a change to state law.

The Hamburg Administrative Court in Germany ruled Monday against an attempt to forbid a 16-year-old student from wearing a niqab during classtime.

Hamburg education officials had earlier ordered the girl's mother to ensure that her daughter did not wear the veil at school.

State law does not currently permit authorities to impose such a ban, the court said in a statement. The girl, who is studying retail sales, has a "right to unconditional protection of her freedom of religion," said the statement.

The ruling, which cannot be appealed, is being met with some controversy. Hamburg's social-democratic education senator Ties Rabe said that to implement the ban, he would seek to change state law. [Deutsche Welle] Read more

People afraid to call out segregation in schools, Ofsted chief warns

People are afraid to call out segregation in schools because of religious, cultural and ethnic sensitivities, Ofsted's chief inspector says.

Amanda Spielman warned there are now so many parents from different backgrounds that what would have been acceptable in schools 50 years ago is now no-longer acceptable to the vast majority.

She revealed two cases of schools that discriminated against girls in an exclusive interview with Sky News' Sophy Ridge on Sunday.

"In a school in Birmingham we found some very, very rigid segregation that meant that boys were always put ahead of girls for everything," Ms Spielman said.

"Children literally didn't see each other. We found books in the library saying men can beat their wives - provided they don't leave a mark - and that women aren't entitled to refuse sex to their husbands." [Sky News] Read more

Many Muslims are still in denial about sexual abuse

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in religious organisations and settings has sensibly widened its scope to include most forms of religious practice in the UK. Islam is the country’s second-largest religion, with more than three million adherents, nearly 40 per cent of them under 25 years old.

The problem is that discussion of sexual acts is taboo within a majority of Islamic culture and practice. Sex education is frowned upon in schools; open discussions about male and female body parts, sex outside marriage and birth control are discouraged.

.... the Cardiff-based cleric convicted of 14 sexual offences in 2017, based on the testimonies of four courageous victims, was given a full Islamic funeral service in the mosque where the crimes took place. The survivors were vilified and shunned by their communities. This case exemplifies the denial surrounding sexual abuse within Muslim communities. With no central religious authority, power is localised. Is it any wonder that survivors rarely come forward? [The Times (£)] Read more

Indonesia recruits female ‘flog squad’ for women offenders

A female squad of floggers will mete out punishment to women convicted of crimes under Islamic law in the Indonesian province of Aceh.

The authorities admit they have struggled to recruit the eight women, whose job is to use a rattan cane to beat offenders convicted of crimes including homosexuality, drinking alcohol, and “close proximity” to a member of the opposite sex.

Until recently, the punishments were dispensed by men. Now the province is training female floggers, one of whom demonstrated her skills at the caning of a young woman found guilty of close proximity.

“I think she did a good job,” Zakwan, a male police officer in the city of Banda Aceh, said. “Her technique was nice.”

He added: “We train them to make sure they’re physically fit and teach them how to do a proper whipping. It’s kind of an indoctrination that we give to them so they have a better understanding of their role — have no mercy for those who violate God’s law.” [The Times (£)] Read more

Hijab Limits Women, Says Iranian Chess Master Sacked From National Team

The Iranian female chess grandmaster Mitra Hejazipour who was sacked from the national team for boldly removing her headscarf (hijab) during the World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championship in Moscow, has said that hijab is "limitation" not "protection" as official regime propaganda claims.

In an Instagram post on January 28, the 27-year old grandmaster said the hijab is a clear symbol of an ideology in which women are "the second sex". "It creates many limitations for women and deprives them of their basic rights. Is this protection? I say definitely not, it is solely and merely a limitation," she wrote.

Hejazipour who says she was bullied by a relative at the age of six to wear a headscarf, even at home, now insists after years of wearing the hijab at all times and being "an example to others", she has decided "not to have a share in this horrendous lie and not to play the game of 'We love the hijab and have no problem with it' anymore". [Radio Farda] Read more

Runaway Iranian athlete wants to compete for Germany in Tokyo

Iran’s only female Olympic medallist, Kimia Alizadeh, wants to compete for Germany as soon as the next Games in Tokyo, but regardless of whether she achieves that ambition, she never expects to return to her home country.

Alizadeh, who won taekwondo bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics, announced earlier this month that she had defected to Europe because she felt she had been used as a propaganda tool by Iran.

“The Olympics is a great challenge for every athlete,” the 21-year-old told reporters in Luenen, northwest Germany, speaking through a translator.

“But it is still not clear at all whether I’ll be able to start in this one (Tokyo Olympics this summer). If it isn’t possible, then I’ll start in 2024.”

Alizadeh is one of several prominent Iranians to clash with the authorities in recent months. [Reuters] Read more

Iran's only female Olympic medalist moving to Germany

Iran’s only female Olympic medalist Kimia Alizadeh, who has said she had left her homeland because she had had enough of being used as a propaganda tool, is moving to Germany, her Dutch coach said.

Alizadeh, who won taekwondo bronze at the Rio 2016 Olympics, had been training in the southern Dutch city of Eindhoven, after leaving Iran several weeks earlier.

“Kimia has decided to continue in Germany,” Dutch national taekwondo coach Mimoun el Boujjoufi told Reuters on Monday.

German newspaper Bild this weekend reported that Alizadeh wished to continue her career in Germany and had moved to Hamburg, after having also received offers to compete for the Netherlands, Canada, Belgium and Bulgaria.

“After the explosion (of interest) many fought for her attention,” El Boujjoufi said.

She had written on Instagram this month she was prepared to accept the “hardship of homesickness” because she “didn’t want to be part of hypocrisy, lies, injustice and flattery”. [Reuters] Read more

LIVING IN FEAR Iranian chess referee will not return home after she was pictured without hijab over fears for her safety

A CHESS referee has admitted she won't return home to Iran after images of her not wearing a hijab were circulated online.

Shohreh Bayat was attending the first leg of the Women's World Chess Championship in Shanghai when she was seen without her headscarf on - which has now made her fear for her safety.

Headscarves are compulsory in Iran, with punishments including public admonishment, fines or even arrest.

The 32-year-old claims she wasn't attempting to protest when she didn't wear her hijab during her time as a chess official at the World Championships.

She told the BBC that she doesn't feel safe returning to her home country of Iran, despite saying she had covered her head at international tournaments, following Iranian rules.

She said: "I turned on my mobile and saw that my picture was everywhere. [The Sun] Read more

Afghan religious clerk warns to punish women who disregard Islamic Hijab

An Afghan religious clerk in western Herat province has started a widespread campaign, urging women to wear Islamic Hijab – a large headscarf – and has ordered his followers to punish those who disregard it.

Mujeeb Rahman Ansari, a popular Islamic extremist and a religious clerk in the western Herat province installed dozens of billboards and signboards around the city, targeting Afghan women, urging them to wear Islamic Hijab.

During several public speeches, Ansari called on his followers to apply Sharia rules on anyone who disregards the rules determined by him and his followers and ‘not to wait for the government’ in such instances.

Abdul Qayoum Rahimi, the governor of Herat was earlier questioned by a local media outlet about Ansari’s movement in Herat province, wherein Rahimi said he is not going to confront Mawlavi Mujeeb Rahman Ansari as they are being good friends. [Khaama Press News Agency] Read more

Iran chess referee says she won't return home after pictures without headscarf go viral in Iran

An Iranian international chess referee has said she is afraid to return to home after state media published photographs of her apparently not wearing a hijab as is mandatory for women under Iranian law.

Shohreh Bayat, 32, became one of the most prominent Iranian women in international chess after she refereed the Women’s World Chess Championship in Shanghai this week.

But her achievement was overshadowed by a storm of controversy after she a photograph was published in which her hijab was not visible. Ms Bayat says she was in fact wearing the headscarf but the picture had already been widely circulated in Iran.

The chess master has since been bombarded with threats by Iranian conservatives and she fears she could be arrested if she returns home to Iran. [The Telegraph] Read more

Iran's sole female Olympic medalist says she's defected

Iran's sole female Olympic medalist Kimia Alizadeh announced that she has permanently left her country for Europe.

"Let me start with a greeting, a farewell or condolences," the 21-year--old wrote in an Instagram post explaining why she was defecting. "I am one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran who they have been playing with for years."

Alizadeh became the first Iranian woman to win an Olympic medal after claiming taekwondo bronze in the -57kg category during the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Affectionately known in Iran as "The Tsunami," Alizadeh announced she was leaving her birth country with searing criticism the regime in Tehran.

"They took me wherever they wanted. I wore whatever they said. Every sentence they ordered me to say, I repeated. Whenever they saw fit, they exploited me," she wrote, adding that credit always went to those in charge. [CNN] Read more

Western Feminists AWOL in Supporting Abused and Dissident Muslim Women

Muslim and ex-Muslim feminists and dissidents have been risking torture and death in the Middle East, Central Asia, Africa, and the Far East by refusing to wear the hijab and by adopting other Western ways.

Bizarrely, Western feminists and accomplished and powerful women, including diplomats and politicians, are donning the hijab as a gesture of culture "sensitivity" and as a symbol of resistance to alleged racism.

For example, the American female lawyers defending the jihadists in Guantanamo Bay, including 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, are wearing hijabs and abayas so they will not "offend" their clients, and as a way of gaining their trust.

"Women on Mr. Mohammed's team mostly wear long skirts and other loose-fitting clothes topped by a variety of colorful scarves, shawls, head coverings and, in at least one instance, a one-piece, pull-on hijab," the New York Times reported Dec. 27. [New English Review] Read more