New Trend Magazine (Number 6 in our series on Pakistan)
(See hadith text below on women's leadership roles)
Pakistan has changed Tremendously in Last Decade
Influence of Mullahs and Islamic Resurgence can be seen in Women's
dress
All Walks of Life influenced: New Trend's three-week long survey
{War news: According to world famous historian David Irving, U.S.
treatment
of Islamic al-Qaeda prisoners has fallen below the standards Adolf
Hitler
applied to Russian prisoners.
A news item released by U.S. supporters indicates that one "detainee"
was
left untreated for ONE MONTH for a wound that required surgery. After
surgery, his treatment is being treated as proof of fair treatment.
Pakistani coup leader, 'President' Musharref, demeaned Islam and
Pakistan by
handing over Afghan ambassador Abdus Salam Zaeef to the U.S. which is
treating him like a criminal.}
{In the U.S., a tenured Muslim professor, Dr. Sami Al-Arian, has been
fired
after a witch hunt which was started by fascist TV man O'Reilly of Fox
News,
the lowest in media standards anywhere in the world.}
{Palestine TV was attacked by the Israeli airforce. Afghanistan's Radio
Shariat was attacked on the first day of the bombing. Al-Jazeerah of
Qatar
has been under severe U.S. pressure not to report news from the Islamic
perspective. }
AFTER A THREE WEEK TRIP TO PAKISTAN, covering the cities of
Karachi,
Lahore, Islamabad and other areas, our team files the following report:
The biggest victory of the Islamists comes in the area of
support
from Pakistani women. The Islamic resurgence sweeping over Pakistan can
be
seen in the dress of Pakistani women in all walks of life.
Unfortunately American audiences get to see and know only the
tiny
westernized Pakistani elites linked to the Pakistani immigrants in the
U.S.
These groups have become more westernized than ever before.They read
SHE
magazine for fashion and HERALD for views. (HERALD announced with
delight in
December that JIHAD IS OVER.) On December 31 at midnight, these groups
celebrated New Year with drink and dance and loud music more fervently
than
Americans. In Pakistani 'clubs', the high living style can be seen in
the
dining, the shiny cars, the bejewelled women, the haughty men who
cavort with
pleasure oblivious of Indian armies massing on the frontier.
These frequent the growing numbers of McDonalds, KFCs and Dunkin
Donuts
in Pakistan!
But these tiny westernized elites, however loud, do not represent
Pakistani women.
{Our purpose here is not to claim that women have reached their
Islamic
goals or that Pakistan has become an Islamic society. It is a society
in
transition and Islam is winning although Islam does not have state
power.}
THE MAIN POINT NOTICEABLE ABOUT PAKISTANI WOMEN TODAY IS THAT THEY
HAVE
REJECTED THE WESTERN IDEALS OF DRESS AND STYLE AND HAVE ACCEPTED THE
TEACHINGS OF ISLAM AS PREACHED BY THE MULLAHS. Here are the segments of
Pakistani women influenced by resurgent Islam:
1. THE RADICAL JIHADI WOMEN: These are mostly younger women, the
new
generation from the lower middle class and poorer sections of society.
They
take Islam as JIHAD. They usually wear NIQAB on their faces and are
active in
Islamic meetings strictly separate from men. These women are the main
guarantee that the Musharref government will not be able to put an end
to the
jihadist movement. They belong largely to Lashkare Tayba (Ahle Hadith),
Jaish
Muhammad (Brelvi) and smaller groups and are to be found in most
cities.
2. Jamaate Islami-influenced Islamic women. JI has widespread
support
among women throughout Pakistan including women in universities and
colleges.
In Islamabad, a sophisticated Islamic university for women is under
construction. Many of these women also wear NIQAB.
3. Unaffiliated women throughout society have been influenced by the
Mullahs. The generality of women have adopted Islamic dress as their
choice
(without the NIQAB). In Lahore, for instance, it is a common sight to
see a
wife riding behind her husband on a bicycle dressed in Islamic garb
from head
to toe but with her face uncovered. In Karachi, such couples ride on
motorbikes.
4. Village women going to their chores in the fields cover
themselves
completely, with only the face uncovered.
5. Ultraconservative women are to be found in the frontier areas.
These
wear burqas, as in Afghanistan. There are also numerous MEDRESSAS for
girls
from which the mullas have been graduating women well armed with
Islamic
knowledge.
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We have explored the reports of atrocities against Pakistani women
which
were propagated in America. There is mistreatment of women in those
areas of
Sind and Baluchistan where feudalism is still prevalent. Atrocities are
also
committed among the very poor segments of village dwellers and slum
areas.
Owing to lack of privacy and change of environment from villages to
cities,
the slums have cases of serious atrocities where a man feels that a
woman is
being unfaithful to him.
Majority of women in Pakistan, however, are much better treated by
men
than women are in America. Rape, incest, prostitution, call girl
rackets,
date rape, teenage pregnancy, adultery, lesbianism are still extremely
rare
and the stuff of newspaper sensationalism.
Respect for women can be seen in most public places. In many places,
such as
lines at banks and airports, women get ahead of men and are not made to
wait.
Security for women is provided by women police. It's unthinkable for a
male
officer to search a woman.
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HADITH TEXT ON WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP ROLE:
(Contributed by Jamaat al-Muslimeen:)
"Ali bin Musher narrates: I have not seen anyone who knew more than
'Ayesha,
Allah be pleased with her, about the Qur'an, religious obligations,
halal and
haram (the permitted and the forbidden), poetry, Arabic literature and
geneology."
"Urwa reports: I did not find anyone who knew more than her ('Ayesha)
of
medicine." (Both reports from: MUSNAD 'AYESHA compiled by al-Imam
al-hafiz
Suyuti who died in 911 A.H.
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2002-01-20 Sun 18:40ct