Shariah Risk Due Diligence Newsletter, Articles

SHARIAH RISK DUE DILIGENCE NEWSLETTER
A Project of The Center For Security Policy
April 01 -07, 2008

http://shariahfinancewatch.wordpress.com/


TABLE OF CONTENTS

ARTICLES: EYE ON SHARIAH LAW
1. Saudi Father 'killed daughter who met man on Facebook'
2. Iran: Parliament to discuss death penalty for converts who leave Islam
3. Homosexuals Rounded Up In Esfahan, Iran - HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
4. No more mosques' says Synod member - UK General Synod calls for a Ban
5. Austria: Woman Politician indicted for calling Mohammed a child molester
6. Pakistan: Couple stoned to death for adultery
7. Shariah Alert: Another Honor Murder in Britain-Tortured & Murdered by her father
8. Sharia lawyers say extend cuddle ban to non-Muslims
9. Muslims to get floor sinks at Indianapolis airport by fall
10. Muslim is spared a speeding ban so he can drive between his two wives
11. American Idol Sharia Style
12. Canadian teen sentenced to 200 lashes
13. Afghan bill may ban dancing, other un-Islamic TV scenes



ARTICLES: EYE ON SHARIAH LAW

1. Saudi Father 'killed daughter who met man on Facebook'
April 1, 2008 The Scotsman MICHAEL THEODOULOU
http://news. scotsman. com/world/ Father-39killed- daughter- -who.3932435. jp
A YOUNG woman was beaten and shot dead by her father for talking online with a man she met on the Facebook website, according to a Saudi-owned news website. The case was reported on Al-Arabiya.net as an example of the "strife" the social networking site is causing in the ultra- conservative desert kingdom, where a prominent cleric is calling for Facebook to be blocked. It was reported the man shot his daughter in Riyadh last August. "Security sources assured Al-Arabiya.net the father beat his daughter and then shot her dead," the website said. A leading Saudi preacher told Al-Arabiya.net that Facebook was a "door to lust" for women and called for it to be blocked to prevent social "strife". Syria is the only Arab country to have blocked Facebook so far.

2. Iran: Parliament to discuss death penalty for converts who leave Islam
March 20, 2008 Adnkronos
http://www.adnkrono s.com/AKI/ English/Religion /?id=1.0. 1988866222
Tehran, (AKI) - In its first session since last week's general elections, the new Iranian parliament is expected to discuss a law that will condemn to death anyone who decides to leave the Muslim faith and convert to other religions. The parliament, also known as the Majlis, will debate the new law which has been presented by the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Under the proposed law, anyone who is born to Muslim parents and decides to convert to another faith, will face the death penalty. Since the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, at least eight Christians have been killed for their faith. Seven of them were found stabbed to death after they were kidnapped.

3. Homosexuals Rounded Up In Esfahan, Iran - HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
March 28, 2008 Iran Press
http://www.iranpres snews.com/ english/source/ 038197.html
New York - The arrest of more than 30 men attending a party in a private home in the city of Esfahan signals renewed efforts by Iranian authorities to enforce morality codes, and highlights the fragility of basic rights in a country where police powers routinely undermine privacy, Human Rights Watch said today. It urged Iranian authorities to release the men reportedly arrested in late February, and to drop charges against people accused of consensual homosexual conduct, drinking alcohol, and other related moral offenses. When police routinely break down doors to enforce a brand of morality, it means a line has been crossed to invade people's privacy at any time, said Joe Stork, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. In extensive interviews with men and women inside and outside Iran, Human Rights Watch has documented widespread patterns of arbitrary arrest and torture based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

4. 'No more mosques' says Synod member - UK General Synod calls for Ban
April 1, 2008 Times Online UK Ruth Gledhill
http://www.timesonl ine.co.uk/ tol/comment/ faith/article366 2450.ece
Alison Ruoff claims that building mega-mosques could help turn Britian into an Islamic state. A prominent evangelical member of the Church of England's General Synod has called for a ban on the building of any more mosques in Britain. Alison Ruoff also claimed that Sharia law is inevitable in this country if mosques continue to be built here. Mrs Ruoff, a former magistrate, said in an interview with London's Premier Christian Radio that no more mosques should be built in Britain until all persecution of Christians in Muslim nations had ceased. She said: "No more mosques in the UK. We are constantly building new mosques, which are paid for by the money that comes from oil states. "We have only in this country as far as we know, 3.5 to four million Muslims. There are enough mosques for Muslims in this country, they don't need anymore. "We don't need to have Sharia law which would come with more mosques imposed upon our nation, if we don't watch out, that would happen. If we want to become an Islamic state, this is the way to go.

5. Austria: Woman Politician indicted for calling Mohammed a child molester
April 1, 2008 The Brussels Journal Thomas Landen
http://www.brussels journal.com/ node/3145
The Austrian authorities have indicted politician Susanne Winter on charges of incitement and degradation of religious symbols and religious agitation. This offence carries a maximum sentence of two years. Last January, Ms. Winter said that the prophet Muhammad was "a child molester" because he had married a six-year-old girl. She also said he was "a warlord" who had written the Koran during "epileptic fits." The politician, a member of the Austrian Freedom Party FPÖ, an anti-immigration party which is in opposition, added that Islam is "a totalitarian system of domination that should be cast back to its birthplace on the other side of the Mediterranean. " She also warned for "a Muslim immigration tsunami," saying that "in 20 or 30 years, half the population of Austria will be Muslim" if the present immigration policies continue. Following her remarks, Muslim extremists threatened to kill Susanne Winter and she was placed under police protection. Today, the Justice Department in Vienna announced that Ms. Winter will be charged with "incitement and degradation of religious symbols." If convicted she may have to serve up to two years in jail for her opinions. Today in neighbouring Belgium the government's anti-discrimination body CEOOR warned bloggers and websites to remove their links to Wilders's movie.

6. Pakistan: Couple stoned to death for adultery
April 2, 2008 Adnkronos International- Pakistan
http://www.adnkrono s.com/AKI/ English/Religion /?id=1.0. 2031812946
Ghalanai - A man and a woman have been stoned to death by militants in Pakistan's north-west border region after an Islamic 'qazi' court found them guilty of adultery. According to the Pakistani daily, Dawn, this is the first incident of stoning carried out in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas on the border of Afghanistan. In the past, couples found guilty of adultery by militants or tribesmen were executed by firing squads. The woman, identified as Shano, had allegedly eloped with Daulat Khan Malikdeenkhel on 15 March. Quoting Dr. Asad, a spokesman for the militants, Dawn said that Shano was a married woman living in Peshawar's Deen Bahar colony. He said a complaint had been received from her family that she had been abducted by Daulat Khan. But later it was reported that she had ran away with him. He said that some members of the Taliban captured them when they were returning from Karachi. He said the qazi court found the couple guilty of adultery and sentenced them to death by stoning and the sentence was carried out on Monday in Khwaezai-Baezai.

7. Shariah Alert: Another Honor Murder in Britain-Tortured & Murdered by her father
April 3, 2008 Sydney Morning Herald
http://www.smh. com.au/news/ world/tortured- and-murdered- -by-her-father/ 2008/04/03/ 1206851041835. html
Two British police forces failed a young Kurdish woman who was tortured, raped and murdered in an honour killing plotted by her family, the police watchdog concluded. Investigations by the police in England's West Midlands and Scotland Yard in London let down Banaz Mahmod after not taking seriously death threats against her. The 20-year-old was raped and garrotted during an ordeal lasting more than two-and-a-half hours at her family home in south London last year after falling in love with a man her family thought was unsuitable. Her body was later found in a suitcase beneath a house in Birmingham, central England. Members of her family and several family friends had plotted her murder. Her father Mahmod Mahmod, 52, and her uncle Ari Mahmod, 51, were jailed for life last July after being found guilty of murder. Banaz had told police four times she feared for her life after falling in love with a man of whom her family disapproved, but her claims were not taken seriously.

8. Sharia lawyers say extend cuddle ban to non-Muslims
April 2, 2008 Reuters
http://www.reuters. com/article/ worldNews/ idUSKLR741732008 0403?feedType= RSS&feedName=worldNews
KUALA LUMPUR - Islamic lawyers meeting in Malaysia want an existing ban on unwed Muslim couples from cuddling or holding hands to be extended to non-Muslims caught flirting with the faithful. Experts in sharia law, which currently applies only to Malaysia's majority Muslims, proposed at a seminar that there should be a civil law to deal with non-Muslims found committing the Islamic crime of khalwat, or close proximity, with a Muslim. "The Muslims can be sentenced in sharia courts and the non-Muslim partners can probably be sentenced in the civil courts, to be fair to both parties." Malaysia runs parallel sharia and civil legal systems, with sharia courts dealing only with Muslims and mainly in family disputes or in matters such as khalwat or apostasy. It employs religious police to ensure Muslim compliance with Koranic laws. They sometimes patrol parks looking for young unwed couples holding hands, raid nightclubs to catch Muslims drinking alcohol and ensure Muslims observe the fasting month of Ramadan.

9. Muslims to get floor sinks at Indianapolis airport by fall
April 4, 2008 INDYSTAR.COM By Erin Dostal
http://www.indystar .com/apps/ pbcs.dll/ article?AID= /20080404/ LOCAL1804/ 804040462/ 1195/LOCAL18
Floor sinks to accommodate prayer requirements for Muslim taxi drivers will be installed at Indianapolis International Airport by fall. David Dawson, a spokesman for the airport project, said that two bathrooms, one for men and one for women, will have the sinks. Both will be in a 900-square-foot building where taxi drivers gather before picking up passengers at the terminal. Many of the taxi drivers are Muslims who pray five times a day. The prayer involves many rituals, including washing the feet. Drivers now use hand sinks at the existing terminal, which has caused safety hazards. Osmand Djama, 44, a taxi driver who uses the facility, said about 180 taxi drivers, most of whom are men, use the bathroom, making it unsanitary. Shariq A. Siddiqui, executive director of the Muslim Alliance of Indiana, said he's glad the board made its decision based on sanitation, not religion. The Rev. Jerry Hillenburg of Hope Baptist Church in Indianapolis, whose son was killed in Iraq in 2004, called the sinks unconstitutional and said they showed a dangerous concession to Islam. Marc Monte, pastor at Faith Baptist Church in Avon, said he is not sure whether his or Hillenburg's community will take further action against the installation but thinks it shows that "in the name of multiculturalism, people will sell America down the river." "I don't think the Airport Authority is going to let me install a baptismal font to baptize people in."

10. Muslim is spared a speeding ban so he can drive between his two wives
April 6, 2008 Women Against Shariah
http://womenagainst shariah.blogspot .com
Mohammed Anwar said a ban would make it difficult to commute between his two wives and fulfill his matrimonial duties. His lawyer told a Scottish court the Muslim restaurant owner has one wife in Motherwell and another in Glasgow - he is allowed up to four under his religion - and sleeps with them on alternate nights. Airdrie Sheriff Court had heard that Anwar was caught driving at 64mph in a 30mph zone in Glasgow, fast enough to qualify for instant disqualification. Anwar admitted the offence, but Sheriff John C. Morris accepted his plea not to be banned and allowed him to keep his licence. Lorna Jackson, from the road safety charity Brake, called the decision "astonishing" . She said: "Regardless of the number of wives or businesses this man drives to, he broke a law which is there to protect everyone.

11. American Idol Sharia Style
April 4, 2008
http://girlinshorts horts.blogspot. com/2008/ 04/american- idol-sharia- syle.html
On Monday Afghanistan' s lower house of Parliament passed a resolution banning television programs which feature dancing and other practices deemed un-Islamic. This all came on the heels of a controversy that ensued after Tolo TV aired a piece showing women and men dancing together. The Information and Culture Ministry condemned the scene, saying "dancing by men and women together is completely against the culture of the Afghan, Muslim society." Its all part of the re-Talibanization of Afghanistan, which is made possible because Sharia Law is, like in Iraq, embedded in their new spiffy democratic constitution. But, Afghanistan is suppose to at least pretend they are going democratic, and really do not want to be the world's premier heroin pusher. Last year gunmen entered the home of Zakia Zaki, the female owner of a radio station, and shot her to death in front of her 8-year-old son. Miss Zaki had apparently ignored the clerics who warned her to change the station's programming: Shaima Rezayee, a popular veejay on an MTV-style music show, was shot dead in 2005 after clerics criticized her show as "anti-Islamic. "

12. Canadian teen sentenced to 200 lashes-
Older brother still faces death for role in schoolyard fight
Sunday, April 06, 2008 Ottawa Citizen.com
http://www.canada. com/ottawacitize n/news/story. html?id=ef13d546 -1a99-44b8- 8752-40f7a3379c3 4&k=92725
MONTREAL - A Montreal teen charged in Saudi Arabia for his involvement in a schoolyard brawl that killed a fellow student has been sentenced to 200 lashes and one year in prison. However, yesterday's sentencing of 17-year-old Sultan Kohail may also contain a glimmer of hope for his brother Mohamed, 22, currently on death row for his role in the same brawl. Unless that sentence, handed down on March 3, is overturned on appeal, Mohamed Kohail could be beheaded by sword within three months. The Kohails immigrated to Canada in 2000, settling in a Montreal suburb. Their visit to Saudi Arabia for a wedding in 2006 has turned into a nightmare, Mr. Kohail said.

13. Afghan bill may ban dancing, other un-Islamic TV scenes
April 1, 2008 Boston Herald
http://www.bostonhe rald.com/ news/internation al/middle_ east/view. bg?articleid= 1084232&srvc=rss
KABUL - TV programs that show dancing and other un-Islamic practices would be banned under a resolution passed by Afghanistan' s lower house of Parliament. The decision came after the Tolo TV channel showed a dance routine on an Afghan film awards program. The Information and Culture Ministry condemned the scene: "Dancing by men and women together was completely against the culture of the Afghan, Muslim society." The parliamentary resolution said dancers should not be shown on TV, and un-Islamic scenes should be cut from Indian TV series broadcast in Afghanistan, said lawmaker Din Mohammad Azimi. Afghanistan' s media boomed after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. But officials and warlords have pressured broadcasters over programming. Last year gunmen shot radio station owner Zakia Zaki to death in front of her 8-year-old son, in a dispute with warlords over programming.