Iran Sure Has Balls!

Before you start reading this article, I'd like to warn you: for all those who think Sunnite Muslims are better than Shiite Muslims, and that all Sunnites are destined to be in Heaven while Shiites are condemned to Hell, this article may have some materials that you may find disturbing. READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED! And for those people who can't wait a second before passing judgments, keep this in mind when you're reading the article: I'm NOT Shiite.

I've spent 21 years on the face of this earth. And for at least 10 of those years, I was looking for some Arab leader to rise up to the wishes of the people on the streets of the Muslim countries. What I learned through out those 10 years was that for the 21 years that I've been around, the US government has been stuffing the extremely huge egos of Arab leaders. How the hell else did Israel manage to get two Arab countries to establish diplomatic relations with them?

Well, it seems that if Arab leaders want to keep on kissing American a$$, leaders of some other Muslim countries think they can all go to... well, where ever they want to go! We've seen how the Turkish Prime Minister gave a piece of his mind, on behalf of all the Muslims, to Shimon Peres at Davos. That was a breath of fresh air different from what the secular followers of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk would have wanted. The truth of the matter is that part of the beginning, and I say PART of the BEGINNING, of the Palestinian issue was the fall of the Ottoman Empire which was representing the Islamic Caliphate at the time.

Now, Iran has tested a nuclear reactor with unrefined uranium rods. What more, the US administration seems to be showing signs that the US foreign policy towards Iran will have a different colour. But mere signs aren't going to be enough this time. Enough US administrations have fooled Muslim countries with 'signs'. Now's the time for action, and Iran has made it clear. Iran has been put under a long embargo, and I personally expected them to be ready to give in any second. But they didn't. And that calls for a show of respect.

Look, I don't agree with all the policies of the Iranian government either. But truth is, I disagree more with the cowardice of the other Muslim governments. I found it silly when the Saudi government was refusing to support Hamas during the Gaza war with the excuse that Hamas get support from 'Shiites'. I found it sillier when the Egyptian government claimed the PA is the true voice of the people. Like, the Egyptian government which has been repressing any opposition for more than 20 years will know what the true voice of the people is.

OK, so the Iranian government is a Shiite government. OK, so there are some differences in the theology between Sunnites and Shiites. But let's face it: Right now, Iran is doing more for the betterment of the Ummah than any other Muslim country has managed to do for the long time.

Iran may not have an upper hand against the US or Israel at the moment. But they do at least HAVE a hand. And they're playing it. Let me summarise Iranian supreme leader's comments regarding Obama's offer to 'start over':

'We'll start over when the US stops greeting us with, "Happy new year, terrorists". It would be nice if you lift the economic embargoes you've put on us. And in the mean time how about reviewing your policies towards the Israeli nuclear program.'

So, yeah, somebody had the balls to say that, for once. My salutes.

To force or not to force, THAT is the question!!!

A recent case I came by: a 16 year old Saudi girl drank bleach so as to avoid being forced into a marriage with a 75 year old man. In the end, the girl managed to appeal to the authorities, and the marriage was in fact avoided, al-hamdulillah, without her having to choose between the embrace of the grave and the embrace of a 75 year old husband.

My concern is that the father, who, in return to marrying her to the 75 year old man, was going to be able to get married to her future groom's (if a 'groom' is a word suitable for a 75 year old) 12 year old child, probably was a man who prayed the 5 obligatory salat, fasted the month of Ramadan, and considered himself to be a pious servant of Allah. How then does he not know that forcing his daughter into a marriage is completely against the laws of Allah?

This is a common mistake that many Muslims make: The belief that the father and the paternal grand father are wali mujbir, and that wali mujbir means they can force their virgin daughters to enter into any marriage of their choosing. A mistake that happens because they tend to translate technical, VERY technical, terms literally. And that too VERY literally.

The whole idea of forcing daughters into marriage is a legacy of the pre-Islamic era that that the Prophet (peace be upon him) made great efforts to do away with. It is a well-known fact of Islamic history that a girl who was given away in marriage by her father without obtaining her consent was given the right to annul the marriage when she complained to the Prophet (PBUH). But the reality of the world we live in right now is that many Muslims in many parts of the world are so unaware of the rules they claim to abide by that they find it okay to marry off their daughters despite their cries and pleas.

Wali mujbir is a technical term used to refer to the father and paternal grandfather of a girl, and literally it does mean the wali who forces. But 'forcing' here is not forcing as we know it.

The difference between these two wali and others (like the brother, and the uncle for example) is that if the others are acting as wali in a girl's marriage, the marriage won't be solemnised unless she expressly says that she consents to the marriage. However, if the father or the paternal grandfather is to be acting as wali, the virgin girl's silence is taken to be a sign of her consent.

So the other day, when one of my lecturers told our class that wali mujbir means someone who can force a girl into marriage, I was shocked. I was more shocked when she told the class that although the Shariah allows forcing virgin girls into marriage, the Malaysian law doesn't. I felt it may not be right to argue with her there. But now I want to make it clear to everyone here: wali mujbir is a technical term. Giving a simplistic and literal definition of it is not only a mistake. It is a blasphemous mistake. It is a concession to all those allegations that Islam doesn't protect woman's rights.

The current situation the Muslim world is in right now is not because of anybody else. Muslim societies all around the world are living in societal disrupt and disease because we have started to implement Islamic law without knowing the basics of it. Which brings me to what I have been saying all along: Muslims need to stop calling each other kafir and get real. Start doing something that is beneficial to the Ummah! Next time a Muslim has the itch to call another Muslim a mushrik or kafir or any one of those names they so lovingly call their brothers, they should go and educate those people who think forcing girls into marriages is a good way to get a new bride or tons of money.