Afghan Woman Guns Down 25 Taliban To Avenge Son's Murder

I've no idea if the following is true or not, but one can only hope.

Apparently, an Afghan woman- Reza Gul- who witnessed the murder of her policeman son by the Taliban, shot and killed (with the help of her daughter and daughter-in-law) some 25 or so militants as revenge. Five were wounded.

Khaama Press claims they battled for about 7 hours.

Sediq Sediq, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior (MoI) said the armed campaign by women against the Taliban militants is a symbol of a major revolution and public uprising against the group.

The Taliban militants group has not commented regarding the incident so far.

If true, good on them. But one can't always trust information from that region.

Abused Wives In Yemen Killing Their Husbands

Domestic violence is very prevalent in the Muslim world. This is not so surprising considering the beating of wives is actually sanctioned in the Quran.

QURAN Surah 4:34 - "Men have authority over women because God has made the one superior to the other, and because they spend their wealth to maintain them. Good women are obedient. They guard their unseen parts because God has guarded them. As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them and send them to beds apart and beat them. Then if they obey you, take no further action against them. Surely God is high, supreme."

Some women have been lucky enough to escape the abuse, like this Algerian ex-Muslimah, Samia Sharif, who fled with her five kids to Quebec, Canada, and now lives under an assumed name, for obvious reasons. But many aren't as lucky, though they are fighting back in their own way. Abused wives in Yemen are actually murdering their abusive husbands, oftentimes with the help of a male relative. 50 women from 25-50 years of age, in 2012 alone, were arrested for doing away with their violent hubbies.

Inequality, domestic violence and “emotional motives” were just some reasons behind such crimes, said the report, adding that the killings took place in Mahweet, Taiz, Hajjah, Sana'a, Amran and Marib.

However, the ministry said that the number of women who were victims of attempted murder was nearly double the number of women involved in killings.

Dr. Mujib Abdul Bari, a specialist in psychiatric and neurological disorders, told AlArabiya.net that constant physical and psychological abuse drastically changes a person.

Daily abuse makes a woman feel despair at her seemingly hopeless situation, said Bari, adding that women in such situations “forget their femininity and resort to killing their spouse.”

He said that the most notable crime in Yemen took place on August 7, 2012 in a village in the province of Marib, in which a 40-year-old woman killed her husband and two sons following a family dispute.

Bari wants the government to help women realize there are alternatives to dispensing with their husbands, by establishing "awareness programs":

The programs would help women to realize that they are contributing members of society and “to learn not to accept humiliation and be able to make their own decisions,” said Bari.

“In case women have taken a wrong decision in marriage, they should resort to legal solutions, such as divorce or going back to their families [who can] help them on a psychological level.”

Unfortunately, it's going to take a lot more than educating the women. He has no idea how hard it is to extricate oneself from an abusive relationship with a controlling male. And he obviously has no clue how difficult it is for a controlling male to relinquish power, one who believes his religion gives him the right to beat his wife. With a  religion and culture that considers women subservient to men, you would need to re-educate the whole male population, and change the religion itself.  That's not going to happen.

Iranian Woman Beats Up Cleric Who Told Her To Cover Up

Never underestimate a pissed off woman, especially living under an oppressive regime and one who must deal with religious chauvinists on a daily basis.

Iranian cleric Hojatoleslam Ali Beheshti claims he was beaten up by a woman after he told her to cover up. Twice. After the first warning she responded, "you, cover your eyes." When he insisted, along with a few choice words she pushed him.

“I fell on my back on the floor,” Beheshti said in the report. “I don’t know what happened after that, all I could feel was the kicks of this woman who was insulting me and attacking me.”

Who knows what she was wearing to warrant the warning, perhaps her scarf was showing too much hair, or her coat was too tight or colorful or too short, but she decked him so hard he says he wound up in the hospital for three days. Ha. Serves him right.

The Iranian cleric said it was his religious duty to apply the principle of “commanding right and forbidding wrong,” and that he would continue to do so even after living through what he called “the worst day of my life.”

It isn’t the first time that clerics in Iran have been beaten up after delivering warnings, Mehr said.

And who can forget this priceless video of a woman fighting back a 'black ninja".

Source: Bloomberg

Saudi Woman Fights Back At Morality Police Harassing Her

There's something righteous about a harassed Muslim woman fighting back. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does, it's terribly satisfying.

The Saudi woman who taped the following on her cell phone apparently was being harassed by the morality police (mutaween) in the Hayat Mall in Riyadh for wearing nail polish. She emphatically refuses to leave after they tell her to get out, and tells them she is posting the video on Twitter and Youtube, which she did. I guess those fingernails were just too darn sexy.

According to the Saudi Gazette, there will be an inquiry into the incident.

This Iranian woman fighting back, though, is a classic.

Gotta love social media.



UPDATE 6/4/12

Sheikh Abdullatiff Abdel Aziz al-Sheikh, the somewhat 'moderate' chief of the Saudi Vice Police, has publicly criticized the agent who harassed the Saudi nail-polish woman. He said "...even if the girl had gone too far. He should have offered her advice and left instead of arguing with her and escalating.”