ISIS Orders Veils For Mannequins In Mosul Shops

Unveiled mannequins are haram- according ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria)- so shop owners in Mosul, Iraq are being forced to cover the faces of both female and male mannequins. Apparently, Sharia law forbids it.

" Mosul shop owners said they had been told to cover the faces of both male and female mannequins, apparently in line with strict interpretations of Shariah law that forbid statues or artwork depicting the human form."

Mannequins are considered art work?

Such breathtaking ignorance.

At least they didn't just target the female form.

Source: Al Arabiya

Saudi Couple Breastfed By Same Mother Forced To Divorce

There are some incredibly bizarre laws and rules in Islam including breastfeeding. Apparently, if a woman breastfeeds a child that is not hers, she is then considered the mother of that child, and if she has children of her own, they are all considered siblings and are not allowed to marry. This Islamic law has reared its ludicrous head in Saudi Arabia where a couple has been forced to divorce after 25 years of marriage, and seven children later. Somehow it was discovered that both the husband and wife had suckled the breast of the same woman when they were babies.

Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Asheikh, the Saudi Grand Mufti gave the go ahead for the divorce.

So it's okay to marry a first cousin (it happens all the time in the Middle East), but not okay to marry a non-relative who has been breastfed by the same mother.


Source: Al Arabiya

Indonesian Christian Fighting Conviction In Malay Shariah Court

In so called 'moderate' Malaysia freedom of religion is supposedly part of the country's constitution, and both civil and Shariah law is practiced. Muslims are the only ones who are meant to be subject to Shariah law, but apparently that's not always the case. One Christian Indonesian woman living in Penang is living proof of that.

42-year-old Halimah is a reflexologist (an alternative healing modality) who was hauled into Shariah court and convicted for  "khalwat" back in 2011 after she was found in 'close proximity' of a male at the reflexology center where she worked. In 2012, without legal representation, she pleaded guilty and received a RM3,000 fine and 14 days’ jail sentence, though she was eventually allowed a 'stay of execution' pending an appeal. Her boss, also non-Muslim and unaware of Shariah law, eventually contacted Legal Aid and hired a lawyer for Halimah after the conviction and sentence were meted out. According to that lawyer, Wan Faridulhadi Mohd Yusoff, Halimah is illiterate and had no clue what she was confessing to, including admitting she was Muslim. Authorities didn't bother reading that part of the charge sheet to her, and Wan Faridulhadi claims she was coerced into admission, not fully understanding what would happen.

"This is a travesty of the law, the first such case where a Christian woman is charged for khalwat in shariah court; it should have been thrown out of court immediately upon proof of her religion," said Penang Legal Aid Centre consultant Cecil Rajendra.

Since her case is still pending, Halimah, has not been able to return to Indonesia.

Her lawyer and legal aid are still working to overturn the conviction.

More here.

Saudis Ban 50 Names Including Linda, Sandy and Elaine

Here's a good laugh. According to Gulf News, Saudi Arabians will no longer be allowed to name their newborns Linda, Sandy, Elaine, Loland (hmm), or Abdul Naser, Malek or Binyamin. Fifty names in total were banned, some of which no-one seems to know the reason why.

Some are obvious, like  Binyamin which is the Arabic for Benjamin, and we know how hated Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu is in the pro-Palestinian world. Others are prohibited because they:

 contradict the culture or religion of the Kingdom, according to reports by local media

[snip]

... they are considered “blasphemous,” non-Arabic or non-Islamic, or contradictory to the kingdom’s culture or religion..."

The ban was also allegedly justified by the ministry because some of the names were deemed foreign or "inappropriate".

Other sets of forbidden names include those with royal connotations, such as Sumuw (highness), Malek (king) and Malika (queen).

Here's all 50 banned names.

Malaak (angel)
Abdul Aati
Abdul Naser
Abdul Musleh
Binyamin (Arabic for Benjamin)
Naris
Yara
Sitav
Loland
Tilaj
Barrah
Abdul Nabi
Abdul Rasool
Sumuw (highness)
Al Mamlaka (the kingdom)
Malika (queen)
Mamlaka (kingdom)
Tabarak (blessed)
Nardeen
Sandy
Rama (Hindu god)
Maline
Elaine
Inar
Maliktina
Maya
Linda
Randa
Basmala (utterance of the name of God)
Jibreel (angel Gabriel)
Abdul Mu’een
Abrar
Iman
Bayan
Baseel
Wireelam
Nabi (prophet)
Nabiyya (female prophet)
Amir (prince)
Taline
Aram
Nareej
Rital
Alice
Lareen
Kibrial
Lauren

Pretty darn wacky.

Source: Independent UK

City In Indonesia To Ban Motorbike Straddling By Women

So, we had a series of strange new laws come into effect in 2013 that made me chuckle, but the fatwas that come out of Sharia-run lands are always laugh out loud, some of them at least, some not so  much.

The latest comes out of Banda Aceh, which is located in the northeastern region of the island of Sumatra in so-called moderate Indonesia. Aceh is anything but.  That's the province that loves its Sharia. The stricter the better. The same place that shaved the mohawked-heads of punk rockers last year while they were detained for "rehabilitation". Not that the people themselves are happy about it, only about 10% of the population in Aceh actually want Sharia law, but that 10% get their way. So the not-so-religious find ways of skirting certain restrictions- like the law against getting too close to people of the opposite sex- by frequenting places like the 'Love Hotel", owned by the military and off-limits to the virtue and vice officials.

One of the latest laws has to do with motorbikes:

Women will no longer be allowed to straddle men on motorbikes because it's "improper", says Suaidi Yahya, the mayor of the city of  Lhokseumawe, and because:

 "it will provoke the male driver. It's also to protect women from an undesirable condition."  

I'm wracking my brain on the latter.

It is, however, okay for a woman to sit "side-saddle" on the bike behind her man with legs dangling to the side, so they can get  tangled in the wheels of the bike, and the couple can crash and die. And it's perfectly fine for women to straddle a bike if they're in the driver's seat, but only if they're wearing Islamic garb.

They haven't decided what the punishment will be for infractions.

Some of the other new laws the people can expect: no tight pants for women, adulterers can expect a stoning, and homosexuals a flogging.  Welcome to Sharia.

Kuwaiti Man Gets 10 Years For Insulting Islam on Twitter

26-year-old Hamad al-Naqi, the Kuwaiti man who has been sitting in jail for the past three months (since his arrest) for insulting Mohammed, Aisha (his 9-year-old wife) and Mohammed's companions via Twitter, will spend the next ten years in jail for those transgressions. Other charges included "spreading false news that undermined Kuwait's image abroad" (as though that takes much), and for insulting Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

According to the court, al-Naqi had "endangered state security" with those insults, although I'm not quite sure how.

Khaled al-Shatti, his lawyer, seems overly positive. He told AFP:

“We plan to challenge the ruling against my client Hamad al-Naqi in the appeals court and we are very optimistic that the higher court will cancel the sentence."

Al-Naqi claims his account was hacked, which is a definite possibility, but the court didn't buy that excuse.

He could have been sentenced to death, since Kuwait recently passed a law approving the death sentence for 'cursing God'- and naturally there were those demanding it- but he lucked out that the bill has not yet been implemented. He did, however, receive the maximum sentence for his criminal tweets.

Our jails would be overflowing if we had the same laws as Kuwait.