[Leica] IMG: Second Countryhouse Visit

[images at comporium.net (Tina Manley)]

This is one of the most ridiculous of the bans against women that I heard on
NPR today:

Besides the terrible killings inflicted by the fanatics on those who refuse
to pledge allegiance to them, Al-Qa'eda has lost credibility for enforcing a
series of rules imposing their way of thought on the most mundane aspects of
everyday life. They include a ban on women buying suggestively-shaped
vegetables, according to one tribal leader in the western province of
Anbar.
Sheikh Hameed al-Hayyes, a Sunni elder, told Reuters: "They even killed
female goats because their private parts were not covered and their tails
were pointed upward, which they said was haram.
"They regarded the cucumber as male and tomato as female. Women were not
allowed to buy cucumbers, only men."

Common sense is nowhere to be found.

Tina

On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 2:49 PM, Mark Rabiner <mark at rabinergroup.com> 
wrote:

> > The same enclosures are seen in Iraq, Jordan, and the UAE (and I am sure
> > other places, but that's the extent of my experience).  On what can be
> bleak
> > and uninviting streets, behind the walls one can find lush gardens.  I
> > think, to some extent, the concept of "purdah" figures into the walled
> > compound reasoning.  Purdah is the sequestering of women (the burqa is a
> > portable form).  Women can be relaxed and uncovered when they are around
> > "mahram", which denotes male family members, and not seen by the casual
> > passers-by.  The Afghans tend to take this concept more seriously than do
> > the Arabs although in the Emirates most Arab women will wear the niqab,
> or
> > the veil with only the eyes showing (a Wahabbi thing).  A typical
> complaint
> > encountered here in Kabul are the large multi-story villas (aka "poppy
> > palaces") overlooking the walled compounds which encroaches on the
> privacy
> > of a more modest home.
> >
> > Islam plays a part in all of this, but much of it is cultural.  It's
> become
> > entangled in religion despite the strictures of the Holy Quran which
> require
> > a woman to "cover her charms" and "not stamp her feet".  It's all pretty
> > fascinating, really.
> >
> > Wendy
>
>
> " fascinating" not the current word of choice  to describe the
> circumstances
> of middle east women by most culture respecting humanist and certainly
> women's groups.
> " fascinating" would have been good for a national geographic in the 60s.
>
>
> [Rabs]
> Mark William Rabiner
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
>


-- 
Tina Manley, ASMP
www.tinamanley.com