The Muslim World

The average number of monthly divorce cases in Saudi Arabia was 1,980 in 2008 against about 1,500 cases in 2007, the Ministry of Justice said in a statistical report published recently. According to the ministry, there were 24,428 divorces in 2008, which is an increase of 5,663 cases over the previous year’s 18,765. “The average monthly marriages was 9,480 in 2008 while the average monthly divorces was 1,980,” the report said.

The report said 15,851 marriages were registered at the courts last year while 99,698 were registered by marriage officials. The ministry said Riyadh, with 7,085 cases, topped all Saudi cities in divorces while Makkah, with 5,749 cases, came second. Family medicine consultant Dr. Ahmed Abdul Moneim attributed the rise in divorce cases to a number of reasons, including the absence of religious values, low incomes, intervention of relatives in the personal lives of the married couples and the adverse effect of satellite cable programming.

Switzerland is ready to consider taking in detainees from the US prison for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba if that helps to shut it down, the Swiss government said. “For Switzerland, the detention of people in Guantanamo is in conflict with international law. Switzerland is ready to consider how it can contribute to the solution of the Guantanamo problem,” the government said in a statement. Switzerland said it welcomed the expressed intention of US President Barack Obama to close the prison and would investigate security and legal implications of possibly taking in detainees. European governments, which for years have called for the camp to be closed, are under pressure to help find a home for around 245 remaining detainees. The camp has held more than 750 captives since opening in 2002, most without trial.

Switzerland, which is not a member of the EU, has historically attracted refugees from trouble spots around the world and is home to international humanitarian organisations like the Red Cross and UN refugee agency.

A Kuwaiti Islamist MP called for moving Arab League headquarters from Cairo to Caracas after Venezuelan President Hugo Chaves expelled Israel’s ambassador because of its onslaught on the Gaza Strip. “I call for moving the Arab League from Cairo to Caracas,” MP Waleed al-Tabtabai said during a special debate in parliament over the Israeli offensive. Tabtabai said that Chavez “has proved that he was more Arab than some Arabs,” after he expelled the Israeli ambassador in protest against the Israeli offensive against the Palestinians in Gaza.

Chavez expelled Israel’s ambassador to Caracas on January 6, 2009 and Israel retaliated a day later, saying it was expelling Venezuela’s charge d’affaires. Egypt, Jordan and Mauritania, the only Arab countries to have diplomatic ties with the Jewish state, have ignored public calls to expel Israeli diplomats. An Israeli trade office in Qatar also remains open.

Tabtabai also criticized Egypt, which hosts the headquarters of the 22-member Arab League, for “refusing to open the Rafah” border crossing to allow the passage of food and medical supplies to the battered Palestinian territory. He was echoed by other MPs who also called for sending more aid to the Palestinians in Gaza. Shiite MP Ahmad Lari urged Kuwaitis to donate on month of their wages to the people of Gaza. At least 1,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 4,500 other wounded, many of them civilians, in the Israeli offensive.

Far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders will be prosecuted for inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims, a decision immediately hailed by the Muslim minority. “The contested views of Wilders constitute a criminal offence,” Amsterdam Appeal Court said in a written judgment cited by Agence France Presse (AFP). Several organisations and individuals have appealed to the court over the prosecution’s refusal to press charges against Wilders for his public anti-Islamic statements. “Mr. Wilders has indeed insulted Islamic worshippers…by (attacking) the symbols of the Islamic belief,” the court said.

“The instigation of hatred in a democratic society constitutes such a serious matter that it is necessary to draw a clear boundary in the public debate.”

Wilders, a far-right lawmaker, is notorious for his attacks against Islam and Muslims. He released in March 2008 a 15-minute documentary, entitled “Fitna” or sedition in Arabic, accusing the Qur’an of inciting violence.

The documentary drew international condemnation and was blasted by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon as “offensively anti-Islamic”. Wilders, the leader of the far right Freedom Party, had earlier called for banning the Muslim holy book described it as “fascist.” Wilders claimed the court’s decision marked a “black day” and infringed on his freedom of expression.

But the appeals court stressed that a criminal prosecution and possible conviction would not conflict with Wilders’ right to freedom of expression.

“Statements which create hate and grief made by politicians, taking their special responsibility into consideration, are not permitted according to European standards either.” The Labour Party, a member of the ruling coalition, welcomed a chance for the courts to make a definitive ruling in “this polarizing debate”. The prosecutor’s office in Amsterdam said an indictment detailing charges of hate speech would be drawn up as soon as possible. “The court of appeal ruled that the case be brought before the district in Amsterdam,” said spokesman Otto van der Bijl.

“We would like to do it within a year.” The court’s decision was welcomed by Muslims, who make up one million of the Netherlands’s 16 million population. “We are positive that this will contribute to a more respectful tone to the public debate,” Nasr Joemann, the secretary general of the umbrella body of Muslim organizations in the Netherlands, told AFP.

“We are part of Dutch society and we want to be treated respectfully.”

The Hague, Netherlands: A Moroccan immigrant was appointed as mayor of Rotterdam, the Netherlands’ second largest city, in a move hailed as a significant step for the integration of minorities in the European Union nation. Ahmed Aboutaleb, who has dual Dutch-Moroccan citizenship, is the first Moroccan-born immigrant to be appointed a Dutch mayor. Accepting his new position, Aboutaleb immediately signaled he would work to tackle tensions between the city’s historically white Christian population and its growing Islamic immigrant community.

“There are no more jobs for life. Money can evaporate, churches disappear, mosques appear,” he said. “We must not make light of these feelings of fear and insecurity. I certainly won’t,” he said.
Aboutaleb, a 47-year-old former journalist, resigned as deputy minister for social affairs in Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende’s government to take over in Rotterdam, which with 585,000 people has the largest proportion of immigrants of any major Dutch city.

With tensions soaring and anger toward the city’s large Moroccan and Turkish immigrant populations rising, Aboutaleb went to one of the city’s most prominent mosques with a blunt message for worshippers: integrate or leave.

In the Name of God the Compassionate and the Merciful

To the King of Saudi Arabia Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud

“Peace be unto you and so may the mercy of Allah and His blessings”

As you well know, in the past many days, the innocent and defenseless people of Gaza have been victimized by the savage and horrific attacks of uncivilized Zionists. While under full aerial, ground, and naval blockade they have had to endure the heaviest bombardments and are going through the most difficult of times.

Women, children, the elderly and ordinary civilians are being slaughtered in their homeland. The scenes of cruelty and violence that are being played out in Gaza tear every free man’s heart apart, and set it afire.

Aggressive powers that claim to be the upholders of democracy and human rights, have armed Zionist assassins to the teeth and have established this forged regime for the sole purpose of committing crimes, abuse, and occupation; not only do they support its actions but also use their power over international organizations to buy this regime time to carry out such massacres.
Their actions are not far from expectation but it is unfortunate to see a number of Islamic and Arabic governments in the region condone this unprecedented genocide with their silence and smiles of satisfaction.

These governments are waiting to see the heroic resistance of a defenseless nation, God forbid, fall to the savagery and repression of the occupiers.

It is common knowledge that no future awaits the Zionist regime; its actions today show its despair, as it clings to its existence in the region.

As all free men and nations have raised their voices in protest of the Zionist regime and the atrocities it is committing in Gaza, it is expected of you as the Saudi Arabian King and the Custodian of the Two Holy Places, i.e Makkah and Medina, to break your silence on the catastrophic events and the massacre taking place in Gaza and take a clear stance on the murder of your children, who are dear to the Islamic Ummah.

I trust that your stance will shatter the remaining hopes of the corrupt powers of the world to sow discord in the world of Islam.

I pray to God for the victory of free nations and the brave resistance in Gaza, and I look to Him for the annihilation of oppressors such as the Zionist regime.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Smokers in the Kingdom will have to pay an increased premium for their health insurance policies, Health Minister Hamad Al-Manie said while spelling out a series of measures to be undertaken by his ministry to discourage smoking. The minister has directed insurance companies to categorize between smokers and non-smokers, and to impose an additional premium for smokers since they fall in a high-risk class. Smoking was the main cause of 3.38 million deaths worldwide, including 13,544 in Saudi Arabia, last year. Smoking is expected to kill 500 million people by 2030, predicted a joint report issued by the World Health Organization and the World Bank in 2000. Al-Manie said his ministry would not entertain any business transactions from tobacco companies in future. “We have instructed the purchasing, supplies and maintenance departments in the ministry not to accept quotations for the supply of products and services from such companies,” he added. Under the new rule, companies engaged in selling tobacco or cigarettes, and individuals who are board members of such companies will be prohibited from registering as contractors with the Ministry of Health.

“The companies will not be given medical licenses to operate as the ministry’s contractors,” the minister said. “According to the minister’s directives, we are working out a set of new rules to combat smoking in the Kingdom,” said Ibrahim Sulayman Al-Musaidteer, director general of the Legal Department in the Ministry of Health. Al-Musaidteer said despite increasing awareness about the harmful effects of smoking, many continue to smoke. “It is the ministry’s duty to look after both the interests of smokers and non-smokers who become victims of second-hand smoke,” he said.
It is estimated that 35 to 40 percent of the people in the Kingdom above the age of 15 smoke. Around 24 percent of male students between the ages of 13 to 15 and eight percent of girl students smoke.

The Council of Ministers is currently drafting a new law to combat smoking in public and in workplaces. The bill will impose a SR200 fine on people who smoke in public. The Kingdom tops the list of tobacco importers, according to 2007 statistics. Iran is placed second, followed by Jordan, Turkey, Morocco and Egypt.

A Brisbane radio station may have to explain why it should keep its licence after an announcer was accused of making anti-Islamic comments on air. Former Victorian police officer, now 4BC drive-time announcer, Michael Smith called for Muslim women who wear a hijab in public to be fined for offensive behaviour. He made the remarks on-air and on the 4BC website, saying: “Any reasonable person would find this offensive.” Islamic Council of Queensland president Suliman Sabdia said Smith’s remarks amounted to “a clear case of intolerance”. Under the Commercial Radio Code of Practice, a licensee must not broadcast a program likely to incite hatred against or vilify any person or group on the basis of age, ethnicity, nationality, race, gender, sexual preference, religion, or disability. Christine Donnelly from the Australian Communications and Media Authority said Smith’s comments could be a breach of the Code of Practice. 4BC general manager David McDonald said Smith’s remarks were not intended to be anti-religion or anti-Muslim.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has demanded an apology from an Islamic cleric who declared marital rape “impossible”.

Melbourne’s self-styled Islamic cleric Samir Abu Hamza has told his male followers they can force their wives to have sex and hit them if they are disobedient. Rudd said the views were completely indefensible and inconsistent with both Australian and mainstream Muslim values. He called on the cleric to repudiate these views and apologise.

“Under no circumstances is sexual violence permissible or acceptable in Australia - under no circumstances,” Rudd said. “Under no circumstances are other forms of violence, physical violence, acceptable towards women in Australia nor are they acceptable in my view to main stream Muslim teachings. “ Australia will not tolerate these sort of remarks. They don’t belong in modern Australia, and he should stand up, repudiate them and apologise.” In a recorded lecture entitled, “The Keys to a Successful Marriage”, delivered to his male worshippers, but now broadcast on the internet and viewed by several thousand people, Hamza said Islamic law allowed men to hit their wives as a last resort, but they were not to make them bleed or become bruised. He said under Islamic law, it was a man’s right to demand sex from his wife whenever he felt like it. “If the husband was to ask her for a sexual relationship and she is preparing the bread on the stove she must leave it and come and respond to her husband, she must respond,” Hamza told his male followers on the video sermon.

He then mocked Australia’s criminal laws, which required consent for sex to be lawful. “In this country if the husband wants to sleep with his wife and she does not want to and she hasn’t got a sickness or whatever, there is nothing wrong with her she just does not feel like it, and he ends up sleeping with her by force . . . it is known to be as rape,” Hamza said. “Amazing, how can a person rape his wife?” Hamza runs the Islamic Information and Services Network of Australasia on Sydney Rd, Coburg, which offers spiritual advice, prayer facilities and boxing, karate and gym classes for Muslims.