British mosques ban women from Facebook, traveling alone or wearing trousers

British mosques ban women from Facebook, traveling alone or wearing trousers
Published time: 6 May, 2016 17:00
Mosques across the UK have ordered Muslim women to stop wearing trousers, leaving the house without permission from their husbands, or using Facebook in new controversial rules published by various Muslim organizations and associations.
The documents caused anger among anti-extremism campaigners and moderate Muslims who called the rules “outdated” and “totally wrong” interpretations of Islam, according to a report from The Times.  

The Green Lane Masjid in Birmingham banned women from wearing trousers - even in front of their husbands as they show “details of her body”, while Blackburn’s Central Mosque said women should delete their Facebook accounts to protect them against “evil.”

The mosque cited a quote from the Koran about the “sin” of alcohol to justify its stance against the “vicious network” of Facebook.

“Facebook has opened the doors for sin. Muslim girls and women alike have become prey to this evil,” it reads.

READ MORE: British mosques ‘explain faith’ in #VisitMyMosque day

The Blackburn Muslim Association, which is an affiliate of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), an umbrella body representing 500 mosques, even went as far as to say Muslim women should not leave the house without their husband’s permission and should be accompanied with a male chaperone, also known as a “mahram”.

Similarly, a mufti from Croydon Mosque and Islamic Centre said: “A woman should seek her husband’s permission when leaving the house and should not do so without his knowledge.”

The same mosque called abortion “a great sin” and described modelling as “immoral acts”.

International development secretary Justine Greening said the travel ban on women was “disgraceful” and urged Blackburn Muslim Association to withdraw the comments.

Female scholar at the Islamic Sharia Council in London, Khola Hasan, said the patriarchal views were setting a bad example.

READ MORE: Britain’s first female-led mosque will not segregate men & women

“These views are clearly outdated and reflect a patriarchal, narrow world view that is out of step with the rest of the Muslim world,” she told the paper. “Some men of an older generation may find these freedoms hard to stomach, but they will have to accept them.”

An MCB spokeswoman said it “does not dictate jurisprudential positions to its affiliates” in response to the organization being linked to the mosques.

READ MORE: Britain First demo gets fly-kicked & flees London mosque after provoking scuffles (VIDEO)

https://www.rt.com/uk/342116-british-mosques-ban-women-/


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Saudi Arabia isn't ready to allow women to drive cars, a powerful prince has announced, dismissing suggestions that the ban would soon be lifted.
“So far the society is not persuaded [by women driving] – and it has negative influence – but we stress that it is up to the Saudi society,” said Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has been granted unprecedented powers under the rule of his father.

The prince added that it is not “a religious issue as much as it is an issue that relates to the community itself that either accepts it or refuses it,” Gulf News reported.

Read more
People sit inside a cafe in the Abraj al Beit towers near the Grand Mosque in Mecca. © Ali Jarekji Saudi Starbucks refuses to serve women after ‘gender wall’ collapse
Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where women are not allowed to drive. Although there are no formal written laws barring women from operating vehicles, they are not issued licenses, making it illegal for them to drive.

Other restrictions faced by women in the ultra-conservative country include being forced to wear loose-fitting gowns and being barred from going anywhere without a chaperone. They cannot open bank accounts, work certain jobs, attend university, undergo medical procedures, or travel outside the country without permission of a male guardian – usually their husband or a relative.

Some of the country's most prominent clerics have cautioned against females driving, issuing religious decrees against it. Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh recently said that allowing women to drive was a “dangerous matter that should not be permitted.” In 2013, Sheikh Saleh al-Lohaidan said that females risked damaging their ovaries and producing children with clinical problems if they drove.

Campaigns lashing out at the ban were launched following the 2011 Arab Spring, which included women filming themselves driving. However, authorities quickly squashed the movement. The protest was reignited in 2013, only to be quelled by the government once again.

Despite his unwillingness to lift the ban on driving, the deputy crown prince said earlier this month that “we believe women have rights in Islam that they've yet to obtain." He also stated that more women in the workforce could help boost the country's productivity.

https://www.rt.com/news/341260-saudi-arabia-women-drivers/