Bangladesh lowers minimum age for marriage to accord more closely with Islamic law

But remember, kiddies, Islamic law is not Islamic.Where’s George Harrison when you need him? We need a Bangladesh II, organised to raise international awareness and fund relief efforts for victims of jihad. This time, let’s identify the cause of the misery: Islamic supremacism and sharia.In Bangladesh, an estimated 65 per cent of girls are married before the age of 18.

“Bangladesh lowers minimum age for marriage to accord more closely with Sharia,” By Robert Spencer Oct 14, 2014 -

Few things are more abundantly attested in Islamic law than the permissibility of child marriage. Islamic tradition records that Muhammad’s favorite wife, Aisha, was six when Muhammad wedded her and nine when he consummated the marriage:

“The Prophet wrote the (marriage contract) with Aisha while she was six years old and consummated his marriage with her while she was nine years old and she remained with him for nine years (i.e. till his death)” (Bukhari 7.62.88).

Another tradition has Aisha herself recount the scene:

The Prophet engaged me when I was a girl of six (years). We went to Medina and stayed at the home of Bani-al-Harith bin Khazraj. Then I got ill and my hair fell down. Later on my hair grew (again) and my mother, Um Ruman, came to me while I was playing in a swing with some of my girl friends. She called me, and I went to her, not knowing what she wanted to do to me. She caught me by the hand and made me stand at the door of the house. I was breathless then, and when my breathing became Allright, she took some water and rubbed my face and head with it. Then she took me into the house. There in the house I saw some Ansari women who said, “Best wishes and Allah”s Blessing and a good luck.” Then she entrusted me to them and they prepared me (for the marriage). Unexpectedly Allah”s Apostle came to me in the forenoon and my mother handed me over to him, and at that time I was a girl of nine years of age. (Bukhari 5.58.234).

Muhammad was at this time fifty-four years old.

Marrying young girls was not all that unusual for its time, but because in Islam Muhammad is the supreme example of conduct (cf. Qur’an 33:21), he is considered exemplary in this unto today. And so in April 2011, the Bangladesh Mufti Fazlul Haque Amini declared that those trying to pass a law banning child marriage in that country were putting Muhammad in a bad light: “Banning child marriage will cause challenging the marriage of the holy prophet of Islam, [putting] the moral character of the prophet into controversy and challenge.” He added a threat: “Islam permits child marriage and it will not be tolerated if any ruler will ever try to touch this issue in the name of giving more rights to women.” The Mufti said that 200,000 jihadists were ready to sacrifice their lives for any law restricting child marriage.

Likewise the influential website Islamonline.com in December 2010 justified child marriage by invoking not only Muhammad’s example, but the Qur’an as well:

The Noble Qur’an has also mentioned the waiting period [i.e. for a divorced wife to remarry] for the wife who has not yet menstruated, saying: “And those who no longer expect menstruation among your women, if you doubt, then their period is three months, and [also for] those who have not menstruated” [Qur'an 65:4]. Since this is not negated later, we can take from this verse that it is permissible to have sexual intercourse with a prepubescent girl. The Qur’an is not like the books of jurisprudence which mention what the implications of things are, even if they are prohibited. It is true that the prophet entered into a marriage contract with A’isha when she was six years old, however he did not have sex with her until she was nine years old, according to al-Bukhari.

Other countries make Muhammad’s example the basis of their laws regarding the legal marriageable age for girls. Article 1041 of the Civil Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran states that girls can be engaged before the age of nine, and married at nine: “Marriage before puberty (nine full lunar years for girls) is prohibited. Marriage contracted before reaching puberty with the permission of the guardian is valid provided that the interests of the ward are duly observed.”

According to Amir Taheri in The Spirit of Allah: Khomeini and the Islamic Revolution (pp. 90-91), Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini himself married a ten-year-old girl when he was twenty-eight. Khomeini called marriage to a prepubescent girl “a divine blessing,” and advised the faithful to give their own daughters away accordingly: “Do your best to ensure that your daughters do not see their first blood in your house.” When he took power in Iran, he lowered the legal marriageable age of girls to nine, in accord with Muhammad’s example.

“Proposed law on “child brides” bows to conservative Islam,” by Sumon Corraya, Asia News, October 14, 2014:

Dhaka (AsiaNews) – The Bangladeshi government is “considering” lowering the minimum age for marriage (16 years for women, 18 for men), to please conservative Islam. In a country where 80% of girls are already married long before they reach adulthood, according to human rights activists and social scientists, this decision would be “dangerous” because it seems to “let go the idea that phenomena such as child brides is acceptable” because “acknowledged” by the state.

The current law sets the minimum age at 18 years for women and 21 for men and has always been considered a tool to change the prevailing mentality. Under shari’a, Islam – which in Bangladesh is the state religion, practiced by 89.9% of the population – a girl can get married as soon as reaches puberty.

The proposed change has caused a sensation among the more “independent” newspapers, particularly because it is being out forward by the government, led by the Awami League : historically this was a secular party, whose founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, led the nation to independence from Pakistan (1971). Some newspapers have also conducted a “campaign” against this proposal, bringing the testimonies of students and young people who had defended their classmates when they were in danger of being given too soon in marriage.

The AL could be attempting to “appease” the more “conservative” Islamic component for the population, which – in the last year and a half – the radical Islamic party Jamaat-e-Islami has repeatedly appealed to, labeling the government “atheistic” and contrary to the true principles of Islam. This is also why, according to some commentators note, the government recently decided to declare Ramadan a public holiday….

- See more at: http://pamelageller.com/2014/10/bangladesh-lowers-minimum-age-for-marriage-to-accord-more-closely-with-islamic-law.html/#sthash.Qqm370q7.dpuf

Boston park rangers stabbed - Video

A homeless man stabbed two Boston park rangers. In the video, you can see both rangers being stabbed multiple times.

The wounded rangers were identified as 46-year-old Albert Hurd, a 22-year veteran, and James Lunnin, 25, who joined the rangers this year. Authorities said the older ranger is in the intensive care unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, where his condition has been upgraded to serious. Lunnin was treated and released

The full news story can be found here

Attacker: Bodio Hutchinson

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New York McDonald’s fires 8-year worker after she buys food to firefighters

A McDonald’s restaurant in New York fired a worker after 8 years because she “opened a whole bee’s nest” by buying food for firefighters after they put out a house fire, she said this week.

Heather Levia, 23, told WIVB that she was working as a manager when the group of firefighters came in and ordered 23 breakfast sand

wiches after fighting the blaze. It was a cold day so Levia covered the $83 cost of the meals herself.

“Just because I appreciate everything they do,” she said.

When more firefighters came in and ordered $70 worth of food, Levia wanted to cover those meals too. But she is a single mother with twins who is working two jobs to put herself through nursing school.

So, she called her boss, thinking he might pay for the meals because he often gives food to police officers.

After her boss said no, she called corporate and was told no again. Eventually, Levia and her coworkers came up with enough cash to cover the meals themselves.

The firefighters later contacted the store management when they learned that the meals had been paid for by employees. That’s when Levia’s boss accused her of opening “a whole bee’s nest,” she said.

The store fired Levia during her next shift for swearing at a superior, which she denied.

“I did say this is ‘freaking’ ridiculous. But it was not implied to anybody,” she explained to WIVB.

McDonald’s restaurant owner Tom Meyers told the station that he would not talk about the dismissal “[o]ut of respect for Ms. Levia and her privacy.”

“The Meyers Organization has always valued the employees who serve our customers every day. We likewise continue to be an ardent supporter of our police and fire departments, along with other first responders. They are always welcome in our restaurants, and we will continue to support them in the future,” Meyers said in a statement.

“We are aware that certain allegations have been made concerning the reasons for Heather Levia’s termination,” he added. “Out of respect for Ms. Levia and her privacy, it would not be appropriate to comment in detail on the reasons she is no longer employed by our organization. Still, it should be pointed out that the allegations are absolutely not true. We would never penalize an employee for showing appropriate gratitude for the work of our firefighters.”

As for Levia, she expected to spend the next few weeks looking for a job. She has already received several offers.