« Islamic Army in Iraq Executes US Christian Hostage |
| Indonesia: Ahmadiyya Sect Told To Renounce Its Claims To Be Muslim »
March 10, 2006
Malaysia: Mahathir's Daughter Condemns Muslim Nation's Treatment Of Its Women
The daughter of former prime minister of Mahathir Mohamad, Marina Mahathir (pictured) is no stranger to controversy. She has spoken about issues such as women's rights and also on AIDS. A Muslim herself, she is a prominent social activist.
According to the Telegraph, an article she has written in Friday's edition of Malaysia's Star newspaper has condemned the current role of women under Malaysia's current climate. She says that they are facing so much discrimination that they are undergoing a "growing form of apartheid".
"Non-Muslim Malaysian women have benefited from more progressive laws over the years while the opposite has happened for Muslim women," she writes.
She highlights that polygamy is allowed for Muslim men, but not for non-Muslims, and how under Islamic law, the father is the main guardian of the offspring of a marriage. For non-Muslims, who are under the jurisdiction of secular law, the guardianship of children from a marriage is shared between the husband and wife.
"Only in Malaysia are Muslim women regressing. In every other Muslim country in the world, women have been gaining rights, not losing them," she writes.
The Telegraph notes that the article was regarded as a hot potato, and its printing was delayed for two days. The paper stated at one point that the relevant editor was "too busy" to deal with it.
We have reported earlier on the controversial constitution of Malaysia, where Islamic Law always trumps secular law, and how no living Muslim has ever been allowed to change faith, or apostasise. The only person ever allowed to abandon Islam was a woman who had already died.
Article 121 (1A) of Malaysia's constitution rules that the Islamic courts are not to be affected by decisions in a civil court. This clause states that civil courts have no jurisdiction on "any matter" which already falls within the scope of the Syariah or Islamic courts. This ruling openly discriminates against non-Muslims.
But for women, the recent Islamic Family Law (Federal Territories) bill which was passed on December 22, 2005, discriminated further against them, giving them less rights in issues of polygamy and divorce. It allows husbands to freeze the assets of his wives and their children in divorce cases.
Though as a federal law, it was temporarily put on hold on January 12 versions of this law are already being enacted by the Sharia courts in most of Malaysia's states. And where sharia law is applied, no high court ruling is allowed to interfere.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at March 10, 2006 11:24 PM
Comments
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)