Posted on 03/03/2002 12:13:39 PM PST by BrooklynGOP
CORDOBA, Spain - A conference of Muslim women ended Sunday with a call to end to what it called negative stereotypes in the West. Security guards scuffled with some participants who tried to pray in a nearby church that was once an ancient mosque.
But a key focus of the meeting of Muslim scholars, activists and professionals from Spain, Morocco, Sudan and Iran, among other countries, was how Muslim women who wear veils or are covered from head to toe by a gown are perceived in the West.
"We have to stop thinking of Muslim women in a superficial way, as women who wear a veil, are subjugated to their husbands and have no opinion, and focus on other aspects such as how we live together peacefully no matter what our origin is," said Azra Sljivo, a Muslim from Bosnia who now lives in Spain.
Organizers said the conference was intended to begin a debate on the many obstacles Muslim women face and see if participants can learn from each other on ways to overcome such challenges.
The communique agreed that the hijab "is a voluntary expression and a fundamental right of a woman's image." Participants had called for the right of women to wear it with a religious meaning, and for acceptance of Muslim women who choose not to cover their heads.
Meanwhile, a group of Muslims attending the Congress insisted on praying in the Mosque of Cordoba, famed as the third largest in area in the world and converted into a Roman Catholic cathedral in the 13th century. Muslims are now forbidden from praying there.
When about 20 men and women kneeled to pray, a scuffle broke out with security guards who tried to prevent them.
The guards also tried to stop photographers and reporters, ordering them to switch off their microphones.
Fatima Nasri of Morocco said praying at the former mezquita, the Spanish word for mosque, was not a provocation but "a long-awaited act."
"It has been very emotional for us to pray where our ancestors did, Nasri said. "Behind the ban there is a deep-seated fear that people will return to Islam," she said. Cordoba was part of an Islamic caliphate from the 8th to the 11th centuries.
The gathering in Cordoba was organized by a Madrid-based Muslim women's human right group, An-Nisa. Last year's gathering was canceled because of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
Since then, there has been renewed interest in Islam the wide attention given to the war in Afghanistan has brought many facets of Islamic society into focus in Western countries.
The next Muslim Women's Congress was scheduled for next year in the Spanish island of Mallorca.
They want me to stop calling them dirt grubbing dogs and rabid animals?
Pigs masquerading as human beings?
The solution is simple.
Stop acting like them!
;-)
Note: Turks are not Arabs. I don't even think they like them either.
Welcome to FR.
Imperialism as religion.
It is an even more politically correct, left-wing country now than even Sweden, no, even Holland.It is run by a bunch of left-wing clymers that defy description ... able to perform the anatomically difficult task of kissing the arses of those who are slicing their throats.
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