Arab world governments "have dealt in a variety of ways with ... blogging, and the aim has always been to undermine the experiment", according to Libyan blogger Mohammed Sahli.
By Jamel Arfaoui for Magharebia in Tunis – 16/12/09
Libyan bloggers recently hit the keyboards to tackle issues including the power of blogs in the Arab world, gender equality, reforms and democratization.
The author of the blog "elekomm" wonders if the members of Libyan society are "living in the second Jahiliyah (the pre-Islamic Age of Ignorance)", writing that his compatriots' habits are "marred by many aspects of backwardness and Jahiliyah which contradict religion, especially when it comes to the marriage of women, and their right to education and inheritance".
"In some families, relatives are still giving girls in marriage without even consulting them," adds the blogger. "Moreover, there are some people who deny education to their girls, and more importantly, deny them the right to inheritance."
According to the "elekomm" post, the right to inheritance is ordered by God and laid out in the "An-Nisa" (Women) section of the Quran as "… and women shall have a portion of what the parents and the near relatives leave, whether there is little or much of it".
"In spite of that," notes the post, "the phenomenon of denying women the right to inheritance does exist. There are several ways to prevent them from having their legitimate right, …if the bequeather of the inheritance is still alive, and has a daughter at the age of marriage. In this case, he would make her choose between marrying the cousin whom she rejects, or being deprived of her inheritance if she marries a person from outside the tribe."
"Unfortunately, this phenomenon is prevalent in our Libyan society, especially in small remote areas that look at the woman as someone who brings in outsiders to take possession of some of the tribe's property," laments the blogger. "Therefore, they insist on consanguineous marriages and deprive their girls of inheritance in cases where they marry strangers. This is because they don't observe the rules of religion. Everyone is familiar with the first Jahiliyah; are we, then, in second Jahiliyah?"
Change is on other bloggers minds, as well. "There's no question that we need reform", writes blogger Ramadan Jarbou, adding that "In order to remedy the previous setbacks, the reform must be comprehensive, but also gradual."
"This shall not be confined to outlining the qualities of people who would be charged with making the reform, or holding the people who had a role in disrupting the process of development accountable," continues the blogger. "Rather, it will also include the enforcement of law; a requirement for verified transparency; provision of means of success in terms of communication with citizens (who are mostly poverty-stricken) by budgeting a fund for combating poverty and meeting the requirements of the needy (who are too many); provision of opportunity for unrestricted expression of the feelings in people's chests; a reconsideration of fears that govern decisions on security matters; and putting an end to ... the hegemony of those who claim 'allegiance' in all matters, large or small, especially as some of them have joined the convoy of reform, so that they may not ruin it for us again".
"All these measures necessitate expanding citizens' participation in sharing the responsibility and forming a clearer picture for public opinion through civil society organizations that conform to international standards, and which would be allowed to practice control and urge compliance with basic human rights [standards]," concludes Jarbou.
Meanwhile, blogger Mohammed Sahli takes issue with the accepted wisdom that blogs are a way to spread democracy. "With the spread of blogs in the Arab world, the axiom that these blogs will bring democracy to the Arab countries also appeared! However, six years after the launch of Arab blogs, I believe that this axiom is completely untrue. It's democracy that makes blogs, rather than blogs that make democracy."
The governments of Arab countries "have dealt in a variety of ways with the culture of blogging, and the aim has always been to undermine the experiment", according to Sahli. "Tunisia and some other countries dealt with the issue from angle of censorship, blocking many of the websites and curbing their potential impact domestically. ... However, it is difficult to confirm whether the restrictions imposed on bloggers are because of their blogging activities or because of their links with human rights groups. Morocco, meanwhile, just completely ignored the blogs on purpose; something that reduced the ability of blogs to spread and prevented their issues from reaching the press and citizens."
"The result is that some [bloggers] came to behave as if they were tilting at windmills, and there has been no one to be influenced by them or even listen to them," adds the blogger. "Some other bloggers chose the policy of the ostrich, burying themselves in issues that have nothing to do with citizens' needs. Some of them just focused on themselves, writing the details of their days, while some others started writing about issues of technology and began relaying and translating English blogs."
The disconsolate blogger is not without hope, however, adding "[T]his doesn't mean that there aren't some distinguished cases in the Arab blogosphere".
Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/blog/2009/12/16/feature-01.
By Jamel Arfaoui for Magharebia in Tunis – 16/12/09
Libyan bloggers recently hit the keyboards to tackle issues including the power of blogs in the Arab world, gender equality, reforms and democratization.
The author of the blog "elekomm" wonders if the members of Libyan society are "living in the second Jahiliyah (the pre-Islamic Age of Ignorance)", writing that his compatriots' habits are "marred by many aspects of backwardness and Jahiliyah which contradict religion, especially when it comes to the marriage of women, and their right to education and inheritance".
"In some families, relatives are still giving girls in marriage without even consulting them," adds the blogger. "Moreover, there are some people who deny education to their girls, and more importantly, deny them the right to inheritance."
According to the "elekomm" post, the right to inheritance is ordered by God and laid out in the "An-Nisa" (Women) section of the Quran as "… and women shall have a portion of what the parents and the near relatives leave, whether there is little or much of it".
"In spite of that," notes the post, "the phenomenon of denying women the right to inheritance does exist. There are several ways to prevent them from having their legitimate right, …if the bequeather of the inheritance is still alive, and has a daughter at the age of marriage. In this case, he would make her choose between marrying the cousin whom she rejects, or being deprived of her inheritance if she marries a person from outside the tribe."
"Unfortunately, this phenomenon is prevalent in our Libyan society, especially in small remote areas that look at the woman as someone who brings in outsiders to take possession of some of the tribe's property," laments the blogger. "Therefore, they insist on consanguineous marriages and deprive their girls of inheritance in cases where they marry strangers. This is because they don't observe the rules of religion. Everyone is familiar with the first Jahiliyah; are we, then, in second Jahiliyah?"
Change is on other bloggers minds, as well. "There's no question that we need reform", writes blogger Ramadan Jarbou, adding that "In order to remedy the previous setbacks, the reform must be comprehensive, but also gradual."
"This shall not be confined to outlining the qualities of people who would be charged with making the reform, or holding the people who had a role in disrupting the process of development accountable," continues the blogger. "Rather, it will also include the enforcement of law; a requirement for verified transparency; provision of means of success in terms of communication with citizens (who are mostly poverty-stricken) by budgeting a fund for combating poverty and meeting the requirements of the needy (who are too many); provision of opportunity for unrestricted expression of the feelings in people's chests; a reconsideration of fears that govern decisions on security matters; and putting an end to ... the hegemony of those who claim 'allegiance' in all matters, large or small, especially as some of them have joined the convoy of reform, so that they may not ruin it for us again".
"All these measures necessitate expanding citizens' participation in sharing the responsibility and forming a clearer picture for public opinion through civil society organizations that conform to international standards, and which would be allowed to practice control and urge compliance with basic human rights [standards]," concludes Jarbou.
Meanwhile, blogger Mohammed Sahli takes issue with the accepted wisdom that blogs are a way to spread democracy. "With the spread of blogs in the Arab world, the axiom that these blogs will bring democracy to the Arab countries also appeared! However, six years after the launch of Arab blogs, I believe that this axiom is completely untrue. It's democracy that makes blogs, rather than blogs that make democracy."
The governments of Arab countries "have dealt in a variety of ways with the culture of blogging, and the aim has always been to undermine the experiment", according to Sahli. "Tunisia and some other countries dealt with the issue from angle of censorship, blocking many of the websites and curbing their potential impact domestically. ... However, it is difficult to confirm whether the restrictions imposed on bloggers are because of their blogging activities or because of their links with human rights groups. Morocco, meanwhile, just completely ignored the blogs on purpose; something that reduced the ability of blogs to spread and prevented their issues from reaching the press and citizens."
"The result is that some [bloggers] came to behave as if they were tilting at windmills, and there has been no one to be influenced by them or even listen to them," adds the blogger. "Some other bloggers chose the policy of the ostrich, burying themselves in issues that have nothing to do with citizens' needs. Some of them just focused on themselves, writing the details of their days, while some others started writing about issues of technology and began relaying and translating English blogs."
The disconsolate blogger is not without hope, however, adding "[T]his doesn't mean that there aren't some distinguished cases in the Arab blogosphere".
Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/blog/2009/12/16/feature-01.
Salamalikum. The aim of writing the post (Pre-Islamic traditions now against women) is an attempt to get rid of traditions that prevent giving a woman her right and at the same time avoiding that she succumbs to the calls of the West and others, including decadence and use of women like a display of merchandise. Thank you for following up. My greetings.
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