Monday, December 31, 2007

Benazir Bhutto: First Muslim Female Head of State


Two-times former Pakistan Prime Minister was assassinated a few days ago by unknown figures. Those behind the attack might be from within the government, a rival politician or even Al Qaeda-linked groups. Benazir Bhutto was a popular but not a perfect leader. Her ability to become PM twice is sign of her popularity. She could never dispel the rumours of her corruption and there is no smoke without fire especially in such countries where power, nepotism and wealth are rolled into one package. But what is inspiring about her despite all the controversy surrounding her and her family, Benazir Bhutto was the first female Muslim leader of a Muslim country and that is something to command respect. Her violent end only makes her a bigger political legend.



Obituary: Benazir Bhutto
BBC 27 December 2007

Benazir Bhutto followed her father into politics, and both of them died because of it - he was executed in 1979, she fell victim to an apparent suicide bomb attack.

Her two brothers also suffered violent deaths.

Like the Nehru-Gandhi family in India, the Bhuttos of Pakistan are one of the world's most famous political dynasties. Benazir's father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was prime minister of Pakistan in the early 1970s.

His government was one of the few in the 30 years following independence that was not run by the army.

Born in 1953 in the province of Sindh and educated at Harvard and Oxford, Ms Bhutto gained credibility from her father's high profile, even though she was a reluctant convert to politics.

She was twice prime minister of Pakistan, from 1988 to 1990, and from 1993 to 1996.

Stubbornness

On both occasions she was dismissed from office by the president for alleged corruption.

The dismissals typified her volatile political career, which was characterised by numerous peaks and troughs. At the height of her popularity - shortly after her first election - she was one of the most high-profile women leaders in the world.

Young and glamorous, she successfully portrayed herself as a refreshing contrast to the overwhelmingly male-dominated political establishment.

But after her second fall from power, her name came to be seen by some as synonymous with corruption and bad governance.

The determination and stubbornness for which Ms Bhutto was renowned was first seen after her father was imprisoned by Gen Zia ul-Haq in 1977, following a military coup. Two years later he was executed after a much criticised trial on charges of conspiring to murder a political opponent.

Ms Bhutto was imprisoned just before her father's death and spent most of her five-year jail term in solitary confinement. She described the conditions as extremely hard.

During stints out of prison for medical treatment, Ms Bhutto set up a Pakistan People's Party office in London, and began a campaign against General Zia.

She returned to Pakistan in 1986, attracting huge crowds to political rallies.

After Gen Zia died in an explosion on board his aircraft in 1988, she became one of the first democratically elected female prime ministers in an Islamic country.

Corruption charges

During both her stints in power, the role of Ms Bhutto's husband, Asif Zardari, proved highly controversial.

He played a prominent role in both her administrations, and has been accused by various Pakistani governments of stealing millions of dollars from state coffers - charges he denies, as did Ms Bhutto herself.

Many commentators argued that the downfall of Ms Bhutto's government was accelerated by the alleged greed of her husband.

None of about 18 corruption and criminal cases against Mr Zardari has been proved in court after 10 years. But he served at least eight years in jail.

He was freed on bail in 2004, amid accusations that the charges against him were weak and going nowhere.

Ms Bhutto also steadfastly denied all the corruption charges against her, which she said were politically motivated.

She faced corruption charges in at least five cases, all without a conviction, until amnestied in October 2007.

She was convicted in 1999 for failing to appear in court, but the Supreme Court later overturned that judgement.

Soon after the conviction, audiotapes of conversations between the judge and some top aides of then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif were discovered that showed that the judge had been under pressure to convict.

Ms Bhutto left Pakistan in 1999 to live abroad, but questions about her and her husband's wealth continued to dog her.

She appealed against a conviction in the Swiss courts for money-laundering.

During her years outside Pakistan, Ms Bhutto lived with her three children in Dubai, where she was joined by her husband after he was freed in 2004.

She was a regular visitor to Western capitals, delivering lectures at universities and think-tanks and meeting government officials.

Army mistrust

Ms Bhutto returned to Pakistan on 18 October 2007 after President Musharraf signed into law an ordinance granting her and others an amnesty from corruption charges.

Observers said the military regime saw her as a natural ally in its efforts to isolate religious forces and their surrogate militants.

She declined a government offer to let her party head the national government after the 2002 elections, in which the party received the largest number of votes.

In the months before her death, she had emerged again as a strong contender for power.

Some in Pakistan believe her secret talks with the military regime amounted to betrayal of democratic forces as these talks shored up President Musharraf's grip on the country.

Others said such talks indicated that the military might at long last be getting over its decades-old mistrust of Ms Bhutto and her party, and interpreted it as a good omen for democracy.

Western powers saw in her a popular leader with liberal leanings who could bring much needed legitimacy to Mr Musharraf's role in the "war against terror".

Unhappy family

Benazir Bhutto was the last remaining bearer of her late father's political legacy.

Her brother, Murtaza - who was once expected to play the role of party leader - fled to the then-communist Afghanistan after his father's fall.

From there, and various Middle Eastern capitals, he mounted a campaign against Pakistan's military government with a militant group called al-Zulfikar.

He won elections from exile in 1993 and became a provincial legislator, returning home soon afterwards, only to be shot dead under mysterious circumstances in 1996.

Benazir's other brother, Shahnawaz - also politically active but in less violent ways than Murtaza - was found dead in his French Riviera apartment in 1985.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Mahram needed for Singapore Women Performing the Haj

"He added that the challenge for Singapore pilgrims is that to perform the Haj, Singapore has to fulfil all requirements set by the Saudi authorities."

As Singapore becomes more modernised, some practices are harder to understand for some. Female pilgrims from Singapore now need a male family member to accompany them on the haj. On the other hand, a woman with no mahram has no obligation to perform the Haj and she should be patient for the time when a mahram can travel with her. Singapore enjoyed an exemption before for "unaccompanied" women because of MUIS but the Saudis are enforcing it strictly now. Which is sensible from their policy standpoint - how can there be double standards especially on haj issues. Besides, didn't the Prophet (pbuh) say

No woman should travel except with a mahram.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (1862)




Unaccompanied women under 45 years old cannot perform Haj
By Hisham Hasim, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 09 December 2007 2035 hrs


SINGAPORE: From next year, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) will no longer accept applications from women who are under the age of 45 and wish to perform the Haj without a close male relative.

This was confirmed by Minister in-Charge of Muslim Affairs, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, at a Haj send-off ceremony at the Changi Airport on Sunday morning.

MUIS has clarified that Haj authorities in Saudi Arabia have all along required women pilgrims below 45 years of age to be accompanied by their male relative – called Mahram – when performing the Haj so that the young women can be properly taken care of.

Dr Yaacob said although Singapore has assured Saudi authorities that MUIS will take care of each Singapore pilgrim, Saudi authorities did not accept this.

He added that the challenge for Singapore pilgrims is that to perform the Haj, Singapore has to fulfil all requirements set by the Saudi authorities.

Previously, pilgrims from Singapore had been exempted from this ruling after MUIS appealed on behalf of a small number of women from Singapore.

But last year, Saudi authorities decided not to exempt all 70 women applicants from Singapore.

And this year, all 56 women applicants were similarly unsuccessful. But five of them eventually managed to get their male relatives to accompany them.

MUIS said for the 51 of them, they had earlier been informed that their application to perform the Haj would be subject to the approval of the Saudi Haj authorities.

Haj agents had also been requested not to collect any payment from these applicants until consent had been obtained from the Saudi Haj authorities.

MUIS has asked the unsuccessful applicants to try and arrange for a male relative to accompany them or to postpone their pilgrimage.

Every year, women make up about 40 percent of pilgrims from Singapore.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Muslims Against Terror

A recent study on race and religion in Singapore was timely in checking the sentiments we harbour against “The Others”. In a survey of tolerance against other religions, Islam was listed as the least well received which probably due to the association with current global terrorism and the reluctance of the local moderate Muslims to speak up against the extremist teachings.

It’s a bit disheartening to know that the availability of various community engagement programmes does not eradicate the stigma associated with being a Muslim in Singapore. Making a clear distinction between the radical and moderate Muslim is baffling for a Muslim, what else to a non-Muslim.

In London recently, more than 130 Muslim scholars called for peace with the Christians but in Singapore we have yet to see the combined efforts by the religious leaders in addressing others misgivings on Islam. I personally believe that if all the local Muslim scholars, imams, community leaders and moderate Muslims publicly declared their support for anti-terrorism, more faith will be place on the local Muslims. In the era of global terrorism, there are more avenues spreading radical views of Islam than countering them. Local Muslims community should collaborate intensively in countering the radical ideology and address the non-Muslims doubts.

Besides the Muslim Converts’ Association, there are no other avenues for a non-Muslim to learn about Islam. While the Muslims are discussing the correct interpretations of Islam, the non-Muslims are left out and therefore, the element of distrust and of associating Islam & terrorism is still rampant and spreading within the non-Muslims.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Muslim Orientations and Malay Identity

Agreeing with Syed Farid Alatas that there may be many orientations among Muslims during his recent talk at NUS, I wondered was it even necessary to question as to what constitutes a progressive orientation of Islam to define the Malay Identity.

There is a problem in assuming that all Malays are Muslims although we in Singapore see that the majority are. Lest we forget that some Malays embrace other religions such as Christianity and Buddhism, let me remind you that Muslim and Malay are separate entities which should not be intertwined in any discussions. Associating both is a big mistake which the Muslim scholars in Singapore overlooked most of the time. Moreover, Muslim culture and Malay culture is not the same.

I often get the curious nudge from my friends of other religions on the tattoos done on some Malays. Doesn’t Islam prohibit tattooing or even altering part of their body for aesthetic purposes? The answer is my friends; those are the atheists who have long forgone the teachings of Islam and non-practising ones who indicated “Islam” as a religion in whatever forms they filled up. They are the ones that bring the ill reputation to Islam.

It’s very disheartening to see the Muslim youth of today, I repeat Muslim & not Malay, forgetting their religious background and indulging in whatever Haraam activities they could participate in. It’s even more disheartening to see Muslims scholars, the ones who are supposed to guide and uphold the correct views of Islam, getting tight-lipped whenever someone bashes the Muslim community in Singapore.

In an area where there’s rampant globalisation and inter-racial marriages, pushing the Malays into a scholarly defined mould is no longer acceptable. It has been proven that the Malays are of largely mixed descent ranging from Javanese to Indians. Well, to keep my point short, if anyone were to discuss on Malay issues just keep to the track on the racial part and not interlinked it with Islam.

Digressing, I was blog-hopping and came across an entry on Syed Farid Alatas’s comments that “Muslims in Singapore don’t take a critical approach to their holy texts and history”. I was wondering where on earth the blog writer got the story that “the Prophet visited and had sex with all his wives in a few hours”. In fact this is my first time coming across such allegations and my dear friends, yes we Muslims do discuss the hadis and whatever holy texts available to study the past and present context. Reading that blog entry, I wasn’t sure if that idea came from the blog writer or Syed Farid Alatas. If it’s from the blog writer and knowing that he’s from different religion make up for all his dubiousness. I would suggest he attend any talks provided by the Darul Arqam to witness the lively discussions on hadis and sunnah.

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Free Burma