Moving past the hysteria the press caused about the issue, there are two points of contention I’d like to discuss.

In Saudi Arabia, women aren’t allowed to be in the company of men who aren’t their direct relatives. Any such vile, loose woman who dare utter a word to, or mingle with the ‘superior sex’ could face up to years of imprisonment and public flogging.
I don’t condone this. In fact, I absolutely abhor the extremities the Commission to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice (the religious police) go to to impose Quranic law.

Yet, the Saudi Arabian princess and her ‘lover,’ to whom she was unmarried (shock, horror) got away unscathed in such a high profile incident. Had this been anyone else, their fate would have been radically different.

Understandable, you might say, that these events took place on foreign soil is why no-body’s making a hue and cry about it back home. Also, one might argue that as a princess, she has diplomatic immunity against such cases.

Which brings me to the second point.

The somewhat archaic, or at least irrelevant interpretation of Sharia law postulates that everyone is equal – not that equality is archaic, but that the institution of theocracy is.
If that were the case, then Sharia law would apply to everyone, regardless of social status.
This begs the question as to whether the Saudi Arabian royalty, who are the self proclaimed keepers of the Islamic faith actually follow the law which adheres so strictly to that very faith.

She shouldn’t have to (and probably won’t) meet with the same fate that several others before her have. I believe no-one should. What I’m contesting, though, is the fallacy of the system that allows some to get away with things that often others are killed for.

I’m personally very excited about him being a part of the team.

HIP HOP ARTIST ‘DEEN’ JOINS FORCES WITH MIDEAST TUNES

DUBAI – Los Angeles based hip hop artist Nasir Akmal, better known as Deen, has been appointed the Director of Music Operations for Mideast Tunes.

Deen will be responsible for liaising with record companies and overseeing the production process of future collaborative projects with artists across the Middle East who are featured on the website (www.mideastunes.com).

“Deen has shown an incredible amount of commitment and passion towards expanding the influence of the underground music scene in the Middle East,” says Esra’a al Shafei, Director of Mideast Youth and sister-site Mideast Tunes. “He is an invaluable member to our team and we are pleased to have him come on board.”

Deen, who started making music ever since he was 12 years old, joins Mideast Tunes after having experience in the music industry for several years in LA. His goal has always been to help bridge the gap between the Middle East and the Western World from a musical standpoint.

“Mideast Tunes embodies everything that I’ve already set forth in doing and it only makes sense for me to unite with like minded individuals in order to expand the good in the region as a whole and to aid in promoting the wealth of talent that is present here,” commented Deen.

“As Director of Music Operations, I hope to take the solid foundation that has already been established by the founders and I look to elevate Mideast Tunes to mainstream global recognition. My goal is to make it the “go-to site” for everyone around the world looking to connect with Middle Eastern talent and music. We’re going to make history. Let’s go!”

CONTACT
Uzma Atcha
PR Executive, Mideast Tunes
uzma@mideastyouth.com
Twitter: @mideastunes
Facebook: Mideastunes

Mind you, I’m not going to even mention the extremist terrorists for that will only open up a larger, more complicated can of worms. I’m not talking about the portrayal of Muslims by “Western media” – I’m talking about its practice by us in the Muslim world.

I want to address the idiosyncrasies (to put it lightly) of how our religion is followed today.

Several Muslims have low thresholds for taking offense. The very mention of the word “cartoon” jump starts ones defenses and it’s easy to get sucked into the “me against the world” mindset, yet oddly enough, the same doesn’t apply the other way around.

We’re so caught up in looking for ways to prove that we’re the ones being victimised, that we often forget that we do the same to others. Just the simple use of the word “Western” typecasts a whole hemisphere to the extent that is now is used synonymously with “Arab/Muslim Hating Zionists,” or something to that effect.

With regards to being one sided, currently our religion tips the scales in the favour of men. Islam, which I shall now refer to as HISlam for the sake of differentiation, is so blatant in its demarcation of sexes – all in the name of “respect.”

What’s funny is that I’ll only find Muslim men contesting this point.

The first time I went to Madinah, which was two years ago for Hajj, I arrived at the airport excited about the spiritual journey I was about to embark on. There were two queues for passport control, one for men and one for women, with the men’s line twice the length of ours. By the time the female members of my family and I had reached the counter, the man sitting there took one look at us and shouted, “WEN MAHRAM?” (where is your male guardian?) and refused to even acknowledge our presence until our “male guardian” came to “assist” us.

I went again last week for Umrah, and was faced with the same arrogance. At passport control this time there were no separate queues (perhaps because it was not Hajj…?) and we were able to stand together as a family. That was until we reached the counter. One officer looked at our passports while another one asked in broken English, “Are you family?” “Yes, we are.” “Women, go.” “Go where?” At which point, he yelled. “GO FROM HERE,” as he pointed to baggage claim. We gesticulated towards our passports which were being screened. “GO!” Walking a few meters ahead, we were stopped by another security guard who had witnessed the incident. “Wen passport?” he asked…

I feel that mosques, particularly the Masjid-ul-Nabuwi and the Haram Sharif, are sexist too. Barring the fact that women are already at a disadvantage sartorially, what with having to wear layer upon layer for modesty reasons when temperatures in May peaking 41 degrees Celsius, men can stroll in covered from their navel to their knee. Women’s prayer areas are often considerably smaller than the men’s, which means that praying in the hot sun, barefoot on the white marble floors is the only option if you come even a few minutes after hearing the call to prayer. This wasn’t so much of a problem in Madinah as it was in Makkah, where I found HISlam to be rife.

According to Sunnah (teachings of the Prophet), women are supposed to pray behind men in the mosque for several reasons, one of the most obvious being that when you prostrate during prayer, women don’t want a dirty old man staring at their behind. That suits me fine. What irks me though, is how women’s areas are almost caged at the back of the mosque. High brass shelves form a barricade, preventing women from even seeing the Kaba’a. The areas are so small and crowded, that I often got pushed out of my own saf (row) while praying, while the men’s area remained virtually empty. Not only that, come prayer time, the security guards who handle crowds won’t even allow women to walk through an empty section if it hasn’t been barricaded, while men, on the other hand, were free to walk into our section mid-prayer, mid prostration, mid scarf adjustment – you name it. A misstep into the wrong direction would lead to a flurry of badged individuals yelling “HAJJI, SIRRI!”

Makkah in itself is a paradox.

It’s impossible to believe that one of the most revered places on Earth according to all Muslims is in reality one of the most polluted areas I have visited. Mind you, my family hails from the filthy streets of Karachi, so I would like to think that my standards of all things disgusting are pretty low.

It’s strange for a religion that preaches purity (both physically and spiritually) have several of its followers ignoring basic tenets of hygiene. You can’t pray if you’re in the least bit dirty. The room in which you pray in must be clean, as well.

When I was in Mina two years ago, I was disgusted with the poor standards of cleanliness. Litter, sewage and disease plagued the area. Was this, in fact “Holy?” I get it – there are 3.3 million pilgrims all in the same area so it’s hard to keep up with the sheer volume of worshippers. On the night we spent in Muzdalifah, I remember having to sleep in a pile of other people’s trash. “Purification is half of faith”* so why was this being ignored when everything else is so stringently followed?

I understand that pilgrims from the world over congregate into the Holy City to perform their sacred rites, and that by allowing so, Makkah falls prey to opening its door to all sorts of people; good and bad. You’ll find the professional vagrants outside the doors of the Haram trying to guilt you into giving money for Sadqah (charity/blessings). All of this just highlights the inconsistencies of our religion.

I should reiterate that I am a Muslim, but it is disheartening to see people using the faith as a means to operate on double standards.

*[Note: Reported by Muslim, Ahmad and Al-Tirmidhi on the authority of Abi Malik Al-Ash'ari, Sahih Al- Jami' Al-Saghir (No.3957)]

We felt this is a really nice way to explore images from the region, instead of just limiting it to our own membership. Hopefully, we will be adding more photo-sharing services in the future.

Tell us what you think!

Screenshot of the gallery application

In the last month almost 10 netizens and bloggers have been arrested worldwide.

The March 18 Movement aims to shed light on these cases and calls for free speech on the web.

Hmm, sounds familiar.

A little too familiar.

You see, I like to think of history as a broken record (or corrupted .mp3 file for all you new-age punks), often repeating itself every few years. A remix of the original song, if you will. Kind of like Depeche Mode’s Enjoy The Silence, only the song and its 300+ covers never get old. Nor does Dave Gahan’s voice; but I digress.

Who’s to say that the US will not launch a preemptive attack in order to curb the growing threat of Al Qaeda? Did they not do that in 2003 when they claimed Iraq had weapons of mass destruction? (Just ask Paul O’Neill). Maybe Obama’s Administration is conditioning us to accept a preemptive attack on Iran.

I found a how-to list online on how to make your own remixes, and it serves as a nifty little guide for most countries who want to legitimise their interference in other state’s affairs.

(I suggest you read the original article first so that you understand the context)

• Select the right track enemy. This is very important, since this is will affect your standing in the political arena. You’ll need, at the very least, a powerful ally to back you up.
• Try to identify what you will contribute to the track your justification. This can range from national security threats to a threat to world peace or some hoopla like that. You will also have to plan on whether you’re targeting small areas or aiming for total destruction. Think about what you’d like to take back with you from that country – what you like best, what you will keep intact and what you will change.

Words, like violence…

• Dissect the track Plan of Attack. Will there be an ultimatum, or will you be a sneaky little bastard and creep up on them? In either case, after the initial incursion take the resources you have to work with, and do most of the attacking up front.

Break the silence…


• Experiment! Nuke ‘em. Rob them of all their natural resources. Napalm, biological weapons, and more. This is your chance to have fun.

Come crashing in, into my little world…


• Reconstruct. In order to make sure that everyone doesn’t think you’re one big ol’ bully, you have to give something back to the country. This could be in the form of allowing the locals to fend for themselves slowly, giving them a chance to wean themselves out of your military occupancy (Vietnam), or it could be something even more taxing, like establishing democracy in a previously autocratic state.

Painful to me…

• Export your creation aka Operation GTFO . When you’re happy with your “progress,” you should export, or as many locals would fondly say “GET THE FUCK OUT.” .

Pierce right through me…

• Distribute your remix. This is where you tell everyone how awesome you are and how awesome the country you left in ruins now is, thanks to your overwhelming use of awesome force. Awesome.

Congratulations, if the whole world didn’t hate you already, they hate you now. Didn’t your mother ever tell you to leave well enough alone?