Islamic Parallel Justice
In many German cities, Muslim arbiters, or "peace judges," are settling criminal cases before law enforcement can bring the cases to court. That is undermining Germany's rule of law, according to a new book published by Econ Verlag. German law expert and former public TV investigative journalist Joachim Wagner presented a new book on Monday in which he speaks of a parallel justice system among the Muslim minority that undermines the rule of law in Germany.The 236-page book, titled "Judges Without Law: Islamic Parallel Justice Endangers Our Rule of Law," looks into the problems the German judiciary faces when investigating crimes committed within Muslim communities in Germany.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15353693,00.html
Taming of Religion
A recent blizzard of liberal columns has framed the debate over American Islam as if it were no more than the most recent stage in the glorious history of our religious tolerance. I pause to take part in a thought experiment, and to ask myself: Am I in favor of the untrammeled "free exercise of religion"? No, I am not. The taming and domestication of religion is one of the unceasing chores of civilization. Those who pretend that we can skip this stage in the present case are deluding themselves and asking for trouble not just in the future but in the immediate present.
"Woman is a safe deposit box"
The old Pakistani maulawi fiddled with the combination and hauled on the iron door of the a giant British-made safe. Then he placed the 100 rupee bill inside and locked the vault. "You see?" he said. "This is like a woman. She must be protected and looked after, because she is more precious than us." I was supposed to be impressed by the high status which he accorded women. What struck me, of course, was that this high status appeared to accord women an exclusively economic value, and that this might lie behind the whole misogynistic system which has led us to the curse of "honour" crimes. Tariq Rahman, Professor of South Asian Studies in Islamabad, wrote that "since a woman is, as it were, a treasury or a vault where men's "honour" is stored away, she is their property. She is to be guarded, of course, but only as a box of treasure is guarded – not for itself but for what it contains." "Honour" crimes are set in traditions. "Religious men are very important in this matter," Jordanian lawyer Ahmed Najdawi says. "After the French Revolution, the West broke the stranglehold that religious people had on society. Unfortunately, here, we have not managed to get rid of the hold of religious men."
Girl shaves head to be readmitted to school
15-year-old Cennet Doğanay was banned from classes for wearing a headscarf, as it went against the new French law banning religious signs in schools. She was only allowed into school after shaving her head. Cennet's mother said her daughter had tried everything: "a beret, a bandana, but they still refused to let her into class." Cennet told journalists: "I respect the law but the law does not respect me."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3708444.stm
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