Ten years after the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) received his first revelation, he made a miraculous night journey from Mecca to Jerusalem and to the Seven Heavens on a white flying horse called Al-Buraq El-Sharif. During his interval in Jerusalem, the Prophet stopped to pray at the rock (now covered by the golden Dome), and was given the commandment to pray five times a day.

Today, Muslims throughout the World use Mecca as the direction of prayers (Qibla). However, for 16½ months following the Prophet Mohammad’s miraculous journey, Jerusalem was the Qibla.

During Prophet Mohammad’s life (pbuh), he instructed Muslims to visit not only the mosque where they lived in Mecca, but also the ‘Farthest mosque’ from them which lay 2000 kilometers north, in Jerusalem. Hence the name Al-Masjid El-Aqsa, or Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the second oldest mosque in Islam after the Ka’ba in Mecca, and is third in holiness and importance after the mosques in Mecca and Medina.

The rectangular Al-Aqsa Mosque is 144,000 square meters, 35 acres, or 1/6 of the entire area within the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem as it stands today. It is also called Al-Haram El-Sharif (the Nobel Sanctuary). The Dome of the Chain marks the exact central point of this Mosque.

Al-Aqsa Mosque holds up to 400,000 worshippers at one time, bearing in mind that the space required for each person is roughly 0.8m x 0.5m to enable the submissive kneeling in prayer. On Fridays at noon, during the fasting month of Ramadan, and particularly the 27th of Ramadan (Lailat El-Qadr), the area is filled to virtual capacity.

There are 11 gates to Al-Aqsa Mosque: 7 of which are open. Of the 4 closed gates, one is the Golden Gate.

Indications of any Muslim mosque the World over is the thin spiral minaret which always immediately adjoins the Mosque wall. Minarets are used to call Muslims to prayer five times a day, seven days a week throughout the year. At Al-Aqsa Mosque, there are four minarets: 3 square and 1 cylindrical from the Mamluk period.

There are no minarets on the Eastern side of Al-Aqsa Mosque because there were no inhabitants and thus no-one to call to prayer. After all, it was not till the late nineteenth century that Jerusalem began to expand outside the city walls.

Al-Aqsa is made up of 3 parts, narrow arcades run along one end, a huge atrium and a covered area at the south.

Running alongside the arcades are several family burial sites (maqamat). These persons contributed to the schools and charities in the vicinity of the Mosque run by the Supreme Muslim Council.

The atrium of Al-Aqsa Mosque is an oasis of peace and tranquillity inside a walled city of hustle and bustle. It has trees, lawns, fountains, the beautiful Shrine of the Dome of the Rock, small domed rooms and structures which are rooms for scholars, sheikhs and religious court offices, and a museum.

Before Muslims pray, they are required to go through a ritual ablution. There are manuablution areas, but the Cup is one of the oldest and most photographed fountains on the Mosque grounds.

In the center of the southern end of the atrium is the covered area of Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Mihrab (niche showing direction of prayer) of the Mosque is located here. Al-Aqsa building (recognizable by its lead dome), was originally built nearly 1300 years ago by Muslim Caliph Al-Walid the son of AbdulMalek bin Marwan in 709 AD.

Throughout its history, Al-Aqsa was subject to successive restoration work due to damages caused by earthquakes, etc. The building now has the central nave and 6 aisles (the original covered area had 14 aisles).

The covered area of Al-Aqsa Mosque is a very simple, but large and imposing, rectangular structure. It has an area of 3500 square meters, and holds up to 5000 Muslims at prayer at one time. The Qibla facing south towards Mecca and the Rock within the Dome of the Rock are on the same central line.

There are 7 large gates to enter the Mosque’s covered area, as well as 1 single door on both the eastern and western sides. There are over 100 clear and colored glass windows, 14 Arches, 27 Italian Marble columns on the eastern side, and the equivalent number of stone piers on the western side.

The outer dome was covered with Lead in 1985 replacing the Aluminum dome of 1964 in order to restore it to its original cover. The inner dome, decorated with stucco work, dates back to the 13th century.

In accordance with Muslim tradition, men and women are permitted to pray within the covered area but in different sections, 3 times a day. The remaining two daily prayers as well as Friday noon prayers, Al-Aqsa is for men only. The covered part of Al-Aqsa Mosque was converted to a Knight’s Hostel in part, and Chapel in part during the Crusader period. Restoration of Islamic atmosphere was done by Salahuddin Al-Ayyoubi.

In 1969, after 2 years of Israeli occupation, a fanatic Jew set fire to the covered area for the first time in its history. Repairing the damage from the fire still continues. Among the numerous sad losses was the beautiful handmade pulpit from Aleppo. It was a gift from Salahuddin Al-Ayyoubi and stood near the Mihrab (niche) in Al-Aqsa Mosque. This Pulpit, considered one of the most beautiful in the World, was made of over 10,000 interlocking pieces of Cedar and other wood, Ivory and mother of pearl affixed without a drop of glue or a single nail. A remaining section of this Pulpit is among the various artifacts on display at the Islamic Museum, in the southern corner of the Noble Sanctuary.

The restoration of the subterranean Marwani Musallah (praying place) was completed in 1996. It is 4000 square meters, and was tiled in a brief 2 months entirely by volunteers. The Marwani Musallah is mistakenly believed by some to be the site of King Solomon’s stables, however its construction is actually entirely 8th century Umayyad.

In the middle of the 19th century Al-Aqsa Mosque was opened for Non-Muslim visitors. For Non-Muslims, the Mosque is open during fixed times on weekday mornings and afternoons on payment of an entrance fees. The Mosque is closed to Non-Muslims on Fridays throughout the year and all Muslim holidays.

Although in the past, everyone entered Al-Aqsa Mosque without shoes, now Muslims and tourists alike are permitted to enter Al-Aqsa with shoes. Shoes however, have to be removed to enter the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa’s enclosed area as a sign of cleanliness and respect. Cameras likewise, are permitted in Al-Aqsa Mosque, but not inside any building. Visitors should ensure they are modestly dressed with arms and legs covered. Ladies should have a scarf to cover their hair. While on holy ground, intimate or personal contact must be avoided.

As I walk through the narrow alleyways and enchanting shops of the Old City, the violence of the rest of the country seems very far away.  The streets of the Old City and downtown Damascus are, at first glance, much the same as I remember from my previous visits.  There is certainly no general sense of heightened security. The streets are crowded throughout the city and here in Bab Touma square, the Christian quarter, I hear an Arabic language version of “Silent Night” on public loudspeakers.

But the troubles in the rest of Syria have nevertheless had their effect on Damascus.  The tourist industry has almost completely disappeared, taking with them an important part of Syria’s economy.   And, along with the tourists, much of the international community has left as well, some of them for diplomatic symbolism, others out of concern for their safety.

But even though the tourists have almost all gone, the streets of Old and downtown Damascus are far from empty.  The locals seem to have taken advantage of the tourists’ absence to reclaim their ancient hometown.  The streets are thronged with the Old City’s notoriously nerve-wracking intermingling of pedestrians and cars.  People here seem to be enjoying life.  Or is it perhaps some forced merriment?  I can’t tell.

*                   *                       *

I’m staying in what is surely by far the most beautiful hotel room I’ve ever been in.  The ceiling of my room is entirely painted with charming rural scenes; every piece of furniture, from the tiles of the shower to the soap dish– everything is a work of art.  I feel like I’m staying overnight in a museum.  If Caravaggio had created hotel rooms for extra income, this is undoubtedly what he would have done.

My room had been, many years ago, an archbishop’s residence and used to rent for $300 Euros a night which in the Syrian economy has a purchasing power of perhaps three or times what it that would be in New York. But because of the almost total absence of tourists, it’s been offered to me for a miniscule $60 a night, the same rate I’m used to paying for the modest hotel where I usually stay.  I feel a twinge of guilt for getting the room and the services of the staff and delicious breakfast buffet so cheaply, but if I weren’t here, the hotel would be empty.

Later, sitting in my room alone with my TV and the flickering images of the BBC and Al Jazeera, the TV and the lights suddenly go dark.  In a heartbeat, the entire hotel is dark except for a few pale rays of light filtering through the windows from the full moon above.

My heart skips a beat.  Could the troubles of the rest of Syria have reached Damascus at last?  A dark corner of my imagination immediately springs into action:  could insurgents have bombed a power station outside the city?  Or here in Damascus?  Or what?

For several minutes I sit in complete darkness. I had heard that blackouts had occasionally been happening in Damascus but having heard that fact hadn’t prepared me for the unnerving effect a blackout has.  It is eerily reminiscent of blackouts I experienced in pre-war Baghdad a decade ago during the sanctions.

Then, just as suddenly, the lights come back on and the television resumes its solemn narration of the world’s woes.  I breathe a sigh of relief.  So, I tell myself, I have nothing to worry about after all.  Besides, I am due to catch a plane back to New York early the next morning.  I really need to catch a few hours of sleep.

Finally, after enough television news, I turn off the TV and the lights.  But even though I’m tired, I lay awake for a long while longer before finally drifting off into an uneasy sleep.  Just before I do I say a prayer for the people of Syria.  My guess is that for them, the troubles and blackouts are far from over.

Mel Lehman is the director of the non-profit organization Common Humanity which works to build understanding, respect and compassion with the Arab and Muslim world, through the power of art and beauty.

We know that despite the trillions of dollars that have gone into national defense, security systems, wars and reparations, on any given Sunday, not only Sunday, September 11, 2011, or on any day for that matter, something can happen that is even more horrific.

9/11 announced the existence of new global realities, which Americans had not noticed.  But this changed world dropped into our living rooms on 9/11.  The 10 years since have been our coping with the healing process.  The fear mongers have used this opportunity to threaten our liberties in ways we do not even yet imagine.

But America was forged out of the chaos when “things were a mess.”  Every generation has faced its defining mess, and its own need for regeneration.  The most obvious ones have been wars, but financial recessions and depressions have their own messy characteristics, as have the fights for rights by so many of our citizens.  It is up to us to see our country through the mess.

The instinct of many has been to grasp for fundamentalism, both religious and political, with the hope they could put things back the way they were.  And they have been willing to give up a lot to do that.  The reality is that the only way out is through, and we need to work as hard as our fathers and mothers to keep the essence of what has been earned with great sacrifice throughout the history of the United States.

There is a force at work in the world.  Call it the urge to freedom for the human spirit.  The United States of America has long been an embodiment of the success of that force, and most Americans have equally assumed that it was a done deal. We were wrong!  We have been proud of our national accomplishments.  We did not notice that most of mankind does not enjoy anything near our level of freedom.  We thought of that as their problem.

At the same time, others have perceived that the United States has pursued international policies that have aided those who would prevent their countrymen from realizing the potential of that same human spirit of freedom.  As such, the United States has been an impediment to those natural goals for many others in the world.

We need only refer to the “Arab Spring” to know that the human spirit is ultimately indomitable, and inconsistent American policies may cause us more harm than good in the perceptions and behaviors of the rest of the world.

It seems to me that what 9/11 tells us emphatically is that human kind must gradually fuse into one unity—perhaps not a perfect one, but one with respect for one another’s differences.  The American Founding Fathers knew that viscerally, adopting the Latin phrase “E Pluribus Unum” as our national motto.  It means “From Many, One.”

We have seen the power of that simple idea as it has evolved in North America over the past 400 years.  A country filled with different perspectives of race, religion, political philosophy, financial skills, national origins and cultural backgrounds shows that we have the power to shape our own destiny.  The United States has evolved because of the power of our Diversity–adopting good ideas from any group, while rejecting bad ideas that sometimes arise within every group.

Our result has brought prosperity to a vast number of Americans, while leaving much of the rest of the world living without electricity.  We will need to change our perspective on mankind as a whole if our grandchildren will live in peace.

9/11 and the queasiness we still feel about what may come next proves that our destiny and the destiny of mankind are irrevocably linked.  If there is a nod we must give to the day, let it be that it points to that inevitable link.

Many of the comments to this Facebook status were very supportive, but a number backed up the father in trying to persuade my friend to back down.  I got to thinking about this in the context of the development of the human species, who we are and where we’re going.

Recently we were watching “On Becoming Human,” a NOVA series on our PBS station.   They were talking about “Turkana Boy”, who was an 8 year old Homo Erectus boy when he died next to a muddy spring about 2 million years ago.  None of us are descended from him.  His body was quickly entombed in mud, allowing his remains to be preserved until discovered in 1984 near Lake Turkana in Kenya.  His bones taught scientists important facts about our origins in “The Great Rift Valley” of East Africa.

Part of the story was about these early ancestors developing fire followed by society and culture by crowding around the campfire to cook their food.  It struck me that we are all descended from survivors (as are all living beings great and small) from long before that time.  Part of that survival was learning what makes us survive from our elders.  Hence, we can consider the argument for the validity of a father’s advice to his son two million years later.

BUT, we have dramatically changed our perceptions of ourselves, our societies, and humanity, particularly from the last half of the 20th Century until now.  Our communications means allow information that took millennia to transmit across the world to now cut across societies in seconds.  The question becomes, “What can and should we do with this overwhelming volume of information, much of which may conflict with and contradict our societies as we have known them?”

Over millions of years, it was the duty of our elders to pass their information through to the next generation, thereby giving them the necessary tools for survival.  We are the living evidence of their success.  Their advice has always been conservative, tried and true.  Giving up a tool of any kind means giving up its power over you, and people in power rarely give it up easily, so changes of the rules have always been hard to achieve.   Whether it is a prohibition of women driving or a prohibition of using your cell phone at the age of 13, the parent’s role was always pointing toward a conservative strategy for survival.

But now we get entirely unfiltered information in seconds rather than centuries or millennia.  It comes directly from our television or our computer, instead of our father or mother.  This fundamental shift in how we learn survival skills will inevitably continue to create huge disruptions in our societies for centuries to come.  But the meaning comes in what we do with the information.

It is important to respect our parents for doing what they and all of our ancestors have done for millions of years.  They taught us to be survivors.  BUT, it is important to learn from others and see where humanity can be improved and make those improvements, regardless of what the traditions say.

This change will surely be more sudden and harder than any shift in human behavior since the dawn of humanity, but it is essential if our children will develop the wisdom to live in peace.  In their lifetimes they can expect disruptions from shortages of water, food, electricity and petroleum, not to mention the disruptions caused by racial bigotry, religious intolerance and many others.

To our young people I say, “Be a little understanding of your parents, and their role in teaching you the skills to survive and thrive.”  To our parents I say, “Be a little more understanding of the world as it is and will be, rather than as it was.  Your children and their children will need the education and experience to live in a world that is much different from your world, and they will carry the future with them.”

Doron Rosenblum, writing in todays Ha’aretz newspaper provides evidence of the damage done, especially for Israeli Jews, when Israeliness and Jewishness are separated.  Claiming the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has forgotten what it means to be Israeli; Rosenblum assails the PM for thinking as a Jew, but not as an Israeli.

Rosenblum’s argument is a tendentious, if artful, overstatement.  Parts certainly ring true, but so does the fact that Rosenbloom pulls a reverse Netanyahu — separating Israeli from Jewish in the opposite direction.

At the end of the piece, Rosneblum observes:

Even his past in the elite Sayeret Matkal unit and the way he (Netanyahu) uses various images of “carrying the stretcher” have always sounded somewhat affected and fake when they come from him, like the kind of fond memories of an American Jewish participant on the Taglit-Birthright Israel program.

But hat is merely an external expression of something much deeper. It is not that someone has for gotten “what it is to be a Jew” – it is Netanyahu who has forgotten what it is to be an Israeli, and it is doubtful if he ever really knew.

Rosenblum’s words reflect that the author’s “Israeli-ness” cannot integrate the genuineness of the experience of a PM who was raised largely in the US — talk about a shtetl (Medieval Jewish ghetto) mentality! Ultimately, the piece demonstrates both the real challenge which the author (unwittingly) points out — the dis-integration of Jewishness and Israeliness — and the fact that the problem exists on both the right and the left.

As those familiar with my blogging and production activity on BridgesTV know, I have long been a stalwart defender of Muslims in general.  Indeed, I believe that our Diversity is the fundamental strength of the United States, and I see that most Muslim Americans have been valuable citizens in their communities, so I do not change that view here.  But this piece is not about that!  This is also not about what is wrong with Christianity and non-Muslim elements of our society—and those are plenty.

I have long been disappointed that most Muslims will not speak up about what is wrong (or what is right, for that matter) with their religion, their various cultures, and the state of the Muslim world.  What the rest of us hear, if we hear much of anything, is something like CAIR’s daily e-mail pitty-party about how Muslims are put upon by the rest of us.  We hear little or nothing about how Muslims have identified the things that are wrong in Muslim society, and what Muslims are doing about it.

Of course, this begs the question of the “Arab Spring,” where Muslims in their millions have stood up and died saying, “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore.”  But what has happened?  Very little!  The Egyptians still haven’t had an election, though they managed to rid themselves of a cancer ridden despot.  There’s a new leader in Tunisia, but is anyone happy?  Saudi women still have no rights, including the very basic right to drive (the only women in the world so forbidden by their (who? government? religion? what?), even in Muslim countries), and only one Saudi seems to have appeared for the March 11, 2011 protests, Khaled Al-Johani, and he seems to be among the “disappeared.”  A few women have driven their cars in defiance, but after a trip to the police station escorted by the Saudi version of the Spanish Inquisition (a long abolished institution in the West), the chorus seems to be, “We love our King!”  The list goes on.

Muslims seem to be slinking back into their customary reticence.  Looking into the situation from the outside, a famous quote suddenly came to mind, “If you can’t say anything good about something, don’t say anything.”  Is that it?

I am sorry to say that Muslim silence is not doing you any good.  Take a look at American society.  We are a noisy, debating, cantankerous lot, BUT through this process of noisy debate, like tempering steel, we have created the strongest country in the world.  Many of you reading this came here because you knew you would have a better life here, rather than living under dictators masquerading as theocrats, and you have.

As I hear more and more really atrocious things about Muslim societies, I am finding it harder and harder to be one of your few defenders.  My wife and I watched a Netflix documentary called “Afghan Star” recently, and I wanted to be sick to my stomach.  The 3 women, who managed to participate in what passed for a talent contest in Afghanistan, were threatened with death and even worse, multiple times.  What are we non-Muslims supposed to think when Muslims themselves will not put a stop to such behavior?

What are non-Muslims supposed to think when we hear more and more egregious stories of punishments meted out under Shariah law?  What are non-Muslims supposed to think when even Muslim Americans will not speak out loudly against honor killings, repression of women, and incest in Muslim communities?  What kind of people are you? Really!

Yes, the incident in Oslo, that seems to have taken over 90 lives, was very tragic!  BUT, I fear that the blowback is going to be even worse with terrible impact on Muslim communities in the West, unless you are willing to take on the very troublesome issues in Muslim communities globally, and get them fixed.  Yes, various attacks on bona fide Muslim religious beliefs and Muslims themselves are reprehensible.  But if you think many more Muslims ought to be permitted to come into Western societies, you’ll need to prove to my fellow Westerners that you are civilized.  Much of what we see in Muslim countries was rejected by civilization in most of the world centuries ago.

When a woman is killed in an honor killing, is this what Allah wants?  When Saudi women are not allowed to drive, is this what Allah wants?  If you think that, then why has Allah not punished the other 56 Muslim countries in the world, not to mention everyone else that takes women driving for granted?  When a woman is threatened with death for singing a song or dancing, is this what Allah wants?  If so, why does Allah allow women to dance in the rest of the world?  Why is belly dancing practically synonymous with major parts of Muslim societies?  Where is the punishment?  Looking objectively, I have to say that it is Muslim societies that are being punished for not modernizing, not the rest of humanity.  It sure looks like Allah is making things pretty unpleasant for lots of Muslims, while the rest of us enjoy a higher standard of living in Freedom.

You can complain all you like, but it seems to me that things are going to get worse and worse, unless Muslims are ready to stand up and speak out against the things that are wrong in Muslim societies.  I don’t need to give you the rest of the laundry list.  You already have it, I am sure.

In my heart, I know that there is much that is good about Islam and the people who practice it.  But you need better PR urgently, or it is evident that all of the Islamophobia that has been building up in the West for well over a decade will start causing very serious problems.  Changes need to be made and soon!

If you don’t have the courage to stand up against these wrongs, which are clearly evident to the rest of us, then don’t say anything, but remember this article when things get worse.  It seems that’s where things are heading unless you start to make the necessary changes.  Who will do the right thing, and start to get these problems solved?

I am building a community of people who are not afraid to speak their minds at http://archetypeinaction.com. I need more writers, who will sound off and demand the changes that are needed.  Write to me at skip@archetypeinaction.com.

Anchor: The fundamental purpose of the women protection act was (is) to provide women with the right to file cases on the basis of circumstantial and forensic evidence, making convictions of rape easier. Where is the obscenity in that?

Munawar Hasan: This bill has been part of law for years, how has that affected the rights of women in Pakistan? What is the one issue that can be pointed out as a success of this law?

Anchor: One blaringly obvious problem with the Hudood law was the need to present four witnesses in order to convict a rapist, failure to do so resulted in the arrest of the woman on charges of confession to adultery, that was the main issue.

Munawar Hasan: What is the problem in that?

Anchor: The problem is this sir, that according to the 2003 national commission status of women report 80 per cent women were forced to languish in jails because of inability to produce witnesses of their rape.

Munawar Hasan: The objective of Islam is to discourage such acts, no one can be shameless enough to commit such an act in the presence of four people. Making it impossible to prove such acts, therefore the whole idea is to discourage bringing such acts into public light. Discouraging it to the extent that the act is never quoted. If such a crime occurs and since there are no witnesses than both men and women are suppose to keep it under wraps and not discuss it in public.

Anchor: Sir, are you suggesting that a woman should stay silent after she is raped? That she should not report the crime?

Munawar Hasan: I am saying she should keep quite if she has no witnesses. If she has witnesses than she should present them.

Anchor: What kind of an argument is that? A woman is raped and she has to look for witnesses to prove the crime?

Munawar Hasan: Argue with the Quran and not me.

Anchor: I am not questioning the Quran, I am questioning your argument.

This is unbelievable. Why do extremist Islamists always make the poorest, most ignorant religious arguments?

In the Qur’an, four witnesses are required to prove zina (adultery), not rape. That is a key distinction, and the Qur’an is merciful, in that by requiring 4 witnesses, the standard for proving adultery is set so high as to be impossible. That is as it should be, since the penalty for adultery is so severe (100 lashes – the Qur’an does not prescribe stoning). But adultery is not rape. If you are raped, you did not commit adultery. Adultery is a category of illicit, but mutually consensual, sexual intercourse. Obviously in rape, the sexual intercourse is forced by one party upon the other without their consent – that is the very definition of rape.

In fact, centuries of Islamic jurists have established consensus that rape is not a category of adultery, but rather of hirabah (terrorism). Here is an excellent resource from MuslimAccess on rape in Islam by Uzma Mazhar – from which I am copying liberally:

During the time of the Prophet (saw) punishment was inflicted on the rapist on the solitary evidence of the woman who was raped by him. Wa’il ibn Hujr reports of an incident when a woman was raped. Later, when some people came by, she identified and accused the man of raping her. They seized him and brought him to Allah’s messenger, who said to the woman, “Go away, for Allâh has forgiven you,” but of the man who had raped her, he said, “Stone him to death.” (Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud)
[...]
Islamic legal scholars interpret rape as a crime in the category of Hiraba. In ‘Fiqh-us-Sunnah’, hiraba is described as: ‘a single person or group of people causing public disruption, killing, forcibly taking property or money, attacking or raping women (hatk al ‘arad), killing cattle, or disrupting agriculture.’

The famous jurist, Ibn Hazm, had the widest definition of hiraba, defining a hiraba offender as: ‘One who puts people in fear on the road, whether or not with a weapon, at night or day, in urban areas or in open spaces, in the palace of a caliph or a mosque, with or without accomplices, in the desert or in the village, in a large or small city, with one or more people… making people fear that they’ll be killed, or have money taken, or be raped (hatk al ‘arad)… whether the attackers are one or many.”

Al-Dasuqi held that if a person forced a woman to have sex, his actions would be deemed as committing hiraba. In addition, the Maliki judge Ibn ‘Arabi, relates a story in which a group was attacked and a woman in their party was raped. Responding to the argument that the crime did not constitute hiraba because no money was taken and no weapons used, Ibn ‘Arabi replied indignantly that “hiraba with the private parts” is much worse than hiraba involving the taking of money, and that anyone would rather be subjected to the latter than the former.

The crime of rape is classified not as a subcategory of ‘zina’ (consensual adultery), but rather as a separate crime of violence under hiraba. This classification is logical, as the “taking” is of the victim’s property (the rape victim’s sexual autonomy) by force. In Islam, sexual autonomy and pleasure is a fundamental right for both women and men (Ghazâlî); taking by force someone’s right to control the sexual activity of one’s body is thus a form of hiraba.

Rape as hiraba is a violent crime that uses sexual intercourse as a weapon. The focus in a hiraba prosecution is the accused rapist and his intent and physical actions, and not second-guessing the consent of the rape victim. Hiraba does not require four witnesses to prove the offense, circumstantial evidence, medical data and expert testimony form the evidence used to prosecute such crimes.

To summarize, rape is hirabah (terrorism), not zina (adultery) – punishment should be meted to the rapist, and the victim of rape should not be punished in any way. A statement of being raped is not a confession to adultery. All of this is not some modern reinterpretation on my part, but a robust, centuries-old consensus of all major schools of jurisprudence in Islam.

The transcript of the video above is via Sana Saleem at Dawn.com, who also makes the point that the 2006 debate about the Hudood Laws in Pakistan really laid bare the issue. She writes:

In 2006, a much-heated debate on the Hudood Laws revealed the anatomy of rape, conflicting legalities involving misinterpretations of Shariah Laws and the deeply engrained distorted public perceptions. For those who followed the debate, there should be no qualms in admitting that it made the inherent flaws in interpretations of the law and the systematic distortion of a society sensitive to violence and abuse evident.

Saleem notes that it was the debate in 2006 that led to the Protection of Women Act later that year, which extremists like Jamaat-i-Islami opposed. Clearly, they haven’t evolved or become any more enlightened in the past five years. This all points to the difficulty of legislating morality – what’s needed is not top-down reform but a sustained campaign for civil rights at the grassroots level to change the public perception. This is how civil rights were won in the United States, by the most downtrodden and persecuted group in American society. I wonder if Pakistani women can do the same. Certainly not overnight, and not with a single law.

The full post by Sana Saleem, entitled “Your rape culture is not my religion“, is a must-read in full.

Reprinted from City of Brass, by Aziz Poonawalla on blog.beliefnet.com

“Oh yes! I got the scholarship! I’ll be going to USA for a leadership program,” I said while jumping with happiness after reading the email with news of my approval. I was sure that I had passed the most difficult step in my journey to the USA. But something in the back of my mind kept me reminding that it isn’t the step I should be worried about. I kept wondering whether I had rushed into happiness. Was it too early to feel like I was in control of everything? I was about to find the answers…

Last time I told you about my ordeal on my first ever trip to Occupied Jerusalem where I travelled to have an interview at the US Embassy to get a visa. Luckily I got the visa and now I’m on my way to the USA.

When the time to book my tickets came, the American embassy gave me two options; either to leave through Egypt to the USA, or to go through Erez border to Amman and then to the US. I was confused. I had a flashback of being humiliated at the Erez border when I went to Jerusalem to get my visa to the USA. I thought that was enough of that, and there was no need to go through the same experience again. In the meantime, I had read articles and followed the news that announced the permanent opening of the Rafah crossing. So I quickly decided to go through Egypt, believing this decision will take me to the US just in time.

I arrived at the Rafah crossing charged with confidence and optimism just like a juiced up mobile phone. But just like signal problems dry up your phone battery, the chaos and confusion there started to take its toll and my energy started to drain. I was in the middle of a bunch of discordant voices which eventually end up driving me crazy. If Erez Crossing was sheer humiliation, Rafah was providing its fair share of embarrassment and distress…

A typical scene at the border control hall on Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Palestine. Photo - Said Khatib/AFP/Getty Images

Haha, welcome to confusing world of Gaza! First, I heard that it was not difficult any more to leave through Rafah, and that it was even easier for women. “All you need is a passport and you will leave very easily and quickly.” Most people agreed on that, relying on fake news perpetrated by the media.

Later, I realised that what was being reported is not the reality. I went to Rafah border to reserve the date of 18 June to travel to Cairo. When I went there, I found people fighting because every date before the 22nd of next month had already been taken. I was very depressed, thinking that my dream of visiting the USA couldn’t come true and this time it will be due to the chaos at our southern border. But I was lucky enough to meet a man who sympathised with me and sacrificed his reservation on the 18th of June in my favour. “Shahd, you’re bloody lucky!” I thought of myself…

Young Palestinian women wait to cross into Egypt at the Rafah border crossing on Tuesday 21 June. Photo - Hatem Moussa/AP

Then came 18th of June. I was at the Rafah border by 7 am. I was kept standing for long hours under the burning sun with my dad and friends Joe and Rocky from ISM who came to see me off. The humiliation started to pour in. I had to literally beg people to help me. I saw old men and women crying. I then realised that wherever I went, I would get humiliated, and that I should have ignored my humiliating experience at Erez because no matter how hard that was for me, it wasn’t any harder than the humiliation I was facing at Rafah. I stood in searing heat for a flat 9 hours that day went back home at around 4 pm. I forced myself to sleep to escape from the frustration I experienced all day long…

The next day, I woke up early and made a second attempt at the crossing. But it did not stop there. I made a second attempt; a third, fourth and fifth, all for nothing! Every single day, I left home very early with my suitcase, putting family and myself through mental and physical torture and returning home after witnessing chaos and accumulating more indignation. Five days, 8 hours every day. But here I’m, still stuck in the horrible prison of Gaza…

If asked in two simple words, Rafah border is pure hell. Every day the experiences at the border became worse than ever. Every day my frustration reached new heights. “There’s only one way you’re going to leave: with a strong connection,” I was told everywhere I went. This is how the system works at Rafah border. I bled tears with people who have been struggling for weeks to leave this place but have not been able to. There was no mercy for anybody: old or young, sick or healthy, men or women. It’s not like the movies; it is true drama with unimaginable misery and gloom. For the past five days, I’m dying to hear a certain response from anyone working there. Nobody bothers to talk to you or tell anything, you just have to try and try, running from pillar to post, without giving up…

A Palestinian woman yells at the border officials at the Rafah border crossing in southern Gaza Strip last week. Tens of thousands of Palestinians demonstrated at the crossing calling on Egyptian authorities to permanently open the borders and end restrictions on travellers. Photo - Said Khatib/AFP/Getty Images

My hopes of crossing the border though Rafah, quickly without any difficulty, haunt me every single minute. How bloody naive I was to think like that! But after going through this hell, don’t think that I am going to surrender. No, I’ll keep going. Persistence is the only way to reach goals, and I’ll reach them eventually.

Why should my dreams be crushed at the Rafah border? How can I lose a chance that a Gazan can have once in a lifetime? Why should the media lie about reality? Why should they let us go so far with our dreams, then finally shock us with the reality? Where is the honesty of the media and where is the honesty of leaders, be they Palestinian or Egyptian? Who is responsible for all the suffering that Gazans face at Rafah? These are the questions that I, besides thousands of Gazans, ask every single day. And we will keep asking such questions…for we are the victims of a web of lies and deceit…

When the BCCI married Modi into the Indian Premier League concept, they should have known whether there is glitter and glamour, there is also usually drama. Modi was the opulent czar, the ring master whose authority was beyond question. Questions about too much cricket were squatted away with a mere brush of the hand and the after parties continued on unabashedly. The post Modi era has not been much of a stark contrast. Too much cricket is still the concern; only the razzmatazz that overshadows it went amiss although the more covert after parties continued to abound.

Coming to the issue at hand, the BCCI were always going to show their authority. And it did not always matter that quid pro quo promises needed to be honoured. If there were looking for a loophole with the Sri Lankan Premier League, they certainly found one. In Sri Lanka Cricket’s defense, that they sold their marketing arm to a firm in Singapore seemed the only prudent thing to do. After all, these days Twenty20 is less entertainment for the crowds and more fodder for cricket boards desperate to turn around their fortunes following in the IPL’s gargantuan wealth.

It is no hidden matter that the Sri Lankan cricket board is strapped for funds. The ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 has brought more hardship their way than reasons to rejoice. Their cricketers cannot afford to ignore the IPL riches knowing that sticking solely to the national duties will not change their fortunes significantly until a certain period of time in the game. For them, the Sri Lankan Premier League represents more than merely emulating the IPL model. For Sri Lankan cricket, this is an imperative effort to draw attention.

The decision by the BCCI to pull the Indian cricketers out of the tournament is a big, bitter blow for Sri Lankan cricket. They tried desperately to show authority and pull the Sri Lankan cricketers out of the IPL 4 season early so to have their efforts thwarted by the might of the BCCI who not only pointed out that Sri Lanka Cricket had already provided the NOC with previous stipulations but also, that the BCCI was well within its rights to hold up the percentage of profits accruing to the Sri Lankan cricket board as well as the player’s pay cheques. Neither problem would have served Sri Lankan cricket’s cause and monster or not, the IPL had its way.

The very least the Sri Lankan cricket board expected was that the BCCI would loan the time of some of the Indian cricketers – the crème de la crème will be preparing for the tour of England and therefore, unavailable anyway – to help raise the profile of the tournament in the Emerald Isles and hopefully attract a couple of Indian sponsors that could uplift their beleaguered condition.

Instead the purpose of the Sri Lankan cricket board is lost in the midst of a proxy war being played out by the former IPL chairman and commissioner who cannot come back to his own country on count of his numerous cases and concerns with the BCCI and the Enforcement Directorate but is now willing to turn into the messiah of the cricket world, rising to the rescue of Sri Lanka and as he puts it, in the interests of cricket. Funnily the rest of the cricket world’s concerns were lost when he was the reigning undisputed king of the IPL. From admitting to squashing a league that threatens to gobble the riches that have now led to the battle between greed and glut for the Indian cricket board, Lalit Modi is seeking a transformation to finally learn to harness his ingenuous money making scheme for the good of the game than for personal gains or for those of the board. Maybe he watched X-Men: First Class.

In fact, the religion denounces the killing of innocent people over and over again…

The Quran says:
“Fight in the cause of God against those who fight you, but do not transgress limits.  God  does not love transgressors.” (Quran 2:190)
“If they seek peace, then seek you peace.  And trust in God for He is the One that heareth  and knoweth all things.” (Quran 8:61)

War, therefore, is the last resort, and is subject to the rigorous conditions laid down by the sacred law.  The term ‘jihad’ literally means ‘struggle’.  Muslims believe that there are two kinds of jihad.  The other ‘jihad’ is the inner struggle of the soul which everyone wages against egotistic desires for the sake of attaining inner peace.

Muslims worship a different God.

Allah is simply the Arabic word for God. Allah for Muslims is the greatest and most inclusive of the Names of God. It is an Arabic word of rich meaning, denoting the one and only God and ascribing no partners to Him. It is exactly the same word which the Jews use for God (eloh), the word which Jesus Christ used in Aramaic when he prayed to God. In short, Allah is the same God worshiped by Muslims, Christians and Jews.

Islam is a religion only for Arabs

The common image of a Muslim is a turbaned dark Arab man with a long beard. However this image is part of the minority of Muslims. The Muslim population of the world is around 1.2 billion. They are a vast range of races, nationalities, and cultures from around the globe–from the Philippines to Nigeria–they are united by their common Islamic faith. Arabs make only 15% of the world’s Muslim population. Another common misconception is that all Arabs are Muslims. While the vast majority of Arabs are Muslims (75%), there are many other religions that Arabs practice including Christianity and Judaism.

Muhammad was the founder of Islam and Muslims worship him.

Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) was born in Makkah in the year 570. Since his father died before his birth, and his mother shortly afterwards, he was raised by his uncle from the respected tribe of Quraysh.  As he grew up, he became known for his truthfulness, generosity and sincerity, so that he was sought after for his ability to arbitrate in disputes. Muhammad (PBUH) was of a deeply religious nature, and had long detested the decadence of his society.

It became his habit to meditate from time to time in the Cave of Hira near Makkah (commonly known as Makkah). At the age of 40, while engaged in a meditative retreat, Muhammad (PBUH) received his first revelation from God through the Angel Gabriel.  This revelation, which continued for 23 years is known as the Quran. From the time he began to recite the words he heard from Gabriel, and to preach the truth which God had revealed to him, he and his small group of followers suffered bitter persecution. This grew so fierce that in the year 622 God gave them the command to emigrate.

This event, the Hijra (migration), in which they left Makkah for the city of Medina, marks the beginning of the Muslim calendar.  After several years, the Prophet and his followers were able to return to Makkah, where they forgave their enemies and established Islam definitively. Before the Prophet (PBUH) died at the age of 63, the greater part of Arabia was Muslim, and within a century of his death Islam had spread to Spain in the West and as far East as China.

While Muhammad (PBUH) was chosen to deliver the message, he is not considered the “founder” of Islam, since Muslims consider Islam to be the same divine guidance sent to all peoples before.  Muslims believe all the prophets from Adam, Noah, Moses, Jesus etc. were all sent with divine guidance for their peoples.  Every prophet was sent to his own people, but Muhammad (PBUH) was sent to all of mankind.  Muhammad is the last and final messenger sent to deliver the message of Islam.

Islam oppresses women.

The image of a woman wearing a veil from head to toe, a woman who gets unfair justice or a woman who is not allowed to drive is an all too familiar notion when it comes to women treatment in Islam. And while there are Muslim countries in the world that do implement many harsh rulings against women, this should not be portrayed as Islamic law. Many of these countries have cultural differences that go against the teachings of Islam. It should be noted that during pre-Islam Arabia women were used for fornication only and had no independence. The birth of a daughter in a family was considered humiliating and the practice of female infanticide was uncontrolled.

When Islam came to being, verses in the Quran condemned the practice of female infanticide. Islam gave back many human rights to the woman. A Muslim woman is allowed to reject and accept any suitor for marriage and has the right to seek divorce. There is nothing in Islam that forbids a Muslim woman from exiting her house and is allowed to drive. Also in regards to education, a woman is obligated to seek knowledge and it is considered a sin if she refuses.

Muslims don’t believe in Jesus or any other prophets.

Although many lay Muslims and many Western scholars and writers hold the view that Islam began with Muhammad in Makkah, this contradicts the Qur’an, which says that Muhammad simply was the last prophet who preached the same faith that Adam preached to his children. Similarly Noah, Abraham and Moses (Peace Be Upon Them) are all prophets of Allah as well. Many people are amazed to find out that according to Muslim belief, Jesus is one of the greatest messengers of God. One cannot be a Muslim without believing in the virgin birth and the many miracles of Jesus Christ. Jesus is also mentioned in many verses of the Quran and is often used as an example of good virtue and character.