A Common Word, Sunni Sisters and Jihad Sheilas
Coming off the back of last night's ABC program 'Jihad Sheilas', I have had many thoughts regarding Islam and Christianity and the two women who shared their stories.
It was quite an interesting program about two women - one from Mudgee, the other from Dubbo - who converted to the Wahabi sect of Islam (the very extremist sect that bin Laden, al Quaeda belongs to) and their experiences over the past 20 years. The first woman is billed as Elizabeth Taylor's apprentice - having married 5 times and divorced 4. Her conversion to Islam and to the Wahabi sect began when she went to Sydney and met up with Sudanese refugees. She is currently living in Kenya with her current husband and their two children - her other children are in Australia - due to the US arresting and charging her husband for Immigration fraud (after trying to pin him on terrorism charges). She was questioned by ASIO regarding her husband and has been a person of interest due to her connections to an extremist cleric.
The second woman is possibly one of the most widley travelled women in the Muslim world. She followed the hippie trail to Indonesia and met her first husband. Once they were back in Australia she divorced him due to a case involving him stashing marajuana in their child's cot and authorities threatening to take their child off them. She returned to Indonesia with her two sons and studied Islam at a college set up by Jamaa Islamia leaders - the same group who orchastrated the Bali bombings. She was in Afghanistan during 2001 and was wanted by the West for her connections to JI and Al-Quaeda - her 2nd husband was well-connected within Al-Quaeda. She and her sons were taken back to Australia and she is now refused a passport. Her sons returned to the Middle East and were subsequently arrested for trading in arms in Sudan. She claims that they were doing nothing wrong and that the West has alot to do with their incaseration. She also says she does not feel for the victims of the Bali bombings who were "holidaying in someones country sometimes engaging in child pornography, pedophelia, and drug taking"... I mean WTF? I'm sorry but this woman has rocks in her head.
The two women tried to withdraw their support for the doco to be aired last night, saying that it would misrepresent them. I dunno... I think any conceptions or misconceptions come from the way they come across. The program was meant to show their lives, which it did, and their reasons for converting to the "true" Islam. I think anyone wanting to live back in 1000AD and be dictated down to entering bathrooms with their left foot only is in serious need of a reality check, but they obviously think that they are victims of post-9/11 and that the West are evil. It just boggles me that women who were brought up in Australia as Christians would forget where they came from.
I don't have anything against Muslims in general, just those who seek to harm others - no matter what religion. As a matter of fact, I don't like any one who wishes to harm others on the basis of their religion, race, or lifestyle (see that Baptist group in America who think that Australia is the land of Sodomy because of Heath Ledger's involvement in Brokeback Mountain... I mean, come on they are seriously deluded)
Anyways: here's an article from ABC News regarding the program. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/02/05/2154616.htm
http://www.acommonword.com/
This website is about an open letter that Muslim scholars wrote to Christan leaders in 2006. It speaks of the common threads between Islam and 'The People of the Book', and how essentially Christians and Muslims aren't so different as many people would like to believe. The letter is available to read in its abridged form, and you can read reactions from other Christians and Muslims. You can also choose to endorse the letter as well.
I just think it is wonderful someone is taking an active role in fostering relations between religions in order to gain understanding and to squash the misconceptions and steriotypes that the everyday person would have about each religion.
http://www.sunnisisters.com/
This is a blog from an American woman who lives in Jordan and her experiences. It is an interesting read.
That's really all from me. Uni is back on the 25th and I've come down with conjunctivitis again. Plus I spent $600 on textbooks the other day... now I'm going to be real anal and go cover them in contact.