MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

And while you’re home alone enjoying the confines of your own personal prison, please be sure to stay far away from bananas, cucumbers, carrots and zucchini. They might cause you to think something bad. If you’re granted permission to travel with a male relative, make sure you don’t wear high heels or have ‘alluring eyes.’ That might cause men to think something bad. All those things could tempt you into behaving in ways that may then force Allah to think about doing something bad …

“When I stood on the door of hell, I saw most of its inhabitants were women” – Prophet of Islam, Mohammed, Sahih AlBukhari, 5196

“Afghanistan’s top religious council has said women should not mix with men in school, work or other aspects of daily life. The Ulema Council has also said that women should not travel without a male relative. The BBC’s Orla Guerin has been hearing reaction to the ruling from people in Kabul.

The comments by senior clerics – which have been welcomed by President Hamid Karzai – were included in a statement outlining the rights and duties of women under Islam.

Human Rights Watch says it is worrying that the Ulema Council has issued this statement, and that President Karzai has backed it.

The council says its comments are a request and a reminder, not an instruction. But critics say the statement is an echo of the Taliban.

Leading woman MP Fawzia Koofi – who survived a Taliban ambush two years ago – has no doubt what the statement means.

‘I think it’s the beginning of taking women back to the dark period of the Taliban,’ she told the BBC.

‘It’s dangerous. It’s an alarm for women in Afghanistan’.

‘We want to be free’

Campaigners believe the timing of the statement is no co-incidence. They say it is part of the president’s outreach to the Taliban.

In the push to do a peace deal with the insurgents, they fear the Afghan leader may be willing to sacrifice women’s rights.

‘It does look like President Karzai is trying to placate the Taliban as part of the negotiations,’ said Heather Barr, of Human Rights Watch.” Read more.

Spanish imam under investigation after calling on Muslims to ‘discipline’ misbehaving wives – “A Spanish imam near Barcelona is under investigation after allegedly calling on the faithful to ‘discipline’ errant wives using physical and psychological violence, police said on Tuesday. The imam in the city of Terrassa is under investigation for ‘disseminating discriminatory messages and violating the principle of equality and of women’s right to physical and moral integrity,’ police said in a statement… ‘He provided concrete examples of the manner in which wives should be beaten, how to isolate them inside the family home and how to deny them sexual relations,’ said the police, saying they had received testimony to the effect from numerous witnesses.” Read more.