• A pile of homework waiting for me that's due on Monday
• Chinese tuition [hopefully] tomorrow
• Maths revision
• A visit to the hospital
• Home Ec. Evaluation
• Personal errands to run [e.g I NEED A NEW PEN!]

Egypt men say 'I don't' to woman marriage registrar

Thu Feb 28, 1:04 PM ET

CAIRO (AFP) - The appointment this week of Egypt's first woman able to conduct Muslim marriages has sparked controversy in the religious country, particularly from men who see their status being challenged.
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Amal Soliman, 32, is the first woman in the Middle East and possibly the Muslim world to be authorised to perform wedding ceremonies and sign marriage and divorce contracts.

Straddling the worlds of bureaucracy and religion -- two pillars of Egyptian society -- the graduate in civil and criminal law said she is "more qualified" than her colleagues to perform the function of "maazun".

Justice Minister Mamduh Mari stressed that Soliman's nomination depended on her abilities rather than on her gender, but it has raised eyebrows and anger on the streets in the male-dominated Arab country.

"I completely reject the idea," Mahmud Ali, a bearded 40-year-old, told AFP in Cairo. "There must be religious texts forbidding this... there are also obstacles on a social level, she would always take the woman's side."

"This idea won't spread, it's a one-off and it won't last."

Ahmed Abdel Rehim declared simply: "A woman cannot do this job. I would never have a female maazun at my wedding."

But officials, eager to portray an image of equality, welcomed the decision.

"I'm not shocked at all, it's a purely legal job, reading Koranic verses and conducting a marriage," said Ali Saman, former head of Al-Azhar University's religious dialogue committee.

"A maazun is a judicial assistant, a notary... so it's a job that women can do."

In 2005, US-based Amina Wadud sparked controversy in the Muslim world, including in Egypt, when she led prayers in New York, with some clerics saying it went against Islamic doctrine.

"A female imam (who leads prayers in a mosque) is different, that's to be debated by specialists but a female maazun who signs and officialises a marriage certificate there's no problem," he said.

"There are no religious texts banning a Muslim woman from being a maazun," said Al-Azhar's deputy director Sheikh Fawzi Zafzaf.

"But when a woman is menstruating she must not enter a mosque or read Koranic verses and that will affect her job, so for this reason we say it is not advisable to have a woman maazun."

Women's rights in Egypt have a long and occasionally rocky history. Egyptian women were allowed to vote and stand for office in 1956.

But they are notable in their absence from Egyptian courtrooms, even those dealing with family law. A first group of 30 women judges was authorised to practice in March 2007.

"Islam guarantees women's rights, whatever is said about the inferiority of women is a lie," said Zafzaf.

"Why not support women?" said Shawkiya Rawash, in her 50s. "If she can be an example to follow, if she manages to do her job well, why not? I'm in favour."

-http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080228/lf_afp/egyptwomenrightsislamreligion;_ylt=AlDFFfYQ4KQzVoF7EEBufVIHcggF

The phone was ringing and I rushed to pick up.
"Hello?"
"....." There was this pause for 30 seconds and for a moment, I was wondering if the person was still there.
"Who's there?"
"....Margaret Zsaz,"

The voice was so weirdly familiar that I couldn't place my finger on who it was. So I decided to play along with the caller and answer, "Har har."

The caller's voice immediately returned to normal and I couldn't help but think: Oh My God. It's him.

We talked for a minute or two [if I remember right, he was doing the talking] then suddenly, it was as if he had put himself on speaker and I could hear this Akon/Beyonce song playing in the background. What was more strange was that he wasn't directly talking to me anymore. I could hear snatches of conversations, some with his sister, some with his mother. It struck me as odd and I started thinking, "What's happening?"

Profile

k!mberly
250495
one st. john 08 two st. john 09 // child of god (:
HIPSter ZHSSian
sarcasm is my superpower.
I also happen to be rather clumsy & messy.
five and thirteen are my lucky numbers. regardless of whether they actually work.
for the sake of your well-being, leave your lies and insincerity at home because I definitely don't appreciate them.
I BELIEVE IN HARVEY DENT!
-coughbatman referencecough-
yes, I do get giggly when confronted with chocolate, comic books or milo. go figure ;3
a self-confessed conspiracy theorist who responds awkwardly to hugs.

I still think it's infinitely stupid to take pictures of yourself in a toilet.

Obsessions

HIM, rainy days at home, guitar riffs, quick drum beats, fall out boy, p!nk, sara bareilles, teddy geiger, corrine may, the fray, arctic monkeys, franz ferdinand, science-fiction, skulduggery pleasant, artemis fowl, batman comics, robin/raven, batman/catwoman, rogue/pyro, harry/hermione, hermione/artemis, rose/scorpius, remus/tonks, heath ledger, pirates of the caribbean, ocean's thirteen, christian bale, v for vendetta, 10 things I hate about you, the dark knight, chocolate, peach milk tea, being original, going nova, dancing hyperly with my friends, welcome to the goldbergs, HEROES, CSI: NY, house M.D, seinfeld, taking naps, lime green folders, rollercoasters, polaroids, feminism.

I ♥ CLARINE, HUISI, SHUHAN, ZACHUS, GEOFFREY & 6R5 07'.
More than anyone will ever know.

Burn, burn, burn

Twilight, the smell of rain and exhaust fumes mixed together, buses that ought to be double decker but aren't, traffic lights, tests, spectacles, superficiality, biased people, racism, SEXISM, ron/hermione, draco/harry ((who comes up with this stuff???)), remus/sirius, chauvinistic pigs, magnetic chess sets, being thought of as a sociopath, superman, copy cats, britney spears, paris hilton, yam ice cream, being broke, book fines, unreasonable teachers, wet leaves on the pavement, sean kingston, students with short skirts, overpriced books, bad advertisements, onion rings, real/faux fur.

Advice

Letter to myself[not!]

Tuesday, 25 March 2008 @ 21:24

Don't mind the rant.
It's what that's been on my mind for the past few days.
I need to get it out.

---

G-d, sometimes I hate you so bloody sodding much.
You try so hard to be different.
In fact, so hard that sometimes it's pathetic.
PA-THE-TIC.
You raise your hand and try to contradict him/her with illogical statements backed up by good ol' solid evidence.
Notice the sarcasm?
You get so objective that I don't see your point anymore.
What're you trying to prove?
That you're a deeper thinker than the rest of us?
Maybe.

I saw you playing with the others a couple days back and you were IT.
They teased and taunted you and you just took it.
No resistance at all.
I felt like screaming at you. Perhaps you were angry too but far too proud to do anything about it?
Well, as they say, Pride does go before a fall.
And I hope that when you fall, you turn out like Humpty Dumpty.

Alright, I suppose I sympathize with you a tiny bit.
But you've got all this potential and self-confidence, despite your obvious flaws.
So why do you have half the _____ hating you?
What went wrong in your theory for popularity?

Gosh, you remind me of me.
And that's why I'm so angry.
It's like having an out-of-body experience.

dream | 0 looked up at the sky.

So little time.

Saturday, 22 March 2008 @ 23:57

Happy Easter people ;D
I know I shouldn't be up at this time o' th' night but I'm not in the mood to sleep cause' I've got tons of things on my mind.
Checklist for tomorrow:

• A pile of homework waiting for me that's due on Monday
• Chinese tuition [hopefully] tomorrow
• Maths revision
• A visit to the hospital
• Home Ec. Evaluation
• Personal errands to run [e.g I NEED A NEW PEN!]

I swear, if I'm able to get half-way through the list, it'll be a miracle.

Oh Borders, have a sale already!
I need that 20% off to get my wonderful free-verse poetry book, Impulse by Ellen Hopkins!

Mood: Insomniatic
Music: I Found a Reason - Cat Power
Side Note about the Music: I took ages to get the tune correct while humming/singing cause' although it's been stuck in my head since the first time I saw V for Vendetta, the melody's kinda weird in the sense that it goes,
"HO-oh I... Do... Believe.
In all the th-ings you say.
What comes is better... than what... ca-ame before."
All in all, it's an awesome song so check it out on Imeem (:

dream | 0 looked up at the sky.

Egypt men say 'I don't' to woman marriage registrar

Thu Feb 28, 1:04 PM ET

CAIRO (AFP) - The appointment this week of Egypt's first woman able to conduct Muslim marriages has sparked controversy in the religious country, particularly from men who see their status being challenged.
ADVERTISEMENT

Amal Soliman, 32, is the first woman in the Middle East and possibly the Muslim world to be authorised to perform wedding ceremonies and sign marriage and divorce contracts.

Straddling the worlds of bureaucracy and religion -- two pillars of Egyptian society -- the graduate in civil and criminal law said she is "more qualified" than her colleagues to perform the function of "maazun".

Justice Minister Mamduh Mari stressed that Soliman's nomination depended on her abilities rather than on her gender, but it has raised eyebrows and anger on the streets in the male-dominated Arab country.

"I completely reject the idea," Mahmud Ali, a bearded 40-year-old, told AFP in Cairo. "There must be religious texts forbidding this... there are also obstacles on a social level, she would always take the woman's side."

"This idea won't spread, it's a one-off and it won't last."

Ahmed Abdel Rehim declared simply: "A woman cannot do this job. I would never have a female maazun at my wedding."

But officials, eager to portray an image of equality, welcomed the decision.

"I'm not shocked at all, it's a purely legal job, reading Koranic verses and conducting a marriage," said Ali Saman, former head of Al-Azhar University's religious dialogue committee.

"A maazun is a judicial assistant, a notary... so it's a job that women can do."

In 2005, US-based Amina Wadud sparked controversy in the Muslim world, including in Egypt, when she led prayers in New York, with some clerics saying it went against Islamic doctrine.

"A female imam (who leads prayers in a mosque) is different, that's to be debated by specialists but a female maazun who signs and officialises a marriage certificate there's no problem," he said.

"There are no religious texts banning a Muslim woman from being a maazun," said Al-Azhar's deputy director Sheikh Fawzi Zafzaf.

"But when a woman is menstruating she must not enter a mosque or read Koranic verses and that will affect her job, so for this reason we say it is not advisable to have a woman maazun."

Women's rights in Egypt have a long and occasionally rocky history. Egyptian women were allowed to vote and stand for office in 1956.

But they are notable in their absence from Egyptian courtrooms, even those dealing with family law. A first group of 30 women judges was authorised to practice in March 2007.

"Islam guarantees women's rights, whatever is said about the inferiority of women is a lie," said Zafzaf.

"Why not support women?" said Shawkiya Rawash, in her 50s. "If she can be an example to follow, if she manages to do her job well, why not? I'm in favour."

-http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080228/lf_afp/egyptwomenrightsislamreligion;_ylt=AlDFFfYQ4KQzVoF7EEBufVIHcggF

The phone was ringing and I rushed to pick up.
"Hello?"
"....." There was this pause for 30 seconds and for a moment, I was wondering if the person was still there.
"Who's there?"
"....Margaret Zsaz,"

The voice was so weirdly familiar that I couldn't place my finger on who it was. So I decided to play along with the caller and answer, "Har har."

The caller's voice immediately returned to normal and I couldn't help but think: Oh My God. It's him.

We talked for a minute or two [if I remember right, he was doing the talking] then suddenly, it was as if he had put himself on speaker and I could hear this Akon/Beyonce song playing in the background. What was more strange was that he wasn't directly talking to me anymore. I could hear snatches of conversations, some with his sister, some with his mother. It struck me as odd and I started thinking, "What's happening?"