British Arabs Supporting Integration, Recognition & Awareness
Basira is an Arabic word meaning ‘vision combining wisdom, reason and intellect’ and Basira's vision is for a humane future where equality, security and coexistence are at its heart.
Basira carries the voice of voiceless women to the world and campaigns tirelessly for their full rights. We believe that without equality and justice for women, true democracy and international security cannot be achieved, as they are the foundations of a peaceful and safe society.
Our approach is twofold:
- Advocacy through community talks and film screenings which aim to spread awareness of the values of justice & equality that are fundamental to protecting the dignity of British Arab women
- Affecting change by influencing parliamentarians to highlight the incompatibility of outdated religious council rulings upon women’s rights and the detrimental impact upon integration and community cohesion
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British Arabs Supporting Integration, Recognition & Awareness
Basira is an Arabic word meaning ‘vision combining wisdom, reason and intellect’ and Basira's vision is for a humane future where equality, security and coexistence are at its heart.
Basira carries the voice of voiceless women to the world and campaigns tirelessly for their full rights. We believe that without equality and justice for women, true democracy and international security cannot be achieved, as they are the foundations of a peaceful and safe society.
Our approach is twofold:
- Advocacy through community talks and film screenings which aim to spread awareness of the values of justice & equality that are fundamental to protecting the dignity of British Arab women
- Affecting change by influencing parliamentarians to highlight the incompatibility of outdated religious council rulings upon women’s rights and the detrimental impact upon integration and community cohesion
Muslim Women & Religious Law - Written by Ahlam Akram
Edited by the novelist Tim Symonds
In one of early Basira meetings in the Houses of Parliament, the Egyptian Muslim scholar Yasmin Amin said that there is Islamic law but nothing called ‘sharia law’, because the latter did not come in one command and it is not code.
My opinion is that this Islamic law derived from two separate sources: from verses of the Quran gathered 23 years after the death of the Prophet, and from the sayings and actions of the Prophet 250 years after his death by Muslim scholars (i.e. collected and recorded by humans subject to change). Both contradict the tenet of equality and justice for women, core values of any religion, despite the emphasis on these values in many other verses.
Those verses interpreted by four male scholars more than a thousand years ago have created a close, negative knit between religion and culture, each one enhancing the other, making it next to impossible to separate them, thus making all values of Muslim societies connected to women’s bodies such as modesty, virginity, purity of lineage, and family honour. All are owned by the male guardian. No woman owns her own self. It is the male guardian who owns her life.
This connection created a society besieged (chained) by a culture of fear and complete submission by women, because of fear of family, society and God.
Read more: Muslim Women & Religious Law - Written by Ahlam Akram