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trotsky

(49,533 posts)
Tue Nov 8, 2016, 10:54 AM Nov 2016

Saudi feminist jailed for challenging religious establishment

http://www.startribune.com/a-twice-divorced-saudi-mother-of-6-reinterprets-islamic-law/400212771/

JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia — When Souad al-Shammary posted a series of tweets about the thick beards worn by Saudi clerics, she never imagined she would land in jail.

She put up images of several men with beards: An Orthodox Jew, a hipster, a communist, an Ottoman Caliph, a Sikh, and a Muslim. She wrote that having a beard was not what made a man holy or a Muslim. And she pointed out that one of Islam's staunchest critics during the time of Prophet Muhammad had an even longer beard than him.

...

She has paid a price for her opinions. She spent three months in prison without charge for "agitating public opinion." She has been barred by the government from traveling abroad. Her co-founder of the online forum Free Saudi Liberals Network, blogger Raif Badawi, is serving a 10-year prison sentence and was publicly lashed 50 times. Her father disowned her in public.

None of it was enough to keep her quiet.


Criticizing hardline Islam and seeking reform? She'd better watch out, she might end up on the SPLC's hit list as an "anti-Muslim extremist." Kudos to this brave woman.
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Saudi feminist jailed for challenging religious establishment (Original Post) trotsky Nov 2016 OP
Why do US politicians from both parties praise Saudi Arabia as an essential ally? guillaumeb Nov 2016 #1
And because some people think human rights count less than religious rights. n/t trotsky Nov 2016 #2
Some people think religious rights are not human rights. rug Nov 2016 #3

guillaumeb

(42,641 posts)
1. Why do US politicians from both parties praise Saudi Arabia as an essential ally?
Tue Nov 8, 2016, 03:21 PM
Nov 2016

Obviously human rights count for less than oil and power.

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