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Schwan · 01-14-2005, 02:14 PM

This thing poped up recently. It seems like some NYC Greenpoint muslims openly opose selling a Polish magazine that depicts a naked woman in a burka, and contains an article about muslim sexuality. New York Daily News reports:

http://nydailynews.com/front/story/271305p-232177c.html

Quote:

Outrage unveiled

BY OREN YANIV
and CORKY SIEMASZKO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

A Burkha-wearing babe baring her breasts on the cover of a Polish magazine has ignited a culture mini-war in Brooklyn.

Outraged by what they call an insult to Islam, Yemeni newspaper vendors in Greenpoint are refusing to sell the latest edition of Forum magazine. Some have painted big black X's over the exposed flesh and are threatening to boycott the popular Polish-language weekly.

"The cover is no good," said Abdul al-Fatah, 30, at Greenpoint Variety Candy & Grocery on Manhattan Ave. "They show something bad about Islam, an Islamic woman naked. We feel angry about it."

Abdo Quhshi, 48, owner of the nearby Garden Stone grocery, said a Polish customer translated the cover story for him and he was deeply offended.

"Saying about my Prophet Muhammed that he loved women, you don't have to say that," he said.

But angry Poles said Forum is a respected newsmagazine - and some Yemenis have no qualms about peddling Hustler and Penthouse. "Many American magazines are worse than this," said Emily Branska, 22, of Ridgewood, Queens.

"They said it's haram - that means something bad," added Kasia Illyas, 22, a Polish immigrant married to a Muslim. "They don't even understand what it's about."

The topless temptress is superimposed onto a photo of covered Muslim women beneath the headline "Extremists in the Harem." Inside, there's a photograph of another woman, sitting in the buff amid white-clad female pilgrims in Mecca.

Forum ran them to accompany an article about sex and Islam by Dutch writer Hafid Bouazza, who claims the religion has been hijacked by "frustrated fanatics" who get their kicks from terror.

Waldemar Piasecki, New York correspondent for the Warsaw-based weekly Przeglad, said he is "puzzled" by Forum's choice of cover art.

"This is a serious magazine that has offered Poles a window on the world for more than 40 years," he said. "In all that time, I can't recall a naked woman on the cover."

The cover can be found here (probably NSFW)

Also, since I have a terrible exam tommorow, I've been looking for ways to avoid studying, so here's an extremely bad translation with lots of errors that I can't be buggered to fix today:

Quote:

<b>Are their bodies a sin?</b>

It's unimaginable, how a friendly to people and full of eroticism Islam became a weapon in the hands of the frustrated and fanatics - writes an arab writer, Nafid Bouazza.

Because Islam regulates, at least in theory, every aspect of life, including the social and private ones, it's no wonder that it also talks about sex. The basics of these teachings are the Koran and hadiths - text reportedly created by the prophet Mahomet, or stories portraying him. In XVII century Europe, Islam was described as a pornographic religion. This was so not only because of Mahomet’s reputation as a hedonist – to whom the famous words “of all the things in this world I love women and smells the most” are attributed – but also due to graphic descriptions of paradise, found in the Koran. Another basis for such an assumption was the fascination with male sexuality. Mahomet regarded sex not only as a reproductive process, but also as a mean of attaining pleasure. He acknowledged sex as something normal, just as long as it didn’t lead to the woman getting pregnant.

On September 11th 2001, Islam suddenly stopped being and erotic religion, and became a terrorist one. This is a very problematic change. I have in my mind a picture of a Moroccan man, who heard an Arab woman furiously shouting on his TV screen, that the civilization of the west is strangled by sex. Surprised, he exclaimed “that’s not true, we are also interested in sex!”. If that’s the case, I thought, the what is left today of the myth of the never-tired Arab man? This myth is illustrated by a popular anecdote: an Ararb men kidnapped a crusaders wife, and copulated with her seven times. The women then asked – Can all Arabs do that? He said yes – Then I understand why God allowed you to defeat us!

Warm words

Whoever regularly follows specific newspaper columns knows that attaining an orgasm is a very hard job. At least in the case of men, who attempt to satisfy their partner at the same time. To be fair to Mahomet, he used to teach to his student the importance of foreplay. - Don’t throw yourself at your wives right away, send a messenger first – he explained. Who’s the messanger? – the students asked. - Warm words and kisses.

We also know a little about Mahomet’s own sexual preferences. During sex, he covered his head and told his wife to “get comfortable”, before getting started. He also talked openly about sex with people who came to him for advice. He wasn’t circumcised. At least no document mentions that he was. This point was argued a lot by early Muslim researchers. Finally, they came to a conclusion that Mahomet, being the one chosen by God, was born circumcised. Before Islam, Arabs believed that a boy born during full moon is born circumcised.

The most important verse in the Koran that deals with sex bears the number 223 in the second sura, titled “Cow”: “You women are your field to plough. So come onto it how you wish.” The word “how” is problematic, because in the Arab language it bears a double meaning. It can be interpreted as “where you wish”. Teologists disputed that “how you want” might reference to sexual positions. The tradition says that “some Arabs” use the “on the side” position, as this is the best way not to see the partners vagina.

Exposing this part of the woman’s body was considered wrong (we will come back to this). Traditionally, this has been illustrated by a following story: once, a woman complained to the prophet that her husband showed her womb for everyone to see. Then Allah sent to Mahomet the aforementioned verse. In these times it was believed that if a women is taken from behind, her children will be cross-eyed, or that she will be infertile if she lays on top of a man. The missionary position uncovered her womb, thus it too was deemed indecent. Also, a fully clothed Muslim woman found it hard to actually spread her legs. Crossed legs were seen as I sign of indecency.

Al Ghazali (1058-1111) was the one responsible for transcribing the rules of sex. He said that both the man’s and woman’s bodies should stay covered during intercourse. The less intimate body parts are visible during sex, the better. Also, couples were forbidden from laying down so their heads would point towards Mecca. In order to “protect” his woman – that is to say, to keep her from having sex with others – a man should have sex with her very four days. The problem of the intercourse frequency is a debatable issue. It was widely discussed after Mahomet’s passing. Some said that sex should occur every three days.

It sure however that one should exclaim “Bismillah!” before intercourse, which means “in the name of Allah!”. Also, some verses of the Koran should be recited first. This was needed in order to guarantee luck in attaining offspring (getting a boy, that is). On of the Arabic sources tells this anecdote on the topic: it tells of a man who had only daughters. He told of this to his imma, who advised him to say before every intercourse “Astagferu Allah!”, which means “God, forgive me”. The man did so, and had ten sons. The moral of this story is that having a daughter is a punishment for sins.

The verse number 223 can be interpreted also as “come where you want”. This would mean however, that God allows anal sex. This was mentioned in many written documents. Mahomet reportedly said “do not come to your wife through their do-not-touch-me” (a euphemism, meaning anus). It also mentioned anal sex with women as “the minor sodomy”. Since the “major sodomy” (homosexuality) was punishable, one can presume that so was the minor one – just like in some American states. The Koran seems to confirm this, as one of it’s verses states: “You will be asked about your period. You will reply: This is suffering. So keep away from women during their period and do not come close to them until they cleanse themselves. When they cleanse themselfes, come onto them as God told you to.”

Islam has four main schools of law. One of them was created by theologist and lawyer Malik ibn Anas (715-795). He said that anal sex is fine under some circumstances: as a lesser sin then masturbation. According to the prophet, whoever masturbates, will never see heaven. Malik denied he ever said this and cursed the people who said so. Incidentally, it is the frustrated theologist to whom we can thank to for one of the only mentions of oral sex, that can be found in the classical Arab literature. We’re talking about a text from the XV century, that talked about whether Muslim men are allowed to look at a woman’s womb.

There are two interpretation of the prophets words, regarding this issue. One says that it’s fin, the other says it’s not. However, none of these viewpoints is considered to be authentic. As far as Mahomet words go, he is reported to have said that however sees their wivess or mother’s womb, will be destined to go blind. According to another source, he said that “God wanted your woman to be like clothing to you, and for you to be like clothing for her. I see everything that belong to a woman and she sees everything that belongs to me”. A compromise was found. It was concluded that viewing a womb is bad, but not due to religious matter, but because of medical dangers. Malik reportedly said that it is indecent for a man to view his wife’s vagina, or to “lick it”. It’s interpreted as a permissive exaggeration. Modern Islam agrees with these viewpoints, as they come form sources regarded as canonical.

Even the Arab Kamasutra, the classical writing of the Tunisian sheik Nafzawi, titled “The Blossoming Garden” (XV century) doesn’t mention oral sex. Abu Hajjan al-Tawhidi, who died in 1023, mentions it in his writing on sexual deviations. This philosopher was extremely levelheaded – he burned most of his writings, because he felt he wasn’t properly understood by his readers. In one of his books he writes about a monarch who fell in love with one of his slaves. “He lay her on her back, and poured alcohol into her womb. He then lay his lips on it and sucked the liquid in. He also drank her urine, and blood during her periods”.

Since we are on the topic, I can’t not mention another story form the same source. Al-Tawhidi tells of a royal employee, who “sucked the clitoris of one of the jewish slaves, stuck a finger in her anus, took it out, and placed it on his tongue, and said: this is the essence of wine, more precious to me then fruits of an apple tree”. So you see, the current outlook on sex is nothing new. Despite the fact that conservatism was suggested during intercourse, it was hard to calm the Muslim spirit.

The text also mention of rahaz – that is movement, changing of position - is acceptable during intercourse. Can a woman move during sex as she pleases? Can she shout and use obscene words? The answer is simple: since the wives of some of the more notable characters in the Muslim history, including the prophet, did so, it is. We know that during the VII century there lived a woman named Hubba, who advised other women on issues regarding sex. She came from the wholly city of Medina, and advised women to be active and scream during intercourse, to increase the pleasure of sex. Even when she was very old, her son did not hesitate to ask her for advice. “How do women want to be taken?” he asked, to which she replied “Son, if a women is my age, ask her to put her face against the ground, and take her from behind. If she’s young, take her legs and press her against her breasts. You will get what you want this way, and you will be satisfied”.

Newer writings affirm rahaz, because a women does this in order to affirm her pleasure. One might say in order to achiever orgasm. But the written Arab language doesn’t contain that word. In modern dictionaries, it’s described as “pain, caused by pleasure”. In Morocco the expression “to look for one’s head” is used to describe the ecstasy of intercourse.

This long gone openness erotica should be acknowledged. As the old saying goes, “there is no shame in religion”. I want to add to this: “neither is there any shame outside of it”.

Nafid Bouazza

The author, an Arab, is considered to be one of Holland’s most talented writers of the young generation. Born in Morocco, he left for Holland when he was seven. He writes stories, essays and theatrical plays. He is very critical of the Muslim background he comes from and he uses provocation frequently in his works – mainly by dealing with sexuality.

So there. Lots of complicated issues. Forst of all, the setting is completely mixed up. We are talking about muslims in New York, who are outraged at an article published in Poland, written originally in Holland by an arab. Right. The bottom line is that I don't think the muslims in NYC have anything to say - they are the guests in the US, and they should respect the laws taht govern their new home. Not being even remotely american, I'll leave the issue for american folks.

Second up, I'm surprised about what the article says about muslims being really rowdy folk. Then again, come to think of it, last summer I spent time with my then GF in Birmingham, UK, which houses the biggest muslim community in the country. The girls found that they couldn't get away from horny arab guys who would follow them around, sometimes for days! I haven't really read the Koran, or followed the complicated paths of muslim religion before the prophet, but it would seem that quite a lot of it is very dissorted. Come to think of it, that's also the case with christianity.