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Rape for ethnic cleansing

To the victor go the spoils is the concept that has been used over history to legitimize wartime rape. This tradition of objectifying women during conflicts has not ceased during modern times. Despite the introduction of modern laws of warfare, armies exploit sexual violence systematically as in the cases of the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and the current situation in Darfur.

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Part 2: Following the nations before us?

Prophet Muhammad (saw) said, in the hadith narrated by Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri (ra): “You will certainly follow the ways of those who came before you, span by span, cubit by cubit, until even if they were to enter a lizard’s hole, you would follow them.” We said, “O Messenger of Allah, (do you mean) the Jews and Christians?” He said, “Who else?!”

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Part 1: Entitled to diplomatic impunity?

Muslims throughout the world are fierce in their love and respect of Muslim religious scholars, whom Allah (swt) and His beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw) have so strongly praised in the Qur’an and ahadith. Endless are the narrations on the excellence of those who seek knowledge and teach it, those who memorize and recite our sacred scripture, and those who sacrifice their lives in the pursuit of knowledge.

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Domestic violence in the Muslim community

On December 13, 2009 at 1:00PM EST, a virtual meeting about domestic violence, featuring several gender rights activists, will occur right here on Altmuslimah. Join us for this important event – the instigator for what Altmuslimah and partners hope will be fresh perspectives, solution-oriented discussion, and an active campaign against domestic violence in the Muslim community.

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The case of a woman in the Swat Valley

What the Taliban employ is an authoritative form of rule called taazeer. Proponents say that if a crime is not provable beyond a doubt by using criteria outlined in Islamic law, it falls to the governing forces to decide the punishment. This allows cultural or social norms to influence judgment, and most commonly affect weak and vulnerable groups.

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Part 2: The cult mentality in secret, serial polygynous marriages

The existent double standards that occur when polygyny is practiced, particularly when it is kept secret from the other wife or wives, make it acceptable and praiseworthy for a Muslim man to marry (or marry more than one wife) to guard his chastity, while when a Muslim sister marries for that reason only, she is considered lewd and desperate.

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Muslim Americans answer Obama’s call to service

President Barack Obama’s national call to service was heard and answered by many Muslim organizations and communities to re-capture the American spirit in the post 9/11 era, to stimulate interfaith activities to be more action-based, and to help re-build local economic landscapes in the wake of the recession. Although these are signs of charitable maturity within the Muslim community, it is still essential that all Muslims catapult these issues to the forefront of their human service agendas.

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Honor killings and Islam: Is there a link?

While Muslims in the West are slowly coming to realize that honor killings are not just a geographical issue for our brothers and sisters in South Asia and the Middle East, anti-Islam pundits, bloggers and intellectuals are using this recent rash of honor killings to link the religion of Islam to the murders.

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