While reading the most recent issue of the Pride
Magazine (UK), an article on FGM cited The Gambia as
"an uncomprisingly Islamic State". I was stunned and
was actually in the process of writing an article to
the magazine disputing this fact. This will be
extremely difficult now though.

As a public health student, I am especially disturbed
by the fact that there are people out there that
believe that family planning programs contribute to
the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.  I just don't see
how!!!! An aspect of family planning programs is of
course the use of condoms to prevent the spread of
HIV/AIDS. This has been proven to be quite effective
although in our African countries, it can be hard for
women since the most vulnerable do not have much of a
say in their sexual relations with their husbands.

Yaikah
--- Ousman Gajigo <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Here are some words of "wisdom" from Imam Fatty
> (from today's Observer) on
> AIDS, Sharia, pageants, etc.:
>
> Fankanta spreads HIV/Aids
>
> Alhaji Abdoulie Fatty, the imam of State House
> Mosque has single out
> Fankanta, a family planning programme, as a source
> of spreading the HIV/Aids
> pandemic in the country. He said the only way to
> combat the pandemic was to
> accept the Islamic way of teaching which preaches
> abstinence from sex before
> marriage and to always stick to one’s spouse. Imam
> Fatty said the use of
> condom could never prevent somebody from having
> children out of wedlock “as
> long as one does not abstain from illicit sex.”
>
> The imam who was speaking at an Islamic conference
> at Brikama Kabafita
> organised by the Daira Dawatul Haq last Wednesday
> also renewed his attack on
> immoral dress code and the use of condoms among many
> “other evil things” as
> he puts it. “Islam is the only religion that gives
> full and defined rights
> to women. Women are God’s own creation who serve as
> queens in Islam and men
> have an obligation to feed, care and cloth them,” he
> said. He also dilated
> on the status of women before Islam, citing Europe
> where according to him
> “women were treated as goods or object of charity.
> In Western Europe men
> used to sell women describing them as Satan’s
> servants.
>
> Where did the idea of women empowerment come from?.
> Islam accords women all
> their rights.” Immoral dress code Addressing the
> immoral dress code adopted
> by young girls, Imam Fatty said only the Islamic
> sharia could stop such act.
> He cited Nigeria where the sharia was not proposed
> by the government, “but
> by the population of that country”. He urged the
> youths to fight against
> “this act of decadence in the country.” Imam Fatty
> also attacked the issue
> of beauty pageants in the country, which he
> described as frequent and a
> “selection of ugly ladies in our beautiful Gambia”.
> He called on the
> relevant authority to condemn beauty pageants in the
> country “if we want to
> preserve our long God-given peace we are enjoying.”
>
> El Haiba Hydara, the imam of the airport mosque
> spoke on the importance for
> Muslims to live a virtuous life. Imam Hydara said
> parents were solely
> responsible for today’s social decadence noting
> that, “all these bad dresses
> are coming from homes.” He thanked the membership of
> Dawatul Haq for
> organising such a conference to create awareness
> within the Muslim
> community. Oustass Saloum Darboe also spoke on the
> importance of prayer in
> Islam. The conference was attended by Islamic
> scholars, Arabic students and
> a cross-section of the Muslim community. Oustass
> Sheriff Mohamed Lamin
> Janneh chaired the conference.
>
>
>
>
>
_________________________________________________________________
> MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print
> your photos:
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>
>
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=====
Yaikah M. Jeng
MPhil/PhD candidate
LSHTM
London

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