I totally agree with you on the idea of shared responsibility and equal
justice. We needed a woman's point of view. I am a muslim by birth, but I do
not subscribe to any religion's dogma and doctrines beyond the tenets of the
ten commandments. I hope there are muslims, christians, buddhists, etc. like
me.
I have always believed religion to be extremely sexist. The idea that the
female is the weaker gender with fewer scruples is preposterous. I can't
remmember who it was recently who wandered why so many Gambians tend to
display symptoms of mental lethargy. The answer could be found in the
gradual replacement of common/natural sense and discipline with religious
fanaticism.
cheers!!
>From: Ginny Quick <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Fwd: Nigerian court sentences unmarried pregnant girl to
> caning
>Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2000 15:08:06 -0500
>
>Hello, I have a question about this story. Hopefully, someone can help me
>answer it. My question is not so much whether or not the sharia law should
>be enacted and used. What I want to know is, where is the father of this
>girl's baby? I mean, she couldn't have gotten pregnant all by herself.
>Would he suffer the same punishment as she is going to have to?
> I just wanted to know because there was no mention of the father in
>this case, and shouldn't he be as guilty as the girl is?
>Ginny
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "MOMODOU BUHARRY GASSAMA" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Sunday, September 17, 2000 2:16 PM
>Subject: Fwd: Nigerian court sentences unmarried pregnant girl to caning
>
>
>Nigerian court sentences unmarried pregnant girl to caning
>September 15, 2000
>Web posted at: 11:30 PM EDT (0330 GMT)
>
>
>GUSAU, Nigeria (Reuters) -- A pregnant teenage girl has been sentenced to
>180 strokes of the cane by a Muslim sharia court in northern Nigeria,
>officials said Friday.
>
>Human rights activists have reacted angrily to the sentencing of
>17-year-old
>Bariya Magazu after a trial likely to fuel controversy over the
>introduction
>of the strict sharia penal code in parts of northern Nigeria.
>
>Separately, Roman Catholic bishops of Nigeria issued a statement calling on
>President Olusegun Obasanjo "to address the sharia issue with the
>seriousness and sense of urgency that it deserves."
>
>The court in Zamfara state, the first of Nigeria's regional governments to
>proclaim sharia law, tried Magazu on charges of having had pre-marital sex.
>
>Multi-ethnic Nigeria has been sharply divided over sharia since late last
>year when Zamfara embraced it. Hundreds of people died in two bouts of
>Christian-Muslim bloodletting over plans to introduce it in neighboring
>Kaduna state earlier this year.
>
>Non-Muslims oppose sharia for its tough sanctions, such as stoning for
>adultery and amputation of hands for theft.
>
>Zamfara officials said the court in the state capital Gusau had earlier
>this
>week found Magazu, who is several months pregnant and being looked after by
>her parents, guilty of having sex illegally.
>
>"The court sentenced her to 180 strokes of the cane, and she will be
>publicly flogged 40 days after she puts to bed (gives birth)," an official
>told Reuters.
>
>Rights groups described the sentence as barbaric and a violation of the
>girl's fundamental human rights.
>
>"It's shocking and really very embarrassing. It is baffling why the Zamfara
>government would go ahead to enforce sharia to the extent of having to give
>a small girl 180 strokes of the cane," said Samson Bako of the
>Constitutional Rights Project.
>
>Bako said a coalition of rights groups would consider court action against
>the central government if it failed to stop the spread of sharia in the
>country.
>
>Despite opposition, sharia appears popular in the predominantly Islamic
>north where some half a dozen states have adopted it or are about to do so.
>
>In their statement issued Friday after a five-day meeting in Kaduna, the
>bishops said their original fear that non-Muslims would suffer under a
>sharia regime had been justified.
>
>"The reality on the ground in states that have adopted sharia shows that
>non-Muslims are being negatively and unjustly affected," the statement
>said.
>
>In many cases Christian bodies were denied land on which to build places of
>worship, it said.
>
>While reaffirming their faith in a unified Nigeria, the bishops said they
>believed Nigeria's constitution needed to be reviewed to reassure people of
>all faiths.
>
>"There should no longer be room for special provisions for any religion
>within our constitution," their statement added.
>
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