Amsterdam: Burkini swimmers want men to leave pool

A group of Muslim women in Amsterdam is demanding that men be banned from the Zuiderbad pool while they're swimming there.

The pool's employees disagree with that.

A burkini almost completely covers the body, but the Muslim women feel uncomfortable if the men in the pool see their feet and hands.

Egbert de Vries, mayor of the Oud-Zuid district, says it's nonsense to bar all men from the pool for this reason.

But he says that he can see having women's hour for one or two hours a week. For example, there's naked swimming an hour a week, and that is open only for men.

There is already a weekly women's swimming class in the Zuiderbad pool and a special mixed hour for women 18+ and men 55+.

Parliament member Paul de Krom (VVD) says it's 'quite bizarre'. "This is a world turned upside down," according to Krom, "if they want to swim in a burkini, and then also demand that all men leave, they should do that in Casablanca."

Source: Telegraaf (Dutch)

With thanks to Islam in Europe

Now Italy considers banning the burqa too

By Nick Pisa

Italy today became the latest European government to announce it was considering introducing a law which would make wearing a burqa illegal.

MPs from the anti-immigration Northern League party, a member of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's ruling right wing coalition, have presented the proposal in a bill.

It comes just weeks after France also said that it was considering making the wearing of burqas by Muslim women illegal - a statement which prompted al Qaeda terrorists to vow revenge if it was banned.

Italy has more than one million Muslims but it is rare to see women wearing the full burqa.

There have been incidents, especially in northern cities such as Milan and Verona, where women wearing it have been asked to remove at least the face veil.

Last month centre-right politician Daniela Santanche was involved in clashes with Muslims after she attended an end of Ramadan festival and urged women to remove their burqas.

There has also been a backlash against the 'burkini', a bathing costume that is suitable for Islamic dress. Several Musilim women who have used swimming pools wearing burkinis in Italy have been asked to leave, with officials claiming the garments are 'unhygienic'.

The Northern League's proposal aims at amending a 1975 law, introduced amid concern over domestic terrorism, which bans anyone wearing anything which makes their identification impossible.

The only exceptions are for 'justified cause' - which until now has been interpreted to include religious reasons in court rulings against local bans on the burqa.

The Northern League also has the backing of Berlusconi's People of Freedom party. The League's Roberto Cota said: 'We are not racist and we have nothing against Muslims but the law must be equal for everyone.

'The aim of this bill is to clarify the 1975 law in a definitive way and allow the ban to be extended to garments worn for reasons of religious affiliation.'

MP Barbara Saltamartini, of the People of Freedom, said:'Banning the burqa can not be considered anti-Muslim because wearing it is not obligatory in Islam.

'The Imam of Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the highest authority in Sunni Islam, has just stated unequivocally that Muslim women have the right to their own identity and that the burqa is not part of Muslim tradition.

'This position is of extreme importance not only because it dismantles false myths perpetrated by a patriarchal fundamentalism, but also because it shows how the dignity of a women is compatible with the symbols and values of Islam.

'It would be absurd now if countries like Egypt ban this instrument of submission and we continue to avoid dealing with the question.'

Centre left opposition MPs criticised the proposal and said it was 'unconstitutional because it infringes on religious freedom and justifying it because of law and order is totally out of place.'

Source: Daily Mail Online

France's hardline immigration minister Eric Besson calls for 'debased' burkha to be banned

By Ian Sparks

France's hardline immigration minister has launched a fresh demand to ban the burkha - decribed by president Nicolas Sarkozy a sign of 'subservience and debasement'.

Eric Besson said the Islamic full head and body covers were 'unacceptable' and not welcome in France.

His demand for a total ban comes after 58 French MPs called last June for a public inquiry on whether it should be illegal for women to hide their faces in public.

Mr Sarkozy backed the move, saying at the time: 'This garment makes women prisoners and deprives them of their identity.

'I say solemnly that they are not welcome on the territory of the French Republic.'

Women's rights groups and Left-wing MPs went even further, descibing the item as a 'walking coffin' and and a 'mobile prison'.

A burkha refers to a full-body covering worn largely in Afghanistan with only a mesh screen over the eyes, while a niqab is a full-body veil, often in black, with slits for the eyes.

France - home to Europe's largest five million Muslim population - already passed a law in 2004 forbidding students and staff from wearing veils and other religious symbols in schools as part of a drive to defend secularism.

Earlier this year Mr Besson said he though a law banning burkhas and niqabs would only 'create tensions'.

But he has now said he wants Islamic garments which cover the face - worn by an estimated 2,000 women in France - outlawed everywhere.

He said yesterday: 'I recognise that my views have now evolved.

'The burkha is unacceptable and contrary to the principles of national identity, of sexual equality and of the French Republic.'

Mr Besson said: 'The burkha is unacceptable and contrary to the principles of national identity, of sexual equality and of the French Republic'

Left-wing MP Andre Gerin, who is heading the government commission on burkhas and niqabs, added: 'We find it intolerable to see images of these imprisoned women when they come from Iran, Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia.

'They are totally unacceptable on the territory of the French Republic.'

The latest debate over the burkha comes after a French mother was last month banned from wearing a 'burkini' swimsuit at her local swimming pool.

Carole, a 35-year-old Muslim convert, was told by the manager of pool in Emerainville, near Paris, that the garment was 'inappropriate' on hygiene grounds.

The woman said she bought her burkini for £40 during a holiday in Dubai, adding: 'I was told that it would allow me the pleasure of bathing without showing off my body, which is what Islam recommends.'

She now intended to take her local council to court on the grounds that the ban was not a hygiene issue but a political issue.

In July, Al Qaeda terrorists vowed revenge on France if it banned the burkha on its streets.

Leaders of Al Qaeda's North African network wrote on an Islamic extremist website: 'French Muslims should react to this ban with the utmost hostility.

'We will seek dreadful revenge on France by all means at our disposal, for the honour of our daughters and sisters.'

The government inquiry in the legality of the burkha and niqab is due to reveal its findings next month.

Source: Mail Online

UK Imposing Islamic Dress Codes on Non-Muslims in Public Swimming Pools

By Patrick Sawer

Under the rules, swimmers – including non-Muslims – are barred from entering the pool in normal swimming attire.

Instead they are told that they must comply with the "modest" code of dress required by Islamic custom, with women covered from the neck to the ankles and men, who swim separately, covered from the navel to the knees.

The phenomenon runs counter to developments in France, where last week a woman was evicted from a public pool for wearing a burkini – the headscarf, tunic and trouser outfit which allows Muslim women to preserve their modesty in the water.

The 35-year-old, named only as Carole, is threatening legal action after she was told by pool officials in Emerainville, east of Paris, that she could not wear the outfit on hygiene grounds. Read more ...

Source: Telegraph
H/T: Weasel Zippers

French Muslim woman wearing 'burkini' banned from Paris swimming pool

Burkini on the beach: French officials
say they breach hygiene regulations

Charles Bremner in Paris

France’s struggle with Islamic dress has moved into the swimming pool after a 35-year-old woman was banned from bathing in her “burkini”, a head-to-toe swimsuit.

The woman, identified only as Carole, was making her third outing in a burkini to the town pool at Emerainville, on the eastern outskirts of Paris, when the chief lifeguard ordered her to leave.

She was said to be breaking hygiene rules, but her ejection has become the latest episode in a battle between fundamentalist Muslims and a state that has banned head-cover from schools and may curb face-covering in public.

Carole accused the pool officials of illegal discrimination and went straight to the police and the media. “Quite simply, this is segregation,” she said. “I will fight to try to change things. And if I see that the battle is lost, I cannot rule out leaving France.” Read more here ...

Source: Times Online

Here are the tips on 'How to be a Successful Muslim Wife'

If you don't understand any of these, I invite you to a meaningful, enlightening dialogue to dispel any doubts. Please do e-mail me. Please do not carry around with you wrong impressions. Wrong impressions can be and have been fatal.

1. Use your 'Fitnah' (beauty and overtures of allurement) to win the heart of your husband.

All women have the ornaments that Allah blessed them with. Use the beauty Allah - Azza wa Jal - has bestowed you with to win the heart of your husband.

2. When your husband comes home, greet him with a wonderful greeting.

Imagine your husband coming home to a clean house, an exquisitely dressed wife, a dinner prepared with care, children clean and sweet smelling, a clean bedroom - what would this do to his love for you? Now imagine what the opposite does to him.

3. Review the characteristics of the Hoor Al-Ayn and try to imitate them

The Qur'an and Sunnah describe the women in Jannah with certain characteristics. Such as the silk they wear, their large dark eyes, their singing to their husband, etc. Try it, wear silk for your husband, put Kohl in your eyes to 'enlarge' them, and sing to your husband.

4. Always wear jewellery and dress up in the house.

From the early years, little girls have adorned themselves with earrings and bracelets and worn pretty dresses - as described in the Qur'an. As a wife, continue to use the jewellery that you have and the pretty dresses for your husband. Read more ...

Source: AllaahuAkbar.net
H/T: Shariah Finance Watch

Boom in bikini-free holidays as Turkish women cover up

A conservative Muslim woman wears a hasema, a shroud-like swimsuit, on a beach at Alanya

By Nicholas Birch

When Serafettin Ulukent opened his holiday village in a cove on Turkey's Aegean coast in the 1980s, his first guests were German surfers, who enjoyed the brisk winds, cool beers and chilled-out beach parties. But since he stepped in one day to help 100 conservative Turkish Muslims abandoned by a tour operator, there has been no turning back.

"The surfers were fun, but these people had real money," he said. Mr Ulukent's hotel became one of the first in Turkey to cater exclusively for devout Muslims – no alcohol, segregated bathing, and a pastry cook who earns an extra £60 a month to sing the call to prayer five times a day.

A decade on, Islamic tourism is the fastest-growing part of Turkey's £10bn industry. A new Islamic hotel recently opened in Bodrum, a resort popular with British tourists where topless bathing is common. Read more ...

Source: The Independent

Women-only bathing hours for French town

Paris, Jun. 27, 2008 (CWNews.com) - The town of La Verpilliere, France, has set aside certain hours when the city's swimming pool will be available for women only.

The decision by officials of the small town (with a population of about 7,000) was a response to demands by local Muslim immigrants, mainly from Turkey, who object to co-ed recreational activities.

France, which today is home to 6 million Muslims, has had varied experiences with its Muslim community. Public schools in Lyon next year will begin offering a special menu for Muslim students while the city of Val d’Oise has banned Muslim mothers wearing veils from school property.

Source: CW News