Muslims & Sexuality

Dr. Heba Kotb

I have tackled more or less the same topic in a previous post but from another perspective. At that time I referred to a fatwa issued by an egyptian cleric declaring a marriage contract illegal if a married couple engage in sexual intercourse while naked. This time I came across this news item by CNN which reads: "Egypt's "Dr Ruth": Muslims Need Better Sex".

The article in question is about an egyptian medical doctor Mrs. Heba Kotb, (I wonder if she is a relative to egyptian author and islamist Sayyed Qutb, for I am sure he wouldn't be appreciative of what she is doing if he was still alive), who specialized in human sexuality and got her degree from an American University (no wonder).

Dr. Kotb also runs the show "The Big Talk" a famous program broadcasted in one of Cairo's TV channels. In her show Dr. Kotb tackles the issue of sexuality which you like it or not is still a taboo subject in most conservative arab and moslem societies. Dr Kotb's main advice to married couples is to have more sex ( which CNN badly rephrased : "Muslims Need Better Sex", are we arabs and moslems so bad at having sex?? are there international standards for good sex?? I am asking).

In "The Big Talk", Dr. kotb talks about issues like masturbation ... sex over the Internet... sex and Ramadan...the wedding night... however she sticks to the teachings of the Quran something that brought her criticism from those more liberal [who] think she's not being open enough about sex, ignoring topics like extra marital affairs, homosexuality and pregnancy out of wedlock [and] conservatives [who] think sex is not for public discussion.

All in all I personally think that Dr. Kotb's initiative despite its shortcomings is something worth praising and something that needs to be generalized in other arab and moslem societies.

Catholic Church Ends Limbo

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Roman Catholic Church has effectively buried the concept of limbo, the place where centuries of tradition and teaching held that babies who die without baptism went. ( more)

The Statue Of Jesus In Chocolate

Via BBC- A New York gallery has angered a US Catholic group with its decision to exhibit a milk chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ. (more)

Luis Farrakhan: "My Time Is Up, The Final Call Can't Last Forever.""

Via NPR- Minister Luis Farrakhan, ailing leader of the Nation of Islam, gave yesterday in Detroit, what he called his last public and farewell address in the presence of tens of thousands of followers.

The Eyes Of Jesus

Dec. 20 - A mysterious painting of Jesus is attracting people from all over the Czech Republic.The picture shows the face of Jesus with his eyes open and closed.

Many visitors to Oldrich Klima's "Gallery of Handicrat" in Pilsen are asking if it's a trick of the light or something more spiritual. (More)

Watch video here

Picture Of The Day

Ces deux photos sont de la "National City Christian Church" à Washington DC. Faire la queue pour prier: C'est formidable non? :)

US Metropolitan Airport Commission: Muslims Have Right To Pray In Airports

Todya's Washington Post, brings up again the incident where Six Muslim Clerics were removed from an US Airways flight but this time the Post reports that the Minneapolis Metropolitan Airport Commission's spokesman Patrick Hogan said that,

while the commission has no say in a pilot's decision to take someone off a plane, the commission is supportive of Muslims' right to pray in the airport. Officials said they are considering a "meditation room" where people of various faiths can pray, and they will visit a mosque at the request of local imams.

"Muslims fly through this airport all the time, and we don't have incidents of this kind," Hogan said. "I have Muslims asking me where they can pray in the airport, and I direct them to a quiet place and tell them which way is east."

Enough is Enough!

Respecting One's God

Reading Subzeroblue's post on respecting or not respecting one's belief in God, I came across this story where

Fitness USA, a gym chain, is investigating an alleged civil rights violation
involving a local Muslim woman who says her afternoon prayer was interrupted by
a fellow patron, and that her complaint to management about the situation was
rejected.

Fitness US management told the woman that she has to respect her (patron), but that the patron does not have to respect her God. The aforementioned woman, is an American citizen . She was born in Jordan, of Palestinian descent. She arrived in Detroit 17 years ago.

Imad Hamad, regional director of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, said that

"It's OK for a Christian fellow or a Jewish fellow to pray, and it would be
regarded highly and respected. When it comes to a person of Muslim faith,
especially if a woman is wearing the head cover or a man with a typical clergy
outfit, yeah, it is becoming like something that is offensive to people and
making them nervous."

Recently and in the same vain of events, six Muslim clerics were removed from a U.S. Airways flight, an incident that set off a nationwide uproar.

In view of these two incidents, the following questions do impose themselves: Do you think muslim americans citizens, especially from Arab descent, are victims of ethnic, religious or racial discrimination? Aren't they entitled to the same Constitutional rights? Is there limits to religious freedom? How much intolerance is in all that? and finally if I respect your God, aren't you supposed to respect mine??