Is Islam A Threat To The Maldives?
Is Islam A Threat To The Maldives?
By Taimour Lay
©2006 MinivanNews
Under the headline ''Stormclouds over the Indian Ocean: Behind the veil in the Maldives'', Britain’s Independent newspaper published a feature on Thursday which warned of the ''radical'' form of Islam gaining popularity in the archipelago.
Witnessing the "decadent" lifestyles of wealthy tourists, Meera Selva wrote, is turning Maldivians against western mores.
Rogue preachers, armed with "dangerously persuasive arguments", are preying on isolated and socially conservative islands.
Increasing numbers of women are wearing the veil, and withdrawing from active roles in society.
Arab donors are exporting ideas and cash in an attempt to undermine the Maldives’ traditionally tolerant and inclusive strain of Sunni Islam.
President Gayoom, the article maintained, is seizing on Islam as a last support for his ailing regime, branding foreigners as Christian missionaries and demanding political quiescence under the guise of "religious unity".
But how accurate a portrait of religious trends here has the Independent newspaper given its readers?
The increasing popularity of "conservative" Islam across the Maldives cannot be denied, but there is no consensus over its actual extent, and what is precisely fuelling it.
The government blames foreign preachers. The opposition blames Gayoom and the politics of control. Other analysts point to broader economic and sociological changes that may, or may not, prove reversible in the medium term.
While more women are undoubtedly wearing the veil, in Male’ and on smaller islands, it does not immediately follow that they are being systematically forced out of positions of prominence in society.
"We should first distinguish between women who are wearing the veil and those who are adopting the traditional middle eastern hijab," says Attorney-General Hassan Saeed, whose book Freedom of Religion, Apostasy and Islam, published in 2004, calls for "absolute" freedom of religion to be permitted in modern Muslim societies and says punishments for apostasy should be discarded.
"And if you look at the number of women working in the professions and gaining a good education, then it’s hard to say that they are playing a lesser role in society," Saeed argues.
But Saeed does accept there is a problem of "extremism" in some places.
When he points the finger at "foreigners", I ask him who these people are and how many are operating in the country. The Maldives is too small a place for the government to claim ignorance.
But claim ignorance he does.
"We don’t know," Saeed maintains. "We are investigating."
He ascribes the rise of conservative Islam to the loosening of restrictions on freedom of expression after 2004.
(read entire article)
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About Maldives
By Taimour Lay
©2006 MinivanNews
Under the headline ''Stormclouds over the Indian Ocean: Behind the veil in the Maldives'', Britain’s Independent newspaper published a feature on Thursday which warned of the ''radical'' form of Islam gaining popularity in the archipelago.
Witnessing the "decadent" lifestyles of wealthy tourists, Meera Selva wrote, is turning Maldivians against western mores.
Rogue preachers, armed with "dangerously persuasive arguments", are preying on isolated and socially conservative islands.
Increasing numbers of women are wearing the veil, and withdrawing from active roles in society.
Arab donors are exporting ideas and cash in an attempt to undermine the Maldives’ traditionally tolerant and inclusive strain of Sunni Islam.
President Gayoom, the article maintained, is seizing on Islam as a last support for his ailing regime, branding foreigners as Christian missionaries and demanding political quiescence under the guise of "religious unity".
But how accurate a portrait of religious trends here has the Independent newspaper given its readers?
The increasing popularity of "conservative" Islam across the Maldives cannot be denied, but there is no consensus over its actual extent, and what is precisely fuelling it.
The government blames foreign preachers. The opposition blames Gayoom and the politics of control. Other analysts point to broader economic and sociological changes that may, or may not, prove reversible in the medium term.
While more women are undoubtedly wearing the veil, in Male’ and on smaller islands, it does not immediately follow that they are being systematically forced out of positions of prominence in society.
"We should first distinguish between women who are wearing the veil and those who are adopting the traditional middle eastern hijab," says Attorney-General Hassan Saeed, whose book Freedom of Religion, Apostasy and Islam, published in 2004, calls for "absolute" freedom of religion to be permitted in modern Muslim societies and says punishments for apostasy should be discarded.
"And if you look at the number of women working in the professions and gaining a good education, then it’s hard to say that they are playing a lesser role in society," Saeed argues.
But Saeed does accept there is a problem of "extremism" in some places.
When he points the finger at "foreigners", I ask him who these people are and how many are operating in the country. The Maldives is too small a place for the government to claim ignorance.
But claim ignorance he does.
"We don’t know," Saeed maintains. "We are investigating."
He ascribes the rise of conservative Islam to the loosening of restrictions on freedom of expression after 2004.
(read entire article)
*************************************
P.S. Download Free Video Documentary
About Maldives
posted by Marek at 11:46 AM
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