As
first reported by the
The Kurdistani, the book
Sex, Sharia and Women in the History of Islam by Mariwan
(sp. Marywan) Halabjaee (sp. Halabjay, Halabjayee, Halabjaye,
Halabjayi), "the
Salman Rushdie of Iraqi-Kurdistan," has now been published
on the Internet.
The book is about how Islam is allegedly used to oppress women.
"I
wanted to prove how oppressed women are in Islam and that they
have no rights," said Halabjaee. "My
book is based on Islamic sources such as the Holly Qur'an,
Muslim and Bukhari books and many more." The book is in its
third printing.
A dedicated website,
Sex, Sharia and Women in the History of Islam, has been
created to facilitate Internet distribution of the book. The
book can be downloaded in Adobe Acrobat PDF format, compressed
zip format, compressed rar format (the format originally
provided by
The Kurdistani), and as jpeg graphic files for each
individual page.
 |
| Editor MA Khan's book (Feb 2009).
Learn more here | Paperback: $ 24.95 | Kindle ed: $ 7.96 | E.Book: $ 6:00 |
The
website
Sex, Sharia and Women in the History of Islam is founded on
the belief that the best way to respond to those who try to
suppress publication of an academic book is to
increase
publication, promotion and distribution of that book. The most
efficient way to do that is on the Internet. It is also based on
the belief that the only thing that should be accomplished by
those who seek to suppress publication of the book
Sex, Sharia and Women in the History of Islam is to cause it
to be published to the entire world.
The book was originally made available online by
BoPeshawa.com, along with
information about efforts to aid Halabjaee. In addition,
BoPeshawa.com provides
contact information for
the representative of Halabjaee’s campaign in the United
Kingdom, Shapol Said
[shapoldarya@yahoo.co.uk].
As
previously reported, Halabjaee was forced to flee to Sweden
after the Islamic League of Kurdistan issued a
"conditional" fatwa to kill him if he did not repent and
apologize for writing his book. The "conditional" nature of the
fatal fatwa was uncertain. Halabjaee reported that "a
couple of weeks ago in Halabja, the mullahs and scholars said if
I go to them and apologize they will give me 80 lashes and then
refer me to the fatwa committee to decide if I am to be
beheaded. They might forgive me, they might not."
Halabjaee received telephone calls saying, "Now,
in 10 years or 15 years, we will kill you." Another time,
Halabjaee reported, "the
Islamists said once from the radio, if they found out where I
was, they would blow themselves up with me." The worse thing
was realizing that his wife and children were in danger. "With
that book I wanted to defend women but the first thing I did was
hurt my wife." As a result, Halabjaye went into hiding with
his pregnant wife and three children.
Halabjaee was forced to flee Iraqi-Kurdistan after the Kurdistan
Regional Government (KRG) refused to offer him any protection or
to arrest those who threatened his life.
"The Kurdish authorities have not provided any protection from
threats and fatwas," said Halabjaee,
"any moment I am expecting a bullet or a hand grenade to be
thrown into where I live."
In response to the Halabjaee affair, the KRG Minister of Religious Issues, Dr. Mohammad Gaznayi, told protestors that according to the law of Iraqi-Kurdistan, "defamation" or "criticizing" religion or religious figures is a crime and its punishment is severe. "We will give those who attack our prophets a sentence so that they can be a lesson for everyone," said Gaznayi. Halabjaee was in possession of a warrant for his arrest issued by the Suleimaniya police department when he fled Iraqi-Kurdistan.
The book
Sex, Sharia and Women in the History of Islam is available
at the following Internet locations:
Website:
Sex, Sharia and Women in the History of Islam