UK: Surge in tax-funded ‘virginity repair’ operations

Via Daily Mail:

An increasing number of women are having controversial ‘virginity repair’ operations on the NHS before they get married.

In the last five years, 116 hymen repair operations have been undertaken at the tax payer’s expense.

Thousands more women are believed to be paying up to £4,000 to have the surgery done privately each year.

NHS surgeons carried out 30 of the procedures in 2009 – up 20 per cent from 2005.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

In the private sector one Harley Street doctor claimed to carry out up to three of the operations a day.

The specialist who offers a hymenoplasty for £1,850, said demand had tripled in recent years.

The operation, which is available on the NHS ‘for physical and psychological’ reasons, takes just half an hour.

Private practitioners have claimed a surge in demand in the operation has been driven largely by Muslim women desperate to preserve the illusion that they have not had sex before their wedding night.

(…)

Consultant surgeon Ash Mosahebi, who performs the procedure at various London clinics, said he had noticed a recent rise in demand of around 40 per cent.

He said: ‘There is a clash of cultures where Muslim women are leading westernised lifestyles but then wanting to conform to the traditional lifestyle of remaining a virgin.

‘As it becomes more widely known that operations are available, they are getting to hear about them from friends and increasingly considering it.’

Critics, including moderate Muslim groups, have condemned the trend as a sign of the spread of Islamic fundamentalism in the West.

Imam Dr Taj Hargey, chairman of the Muslim Educational Centre in Oxford, called on the Muslim community to try to reverse the trend.

He said: ‘The rise in the number of these operations in Britain is a very disturbing trend.

‘The situation is very common in the Middle East where there is a huge scandal that can lead to divorce or even honour killings if there are not bloodstained bed sheets after the wedding night.

‘It is very disappointing that Muslim women in this country feel they need to lead a double life, resorting to subterfuge surgery.

‘That is not conducive to either their psychological or spiritual health and it is hypocrisy and double standards because Muslim men are doing as they please with women.

‘The Muslim community should be confronting the issue rather than pretending it is not happening. I shall be speaking out about it in my next sermon.’

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I did a post last year here about different ways to hang your scarves. I’ve been using a different method for a while now though. This 3 tier over door towel rack from Argos I’ve found is really useful. Although it’s meant to hang in your bathroom, I’ve hooked mine over my bedroom door. I hang three scarves on each tier, so nine in total; these being the ones that I’m using most at the moment. The rest I store on these trouser hangers in my wardrobe.

It’s a really easy and convenient way to display scarves so you won’t forget you’ve got them, and no ironing needed! How do you hang yours?

UK: ‘Honestly, the burka doesn’t work’

Via Daily Mail:

Jeremy Clarkson has joined the debate on whether burkas should be permitted in Britain in his own inimitable style.

The outspoken presenter provoked a flurry of complaints after telling viewers of Top Gear on Sunday night that he had seen a Muslim woman wearing saucy underwear beneath her gown.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

Clarkson had been discussing the best way to stop drivers being distracted by female pedestrians, along with co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May.

More than six million viewers had tuned in to watch the show, which featured guest appearances from Hollywood stars Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz.

In front of the studio audience, he said: ‘This is an important bit of news, I really want to bring this up. People imagine that the most dangerous time of the year to drive is November or perhaps February – dark nights, fog, ice.

‘But we were talking about this the other day and we think the most dangerous time to drive a car is round about now. Sunny skies, light breezes, girls wearing short skirts, because the thing is, you can’t not look. You can’t physically not look.’

Hammond interjected, saying: ‘You can physically not use your mobile phone and it’s easy not to drive home when you’ve had 18 pints of lager. But when you’re driving along and a girl walks past, you have to look. Actually, do you not think that here, there is actually a case for the burka? Because then the problem would go away.’

Clarkson then replied: ‘No, no, no. Honestly, the burka doesn’t work. I was in a cab in Piccadilly the other day when a woman in a full burka crossing the road in front of me tripped over the pavement, went head over heels and up it came, red g-string and stockings. I promise that happened. The taxi driver will back me up on that.’

(…)

The Muslim Women’s Network UK last night criticised Top Gear after they joked about using the burka as a way of preventing drivers being distracted by female pedestrians.

Faeeza Vaid, co-ordinator at the organisation, said: ‘The debate surrounding the burka is a serious issue which shouldn’t be publicly joked about. Rather than joking about it, we should be having serious dialogue.’

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Congratulations to Aliya N. from Atlanta, USA for winning the Bonus July Giveaway! Your scarf will be making its way to you shortly!

Keep an eye out for the next giveaway coming up in August!

UK: New halal make-up company

Via BBC:

Halal meat has become a common part of life in the UK, but now a company has launched a range of halal make-up, which is free from alcohol and animal products.

Samina Akhter set up Samina Pure Make-up from her home in Birmingham after questioning what she was putting on her skin.

She said: “I was shocked to find that some products contained alcohol and even pig placenta.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

“Many Muslim women like me have been frustrated by wanting to look good and follow their faith.”

There are almost one million Muslim women living in Britain and it is a growing population.

Samina Pure has over 500 customers and Ms Akhter said: “We’ve had women say, ‘thank you, now I can use products and pray without having to take the make-up off’.”

(…)

She said she wants Muslim women to have a choice.

“I’m not saying such and such product is haram and we are halal – you have to use us.

“Women have their own choices but at least they’ve got the option to do that.”

(more)

See also: Netherlands: Halal cosmetics, UK: Halal cosmetics

Spring 2010

Luxury, elegance and drama; of couse it had to be Chanel couture. I adore these satin gowns with metallic stripes which add a modern edge. There’s even bridal gown complete with long sleeves and an endless veil. Though the groom in a golden tin-foil suit killed the overall effect, so we won’t show him:

Images: Style.com

France: Muslims feel sting of discrimination

In a related story: Two Muslim women marched out of swimming pool in French holiday village because they were wearing burkinis

Via LA Times:

Be patient. This is just a phase. It will all blow over eventually. That’s what Abdel Basset Zitouni tells the young people who come seeking his advice on getting a job or starting a business.

But Zitouni’s counsel isn’t just in response to questions about finding work in a depressed economy.

Many of the people who knock on his office door are Muslims from the housing projects in this city west of Paris who have felt the sting of discrimination.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

They tell of an unwelcoming professional world, with regular bank rejections for business loans, or months without a callback for an interview.

Zitouni, who presides over the nonprofit National Assn. for Young Entrepreneurs here, says it is common to hear of employers asking new hires to change their names to something more “French-sounding” and less Muslim, apparently to appease touchy customers.

Others climb the sparse stairway to Zitouni’s single-room office with fists still clenched, mulling over a snide look after handing in a resume.

Zitouni reassures, and listens to their troubles.

Still, the 49-year-old prefers not to focus on the negative. If clients complain of discrimination, Zitouni stops them short.

“Serious and honest work will always bear fruit at the end,” he tells them.

But not all of France’s roughly 6 million Muslims are in the mood to be patient.

Muslim organizations and some critics of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government have condemned a cocktail of events that have made this a particularly tense time for Muslims in France, with violence against them rising sharply in the last year.

(more)

The Guardian’s interest in Muslim fashion continues in an article published yesterday.

I was recently contacted by a girl who was preparing a portfolio about British Muslim fashion. This was part of a project whereby girls from different Islamic schools in London took part in fashion workshops, and then had to create a portfolio in order to enter a competition and win a place at a 3-day course at the London School of Fashion! You can read more about it below. If you were one of the girls on the course, tell us more about it!

Muslim schoolgirls show that faith and fashion are not incompatible

Sarfraz Manzoor
Wednesday 21 July 2010

In a first floor classroom in the Hackney campus of the London School of Fashion a small group of young schoolgirls are wrapping clothes on to tailor’s dummies.

They are using conventional clothes in unconventional ways – turning ties into belts and baggy T-shirts into neckwear. The idea is to challenge traditional notions of normality in fashion.

The approach is a common one for aspiring designers but it feels especially appropriate for the 20 assembled schoolgirls, all of whom are British and Muslim and all of whom are in traditional Islamic dress.

Read the rest here.

Today Hijab Style brings you a quick interview with Katrin Meyer, founder of the Moroccan-based hijab company Modiste.

Jana: Tell us a little about yourself?

Katrin: Salaam alaikum! I’m a revert to Islam, German, living and working at the gateway between East and West. Upon completing my studies of Islam in 2001 I worked long-time as assistant of an Arab ambassador in Berlin. From this exposed position I witnessed over the last decade the increasingly negative image of Islam in the West, marked by associations such as aggressiveness, oppression of women and backwardness.

This discrepancy between Islam’s timeless beauty and truth and its contrary outside perception has since been my great concern because it has far-reaching consequences: It prevents Muslims living in Western societies from an equitable participation in the social and political life.

Jana: What’s the idea and ethos behind Modiste?

Katrin: The negative image of Islam doesn’t have anything to do with its essence. Rather with some of its outer forms of appearance and wrong conclusions of those who don’t know better. In order to rectify this distorted picture, it’s certainly not the message that has to be changed, but rather the way of communicating it. Fashion is unique in the sense that it is a subtle medium of communication with an immediate effect.

Modiste hijabs are designed to reflect the universality of a divine religion. Islam by its very nature is vital and progressive and not necessarily Oriental. The misconceptions about Islam – oppression of women, lack of innovation – are actually a reflection of the current state of Oriental social structures. Our major goal is to empower Muslim sisters through a style of clothing that is less charged with connotations.

At the same time we want to simplify hijabi life style. All our hijabs are simply pulled over the head, no need to wrap, pin or knot. Maybe it is because of my European background, but I’ve never got used to the traditional headscarf. It might look good if you’re skillful, but it’s not practical. We would like to offer an alternative to those, who feel the same.