This week, Muslim women offer public prayer and Eid prayer in India, an Iranian woman faces lashes for misidentification, conservatives gain ground in Sweden, and a Muslim woman’s case is reopened in California.
This week, The Times of India reported that, for the first time, 1,000 women offered the first all-women Eid prayer in the West Bengal city of Hyderpur. They were led by a woman from their congregation.
The Times of India also reported that hundreds of Muslim women offered Eid prayer at an all female prayer held at the Minar mosque in Kendrapara. Women are not allowed to attend prayer at the rest of the 22 mosques in the same coastal district.
The Huffington Post reported that Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who is facing execution by stoning for an adultery conviction, was lashed 99 times after a British paper published a picture of a woman without a headscarf who was mistakenly identified as her. Ashtiani’s lawyer said that his client could be executed at any moment for the 2006 conviction.
The New York Times reported on the rise of the anti-immigrant party in Sweden. 31-year-old Jimmie Akesson, who leads the party, has labeled the country’s Muslim population as the country’s biggest foreign threat. The party has attracted the most attention from a 30-second commercial that shows a a group of burqa-clad Muslim women overtaking a white pensioner at the welfare office.
The Orange County Register reported that the case of Souhair Khatib was back in court after initially being dismissed by the District Court. Khatib filed a federal lawsuit against Orange County, California, claiming her rights were violated when she was forced to remove her head covering while in custody. Initially upholding the District Court’s dismissal of the case, the 9th Circuit has decided to hear the case again, this time with an 11-judge panel.
