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Stop Stoning

Author: Rashida Tsoka

Legalized Stoning

I'm going to discuss and educate my students on a form of punishment, known as stoning, and share that, though it is legalized in some countries it violates basic human rights (right to life and a fair trial).

Legalized Stoning

 

Legalized Stoning

Attention

  1. “Aisha’s Story”

 

Need/ Problem

 

  1. History
  1. It’s an ancient form of capital punishment
  2. Employed by the Greeks, in Judaism and Islam (Breaking Sabbath, Premarital Sex Cursing God, “Rebellion” against parents, adultery)
    1. Islamic Sharia law is based on the Koran (the central religious text of Islam), the hadith (a report of the deeds and sayings of Muhammad which is the basis of Islamic law), and the biography of Muhammad. The Shia hadith is different from that of the Sunni. However, there is nothing on stoning in the Koran.
    2. Though within the Hadith, Muhammad supports stonings, many have manipulated that into what has turned into the product of today: It is now considered a crime against state to be found guilty of adultery. And Those who have murdered have less of a punishment.
    3. For example: Stoning wasn’t practiced in Iran before the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and the government has, until very recently, actually denied the existence of stoning because they were knew that the Iranian public did not support it.
  1. Current
  1. There are 15 countries in which stoning is either practiced or authorized by law, even if it has never been practiced.
  2. Iran, Mauritania, Nigeria (in one-third of the country's states), Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen
    1. Out of these countries Iran, Pakistan (occurring outside of the legal systems), and Somalia stonings have occurred.
  3. Recently Afghanistan has rejected proposals to reintroduce stoning as the primary method to punish adulterers =  step in the right direction
  4. During a peace conference in Norway, in a room with an estimated 1500 people, those who considered themselves as “normal and not radical” Muslims during this meeting raised their hands in confirmation that they agree with death by stoning to those who commit adultery. (Example)
  5. “women are more likely to be found guilty of adultery than men – because the hegemonic interpretations of Islamic law, personal status laws, poverty, and illiteracy among women all increase the likelihood of their conviction, either in a court of law or by the community.”
  6. And in March 2013, the head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice in Tunisia, called for a 19 year old Tunisian named Amina to be stoned to death for posting nude protest images online.
  7. According to law, they need 4 witnesses to account for adultery, since that’s a very hard thing to prove/witness, the other way they can go about it is through it is by confession.
  8. Why is this important to you? Because it’s our duty if we see a wrong to bring it out into the open. Many innocent people are dying as a result of these corrupt laws and those who actually made this mistake are being severely punished by it.

 

Satisfaction/ Solution

  1. One of the most important things that can be done is to stay informed. It’s comfortable to sit back and relax and worry about our own problems, but while we’re doing that many people are suffering in silence. If they aren’t able to express themselves, then we should be their voices.
  2. Sign the petition.
    1. Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML):” international solidarity network that provides information, support and a collective space for women whose lives are shaped, conditioned or governed by laws and customs said to come from Islam.
    2. ‘WLUML responds to, circulates and initiates international alerts for action and campaigns as requested by networking groups and allies.”
    3. Directed to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Secretary General
    4. Approximately, 3,000 more signatures are needed
    5. http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/united-nations-secretary-general-the-ohchr-end-stoning-now

 

Visualization

              

  1. Imagine a world where there was no legalized stoning. Where girls who were raped wouldn’t be persecuted by gender-discrimination and would actually receive help and justice was served to those who physically robbed her.
    1. That would be the product of bringing an end to stoning.
  2. Now picture a woman or girl our age being stoned for participating in a beauty pageant, or owning a cell phone, being raped, or being involved in consensual intercourse. Yes, the latter isn’t a good thing, but should it really be considered a crime against the state, punishable by death?

 

We have the power to change this.

Call to Action

  1. Sign the Petition
  2. Stay Informed
  3. And tell others

Those are the three things that you can do to help out. Once again it’s not part of the Islamic culture. stoning (rajm) is never mentioned in the Qur’an, and many religious scholars have publically stated that stoning is “Islamically unjustifiable” in today’s world. This is just another way women are accosted by gender discrimination and violence. And it needs to stop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. Opelka, Mike. "Watch as Self-Described ‘Normal’ Muslims Show Support for Stoning Adulterers and Other ‘Punishment Described in the Koran’." The Blaze. N.p., 06 Nov. 2013. Web. 01 Dec. 2013. <http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/11/06/watch-as-self-described-normal-muslims-show-support-for-stoning-adulterers-and-other-punishment-described-in-the-koran/>.

 

  1. "Women around the World Are Being Stoned to Death. Do You Know the Facts?" Women Living Under Muslim Laws. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2013. <http://www.wluml.org/media/women-around-world-are-being-stoned-death-do-you-know-facts>.

 

  1. "Who Should Care about Stoning? | OpenDemocracy." OpenDemocracy. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2013. <http://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/rochelle-terman/who-should-care-about-stoning>.

 

  1. "Stoning." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 30 Nov. 2013. Web. 01 Dec. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoning>.

 

  1. Terman, Rochelle, and Mufuliat Fijabi. "Violence Is Not Our Culture." Violence Is Not Our Culture. N.p., Mar. 2010. Web. 01 Dec. 2013. <http://www.violenceisnotourculture.org/sites/default/files/Terman_Fijabi.pdf>.