“If a person has sex with a cow, a sheep or a camel … drinking their milk will be unlawful.”

Sex and the Single Mullah

Islamic scholars are prepared to answer questions and issue fatwas on almost any realm of modern life. Sometimes, it can get a little kinky.

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING

As Karim Sadjadpour recounts in his new article for Foreign Policy, an obscure cleric known as Ayatollah Gilani had a popular television show in the early days of the Iranian revolution during which he would opine upon the halal or haram status of various outlandish scenarios. His best-remembered went like this:

Imagine you are a young man sleeping in your bedroom. In the bedroom directly below, your aunt lies asleep. Now imagine that an earthquake happens that collapses your floor, causing you to fall directly on top of her. For the sake of argument, let’s assume that you’re both nude, and you’re erect, and you land with such perfect precision on top of her that you unintentionally achieve intercourse. Is the child of such an encounter halalzadeh (legitimate) or haramzadeh (a bastard)?

(It’s halalzadeh in case you were wondering.) ….

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Via – Twitter

The success of the Sindh Caucus in US Congress

by Khalid Hashmani, McLean, Virginia

…. I feel proud that the Sindhis have chosen non-violent and democratic methods to promote their rights instead of going on the path of armed struggle like our Baloch brothers and sisters. …

…. Congressman Brad Sherman organized the first ever congressional hearing on the enormous loss suffered by Sindhis in recent floods and wrote formal letters to US Aid officials and the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He urged them to ensure that the US aid also reached the flood victims in Sindh. At the urging of a Sindhi-American supporter, he confronted the Pakistani Ambassador in USA about why so few native Sindhis were employed at the Pakistani Embassy in the USA. He publicly acknowledged that he never received a satisfactory answer to this question from Pakistani ambassador.

Less than two weeks ago, Congressman Dan Burton wrote to the President of Pakistan expressing concern about the enforced disappearances and other forms of unlawful detention focusing on the disappearance of Mr. Muzaffar Bhutto. The letter says “… I and my congressional colleagues are hearing more and more stories, particular centering on alleged human rights violations against Baloch and Sindh ethnic peoples, including numerous women and children.” …..

Congressman Burton writes to President Zardari

Washington: A letter by Honorable Congressman Dan Burton, Member of Congress, to President Asif Ali Zardari about enforced disappearances and other forms of unlawful detention in Pakistan.

Congressman Burton particularly mentioned the disappearance of Mr. Muzaffar Bhutto, who disappeared since February this year.

Through his inquiries, Congressman Burton came to know that some intelligence personnel were involved in Mr. Bhutto’s disappearance.

The congressman expressed his concern over human rights violation against Sindhis and the Baloch and called upon President Zardari to take some measures to put human dignity at high.

He urged the president to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances as Pakistan could improve its human face among the comity of nations where human rights are respected.

Courtesy: Sindhi e-lists/ e-groups, 9th June, 2011.