THE PAST IS NOT ANOTHER COUNTRY
Taslima
Nasrin
Growing Up
I
was born in 1962 in a small town called Mymensingh in what then was
My
childhood was not much different from that of other girls of my generation. I
was sent to a school like other girls. Girls typically attended school, but
they frequently dropped out when they were fifteen or sixteen, ages at which
they often were given into marriage by their parents. Few girls had a chance to
continue their studies, for after an arranged marriage they were not allowed to
continue studying nor could they take a job. They became totally dependent upon
their husbands. I observed that all
girls or women had to have male masters. When they are young, the father is
their guardian, after marriage it is their husband, and during old age it is their son.
It
was usual for us children to read the Qur’an in Arabic early in the morning, and like all other children in
When
I was thirteen years old, I found a book that translated the Qur’an into
Bengali. To my surprise, I found Allah saying that men are superior to women. Men could have up to four wives. Men could divorce their wives any time they want. Men
are allowed to beat women. Women are not allowed to give testimony in some
legal cases. Women are not allowed to inherit the property of their father
equally with their brothers. I was definitely in shock to discover such
injustices and inequalities in a holy book.
I
realized that Islam does not consider woman full human being. Man was the original creation and
womankind was created secondarily for the pleasure of man. Islam considers woman nothing
more than slaves or sexual object. The woman’s role is to stay at home and to obey
her husband, for this is her religious duty. Women are considered weak, so they
should be taken care of, their body and mind, their desire and wishes, their
rights and freedom must be controlled by men. Islam treats women as being
intellectually, morally, and physically inferior. In marriage, Islam protects
the rights of men and men only. The Qu’ran gave total freedom to men saying,
"Your women are as your field, go unto them as you will.” (2.223)
And Allah says very clearly that men have authority over women: "Men
have authority over women because Allah has made the one superior to the other
and because they spend their wealth to maintain them. Good women are obedient.
They guard their unseen parts because Allah has guarded them. As for those from
whom you fear disobedience, admonish them, forsake them in beds apart, and beat
them. Then, if they obey you, take no further action against them. Surely Allah
is all-knowing and wise.” (4.34)
Women
are ordered by Allah to run to their husbands wherever they are, whatever they
do. The Hadith says that two prayers that never reach the heavens are (1) those
of the escaping slaves and (2) those of the reluctant woman who frustrates her
husband at night.
Islam
considers women psychologically inferior. Women’s testimony is not allowed in
cases of marriage, divorce, and Hudud. Hudud are the punishments of Islamic law
for adultery, fornication, adultery against a married person, apostasy, theft,
robbery, and so forth. If any woman is raped, she has to produce four male
witnesses to the court. If she cannot, there is no charge against the rapist.
In Islamic law, the testimony of two women is worth that of one man. In any
case in which a man suspects his wife of adultery or denies the legitimacy of
the offspring, his testimony is worth that of four witnesses. A woman does not have
the right to charge her husband in a similar manner.
Women are not allowed to inherit the
property equally with their brothers. In the case of inheritance, Allah says,
"A male shall inherit twice as much as a female.” (4.11-12)
And
after all the rights and freedom, after getting all the sexual pleasure and
pleasure of being the master, Allah will reward the men with wine, food, and
seventy-two virgins in Paradise, including their wives of the earth. Allah
said, "They relax on luxurious furnishings, and we match them with
beautiful virgins.” (52.19-20). "Near them, shall be blushing virgins with
large beautiful eyes who will be like hidden pearls.” ( 37.48-49) And what is the reward for the pious
woman? Nothing but the very husband that
caused her suffering throughout her life
on earth.
I
was a student of science, so it was hard to accept that the sun moves around
the earth, that the moon has its own light, and that the purpose of mountains
is to support the earth so it will not fall down somewhere (31.10, 41.10). I
came to suspect that the Qur’an was not written by Allah but, rather, by a
selfish greedy man who wanted only his own comfort. Then I read the Hadith, the
words of Muhammad. I found different events of Prophet Muhammad’s life in which,
when he had problems, Allah solved them immediately. For example, when he was sexually aroused by seeing his
daughter-in-law, Allah sent him a
message saying he could marry her because his son Zaid was adopted. Since Zaid was not his real son, so the marriage was therefore
justified. Further, he created a new rule, that Muslims would not be allowed to
adopt any child.
I was so shocked to see that Allah, who is
considered the judge of everything, gave Muhammad a blank cheque saying, "Prophet,
we have made lawful for you the wives to whom you have granted dowries and the
slave-girls whom Allah has given you as booty, the daughters of your paternal
and maternal uncles and of your paternal and maternal aunts who fled with you,
and any believing woman who gives herself to the prophet and whom the prophet
wishes to take in marriage. This privilege is yours alone, being granted to no
other believer." (33.50)
Muhammad
married thirteen times, one of his brides being six-year-old Ayesha. Allah, he
said, told him that he was allowed to enjoy his wives, his female slaves, and
all the the captive women he had. He put his beautiful young wife Ayesha behind
the curtain because he did not want his friends looking admiringly at her.
Allah, he said, told his friends that they should not go to the Prophet’s house
any time they want but if they go, they should not look at any of his wives or
ask any of them for something. He was so jealous that he introduced the veil
for his wives and, ultimately, for all Muslim women.
To
support Muhammad, the Qu’ran, the holy book says, “O wives of the prophet,
you are not the same as other women, if you keep your duty, you shall not speak
too softly, lest he whose heart is a disease aspire to you, but utter customary
speech.” (33.32). “You shall settle down in your homes and not mingle with the
people excessively, the way you used to do in the old days of ignorance. You
shall observe prayers, and give the obligatory charity, and obey Allah and his
messenger. Allah wishes to remove unholiness from you.” (33.33)
And Allah asked
the friends of Muhammad, "O you who believe, do not enter the
prophets’ homes unless you are given permission to eat, nor shall you force
such an invitation in any manner. If you are invited, you may enter. When you
finish eating, you shall leave, do not engage him in lengthy conversations.
This used to hurt the prophet, and he was too shy to tell you. But Allah does
not shy away from the truth. If you have to ask his wives for something, ask
them from behind a curtain. This is purer for your hearts and their hearts. You
are not to hurt the messenger of Allah. You shall not marry his wives after
him, for this would be gross offence in the sight of Allah.” (33.53)
Even
though widow-marriage was legal, Muhammad made his wives illegal to be married
even after his death.
Allah is also concerned about the veil,
saying in the Qu’ran, “O prophet, tell your wives and daughters and the
women of other believers that they shall lengthen their clothes. Thus, they
will be recognized (as righteous women) and not annoyed.” (33.59)
So,
women have to cover themselves from head
to toe because otherwise men might see them and start having sexual urges. In
numerous hadiths, which are based on the Islamic laws, I have found that the
woman’s role is to stay at home and to obey her husband, for this is her
religious duty. "The women who die and with whom the husband is
satisfied will go to heaven. A wife should never refuse herself to her husband’s call for sex even if it is on the saddle of a camel or she
is on the top of the burning oven."
A hadith
collected by Bukhari quotes Muhammad as saying, on the occasion of his
night trip for
the heavenly summit, that he had noticed that Hell was populated above all by women,
and he confessed in the same vein according to a different hadith that "if
it had been given to me to order someone to be submissive to someone other than
Allah, I would certainly have ordered women to be submissive to their husbands,
so great are a husband’s rights over his wife."
Inasmuch as most of these traditions are
invented, what matters here is not whether these words were actually spoken by
the prophet. What matters is that they are believed to have been spoken and so
are part of Islamic culture.
Omar, the second Islamic Caliph, said, "Prevent the women from learning
to write, say no to their capricious ways." Ali, the fourth Caliph, said, "Woman
is an evil and what is worse is that it is a necessary evil."
There are still more bits of advice about
how to be a good Muslim. For example:
1. You should never ask a woman her advice because her advice is worthless.
Hide them so that they cannot see other men! Do not spend too much time in
their company for they will lead you to your downfall.
2. Men, never ever obey your women. Never let them advise you on any matter
concerning your daily life. If you let them advise you they will squander all
your possessions and disobey all your orders and desires. When alone they
forget religion and think only of themselves, and as soon as it concerns their
carnal desires they are without pity or virtue. It is easy to get pleasure from
them but they give you big headaches too.
After I read what was written about the women in the Qu’ran, it
became clear to me that the Qu’ran was not written by Allah, but rather that
some selfish greedy man had written the Qu’ran for his own self-interest. So I stopped believing in Islam. I threw off the
veil, the sign of oppression, which my mother wanted me to wear. I tried to
convince other women not to wear the veil and to read the Qu’ran in order to
understand its stated meaning, so that they could understand that Islam is
patriarchal and oppresses women. There is no way to attain freedom
and the right to live as human beings
other than to cross the barrier of religion and patriarchy. When I studied
other religions, I found that they also oppressed women. All religions are
oppressive to women. Women are oppressed
not only by religion, by traditions, and by customs but also by cultures too.
All religions were created by men for their own interest, for their own
comfort, for their own fun. Women have no significant role in any of the major
world religion. Gradually, however, secularism has been bringing changes, but Islam
still remains in the dark. I believe that education is a candle in the dark. A
secular education is important – no, it is a requirement - for changing
society. It is important for the peaceful evolving of what a society is and should be. It is imperative that
children receive a secular education. All the children of this Earth deserve to
learn about all the religions, but they also deserve the right of freedom from
religion, to learn about the alternatives of atheism and humanism or just plain
ethical living. If children are taught humanistically, society will evolve in a
progressive, positive way. If women have any wish to live with dignity and
honor, the traditional family structure absolutely has to change. The new
society I envision is one in which love,
not religion and patriarchy, rules.
As
I grew up, I kept observing the condition of women in our society. My mother,
for example, was a perfect example of a woman oppressed. She had been given into marriage when she was but a
child. Although she excelled as a student in school, but she was not allowed to
continue her studies. My grandfather and my father did not want her to study,
for what they wanted was for her to be a good housewife, a good mother, a good
caretaker. My father, a physician, had a scientific outlook but was very
domineering. He did not allow me the freedom to play, to go outside, to meet
friends, to go to the cinema or theatre, or to read any book that was not in a
syllabus. He wanted me to earn a medical degree so he could say that one of his
children followed his path. On the one hand, he wanted me to be independent,
but on the other hand he wanted to find a good match for me inasmuch as
educated men often desire an educated wife. In our house, I grew up with much
fear, having to keep inside my heart all my desire for freedom and curiosity
for the outside world. I was not allowed to step outside the house except to go
to my school. As a result, I developed a passion for reading practically
anything I could get my hands on, including:
books, fiction, poetry, essays. And I had another passion: to write
poetry.
Growing
up, I naturally had the belief that girls surely must be inferior to boys, for
boys could play in a big field whereas girls had to play with their dolls in a
corner of the house. My brothers were free to go anywhere they wanted, and could watch any
games, could play anything they wanted to play. I could not. My sister could
not. I was told that girls were not made for such, that their role was to stay
home, learn how to cook, make beds, and clean the house. My mother was not the
only woman who was oppressed, for I saw my aunts, my female neighbors, and
other female acquaintances who were playing the same roles, that of being
oppressed. In our minds, torture of women was not oppression but, rather, was
tradition. We become accustomed to tradition. As I grew, I realized that I was
a part of the tradition but also that I was being oppressed the same as other
women. I realized that whether women are poor or rich, beautiful or ugly, have
blue or black or brown eyes, have white, black or brown skin, are unmarried or
married, illiterate or literate, clever or stupid, all are oppressed.
Everywhere women are oppressed. And all because of male-devised patriarchy,
religion, tradition, culture, and customs.
Rising Islamic Fundamentalism in the
1990’s
A Chronology of
Relevant Events
1947
1952 A language movement started in
1969 An uprising occurred against
the
1971 War began between West and
1975 Sheik Mujibur Rahman, the Prime
Minister of Bangladesh was killed in a
military coup. The military, using their power, legitimized their power by
using religion.
1984 The secular Bangladesh
Constitution was changed. The Jamat e Islami, which collaborated with the
Pakistani Army during the war of 1971, got the license to be political, based
on religion – this had been banned following independence.
1988 Islam was introduced as the
state religion. Hindus, Christians, and Buddhists automatically became
second-class citizens.
1990 Muslim fundamentalists began
attacking Hindus in
1992 After the Babri Mosque was
demolished by Hindu fundamentalists in
1990s Islamic fundamentalist gained
strength because of
Humankind is facing an uncertain
future. The probability of new kinds of rivalry and conflict loom large - in
particular, the conflict between two different ideas: secularism and
fundamentalism. I do not agree with those who think that the conflict is simply
between two religions - namely, Christianity and Islam. After all, there are
fundamentalists in every religious community. Likewise, I do not agree with
those people who think that the crusades of the Middle Ages are going to be
repeated soon. Nor do I think that this is a conflict between East and West. To
me, this conflict is basically between irrational blind faith and the modern
rational, logical mind. To me, this is a conflict between modernity and
anti-modernism. While some people want to go forward, others are trying to go
back. It is a conflict between the future and the past, between innovation and
tradition, between those who value freedom and those who do not.
The
basic argument of the fundamentalists is this: the idea of secularism is
Western in origin. The imperialistic West sold its idea of secularism to the
nationalist leaders of the newly independent states so that the West could
dominate the indigenous culture and religion by proxy. After the breakup of the
In
True,
the imperialist West did not establish and rule over its colonies by peaceful
means. It did not colonize the countries with idealism, enlightenment, and
democratic values. So when the fundamentalists argue that they are paying back
their old adversaries in the same coin, they may find some sympathetic
listeners even in the West. But, and it is incontrovertible, the fight is not
between the former colonial powers and newly independent nations. The war is
between two ideas of our time: secularism vs. fundamentalism. So the doctrine
of "life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth . . . burning for burning,
wound for wound" is totally irrelevant here. The fundamentalists want to
replace democracy with theocracy and to impose old theocratic laws instead of
modern secular laws on the members of their own society, not on other distant
powerful states that they consider their enemies. Though it has a global
dimension, Islamic fundamentalism is also a local phenomenon. In reality, there
is no such thing as an "Islamic front" embracing all the states of
the world that have a Muslim majority. It has been proved time and again that
pan-Islam is just an aspiration. There is no end of fighting between different
Muslim states. The war between
All the various Islamic groups are
actually artificially constituted by the rulers of different countries to
buttress their own position. Often, these groups are initiated by despotic
rulers who use Islam to perpetuate their despotic rule. For example, my country
of
In
Women’s
suffering is increasing at an alarmingly rate because of the rise of
fundamentalism. The panic is felt in the villages where women are sometimes
stoned to death, the girls' schools are shut down and burnt by the
fundamentalists, and girls are not allowed to study. Female workers are forced
to quit their jobs – otherwise, they are rejected by the society or their
husbands and are forced to divorce them. Writers and intellectuals at one time
wrote against the fundamentalists. I did, also. In addition, I wrote something
that others failed to write: I wrote that the root of fundamentalism is
religion itself. So long as religion remains, fundamentalism will remain. To
remove fundamentalism we have to replace religion with something rational.
First, I empahasized that the state should be separate from religion. In my
poetry, fiction, and non-fiction as well as in newspaper columns, I tried to
make people understand that religion in no way gives freedom or equality or
justice.
The fundamentalists talk about morality,
alleging that being religious guarantees that people will be good, will be
moral. I certainly believe in morality, for certain, but my belief is not
religion-based. My belief was, like that of the ancient Indian philosophy, of
not doing anything to others that you don’t want done to you. That was all, and
that was enough. Such an outlook became part of my conscience, and it made me
an honest person. The biggest tragedy of mankind is that morality is hijacked by religion. Actually,
morality has nothing to do with religion.
The fundamentalists became angry upon hearing
my views. They got furious when I said, Let the pavilions of religion be
ground to bits, let the bricks of temples, mosques, churches be burned in blind
fire, and upon those heaps of destruction let lovely flower gardens grow,
spreading their fragrance. Let children’s schools and study halls grow. For the
welfare of humanity, let prayer halls be turned into hospitals, orphanages,
schools, universities. Let prayer halls become academies of art, fine arts
centers, scientific research institutes. Let prayer halls be turned to golden
rice fields in the radiant dawn, open fields, rivers, restless seas. From now
on let religion’s other name be humanity.
Protest
Nobody told me to protest, but I
naturally developed a strong feeling that it was important to fight oppression.
Nobody asked me to shed a tear, but I did. I started writing against oppression
of women. I found my protests got the attention of readers and that people
either hated me or they loved me.
However, those who hated what I wrote organized
demonstrations against me, and people
began protesting by marching through the streets of
I continued writing. I continued
defending women. I demanded loudly for
equality and justice, justice for all people whatever their religion or gender.
I spoke loudly in defense of secularism.
I spoke against any religious laws in which women are oppressed. Women continue
to be flogged, stoned to death, raped. Even more alarming is the fact that
women are blamed for their own rape, while they rapists go free. Women have
been suffering from trafficking, from slavery, from all sorts of
discrimination. Men have thrown acid on women’s faces and walked away as happy
men. Women are not considered as human beings, not by religion, not by
so-called tradition. For a couple, the most unwanted thing is a female baby. If
a female baby is born, either the wife gets a divorce for her crime of having
given birth of a female, or the wife must spend her life with disgrace. By writing books, I wanted to do something
constructive, I wanted to help women understand that they are oppressed but do
not need to be. I wanted to encourage them to fight for their rights and
freedom. I wanted to make women realize the conspiracy of state, society and
religion to prevent women from living like human beings. My voice, however, gave
women the chance to think differently. Some things started to change. Some
girls, who had to quit their study, started studying again. The battered and
oppressed wives started raising their voices and said NO MORE.
That, however, did not make the
religionists or the male chauvinists happy. As a result, the fundamentalists
took the stand of absolutely not tolerating any of my views. They
objected to women breaking their
oppressive chains and becoming free, and
they could not tolerate my saying that the Qu’ran is out of place, out of time,
and that secular law with a uniform civil code for women is a necessity. Extremists
broke into newspaper offices, sued my editors, publishers, and me. They
demanded my execution by hanging. Hundreds of thousands of angry people
demonstrated on the street. They called general strikes all over the country
for months and months, insisting that I be killed. After the demolition of Babri Mosque in
I defended the oppressed, the poor, the
women, and the various ethnic and religious minorities. For the sake of humanity,
I have endeavored to stand beside them.
The Fundamentalists' Movement:
1. Smash Taslima Committee 1992
In 1992, a Smash Taslima Committee was
established. Their intent was that, wherever they found me, they would smash
me. Male students of universities with right-wing and conservative ideas led
the movement. They marched in the book fair with a banner proclaiming that I was
damaging society, that I was making girls and women into filthy people, and that
therefore I should be smashed. They burned my books in the middle of the
national book fair as well as threatened the bookshops if they did not remove
my books. Fortunately, a book fair committee rescued me, and I was sent home by
the police. Because of the ongoing protests, the book fair group became intimidated
and it became too dangerous for me to attend the book fair. I was blacklisted,
unable to visit my favorite place, the book fair.
The reasons for the oppositions to my
writings included that I had written on
behalf of women's rights, that women should not shut their mouths, they should
swim if they liked to swim, they should go out of the house if they liked to,
they should break their chains and make themselves free. Also, they should not
fall into the negativistic male views concerning virginity, chastity, and
motherhood. Females, in short, should have the right to enjoy life. It was such
a rational thing that I wrote about!
In traditional societies, a long legacy
has existed of men controlling the
bodies and minds of women. Such societies have valorized motherhood and
fabricated concepts like chastity. For thousands of years, women have been the
victims of such notions. Men are allowed to have multiple relationships and
affairs and to talk about them, but if a woman writes about love and her
sexuality, she is immediately defiled and called treacherous as well as
abominable. In times of darkness, the female who speaks out against patriarchy,
speaks for emancipation, and tries to break free from her chains is called a
"fallen woman." In one of the prefaces to my book, A Fallen
Woman's Fallen Prose, I wrote about how delighted I was to call myself a
fallen woman. I knew I would be called a whore, but I believe that in this
world, for a woman to be pure and to be true to herself, she must become a
fallen woman. Only then, when called a "whore," can she know that she
is free form the coils of society's dictates. The "fallen" woman
actually is a pure and pristine human being. I truly believe that if a woman
wants to earn her freedom and be a human, she has to be willing to earn the
label that is unreasonably uttered by a fallen, degenerate society. She will
then be accorded the honor of being free.
2. The Physical Attack on Me at the
National Book Fair, February 1993
At the National Book Fair, February 1993,
I was physically attacked by the fundamentalists. Even though I was not
supposed to go to the book fair any more, as per last year's warning, I went.
At the book stall where I sat and signed autographs, I noticed that suddenly I
was being surrounded by hundreds of men who began throwing stones at me and
shouting abuse. They broke lights bulbs, made the stall dark, and pushed hard
to come inside the stall. Clearly, they intended to kill me. Fortunately, the
people who worked at the book stall and the police saved my life. The book fair
committee warned me to never again return to the book fair.
After a few months, the Government on
3. Books and Articles Written Against Me
Daily, I found articles In their newspapers written by the
fundamentalists against me. In a several
different ways, they tried to prove that
I was an immoral writer and a poor role model. The fundamentalists insisted
that I was no more than an apostate, and that I should be dumped or
killed. Numerous books and articles were written to tell just how bad, how nasty, how idiotic, how
cunning, how filthy, how atheistic I am. How Taslima Should be Punished by
Islamic Rule was one, on the back cover of which was the verse of the
Qur'an to the effect that if anyone rejected Islam that person's right hand and
left leg should be cut off, and then the left hand and the right leg should
also be cut off. My crime was extreme because I was born into a Muslim family,
was considered Muslim, rejected Islam, and I was therefore murtad. The
following punishments from the Qur'an they suggested for me.
Apostasy
in Islam is punishable by death:
Make no excuse; you have
disbelieved after you had believed. If we pardon some of you, we will punish
others amongst you because they were criminals. [Qur'an 9:66]
Verily, those
who disbelieved after their belief and then went on increasing in their
disbelief - never will their repentance be accepted [because they repent only
by their tongues and not from their hearts]. And they are those who are astray.
Verily, those who disbelieved, and died while they were disbelievers, the
(whole) earth full of gold will not be accepted from anyone of them even if
they offered it as a ransom. For them is a painful torment and they will have
no helpers. [Qur'an 3:90-91]
O you who
believe! Whoever from among you turns back from his religion, Allah will bring
a people whom He will love and they will love Him; humble towards the
believers, stern towards the disbelievers, fighting in the Way of Allah, and
never afraid of the blame of the blamers. That is the Grace of Allah which He
bestows on whom He wills. And Allah is All-Sufficient for His creatures' needs,
All-Knower. [Qu'ran 5:54]
O Prophet
(Muhammad)! Strive hard against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be
harsh against them, their abode is Hell, - and worst indeed is that
destination. They swear by Allah that they said nothing (bad), but really they
said the word of disbelief, and they disbelieved after accepting Islam, and
they resolved that which they were unable to carry out, and they could not find
any cause to do so except that Allah and His Messenger had enriched them of His
Bounty. If then they repent, it will be better for them, but if they turn away,
Allah will punish them with a painful torment in this worldly life and in the
Hereafter. And there is none for them on earth as a Walî (supporter, protector)
or a helper. [Qu'ran 9:73-74]
The
following verse is about the Meccans who, after accepting Islam, did not want
to emigrate at Muhammad's behest or wanted to go back to
They
long that ye should disbelieve even as they disbelieve, that ye may be upon a
level (with them). So choose not friends from them till they for sake their
homes in the way of Allah; if they turn back (to enmity) then take them and
kill them wherever ye find them, and choose no friend nor helper from among
them. [Quran 4:89]
They
swear by Allah that they said nothing (evil), but indeed they uttered blasphemy, and they did it after accepting Islam; and they meditated
a plot which they were unable to carry out: this revenge of theirs was (their)
only return for the bounty with which Allah and His Messenger had enriched them!
If they repent, it will be best for them; but if they turn back (to their evil
ways), Allah will punish them with a grievous penalty in this life and in the
Hereafter: They shall have none on earth to protect or help them. (Qu'ran
9:74)
Also, many hadiths confirm
what is in the Qu'ran about the harsh treatment of the apostates.
Some of the books written against
me complained that I was a male-hater, that I was destroying the structure of the family, and that I promoted immorality and impurity among
the girls and women. Because I had
rejected the idea that women should be submissive, that it was the natural
character of females, therefore I should be punished, my mouth should be shut,
and my pen should forever be taken away. I should not be allowed to destroy the
society.
By
writing against the patriarchal system, male chauvinists claimed that I really
was showing my hatred for males. And the rumors flew, people became confused,
and individuals questioned my motives. Was I really a man-hater? Did I have other reasons for thinking the way
I did? Was I fighting against men for personal reasons?
4.
My Passport was Confiscated
The Government
confiscated my passport while I was in the airport and just before I boarded
the airplane. I was going to
5. I Was
Forced to Quit My Job
The
6. The Fatwa and Demonstrations
The
fundamentalists were not the ones responsible for the banning of my book Lajja (Shame). It
was the
The Islamists were angry with me
everywhere in the country. They spat at my name, showing their extreme hatred
toward me. Now, whenever a female raises her voice, or protests oppression, she
is called “a Taslima.” It became an everyday phenomenon for cheap
tabloids and the fundamentalists’ newspapers and magazines to attack me. And it
became commonplace to see leaflets and the posters against me.
One day on the wall next to my house, I
found the first of many posters, others being on my father’s clinic, that
proclaimed, “Taslima Nasrin is a filthy, nasty witch, a bitch, a sinner, a
sex-lover, a prostitute, an antireligious and anti-Islam atheist! All are
warned to stay far away from this filthy woman.”
On another day I found on the front page
of a daily newspaper that at a public meeting in Sylhet a holy man, Moulana Habibur
Rahman, had announced a price for my head. The price was 50,000 taka, a little
more than $1,000 but a huge amount of money in the poor country of
Now, when on the street I rode in a
rickshaw, men who saw me shouted such things as, “Oh, look, look, it’s Taslima.
Look at the bitch. Grab her. Grab this slut. Oh, look, the atheist, the whore,
is here.” I could only cry out to my rickshaw puller to go faster, to get away
from them. And I feared leaving my own house. One day, some bearded men tried
to break into my place, for they knew that police security had been suddenly
withdrawn by the government.
Upon the advice of friends, I asked for
police protection. But only when human rights organizations outside
In their fight against me, The Mosques and the Mullahs were
very active. The Imams, the men who lead the prayers in mosques, used mosques
for political purposes, and leaflets that defiled me were delivered from the
mosques. Everywhere, Islamists organized people against me and encouraged the
distribution of material such as the following, literally translated:
Allah is the greatest - Allah is
all-knowing
Insults to Islam - Muslims will never
tolerate
Insults to Prophet Muhammad - we can’t
stand
The supporter of BJP - Taslima be aware
The partner of Rushdie - Taslima you are
in danger
The infamous Taslima - punishment we need
Atheist, apostate, betrayer - be aware be
aware
Whose awful
comments against the holy Qu’ran, the great Islam, and the prophet Muhammad and
who is engaged in a conspiracy against the peace and freedom of the country,
the infamous apostate, anti-Allah, the enemy of prophet Muhammad, the partner
of Satan Rushdie, a toy of India’s Hindu fanatic BJP and a shame of the whole
generation of women apostate shameless Taslima Nasrin
1. Arrest
2. Hard punishment 3. And banning
of all her objectionable writings
For this demand
A BIG public
demonstration
Venue – Baitul
Mokarram, The National Mosque, south gate
Date – 18th
November, Thursday 1993
Time –
Please come to
a procession with the Islamic consciousness and with the spirit of love of the
country,
the nation and
the prophet
Invitation by
on behalf of
all kind of Ulama and Mashaiyekhs
Shaikhul Hadith
Maulana) Azizul Haque and the Imans of Mosques in
Some intellectuals started writing in
defense of my freedom to express myself, but they soon were astonished to see
that some religionists dared to issue a fatwa against a writer and were more
astonished to see that the government was silent on this issue.
The
newspapers, whether they wrote good or bad, positive or negative, comments,
sold like hotcakes. Dailies, weeklies, fortnightlies, and quarterlies: all began
gossiping about my personal life. My marriage was criticized, my writing
against Islam was bad, my making fun of the fatwa was bad. I came across as a
really bad woman. Meanwhile, Habibur Rahman began to be famous. Foreign
journalists came to
‘Taslima sounds like a very Muslim
name, but her belief, her ak-ida or devotion, her mentality is totally
different. She is engaged in doing crimes against Allah by saying offensive
remarks about the Holy Qu’ran, Prophet Muhammad, and Sharia law. Because of
Taslima’s shamelessly daring, extremely objectionable writings, vulgarity,
obscenity, illicit ideas, and adultery are spreading like an epidemic in the
country and abroad. This is leading to damage not only to the Prophet’s
reputation but also to Islam itself. She has teased and criticized the law of
Allah. She has criticized verses of the Qu’ran: sura Emran, sura Nisa, sura
Bakara, sura Huzrat, sura Wakia, sura Arrahman. Also, she has used
offensive language in criticizing Muhammad. She has said that religious faith
is a false faith, that all religions are fairy tales, and that religion makes
people inhumane. She has written that religion has made women ugly, inferior,
slaves, and sexual objects, thereby insulting women. She has blamed Allah and
his prophet Muhammad for the oppression of women and the inequalities between
men and woman. She claims religion has led to injustices against women, has
discriminated against women, and has led to society’s instability. She has made
obscene comments about believers, saying, “Shame on you who believe and follow
the orders of the Hadith of Muhammad.” She encourages nudity, adultery, illicit
relationships, vulgarity, and obscenity, saying, “I believe that one woman can
be chaste after having sexual relations with ten men if the word chaste
has anything to do with honesty.” It is dangerous for people like her to spread
such statements. If it is proved that a person is against the state, has openly
conspired against the state, then the punishment must be death. Similarly, if any
Muslim says anything bad against Islam, the Qu’ran, or the Holy Prophet, the
punishment under Sharia law is that of death!’
The leaders of Soldiers of Islam declared
that ‘they were ready to have successful public demonstrations, processions,
and general strikes or hartal, and they had three demands to the
Government: (1) the immediate arrest of Taslima Nasrin; (2) the banning of all
her writings; and (3) giving her exemplary punishment. These demands, they
asserted, came from the hearts of all religious people. They declared that the government was bound to
fulfill the public’s demands. The government had banned her Lajja
(Shame), but books a million times more objectionable had not yet been banned.
The government must fulfill the demands of the Soldiers of Islam. Furthermore,
a new law needed to be introduced to punish by death crimes of saying bad words
against Islam, the Qu’ran, and the Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh).'
Demonstrations increased, and I saw
them on the streets of