On December 29, comedian and social debater Shabana Rehman died, aged just 46. A few days later, the head of the conservative Muslim organization Islam Net, Fahad Qureshi, wrote in a closed Facebook group that Rehman should be “a reminder” and that “not all dead people should be respected”.
In the post, which Nettavisen read, Qureshi writes:
“He challenged a man’s right to self-determination over who gets to touch his body and made humor out of it.
He showed the Koran in front of a lit candle and asked for more book bonfires in this country, which Lars Thorsen (leader of the Sian, ed.) did.
She stripped naked and exposed her private rear parts to the world to tear down expectations of Muslim women’s decency.”
Furthermore, Qureshi writes that Rehman “made fun of Allah” and that she “became an example of the kind of expectations Norwegian society can have of Muslims”.
“Now she is dead and has left this world. She should remind us to truly appreciate God’s guidance and not end up challenging Him SWT,” Qureshi concludes.
He reacts: – Extremely ugly
It causes Ap Eivor Evenrud politician, among others, to see red.
– In the last year they have worked hard to appear new and moderate, but everything is as before with the extreme gang of Islam Net. The right to self-determination over one’s body is certainly important, but not as long as it is a woman’s body, writes on Facebook.
Confronted by Nettavisen, he elaborates on this with the right to self-determination:
– In the first place he is concerned that you have made fun of Mullah Krekar. So later, when Shabana decides about her own body, is she called a stripper? She is a huge double standard. This shows very well what Shabana has been fighting against all these years, Evenrud says.
– They write that this is “a reminder”. It’s extremely bad, he tells Nettavisen.
– They give the impression that they have moderated, certainly not. They are still dealing with the infliction of shame, guilt and sin, Evenrud says, before pointing to a comment written by social commentator and debater Mohamed Abdi on his Facebook post:
– He wrote that this is profanation, quite simply.
Here Evenrud also writes that the post about the closed group shows the cross pressure minority women experience:
– Inflicting shame, guilt and sin, means that can best be described as psychological violence, across the board. This well describes the cross pressure in which Shabana and other minority women remain. Even after her death, she must therefore be taken and be “a reminder”. She doesn’t lower. My skepticism that Islam Net will launch a large youth activity center in Groruddalen has not faded to say the least, she concludes.
Read also: Strong reactions after Islam Net purchase of Oslo property for 60 million: – This must be stopped
Confronted by Nettavisen, he adds that “several Muslims fortunately reacted” to Qureshi’s statement afterwards, including in the closed group’s comment section. Nettavisen also read this.
– Not all the dead are to be respected
One of those who reacted in the closed group, calling Qureshi’s post useless and disrespectful, received a reply from Qureshi. In the comments section, the leader of Islam Net writes:
“Not all dead are to be respected. Whoever desecrates the Book of Allah and dishonours His Messenger – proudly and publicly in front of the whole world – is no longer one who deserves respect. Whoever dedicates his whole life to fighting Islam he is not a Muslim, nor a friend of Muslims”.
In conclusion, the leader of Islam Net writes:
“For example, we wouldn’t say it’s disrespectful if someone referred to Adolf Hitler as an enemy of humanity.”
It also adds:
“NB! I did not write anything disrespectful towards that person. I only reproduced actions that the person was proud of”.
– I do not agree with this, Evenrud retorts dryly.
– He blames her for Sian’s book burning, for example, and gives her other motives and attitudes than what Shabana actually had. You write, among other things, that you took off your clothes to break down the expectations of decency among Muslim women. What Shabana Rehman herself said at the time was that she didn’t want to show off but to show people’s reaction to her way of doing it. This is exactly what Fahad Qureshi is doing here, which he has tried to show. He was absolutely right, concludes Evenrud.
Nettavisen has been trying to get in touch with Fahad Qureshi and Islam Net but has been unsuccessful so far.
