The OIC and other foreign Muslim groups have yet to reach the Taliban’s reclusive leader, Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada, who is called “commander of the faithful.” Instead, they have appealed to moderates and young people within the Taliban, hoping they will challenge the rulings on women.īy signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy.Īlready a subscriber? Log in to hide ads. The Taliban’s Sunni school of theology is particularly strict on women’s behavior, even resulting in flogging for violations. The U.N.’s insistence on the Taliban honoring the human rights of women is up against a faith that sees rights as divinely given, not humanly given. This religious outreach may have a better chance of success than recent diplomatic efforts by the United Nations. In addition, Islamic scholars at Egypt’s Al-Azhar University have called for the Taliban to reconsider their policies. The tiny Gulf kingdom is a longtime mediator for the Taliban in dealing with the international community. Then in May, the prime minister of Qatar went to Kabul. In March, the OIC decided to send a team of Islamic scholars to the country to discuss women’s rights to work and to an education beyond the sixth grade – both banned last year. As the collective voice of the Muslim world, the OIC wants to persuade the Taliban, who returned to power in Afghanistan 17 months ago, to ease off harsh rules on girls and women. Such trends may help explain why the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation is on a mission. In Saudi Arabia, women can now drive and travel more freely. Women in Iran are in permanent protest by flouting rules on female head covering. In Turkey, an election last Sunday saw a record number of women (20%) elected to parliament. That is an awesome responsibility and a revolutionary opportunity.įor women in many Muslim countries, change for the better is now the norm. Even when the world is unkind, we can be unmoved in our determination to love, to build, to seek credible hope. Never to excuse or ignore cruelty or crime, but to recognize that how we view the world shapes the world. What is the media’s responsibility?Author and anti-apartheid activist Alan Paton once said of the Monitor, “It gives no shrift to any belief in the irredeemable wickedness of man, nor in the futility of human endeavor.”In addition to reporting acts of kindness, perhaps a next step is to see the world through a lens of kindness. But can this elevation only happen with stories of kindness? Must the rest of the news abandon us to despair?The world is asking us to consider that question deeply. She defined kindness and heroism as “moral beauty,” which “triggers ‘elevation’ – a positive and uplifting feeling” that “acts as an emotional reset button, replacing feelings of cynicism with hope, love and optimism.”The study suggested this happens when one watches a news story about kindness after watching ones about bombings, cruelty, and violence. They support “the belief that the world and people in it are good.” And they provide “relief to the pain we experience when we see others suffering.”It was her fourth point that stuck with me. A week ago, a British researcher published an article titled “Stories of kindness may counteract the negative effects of looking at bad news.” As you might imagine, I was intrigued.Kathryn Buchanan of the University of Essex shared four main takeaways from her research: Stories of kindness remind us of our shared values.
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