Frank talk from Muslim Sex Therapist

Cairo-based Heba Kotb tackles sensitive issues within the framework of Islam.

By Jeffrey Fleishman, Times Staff WriterJuly 29, 2007

CAIRO — In the delicate realm where the Koran meets human desire, Heba Kotb, a Muslim sex therapist in a ruffled gold head scarf, has strong opinions on vibrators, foreplay, premature you-know-what and why more men can't seem to locate the G-spot.

An hour in her clinic, where some women wear black abayas that reveal only their eyes, is a liberating venture into a culture that has traditionally relegated talk of sex to a family whisper. Demure she may appear, but Kotb's voice is strong and unapologetically public. The Koran, she said, forbids sex outside marriage, but within that union carnal satisfaction is a requisite for happiness."

I deal with pleasure, desire, orgasms, masturbation, sexual frequency and erection problems," said Kotb, whose TV show, "Big Talk," is popular across the Arab world. "Neither the Koran nor the Sunna, however, address masturbation. My advice is that it's OK to masturbate, but only if you need it badly. Masturbation has become more prevalent here because sex is forbidden outside marriage.

"In a society in which male clerics issue fatwas, or religious edicts or opinions, addressing all layers of family life, a feminine voice on something as intimate as sex has made Kotb a celebrity and a cultural revolutionary.

Some conservative clerics accuse Kotb of catering to sinners and Western-influenced permissiveness, but, overall, there has been little outcry about her frankness. Kotb's advice on sex is meticulously framed within the context of matrimony, which she says is a gift from God."

Everyone is searching for better sex, but people aren't having the best sex," she said. "Sex within Islam is the best. It covers the man's rights and the woman's rights. Islam is the ultimate sexuality. It's beyond the stereotypes of Islamic oppression. I'm replacing that template. I'm replacing the stereotypes."

Kotb's interest in the subject arose from conversations with sex offenders while working on her forensic medicine degree at Cairo University. She later studied sexology and philosophy at Maimonides University in Florida; her dissertation was titled Sexuality in Islam. She wrote advice columns for newspapers, including one called "Behind Closed Doors." In 2006, she started her own late-night TV talk show on the private Egyptian satellite channel El Mehwar."

I thought about the core of sexuality and religion," she said. "How many relationships could I save knowing about this? At first, there was a state of shock over the TV show. Gradually it was accepted, and today people love it. I think, outside of the sex act, people have little idea about their own sexuality. Five years ago, I'd see two or three patients a week. Today, I'm booked three months ahead."

Kotb has a lively face bordered by a hijab. She wears rings and bracelets; her cellphone hums incessantly, and she seems comfortable with her high profile. She blends science and anatomy charts with the Koran and the Sunna, teachings based on the life of the prophet Muhammad, who, Kotb noted, tended dutifully to his wives.

Kotb advises her listeners that every sexual encounter outside marriage leaves an indelible mark, and that the accumulation of those marks can destroy a relationship and push one further from God. But her larger aim is to help Muslims overcome sexual ignorance by showing them that scripture from centuries ago is relevant to today's preferences and inhibitions.

"It's hard for people to confess that they have no idea about sex, especially men — they think they're Valentinos," Kotb said, referring to those unschooled in the intricacies of the multiple orgasm. "Sometimes men believe they know everything, and some are, in fact, lying."

To add religious legitimacy to her show, Kotb invites young preachers to answer questions from viewers. Many are part of a movement that emerged in the 1990s that offers a less conventional interpretation of Islamic theology. On one program, Kotb and Sheik Khaled Abdullah discussed the misconception that sex is forbidden during the holy month of Ramadan."There is no correlation between how faithful you are to God and how much you avoid having sex in Ramadan," Kotb said.

Abdullah added: "Whenever you feel you need [to have sex] with your wife or whenever your wife feels the same according to God's rule, you can exercise this right and you will be rewarded for that … as long as you do it between sunset and dawn prayers."

Economics is also a factor in a nation where widespread poverty delays or prevents many couples from marrying. This, along with the increasing Western influence, most notably from risque music videos on satellite TV, is nudging more Egyptians into sex outside marriage.

Read on here: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-sextalk29jul29,0,7141531.story?coll=la-home-center

jeffrey.fleishman@latimes.com--Special correspondent Noha El Hennawy contributed to this report.

Mumia Abu-Jamal: Gathering of the Tribe

[col. writ. 6/19/07] (c) '07 Mumia Abu-Jamal

Ona Move! LLJA!

For what do we gather -- we youths and elders -- if not to try to find some clue to how to remake this world that is obviously going wrong?

Why gather, unless there is at least some hope that some words, some key, some insight may be gained that will glow like the proverbial light bulb over the head of the guy in the comics? But -- as an elder who was a revolutionary before he was 15, please lend your ear to my thoughts. I wish to share with you some ideas that I've always shared with young folks. I try to remind them that Huey P. Newton, who founded the Black Panther Party, did so at the tender age of 24. Twenty-four years old!His friend and co-founder, Bobby Seale, was only a few years older.

I say this to remind you, especially young people, of what young folks are capable of, when they put their minds and hearts to it. Huey didn't ask Martin Luther King, Jr. for permission. He didn't ask Malcolm X for his OK.Like most young people of his time, he talked to other young folks, and before you know it, a dozen young brothas and sistas were with him, trying to build the Party from scratch.

What's my point?Am I suggesting that this was/is easy? Or that, if Huey could do it, you could too?No. It would be dishonest of me, and dangerous for you, to do that.It's important to remember that old adage by Santayana: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."It's important for you to learn mistakes of the past, so that you can side-step them in the future.

Among the Ashanti people in West Africa, the following proverb is used: " A wise man who ceases to learn ceases to be wise."Study. Study. Seriously study our people's history of resistance, so that you can remake this world {that is} on the brink of chaos.Huey P. Newton studied the works of Malcolm X; he studied anti-Imperialist movements in Cuba, Latin America, Africa, and Asia. He studied the writings of Mao, of Che, of Kwame Nkrumah and beyond.Then he put his studies into practice.

The great Frantz Fanon, a revolutionary psychiatrist who helped {in} the Algerian Revolution said, "Every generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, and fulfill it or betray it."That is your task. It can't be handed to you like a ticket.It must emerge from the inner recesses of the soul, from the red embers of collective and personal history.You must own it, and make it yours, by seizing the stage of history - by taking it.For, as elders return to their ancestors, the earth becomes the inheritance of the living.The challenge is great; the threats are daunting; but the promise of freedom, of true liberation couldn't be sweeter.

Thank you! Ona Move!From Life's Row, this Mumia Abu-Jamal

*******

Mumia Abu-Jamal is a political prisoner in the United States, with what could be the final decision on his legal appeals possibly coming down this summer. That decision could give Mumia his freedom, a new trial, life in prison, or execution. It is time to turn up the heat against this injustice.

Free Mumia!

Bush Executive Order: Criminalizing the Antiwar Movement

By Prof. Michel Chossudovsky

Global Research, July 20, 2007

The Executive Order entitled "Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq" provides the President with the authority to confiscate the assets of whoever opposes the US led war.

A presidential Executive Order issued on July 17th, repeals with the stroke of a pen the right to dissent and to oppose the Pentagon's military agenda in Iraq.

The Executive Order entitled "Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq" provides the President with the authority to confiscate the assets of "certain persons" who oppose the US led war in Iraq:
"I have issued an Executive Order blocking property of persons determined to have committed, or to pose a significant risk of committing, an act or acts of violence that have the purpose or effect of threatening the peace or stability of Iraq or the Government of Iraq or undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq or to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people."

In substance, under this executive order, opposing the war becomes an illegal act.

The Executive Order criminalizes the antiwar movement. It is intended to "blocking property" of US citizens and organizations actively involved in the peace movement. It allows the Department of Defense to interfere in financial affairs and instruct the Treasury to "block the property" and/or confiscate/ freeze the assets of "Certain Persons" involved in antiwar activities.

It targets those "Certain Persons" in America, including civil society organizatioins, who oppose the Bush Administration's "peace and stability" program in Iraq, characterized, in plain English, by an illegal occupation and the continued killing of innocent civilians.

The Executive Order also targets those "Certain Persons" who are "undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction", or who, again in plain English, are opposed to the confiscation and privatization of Iraq's oil resources, on behalf of the Anglo-American oil giants. The order is also intended for anybody who opposes Bush's program of "political reform in Iraq", in other words, who questions the legitimacy of an Iraqi "government" installed by the occupation forces.

Moreover, those persons or nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), who provide bona fide humanitarian aid to Iraqi civilians, and who are not approved by the US Military or its lackeys in the US sponsored Iraqi puppet government are also liable to have their financial assets confiscated.

The executive order violates the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments of the US Constitution. It repeals one of the fundamental tenets of US democracy, which is the right to free expression and dissent.

The order has not been the object of discussion in the US Congress. So far, it has not been addressed by the US antiwar movement, in terms of a formal statement. Apart from a bland Associated Press wire report, which presents the executive order as "an authority to use financial sanctions", there has been no media coverage or commentary of a presidential decision which strikes at the heart of the US Constitution.

Broader implications
The criminalization of the State is when the sitting President and Vice President use and abuse their authority through executive orders, presidential directives or otherwise to define "who are the criminals" when in fact they they are the criminals. This latest executive order criminalizes the peace movement. It must be viewed in relation to various pieces of "anti-terrorist" legislation, the gamut of presidential and national security directives, etc., which are ultimately geared towards repealing constitutional government and installing martial law in the event of a "national emergency".

The war criminals in high office are intent upon repressing all forms of dissent which question the legitimacy of the war in Iraq. The executive order combined with the existing anti-terrorist legislation is eventually intended to be used against the anti-war and civil rights movements.

It can be used to seize the assets of antiwar groups in America as well as block the property and activities of non-governmental humanitarian organizations providing relief in Iraq, seizing the assets of alternative media involved in reporting the truth regarding the US-led war, etc.

In May 2007, Bush issued a major presidential National Security Directive (National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive NSPD 51/HSPD 20), which would suspend constitutional government and instate broad dictatorial powers under martial law in the case of a "Catastrophic Emergency" (e.g. Second 9/11 terrorist attack).

On July 11, 2007 the CIA published its "National Intelligence Estimate" which pointed to an imminent Al Qaeda attack on America, a second 9/11 which, according to the terms of NSPD 51, would immediately be followed by the suspension of constitutional government and the instatement of martial law under the authority of the president and the vice-president. (For further details, see Michel Chossudovsky, Bush Directive for a "Catastrophic Emergency" in America: Building a Justification for Waging War on Iran? June 2007)

Read the rest of the article here: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6377

Iraqi Child Prostitution on the Rise

By Guest Blogger Yesi King

MSNBC has come up with a video of Iraqi women who have been forced into prostitution to survive as refugees in Syria.

Bush’s "Democratic Revolution" in Iraq has produced some dismal results, but the story of young girls—some only 6 years old---being exploited takes the cake. It is both appalling and heartbreaking.

The video is served up with typical western-media cynicism--as though America played no part in this latest horror story from Iraq.

Furthermore, how do our fellow Muslims supporting such an atrocity sleep at night? Perhaps it is that I am a naive convert, but I just don't get it.

Happy 4th of July?

By Guest Blogger Yesi King

As many U.S. residents stock up on beer, barbecue and chips, and families happily sit around excited circles to anticipate the crackling and luminous fireworks that will light up the sky for the most revered of American holidays, many people across the globe suffer from U.S. policies. This day is a reminder of the ‘freedom’ we have and enjoy. However, the irony in Americans enthusiasm lies is the mentality that promotes perceptions like “don’t forget what this day is all about,” or “don't let us forget those brave men and women that fought and died so that we might have the freedom to speak up when things are not as they should be...” Such patriotism is instilled in the institutions of this country in an attempt to quiet dissent over government policies that at the same time promote quite the opposite.

What short memories and biased sense of ‘being’ Americans have. For many, rather than being a celebratory day, the 4th of July is the anniversary of a country whose history is based upon almost 300 years of ongoing carnage and despair brought upon Native Americans of all tribes, it represents a strong and still active mentality of imperialism and racism that we see is alive and popular in the minds of those who support the Israeli Occupation over Palestine, it represents the repressive state of mind amongst all people celebrating the institutions and mockery these symbolic gestures signify while choosing to ignore their true historical significance in the eyes of minorities and those who have not had the privilege of enjoying.

The birth day of your national independence and of your political freedom reminds you of your great deliverance entitled to you by your Declaration of Independence. Are those same embodied principles of freedom and justice extended to those whom you oppress in your own country and elsewhere? Because beneath your public celebrations, festive shouts and enjoyment, the woeful bawl of millions whose shackles, heavy and dreadful are also plagued with further perplexity and disgust for your joy. To forget and ignore them for your convenience is nothing less than American denial and oppression. What wonder it would be if instead on this day, the 4th of July caused you to view your freedom and privilege in comparison to theirs, from their point of view. Whether you choose to look towards your declarations, your present ideology or your dreams for the future, the performance of this nation seems by the same token repulsive and fake.

Standing with those whom you choose to ignore on this day much like every other day, in the name of compassion which you have trampled, in the name of self independence which is chained, what, to the oppressed and occupied, is your 4th of July? To him, your merriment is a farce filled with the merciless jubilation over your governments bulging arrogance and deception. A day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he has to pay in exchange for your joys. Point the finger all you want, search high and low, you will not find a country guiltier of bloody and horrible practices than the United States.

What is a joyous day for you is only a reminder of the price others have to pay for your definition of freedom, democracy and liberation. Your imperialist tendencies cause the problems you believe you face and use to justify your war mongering and crimes. So as people sit back on their lawn chairs and enjoy the beaches on this hot and sunny day, the wail of children elsewhere will blend into the backdrop of bombs, poverty and inequality the U.S. has designated to be necessary for their own well being and prosperous future. Thus, on this happy 4th of July as the fireworks scream freedom that you continue to take away, blind patriotism will make many people very happy.