It's an injustice to NOT marry girls aged 10, says Saudi cleric

clipped from www.dailymail.co.uk Ten-year-old girls are ready for marriage, according to Saudi Arabia's most senior cleric. Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Al Sheikh, the country's grand mufti, told Al Hayat newspaper that those saying ten or 12-year-old girls are too young to marry are being 'unfair' to them. Al Sheikh's comments come at a time when Saudi human rights groups have been pushing the government to put an end to marriages involving the very young and to define a minimum age for marriage. Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh, the Kingdom's grand mufti the mufti said: 'We hear a lot about the marriage of underage girls in the media, and we should know that Islamic law has not brought injustice to women.' The mufti said a good upbringing will make a girl capable of carrying out her duties as a wife and that those who say women should not marry before the age of 25 are following a 'bad path'. 'Our mothers and before them, our grandmothers, married when they were barely 12,' said Al Sheikh, according to the Al-Hayat newspaper.

Würde- und verantwortungslos, dieses Verständnis von Sexualität und diese Missachtung der Menschenrechte junger Mädchen! Man muss deutlich sagen, worum es sich handelt: um die moraltheologisch verbrämte Erniedrigung von Kindern zum Sexualvieh. Ob die Überlieferungen der Worte und Handlungsweisen des islamischen Propheten nach al-Bukhari nun authentisch sind oder nicht, ist völlig belanglos in Anbetracht der Tatsache, dass das Islam- und Mohammedverständnis des Überlieferers das mitprägt, was sich heute in muslimischen, ja islamgelehrt-geistlichen Köpfen befindet.

Von guten Mächten wunderbar geborgen

Von guten Mächten wunderbar geborgen
erwarten wir getrost, was kommen mag.
Gott ist bei uns am Abend und am Morgen,
und ganz gewiss an jedem neuen Tag.

Von guten Mächten treu und still umgeben
behütet und getröstet wunderbar, -
so will ich diese Tage mit euch leben
und mit euch gehen in ein neues Jahr;

noch will das alte unsre Herzen quälen,
noch drückt uns böser Tage schwere Last.
Ach Herr, gib unsern aufgeschreckten Seelen
das Heil, für das Du uns geschaffen hast.

Und reichst Du uns den schweren Kelch, den bittern,
des Leids, gefüllt bis an den höchsten Rand,
so nehmen wir ihn dankbar ohne Zittern
aus Deiner guten und geliebten Hand.

Doch willst Du uns noch einmal Freude schenken
an dieser Welt und ihrer Sonne Glanz,
dann woll´n wir des Vergangenen gedenken,
und dann gehört Dir unser Leben ganz.

Lass warm und hell die Kerzen heute flammen,
die Du in unsre Dunkelheit gebracht,
führ, wenn es sein kann, wieder uns zusammen!
Wir wissen es, Dein Licht scheint in der Nacht.

Wenn sich die Stille nun tief um uns breitet,
so lass uns hören jenen vollen Klang
der Welt, die unsichtbar sich um uns weitet,
all Deiner Kinder hohen Lobgesang.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer († 1945), 1945

Von guten Mächten wunderbar geborgen

Maulana Rumi: Love Said To Me

I worship the moon.
Tell me of the soft glow of a candle light
and the sweetness of my moon.

Don’t talk about sorrow,
tell me of that treasure,
hidden if it is to you,
then just remain silent.

Last night
I lost my grip on reality
and welcomed insanity.
Love saw me and said,
I showed up.
Wipe your tears
and be silent.

I said, O Love I am frightened, but it’s not you.
Love said to me, there is nothing that is not me.
be silent.

I will whisper secrets in your ear
just nod yes
and be silent.

A soul moon
appeared in the path of my heart.
How precious is this journey.

I said, O Love
what kind of moon is this?
Love said to me,
this is not for you to question.
be silent.

I said, O Love
what kind of face is this,
angelic, or human?
Love said to me,
this is beyond anything that you know.
Be silent.

I said, please reveal this to me
I am dying in anticipation.
Love said to me,
that is where I want you:
Always on the edge,
be silent.
You dwell in this hall of
images and illusions,
leave this house now
and be silent.

I said, O Love, tell me this:
Does the Lord know you are
treating me this way?
Love said to me,
yes He does,
just be totally…
totally… silent
I worship the moon.
Tell me of the soft glow of a candle light
and the sweetness of my moon.

Don’t talk about sorrow,
tell me of that treasure,
hidden if it is to you,
then just remain silent.

Last night
I lost my grip on reality
and welcomed insanity.
Love saw me and said,
I showed up.
Wipe your tears
and be silent.

I said, O Love I am frightened, but it’s not you.
Love said to me, there is nothing that is not me.
be silent.

I will whisper secrets in your ear
just nod yes
and be silent.

A soul moon
appeared in the path of my heart.
How precious is this journey.

I said, O Love
what kind of moon is this?
Love said to me,
this is not for you to question.
be silent.

I said, O Love
what kind of face is this,
angelic, or human?
Love said to me,
this is beyond anything that you know.
Be silent.

I said, please reveal this to me
I am dying in anticipation.
Love said to me,
that is where I want you:
Always on the edge,
be silent.
You dwell in this hall of
images and illusions,
leave this house now
and be silent.

I said, O Love, tell me this:
Does the Lord know you are
treating me this way?
Love said to me,
yes He does,
just be totally…
totally… silent

Shalom! Salam!

Video 1

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Video 2

Note:

«Behind the Lines: Poetry, War, & Peacemaking: Further Considerations on the Peace Video of Hamifkad
"Yesterday, I posted this video, and wanted to show it to my students, just for a (fantasized)image of coexistence, but decided to check out what it was promoting. Amazingly, it turns out to be an Israeli political party/coalition of a center-right wing variety. (See www.Hamifkad.org.il)
What this suggests is the way in which even right wing political parties have come to see the need to address the Israeli peoples' desire for peace--even if their answers to the conflict are military:

Israel's security requirements cannot be met simply through a political solution - we must prevail militarily: We must achieve an immediate and decisive victory. If we allow the Palestinian war of attrition to drag on, it will weaken Israel in the consciousness of its citizens, ruin its economy and stir up its Arab citizens.
The State of Israel must adhere to the following principles: No additional political entity shall be formed between the Jordan and the sea. The bitter experience resulting from the Oslo Accords proved that any independent Palestinian entity could quickly turn into a strategic threat to the State of Israel and a risk to its citizens. The establishment of a Palestinian State between the Jordan and the sea poses a threat to the very existence of the State of Israel.
The Oslo Accords stand in direct opposition to the essence of the Jewish people's basic rights to a secure and independent existence. The Accords were systematically violated by the Palestinians; de facto they are nonexistent and have lost all validity.
The government will not recognize the Palestinian Authority and will act to dismantle it, and at the same time will destroy the terror infrastructure, its organizations and its leaders. (See Hamifkad.org.il)

In a sense, if you don't have a Palestinian state, but you offer full rights to those within the boundaries of Greater Israel, it seems as if the party is proposing a single state solution. What the video also promotes, at the same time, is something called "People's Voice: Middle East Peace Initiative." I could not find any link to it on the website.«

Source: ↗Blog "Behind the Lines: Poetry, War, & Peacemaking"

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Video 3

♫ Franz Schubert: Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt

Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt
Weiß, was ich leide!
Allein und abgetrennt
Von aller Freude,
Seh ich [am] Firmament
Nach jener Seite.
Ach! der mich liebt und kennt,
Ist in der Weite.
Es schwindelt mir, es brennt
Mein Eingeweide.
Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt
Weiß, was ich leide!

Vertonungen von Franz Schubert:

D. 310 (2 versions) Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt (1815, first published 1895);
D. 359 Sehnsucht (Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt) (1816, first published in 1872) (↗Reinhören);
D. 481 Sehnsucht (Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt) (September, 1816, first published in 1895) (↗Reinhören);
D. 656 Sehnsucht (Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt) (April, 1819, first published in 1867) (↗Reinhören);
D. 877 Nr. 1 und 4 Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt op. 63 (1826)

Franz Schubert, Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt op. 63, D. 877 Nr. 4
Anna Lucia Richter (Sopran), Hans Joerg Fink (Klavier)