It has occurred several times that some media outlets in their coverage of the events in Syria specifically, and other countries generally, confuse and mix between the position and method of Hizb ut Tahrir with the work of other Islamic organisations and parties whose curricula of thinking and work differs from that of Hizb ut Tahrir's.

The objectification and dehumanisation of the female identity is by no means a new phenomenon in western liberal culture. However the media agenda to use and abuse the image of women was admitted in no uncertain terms during a conference at ‘Advertising Week Europe' this month. In a panel discussion on the 19^th of March 2013, Alex Bilmes, high profile editor of the men's magazine ‘Esquire' said that, "The women we feature in the magazine are ornamental... I could lie to you if you want and say we are interested in their brains as well. We are not. They are objectified....[Esquire] provide pictures of girls in the same way we provide pictures of cool cars."

Although the content of his comments confirms what most of us understand about global popular culture, it is the uncompromising and unapologetic nature of his quotes on the entertainment industry that has caused international controversy.  In a flimsy attempt at justifying his role in the exploitation of women, he suggested that women's magazines were worse than men's magazines in their "stereotyped and negative images of women" that focus on unrealistic body types and are racists as well as ageist in their content. Fellow female panellists were quick to express outrage at his remarks but there was no way for them to effectively deny his caustic honesty about the social status of women in the west.

In March alone, the media reported on yet another gang attack on a woman in India. This time the victim was a Swedish tourist. In this same month, a new film was released in Lebanon depicting the explosion in plastic surgery in the region and calls for liberal democracy to save Muslim women from the threat of Islamic revival. In light of these on-going issues, there are real and present questions that need to be addressed regarding the way forward for women's security and the preservation of a decent future where young girls have positive role models and healthy life goals to aspire to.

All of the current Muslim leaders represent the same misogynistic attitudes as Alex Bilmes as they permit advertising, tourism, and the Bollywood, Turkish and Egyptian entertainment machines that spew out sickening, toxic representations of women. The lesson for Muslim women here is that when you have leaders of the worlds' media openly expressing that it is perfectly normal to view women in one dimensional animalistic terms in order to maximise economic profits, we should really question how these liberal secular values can deliver any hope for our security and wellbeing when they have clearly failed women in well-established democracies, all of which have growing and active women's liberation movements. We should openly challenge our leaders' adoption of cosmetic policies that will only add fuel to the social firestorm of the women's rights struggle. The time is long overdue to abandon the assumption that liberal secular values, even with their so called ‘cracks' and ‘flaws' are infinitely better for women than the so called ‘iron oppression' of sharia law as some feminists describe it. With more young non-Muslim women than ever before choosing Islam as their way of life, the fact is that, it is actually only thorough embracing the Islamic social system that women can be truly elevated in status and be allowed to live according to their natural disposition, without fear of legal punishment or social consequence. Unlike the written and unwritten codes of western culture, the Sharia law is not designed by the corporate elite competing with each other to enslave us in a system that facilitates the great hoax of what it is that they can give us to make our lives better. The Shariah is designed by the Creator of the humans and as such the political system that comes from that will serve the human interests in a neutral manner that truly delivers justice and fair treatment for women as defined in the saying of the Prophet (saw);

"اسْتَوْصُوا بِالنِّسَاءِ خَيْرًا"

"I urge you to treat women well."

The high value of women is also evident even at the time of conception when Allah (swt) condemned the widespread practice of killing the girl child, an issue that is still unresolved and growing today. The Islamic State would not allow women to work in jobs that exploit their beauty and the role of mother and wife would be supported through the Islamic state's policies as this role is considered to be of great service to society and a matter that deserves respect and immense reward. As such, degrading images of women in the media or even education system cannot be tolerated by an Islamic leader. In the Quran, verbal slander of women is considered a judicial crime. It is only the return of the Khilafah "Caliphate" system, with Islamic laws implemented on every level of society, privately and publically, that will allow women to see comprehensively how they can have an alternative to the daily onslaught of western social rules that erode their dignity and drain them of their potential to be worth more than the money they contribute to the economy.

Imrana Mohammed

Member of The Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir

Headlines:

• Netherlands, Germany Alarmed over Jihadis Returning from Conflict Zones
• Burma: Buddhist Torch Mosques
• US and Afghanistan Reach Deal on Pullout of American Special Forces
• China, Pakistan Reach Secret Nuclear Reactor Deal for Pakistan
• North Korea Threatens to Bomb U.S. Bases in Japan, Guam

Details:

Netherlands, Germany Alarmed over Jihadis Returning from Conflict Zones:

The Dutch government raised its terror threat last week amid concerns that Dutch citizens travelling to Syria to fight in the civil war could return battle-hardened, traumatized and further radicalized. The government cited the threat posed by jihadist fighters returning from Syria, where rebels are battling government forces, and signs of increasing radicalization among Dutch youth as key reasons for lifting its threat level from "limited" to "substantial." The level is now the second-highest on the four-step scale, just below "critical." "The chance of an attack in the Netherlands or against Dutch interests abroad has risen," the country's National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism said in a statement.  The warning comes just two months before hundreds of thousands of people are expected to descend on Amsterdam for mass celebrations for the abdication of Queen Beatrix and coronation of her son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. Counterterrorism chief Dick Schoof said nearly 100 people had travelled from the Netherlands to Africa and the Middle East, mainly to Syria, to fight and warned that it was not just a Dutch problem. "These jihadist travellers can return to the Netherlands highly radicalized, traumatized and with a strong desire to commit violence, thus posing a significant threat to this country," Schoof said in his statement.  He said several fighters had already returned to the Netherlands and were being monitored. Government terror experts also say political upheaval in North Africa and the Mideast were giving terror networks room to grow. Schoof said Dutch intelligence and law enforcement agencies were working with other European allies to contain the threat. More intelligence staff are monitoring "jihadist travellers" and police are stepping up efforts to tackle radicalization in Dutch towns and cities. Last month, France also expressed concerns about its citizens heading to Mali to join radical Islamic fighters there, even as the French army was fighting the Muslim militants in its former colony. French police arrested four youths last month suspected of trying to join radical Islamic fighters in West Africa and expelled radical imams and others considered risks to public order.  Germany's Interior Ministry also said that in 2012, 220 people from across Europe went to Syria to fight. Of those, fewer than 10 were from Germany. The majority of German jihadist travellers picked Egypt as their first destination in 2012, and then travelled on either to Mali, Syria or Yemen, according to German intelligence information.

Burma: Buddhist Torch Mosques:

A lawmaker says at least 20 people have died in two days of rioting between Buddhists and Muslims in a central Myanmar town where residents remained locked in their homes, too afraid to walk the streets. Opposition National League for Democracy lawmaker Win Htein told The Associated Press by telephone Friday that at least five mosques were burned down since the violence started Wednesday in the town of Meikhtila. He said there was no immediate sign of fresh violence but the situation remained tense. He said fires continued to burn but angry Buddhist residents and monks prevented authorities from putting out fires set to Muslim homes. The violence was the latest sectarian unrest after clashes in western Rakhine state last year left more than 200 dead.

US and Afghanistan Reach Deal on Pullout of American Special Forces:

The US military and the Afghan government have reached a deal on the pullout of American special operations forces and their Afghan counterparts from a strategic eastern province after complaints that they were involved in human rights abuses. The agreement calls for the US-led coalition to withdraw the special operations forces from Wardak's Nirkh district, the area where the abuses allegedly occurred, along with the Afghan forces who work with them, as they are replaced by the Afghan army or national police. The rest of the province would "transition over time," according to a statement. A US military official confirmed that, saying that a small, mostly US army special operations team and the Afghan troops working with them would withdraw from Nirkh.

China, Pakistan Reach Secret Nuclear Reactor Deal for Pakistan:

China and Pakistan reached a formal agreement last month to construct a third nuclear reactor at Chashma that the Obama administration says will violate Beijing's promises under an international anti-nuclear weapons accord. According to U.S. intelligence and diplomatic officials, the secret agreement for the Chashma 3 reactor was signed in Beijing during the visit by a delegation from the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission from Feb. 15 to 18. The agreement calls for the state-run China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC) to construct a 1,000-megawatt power plant at Chashma, located in the northern province of Punjab, where two earlier Chinese reactors were built. China's government last month issued an internal notice to officials within its nuclear establishment and to regional political leaders urging care to avoid any leaks of information about the nuclear sale that Beijing expects will be controversial, said officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. The reactor deal had been in the works for several years and prompted high-level U.S. government efforts to block the sale because of concerns it will boost Pakistan's nuclear weapons program. The CNNC is China's main nuclear weapons producer and has been linked in the past to Pakistan's nuclear arms program by U.S. intelligence agencies. CNNC sold thousands of ring magnets to Pakistan during the 1990s that were used in centrifuges that produced highly enriched uranium for weapons. Additionally, recent U.S. intelligence reports indicate that China, which supplied Pakistan with nuclear weapons design data and technology, is in the process of modernizing Islamabad's nuclear arsenal, which is estimated to contain as many as 110 warheads. The arms cooperation is said to include development of a new warhead for Pakistan's growing missile arsenal as well as assistance in reprocessing spent nuclear fuel. A Congressional Research Service report published Feb. 13 stated, "Pakistan's nuclear arsenal probably consists of approximately 90-110 nuclear warheads, although it could be larger."

North Korea Threatens to Bomb U.S. Bases in Japan, Guam:

North Korea has threatened to launch a nuclear attack on US bases in Japan and Guam after Washington used B-52 bombers in a joint military drill with the South. The threat came one day after Pyongyang condemned the use of the nuclear-capable bombers in the drills as "unpardonable provocation". The aircraft are based at Andersen Air Force base in the Pacific island of Guam and flew over South Korea as part of annual joint exercises, while missile-carrying attack submarines can operate out of Japanese ports.

Abu Hashim