March 09, 2006

Muslims making the news in Sweden

Here are some of today's news that caught my eye in our Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter:

1. The Swedish Foreign Ministry is sending three young Muslims, all familiar with the Arabic language, on a 9 day tour visiting the universities of Cairo, Suez and Amman. The trip according to our Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds, "is not a charm offensive. It is more serious than that. It is about bringing the issues to a more conscious level. There is a need for an exchange of experiences." The three Muslims, Nadja Jebril, Othman Tawalbeh and Hanin Shakrah all hope to be able to present a fairer picture of Sweden as opposed to the "anti-Islamic" perception of Sweden following the events in Denmark.

2. Police officers in Sweden are now officially allowed to wear a turban, headscarf or kippah whilst on duty after recent deliberations and discussions between the National Police Department and the Department dealing with ethnical discrimination.

3. At the grand mosque in Stockholm yesterday, a woman entered with her baby and left her to a lady in the prayer room saying she just had to get something and would be right back. The woman never returned. On the baby a note was attached saying she leaves the baby in the care of the mosque. Police still haven't heard from parents or relatives and the baby will now be placed in foster care with a Muslim family.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hej! Jag läste också om barnet, det är jätte tragiskt. Vet du vad orsaken kan ha varit till att hon lämnade sitt barn. Hon var ju muslim själv eller hur? Toppen intressant blogg förresten.

Destitute Rebel said...

code language, I cant understand. translation also gives gibrish

"hi Self was reading also if baby , the is giant tragic. Vet yous what causes able had wherein to that she was delivering sits baby. She was ju Moslem herself ors how? Summit interesting blogg incidentally."

Interesting how online translation tools slaughter the text.

We dont get much real news here in the UAE.

Shaykhspeara Sha'ira said...

Hej Maria! Jo visst är det tragiskt. Jag har faktiskt ingen information vad gäller anledningen till att hon lämnade barnet men visst kan man spekulera en hel del. Det kan ha varit så att hon lider av depression till följd av förlossningen. Det kan också vara så att hon fått barnet utomäktenskapligt vilket kan ha lett till att hon lämnat ifrån sig det pga. den stigman som ofta tragiskt nog kopplas till utomäktenskapligt födande i vissa kulturer. Kul att du tittade förbi!

Shaykhspeara Sha'ira said...

D. Rebel, nice try :) Maria basically said:
" Hi! I also read about the baby and it's so tragic. Do you know what the reason might have been for her to leave her child? She was muslim herself, right? Interesting blog by the way."

Shaykhspeara Sha'ira said...

And my answer was :
"Hi Maria! Indeed it is tragic. I don't have any information regarding why she would have left her baby but then again one can always speculate. She might be suffering from post-natal depression. It may also be the case that she had the baby out of wedlock which could have led to her giving it away due to the stigma that is unfortunately attached to births out of wedlock in certain cultures. Glad you stopped by."

How's that D. Rebel? lol

Destitute Rebel said...

Thanks for the correct translation, although I sort of understood what Maria was saying from the gibrish translation that i got online, How many languages do you speak by the way?

BuJ said...

this is old news now... bas yalla.. think about opening a swedish blog shaira? although like rebel, i would have no clue.. this is code words for hur mar du?

Shaykhspeara Sha'ira said...

D. rebel, Well when does one truly know a language? :)

Buj I doubt I will set up a swedish blog in the near future, it's enough work with one blog besides I always felt more comfortable writing in English being a language I have spoken all my life. Then again same goes with swedish but well, yimkin fil seif, sho ra2iyak? Halla mafeesh waqt! :)

tayyeb sho ya3ni old news? halla el sowar taba3a el tifl mowjoode fil jerideh kaman.

flamin said...

oh boy...it's amazing how people can leave their children stranded. yikes...

Anonymous said...

Salam sister,

I had been wishing for so long that they start doing this cultural exchange thing from European countries, and between USA and the Khaleej too.

Nice post, very apt and timely.

Point number 3 is disturbing. But it's life. Sad.

farrukh
copywriter, journalist, potential blogging sensation

Shaykhspeara Sha'ira said...

When they get back from the exchange I am hoping to write a post on it, since I know two of them. Could be inetresting to hear their reflections.

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