QORI SANDIORIVA OUTRAGES MUSLIM PRUDES

File this under 'storm in a teacup': Muslim authorities in Aceh ('ah-chay') are fuming over a woman who did not wear a veil. It is horrendous, and presages the end of times. Civilization will end if this is let stand, and fire and brimstone may descend at any moment - film at eleven.

[Aceh is a staunchly Muslim province of Indonesia, having been Islamic longer than any part of that region. The Acehnese spent the better part of the last century and a half fighting for their liberty - first against the Dutch, then against the Dutch again, then against the Japanese, then against the Indonesians, then against the Indonesians again, then again against the Indonesians, and lastly, once more against the Indonesians.
After the Indonesians received unfair assistance from the divine by means of a Tsunami, the Acehnese finally agreed to a grudging peace.
Acehnese are obstinate and independent-minded.]


QUOTE:
Clerics in Indonesia's conservative Muslim province of Aceh say they are outraged that an Acehnese woman has won the title of Miss Indonesia.
End quote.

The horror, the horror!!!


QUOTE:
Qori Sandioriva, 18, won the Miss Indonesia title on Friday, beating 37 other contestants for the crown.
The clerics say that by failing to wear a veil during the competition she has betrayed her Acehnese roots and brought shame to the province.
End quote.

The idiocy, the idiocy!!!


QUOTE:
Teung-ku Faisal Ali, the secretary general of Aceh's Ulama Association, told the BBC that anyone who represents Aceh must uphold the province's values.
He said Qori Sandioriva did not wear a veil during the competition and therefore did not represent the Acehnese people, who have strong Islamic faith and values.
End quote.

SOURCE:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8302018.stm



BALDERDASH

With all due respect, Teungku Faisal Ali is blowing it out of his ear. The veil, in any form at all, is a very recent introduction to Aceh and the rest of Indonesia. It is only because of a childish desire to emulate the Arabs that head-shrouding has even gained inroads in the Malayo-Indonesian region, and Acehnese women have been unveiled from the introduction of Islam till the modern era.
Many Acehnese women have had roles more glorious than their men, and have been leaders and entrepreneurs of great distinction.
Till recent times, their public face has been unhidden.

Would Teungku Faisal Ali speak disparagingly of such women as Tjut Nya Dhien, fierce leader for thirty years of the resistance to the Dutch?
Pictures of her show a stern face, with strong eyes and a determined mouth. And... no veil.
Considering the hair-styles that at that time were normal for Acehnese women, headcovering would have been a ridiculous imposition besides.


Certainly such people as Tjut Nya Dhien and her daughter can be considered immodest, by modern restrictive Islamic standards, especially if the focus is on aping Arabs.
But such 'immodesty' has served Aceh well. Far better, in any case, than any amount of ridiculous covering-up of Acehnese womanhood ever will.


How dare Teungku Faisal Ali even speak? He should be ashamed of his words, even if he cannot congratulate his kinswoman sincerely.

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APPENDIX: TJUT NYA DHIEN
An exemplary Acehnese woman

Tjut Nya Dhien (b. 1846 or 1848; d. 1908) was the daughter of one commander (Nanta Setia) and the wife of another (Teuku Ibrahim Lam'nga) in the fight against the Dutch. Both men fell in the battle of Sela Glé Tarun in 1873. After their deaths, Tjut Nya Dhien assumed command of the troops and continued the struggle until 1901, spending most of that time in the jungles and hills.
Her second husband, Teuku Umar, perished in combat in 1899.
When the Dutch captured her, Tjut Nya Dhien was old, worn-out, arthritic, and nearly blind. And still she fought - she was taken in battle.
The Dutch exiled her to Sumedang in Java, where she died six years later. She spent those last years teaching the Quran to local people.


From a contemporary account:
"None of those men who were leaders in the long holy war of Atjeh against us hated us as fiercely or fought us as resolutely as she did, and few sacrificed so much, of both their power and property. Never, in her resistance, did she deviate by even one step, never did she doubt, never could she be bought. Transported, she died in exile. "Resigned", they say - but that cannot be believed! And why should we even desire any 'resignation' from her? As a salve on the wounds of our conscience? For the greater glory of our triumph?
No! Let us honour her as indeed our bitterest enemy, who was finally broken by our might."


Tjut Nya Dhien's daughter, Tjut Gambang (wife of Teungku Dhi Buket, who was the son of Teuku Tjik Dhi Tiro, Acheh's most famous guerilla leader) continued the war in the jungles of Atjeh, dying in battle in 1910.