Somali women’s religious rights abused inside Somali embassy in Kenya By H. Ali-Horad Nov 16,, 2012 Among all other things, it is undisputed that Somalia’s new constitution recognizes the country as a Muslim nation with every citizen having their rights to practice his/her Islamic religion. After its adoption last August, many intellectuals applauded, with top government officials vowing to uphold it. Many Somalis were proud of such constitution that recognizes human rights and rights to religious practice in the country. But such feelings are no longer shared by many Somali women in Kenya. Nimo Ahmed (not her real name) is 19 years old Somali lady. She was born in Nairobi after her parent fled Kismayo and sought refuge in Kenya. She speaks little Somali compared to her fluent Swahili and English as she has undergone formal education in Kenya. Though, she has never seen Somalia and speaks little of her mother tongues, Nimo is a proud to be from Somalia. All her belongings including her handbag and laptop are decorated with the Somali flag, a sign of devotion. This is a feeling she had before few days ago. In early November, Nimo went to the Somali embassy in Nairobi seeking a passport to concretely build her sense of belonging. As a devoted and practicing Muslim, Nimo hired a taxi with one of her male relative while dressed in dark and bulky veil. She never perfumed herself to meet her Islamic dress code. Nimo was shocked beyond doubt at what she has witnessed inside the embassy.“One thing I could not imagine was that the staff in the embassy were extremely rude, enough to scare away people. I don’t know whether they were trained to do so. Only the guy in the reception where you present payment receipt seemed friendly,” she said covering her mouth with her Henna decorated hand. What made her loose her sense of belonging this time is the fact that women are required to remove their Hijab to have their digital portrait taken when applying for a Somali passport. According to her she could not believe when she saw officers in the embassy ordering women seeking passports to completely remove their veils and uncover their head. “I was shocked to see what was going on. I could not believe that being a Muslim lady from a Muslim country you can be forced to expose your body in front of male employees or visitors just for a passport,” she said in a low tone full of thoughts. She added “you know I used to wonder with some factions in Somalia accusing the government of being anti-Islam but what I saw there is a true reflection of what is being said about the government.” One thing she was so concerned is the true violation of her religious practice and the deliberate violation of the new constitution.“When it was my turn, I was trembling. I have never uncovered my head in front of a non-Mahram male person. So I decided to plead with the man who was photographing me not to remove my Hijab but he said I must remove it,” she uttered these words while tears cascaded from her cheeks. Nimo was forced to give up her quest to get the passport to safeguard her religious duty because as a Muslim lady, she was not ready to accept her religion abused for a passport.“When I first asked my mum to give me a hundred dollar to get my national passport, she wondered whether I was ok in the mind because according to her the passport is not recognized anywhere in the world but I had to stick to my position asking for the money.” “But when the guys wanted to undress me for the sake of the passport, I decided to walk out of the embassy premises crying, feeling humiliated,” she said while still crying. Nimo said she still needs the passport to strengthen her sense of belonging and further her love for her country, but she could not go back to the embassy knowing that she will still be required to remove her Hijab. She accuses the embassy staff in Nairobi for trying to spread anti-Muslim and anti- cultural practice, fearing such practice will soon be exported to Somalia itself if actions are not taken immediately. “You see even those in America, they are not forced to remove their Hijab when applying for a passport and they are not in a Muslim country, so these guys just want to please the West while in reality violating our fundamental and religious rights,” she added. Asked whether she will ever go back to Somalia, she replied “I don’t think so because something unusual is coming in the name of fighting what they call extremism.” “In Kenya, female Muslim applicants are not forced to uncover their head because the constitution clearly states that every citizen has the right to his religious practice but in Somalia if we have to consider the way Muslim Somali ladies are mistreated in the Somali embassy in Kenya, something bad is coming,” said Nimo. Her horrifying ordeal is shared by 45 year old Halima Osman who recently dropped her need to have Somali passport after she was told to remove her Hijab. Halima says she decided to walk out of the embassy when a man reacting to her request to have her head covered for religious grounds told her “We don’t entertain nonsense here. If you are a Muslim you could have stayed in your house, otherwise remove your Hijab and get photographed or show us your back.” “At my age, I have never seen something like that before, I think there must be something we don’t understand” she said.“If this will be the trend and our religious rights as Muslim Somali women continue to be abused like that, Somalia is heading to the wrong path,” she added. “People have gone far and Islam has no value in that embassy, I can swear that,” said Halima, raising her hand up emotionally to prove her argument.She urged the Somali religious scholars to in the situation as it locks out hundreds of potential women applicants from obtaining passports in fear of being violated. Such sentiment is echoed by Ahmed Osman, 48, a resident of Hagardera refugee camp in northern Kenya. Until recently Osman has never stepped outside the refugee camp where he has been living with his wife and children for the last two decades. In August 2012, he and his family applied for a refugee travel document to Nairobi on the grounds that they wanted to get specialised treatment in a hospital in Nairobi. His main aim was to document his nine children, five of them girls, since he feared that they might be stateless and to retain their identity as Somalis, he travelled to Nairobi to apply for Somali passports for his wife and children. He said his wife and the five daughters could not get their national passport because when they went to the Somali embassy in Nairobi, they were told to remove their Hijabs which he said contradicts their Islamic values. Quoting a verse from the holly Quran, Osman faulted the move to remove women’s Hijab when applying for a passport. “Allah says in his noble Qur’an “O Prophet, Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their outer garments about themselves (when they go out). That is better so that they may be recognised and not molested. And Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. [Al-Ahzaab, 33:59],” Osman said. “Their actions (embassy staff) contradict this verse and that is why I decided not to accept my wife and daughters be stripped naked just because they needed passport and instead opted to go back to the refugee camp.” He said the embassy should drop such requirement to allow Muslim Somali women to get their rights just like male citizens. Osman also accused the embassy staff of nurturing corruption and violating the rights of Somali women by forcing them to expose their Awrah (body parts that needed to remain covered) in defiance of their Islamic values. Writer’s witness To verify this and establish the truth behind this allegation against the embassy, I (writer of this article), decided to visit the embassy together with a female relative who was seeking a passport. Upon arriving at the embassy, we met a group of veiled women in a serious discussion outside the embassy compound. Near them was a gun-wielding Kenyan police officer offering security and a guard with a metal detector to search all visitors. Since we were not familiar with these women, we greeted them and proceeded towards the entrance to the embassy compound, with the lady behind me. After undergoing a brief security check, we were directed towards an office whose front right stood the Somali flag. We presented the payment receipt to an officer there. He asked the lady to shout her name and she did. He then directed us to a waiting room on the other corner with a receipt. The man was friendly and humble as Nimo described him in the first place (if he was the one she really referred as friendly). After waiting in the room for about thirty minutes, a man opened the door leading to a big office with round desks and few chairs for the applicants. He shouted the lady’s name and told her to get in. I tried to follow her but he objected though he later allowed me in after pleading with him for several minutes. Inside this office, there were three ladies and a man; probably they were all applying for a passport. Among them was a middle aged woman who was restless by the time we were let in. Few minutes later, I realized that the lady was rattled by an officer who asked her to remove her Hijab and she never wanted to remove it. Not far from where I was seated, a man with a grey suit shouted at her, ordering her to remove the Hijab, a piece of cloth so dear to her heart. “Mama don’t waste our time here. Can you remove your Hijab and get photographed immediately,” he shouted.

I find that its much easier for Muslim women to uphold this practise in the western world, because as a man if u refuse to shake the hands of gaalo women they'll assume your a sexist misogynist who holds women to be unworthy of touching. They already believe this about Muslim men, and not shaking their hand will only serve to confirm and reinforce their misguided assumptions.

Qofkii caaya hableheena soomaaliyeed ee sharafta leh waa ina gumeed.

Wats so inspiring about it narniah?

oba hiloowlow;889389 wrote: as long as it wasn't my intention its allright walaal I know that, but after I told u it's meaning it wont be alright anymore. That's the point.

Abtigiis;889266 wrote: I like the Oromiffa part where he says " eysaa jirtii intaltii (where is the girl?)" interrogating the town. Very close to the af-soomaali "Intee jirtaa inantii."

oba hiloowlow;889232 wrote: Laa ilaaha this dude wuu waashay what did the president ever do against puntlander kani waa baac walahi That means there is no God, so be careful walaal.

Apo, something which does not contribute to an outcome does not neccassarily preclude its possibility or hinder its occurance. I don't get how u don't see that.

It seems u know nothing of the Islamic world's golden age which spanned centuries, while europe was wallowing in the darkness of ignorance, filth, wars and perennial plagues. Also, it seems ur conflating Christianity's problematic relationship with science and Islam's views on the latter. Islam has never been antogonistic towards science or technology, in fact it was under the Umayyad's, the Fatmids and other Islamic dynasties that the knowledge of the ancients, such as greek philosophy (deemed as heresy by the Church) and medicine and Indian mathematics, was translated into various languages, preserved and built upon.The inventions, breakthroughs and discoveries made by Islamic scientists and intellectuals of the period formed much of the foundation for the european enlightenment. But for arguements sake, even if Islam doesn't advance the mind to think of space travel, how does it preclude one from doing so? My initial question still stands. You need to revisit the assumptions you have about Islam, as it's largley based on a caricatured version, which is backward, simplistic and myopic, embodied by the Wahhabi sect and its offshoots.

lol waa runtaa Xaaji

Taleexi, Iv'e always supported watever beeshaadu ay isku raacaan, since they have a right to self determination. But plz, don't claim other peoples land while claiming ur oppressed. It's well known that Ceerigaabo is a HY city, under the administration of Somaliland.

Lets take Islam for example. How does following Islam preclude the possibility of space travel??

I would've said the probability is slight, if it wasn't for the exponential growth of atheists for the past two centuries and a half.

I'm not disagreeing with u, just saying that the presence of geniuses among us, such those responsible for space travel, doesn't disprove the possibility that humans in general are becoming less intelligent.

No Apo, I was just pointing that out your spacecraft comment did nothing to help prove your case.

Thats my point....so its possible that most humans are becoming less intelligent, even if average world intelligence has stayed the same or increased as a result of freakishly intelligent Mensa types skewing the stats in their direction.

^The masses of common people the world over have nothing to do with the advancement of technology nor the production of new knowledge.

Shabeelada hoose girl should've won.

AUN adeerkay Maxamad Mooge Liibaan.

A lot of Somali girls are out of control these days. Naagtan xishoodka iyo anshaxa laga xayuubiyay waa in dhowr bilood hawdka lagu soo hayaa, markay qamandi iyo bariis cad cunto, ayaamaha qaarna wax aadmi quutaba laga quusto oo sidaa ay ku qado wallaahi iyadaa saaxiga keeni lahayd. Hablaha qaar ee qurbaha ku nool cunadan faraha badan ee habeen iyo dharaarba ay isku gurayaan, marna sawiro ka qaadayaan si facebook iyo instagram loo galiyo, ayaa damiirkiiba ka qaaday baan u malaynayaa lool.

Apo ur right, comedic ability has never been my strong suit. But i'd rather be a theist wanting for wit, than an hilarious heretic.

Apophis;884545 wrote: Great, now you're advising him to assault females. He's not Chris Brown you know. Apo, I geuss u only appreciate the humour in the posts of ur fellow atheists.

Cambuulo iyo bun;884531 wrote: they say im too miskiin or some say your not in my league Drop the miskiinimo, it's a big turn off to women. Intaad indhaha cadaysid, farahana taag taagtid tunka soo qabo taad doonaysid, wallee inaysan hadal ka keeni doonine lol.

Aaliyah, waxa dhici karta inay diidaan iyaga oon baran wiilka. Waxa jira hablo badan oo diida inamo wanaagsan oo hadhow aad u qoomamayaa markay ogaadaan noocu yahay.

Oba, hada ogow rag aan buugaas ubaahnayn ayaa jira e:cool: