Militants Issue New Demands On Somali Towns

MOGADISHU– The Islamic militant group Shabaab (shortened from Harakat al-Shabaab Mujahideen, Arabic for “Movement of Warrior Youth”) have made themselves generally unpopular in the eyes of the Somali public. One shop keeper describes them as being “like rabid dogs,” and points to circular scars on his face where he was bitten by militants. Their efforts to turn Somalia into strict Islamic state means they have issued a variety of interesting laws over their area of control (mostly southern Somalia).

Recently, in Jowhar, school bells were outlawed, because they were reminiscent of church bells. Students and teachers have been forced to find new ways to signal the beginnings and endings of classes. “Some teachers were hitting the doors as the period finished. It is really confusing,” one student told reporters. “It’s just a matter of time before they ban books, which look like the Bible,” another student said. In other edicts, Shabaab has outlawed such mundane-seeming things as soccer and internationally recognized holidays.

Just this week, in Mogadishu, radio stations were told to stop playing any form of music. “If music be the food of love, then we will have none of it,” one militant was known to have said.

In one edict, Shabaab outlawed bras. Last October, the movement forced women in the streets to shake their breasts at gunpoint, to see if the woman was wearing a bra. Those who were caught in possession of the undergarment were publicly whipped. In a rare interview, one of the militants explained to ICTPT reporters that they considered bras to be “un-Islamic.”

“Bras are deceptive, and they violate the Sharia law,” the militant, who wished to remain anonymous, told ICTPT reporters. Sharia law, which also grants women the right to challenge any laws declared by a Caliph (the ruler of an area that lives under Sharia law), defines the way of life for Muslims. When question further, however, the militant admitted, “We really just want to see ladies shaking their breasts at us. Bras don’t actually have anything to do with Sharia law.”

In January of 2010, Shabaab also outlawed bananas and toast, saying that any foods that showed the faces of Mary and Jesus rather than Muhammad had no place in proper society. They went on to outlaw pictures of kittens and puppies on the internet, saying that they were not Halal.

Earlier this month, they outlawed satirical news on the grounds that it may one day be used against them.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/24/world/africa/24somalia.html?ref=africa
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/16/world/africa/16somalia.html?ref=africa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharia_law