Libyan Islamists attack British campaign to enlist Muslim women

An Islamic organization in Libya, the International Islamic Popular Command, has criticized moves by the British armed forces to actively recruit more Muslim women into its ranks.

Libyan TV on Tuesday evening quoted a statement issued by the Command as saying that it had "received with regret news in Western media on the intention of Britain and some European states to enlist Muslim women in their navies and other armed forces." "While expressing its dismay at this matter that leads to forcing Muslims to enlist in non-Muslim forces in breach of explicit texts in the Holy Koran, which means that they would have to accept orders from their non-Muslim commanders; consequently, falling into the folly of what is described in the Koran as fighting for an idol, the International Islamic Popular Command, in the framework of following up such matters on the basis of God's book and the teachings of his prophet, has sought the opinion of a number of ulema and scholars of the Islamic nation, who have unanimously delivered fatwas, based on God's law, prohibiting the enlisting of Muslim women in the armies of non-Muslim states," the statement said.

It added that the move posed a threat to the women, to their religion and to the Islamic nation.

On 6th January the British Royal Navy unveiled a scheme to encourage more Muslim women to join its ranks, on the basis that women from ethnic minorities in Britain are traditionally under-represented in the armed forces.

The International Islamic Popular Command said the matter had to be confronted and prevented "by all means, in order to maintain the honour of Muslim women and protect their faith and religion from deviation and conversion." The Command also urged Muslim women to be alert to attempts to make them "deny their religion and force them to do something that is in breach of their faith" .

BBC Monitoring (http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.