[Reader-list] Extramarital sex 'causes more earthquakes'

[Shuddhabrata Sengupta]

Now I know why pious men tremble so much !


On 20-Apr-10, at 4:07 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote:

> " Extramarital sex 'causes more earthquakes', Iranian cleric claims"
>
> (Women who dress “inappropriately” incite extramarital sex that in  
> turn cause more earthquakes, a senior Iranian hard-line cleric has  
> claimed.)
>
> By Andrew Hough
> 19 Apr 2010
>
> Attractive women who snub traditional Islamic clothing to instead  
> wear fashionable clothes and apply heavy make-up, caused youths in  
> the country to “go astray” and have affairs, Ayatollah Kazem  
> Sedighi said.
>
> The hard-line cleric said as a result the country, bounded by  
> several fault lines, experienced more “calamities” such as  
> earthquakes, the reformist Aftab-e Yazd newspaper reported him saying.
>
> Iran is prone to frequent quakes, many of which have been  
> devastating for the country.
>
> "Many women who dress inappropriately ... cause youths to go  
> astray, taint their chastity and incite extramarital sex in  
> society, which increases earthquakes," he told worshippers at a  
> Tehran prayer service late last week.
>
> "Calamities are the result of people's deeds.
>
> “We have no way but conform to Islam to ward off dangers."
>
> The Islamic dress code is mandatory in Iran, which has been under  
> clerical rule for more than three decades.
>
> Every post-pubescent woman regardless of her religion or  
> nationality must cover her hair and bodily contours in public.
>
> Offenders face punishment and fine.
>
> But this has not stopped urban women from appearing in the streets  
> wearing tight coats and flimsy headscarves and layers of skilfully  
> applied make-up.
>
> Experts have warned that a strong quake in Tehran, the Iranian  
> capital, could kill hundreds of thousands of people.
>
> Tehran province has nearly 14 million inhabitants, eight million of  
> whom live in the city, which sits on several fault lines.
>
> Earlier this month, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the country’s president,  
> warned at least five million Tehran residents that they should flee  
> Iran's capital because it is threatened by earthquakes.
>
> Mr Ahmadinejad said that more than two thirds of Iran's 74-million- 
> strong population lived in urban areas.
>
> "We cannot predict when an earthquake will happen. But if anything  
> happens to Tehran province's 13.8 million residents, how can we  
> manage that?" he asked.
>
> The worst in recent times hit the southern city of Bam in December  
> 2003, killing more than 31,000 people – about a quarter of the  
> population – and destroying its ancient mud-built citadel.
>
> Earlier this year the hardline cleric led rallies from Iranian  
> government supporters who denounced opposition students who burned  
> photos of the country's supreme leader during protests in December.
>
> "The issue has reached a point where the picture of Imam Khomeini  
> is insulted," he said.
>
> "They questioned things that are sacred."
>
> He mocked opposition activists who "thought the revolution had been  
> defeated".
>
> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/7606145/ 
> Extramarital-sex-causes-more-earthquakes-Iranian-cleric-claims.html
>
>
>
>
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Shuddhabrata Sengupta
The Sarai Programme at CSDS
Raqs Media Collective
shuddha at sarai.net
www.sarai.net
www.raqsmediacollective.net