The federal government paid for activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied to tour some of the world’s most repressive Islami­c regimes last Novem­be­r, promoting her book about being a Sudanese-Egypt­ian-Australian Muslim woman who wears the hijab.

The tour, which included stops in Saudi Arabia, where women are flogged for adultery and are not permitted to drive, was funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which declined yesterday to reveal the cost.

Ms Abdel-Magied, who sat next to Malcolm Turnbull at the Iftar dinner for Muslim leaders held at Kirribilli House last year to celebrate the end of Ramadan, made headlines this week when, as a guest on the ABC’s  Q&A  program, she describe­d Islam as “the most femin­ist” of all relig­ions.

Her statement was rejected by a fiery senator Jacqui Lambie, who argued that those countries where sharia informs the law are some of the most violently mis­ogynistic places on earth.

A group of 49 Muslim scholars are now demanding an apology from the ABC for not silencing Senator Lambie, saying the prog­ram host, Tony Jones, failed to provide a “safe environment” for Ms Abdel-Magied to speak.

Ms Abdel-Magied, who is also employed by the ABC as a host of a travel program, promoted her tour of the Middle East and Africa on her blog last November, saying: “I’m heading out on tour to the Middle East and North Africa! Very excited to be supported by the Australian Embassies in the region to visit numerous countries over the next three weeks inshallah. First stop: Saudi Arabia!”


Asked to explain the purpose, rationale and cost of the tour, DFAT said: “Yassmin Abdel-Magied­ visited a number of countries­ in the Middle East to promote Australia as an open, innovative, democratic and diverse nation. She met youth representatives, scientists, entrepreneurs, women’s groups and others.”

The statement said DFAT posts or embassies in the Middle East funded the visit “from existing budgets”, but declined to reveal­ the cost. Promoting her tour of the Middle East and North Africa, Ms Abdel-Magied blogged: “I’m ­incredibly honoured to be hosted by the Australian Embassies … I’ll be visit­ing a number of countries, and although not all stops have public events I will do my best to make time to meet people ­inshallah. If you can come to any of the public sessions though, I would LOVE to see you there!”


Her stops included Riyadh, where women who venture outdoors must wear the abaya, or full body covering, and punishments for sexual crimes include flogging and stoning; Abu Dhabi, where women require the permission of a male relative to remarry; Dubai, where most Westerners live in compounds; and Qatar, where ­marita­l rape is not a crime.

She also visited Kuwait, Jordan, Israel, Egypt and Sudan, where more than 90 per cent of women undergo forced genital mutilation, forced marriage is common and polygamy is permissible, although only for men. “If you have questions about specific locations, hit me up on Facebook/Instagram/Twitter inshall­ah,” Ms Abdel-Magied wrote. “Can't wait!”

Many women who attended the public events praised her, with one Twitter user saying: “What an awesome speech. Thank you Yassmin for the valuable advice and for being such an inspiration to the Sudanese youth.”

Ms Abdel-Magied posted on Instagram from the Ahfad University for women in Sudan: “@ahfad_university50 was a blast! Mashallah, amazing women doing awesome things. Keep at it!” From Abu Dhabi she posted: “Among meeting some amazing women in government and seeing the grand mosque, had the opportunity to address almost 200 female engineers ... Hopefully it has an impact inshallah!”

She told the ABC audience on Monday night: “Islam, to me, is one of the most ... is the most feminist religion, right? We got equal rights well before­ the Europeans. We don’t take our husband’s last names ... the fact is, what is culture is separate from what is faith.”

She also argued that Muslims in Australia must follow the laws of the land on which they live.

Some Islamic scholars disputed this. Sharia advice website ­IslamToday said: “They must comply with the laws of their country of residence without, at the same time, disobeying Islamic law.”

Ms Abdel-Magied addressed the Q&A stoush on the website Junkee yesterday: “I got into a bit of a tiff with Jacqui Lambie. I said Islam was a feminist religio­n and some people found that really hard to understand … I’m not going to deny, some countries run by Muslims are ­violent and sexist, but that’s not down to sharia. That’s down to the culture and the patriarchy and the politics of those … countries.”............

[quote]
The federal government paid for activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied to tour some of the world’s most repressive Islami­c regimes last Novem­be­r, promoting her book about being a Sudanese-Egypt­ian-Australian Muslim woman who wears the hijab.

The tour, which included stops in Saudi Arabia, where women are flogged for adultery and are not permitted to drive, was funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which declined yesterday to reveal the cost.

Ms Abdel-Magied, who sat next to Malcolm Turnbull at the Iftar dinner for Muslim leaders held at Kirribilli House last year to celebrate the end of Ramadan, made headlines this week when, as a guest on the ABC’s  Q&A  program, she describe­d Islam as “the most femin­ist” of all relig­ions.

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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/taxpayers-billed-for-qa-activis...