Oh how I grow sick of listening to Muslims explain to me how wonderful Islam is when it comes to women, all the while telling me that the west is abusing women by letting them choose how to dress. I thought I would take a brief moment to comment on how women are treated in the Muslim world, in practice. There is plenty to be said of the textual basis for treating women as
unclean,
property, and
inferior.
Now that we have dealt with the Qur'an and its awful approach to women (the Hadith are rife with similar commentary such as Muhammad saying
that the majority of the inhabitants of hell are women), we can move on to the treatment of women in the Islamic world, and we can see if it follows from the texts (I know this got Geert Wilders in trouble, but I will also read Islam back to anyone who wants, or does not want, to hear it).
One principle regarding a sex crime (rape) in Islam is that there must be
four witnesses to prove rape. So when a woman was
gang raped in Saudi Arabia, the judge sentenced her to 100 lashes and a year in jail for committing adultery (as
prescribed by the Qur'an). The rejection of the rape report and the punishment meted out to the woman were both in perfect accordance with Islamic Law and the texts of Islam. Some scholars of Islam say that, in fact, the women
deserve to be raped for their illicit dress.
Of course often enough there is a lack of a legal structure (or simply a functioning government) so Muslims must take matters into their own hands. And it isn't just in Pakistan were women are
brutalized for immorality. It is right here in a secular western democracy, were Muslims carry out their violent
misogyny. A Muslim man beheads his wife in what is known in Orwellian terms as an "honor killing". His wife had requested a
divorce. It is impermissible in Shariah for a woman to initiate a divorce
in Islam. On the other hand a man my divorce his wife with
ease, it is as easy as saying
talaq three times.
It is a wonder that Muslims even bother to keep up the PR charade. Who would believe the cries of innocence from a suspect who repeatedly and habitually confesses to the crime?
This post will be the first in a series of posts on Islam (tomorrow will be Jews, the following apostates, then gays, etc...). Hopefully (or as the Muslims say
Insha'allah) this will bring to light the fact that the current practices of Muslims are firmly rooted in the texts of Islam.