Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id QAA14041 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Mon, 4 Feb 2002 16:45:46 GMT Message-ID: <2D1C159B783DD211808A006008062D3102A6D21A@inchna.stir.ac.uk> From: Vincent Campbell <v.p.campbell@stir.ac.uk> To: "'memetics@mmu.ac.uk'" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> Subject: RE: Islam's Captive Women Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 16:32:42 -0000 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2650.21) Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" X-Filter-Info: UoS MailScan 0.1 [D 1] Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Name me a religion that doesn't oppress women (or men for that matter).
BTW, can you remind me of the piece you posted a couple of weeks back (I've
lost it in the mire of posts lately) that was talking about democracy, or
the lack of it, in the Islamic world. I vaguely recall that the author went
on about Switzerland and Hong Kong as great examples of the benefits of
democracy. I want to check it again to see if I'm remembering that right,
because Hong Kong under British rule was never a democracy (indeed the last
governor-general Chris Patten quite upset the Chinese by trying to introduce
it before the handover in 1997).
Keep these interesting pieces coming though.
Vincent
> ----------
> From: joedees@bellsouth.net
> Reply To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> Sent: Saturday, February 2, 2002 5:56 AM
> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> Subject: Islam's Captive Women
>
> Go to:
>
> http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/shb/hayes_16_3.htm
>
> or read below.
>
> The title of this piece is itself a redundancy. All Muslim women
> are captives, if they live according to the Koran and the Prophet
> Muhammad. Muslim women are considered to be one-half of a
> human. "Honor killing" still exists and calls for the death of
> women who have lost their virginity before marriage-even if they
> were raped. Murder because of hymens. Unbelievable.
> One of the most touching, heart wrenching speakers I've ever been
> privileged to hear was Taslima Nasrin, at a May 2000 conference
> of the Council for Secular Humanism. Nasrin delivered a talk to a
> pin-drop quiet audience. She is eloquent; she is an M.D.; she is
> kind; and she is lovely. She is also living under a death sentence.
> She outgrew her Muslim upbringing, and began writing against its
> misogyny. Her novel, Shame, however, was the last straw. It
> criticized Muslims' cruel persecution of Hindus. Fundamentalists
> issued a fatwa, a literal death sentence, against her and she was
> forced to leave her native Bangladesh. She has bodyguards now.
> Allah be praised.
> How did Islam become so cruel and intolerant? Easy. It began that
> way. When the Prophet Muhammad uttered his first sura (similar
> to a biblical chapter) Muslim women were doomed. The
> introduction to my copy of the Koran is a whopping 58 pages of a
> defensive harangue about how bad the Koran isn't. Example: "In
> the matters of marriage, divorce and inheritance women are given
> the same rights as men." Oh, really? Koran 4:20 tells men that
> they may take one wife in place of another. They can trade in their
> wives like used cars. Of course there is no equivalent trade-in
> policy offered to women. Koran 4:3 says men should marry
> whichever women appeal to them, "two or three or four"-you
> know, shop around. Collect a whole set! Since male divorce is so
> easy (just say a few words like "Get outta here!" and you're
> divorced-true story) men can have innumerable wives in a
> lifetime.
> Further, in Koran 4:34 men are described as being superior to
> women because Allah made them to "excel over the other" and
> because men spend money supporting women. In Koran 2: 223
> wives are described as "tilled fields" that men should, literally,
> plow through. You know, have a good time, get some kids going.
> The Prophet Muhammad had a baker's dozen wives, and countless
> concubines. His third bride was nine years old at the time of
> consummation. But little Aisha was at least allowed to keep her
> toys and dolls when she went to Muhammad's bed. I may throw
> up. Muslim paradise consists of males lounging on couches, being
> waited on by virgins who don't sleep, perspire, get pregnant,
> menstruate, or get sick, and intercourse goes on forever. No
> mention is made of how this could be considered "paradise" for
> the females.
> When stoning men and women for adultery (adultery meaning
> another man's property, one of his wives, has been tampered
> with), the offending male is to stand in a clearing while people
> throw stones at him till he dies. If he runs away, escaping, he's
> safe. Death sentence over. But a woman to be stoned is put in a
> pit, waist/chest high, for "decency." Imagine a "decent" stoning.
> Wouldn't want to see any naughty bits of her body while you're
> bashing her bloody! Tsk, tsk! Of course escape for her is
> impossible, isn't it? These still take place, in some countries, as I
> write.
> Another wonderful writer who spoke at the May conference,
> Parvin Darabi, wrote a grim book describing fundamentalist Islam
> titled, Rage Against the Veil. It is about her sister, Homa Darabi,
> who was a child psychiatrist in Iran. She and others were hounded
> relentlessly about observing hijab (dress code) in their practices.
> Seems logical. "Push, Mrs. Ali, it's almost here, but I can't tell if it
> it's a girl or boy because my veil is in the way." Of course there is
> nothing funny about veiling, and its sole purpose is to eliminate
> any possible sense of female personal identity. Because of this
> nonsensical insistence on veiling, Homa Darabi was finally forced
> to give up her private practice and then her professorship at the
> University of Tehran. She never recovered from her despair. On
> February 21, 1994, in the middle of a square in Tehran, she
> poured gasoline on herself and set herself on fire to protest the
> tyranny of her native country. She died, as planned. Allah be
> praised.
>
>
>
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>
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