Women

Millions of people saw this happen. It is the story of a 35-year-old woman called Zarmina, and what happen at Kabul's Olympic Stadium in Afghanistan, 2002. This is the story of...

This is the story of one woman.
But it is also the story of
Afghan women under the Taliban,
under brutes who turned their
country into a zoo and their
women into dogs.
This is about Islam and women.

... the woman being dragged across the pitch in front of 30,000 spectators and being made to kneel before the goalposts until the tall, thin Taliban rifleman blew out her brains.
   "At last Zarmina's story can be told," she said. "It is the story of one woman. But it is also the story of Afghan women under the Taliban, under brutes who turned our country into a zoo and our women into dogs.
   "I thought Zarmina would die when they brought her here. They beat her for two days with steel cables until she confessed.
   "But she was a tough one. As she lay on the floor of the cell, she pointed to her one-year-old twins - the girl Silsila and the boy Jawad - and said she would fight for life, fight as the mother of these babies.
   "There were other children. Zarmina had a son Hawad, who was 11, and two beautiful daughters Shaista, 14, and Najeba just 16.
   Rana said: "Khwazak beat his wife every night. He abused her and her elder daughters. I don't know if there was sexual abuse, but it was something Zarmina could no longer bear. So she plotted with Najeba to kill him. And finally they did it."...
   "She was a brave woman and fought desperately against her fears. She told the Taliban she was a mother and that what she'd done was for her children."...
   Zarmina's elder girls and son were given to her brother-in-law, according to tradition. He was Taliban and demanded blood law refusing to let her escape death. Then, two months before the execution, he told Zarmina's mother he had sold Najeba and Shaista into sex slavery...
   The video takes over. It first shows the Toyota twice circling the pitch, the driver parading his passenger before the spectators.
   Zarmina, flanked by her two female escorts, sees little. Surgeons in masks stand to one side, ready for amputations which will follow the main event.
   The next clip shows the two women guards escorting Zarmina to the goal area. She is told to sit. For the first time, the crowd of men, women and children falls silent. Slowly a tall Taliban steps forward. Zarmina tries to crawl away. What is not shown is the first shot.
   The executioner's hands are shaking. The cries from the crowd to spare Zarmina unnerve him. Officials refuse all pleas for clemency. They claimed there were too many in the crowd who wanted to see death.
   The first shot creases Zarmina's hair telling her at last what her fate would be. Her precious children brought for the spectacle can only stand and stare.
   Zarmina cries out. She says she cannot sit or kneel without falling. "Someone take my arms," she pleads.
   Her last request went unanswered. The gunman aimed his Kalashnikov again. And Zarmina was dead from a single 7.62mm bullet. The executioner turned away, blood law sated. He was Zarmina's brother-in-law. The man who sold her precious girls. The man who, Rana is sure, escaped to Pakistan with so many others. A man with money in his pocket...
   [Thus ended] The story of a woman beneath veils of violence, madness and terrible sadness. A woman so many saw die. But never knew how she had lived.

The above is from Zarmina's Story, by Anton Antonowicz - 19 June 2002

Zarmina was killed in the name of a religion, based on the writings of that religion. She was killed by people that practiced that religion because they say she violated the teachings of that religion. Even so, people of that religion tell us that this has nothing to do with that religion. This page is for Zarmina.

Three Women I admire

Muslims reserve their bitterest venom
for women who leave Islam. These women
have committed two vile sins, that of
leaving Islam and that of rejecting
the inferior status of females.

   I would like to say a few words about three courageous women: Wafa Sultan, Hirsi Ali and Oriana Fallaci; two ex-Muslims and an infidel; an African, an Arab and a European. Two alive and one passed away; all received death threats and needed bodyguards because of people that tell us that Islam is a "religion of Peace".
   The fact is that Muslims hate apostates and critics of Islam. The names of people like Daniel Pipes, Emerson, Ali Sina, and others are anathema to Muslims. They are cursed, reviled and called all manner of unkind names -- this for the 'crime' of being honest about facts and their opinions. However, Muslims reserve their bitterest venom for one group above all: women who leave Islam. These women have committed two vile sins, that of leaving Islam and that rejecting the inferior status of females. Neither can be forgiven and for these 'crimes' Muslim fury is unrelenting.
   Here are a few words about each of these people:

1. Wafa Sultan

The life of an apostate of Islam is not easy. Muslims will say that "There is no compulsion in religion". Well, the only people that are really qualified to say if this is true are those who leave Islam. The news is not good. Here are a few lines from an article about a short, sweet and determined woman named Wafa.

   David Sultan opens the front door of his home he glances up and down the street anxiously. He has good reason to be nervous: ever since Dr Wafa Sultan, his wife, appeared on Al-Jazeera, the Arabic television network, last summer she has been receiving death threats...
   “The clash we are witnessing around the world is not a clash of religions, or a clash of civilizations,” the impassioned 47-year-old told Al-Jazeera’s stunned audience across the Arab world. “It is a clash between civilization and backwardness, between the civilized and the primitive, between barbarity and rationality. It is a clash between human rights on the one hand and the violation of these rights on the other, between those who treat women like beasts and those who treat them like human beings.”
   The broadcasts have caused an unholy stir in the Muslim world and virtually overnight have turned Sultan, previously known only to a few for her writings on www.annaqed.com, a small Arab-American website, into one of the most controversial figures in the international debate about Islam.
   In 1979 she witnessed the killing of a Muslim by other Muslims, as they shouted ‘Allahu akbar! Allahu akbar! - God is greatest!
   “This was the turning point of my life,” says Sultan. She began to reread the Koran closely, gradually coming to the conclusion that the violence and oppression of most Muslim governments and some of those fighting against them stemmed directly from the teachings of Islam.
   “I began to question every single teaching,” she says. She noticed that “there are too many verses in the Koran which say you must kill those who are non-Muslim; you must kill those who don’t believe in Allah and his messenger. I started to ask: is this right? Is this human? All our problems in the Islamic world, I strongly believe, are the natural outcome of these teachings. Go open any book in any class in any school in any Islamic country and read it. You will see what kind of teachings we have: Islam tells its followers that every non-Muslim is your enemy.”

Muslims don't like Wafa. Here is a review of her Al-Jazeera TV interview by a Muslim named Ebrahim Saifuddin.

Wafa Sultan starts off her talk claming that the clashes around the world are not a result of the clash of religions or civilizations but a clash of two different eras. Muslims were of course the primitive ones according to her while the West was the one belonging to the 21st century. There are quite a few people who speak against Islam without knowing what Islam is about. Wafa Sultan, born in Syria to a Muslim family, claims that she was raised within the boundaries of the Islamic tradition. Being raised in Islamic tradition does not mean that the person is a knowledgeable Muslim. Islamic tradition is normally praying five times a day, fasting in Ramadan, giving charity, being kind to parents and neighbors and believing Islam to be the true religion. This hardly qualifies one to be called a knowledgeable Muslim. Many Muslims who pray five times a day do not even know the meaning of what they are reciting. They can be called devout Muslims but certainly not knowledgeable ones. The reason why I am differentiating between the two will be seen in the next paragraph.
Wafa in her youth, when the mind is tender had a bad experience with what she claims a gang of the “Muslim Brotherhood” who barged into her classroom and shot her professor. Although the Muslim Brotherhood renounced any violence in the 1970s, Wafa claims that it was them who carried out this heinous crime in 1979 in front of her. We will not debate that issue. Had Wafa been a knowledgeable Muslim rather than being a one raised in Islamic tradition, she would have known at that instant that such an act is not only condemned by Islam but the people carrying out such an act are criminals under the Islamic Shariah. The Quran is very clear in its teachings regarding such acts: “if any one slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the entire Mankind…” (Quran 5:32) However, Wafa was not a knowledgeable Muslim and thought that Islam teaches people to kill others for no reason and thus she thought of searching another god. Ironically the Jews for whom Wafa spoke with such enthusiasm and favor, she could not find any truth in “their god” either. Finally she decided she will not believe in any “god”. If we analyze the mind of Wafa we can easily come to the conclusion that she left Islam because “Islam’s god” taught violence. She stated in an interview with New York Times that after the incident she ‘had to look for another god’.

As usual, as always, if anybody that says anything negative about Islam it can only be because he/she is ignorant. To prove his point, Ebrahim says that killing people is unislamic and gives a quote and reference. Actually the words about "a person who kills one is like a person killing all mankind" (my paraphrase) are really nice. The only problem is that Ebrahim forgot to add the first five words in the quote. For the children of Israel to kill one person is like to kill all mankind. It is for the damn Jews, not Muslims. Bummer, double bummer.

2. Ayaan Hirsi Ali

The "Most hated woman in the world" (Hillary Clinton, move over) and followers of the "religion of peace" want to kill her...
Here are some words that are often encountered on Muslim websites in the same sentence where one finds the name Ayaan Hirsi Ali: "bigot," "Muslim-basher," "islamophobe," "traitor," "whore," "stupid," "ignorant," "bitch" and so on - these are a few of the more printable adjectives and nouns found on Islamic sites about this small, quiet, African woman.
And here are a some of the comments by Muslims relating to reviews of per book Infidel on Amazon.com (

) and the On Faith (Newsweek) websites:

Hirsi is basically uneducated & ignorant with Islamic teachings. She took what scholars said without any further search or thought.

All that one can say to Moslems and non-Moslems around the world is, don't believe the hype being pumped by the likes of Ayaan Hirsi Ali. She does not speak for all the Moslems in the world. As I stated above, she must not confuse Arab militancy and fanaticism with true Islam.

Liar. Liar. Liar. More racist comments from an Islamaphobe. I wonder how much the American enterprise institute pays you to lie like this. Arent you the one who the immigration minister had to revoke a visa for because of falsifying immigration forms?

I am surprised at the level of bias and manipulation of doctrine posted by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. As a revert to Islam, I am saddened by what she has written, and, in fact, is likely printed because she confirms the widely-held stereotypes the West holds about Islam. Again and again, professional newspapers who know little about the Islamic faith antagonize and demonize all Muslims by publishing those who have left the religion.

Here are some views that represent a different opinion:

Ms. Ali criticizes Islamic society for its sexism, its hatred towards the "other" people of the world, and its neglect to better itself. If you are an open minded thinker, dedicated to education and the freedom of speech, I recommend this book to all.

It's ironic that a woman who writes for the emancipation of women from Islamic oppression, now lives in a cage of security due to threats of Islamic violence.

One of the most important things she writes is about the myth that extremist Islam is not true Islam (and true Islam is about peace and love, etc). She, as someone who has read the Quran, and learned and lived Islam, states that the extremist Islam we know is basically Islam in its true form.

A must read - especially to every American who thinks America should embrace "multiculturalism" by convincing themselves and others that Islam is a peaceful, non-violent religion. To those of you who think that, I dare you to read this book. The author writes a very graphic biography of her experiences growing up in Islamic culture and tradition. As she shows the reader: Islam spreads a culture that is brutal, bigoted, fixated on controlling women, and harsh in war. The thought that Islam is peaceful and tolerant is a fallacy. Women must obey men because Islam requires it. Clerics rule in the Islamic culture by compete totalitarianism. By the end of the second chapter, one begins to understand Islamic culture, ideology and traditions; getting a sense that Islam is not all that it appears to be. Asaan Ali's book is very timely and should be a wake up call to Americans. If we continue down the road of multiculturalism and ideological tolerance of a culture/religion that encourages and is sworn to eliminate all Islamic unbelievers, we need to speak out and stop such ideology. I hope we will wake up and learn the lessons of the Netherlands and not let America make the same mistakes.

I would like to say a word about the accusation that this women lied on her refugee application. She did. She says she did. Just like almost all of the other Muslims do to get refugee status in Europe. I have a page about this issue here at this link:

Read about the situation in the UK and Denmark and how Muslims abuse and lie to gain residency status.
The only difference is that Hirsi Ali was honest about what she did. For Muslims telling a lie is not a problem if it is about Islam, for Islam. Being honest about telling a lie is bad. Telling a lie for Mohammad is good. The fact is that this woman has told her story as it was, as it is. Her book is about her life, what she saw and what happened to her. It is about what Islam has done to women -- because of this, she lives in hiding and must have bodyguards when appearing in public.

Muslims attack Hirsi Ali. Here is one of many articles about this woman, written by Irfan Yusuf, a well-known Muslim activist. It is called Darling of cultural warriors. His thoughts can be found here:

Here are my comments about what he wrote, posted here:

   "Many Muslims have attacked Ayaan for her ignorance of Islam"
   According to Muslims, anybody that says anything critical of Islam is "ignorant", or is awarded the title of "So-called expert".
   On the other had, saying nice things about Islam and ignoring the pain, violence, discrimination and hate in Islam and in Muslim societies makes a person "knowledgeable" like Karen Armstrong, a real blue ribbon expert.
   The problem is that these experts somehow can't see the hate and violence in the Quran. The hundreds of evil deeds by Mohammed and his men, recorded in Islam's own traditions, mean nothing. They see no link between these and the state of Islamic societies or current events.
   Take, for example Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). It seems that Ms Ali Hirsi feels strongly about this. Winder why? I don't know how many times I have read on Islamic sites that it is a cultural practice, it is rare, not Islamic, bla bla bla. I took a few months off to read most of the hadiths and early biographies (including 30 volumes of Tabari) and guess what - FGM is very Islamic. In fact, it is recorded that when Islam's dear prophet saw it done, said to cut gently. Gently? Not only his endorsement is vile, but someone please tell me why he is looking at young girls private parts?
   Muslims are in denial, or dishonest. They say things that are totally untrue and pretend nobody notices. They make rules that don't apply to them (like Mohammad did!). They criticize others when their religion and societies are many times worse. Most of all, they blame others. It is never Islam's fault.
   Hirsi Ali, if anything, is too kind.

Ms Hirsi was a hot topic on the Forum, and there were three or four articles on her. I want to continue the topic of women, but I have put my other comments about her at the bottom of the page, here:

These comments include my response to Muslim critics.

3. Oriana Fallaci

I have followed the writings and career of this woman for 30 years. She did great interviews back in the 1970s and 80s. People liked her then, even liberals, because she exposed the hypocrisy and brutality of dictators and the rich and famous. I will never forget her interview with Arafat where she mentioned the painted, blond German boy in the corner of the room that was obviously Arafat's little sex toy-boy -- and this over two decades before the rumors about his gay lifestyle and dying of AIDS.
Anyway, one nice Italian morning, she decides that somebody has to write about the problems that Muslim immigration is bringing to Europe. All hell breaks use. She becomes a pariah. The government, education establishment and media turned ganged up against her. The didn't like her facts and they didn't want to hear her opinions. She was threatened and legal proceedings were brought against her for her opinion. Here are a few words about her from the Opinion Journal

--Oriana Fallaci faces jail. In her mid-70s, stricken with a cancer that, for the moment, permits only the consumption of liquids -- so yes, we drank champagne in the course of a three-hour interview -- one of the most renowned journalists of the modern era has been indicted by a judge in her native Italy under provisions of the Italian Penal Code which proscribe the "vilipendio," or "vilification," of "any religion admitted by the state."
In her case, the religion deemed vilified is Islam, and the vilification was perpetrated, apparently, in a book she wrote last year -- and which has sold many more than a million copies all over Europe -- called "The Force of Reason." Its astringent thesis is that the Old Continent is on the verge of becoming a dominion of Islam, and that the people of the West have surrendered themselves fecklessly to the "sons of Allah." So in a nutshell, Oriana Fallaci faces up to two years' imprisonment for her beliefs -- which is one reason why she has chosen to stay put in New York. Let us give thanks for the First Amendment.

The European thought police dedicated themselves for two years to destroying this woman. They can't stop hate speech in the mosques but they can go after an old woman that tells the truth. Oriana has passed away but the problems that she spoke about are here and growing. Does anybody care?

Pitiful condition of Muslim womanhood

Here are few lines from a speech by an English convert to Islam. He is perhaps best know for his English version of the Quran, which is probably the best know of all translations.

Today I have to speak to you about a delicate subject -- the Islamic position of women -- a subject which is delicate, and to me painful, only because at every turn while examining it I am reminded that I am in a country [India] where, among the Muslims, a woman is emphatically not in her Islamic position, and where men are generally indifferent to the wrongs done to her. The state to which the great majority of Muslim women in India are reduced today is a libel on Islam, a crime for which the Muslim community as a whole will have to suffer in increasing social degradation, in the weak and the sickly, in increasing child mortality, so long as that crime is perpetuated. An unconscious crime on the part of the majority, I know, begun in ignorance, through pursuit of an un-Islamic tradition of false pride. But ignorance of the law is no excuse for anybody to escape its penalties -- least of all, in the case of the operation of natural laws can the mere plea of ignorance exempt a man from undergoing the natural consequences of transgression. The laws of the Shari'ah [Islamic Law] are natural laws, and the consequences of transgressing them are unavoidable, not only for Muslims, but for everyone. The fool who does not know that fire will burn him, is burnt by fire just like anybody else. And the excuse of ignorance, in the case of Muslims and the Shari'ah, is worse than the offence. Since they, of all mankind, should have that special knowledge which it is their mission to convey to all mankind.
Please do not, upon hearing me thus inveigh against the present pitiful condition of Muslim womanhood in India, think that I am judging it by any foreign standard for wishing to recommend foreign ways. I am judging it only by the Shari'ah and I wish to recommend only the way of the Shari'ah; and I judge the Western status of woman, as I judge her Eastern status, solely by the Shari'ah as I, following the most learned and enlightened Muslims of all ages, understand it.

The guy's name is Mohammad Marmaduke Pickthall and this lecture was given in 1925. I can't say that things haven't changed, because they have in general gotten worse - except in India, but Muslims in India are a minority so they haven't been able to enforce the usual pattern of oppression they practice in so many Islamic societies. Here is a good general article about the situation of women in Muslim countries. It is an article called Lagging far behind: Women in the Middle East, by Judith Colp Rubin. It is a review of the political and social situation of women in the Islamic Middle East. It says that although these countries often have constitutions that guarantee equal rights, or have signed international treaties that provide women an equal status to men, in practice women are treated unequally in politics, marriage, divorce, freedom of movement, education and work. Other than that, they are fine, except of course when being beaten. The article should be entitled Lagging farther behind, because the situation -- already the worst on earth == is getting worse. Here is the link:

The World Economic Forum (Geneva) has released their 2007 report on Gender Gap between men and women for 128 countries worldwide.

   This Report examines four critical areas of inequality between men and women:
1. Economic participation and opportunity – outcomes on salaries, participation levels and access to high-skilled employment
2. Educational attainment – outcomes on access to basic and higher level education
3. Political empowerment – outcomes on representation in decision-making structures
4. Health and survival – outcomes on life expectancy and sex ratio
   The Gender Gap Index assesses countries on how well they are dividing their resources and opportunities among their male and female populations, regardless of the overall levels of these resources and opportunities. By providing a comprehensible framework for assessing and comparing global gender gaps and by revealing those countries that are role models in dividing these resources equitably between women and men, serves as a catalyst for greater awareness as well as greater exchange between policymakers. The Report covers a total of 128 countries, representing over 90% of the world’s population.
   So how did the Islamic countries do? Are they at the top of the list -- among the most equal with the least gap between the sexes? If not at the top, they must, at least, be average. Well, if not average, maybe a little lower than average, but improving, of course. No?
   Here are some of the results -- At the top of the list (for Islamic nations, that is) is Malaysia, in 92nd place out of 128. Here is the rest of the countries and their ranking: Kuwait (96), Bangladesh (100), Tunisia (102), Syria (103), Jordan (104), UAE (105), Algeria (108), Qatar (109), Bahrain (115), Iran (118), Egypt (118), Turkey (121), Morroco (122), Saudi Arabia (124), Pakistan (126), and Yemen (128) There are a few more, smaller Islamic nations in this group, at the bottom of the list, but I only put the better known countries. A quote from the report: "Most Arab world countries not only continue to perform far below the global average, but have also do not show much improvement over the last year or have deteriorated."
   Of course, the situation of women in these countries and these disgraceful statistics have absolutely nothing to do with Islam.

Islam really respects women...

These are a few examples of things pertaining to women that I have found on Islamic sites. Once in a while, while surfing the Internet, I come across things that are stupid, or beyond stupid. Once in a while I even save these to a page I call "Stupid things my Imam told me" that can be found here.

Real Compassion - wait a day or two to have sex after flogging your wife. I quote: "Muslims used to flog their wives (allowed by Quran 4.34) when they were disobedient but afterwards they had habit of having sex with them. It is very painful for women to lie on their backs for sex after a good beating as the lashes cause open wounds. Apostle was a very compassionate man and he therefore prohibited Muslims to have sex with wives on the day of their flogging. Bukhari Volume 7, Book 62, Number 132". This jewel is from a webpage called "Great Virtues of the prophet" found here:

I have seen some vile and stupid things on Islamic sites, but this one takes the grand prize for asinine babble.

And there are even videos on the ancient Islamic art of Wife Beating: "there are three types of women with whom life is impossible without beating" and when a man beats his wife "he should avoid her face and other sensitive parts of her body." There are rules, you know. Islam really cares about and respects women.

Women like to be beaten!. The Grand Mufti of Egypt, Ali Gomaa, says that women are not adverse to a few good whams. Beating women is also an expression of men's masculinity. This guy is the Number 1 Muslim authority in Egypt, so he must know what he is talking about. Here are the words of another Muslims expert - Sheik Jum'a Tawfiz Jum'a: With regard to [wife] beating... The husband is not in a karate club or in a boxing club with his wife. In addition, the beatings must not cause broken bones, bleeding, or cuts, and must not leave marks. It is light beating, which makes the wife feel the extent of the anger or sorrow in this man's heart. Some people say that this beating is uncivilized. I say to them that since it appears in the Koran - beware of defying what appears in the Koran. Beatings are indispensable.

When your husband beats you, think about how wonderful Islam is... This is sick. It says that when a woman is beaten, she should think about her husband's positive aspects - like his religion or that he does not hit you in the face. "This will reduce your negative feelings for him." Sick! Unbelievable!

Keep women off sidewalks and out of stadiums. The fact is that the presence of women offends many Muslim males. And why not? Islam's great prophet, who all Muslims love and respect, says that women are deficient in intelligence. The ahadith also states that most of the people in hell are women. Here is another quote, from a Saudi 'Expert' on Family Affairs, Dr. Ghazi Al-Shimari: "If a wife licks pus and blood coming out of her husband's nose - she still would not have observed all his rights"

Women licking pus.... This is sick - and from an 'authentic' hadith. I quote:

The Messenger of Allah said, It is not right that any human being should prostrate to another human being, and if it were right for a human being to prostrate to another human being I would have ordered the women to prostrate to her husband due to the greatness of this right upon her. By Him in whose Hand is my soul, if from his foot to the crown of his head there was a wound pouring forth pus, and she (the wife) came and licked that, then she would (still) not have fulfilled his right.
Footnote: Reported by Ahmad (3/159) and others. Its chain of narration is declared to be good by al-Mundhiree in at-Targheeb wat-Tarheeb (3/75), and it occurs in S[a]heehul Jaami' (no.7250)

Of course the Muslim site says that it is a 'weak' hadith (in spite of the comments in the footnotes about it being 'declared to be good'), but then adds 'This is not to say that it is forged but Allah knows best.' It then explains that the verse is (1) it is figurative; (2) it is a hyperbole, and (3) it should be read within the context of other hadiths counterbalancing it. Here is the link:

. I remember reading a few months ago that Turkey was going to remove hadiths like this from their official edition of Mohammad's sayings.

Green clothes, green skin...

Here is a Hadith from Bukhari[8], vol. 7, # 715, that details Islamic wife beating:

"Narrated Ikrima: 'Rifaa divorced his wife whereupon Abdur-Rahman married her. Aisha said that the lady came wearing a green veil and complained to her (Aisha) and showed her a green spot on her skin caused by beating. It was the habit of ladies to support each other, so when Allah's messenger came, Aisha said, "I have not seen any woman suffering as much as the believing women. Look! Her skin is greener than her clothes! When Abdur-Rahman heard that his wife had gone to the prophet, he came with his two sons from another wife. She said, "By Allah! I have done no wrong to him, but he is impotent and is as useless to me as this," holding and showing the fringe of her garment. Abdur-Rahman said, "By Allah, O Allah's messenger! She has told a lie. I am very strong and can satisfy her, but she is disobedient and wants to go back to Rifaa." Allah's messenger said to her, "If that is your intention, then know that it is unlawful for you to remarry Rifaa unless Abdur-Rahman has had sexual intercourse with you." The prophet saw two boys with Abdur-Rahman and asked (him), "Are these your sons?" On that Abdur-Rahman said, "Yes." The prophet said, "You claim what you claim (that he is impotent)? But by Allah, these boys resemble him as a crow resembles a crow.""

Note several things from this Hadith.

A woman was beaten by her husband because of marital discord. It does not say she did anything evil or even that she was wrong. She was beaten because her husband said she was "disobedient"
Aisha says "I have not seen any woman suffering as much as the believing women. Look! Her skin is greener than her clothes!" Now that says everything. Her body was bruised all over.
Aisha, the "mother of the believers" says Muslim women suffer (from being beaten) more than the non-Muslim women.
Muhammad saw the beaten woman, heard the story and did not rebuke the man for beating his wife. In fact, he reproached the women for saying Rahman was impotent. Even though she was hurt Muhammad accepted her bruises and beating because to Islam's great prophet it was not abuse. In Muhammad’s eyes she deserved the beating.
This episode is in accordance with the mandate in the Quran that permits wife beating.
The whole business of Muslim marriage is about what men want and do. Women are objects, and their wishes mean little. Also, from a technical and juridical point of view, Muhammad's analysis is deficient. Just because the man had sons in the past does not make him not impotent later. The woman's word is worth nothing. She probably got another beating, getting some black and blue bruises to add to her green ones.

I am going to quote a few lines from a blog by an abused muslimah. I have decided not to give a source or link but the title of the post was The Burning Bed.

I remember thinking sometimes, that I wish that he'd just hit me hard enough so maybe I'd just black out and just not wake up again. But of course, any time I tried to express to him what kind of pain I was in, I'd get told that I was messed up mentally, though those were not his exact words, and that would just be used to show just what a terrible person I was, and how I should consider myself lucky that he chose to stay with me.
So if you can't understand why a woman would kill her abusive husband, well, go and talk to women who have benn abused. And no, killing your abusive husband is not OK, as I've said before. But a lot of times, you're just plain not thinking clearly. And I'd even venture to say that your mental state is completely altered. You just want the pain to stop, you just want the abuse to stop. And if you feel like there is nowhere you can go to, well then, you might get to such a point of desperation that you'll either kill yourself or the person abusing you. Yeah, it may not be right, yeah, it may not be pretty. But it does happen, sad to say.

How sad and tragic. What pain.

All the women in the Quran...

All the women named in the Quran. So a Muslim decides to write a page on important women mentioned in the Quran. Humm, wait a minute. There are so many, I know there are some, somewhere. Hummm, I think I will put this page as "under construction" while I make a list of the many, many distinctive females mentioned in the Quran by name. Gosh, where did they all go? OK, I will help. Here is a complete list of all the women named in the Quran: Mary. That is it. No more. That shows the high regard that Islam has for women. I have no idea how many women are mentioned in the Bible, but it certainly is in the hundreds, maybe thousands. As far as I remember the Koran does mention some other women, but not my name: Eve, the mother and sister of Moses, the wife of Lot, the wife of Pharaoh, and the Queen of Sheba - all from the Bible. In fact, the only reference to a specific non-biblical woman in the Quran is a rather confused, unprincipled statement (58:1-4) on how to handle a wife that complained about being divorced from her husband because he said she was zihar (like her mother), or because the wife's rear end looks like that of her mother. The Quran says this is very very bad thing, but if you do it you can free a slave, or if you can't do that, then just fast for two months, or if you can't do that, buy lunch for 60 poor people. I quote: "Those are limits set by Allah." Rather flexible limits for saying and doing something condemned as "iniquitous and false" (Yusuf Ali's translation) or a "hateful word and falsehood" (Shakir). So for about $300, or 60 meals at $5 each, this terrible sin is taken care of. Wow!

Update: One Muslim told me that there is a chapter/book in the Quran named 'Women' and that shows the high regard held for them. Yes, I know - and there also chapters in the Quran named 'Cow' 'jihad' and 'plunder' - which show, by the same logic, the high regard Allah has for cattle, war and plunder. In fact, the 'Cow' chapter has more verses than the 'Woman' chapter.
Oh yes, regarding Mary the mother of Jesus. Somebody please tell Mohammad or Allah that Mary is not part of the Trinity in Christian theology, as stated in the Quran (5:116). What kind of stupid mistake is this? She was also not the sister of Aaron (Surah 19:27, 28).

The Arab Human Development Report

May I refer to a 2002 report known as the Arab Human Development Report, produced by the United Nations. The bad news is that this report, produced by Arab experts (in other words, Muslims) talks about the tragic condition of women in Arab (Muslims, again) countries as one of three issues that need to be addressed. It provides many pages of statistics and graphs that show this problem. It says is that the situation in Arab societies is bad, but that of women is worse. In simple terms, the fact is that the Muslim Arab world is at the bottom of the list when it comes to almost all of the basic development indicators. At times, the it is even lower than that of sub-saharan Africa. That is pretty bad. The good news is that that Islam has nothing to do with this fact, even if all these countries are Muslim societies. Of course.
Here is how a Wikipedia article describes this paper: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Human_Development_Report

The Arab Human Development Report 2002 focuses on peoples economic, social, civil, political, and cultural factors. It seeks a neutral base to quantify the progress and failings, as well as give strategies to leaders, and point to state problems that can be helped from regional solutions. The 2002 report comments on the severe shortage of new writing; in the 1,000 years since the reign of the Caliph Mamoun, say the authors, as many books have translated into Arabic as Spain translates in one year.[1]
Three things were described as lacking: freedom (coining the term "freedom deficit"), knowledge, and an adequate status for women.[2] The Economist notes: The most delicate issue of all ... is the part that Islam plays in delaying and impeding the Arab world's advance towards the ever-receding renaissance that its intellectuals crave. One of the report's signed articles explains Islam's support for justice, peace, tolerance, equilibrium and all good things besides. But most secularists believe that the pervasive Islamisation of society ... has played a significant part in stifling constructive Arab thought ... From their schooldays onwards, Arabs are instructed that they should not defy tradition, that they should respect authority, that truth should be sought in the text and not in experience. Fear of fauda (chaos) and fitna (schism) are deeply engrained in much Arab-Islamic teaching. "The role of thought", wrote a Syrian intellectual "is to explain and transmit...and not to search and question."[2]

Let me put it clearly. Islam is the greatest factor in much of what is wrong in the Arab World. Islam restricts free speech. It inhibits self-expression and art. It suffocates science. It destroys culture. It hinders progress and development. It teaches hate and intolerance. It subjugates women. It violates basic human rights. It makes a mockery of the concept of equality. It demands lies and dishonesty. It exploits the common people and leaves them at the mercy of the rich and privileged. It persecutes non-Muslims. All of these problems are found in the Arab and Islamic societies around the world. These countries are racially, geographically and cultural diverse. The only thing all Islamic societies have in common is Islam, and all of them present severe problems, yet Muslims just can't figure what the problem is. Why oh why, what could it be?

"Islam protects women, Islam honors women"

Yes, Islam protects women like a wolf protects and honors sheep. Has anybody forgotten the time the members of the "Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice" in Arabia (aka, the "Religious Police") pushed young girls back into a burning building so that nobody would see their knees - that would have been immoral. This is perhaps one of the most perverse, vile actions in all of human history - and there are so many unspeakably vile deeds. This action is contrary to everything we think of as human nature, independently of gender, race, nationality, age, and political views. Robbers, rapists, murderers and other criminals would not have done this. Even nazis would not have done this. It was, however, done in the name of a religious ideology called "Islam". Words cannot express my contempt for these people.

Muslims are always saying that,
before Islam, Arabs buried their
girl children alive. Now, under
Islam, they bury their women
alive under blankets, robes,
veils and endless vile rules.

Lock'em up... Here is a page about the practice of iddat, the confinement of women after death or divorce, from http://www.anwary-islam.com/life/men_wonem_iddat.htm

1 : If a woman's husband divorces her or the marriage is revoked by 'Khula' (divorce obtained on wife's initiative) or 'Eila' (to take oath not to go to wife) etc., or the husband dies, then in all such cases, the woman has to remain confined in a house for a specified period and before the end of this period she is not permitted to go outside nor can she marry any other man. She is at liberty to do anything only after this specified period is passed. This specified period is called 'Iddat'
3 : the period of Iddat for divorce for a minor girl who has never seen menses or for so aged a woman who has now ceased to menstruate, is the same, and that is period of three months. So, for a period of three months she must remain confined in the house, and after expiry of this period she can do anything at her will.
8 : If one commits sexual intercourse with a woman other than his wife by mistake, then the woman has to observe Iddat.
2 : The widow is allowed to live in the entire portion of the house. The practice for the widow to remain confined to a fixed spot and not move from that place is meaningless and nonsense. This practice should be abandoned.
1 : If the wife is too minor to be able for sexual intercourse, and the husband can keep her in his house for looking after household affairs, then her maintenance is binding on him; but if she is sent back to her paternal home, then he is not bound for her maintenance.
1 : If the husband is abroad and no information is reaching about him for a long time, nor he returned home and if in the meanwhile a child is born to the woman, then the child is not illegitimate, rather is from that very husband, But if after being informed about the matter, he makes a refusal, then the rule 'lea'n will apply.

Notice that the Quran (Surah 65:4) makes it clear that even wives that have not yet begun to menstruate must observe iddat. So Muslim can marry and have intercourse with pre-adolescent girls? Is this right? Oh yes, what is this thing of having intercourse with another woman by mistake? Would somebody please explain that to me.
Notice also that men don't have to do iddat. That is for women only, of course. Muslims have all these little vile rules (travel restrictions, being in public, divorce, being unclean, wearing blankets, iddat, etc.) that only apply to women. Oh yes, men and women are equal in Islam and an elephant is the same as a camel, also.

Oh yes, about the famous misyar marriages. Here is an article in the Arab News (A Saudi publication, no less) about these informal, "alternative" marital arrangements, in which the woman waives most (all?) of her rights. In simple terms, the woman stays with her family and her "husband" visits her when he wants her company (sex?). This type of wedding is very common but some women consider it to be nothing more than legal prostitution. Read the article, please.

Women want justice, not sharia. This is an article in an India paper about Muslims women seeking justice. Where do they think they can find it? Under secular law, not sharia. Here is the link:

   In June 2005 the 28-year-old mother of five from the village of Charthawal in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh complained to her husband, Nur Ilahi, a rickshaw puller, of being raped by her father-in-law, Ali Mohammed, while her husband was absent.
   Even though India is a secular country, Muslim leaders insist on following Sharia, or Islamic law, in such personal affairs as marriage, divorce and inheritance. It was to this system of justice that Imrana first turned.
   The village council--composed of five male village elders--ruled that her marriage be dissolved because Imrana had become "haram" (sinful) since she had entered into a relationship with her husband's father. In Indian villages that lack formal courts, these elders often act as judge and jury though they have no official jurisdiction other than the esteem that local people allow them.

The article goes on to talk about the plight of Muslim women in India.

   ...For women, this means one of the most restrictive cultures in the Muslim world. In Muslim India a man can still divorce his wife by the simple expedient of repeating "Talaq" three times, while a woman has no recourse.
   Polygamy is legal, along with a low marriage age--at attainment of puberty--for girls.
   Imrana, Adib and other activists have been receiving death threats from members of the Muslim clergy and community in the state. A week after Imrana first filed charges with the police about 70 Muslim clerics led a protest march against her and her supporters, alleging that their actions were un-Islamic.
   For reasons of safety, Adib and others have for the past year donned the burka whenever they leave home.

As always, death threats. Oh yes, this also has nothing to do with Islam.

Only bad girls go to college
In a village in India, "other men" (a word that means "Muslims" in this case) say "Islam does not permit girls to study" and then threatened the girls and beat up their family.

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has asked the police to protect two Muslims sisters after they were threatened for attending college.
Samina Shaikh (19) and Zarina Shaikh (18), who study at St Xavier’s College and the Maharashtra College, moved the court for police protection after they were "terrorised and threatened".
Ansari and other men in their locality believe that "only girls with bad character go to college" and did not want sisters to study after school. The family was told that Islam does not “permit” girls to study.

No comments are needed here. The story says it all.

Yes, say it again... Islam respects women. Once more now... One more time....
Hands off, Ali! I follow quite a few Muslim sites and on a Turkish one I found a few comments about a poster that appeared in some German cities (see image). It was a gentle reminder that touching women in the streets is considered inappropriate behavior. Some of the comments on the blog said it was just another example of German racism because it targeted Muslims (because of the name 'Ali'). The owner said that there was in fact a problem, not just in Germany but even in Turkey. He also commented on a New Years episode in Istanbul in which Australian tourists were sexually assaulted in by a group of men in a downtown square, during the day, no less. It was a big story, for a few days at least. The Turkish media blamed foreigners for the attack. There is more about this problem below in the "Muslims gone wild" category below.

Women are meat. Here is the story behind this famous statement by Australia's most senior Islamic clergyman (

   In a Ramadan sermon that has outraged Muslim women leaders, Sydney-based Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali also alluded to the infamous Sydney gang rapes, suggesting the attackers were not entirely to blame.
   While not specifically referring to the rapes, brutal attacks on four women for which a group of young Lebanese men received long jail sentences, Sheik Hilali said there were women who "sway suggestively" and wore make-up and immodest dress ... "and then you get a judge without mercy (rahma) and gives you 65 years".
   "But the problem, but the problem all began with who?" he asked.
   The leader of the 2000 rapes in Sydney's southwest, Bilal Skaf, a Muslim, was initially sentenced to 55 years' jail, but later had the sentence reduced on appeal.
   In the religious address on adultery to about 500 worshippers in Sydney last month, Sheik Hilali said: "If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it ... whose fault is it, the cats or the uncovered meat?
   "The uncovered meat is the problem."
   The sheik then said: "If she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab, no problem would have occurred."
   He said women were "weapons" used by "Satan" to control men.
   "It is said in the state of zina (adultery), the responsibility falls 90 per cent of the time on the woman. Why? Because she possesses the weapon of enticement (igraa)."
   (This report is from http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20646437-601,00.html)

The article goes on to say "Muslim community leaders were yesterday outraged and offended by Sheik Hilali's remarks". What it doesn't say is that they only became outraged after the remarks were published in an Australia newspaper almost 3 weeks after they were made. At that point, when the general Australian public became aware of these vile remarks, Muslims instantly became outraged. How cute. What hypocrisy.

Here are three comments I made on an Australian Internet forum called "Opinion Online." As you may have guessed the Imam's comment created a storm of debate in Downunderland. As usual, Australian Muslims were quick to tell everybody that those remarks were wrong and "unislamic". Oh yes, al-Hilali continued as the Grand Mulfi for months after this and after many other hateful comments about non-Muslims. The Council of Islamic Jurisprudence and Research even reappointed Hilaly as Grand Mufti of Australia in June 2007, but he declined and retired.
Here is the first comment, from this thread:

   You will notice that the Islamic community sat on this incident for 3 weeks before it appeared in a newspaper. No outcry. No protests - even though hundreds of Muslims were at the sermon.
   That tells you all you need to know about the true mentality of Muslims. The minute it became public (non-Muslim knowledge), suddenly Muslims condemn the Imam.
   I have pointed out the hate and violence in the Quran. I have listed vile events in Mohammeds life (murder, torture, slavery, rape, etc...) with links to Islamic texts. Nothing. Muslims know or should know. They say "praise be unto him" after Mohammad's name and consider him an example to follow. So if he murdered, tortured, enslaved and he is a great moral example - figure out what that means. Oh yes, Mohammed said it is was OK to lie to advance Islam.
   Remember these same excuses were used, with the same condemnations by Muslim community, after a young girl was raped 25 times in 2000 by 14 Muslims. She was on a train, dressed for a job interview in her best suit, reading The Great Gatsby, but to those men she was a slut, an "Aussie pig." At the trial, one man said he did it because of his "strict Islamic morals." The girl said "I looked in his eyes. I had never seen such indifference." Six years later, nothing has changed.
   It will get worse. In the coming years things will get much worse. It doesn't take a genius to see this. In fact I said it here at OLO 18 months ago. I used to thing the problem was Muslim denial or ignorance. Sadly, now I feel the problem is dishonesty and deceit. Strong words, but probably right.
   John Kactuz
   More Islamic awareness: "The Shareeah, which is embodied (in) the Quran and Sunnah, are the proclamations of Allah and His Messenger (...) ...it is obligatory for every Muslim to obey any command that he hears from Allah or His Messenger (...), even if the command should go against his own desires, opinion or against popular opinion." http://www.iisca.org/articles/document.jsp?id=65

And here is comment number 2, same thread.

   The "misogyny that exists among Muslim religious leaders" is not limited to Muslim leaders - it comes directly from the Quran and the man Muslims consider their great example.
   Time after time after time Irfan and other Muslims get out their pens and write these articles that use the same excuses: "Out of Context" "a cultural thing" "bad translation" "misunderstood" "the Crusaders did it" and so on.
   Quote: Ibn 'Aun reported: ...The Messenger of Allah made a raid upon Banu Mustaliq while they were unaware and their cattle were having a drink at the water. He killed those who fought and imprisoned others. On that very day, he captured Juwairiya bint al-Harith (Muslim Book 019, Number 4292 - also in Bukhari).
   So which is worse, some idiot Imam saying rape is OK, or Islam's prophet and his men doing it? If you continue reading the text above you see where Mohammed's men ask the profit if they should practice 'coitis interruptus.' He says 'no, just screw them and don't worry!'
   Will any Muslim condemn this?
   Or how do you feel about Mohammed beating his wife?
   Quote: Mohammed says… "Why is it, O ‘A’isha (his 9 year old wife!) that you are out of breath? I said: There is nothing. He said: Tell me or the Subtle and the Aware would inform me... He said: Was it the darkness (of your shadow) that I saw in front of me? I said: Yes. He struck me on the chest which caused me pain……. ," Muslim 4:2127.
   http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/muslim/004.smt.html#004.2127
   And so why all this commotion about a few word by some Imam when the real problem is the hate and violence inherent to Islam against all non-Muslims, not just women? In a week, month or year there will be other incidents (or worse) and 'moderate' Muslims will be making the same excuses.
   John old man kactuz
   PS: Irfan, I no longer am able to post at altmuslim.com because I was suspended. I had said good things about them. I guess it is the links to Islamic texts about torture, slavery and murder.

I would also like to include my comments on an article called "Let Muslim women speak for themselves" also at the same forum here is a link to the article (

) and here is what I wrote:

   Madam, perhaps you should go talk to your fellow Muslims and not waste time with us stupid infidels. They need to learn tolerance more than we do. From their talk and actions, they are the ones that believe that clothes shape the identity - and that not wearing a blanket makes a woman eligible for rape.
   Or perhaps you could consider the fact that by wearing the hajib, you contribute to this loathsome mentality, and to the actions of male Muslims. Try that thought on and see if it fits.
   I support your right to wear a hajib, a Burka or even a mini-skirt. I also support free speech and human rights. Too bad Muslims don't. They always want to subjugate non-Muslims. That, of course, is what your dear prophet told Muslims to do, isn't it?
   The fact that you wear the hajib shows that you take Islamic ideology seriously. So then tell me if the hate and anger in the Quran bother you? Tell me if the vile deeds of your prophet cause any hesitation when you 'PHUM' him? Does barbaric torture like this (read verse 261) trouble you.
   http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/052.sbt.html
   Please give me you views on these things. What do you say when people ask if Islam permits wife beating? Do you tell them that your prophet beat his 9 year old wife?
   http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/muslim/004.smt.html#004.2127
   Do you believe that women are deficient in religion and intelligence, as your dear prophet said? Are they worth half the value of men?
   http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/006.sbt.html#001.006.301
   These questions are, as you say, a chance for Muslims to clear up 'misconceptions'. So please let me know your feelings about these three passages linked above.
   John Kactuz
   PS: I enjoy hearing Muslim explain away Mohammed beating Aisha. My favorite excuse so far was here, in which a Muslim basically said "He hit her but did not beat her; he caused her pain but it did not hurt".
   http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/paul_hamilos/2006/06/post_126.html
   How can you reason with people like this?
   Also note how well Muslims understand (not!) both their own scriptures and Western ideals:
   http://www.donaldsensing.com/index.php/2006/10/04/1243/

I am still waiting for an answer. The writer above basically says that non-Muslims have no right "to speak for women who wear the hijab" because they haven't "experienced it themselves" and this "undermines the right of Muslim women who wear the veil to speak up and represent their own voices." She also quotes another feminist writer who says “‘colonial feminist’ discourses jeopardize Muslim women’s ability to speak out about social problems in their own communities”
Non-Muslims have every right to speak out about these things. They are speaking about women, not for these women. Once again, we have a Muslim wanting to abridge freedom of speech with an argument that is inherently defective. She wants the situation of women in Islam to be off limits to all non-Muslims. I doubt that she would extend this logic to matters such as non-Americans criticizing US national policy, or non-South Africans speaking out about Apartheid. Maybe you can only speak out against the evils of alcoholism if you have a beer can in your hand. This is just one more excuse by Muslims to silence critics and not face the cruel reality of their customs and religion. Here are the links referenced in the comments, about the experience of a Muslim woman and the pressures she faced

and

Muslims gone wild

Another problem I see on Muslim blogs and web sites is the problem of sexual assault and harassment - in Islamic countries. On Muslim websites one reads over and over again how "Islam respects women" and how the hajib protects them. The truth is a different story.
I have seen so many comments by female bloggers in Jordan, Lebanon, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, and especial Arabia. But all of these comments pale in comparison to events in Egypt last October 2006. I quote: "a mob went on a rampage of sexual assaults in downtown Cairo during the recent Eid holiday ... women, who flooded the comments section of those blogs with a compendium of horror stories of their own sexual harassment ...The sexual attacks were shocking in their systematic viciousness . Eye witnesses said the mob went from one woman to the next with a determination that did not discriminate between veiled or unveiled, young or old and at one point even dragged a woman out of a taxi in which she had tried to escape." The article continues: "The old, lame excuses were pulled out, of course. They ranged from the ridiculous: the women asked for it simply by being in a crowded part of town; to the surreal: a belly dancer who had performed outside of cinema that was showing the premier of her film was to blame for arousing the mob. If sexual harassment has been the ugly daily backdrop for so many Egyptian girls and women, what had turned it into such a violent foreground?" and so on...

This reminds me of a Latin American couple I knew, Cesar and Lisa, that worked for an oil company called Petrobras in Lybia. They told me it was so bad there that Lisa had to stop going out in the streets. There was one experience in an elevator that was horrible. Many Saudi blogs also tell stories of perverts that roam the malls and streets of Arabia, exposing themselves or whispering obscene comments to women passing by. As one woman said: "where are those religious police when you need them?". The only good stories, in fact, were those were young women and men making monkeys of the Religious Police, exchanging phone numbers and arranging illegal meetings to talk with each other. Hey, anybody that makes monkeys of the monkeys of the Saudi religious police has my admiration. Maybe there is hope. I found this posting about a McDonald's in Arabia (see image) in which men and women, together, choose to disregard the signs for separate "men" and "women" lines to order meals. How daring, funny and tragic. Good for them. Now if they could also sit together and talk to each other like human beings, it would be even better.

Back to Cairo... Here is a summary by a blogger of what happened in Egypt on that ugly day:

. Read the report. Read the comments. here is another link on this same topic:

This is from a Muslim blog, about an African-American woman's trip to the land of Islam.

. Her report:

Well, the Muslim world isn’t this happy Muslim place where people are singing “Tala al badru wa’alayna” skipping down the streets giving salaams to their neighbors. No, the Muslim world is a place where a woman will get hit on and ripped off by an airport worker within 1/2 an hour of stepping on Muslim soil. The Muslim world is where a throng of people pass by an old lady struggling carrying her loaded bags and some random western woman offers to help. The Muslim world is where cars mow down pedestrians on the road and where everyone cusses each other out. The Muslim world is where men say disgusting things to hijab wearing women sweating profusely in the humid air.

It appears that the 'best of people' (Muslims, according to the Koran) are just like other people, or maybe worse. Definitively worse.

More about Harassment The Global Voices Online (GVO) site, which collects viewpoints from around the planet, recently featured a story first posted in the "cairo my Love" blog based upon a survey of sexual harassment in Egypt done by Reuters News Agency. Here is the link to the original post

and here is the link to the posting in GVO

Here are a few lines from the story:

That's exactly what it is. An epidemic. One that's been festering and spreading for years upon years, and only gets worse. I wonder if a cure will emerge some day for this sickening behaviour.
The worst part of it, is that people think it's the woman's fault. That is just sad. That's exactly the same thought path of psychotic rapists who think "she asked for it". It's sick, perverted, twisted, uncivilized, and just plain stupid. And this has nothing to do with religion, as a matter of fact. It's just a sick culture.
Then you find a woman walking in hijab, fully covered, nothing tight, nothing revealing.. and she still gets harassed. You find a 60 year old veiled woman that gets into a cab and gets harassed. You find a 12 year old girl being harassed. Even a women in niqab is not immune to such behavior. These are all things I've witnessed myself or heard of from people i know well, so they are nothing out of the ordinary, just the daily bullshit an Egyptian woman has to live with.

A second story followed the first, with the an 'explanation' for the sad state of things, given by an Egyptian man:

Going back to the situation in Egypt, Wael suspects that the reasons for the situations in the two countries are similar:
Emotional Deficit. For several decades, the Egyptian society was being Islamized, making the chances of having a natural and healthy pre-marriage boy-girl relationship ever diminishing. Marriage itself, it would seem is becoming more unaffordable than ever.
Then he links this theory to his emotional deficits theory saying that: "...The same goes for these emotional deficits. You want to call the abusers criminals and send them to jail, fine. So do I. This may be a part of the solution. But ultimately, on the long-term, we must learn to stop fighting nature. Accept nature. Young men and women have basic emotional and physical needs. These needs create demand which must be addressed with social solutions. Must be channeled in socially acceptable channels, affordable solutions and feasible means. The tightening moral code introduced by the Islamists only threatens to develop an explosive situation at home. There has been many reports and TV shows describing a similar situation at Saudi Arabia, where percentage of homosexuality is on the rise. Incest and other perverted forms of relationships seem to be increasing at alarming rates. Why do we have to deny nature and see perfectly normal relations indecent is beyond me. You ignore the laws of mother-nature and you will be inviting the parallel state to devise its own solution."

The guy (Wael) has a point. The fact is that what is happening throughtout Islamic societies -- as fundamentalism takes hold -- is that the natural relationships between men and women are being destroyed. I am not talking about premarital sex. I am talking about the natural talk, gosip, intrigue and curiosity between the sexes that is part of growing up. As this happens, women are no longer people. They are housekeepers, cooks, sex onjects, cattle - They, like non-Muslims, are "the other." This results is women being treated as objects (the disrespect and harassment) and a very frustrated young male population. This is fine for the radicals - they want lots of angry, frustrated young Muslim men.

It gets worse. There was a 3rd article in Global Voices in which a well-known journalist, Mona Eltahawy, shared her experiences

. In her post titled "Shame and Sexual Harassment in Egypt", Mona Eltahawy took a trip back in time and revisited her early experiences with sexual harassment:
Here are a few lines from that posting:

"I was groped as I was performing the
rites of the Haj pilgrimage at Mecca,
the holiest site for Muslims. Every
part of my body was covered except
for my face and hands."

When I was only 4 years-old, and still living in Cairo, a man exposed himself to me as I stood on a balcony at my family's home, and gestured for me to come down.
At 15, I was groped as I was performing the rites of the Haj pilgrimage at Mecca, the holiest site for Muslims. Every part of my body was covered except for my face and hands. I'd never been groped before and burst into tears, but I was too ashamed to explain to my family what had happened.
During my 20s, when I had returned to Cairo and wore the hijab, a way of dressing which again covers everything but the face and the hands, I was groped so many times that whenever I passed a group of men I'd place my bag between me and them. Headphones helped block out the disgusting things men - and even boys barely in their teens - hissed at me.

Here is a link to the original story:

. It goes on to discuss the reasons for this horrific behavior...

In Egypt today, up to 80 percent of women wear one form of veil or another - be it a headscarf or a full-body veil that covers the face too - so you would think it was obvious that sexual harassment had nothing to do with the way a woman dresses.
So what is it that drives such a stubborn wish to fault women? The answer lies in perhaps the saddest of all the Centre's findings. Unlike foreign women, most Egyptian women said women should keep their harassment to themselves because they were ashamed or feared it could ruin their reputation. That's when I was taken back full circle to the time I was groped on the Haj.
Shame. This shame is fueled by religious and political messages that bombard Egyptian public life, turning women into sexual objects and giving men free reign to their bodies.
One reader comments…
And while I do not believe I am overreacting to any of this, I will say that constant harassment does, over a relatively short time, affect your ability to distinguish innocent from abusive behaviour. It's related to the shame that Mona talks about in her post.
The comments, the groping, the really filthy language, and the inability to do anything about it (yelling and making a scene often just make it worse), and most of all the violation, make you feel dirty and turn inward on yourself. Even if you know you did absolutely nothing to warrant such harassment. And the more you react this way, the more you shy away from any contact with men. You find yourself hearing a leer in every hello, and lose the sense of being able to judge which really are leering and which are not.

The author has an explanation (shame) but that is only a consequence, not the root of the problem. She doesn't look too deeply for the cause of this behavior. It is not just the "religious message" that causes this. She doesn't ask where this message comes from or why it manifests itself so often in Islamic societies. I must say that I have followed the carreer and writings of Ms Eltahawy for years. She is a brave lady. Often she will speek up and say things no one else will.

Killing a woman in Gaza.
I saw this in the papers and saved it. What happened was that this woman was holding hands with her fiance. For this crime, the Muslim morality police killed her. They let her fiance live, but the woman had to die. Later, Hamas admitted that the thugs worked for them, but denied that they were acting on its orders. No, they killed her for Islam. Later: the Associated Press has a piece about "officers (that) wear red shoulder badges reading 'morality police' (27/9/2007) patrolling the streets of Ramallah, with government sanction. Even non-Muslims "are careful not to cause offense." Quote: This is not a violation of anybody's freedom," he said. "Ramadan has a holiness every person should respect."

The hajib protects women, except in Muslim societies. Here we have a Muslim blogger saying that avoiding molestation and avoiding annoyance is the ‘illa (reason) for the hijab. Here is a link to this blog and posting

and here is the quote from the Quran (33:59) he uses: O Prophet! Tell thy wives and thy daughters, as well as all [other] believing women, that they should draw over themselves some of their outer garments [when in public]: this will be more conducive to their being recognized [as decent women] and not annoyed. Other translations say "molested." He then argues

In the US and most Western countries a woman without a hijab won’t be molested or annoyed. As such, there is really no need to wear hijab.
(Funnily enough, in Egypt and Pakistan she will be annoyed or molested irrespective of a hijab so I suppose it doesn’t matter whether she wears it or not there too).

   So, if I understand it, Islam's prophet said Muslim women had to wear tents so that Muslim men would not molest them, but the tents are not needed in the West because non-Muslims generally respect women, unlike Muslim men, and Muslim men harass women anyway, without or without the tent.
   It is always the woman's fault in Islam. If a Muslim male creep says something improper to a woman, it is the woman's fault -- some way, some how. The woman is punished. That is why she must cover up, that is why she must be segregated and that is why she must be confined to her home. It will get worse.
   Let me make this clear. The hijab is not about modesty. It is not about protecting women. It is not about religion. The hajib is about men controlling women. It is about imposing restrictions on women so that they know their place in society.

Is nothing too stupid or perverse? Here is a posting on the hijab by a young Muslim mother (not veiled) living in Canada about what her parents brought for her baby (http://wanderingscarab.blogspot.com/)

Two months ago my dad flew from Egypt to Canada for a visit. As usual, he always carries gifts and other nice stuff from my mother and sister in Egypt. Among the gifts this time was a veil for my little girl who is one year old. It was a white tar7a with ruffles on the head, except it was like a khemar, goes down all the way to the waist. I kid you not! At first, I thought it was so cute. I thought maybe my mother is subtly trying to tell me to teach my daughter about prayer. And then a few hours later, it started to sink in; how insidious this disease is. Who would make a tar7a for a one year old?? Better yet, who would buy one?? My mother, of course, and all the other Egyptian mothers I bet...
The typical arguments I hear are two. Either they wear hijab to protect themselves from harassment and give themselves some dignity (whatever that means) or they do it because they do not want to cause fitna, or an outbreak of crazy lunatic men chasing them like rabid dogs (yeah, apparently all men are lunatics and unable of controlling their sexual urges - well according to the latest fatwas anyway). Even if I agree with this line of logic (or illogic) for the sake of argument. Can someone explain to me please why on earth would a one year old "ignite" sexual feelings in a man? Isn't that pretty much what pedophiles do; have sexual urges towards children!? What is that line of reasoning proposing, that all Muslim men are inherently pedophiles!??

So either wommmen -- even 1 year old girls -- are evil beings that temp men with their sexuality -- or men, particularly Muslim men, are all perverts! She is right. How pathetic! How vile!

Just when you think it can't get any stupider... One day after posting the above I run across this story on the BBC. Believe me, I don't go looking for these things; it is just that they are everywhere. When it comes to controlling womens' bodies, some Imams stay up at night to think of new restrictions for them (of course, none of these things apply to male Muslims). Unbelieveable!. In a way, this one-eyed niqab idea is much the same as that of putting a veil on a one-year old girl. Here is the text from the BBC report:

  A Muslim cleric in Saudi Arabia has called on women to wear a full veil, or niqab, that reveals only one eye.
  Sheikh Muhammad al-Habadan said showing both eyes encouraged women to use eye make-up to look seductive.
  The question of how much of her face a woman should cover is a controversial topic in many Muslim societies (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7651231.stm).

Fire and acid. This is tragic. One cannot write about the opression of women in Islamic societies without mentioning this vile problem. This horrible practice, reported here at two sites (the story is about these disfigured women being given hope and work with the help of brave Pakistanis and an Italian Charity.

Saira Liaqat squints through her one good eye as she brushes a woman's hair. Her face, most of which the acid melted years ago, occasionally lights up with a smile. Her hands, largely undamaged, deftly handle the dark brown locks. A few steps away in this popular beauty salon, Urooj Akbar diligently trims, cleans and paints clients' fingernails. Her face, severely scarred from the blaze that burned some 70 percent of her body, is somber. It's hard to tell if she's sad or if it's just the way she now looks.

No, this doesn't just happen in Islamic societies (India has a problem, too), but it predominates in them, and it derives from the same "women are evil" and "women should suffer for their evil" mentality that originates in the doctrines and attitudes found in the Quran and hadith. No, neither the Quran nor the ahadith say "Thrown acid on your wife", but they do, by their teachings and example, make it clear that women are a possible source of evil (like infidels) and must be dominated and punished. I wont even list many of the verses in the Quran that do this or the horrid and disgusting stories in the hadith (women being herded like cattle, stripped naked, raped, murdered for criticizing Mohammad, torn apart by camels, sold as sex objects, etc....). Links and references to a few of these can be found in my pages about "lies Muslims tell" found here

. Here is a link to a simple Google search about this horrible practice:

. As usual, as always, the media refuses to admit that Islam -- because of its disregard for women -- is a contributing factor in these vile actions.

Virgins in paradise and perpetually erect peanuts.
Actually the "P" word above is not "peanuts" but a term for the male organ. In Islam, not only are women second class being, in paradise they are replaced by sweet, beautiful, doe-eyed beings known as the hur or houris - that exist only to please faithful Muslim men, especially those that die while killing and conquering infidels.

"They shall recline on jewelled couches face to face, and there shall wait on them immortal youths with bowls and ewers and a cup of purest wine (that will neither pain their heads nor take away their reason); with fruits of their own choice and flesh of fowls that they relish. And theirs shall be the dark-eyed houris, chaste as hidden pearls: a guerdon for their deeds... We created the houris and made them virgins, loving companions for those on the right hand..." "(from the Quran, Sura 56).

The traditions give even more information about the delights prepared for Muslim men in paradise. Modern apologists of Islam try to downplay the evident materialism and sexual implications of such descriptions, but, as the Encyclopaedia of Islam says, even orthodox Muslim theologians such as al Ghazali and Al-Ash'ari have written about the sensual pleasures of Islam's. Al-Suyuti, famous polymath and Quranic commentator and polymath wrote:

"Each time we sleep with a houri we find her virgin. Besides, the penis of the Elected never softens. The erection is eternal; the sensation that you feel each time you make love is utterly delicious and out of this world and were you to experience it in this world you would faint. Each chosen one (Muslim) will marry seventy houris, besides the women he married on earth, and all will have appetizing vaginas."

Note: The usual number of virgins promised in the ahadith is 72, not 70.

So consider this scenario… Ahmed is married to Fatima. Ahmed is a brutal, vile man that abuses his family and beats his wife. Fatima is a faithful mulsima (muslim wife) that cares for her children and tries to make Ahmed happy (or at least 'not angry'). Ahmed hates infidels and goes on jihad. He is killed and goes to heaven. Fatima, after a long hard life, also dies and goes to heaven. According to Muslim theology Ahmed gets 72 houris, a never ending woody and all kinds of delights (including booze). What does Fatima get? Ahmed! (or technically, 1/73 of Ahmed, which is certainly an improvement. Not a great reward, but an impovement!)

Pedophilia.

First of all let me say, as I have said before, that we don't know if Mohammad was guilty of pedophilia. Period. When I say 'pedophilia' I do not mean a specific legal age for marriage; I mean the the physical manifestations of womanhood. We don't know and Muslims don't know if Aisha was still a child when first sexual intercourse occurred. We are told that Mohammad married a very young girl and consummated the marriage at age nine: A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported that Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) married her when she was seven years old, and she was taken to his house as a bride when she was nine, and her dolls were with her; and when he (the Holy Prophet) died she was eighteen years old (Sahih Muslim, Book 008, Number 3311)

In many other Islamic writings the girl's age is repeated. Muslims that argue that the girl was 12, 14, 15 or even 18 do so from wishful thinking, not facts. The question is then if Aisha had reached puberty at a very early age. We don't know.

Even so, a great evil was done. The evil was the example. Because of what Mohammad did, because of what is written in the traditions and because of what Allah allowed his faithful to do and write (speaking from an Muslim viewpoint), a terrible example was given that would destroy the bodies and lives of millions of girls for over 1300 years -- because Islam's prophet did it, it must be good. Here is a quote from a British paper:

'They kept whispering in my ear to ask why I wasn't smiling,' recalls Ayse, now 20 and living in a refuge in east London. 'I told them I was terrified and desperate, that I was just a child and far too young to get married. I pleaded with them to help me escape, but no one saw anything wrong in what was happening...
..the sex Ayse was coerced into having with her cousin (her husband) was statutory rape. 'It was disgusting, awful,' she said. 'I used to scream and cry all night. I was too young, too tender. It killed me inside. Life became meaningless.'
As she matured, Ayse became increasingly desperate and, after twice attempting suicide, found the courage to climb through a window and flee.
'I knew the cost escaping would have on my life. I now live in fear of being tracked down and killed by my husband's family.
In her east London refuge, Ayse weeps uncontrollably when she thinks about her past and her future. 'I had my childhood taken away and missed out on all my teenage years. I missed every kind of love, even my own mother's, and am finding it very difficult to put my life back together. Sometimes I still wonder if it's worth trying to have a future. Many days, I'm not at all sure that it is.'

Allah hates little girls! Notice that in the article above the example of Islam's prophet is cited to justify this vile practice of infant marriage. One would think that if Allah is god, if he is all-knowing and compassionate, if he knows the future, if he cares about women and innocent young girls, he would have taken steps to clarify the situation or expressly prohibit this evil. This is not theology, this is logic. The only explanation then for an honest Muslim is that this abuse happens because Allah let it be understood that it was proper because his prophet married a 9 year old girl. This means that Allah doesn't care about the lives of little girls. There is no other way to see this situation. Consider the implications of this, if you will.
Note also the story about the 13 year-old girl (see image) that was raped and then executed for adultery. Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow was stoned in front of a cheering audience of 1000 happy spectators in Somalia. This same vile crime happens in Pakistan (the infamous Hudood laws), Afghanistan and other Islamic countries. The story doesn't say it, but the reason for this is that the Quran (in Surah Al Nur 24:4) requires there be 4 male witnesses to prove that a "chase" woman committed any sinful act (zina) of a sexual nature. Muslims often add the words "of adultery" when explaining this to infidels or translating the verse to make explain away how arbitrary and vague the original is. This verse (24:4) was given when Mohammad's favorite wife, the child Aisha, was accused of a possible sexual relationship with a young man after the surprise attack on the Banu al-Mustaliq tribe (and murder and enslavement of its people and rape of the women). To make a long story short, she wandered off and was left behind and then was found by a handsome young man that brought her back a day later (this incident is usually known as the story of the necklace). Mohammad was troubled by the village gossip so he went into a trance and this verse was given to clear his wife Aisha (not this modern girl!). The verse requires 4 male witnesses to prove any accusation of sexual lewdness and severely punishes false witnesses. This law worked well to ease Muhammad's ego and save Aisha from gossip, but it condemned thousands of girls to a terrible death because it is vague and stupid.
The problem is this: because of this verse, it is almost impossible to prove rape under Islamic law (ie, the need to have 4 adult males see the act of penetration) unless the man confesses, so if a woman is raped and comes forward, or she becomes pregnant, and cannot prove the crime, her accusation become an admission of sexual immorality and she is punished because she cannot prove she was raped. Because of Mohammad's desire to protect the ancient Aisha (who was certainly innocent anyway and had not be accused of anything -- it was just gossip) and because of the lack of clarity in the Quran, little girls like Aisha in Somalia have to die a terrible death. Allah should have been more careful with his words, but be doesn't care about little girls, obviously. Mohammad found a way to save his ego and Aisha's reputation, but condemned thousands of girls to a bbrutal death because he didnt think about the consequences of his words and deeds, again.

Here is part of the story, as reported by Amnesty International (http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/child-of+-13-stoned-to-death-in-somalia-20081031)

Inside the stadium, militia members opened fire when some of the witnesses to the killing attempted to save her life, and shot dead a boy who was a bystander. An al-Shabab spokeperson was later reported to have apologized for the death of the child, and said the militia member would be punished.
At one point during the stoning, Amnesty International has been told by numerous eyewitnesses that nurses were instructed to check whether Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow was still alive when buried in the ground. They removed her from the ground, declared that she was, and she was replaced in the hole where she had been buried for the stoning to continue.
Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow was accused of adultery, but sources told Amnesty International that she had in fact been raped by three men, and had attempted to report this rape to the al-Shabab militia who control Kismayo. It was this act that resulted in her being accused of adultery and detained. None of men she accused of rape were arrested.

Note: Actually the Quran gives two different punishments for this sexual "crime": 100 lashes (24:2) and stoning (4:15), although the latter does not specifically mention adultery, just lewdness (although almost all Muslims want to pretend it does so not to have to face the consequences of what this verse actually says and means. Some translations actually add the words "for adultery" to the Quranic text which are not in the original). It gets more complicated. Umar says that the verse for adultery (called the verse of the Rajm) was left out of the Quran by mistake (did the Caliph see the problem Mohammad had created?). Any way, the result of this is that it is almost impossible to prove rape under Islamic law unless the man confesses so the burden of proof is on the woman who then must die because she cannot prove she is innocent under Sharia law. Good work, Mohammad! Muslims must be so proud of their sacred "perfect" book! Oh yes, I doubt is the militia member was punished. It was only a child and children have no value unless they grow up to kill infidels. Boy am I bitter, but I think I have a right to be. Where is the outrage among Western Muslims?

Equality, Muslim style (or 15% = 50%)

Muslim math: Fifteen percent is fifty percent.
In early 2007 the religious authorities in Saudi Arabia announced a plan to build an area outside the Grand Mosque just for women -- and put them there -- to protect them, of course. They would no longer be allowed to worship inside the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Immediately women around the world protested (non-Muslim world, mostly), so much that the authorities backed down and Muslim women were able to keep the small area in a corner of the courtyard to use - for now. This is a screenshot from a website ("We have a right to a tiny little corner") that was put up to protest the move. So, Muslimas are restricted to about 15% of the area and cannot even get close to or walk around the Kaaba, yet they tell us that Islam teaches equality. A very strange idea of 'equality.'

Women learn and preach hate

A few years ago a British TV Station did a series on what was being taught in one of the largest and most important mosques in London. They were shocked. The vile things said about non-muslims and the British people were appalling. Of course, the Imams denied everything and said it was just a few renegade preachers. The bookshop at the mosque was full of obscene material - obscene in the sense that it had not just the usual 'hate and kill infidels' videos but even DVD showing the torture and decapitation of non-Muslims. The leaders of the mosque said they had no control or even knowledge of the videos. A year later a lady reporter puts on a veil and visits the womens' meeting same mosque. Here is her report:

Britain's leading Muslim bodies say they are fighting extremism. In one of our most respected mosques, 'Sara Hassan' came face to face with hardline female preachers of separatism. Here, she reports on the shocking results of her investigation
Sarah Hassan went undercover at the Regent's Park Mosque where she joined the women's circle... In a large balcony above the beautiful main hall at Regent's Park Mosque in London - widely considered the most important mosque in Britain - I am filming undercover as the woman preacher gives her talk. What should be done to a Muslim who converts to another faith? "We kill him," she says, "kill him, kill, kill…You have to kill him, you understand?"
These are teachings I never expected to hear inside Regent's Park Mosque, which is supposedly committed to interfaith dialogue and moderation, and was set up more than 60 years ago, to represent British Muslims to the Government. And many of those listening were teenage British girls or, even more disturbingly, young children. My investigation for Channel 4's Dispatches came after last year's Undercover Mosque, which investigated claims that teachings of intolerance and fundamentalism were spreading through Britain's mosques from the Saudi Arabian religious establishment - which is closely linked to the Saudi Arabian government. However, she stood by some of her other claims, stating that the rulings that women could not travel alone, and could not work if it conflicted with religious requirements, were "totally justified by Islamic texts".
"You may regard these juristic and textual rulings as 'extreme restrictions'," she said. "But we see them as our way of life and a liberation of the soul."
The Mosque's official bookshop was another focus for the Dispatches film last year when our reporters discovered intolerant and fundamentalist DVDs. Dr Al Dubayan said they would be removed pending an investigation, but I found the same fundamentalist preachers' works still openly displayed and sold there. DVDs preaching that disbelievers are "evil, wicked, mischievous people ... they do the most evil, filthy things"; that men are in charge of women and should control them.

It is always the same. When a non-Muslim points out these outrages, Muslims deny knowledge of the problem and say it is only a few radicals. Then it happens again. The hate never really stops. This time it is women teaching women to hate and to be subordinate to men. Here are two articles about women who did not obey. They were burned and buried alive. This is what the women preachers in Britain are advocating: women must obey men, or else.

Here is a follow-up editorial (

In January 2007, Channel 4 broadcast Undercover Mosque, an investigation into what was being preached in mainstream mosques in Britain. The results were shocking: imams were shown praising the murder of British soldiers, attacking democracy, and condemning attempts to integrate Muslims into British society.
The reaction to that programme proved the widespread reluctance to accept the reality of what takes place under the blanket of religion: Undercover Mosque was condemned for "damaging community relations" by West Midlands Police, who wanted to prosecute the programme makers and Channel 4 under racial hatred laws.
On being told they could not do so, they referred the matter to the Broadcasting Standards Commission. The programme was eventually wholly vindicated. West Midlands Police had to pay Channel 4 more than £100,000 for defaming it.
As we report today, the follow-up to Undercover Mosque is to be broadcast tomorrow. It shows that - despite all the promises that the books condoning terrorism would be removed, as would the preachers advocating the rigid enforcement of the narrowest interpretration of sharia law and the overthrow of our liberal democracy - violent, intolerant prejudice continues to be preached, this time by women, in centres of "moderate Islam", such as the Regent's Park Mosque.

As I said, it never changes.

It is not Islam's fault. Non-Muslims don't understand

Here is an article from an Online Forum by a well-known Muslim, explaining the latest vile statements by an Imam about women. Again. It is called Misguided and misogynistic religiosity, written by Irfan Yusuf (27 October 2006).

They say a day is a long time in politics. And it seems 18 months is a long time in religion. It was hardly 18 months ago that a young Sydney sheik made remarks linking dress to sexual violence against women.
The sheik alleged that women who dressed a certain way were “eligible for rape”. He then made matters worse by alleging his remarks were only meant for Muslim women who refuse to wear the hijab.

Here is a link to the article:

. As usual, as always, this is not the real Islam and we (Non-Muslims) don't understand. Here are my comments

on this subject:

   Sandmonkey has more information of the sexual harassment problem:
   Time after time after time these things and worse happen and Muslims give us the same excuses. There is a deep pattern here and yet Muslims refuse to ask themselves the hard questions.
   They will say it is just a few men, it is cultural, others do it, it is unislamic, the prophet said this or that and bla bla bla.
   There are so many evils that seem to be associated with Muslims – to name a few: honor killings, FGM - female genital mutilation, forced marriages, polygamy, slavery, wife beating, stonings, domestic abuse, beheadings, beatings, oppression of women in so many ways: dress, education, legal status, work opportunities, etc… Don’t let anybody say these are "isolated" cultural practices, because they are not. Let's not forget to mention Coptic women abducted or hindu women taken for wives against their will
   Yet Muslim make excuses and it is never Islam's fault.
   I am sure that Irf and FH would never do these things or hurt people, but they will not take a stand and face the sorry truth about Islam, and so they, too, contribute to the hate and violence that is inherent to Islam. You cannot trust them to defend your rights or protect your lives (or women in general). They think Mohammed was a great guy, so if he did the things that Islamic traditions say he did, then that says it all. Might as well consider Jack the Ripper as an example of respecting women.
   Sandmonkey is wrong, he says this national shame will be "exposed and confronted". No it won't - we will get silence or excuses. Who knows, maybe the jews made them do it.
   There is no hope. Because Muslims refuse to look at the evil soul of Islam and acknowledge the despicable things in the Quran and hadiths, things will get worse and worse. Blood will flow and innocents will be hurt. Kactuz

Notice the Muslim writer says alleged. It was recorded. There is no 'alleged' about it. Once again, we have the never-ending denial from Muslims about their religion.

One last story, from those beloved, authentic accounts of the life of Islam's prophet. This is from Muslim's hadith found here

We made a halt during the last part of the night to rest and then we attacked from all sides and reached their watering-place where a battle was fought. Some of the enemies were killed and some were taken prisoners. I saw a group of persons that consisted of women and children. I was afraid lest they should reach the mountain before me, so I shot an arrow between them and the mountain. When they saw the arrow, they stopped. So I brought them, driving them along. Among them was a woman from Banu Fazara. She was wearing a leather coat. With her was her daughter who was one of the prettiest girls in Arabia. I drove them along until I brought them to Abu Bakr who bestowed that girl upon me as a prize. So we arrived in Medina. I had not yet disrobed her when the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) met me in the street and said: Give me that girl, O Salama. I said: Messenger of Allah, she has fascinated me. I had not yet disrobed her. When on the next day. the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) again met me in the street, he said: O Salama, give me that girl, may God bless your father. I said: She is for you. Messenger of Allah! By Allah. I have not yet disrobed her. The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) sent her to the people of Mecca, and surrendered her as ransom for a number of Muslims who had been kept as prisoners at Mecca.

Let me see... A night attack, from all sides, some killed, some taken prisoner, saw women and children, was afraid they would get away, shot arrow to stop them, drove them along, saw a woman and her beautiful daughter, herded them along some more, warrior gets girl as prize, he did not strip her naked - yet, Mohammad meets warrior and asks for girl, next day he asks again, Mohammad gets girl and trades her for some of his men held captive in Mecca.
Once again, we see that women are but objects, or animals to be herded along and used - either for sex or as currency to pay ransom. Mohammad took an innocent girl from her mother and traded her for his men. This is selling human flesh! And Muslims say "Praise be unto him" after this man name and consider him to be a "Mercy for all mankind". Does anybody think he was a mercy to the woman from Banu Fazara and her daughter? One last thought: I don't know, the story doesn't say, but I hope the Meccans did the right thing. I hope they set the girl free.

Other pages on this website...

Link to a page about marriage to Muslims. Many years ago I saved this notice. It is a webpage from the US State department about the problems of Americans that marry Saudi nationals and the issues they often face. It was removed because of Saudi pressure, because there is a certain negative tone to the information provided (imagine that!). I am posting it here as a public service. Later: I have also added a few pages about Non-Muslim women and kidnapped children and about Western women caught in polygamy nightmares.

Stupid things my Imam told me. This is a page about the stupid -- or vile -- things that some Muslims say. Many of these things are about women and their role in Islam. Many things that are said about women are not very nice. I want to make it clear that Muslims do not have a monopoly on stupidity or violence - much to the contrary. However, the things they say and do almost make other religions look rational and benevolent. When it comes to shear utter unadulterated stupidity and brutality - Islam is in a class by itself.

Cartoons and other images

When I find a good image that is relevant to a topic I am interested in, I save it. After all, a good picture is worth a 1000 words. Here are a few funny, sad and sarcastic pictures. I am putting them here because I really don't know what to do with them - but one day I may be able to use them.
Satire / jokes

Babes

Violence against women

Other... (non-Islam)

More Comments on Hirsi Ali

Silence her, kill her.

   A community debate over religious freedom surfaced in Western Pennsylvania last week when Dutch feminist author Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali refugee who has lived under the threat of death for denouncing her Muslim upbringing, made an appearance at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.
   Islamic leaders tried to block the lecture, which was sponsored through an endowment from the Frank J. and Sylvia T. Pasquerilla Lecture Series. They argued that Hirsi Ali's attacks against the Muslim faith in her book, "Infidel," and movie, "Submission," are "poisonous and unjustified" and create dissension in their community.
   Although university officials listened to Islamic leaders' concerns, the lecture planned last year took place Tuesday evening under tight security, with no incidents.
   Imam Fouad ElBayly, president of the Johnstown Islamic Center, was among those who objected to Hirsi Ali's appearance. "She has been identified as one who has defamed the faith. If you come into the faith, you must abide by the laws, and when you decide to defame it deliberately, the sentence is death," said ElBayly, who came to the U.S. from Egypt in 1976.

This section continues my comments on the bravest woman in the world. Here are a few of my responses to Muslim criticism of this woman. You may return to the topic above by clicking here:

This is from a discussion on the article Hirsi Ali a football in 'domestic culture wars'? by Julie Szego

Here is the link to my comments:

   About immigration fraud... Ali Hirsi is just being honest.
   Perhaps Muslims here should consider a 12May1998 BBC report 'Marriages made for money' about sham weddings used by immigrants to enter England. There is also a 7February1999 Guardian article called "Silence of the imams, while another child dies" how young Muslim girls are sent back to Pakistan and basically auctioned to husbands who marry them to get to England.
   The infamous Jyllandsposten has a 19April2005 article tracking 321 asylum seekers (for 'persecution’) in Denmark since 1990. 312 of them had returned to vacation or get married, 238 of them were on welfare, 135 were convicted of crimes, of their 110 children 62 been convicted of crimes. Family reunification statistics were not recorded but…
   A Dutch group, Advisory Committee on Aliens Affairs (ACVZ), has a study 'Left behind against their will' about abandoned women are taken from Europe and left in Morroco, Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan and Iran , as their husbands often find and bring in replacements.
   Norwegian blogger 'Oslo Girl' wrote about the abuse of asylum rules and the 'disturbingly lenient family reunion laws' among certain (?) communities. In Sweden, asylum and chain-immigration have moved this country to the edge of civil unrest. Do a search for 'Malvo, rape, immigration' on Internet if you don't believe me.
   The abuse of the asylum laws by immigrants in Europe, both legal and illegal - is well known. Immigrants even admit they lied to gain asylum. The best studies were done in Denmark, leading to the toughest immigration/integration policies in Europe. Most countries ignore the problem.
   Ali Hirsi was honest, yet people here call her a fraud because she told the truth, which is more than I can say about people that love and respect Islam’s prophet. I wonder if I will ever see the day a Muslim is honest about the hate and violence in the Quran, and the vile things done by Mohammad as recorded in Islam’s own writings. Oh yes, about Rushdie… Why don’t Muslims denounce Tabari, the great Muslim writer? He, not Rushdie, reported the matter of the Satanic Verses.

And there was a third article....Ali is pop star of intolerance

that argues that the problem is not Islam, but this terrible woman. The writer says: The media should stop lauding Ayaan Hirsi Ali. She is not an agent of peace and understanding. She is simply strutting her stuff on the stage like a pop star. And at the same time, she makes life more difficult for Muslims wherever she goes. He says that fear of Islam and Muslims is irrational and that it "is nonsense. Migrants from Muslim countries are, in the main, like migrants from any other society."
Here are my comments:

   "Migrants from Muslim countries are like migrants from any other society." Except that migrants from nonMuslim countries don't say "Praise be unto him" after the name of a man that murdered, enslaved, lied, tortured, etc. This may, just maybe, explain the problem of Muslim immigration.
   Ms Hirsi is only being honest - yet her words do not begin to scratch the surface of the violence in Islam.
   I took time off and read all the hadiths and histories of Islam, including Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tabari (30 volumes), Hisham, Kathir, etc. I wonder if Muslims actually read these things. It is a story of diplomacy and genius, and also lust, lies, murder, torture, plunder, slavery, and rape.
   Here is a quote from Tabari, Volume XXXI, Biographies of the prophet's Companions, 2453, p.185 - about Muhammad's captive wife:
   While the Prophet was lying with Safiyyah Abu Ayyub stayed the night at his door. When he saw the Prophet in the morning he said "God is the Greatest." He had a sword with him; he said to the Prophet "O Messenger of God, this young woman had just been married, and you killed her father, her brother and her husband, so I did not trust her [not to harm] you." The Prophet laughed and said "Good."
   He laughed? These murders occurred the night before the "honeymoon." Safiyah's husband was hacked to death in front of her!
   I also just finished a study on the attack on Banu Mustaliq, the enslavement of the people and rape of the women. Vile!
   But what do you expect when there is this: Quran 5:33 - The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His apostle and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement.
   Radical Muslims kill, moderates make excuses. It will get worse.
(Continuing...)
   "The media should stop lauding Ayaan Hirsi Ali: she makes life more difficult for Muslims wherever she goes."
   Yes. Good! Muslims need to take a hard, serious look at Islam. We must make life INTELLECTUALLY difficult for Muslims, for their own good. The problem is that Muslims don't want to think or talk about this. They pretend that the hate and violence in the Quran have nothing to do with the islamic terror we see today. They want to believe that their dear prophet was a great moral man, a "mercy for all mankind".
   You cannot fight evil by being nice to people that do evil or support an ideology of terror. This is true of white racism in South Africa and Nazi Germany. This is also true of Islam. We must be honest and demand honesty from others.
   The problem now is Political Correctness and multiculturalism that says we cannot be honest about this religion, its writings, its dear leader or what its faithful do where they dominate. We cannot hurt their feelings. Look at the freedoms (or better, the lack thereof) in Islamic societies. Look at the violence. Look at the rights of women and minorities... Where,