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Just to be clear with everyone, there's no such thing as Sharia law today, most countries don't follow it. Saudi Arabia only follows 65-70% of the Sharia law, so countries like Syria, egypt, morroco, kuwait, etc don't even follow it
Wafa Sultan certainly is a polarising figure in the ongoing discussion surrounding radical Islam. I certainly agree with the disdain she exhibits for radical Islam, but her disdain for the billions of moderate Muslims gets a bit tedious. And as mrhman92 pointed out, she herself has never lived under Sharia Law.
This link is an opinion piece, but I think a good one. Read it if you want:
altmuslim - Wafa Sultan: A lost opportunity (http://www.altmuslim.com/a/a/a/dr_wafa_sultan_a_lost_opportunity/ - broken link)
Sharia may not be the 'law' in places like Iraq or Egypt but it certainly is followed, isn't it? Or at least the parts the subjegate women.
After all, women are murdered for 'dishonoring' their families, women are forced into marriages (including sex) when they are still children to settle their fathers debts, women may get a divorce but will have no rights to the children afterwards, womens husbands have a right to beat them.
Yeah -- what has this muslim woman to complain about?
Lets put it this way......I was raised Catholic. I have never been sexually abused/raped by a catholic priest nor has anyone in my family. According to the previous posters I am not supposed to be appalled by this because it hasn't happened to me? I shouldn't demand answers and justice from the catholic heirarchy because pedophilia isn't the law of the land?!
Abuses are happening in the name of allah -- and that should sicken all muslims. That it doesn't makes me very glad that I am not viewed as chattel by my family and my society.
Sharia may not be the 'law' in places like Iraq or Egypt but it certainly is followed, isn't it? Or at least the parts the subjegate women.
After all, women are murdered for 'dishonoring' their families, women are forced into marriages (including sex) when they are still children to settle their fathers debts, women may get a divorce but will have no rights to the children afterwards, womens husbands have a right to beat them.
Yeah -- what has this muslim woman to complain about?
Lets put it this way......I was raised Catholic. I have never been sexually abused/raped by a catholic priest nor has anyone in my family. According to the previous posters I am not supposed to be appalled by this because it hasn't happened to me? I shouldn't demand answers and justice from the catholic heirarchy because pedophilia isn't the law of the land?!
Abuses are happening in the name of allah -- and that should sicken all muslims. That it doesn't makes me very glad that I am not viewed as chattel by my family and my society.
Who said to ignore her? And what you are describing is radical Islam, that is exactly what activists are fighting against, and rightly so. Moderate Muslims make up the majority of Musims, and don't support the things you describe above. There are many notable Muslim feminists, when I have more time I will add their names, and causes. They are well worth supporting.
I may absolutely hate the role of women in Islam personally, but I always expect people to respect my personal spiritual views, so do we not extend the courtesy to Muslims too? The role of women in Islam must be addressed from within, IMO.
Nayereh Tohidi, Shaheen Sardar Ali, Fereshteh Ahmadi, Leila Ahmed, Irshad Manji, and Riffat Hassan are some noteworthy Muslim feminists.
I may absolutely hate the role of women in Islam personally, but I always expect people to respect my personal spiritual views, so do we not extend the courtesy to Muslims too? The role of women in Islam must be addressed from within, IMO.
Nayereh Tohidi, Shaheen Sardar Ali, Fereshteh Ahmadi, Leila Ahmed, Irshad Manji, and Riffat Hassan are some noteworthy Muslim feminists.
You do realize that Muslim countries have produced seven female heads of state right?
Benazir Bhutto - Pakistan
Mame Madior Boye - Senegal
Tansu Ciller - Turkey
Kaqusha Jashari - Kosovo
Megawati Sukarnoptri - Indonesia
Khaleda Zia - Bangladesh
Sheikh Hasina - Bangladesh
US=0
Turkey seems to be able to straddle Islam with modernity and moderation -- still, they have a faction that would like to see Turkey become a theocracy. Indonesia, Pakistan, and Bangladesh both have had problems with radical islamic terrorists in their countries ranging from bombings to assasinations (Bhutto). All due to radical Islam.
What should we do about it? Ignore it? I recall the protestors in Iran who bravely stood up to Achmidinejad beg for the wests ackowledgement....they got silence. I read the autobiography 'Reading Lolita in Iran'. In one part the author talks about Canadian feminists ambivilance in regards to the plight of Muslim women -- they called it 'multi-culturalism' and not subjagation.
To continue with my analogy of the catholic pedophile problem -- most priests are good and most catholics want nothing to do with pedophiles. Does this mean the problem shouldn't be addressed? Does this mean that it should be ignored and downplayed as something that happens rarely and to other people? No, it shouldn't. Abuse is abuse is abuse. Culture shouldn't hide it, religion shouldn't sanction it.
Oh, and there used to be an excellent site, I believe called 'muslim women against honor killings'. I am well aware that there are muslim feminists -- but I am concerned that American, Canadian, and European feminists have abandoned them in an effort to be thought of as 'inclusive' and not 'empirial'.
Turkey seems to be able to straddle Islam with modernity and moderation -- still, they have a faction that would like to see Turkey become a theocracy. Indonesia, Pakistan, and Bangladesh both have had problems with radical islamic terrorists in their countries ranging from bombings to assasinations (Bhutto). All due to radical Islam.
What should we do about it? Ignore it? I recall the protestors in Iran who bravely stood up to Achmidinejad beg for the wests ackowledgement....they got silence. I read the autobiography 'Reading Lolita in Iran'. In one part the author talks about Canadian feminists ambivilance in regards to the plight of Muslim women -- they called it 'multi-culturalism' and not subjagation.
To continue with my analogy of the catholic pedophile problem -- most priests are good and most catholics want nothing to do with pedophiles. Does this mean the problem shouldn't be addressed? Does this mean that it should be ignored and downplayed as something that happens rarely and to other people? No, it shouldn't. Abuse is abuse is abuse. Culture shouldn't hide it, religion shouldn't sanction it.
Oh, and there used to be an excellent site, I believe called 'muslim women against honor killings'. I am well aware that there are muslim feminists -- but I am concerned that American, Canadian, and European feminists have abandoned them in an effort to be thought of as 'inclusive' and not 'empirial'.
All good points. The issue I have with people such as Wafa Sultan is they demonize all of Islam. I think western feminists are greatly influenced by people and positions such as these. Is it wrong to support feminists who are proud of their Muslim faith, and are trying to educate and organize within the structure of their religion? I think they deserve our support. Is that seen as being somehow complicit in the subjugation of women in Islam? Probably, who knows.
They don't take criticism very well which is a big problem
I guess you folks are not too pleased about Dr. Wafa's remarks, so I guess I'm in a minority here. I thought she was pretty courageous. How often do you see an Arab woman voice a critique of Islam right in the Islamic heartland, on mainstream Arabic-language TV? Not very often would be my guess.
Hesham Hassaballa says: "she [is] simply the latest of a legion of critics who reflect upon the religion of Islam the sins of some of its followers. It is a tired, old tactic." But isn't Hassaballa's rebuttal a "tired, old tactic," too?
He says: "Does the good doctor not realize that simply because some Muslims horribly twist the faith of Islam for evil ends, it does not follow that the whole faith of Islam is evil? Does the good doctor not realize that simply because some criminals murder in the name of Islam, it does not follow that Islam itself is criminal? Does the good doctor not realize that simply because barbarians have usurped Islam for their bloody barbarism, it does not follow that Islam itself is barbaric?"
Now, how many times have we heard this exact rationalization before? Millions of times. The more pertinent question, in my view, is that why is Islam, alone among all religions, so susceptible to being hijacked by bad people? You never hear people saying: "Oh, so-and-so committed these crimes in the name of Hinduism/Buddhism/Christianity/Judaism, but that doesn't mean that Hinduism/Buddhism/Christianity/Judaism is a bad religion." Why is it that Muslims alone seem to repeat this litany over and over again? Doesn't that seem to suggest that at least part of the fault must lie with Islam itself?
[RIGHT]
- Posted by firozi-fali on March 14, 2006 at 03:02 PM[/RIGHT]
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They don't take criticism very well which is a big problem
