Dan’s Course on Islam

Conclusion

The nightmare must end for women in Islamic countries.

But the political and legal hierarchies in the Islamic world do not seem ready to reform on women’s rights. Here is a 1998 interview with Shirin Ebadi, one of the first female judges in Iran. She correctly sees abuses in Iranian law, which favors men. However, what has been done about these abuses?

Zohreh Arshadi "was a practising lawyer in Iran prior to her forced exile to Europe. She is currently an advocate in France and is active in human rights and especially of the rights of women. She has been especially active in defence of the rights of women in Iran." She reports on the inequities in Iranian law as it pertains to women:

The Islamic punishments have encouraged a culture of violence against women, especially within the family and has spilled into violence against children. This has been commented upon by many within the country . . . The fact that men receive a lighter punishment if they commit a violence against women undoubtedly encourages such violence. We saw how women could be killed with impunity during alleged adultery. Stoning to death for adultery, although technically admissible for both sexes, has also been carried out mainly against women.

Though these two examples come from Iran, they could multiply throughout the Islamic world. However, the legal hierarchies understand the cost of reform: abandoning many verses in the Quran and many passages in the hadith, and this they cannot do.

A sign of hope? The Iraqi Constitution, so far, says that 25% of the seats in the Parliament are specified for women. So maybe reform can be encouraged in a fledgling democracy.

But if Islamic nations, especially those who follow sharia (Islamic law) closely, refuse to reform, then the second best strategy must be played out. Islam must never be allowed to impose its sharia system of "justice" anywhere in the West and around the world. No sharia courts should be permitted outside of the Islamic world. The Quran—the ultimate source of sharia—oppresses women specifically and people generally.

The Islamic holy book is too patriarchal and culture-bound to be relevant to the new millennium.

This present article has two companion top ten lists: here and here. All three lists demonstrate Islamic harshness and violence—especially six hundred years after Jesus came and showed us a better way.

Jesus saves. Muhammad oppressed.


Supplemental Material

The readers may go to these three sites for other translations of the Quran: this one has multiple translations; this one has three; and this conservative translation is subsidized by the Saudi royal family.

Here is the website for the online hadith.

A good online resource for the historical context of a sura is here, where Maududi provides excellent background material.

Part One of an article, leading to two other parts, is one of the best and most thorough discussions of women in Islam. It analyzes many Quranic verses, hadith passages, and modern Islamic views, more than this top ten list can cite and analyze. For fair-minded readers, the three-part article is a convincing assessment, leading to one conclusion: Islam dishonors and even abuses women in many areas of life, according to the original source documents of Islam. If Muslim polemicists and missionaries have time on their hands, they should attempt to refute these articles instead of this top ten list, which is only a summary of many other articles and links, like this three-parter.

This webpage has a number of links to women’s issues, as well.

This is a superb overview of the Quran and hadith on women’s inferior status in Islam.

This online booklet explores the differing ideas in Islam and Christianity on the place of women.

This short article reviews Jesus’ attitude towards women.

This short booklet has an excellent overview on Islam and women’s role.

This news report states that women in Pakistan have lost the fight to reform rape laws. The report says:

Statutes known as the Hudood ordinances, based on sharia law, currently operate in Pakistan. They require a female rape victim to produce four male witnesses to corroborate her account, or she risks facing a new charge of adultery.

Most women refuse to report a rape for fear they will be treated as a criminal.

Under current laws, a victim risks courting punishment if she reports a rape allegation as the Hudood ordinances criminalise all extra-marital sex.

A woman who fails to prove that she was raped could then be charged with adultery under the same legislation.

According to a 2002 report by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, a woman is raped every two hours and gang raped every eight hours.

However, because of social taboos, discriminatory laws and victimisation of victims by police, campaigners say that the scale of rape is almost certainly higher.

Why must the (raped) woman bring four witnesses? The Quran in Sura 24:4 says:

And those who accuse chaste women, and produce not four witnesses, flog them with eighty stripes, and reject their testimony forever, they indeed are the Fasiqun (liars, rebellious, disobedient to Allah).

Evidently, if a woman cannot produce four witnesses, then she must be whipped or flogged.

MEMRI TV reports that Saudi TV aired a talk show that discussed this issue. Scrolling three-fourths of the way down the link, the readers can see an Islamic scholar holding up sample rods that husbands may use to hit their wives.

Memri TV has a transcript of an Iraqi cleric who says that certain nations allow husbands to beat their wives and do not protest it. On the other hand, Islamic societies provide guidelines, such as not hitting on the face and not severely.

Memri TV also has a video clip and transcript of Sheik Yusouf al-Qaradhawi who made commotion in London for opposing homosexuals and advocating wife beating. He says that wife beating is not done by the "best" among the Muslims. Reply: But why is it enshrined in the eternal word of Allah? Muslims constantly bring up the beating done with a toothpick. A toothpick in Muhammad's day was something like a thin branch or long twig. Granted, it could not kill, but it could inflict pain. No one should beat his wife, even threaten to beat her. Why cannot Muslims see this? The Quran says it is legitimate. Of course, he blames the "Zionist lobby" for any persecution he believes that he suffered. This is also irrational.

MEMRI TV has a video clip and a transcript of an Egyptian cleric who says that a man may kill his wife if he catches her in the act of adultery (in flagrante delicto), but his murder of her must take place within a short time of catching her. His punishment is reduced to a mere misdemeanor, which carries a light sentence. The wife, on the other hand, if she kills her husband immediately after the act, does not get a reduced sentence. Why not? The other woman in bed with the first woman's husband may be one of his wives.

MEMRI TV has a transcript of a Bahraini cleric outlining the rules for wife-beating. Apparently, it never occurs to these clerics that this practice is wrong for all times and all places. Bluntly said, Muhammad was misguided in Sura 4:34.

MEMRI TV also provides a transcript of a woman reformer in Saudi Arabia who says women should have more rights. Her battle is noble, but she is fighting uphill.

MEMRI TV has a video clip and a transcript showing a Saudi cleric, a member of the Shura Council, arguing for the rights of women to drive cars. The tone of the exchange reveals that the moderate cleric (moderate on this issue at least) is fighting an impossible battle.

However, MEMRI TV has a video clip and a transcript of another Saudi cleric arguing against giving women the right to drive cars.

This present article criticises Amina Wadud's shaky exegesis of Sura 4:34, but this report shows her leading Muslim prayers for men and women in a church. (Muslims were only able to prevent it from happening in a mosque, but object against her leading prayers anywhere in front of a mixed congregation). The report cites other women who have done this, as well. It also reports on Muslim reactions to this new development. Further discussion and links regarding Amina Wadud's move are found in the Index to Islam on this site.

The man designated by Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as his Minister of Justice vowed that "improperly-veiled women" will be treated as if they had no Islamic veil at all.

Jamal Karimi-Rad told the local press, "Being improperly veiled and not wearing a veil are no different. When it is clear from the appearance of a woman that she has violated the law, then the crime is obvious and law enforcement agents can take legal measures against her".

"Crimes such as mal-veiling or other prohibited acts, which happen before the eyes of a law enforcement agent, are evident crimes and must be dealt with in accordance with the law", Karimi-Rad said.

Sharia oppresses women because it offers them no freedom of choice. If a Muslim woman volunteers to wear a veil or head covering, then that is her prerogative. However, she should be free not to wear one, without being punished as a criminal.

Following are excerpts from a TV debate on women appearing on Saudi TV, which aired on LBC TV on March 25, 2007.

Interviewer: Does the appearance of Saudi women on TV run counter to Islamic law?

Saudi cleric Nasser Al-Huneini: What we want is for women [to reveal] their culture and intellect. We want women to play a role in the development of society. But a woman who insists upon appearing on TV insists upon showing her body. Why do we act unjustly towards women by saying that we can only benefit from them by presenting them to people this way?

[...]

Interviewer: How did you feel when you read about the debate in the Saudi Shura Council about the appearance of Saudi women in the media?

Saudi newscaster Buthayna Nasser: I felt a sense of injustice and indignation, of course.

Nasser Al-Huneini: On the issue of the hijab, all religious scholars are in agreement that if revealing a woman's face might lead to temptation and other things, it is forbidden. In addition, even when they permitted the revealing of the woman's face, they placed restrictions on this. Even Sheik Al-Albani did so. They stated that only the face and the palms may be exposed. The woman is not allowed to expose her neck or her hair. She is not allowed to appear with make-up or jewelry. The religious scholars have all agreed upon this.

Buthayna Nasser: Sir, when I appear on TV, and when I claim my right to play a role in this professional field, I demand that my face, which constitutes my identity, be seen. Under no circumstances am I prepared to allow my identity to be obliterated.

Who are these people who wish to decide for me how I should behave? Why do you treat me as less qualified just because I am a woman? Why is there always a male voice deciding how I should behave? The Lord created me equal to you in my duties, punishment, and reward. When you fast, I fast. When you pray, I pray. When you steal, your hand is cut off, and when I steal, my hand is cut off. This is the greatest evidence that I am not less qualified. I know what I am doing, and I know how to maintain my honor. (Source)

In March 2004, Homa Arjomand, coordinator of the campaign to stop a sharia court in Canada, delivered this speech outlining the abuses that inhere in Islamic law, pertaining to women. Needless to say, sharia favors men’s rights excessively, at the expense of women’s rights. Arjomand tells the story of a sixteen-year-old who was forced to marry a twenty-nine-year-old and suffered physical abuse at his hands. How could this abuse be otherwise, when Allah commanded it in the first place?

Warning! This report has a photo of a Muslim woman in Denmark getting murdered by her brother in an "honor" killing.

Copyright by James Malcolm Arlandson. Originally published at americanthinker.com, this article was slightly edited for Answering Islam.
http://answering-islam.org/Authors/Arlandson/women_top_ten.htm

40.*

God’s Eternal Plan of Salvation

1.

God is holy, and commands us to be holy!
Leviticus 11:44-45.....44. For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and be shall be holy; for I am holy. 45. be holy, for I am Holy.
Hebrews 12:14.....Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.
1 Peter 1:15-16.....15. But, as he who hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of life, 16. Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
2.

God’s Holy Books define sin and condemn it!
Psalm 130:3.....If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O LORD, who shall stand?
John 8:34.....Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
Romans 14:23.....whatever is not of faith is sin.
James 2:10.....For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
James 4:17.....Therefore, to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
1 John 3:4.....Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law.
1 John 5:17.....All unrighteousness is sin.
3.

All people stand guilty before a Holy God for being sinners!
Jeremiah 13:23.....Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
Proverbs 20:9.....Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?
Ecclesiastes 7:20.....For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good and sinneth not.
Romans 3:10 & 23.....10. As it is written, There is none righteous, no not one... 23. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
4.

Sinners are not allowed into Heaven but are condemned to be separated from God for eternity in Hell!
Ezekiel 18:4.....The soul that sinneth, it shall die.
Jeremiah 31:30....every one shall die for his own iniquity.
Romans 6:23.....For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
James 1:14.....sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Luke 12:5.....But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear; Fear him who, after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
5.

God is loving and merciful and does not desire that any sinner should be lost in Hell forever.
2 Peter 3:9.....The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Romans 5:8.....But God commendeth his love toward us in that, while were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
1 John 4:8-10.....8. God is love. 9. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.
6.

God’s provision of salvation from the penalty of sin always dependent upon the ransom of a blood sacrifice.

Leviticus 17:11.....For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that maketh atonement for the soul.
Matthew 20:28......Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
1 Corinthians 5:7.....For even Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us.
Hebrews 7:27.....Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins and then for the people’s; for this he did once, when he offered up himself.
Hebrews 9:12 & 22*.....12. By his own blood he... obtained eternal redemption for us… 22. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood, and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Hebrews 10:12.....But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God.
7.

God has provided only one way for sinners to be saved from going into the lake of fire!
John 14:6.....Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the father, but by me.
Acts 4:10 & 12.....10. by the name of Jesus Christ… 12. Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
1 Timothy 2:5.....For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus.
8.

God gives people the freedom of choice as to whether or not they will obey the Gospel.
Deuteronomy 11:26-27.....26. Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse. 27. A blessing if ye obey the commandments...
Deuteronomy 30:19.....I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore, choose life.
Joshua 24:15.....Choose you this day whom ye will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
John 1:12.....But as many as received him, to them he gave power to become the children of God, even to them that believe on his name; who were born not of blood, nor of the will of man, but of God.
9.

Salvation does not come by our own good works, but it is freely given as a gift from God!
Romans 3:28.....Wherefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.
Romans 4:2.....For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath something of which to glory, but not before God.
Ephesians 2:8-9.....8. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God – 9. Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Titus 3:4-6.....4. But after the kindness and love of God, our Savior toward man appeared, 5. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6. Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior.
10.

In order for a person to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, they must first be “born again” by receiving God’s Holy Spirit!
John 3:3 & 5.....3. Jesus answered, and said unto him, Verily verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 5. Verily verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
2 Corinthians 5:17.....Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation; old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.
1 Peter 1:23.....Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.


11.

Jesus died as the sacrificial Lamb of God as an atonement for the sin of the world!
Isaiah 53:5-6.....5. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. 6. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way, and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
John 1:29 & 34.....1. John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world... 34. and I saw, and bore witness that this is the Son of God.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4.....1. the gospel… 2. by which ye are saved… 3. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4. And that he was buried, and that he arose again the third day according to the scriptures.
12.

Belief in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord is the only way for a person’s sins to be forgiven and to obtain eternal life.
Ephesians 1:7.....we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.
1 John 5:11-13.....11. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 13. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
13.

Those who accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior are promised that they will inherit eternal life!
John 3:36.....He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.
John 5:24.....He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life.
John 6:29 & 47.....29. Jesus answered, and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent... 47. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
John 11:25.....Jesus... I am the resurrection, and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.
John 17:3.....And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent.
14.

Those who reject Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross as an atonement for their sin, they will have to pay the penalty for their own sin by burning in Hell for eternity.
John 3:18.....He that believeth on him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God...
John 8:24.....I said, therefore, unto you, that ye shall die in your sins; for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
John 12:48.....He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
John 16:8-9.....And when he is come he will reprove the world of sin... of sin, because they believe not in me.
15.

God gives clear and serious warnings about the consequence of rejecting the free gift of Salvation which He has provided.
2 Thessalonians 1:7-10.....7. The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 8. In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; 9. Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord…
Hebrews 2:1-3.....1. Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. 2. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward, 3. How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation…?
16.

Those who accept Jesus as Lord and Savior should be baptized in water as a testimony of their faith in Christ.
Matthew 28:19-20.....19. Jesus… All authority is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 20. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you;
Acts 2:38.....The Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
“Blessing” or “Cursing”:

The Choice is Yours
Deuteronomy 28:1-6, 13-19 & 30:19
1. And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:

2. And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.

6. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out…

13. And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:

14. And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

15. But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:

16. Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.

17. Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store.

18. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy cows, and the flocks of thy sheep.

19. Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
Deuteronomy 30:19.....I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.