Women, the Lowest Caste

Islamanics ^

[robowombat]

Women, the Lowest Caste

Islam considers women to be inferior creatures. Muhammad himself once said that he would "never touch the hand of women" because women were viewed as unclean temptresses. In addition to the humiliating dress code, women are thought to be half-human and in need of guidance:

4.34.: "Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah hath guarded. As for those [women] from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart; and scourge [beat] them. Then, if they obey you, seek not a way against them. Lo! Allah is ever High Exalted, Great."

The sayings of caliphs, leaders of Islam, were like proclamations of Catholic popes, and their words became the foundation for later Islamic traditions and law. Their misogyny has profoundly influenced Islamic culture. For instance, the second caliph Omar said, "Prevent the women from learning to write! Say no to their capricious ways." He also remarked, "Adopt positions opposite those of women. There is great merit in such opposition."

Ali, Mohammed's cousin and the fourth caliph, said that "The entire woman is evil and what is worse is that it is a necessary evil! ... You should never ask a woman her advice because her advice is worthless. Hide them so that they cannot see other men! ... Do not spend too much time in their company for they will lead you to your downfall! ... Men, never ever obey your women. Never let them advise you on any matter concerning your daily life ... They have three qualities worthy of an unbeliever: they complain of being oppressed when in fact it is they who oppress; they take solemn oaths and at the same time lie; they make a show of refusing the advances of men when in fact they long for them ardently. Let us implore God's help to escape their sorcery."

The Muslim scholar al-Ghazali, living in the eleventh century, wrote that the Muslim woman should

stay at home and get on with her spinning, she should not go out often, she must not be well-informed, nor must she be communicative with her neighbours and only visit them when absolutely necessary ... her sole worry should be her virtue, her home as well as her prayers and her fast ... she should be clean and ready to satisfy her husband's sexual needs at any moment.

al-Ghazali goes on to say that Allah has punished women in eighteen separate ways, including:

menstruation pregnancy childbirth lesser share in inheritances liability for divorce but inability to initiate divorce seclusion exclusion from many religious rituals and ceremonies disqualification for positions as rulers and judges In addition, the testimony of one woman in an Islamic court is only worth half of the testimony of a man. Some modern Muslim scholars give weight to discredited theories allegedly showing that female cranial capacity is far below that of males. Since the primary function of marriage in Islam is procreation (for the woman) and pleasure (for the man), Muslim women cannot ask for divorce unless their husbands' penises have literally withered away. The Heaven of Islam is full of wide-eyed female virgins ready to fulfill the sexual needs of dead, pious, Muslim men. There are no equivalent male servants for devout Muslim women who have passed on to the next world.

Here are some interesting examples of the treatment of women under Muslim law as reported by Ibn Warraq. In the Pakistan of the late seventies, martial law was imposed and holy days like Ramadan were enforced by armed soldiers. Women were forbidden to compete in sporting events and the zina laws were introduced. "Zina" is a word for illicit sex that includes adultery, fornication, rape, and prostitution, and the zina laws recommended amputation of hands and executions for violators. What this meant in practive was that rape victims were often charged with violating the zina laws.

For instance, a Muslim in Pakistan kidnapped and raped his friend's daughter. Her father brought charges against the rapist but his daughter was thrown in prison for committing zina. Her father successfully bribed the police to release her and when she returned home she was severely beaten for dishonoring her family. In another case, a sixteen-year-old domestic worker named Safia Bibi was raped and impregnated by her landlord and his son. Bibi's father had the two men charged in court, but since the testimony of even one man automatically outweighs the word of one woman, they were not convicted. However, Bibi's pregnancy was evidence of adultery (it is thought that pregnancy can only result from consensual sex) and therefore she was sentenced to three years in prison, fifteen lashes, and a fine of 15,000 rupees. Human rights groups in Pakistan report that a rape occurs every three hours in Pakistan, half of all rape victims are juveniles, and 72 percent of all women in police custody are physically and sexually abused. Most of those women are in prison on charges of violating the zina laws.

Speaking of Pakistan, many people cite the 1988 election of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto as an example of a more liberal Islam, since under traditional Islamic law, women cannot act as heads of a Muslim state. However, her government lasted almost two years, at which point she was forced out of office on charges of "corruption" and her husband imprisoned. In a hopeless attempt to cling to power, Bhutto frequently gave in to the demands of the Muslim clerics and theologians and refused to acknowledge the rights of women, whose lot was no better when Bhutto left office. Bhutto has since won and lost national office yet again.

[robowombat]

And NOW considers Christian pro-lifers to be the biggest menace to females.

[anniegetyourgun]

"Muhammad himself once said that he would "never touch the hand of women" because women were viewed as unclean temptresses."

So, instead he just touched their other parts. Truth be told, he was a sex perv, a violent murderer, with a demonic twisted soul.

[antiRepublicrat]

The sayings of caliphs, leaders of Islam, were like proclamations of Catholic popes, and their words became the foundation for later Islamic traditions and law. Their misogyny has profoundly influenced Islamic culture.

And there's the problem. The crap they spew is even often contrary to the very holy book they say they follow.

[aShepard]

What a totally F'd up religion!

And we're going to make a democracy in the middle of all this???

[Bella_Bru]

"Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah hath guarded. As for those [women] from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart; and scourge [beat] them. Then, if they obey you, seek not a way against them. Lo! Allah is ever High Exalted, Great."

And sadly you have some non-Muslims who feel the same way. Doesn't matter who thinks this way; they are still disgusting.

[brownsfan]

And sadly you have some non-Muslims who feel the same way. Doesn't matter who thinks this way; they are still disgusting.

And even sadder still, you have people who miss the point, and project. Here is a case, documented, and proudly confirmed by Muslim men that woman are sub human.
Rather than acknowledge that point, and rally others to see the threat this kind of thought is to all humanity, your reply makes it seem as though you want to play the victim card. The reply diffuses the focus, and makes it seem that you are trying to say, people here are like that. Well, even if some men here think that way, (few do), they aren't free to act on it as they are in the Middle East.

[Bella_Bru]

I'm not playing the victim card. I said, it is disgusting to say that women are of a lower caste. To think that is it only Muslims who feel this way is idiotic, though. They are not the only ones who hold this belief. How hard is that to understand?

[malakhi]

And sadly you have some non-Muslims who feel the same way.

Misogyny can be found in most any religion. Saith Odo, abbot of Cluny, in the 10th century C.E., concerning women:

"Since we are loath to touch spittle or dung even with our fingertips, how can we desire to embrace such a sack of dung?".

[Bella_Bru]

rally others to see the threat this kind of thought is to all humanity,

The reply diffuses the focus, and makes it seem that you are trying to say, people here are like that

If you must know, there are a few posters (and they are in the minority) here who do feel this way. In fact, there is a poster, who has been keeping his feelings to himself lately to avoid trouble, who used to complain that the modern day laws have removed the G-d given right of a husband to discipline his wife. He isn't Muslim.

There are some Muslims who aren't this fundamentalist and crazy, just as there are some non-Muslims who are this crazy.

[dwills]

this is f'd up men debasing their religion by claiming that it excuses their inhumanity, not the other way around

if we judged all christians by their literal text or the proclamations of those who avow themselves to be their holiest, we'd have to discard them too

[BIGZ]

What is the problem, they are only women?

Never mind what a F---ed up religion, Mind about what a F----ed up Womens movement in the United States.

[MosesKnows]

Islam considers women to be inferior creatures

Did you mean to imply that Islam is unqine in that position?

The Orthodox male Jew prays each morning thanking God that he was not born a woman.

Christianty subscribes to the scriptures in 1st Corinthians chapter 11 which states:
Verse 7 - For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.
Verse 8 - For the man is not of the woman: but the woman of the man.
Verse 9 - Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.

Also, as it regards the killing of non-believers, make this comparision between the Christian Bible, the Jewish Torah, and the Quran.

Deuteronomy Chapter 20:
Verse 13 - And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword:
Verse 14 - But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the LORD thy God hath given thee.
Verse 15 - Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations.
Verse 16 - But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:
Verse 17 - But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee:

[dirtboy]

Muhammad himself once said that he would "never touch the hand of women" because women were viewed as unclean temptresses.

But he would wipe his arse with his hand. Nice value system you got there...

[cavtrooper21]

..and what never ceases to amaze me is how the Feminazi crowd stands side by side with pro Palestinian / anti-Christian / Pro-Islamist groups when ever you see them at ANSWER rallies.
I guess they must hate the USA and Christianity more.

[protest1]

But this article is about muslims I felt your comments were a form of moral equivalence, as if to say, look Muslims are no better or worse than anyone else in treatment of women. You sought to change the subject when in reality the scale of muslim enslavment of women is much worse than any other culture or religion I know of.

Human rights groups in Pakistan report that a rape occurs every three hours in Pakistan, half of all rape victims are juveniles, and 72 percent of all women in police custody are physically and sexually abused.

[Androcles]

Very true. Also, I think Mohammed only had the luxury of preaching because he was bankrolled by his rich wife Khadijah(?) who ran a successful mercantile business empire...most of the anti-women stuff came from followers and tribal traditions of new followers (ie Afghans).

[Bella_Bru]

No, I was not seeking to change the subject. You might want to adjust your tinfoil. But for anyone to think that women being in a lower caste is a new concept or a concept only is Islam is ridiculous.

Stop assuming people are idiots.