Restraint? Sure. Oppression? Hardly. {Muslim women}

Washington Post ^ | July 22, 2007 | Leila Aboulela

[3AngelaD]

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates-- The West believes that Islam oppresses women. But as a Muslim, descended from generations of Muslims, I have a different story to tell. It starts like this: You say, "The sea is salty." I say, "But it is blue and full of fish." I am not objective about Islam, and although I am considerably Westernized, I can never truly see it through Western eyes. I am in this religion. It is in me. And articulating the intimacy of faith and the experience of worship to a Western audience is a challenge and a discovery...

Recently, Muslim progressives have softened their stance against the veil. In some countries, the hijab's widespread popularity has made it almost the norm, rather than a gesture of defiance by a minority. Also, the veil has turned out to be a red herring; it has not stalled Muslim women's advancement, as was feared.

I hope that in time the West will come to look at the veil in a different light. It encourages me when a Western woman comments on my head scarf. When one says "That is a lovely color" or asks "Is that batik?" I feel that she has reached out to me. She has seen that beyond the symbol is an item of clothing not unlike the veils that Western women once wore to church, or the bonnets Laura sported on the prairie. That mark of perceived female submissiveness is also an accessory that can be purchased in any department store in the West; it comes in gorgeous silks and beautiful hues....

[yoe]

Leila Aboulela, an apologist for Islam, has obviously not read Ayaan Hirsi Ali's "Infidel", the latest book, one of many that tell of the cruelty and oppression of that "religion" cum cult.

Aboulela's obeisance to medieval strife is tantamount to thrashing one's body thinking pain will bring you closer to God...only she can reeducate her self; I am not holding my breath............

[AnotherUnixGeek]

The West believes that Islam oppresses women. But as a Muslim, descended from generations of Muslims, I have a different story to tell...

Recently, Muslim progressives have softened their stance against the veil.

Is this intended to be a parody or satire? If this woman had a shred of self-respect, she'd be offended by the notion that Muslim "progressives" consider it any of their business whether she wears a veil or not.

And if this woman sets foot in Saudi Arabia or many other parts of the Muslim world with her brightly colored veil, she's going to be in for a very rude awakening. The comments she will receive will not be "is that a batik" or "what a lovely color" - she will be asked why she isn't covered from the top of her head to her feet. She could be arrested, and in some places she'll get acid thrown in her face for daring to show it.

This woman, and many others in the Muslim world, would be better served by recognizing that spreading BS to a western audience isn't going to do nearly as much to improve the lot of Islamic women as reforming the savagery of Islam in their home countries.

[Chuck Dent]

It's time to characterize Islam as a political movement, no different than how we treated Imperial Japan's exploitation of Shinto during WWII.

Religions merely reflect the societies which created/adapted them for their own cultural requirements. Muslims need Islam as a cover for their own dysfunctional behavior. If Islam didn't exist, something else would have been created that extolled the same vices and gave them moral cover for the atrocities they've been committing for 1,400 years.

[rhombus]

Damn that was well written.

[3AngelaD]

Scroll down about half way through this and check out the masks.

http://www.eaves.org/nick/blog-archive/Oman-Masirah%20015.jpg

See also: http://www.kookynet.net/media/p7296-7456-8028_p-masks.jpg

[Mr. Jeeves]

The courtship rituals of modern-day Muslims can be found in a Jane Austen novel.

Exactly - pretty young daughters being married off against their will to older men they don't love to spare their families from destitution.

The author may find that "refreshing" - the West has outgrown it.

[CHEE]

Me and my friend, Harvey (the rabbit), both saw the tag line and got a big laugh. You are so funny.

[Old Professer]

Any stink can be explained away; the best example I ever heard was when a city feller walked into a barnyard to visit a farmer and commented on how bad and revolting the smell of a truckload of manure was; the farmer, without missing a beat simply replied, “Son, that’s the smell of money.”

[Old Professer]

I was in a doctor’s office waiting to be seen and a veiled and fully-clad woman was sitting across from me; every few minutes she would shift her feet on the floor, showing a glimpse of her bare ankles and immediately tug at her hem to cover them back.

I swear I felt she was flirting with me.

I still think of this from time to time.

[XR7]

[Nathan Zachary]

"you say, "The sea is salty." I say, "But it is blue and full of fish."

And I'd say this is a perfect example of what Islam does to the Muslim mind, removes the ability to think rationally.

although I am considerably Westernized, I can never truly see it through Western eyes. I am in this religion. It is in me."

Which is why Islam cannot co-exist within any other society, western or otherwise. The only hope is a lengthy deprogramming session, like is used to deprogram people who get brainwashed into other similar cults.

"Also, the veil has turned out to be a red herring; it has not stalled Muslim women's advancement, as was feared.

Maybe not, but the cult of Islam has. Now go to your room woman. No talking to other men. Don't come out until you learn to obey. You are disobeying the laws of the prophet who says:

Muslim:B1N142 "‘O womenfolk, you should ask for forgiveness for I saw you in bulk amongst the dwellers of Hell.' A wise lady said: Why is it, Allah's Apostle, that women comprise the bulk of the inhabitants of Hell? The Prophet observed: ‘You curse too much and are ungrateful to your spouses. You lack common sense, fail in religion and rob the wisdom of the wise.' Upon this the woman remarked: What is wrong with our common sense? The Prophet replied, ‘Your lack of common sense can be determined from the fact that the evidence of two women is equal to one man. That is a proof.'" Qur'an 4:15 "If any of your women are guilty of lewdness, take the evidence of four witnesses from amongst you against them; if they testify, confine them to houses until death [by starvation] claims them."

Bukhari:V3B48N826 "The Prophet said, ‘Isn't the witness of a woman equal to half of that of a man?' The women said, ‘Yes.' He said, ‘This is because of the deficiency of a woman's mind.'"

Qur'an 24:31 "Say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty except what (must) appear; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display them except to their husbands..."

Qur'an 24:34 "Force not your slave-girls to whoredom (prostitution) if they desire chastity, that you may seek enjoyment of this life. [And here's the freedom-to-pimp card:] But if anyone forces them, then after such compulsion, Allah is oft-forgiving."

That Allah, such a rascal, but so forgiving (when it comes to whoring out your wives and slave girls)
Na, Islam doesn't oppress women....

[Brilliant]

It’s interesting that this woman is focused primarily on the veil. She apparently has little conception of what freedom really is. To her, it’s “wear the veil,” or “don’t wear the veil.”

And even that choice she is apparently willing to jettison.

[Nathan Zachary]

"Never heard of the metal masks! How frightening!"

What? That's standard issue with the full length Burka.

[seowulf]

They screwed up their own countries so bad they had to leave, and now they're here screwing up ours.

That's right. We don't need any help screwing up our country.

[Lorianne]

That is a very well written article. Thanks for posting it.

I believe women should be able to wear whatever they want. If they choose modesty, so be it.

However, the writer is from a different social and economic class from the majority of her fellow Muslims and as such cannot claim that the veil (and much else) is a free choice of most Muslim women. I wish she had acknowledged that.

[RobbyS]

You are probably right about that.

[kcvl]

Leila Aboulela

[John Valentine]

There are people that think those abominable masks are stylish, especially the ones that simulate a huge moustache.

They are the same people that think that the statement “You say, ‘The sea is salty.’ I say, ‘But it is blue and full of fish.’” is profound or at least meaningful.

[don-o]

Nothing can compete with the elegance, authority and details of the Koran.

This howler makes the rest of her fairly well reasoned article null.

[BlackbirdSST]

...no one will know who I am or my sex.

Is that a bomb under your burka, or are you just happy to see me? Blackbird.