In New Delhi, All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board is trying to improve the status of Muslim woman in the new “Shariat Nikahnama” that would allow women to divorce their husbands when they have affairs with other woman and to stop the practice of allowing men to divorce their wives via SMS or emails.
Currently, a woman can only seek divorce if she is forced by her husband to indulge in unnatural sex or if her husband has AIDS. For the full story, click here.
Of course, it may be better than the recent divorce in Saudi Arabia where a man simply grabbed the announcement system mike and pronounced himself divorced in a mall — leaving his wife and children for good, click here.
Susan, I feel the same way as you do. The hatred of women runs deeply in many religious traditions. That hatred is quite disturbing and results in untold cruelty around the world.
And D.W. I think msnbc bs made some good cites also, as you have in other posts.
DW, I don’t believe the Sharia law is the only faith-based belief system that has such harsh laws regarding women, and would be a clear and present danger to human rights as a whole.
It is why I am very thankful for the first words of the First Amendment in the U.S., words which specifically prohibit the laws of religion (ANY religion!) from being mixed in with the laws of government. I believe Thomas Jefferson referred to it as the “wall of separation between church and state” in his letter to the Danbury Baptists in 1802 (or 1803, I could be mistaken on the year). I shudder to think what this country could have been like if those words had never been written.
msnbc bs,
Good cites: this points to the problem I have with some members of the EU wanting to incorporate elements of Sharia law into their own organic legal systems. I don’t believe they can cherry-pick safely; Sharia law, as a whole, is a legal system so alien to our own western development that it presents an insurmountable obstacle to the development of a universally accepted standard of human rights.
Mohammed about Women
Mohammed’s teachings are included in what is called “Hadith.” The “Hadith” is a record of Mohammed’s words and deeds according to his wives, relatives, and companions. Next to the Quran, it is the most important part of Islamic law; its teachings are just as binding.
All of the quotes here are from “Sahih Al-Bukhari” which comes in nine volumes, and contains thousands of Hadiths. Al Bukhari is accepted by most Muslims as the authentic words of Mohammed.
Our purpose is to give the reader a taste of the teachings of Mohammed, the prophet of Islam:
WOMEN
Women are deficient in mind and religion.
Mohammed asked some women, “Isn’t the witness of a woman equal to half that of a man?” The women said, “yes,” He said, “This is because of the deficiency of the woman’s mind. ” Vol. 3:826
Mohammed to women: “I have not seen any one more deficient in intelligence and religion than you.” Vol. 2:541
The majority of people in hell are women.
Mohammed said, “I was shown the Hell-fire and that the majority of its dwellers are women. ” Vol. 1:28, 301; Vol. 2:161; Vol. 7:124
Women are a bad omen.
Mohammed said, ” Bad omen is in the woman, the house and the horse.” Vol. 7:30
Women are harmful to men.
Mohammed said, “After me I have not left any affliction more harmful to men than women.” Vol. 7:33
Women may not wear wigs.
Mohammed said, ” Don’t wear false hair for Allah sends His curse upon such ladies who lengthen their hair artificially.” Vol. 7:133
What would Mohammed do…