Sacred Rights of Women

Recently, many German women, particularly in Cologne, were groped, humiliated, and some even raped by Muslim men who have invaded the country.   In the mind of these men,  women are sex objects to be exploited for their own pleasure.

A Kerala, India, Sunni leader states that “women  only fit to deliver children” and “gender equality is “un-Islamic.” Sunni leader Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musliar,the chief of All India  Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama, said women have no mental strength and the power to control the universe “which lies in the hands of men.”  He declared  “gender equality is something which is never going to be a reality.  It is against Islam, humanity and was intellectually wrong.”   “Women can never equal men. They are fit only to deliver children. Women cannot withstand crisis situations.”    (November 28, 2015, Jihadwatch.org)

Unfortunately, this Muslim leader is only parroting what is claimed that Mohammed taught about women.  Mohammed alleged that women are lessor intelligent than men and therefore less capable of doing “men” stuff.  This led to the downgrading of education for women through the centuries.   Think about it!!  If you have a mother who is not educated what can she do to help you learn anything?   If you are a girl with an uneducated mother who has been “dumbed down” by the system,  how can you learn and make progress.  Ignorance creates ignorance  in the offspring and it affects both  male and female.  An educated mother is miles ahead of an uneducated mother in ability and creativity and the issues of being a female. Moreover,  the truth is that women are as intelligent as men contrary to the claim of Mohammed.

In another anti-feminist attack  “Jihadists in Iraq have ordered that all women between the ages of 11 and 46 undergo female genital mutilation, a UN official said Thursday.  "It is a fatwa (or religious edict) of ISIS, we learnt this this morning," said Jacqueline Badcock, the number two UN official in Iraq.”     (AFP)  (July 24)

Do women have any rights of their own?   Why should men impose their will on the behavior of women and children?  Why should men think they are better than women?   

Many things go on in the Muslim world that are clearly wrong.  The story of creation in the Bible gives us a different picture than the Muslim one that only arrived in history in the 7th century.     Read the story of creation in the Bible  and see how the Creator made man and woman.

“Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”  (Gen. 1:26-27 GNB)

This is the story of the creation of the human race.   Man and woman were created in the image of God.   There is nothing here about the role of woman as a slave of man.  There is nothing here about the woman being an inferior being.    They are created equal in mental ability, talent, and responsibility.  There is nothing Islamic here about the position of women being inferior to men.   Both are equal.  There is nothing about female mutilation.  There is nothing about wearing a burqa and any other terrible covering.

A new element enters the story in chapter 3 in which the woman succumbs to the devil’s lying  comments and disobeys Yahweh’s commands.  The tragedy of the story is that sin entered the world through the woman’s disobedience after she offered the fruit to her husband who also sinned by his own will.

It was thru a woman that the Devil deceived and brought the hardships of sin upon mankind.   But there is a great resolution in the history of the race in which the Savior of mankind is borne of a woman.  What the first woman  did in disobedience was later reversed by a woman (Mary)who obeyed the command of God.    The man is a bystander in this event.  He can do nothing to save himself.   Whatever claim to fame a man may have, he stands helpless as the female becomes the more important being in giving birth to the Savior of the world.

The first woman was tempted by the Devil and he was victorious.  The second woman, Mary, was not tempted by the Devil, but her Son, the fruit of her womb, was tempted.

“The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert, so that the devil could test him. After Jesus had gone without eating for forty days and nights, he was very hungry.  Then the devil came to him and said, "If you are God's Son, tell these stones to turn into bread." Jesus answered, "The Scriptures say: 'No one can live only on food. People need every word that God has spoken.' "  Next, the devil took Jesus to the holy city and had him stand on the highest part of the temple.  The devil said, "If you are God's Son, jump off. The Scriptures say: 'God will give his angels orders about you. They will catch you in their arms, and you won't hurt your feet on the stones.'   Jesus answered, "The Scriptures also say, 'Don't try to test the Lord your God!' " Finally, the devil took Jesus up on a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms on earth and their power.  The devil said to him, "I will give all this to you, if you will bow down and worship me."  Jesus answered, "Go away Satan! The Scriptures say: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.' "   Then the
 devil left Jesus, and angels came to help him.”   ( Matt.  4:1-11 CEV)

The Devil lied to the first woman and he lied to the Son of God.  Jesus described the devil as a liar from the beginning.  He told a group of Pharisees these words: 
 “ You are the children of your father, the Devil, and you want to follow your father's desires. From the very beginning he was a murderer and has never been on the side of truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he is only doing what is natural to him, because he is a liar and the father of all lies.”   (John 8:44 GNB)

Is the Devil dead?   No, he is still in our world deceiving people.  He is still lying to people.  The Devil wants people to bow down to worship him instead of God.    Since the Devil could not deceive Jesus he still deceives people who will listen to him.   The letter of I John written long before Mohammed  implies that Mohammed was deceived by a false Gabriel. (http://www.answering-islam.org/authors/roark/john_anticipating.html)

The obedience of Mary in response to the angel’s message restored the image of woman to its original position.   The woman became the vehicle of  the Savior who brings forgiveness, transformation, re-birth of the Spirit, and provides a New Covenant guaranteeing everlasting life. Mary is honored for her commitment.   The position of woman is restored.

This raises some important questions about the position of woman in Islam.    There are terrible things demanded of woman and done to women in Islam.

Let’s start with female circumcision.

  This is a rite that may be performed early or later in the life of a young girl. 
“The procedure ranges from snipping off a piece of the clitoris to the removal of all external genitalia and can lead to a litany of health issues, from urination problems, cysts and infections to severe bleeding, infertility or complications during childbirth. The U.N. estimates more than 125 million girls and women are living with the often-horrific consequences of FGM/C”  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_genital_mutilation

“There is a more radical procedure which involves the closure of the vagina and a small hole is left for the passage of urine and menstrual blood.  Later the vagina is opened up for intercourse and childbirth.[10] The health effects depend on the procedure but can include recurrent infections, chronic pain, cysts, an inability to get pregnant, complications during childbirth and fatal bleeding.”        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_genital_mutilation

In the quote in the paragraph above, “(AFP) -- Jihadists in Iraq have ordered that all women between the ages of 11 and 46 undergo female genital mutilation….”

What is to be gained by this fatwa except suffering and humiliation of women.  It is totally senseless and arrogant to demand this.  It will only make sex for married women more painful and difficult and will drive a wedge between husband and wife because she will not want sex.

No one knows for sure when and where this started.    It is widely practiced in Muslim countries.   “It's true that it's not in the Quran, but lots of mainstream aspects of Islam are not in the Quran (e.g., the five daily prayers, any details about Muhammad and his commands and conduct (whom the Quran tells Muslims to follow [33:21] and orders them to obey [4:80])).

However,  It's mentioned in multiple sahih hadiths,and is justified on that basis.

             However, let’s look at this from the standpoint of the Bible.

First, there is no indication that God commanded such a vile, savage practice as this.  The first woman was created and there are no indications that she had to be “improved” to be a wife, mother, and mate.   She was God’s handiwork and there was nothing to be done to make her more female.   What an insult to God that you are trying to improve on his creation.  Actually what “cutting” does is to create terrible things for the woman immediately when “cut” and later on in intercourse and childbirth.  Why do such a  debasing thing to God’s creation?

Second, There is a warning in Leviticus in which cutting the body was forbidden.  Do not “tattoo yourselves or cut gashes in your body to mourn for the dead. I am the LORD.” (Leviticus  19:28)
 These practices were common among pagan or heathen people and the Lord commanded his people to be different.  If you are not to cut the body to mourn for a dead person,  why would you want to cut the woman’s body that hurts her and her husband as well.    Pagan practices still prevail in the culture of female cutting.  Muslims claim to practice only what the Qur’an and Mohammed taught and Mohammed approved of it, but it is not in the Qur’an.

Third, Your body is to be  the temple of God’s Spirit. This was Yahweh’s intention and becomes a reality for persons receiving Christ as Savior.  Paul reminds people in Corinth   “Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and who was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourselves but to God;  he bought you for a price. So use your bodies for God's glory.   (1 Cor. 6:19-20 GNB)

Fourth, This is a barbaric and cruel  practice involving irrational issues.   The problems related to conception and delivery are dangerous.  It is evil to cut the body of a female.   There are men who will not marry a woman who has not been “cut” and she is regarded as undesirable.  But who made the law that women should be circumcised or cut—men, of course.  There is only one word that covers these practices–Evil.

Fifth, it seems to be presumed that a woman should not have sexual pleasure.  Only men seemed to be given this experience.  This is also contrary to the creative act of God.   Why are woman given the physical senses in the genitalia if the Creator did not mean to give the woman sexual pleasure as well as the man.  

Sixth,   the presumption seems to be that women who have not been “cut” would be more promiscuous than men.      But the real problem is not women, but men who are not willing to control themselves.  Men presume that any woman not covered up completely is asking for rape.  Such a  conclusion is irrational.    There are Muslim men who regard non-Muslim women as “meat” and raping is allowed in their minds.   Such evils begin in the minds of men, not the women.

Seventh, cutting the woman’s sexual organs will not reduce her sex drive. The body has hormones that “cutting” will not stop.  These hormones relate to sexual urges and cutting does not stop them.   It may be un-Islamic to talk about medical issues since Muslims in some areas have rejected polio shots because they are “un-Islamic.”   How evil is that?

2.  Child marriage    The Muslim model for child marriage is Mohammed in marrying Aisha when she was 6 and having intercourse when she was 9. Fortunately for Mohammed he had other wives who were older and were more experienced in life’s issues. 

Men who seek a marriage with a child are selfish, irrational, and cruel. What can a child bring to a marriage with a 27 year old, or 54 year old man?  The child is doing things normal for a child-- playing with dolls, playing house, and other make believe things which are age appropriate.

Why would a man want an uneducated child who know nothing about sex,  nothing about the management of a home, nothing about being a mother, nothing about caring for children, nothing about cooking, caring for the health of herself and others,   nothing about issues of what is healthy, how to manage a household, garden, or anything outside the house.

Why would a man want a child who cannot contribute anything to the marriage, and who furthermore still needs to be cared for and educated. Such a female is not capable of being a loving wife and caring mother. 

The story of Creation is that man and woman started together.   This means they were in the same age bracket.    Ignorance and stupidity are not limited to any gender.   Education is important for both of them.  The more education they have the better they will be able to cope with problems and survive.   Why would a man want a child as a wife who does not know how to count or know what is good to eat or good for you?

A child who has been bought or enslaved as a wife is not allowed to reach her  potential as a human being.   Moreover, the Muslim world does not think education important for a woman.   What a loss of potential creative abilities.   A half billion women with unlimited potential are denied the great contributions they could make to mankind as well as to their families.  Could it be that educated women are a threat to male arrogance? One has to wonder about the arrogance of men who cannot think it possible for women to think independently.

3.   The Burqa.   

         "O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks (veils) all over their bodies (i.e. screen themselves completely except the eyes or one eye to see the way). That will be better, that they should be known (as free respectable women) so as not to be annoyed. And Allah is Ever Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful. O Prophet!"                    Halali-Khan translation.      33:59

This passage begins with “O Prophet!”   Is this Allah speaking?   It seems to be.  This raises the question about the nature of the deity.  There is nothing like this in the revelations of Yahweh.   Why should this be commanded by “Allah.”     Allah seems to have a vendetta against women.  The union of man and woman in creation has been changed drastically in Islam.     Man, any man, does not have the right to force a woman to walk around in a black tent because he cannot control himself.  Women have every right to respect and safety without a burka.

The burka makes them a non-entity.   They really have no rights, no respect, no safety, no honor unless they are clad in a black tent.  Moreover,  not being exposed to the sun makes  them deficient in vitamin D3 which is necessary for good health.

This is so extreme and senseless that “ISIS has ordered shopkeepers in the Iraqi city of Mosul to cover the faces of mannequins, The Associated Press reported Tuesday.      The Sunni extremist group recently declared a caliphate – or Islamic State – covering parts of Syria and Iraq. Shop owners in Mosul said they had been told to cover the faces of male and female mannequins, apparently in line with strict interpretations of Shariah law that forbid statues or artwork depicting the human form.”  ( Jihadwatch.org   July 22,2014)

Another verse in the Qur'an is translated as: “And tell the believing women to lower their gaze (from looking at forbidden things), and protect their private parts (from illegal sexual acts, etc.) and not to show off their adornment except only that which is apparent (like palms of hands or one eye or both eyes for necessity to see the way, or outer dress like veil, gloves, head-cover, apron, etc.), and to draw their veils all over Juyubihinna (i.e. their bodies, faces, necks and bosoms, etc.) and not to reveal their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husband's fathers, their sons, their husband's sons, their brothers or their brother's sons, or their sister's sons, or their (Muslim) women (i.e. their sisters in Islam), or the (female) slaves whom their right hands possess, or old male servants who lack vigour, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex. And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment. And all of you beg Allah to forgive you all,”    24.31

Before moving to the commentary below one might raise issues about the small children “who have no sense of the shame of sex.”   There is no shame in sex.  This is a creative act of God to ensure the continuation of the species.

A commentary on sura 24:31 found in The Meaning of the Glorious Qur’an  is given below concerning the Arabic word for ornaments:

The word Zinat is translated as ornament and refers to the following relations.

Zinat means both natural beauty and artificial ornaments. I think both are implied here, but chiefly the former. The woman is asked not to make a display of her figure or appear in undress except to the following classes of people: (1) her husband, (2) her near relatives who would be living in the same house, and with whom a certain amount of neglige is permissible; (3) her women, i.e., her maid-servants, who would be constantly in attendance on her; some commentators include all believing women; it is not good form in a Muslim household for women to meet other women, except when they are properly dressed; (4) slaves, male and female, as they would be in constant attendance; but this item would not be blank, with the abolition of slavery; (5) old or infirm men-servants; and (6) infants or small children before they get a sense of sex. Cf. also xxxxiii, 59.

(This is from footnote 2985 on page 904 of The Meaning of the Glorious Qur'an volume 1. published by Dal Al-Kitab Al-Masri and Dar Al-Kitab Allubnani. Text, translation, and commentary by Abdullah Yusuf Ali.)

Are we to presume that all of these males-- husbands, their fathers, their husband's fathers, their sons, their husband's sons, their brothers or their brother's sons, or their sister's sons–will not have lustful thoughts about the women described?   What about incest?  

There is an interesting point made by Robert Spencer when a group of women claimed that they wanted to wear the burqa.

They said, ‘We want to wear it. We’ve worn them for a thousand years. Why would anyone tell us not to?’ They want to! What the hell are we getting involved for? In fact, it’s easier. You don’t have to put on makeup.”
Yes, the burqa, the niqab and even the hijab are much easier for Muslim women. Just ask Aqsa Parvez, whose Muslim father choked her to death with her hijab after she refused to wear it; and Amina Muse Ali, a Christian woman in Somalia whom Muslims murdered because she wasn’t wearing a hijab; and the 40 women who were murdered in Iraq in 2007 for not wearing the hijab; and Alya Al-Safar, whose Muslim cousin threatened to kill her and harm her family because she stopped wearing the hijab in Britain; and Amira Osman Hamid, who faces whipping in Sudan for refusing to wear the hijab; and the Egyptian girl, also named Amira, who committed suicide after being brutalized for her family for refusing to wear the hijab; and the Muslim and non-Muslim teachers at the Islamic College of South Australia who were told that they had to wear the hijab or be fired; and the women in Chechnya whom police shot with paintballs because they weren’t wearing hijab; and the women also in Chechnya who were threatened by men with automatic rifles for not wearing hijab; and the elementary school teachers in Tunisia who were threatened with death for not wearing hijab; and the Syrian schoolgirls who were forbidden to go to school unless they wore hijab; and the women in Gaza whom Hamas has forced to wear hijab; and the women in Iran who protested against the regime by daring to take off their legally-required hijab; and the women in London whom Muslim thugs threatened to murder if they didn’t wear hijab; and the anonymous young Muslim woman who doffed her hijab outside her home and started living a double life in fear of her parents, and all the other women and girls who have been killed or threatened, or who live in fear for daring not to wear the hijab. ( October 30, 2015 8:26 am By Robert Spencer.www.jihadwatch.org)

The safety of women is not to be found in a Burqa, but in the moral fiber of the Islamic men.   You can’t  justify actions by rapist by blaming it on testosterone in men who claim they have to obey it’s demands for sex with anyone.  A woman should be able to walk down the street with normal clothes–not a burqa–and be safe because she is a human being.

4.    Prohibitions on women