Founder of Gallatin Might Not Fit Well in a Gallatin Classroom
Gallatin School of Individualized Study Founder Herb London spoke with students about Gallatin’s history and his views on foreign policy.
April 27, 2016
Herbert London, founder of the Gallatin School of Individualized Study, held a highly contested discussion on Tuesday during a meeting of The Review and Debate Series, as students weren’t keen on his views on foreign policy.
London founded Gallatin in 1972 as a program within NYU with the idea in mind that students should read 87 key texts from Western scholars to obtain the ability to cross disciplinary borders. He later worked heavily in conservative think tanks and now runs his own London Center for Policy Research.
Throughout the discussion, London remarked that opinions on college campus are too homogenous.
“After the Vietnam War, I started to see an orthodoxy on college campuses, and it made me — and still makes me — very uncomfortable,” London said. “I am astonished that there is this homogenous opinion. This is the herd of independent thinkers. They all think they’re independent thinkers and they all think the exact same way.”
While some audience members agreed on this point, other students said some of London’s comments seemed at odds with Gallatin’s culture today, which frequently includes coursework that interrogates the concept of American exceptionalism and encourages students to draw from a global range of scholarly texts.
For example, London recounted an anecdote about a woman from Saudi Arabia who was forced to marry a man 40 years her senior and was later surprised when a man in Holland held open a door for her, saying “ladies first” because she had never heard that expression before.
London said such experiences influenced his worldview. He said he considers himself a patriot, and he concluded with the following statement that drew heat from the crowd.
“The West is superior,” London said. “But try to go into a New York University classroom and say that.”
CAS junior Krishna Kulkarni challenged London and said London had generalized in his view, and demonized an entire faith group based on unfair and essentially ahistorical facts.
“In the same breath you talked about how [Muslims in Saudi Arabia] oppress women and how they’re a valuable ally to the United States,” Kulkarni said. “The U.S. actually helped create a regime that is oppressive towards women and has actively spread extremism throughout the region.”
Kulkarni also questioned London’s exclusion of non-Western texts in an ideal university curriculum.
“Frankly, what makes a great book?” Kulkarni said. “I understand that Shakespeare is important, but the world does not stop at the border of Western Europe.”
In response, London said that the United States had supported Saudi Arabia and the oppression of women in large part because of the country’s need for Saudi oil, deeming this the pragmatic side of foreign policy.
“Was it the right thing to do?” London said. “I’m not so sure. I believe that there are great writers all around the world, but the essential questions of life: Who are we? How do we leave our mark? Do I have a place on this globe? Those questions are asked most formidably and most interestingly by the West.”
After the talk, CAS junior Michael DeLuca said he agreed with London’s points on the homogeneity of opinion on university campuses, but found it harder to find common ground once he started talking about foreign policy.
“I think the interdisciplinary approach [of Gallatin] that integrates cross-cultural dialogue and international perspectives is essential in the world we live in,” DeLuca said. “The sort of distinctions that he draws are problematic because they’re sort of divisive.”
Email Jeffrey Kopp at [email protected].
DMT • May 2, 2016 at 8:52 pm
Arafat, do you ever have things to do, or can you just go on rants about these articles?
That was quite an essay you contributed.
Arafat • Apr 27, 2016 at 10:20 am
Polygamy:
The Quran:
Sura (4:3) – (Wife-to-husband ratio) “Marry women of your choice, Two or three or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one, or (a captive) that your right hands possess, that will be more suitable, to prevent you from doing injustice. “
Sura (4:129) – “Ye are never able to be fair and just as between women, even if it is your ardent desire” (but don’t let that stop you, husbands, because your needs come first anyway).
WIFE SWAPPING:
Sura (4:20) “And if ye wish to exchange one wife for another and ye have given unto one of them a sum of money (however great), take nothing from it. Would ye take it by the way of calumny and open wrong?”
(You can change your wives. Islamic wife-swapping requires saying “talaq” three times to one of the four wives, and replacing her with another wife.)
BABY TILTHS:
Sura (65.4) You can marry (and divorce) little girls who have not yet reached menstruation age. This is Allah teaching of pedophilia allowing Muslim men to rape young Muslim baby girls.
“And those of your women as have passed the age of monthly courses, for them the ‘Iddah (prescribed period), if you have doubts (about their periods), is three months, and for those who have no courses [(i.e. they are still immature) their ‘Iddah (prescribed period) is three months likewise, except in case of death] . And for those who are pregnant (whether they are divorced or their husbands are dead), their ‘Iddah (prescribed period) is until they deliver (their burdens), and whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make his matter easy for him.”
Following is a famous fatwa by Ayatollah Khomeini that defines sura 65.4
“A man can marry a girl younger than nine years of age, even if the girl is still a baby being breastfed. A man, however is prohibited from having intercourse with a girl younger than nine, other sexual acts such as foreplay, rubbing, kissing and sodomy is allowed. A man having intercourse with a girl younger than nine years of age has not committed a crime, but only an infraction, if the girl is not permanently damaged. If the girl, however, is permanently damaged, the man must provide for her all her life. But this girl will not count as one of the man’s four permanent wives. He also is not permitted to marry the girl’s sister.”
Wives as slaves:
Sura (66:5) – “Maybe, his Lord, if he divorce you, will give him in your place wives better than you, submissive, faithful, obedient, penitent, adorers, fasters, widows and virgins”
(A disobedient wife can be replaced. A man can only have up to four wives, but he can rotate as many women as he pleases in and out of the lineup.)
From the Hadith:
Bukhari (62:2)
Narrated ‘Ursa:
that he asked ‘Aisha about the Statement of Allah: ‘If you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with the orphan girls, then marry (other) women of your choice, two or three or four; but if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one, or (the captives) that your right hands possess. That will be nearer to prevent you from doing injustice.’ (4.3) ‘Aisha said, “O my nephew! (This Verse has been revealed in connection with) an orphan girl under the guardianship of her guardian who is attracted by her wealth and beauty and intends to marry her with a Mahr less than what other women of her standard deserve. So they (such guardians) have been forbidden to marry them unless they do justice to them and give them their full Mahr, and they are ordered to marry other women instead of them.”
Bukhari (5:268) – “The Prophet used to visit all his wives in a round, during the day and night and they were eleven in number.” I asked Anas, “Had the Prophet the strength for it?” Anas replied, “We used to say that the Prophet was given the strength of thirty men.” Muhammad had special rules that allowed him at least eleven wives. (His successors had more than four wives at a time as well.)
Bukhari (62:6) – “The Prophet used to go round (have sexual relations with) all his wives in one night, and he had nine wives.”
Bukhari (77:598) – “Allah’s Apostle said, “No woman should ask for the divorce of her sister (Muslim) so as to take her place, but she should marry the man (without compelling him to divorce his other wife)”
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah’s Apostle said, “No woman should ask for the divorce of her sister (Muslim) so as to take her place, but she should marry the man (without compelling him to divorce his other wife), for she will have nothing but what Allah has written for her.” Polygamy is firmly established in the Islamic tradition.
WIFE BEATING
The Quran:
Sura (4:34) – “Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great.”
According to Islamic law, a husband may strike his wife for any one of the following four reasons:
– She does not attempt to make herself beautiful for him (i.e. “let’s herself go”)
– She refuses to meet his sexual demands
– She leaves the house without his permission or a “legitimate reason”
– She neglects her religious duties
Any of these are also sufficient grounds for divorce.
From the Hadith:
Muslim (4:2127) – Muhammad struck his favorite wife, Aisha, in the chest one evening when she left the house without his permission. Aisha narrates, “He struck me on the chest which caused me pain.”
Bukhari (7:72:715) – A woman came to Muhammad and begged her to stop her husband from beating her. Her skin was bruised so badly that she it is described as being “greener” than the green veil she was wearing. Muhammad did not admonish her husband, but instead ordered her to return to him and submit to his sexual desires.
Abu Dawud (2141) – “Iyas bin ‘Abd Allah bin Abi Dhubab reported the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) as saying: Do not beat Allah’s handmaidens, but when ‘Umar came to the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) and said: Women have become emboldened towards their husbands, he (the Prophet) gave permission to beat them. Then many women came round the family of the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) complaining against their husbands. So the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) said : Many women have gone round Muhammad’s family complaining against their husbands. They are not the best among you.” At first, Muhammad forbade men from beating their wives, but he rescinded this once it was reported that women were becoming emboldened toward their husbands. Beatings are sometimes necessary to keep women in their place.
Abu Dawud (2142) – “The Prophet said: A man will not be asked as to why he beat his wife.”
Allah despises women, both Muslim and infidel, with such a deep hatred and loathing that one would wonder why he even bothered to create women. He could just create bisexual men with reproductive organs.
Eve was created from the rib of Adam but all of humankind is created from the womb of women. Women therefore deserve equal, if not greater, respect and right than men in society. Reducing women to a vile, psychologically impaired and inferior being to men is a criminal injustice against women’s natural place in society. Muhammad a sex-crazed brutal criminal engendered 1400 years of repression and degradation of billions of mothers and daughters.
So vile, depraved, unjust and deplorable is the position and treatment of women in Islamic scriptures and teachings.
Arafat • Apr 27, 2016 at 10:19 am
n the laws of Allah, a women is worth half a man. Women are dirty, vile, evil creatures that must be kept hidden. Following are few examples of example demonstrating women’s horrible status and treatment in Islam’s own writings:
Muslim Women are Dirty Polluting Creatures
The Quran:
Sura (2:222) “They ask thee concerning women’s courses. Say: They are a hurt and a pollution: So keep away from women in their courses, and do not approach them until they are clean.”
Sura 4:43 “Muslims, draw not near unto prayer…(if) ye have touched women…then go to high clean soil and rub your face and your hands.” (Muslim women are pariahs and dirty).”
Sura (5:6) – “…if ye have had contact with women, and ye find not water, then go to clean, high ground and rub your faces and your hands with some of it.”
Women are polluting. Men purify themselves following a casual contact with a woman.
Women are inferior, slave to men
The Quran:
Sura (2:228) – “And women shall have rights similar to the rights against them, according to what is equitable; but men have a degree (of advantage) over them. And God is Exalted in Power, Wise.”
Sura (4:11) – God (thus) directs you as regards your Children’s (Inheritance): to the male, a portion equal to that of two females. (see also Sura 4:176)
Sura (4:176) “They ask thee for a legal decision. Say: God directs (thus) about those who leave no descendants or ascendants as heirs. … if there are brothers and sisters, (they share), the male having twice the share of the female.”
Sura (53:27) – “Those who believe not in the Hereafter, name the angels with female names.” (i.e., Angels, the sublime beings, can only be male.)
Sura (37:149-155) “Now ask them their opinion: Is it that thy Lord has (only) daughters, and they have sons?- Or that We created the angels female, and they are witnesses (thereto)? Is it not that they say, from their own invention, “God has begotten children”? but they are liars! Did He (then) choose daughters rather than sons? What is the matter with you? How judge ye? Will ye not then receive admonition?”
Hadith:
Bukhari (88:219)
Narrated Abu Bakra:
During the battle of Al-Jamal, Allah benefited me with a Word (I heard from the Prophet). When the Prophet heard the news that the people of the Persia had made the daughter of Khosrau their Queen (ruler), he said, “Never will succeed such a nation as makes a woman their ruler.”
Bukhari (48:826)
Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri:
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.”
Bukhari (72:715) – A woman seeks Muhammad’s help in leaving an abusive marriage, but is ordered by the prophet to return to her husband and submit to his commands.
Tabari IX:113 “Allah permits you to shut them in separate rooms and to beat them, but not severely. If they abstain, they have the right to food and clothing” (i.e., Treat women well for they are like domestic animals and they possess nothing themselves. Allah has made the enjoyment of their bodies lawful in the Qur’an.)
Tabari I:280 “’I must also make Eve (bad word), although I created her intelligent.’ Because Allah afflicted Eve, all of the women of this world menstruate and are (bad word).”)…happy, content…utterly incapable from intellectual weakness…never to give us trouble…
Bukhari 6:301
(“[Muhammad] said, ‘Is not the evidence of two women equal to the witness of one man?’ They replied in the affirmative. He said, ‘This is the deficiency in her intelligence.'”
“[Muhammad said] ‘Isn’t it true that a woman can neither pray nor fast during her menses?’ The women replied in the affirmative. He said, ‘This is the deficiency in her religion.'” Allah has made women deficient in the practice of their religion as well, by giving them menstrual cycles.)
Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri:
Once Allah’s Apostle went out to the Musalla (to offer the prayer) o ‘Id-al-Adha or Al-Fitr prayer. Then he passed by the women and said, “O women! Give alms, as I have seen that the majority of the dwellers of Hell-fire were you (women).” They asked, “Why is it so, O Allah’s Apostle ?” He replied, “You curse frequently and are ungrateful to your husbands. I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religion than you. A cautious sensible man could be led astray by some of you.” The women asked, “O Allah’s Apostle! What is deficient in our intelligence and religion?” He said, “Is not the evidence of two women equal to the witness of one man?” They replied in the affirmative. He said, “This is the deficiency in her intelligence. Isn’t it true that a woman can neither pray nor fast during her menses?” The women replied in the affirmative. He said, “This is the deficiency in her religion.”
Bukhari (62:58) – A woman presents herself in marriage to Muhammad, but he does not find her attractive, so he “donates” her on the spot to another man.
Abu Dawud (2:704) – “…the Apostle of Allah said: When one of you prays without a sutrah, a dog, an ass, a pig, a Jew, a Magian, and a woman cut off his prayer, but it will suffice if they pass in front of him at a distance of over a stone’s throw.”
God reduces one half of humanity to the status of a dog, a pig, a monkey, or an ass Sahih Bukhari – 1.9.490, 493, 498 Sahih Muslim – 4.1039; Sunaan Abu Dawud – 11.2155; Mishkat ul-Masabih – vol 2, p.114, Hadis no.
Ishaq 593 – “From the captives of Hunayn, Allah’s Messenger gave [his son-in-law] Ali a slave girl called Baytab and he gave [future Caliph] Uthman a slave girl called Zaynab and [future Caliph] Umar another.” (Even in this world, Muhammad treated women like party favors, handing out slave girls to his cronies for sex.)
Ishaq 969 – “Men were to lay injunctions on women lightly, for they were prisoners of men and had no control over their persons.” – This same text also justifies beating women for flirting.
Muslim women are sex object for men’s enjoyment
From Quran:
Sura (2:223) – “Your wives are as a tilth unto you; so approach your tilth when or how ye will.” Wives are to be sexually available to their husbands in all ways at all times. They serve their husbands at his command. This verse refers to anal sex (see Bukhari 60:51), and was “revealed” when women complained to Muhammad about the practice. The phrase “when and how you will” means that they lost their case.
From Hadith:
Bukhari (62:81)
Narrated ‘Uqba:
The Prophet said: “The stipulations most entitled to be abided by are those with which you are given the right to enjoy the (women’s) private parts (i.e. the stipulations of the marriage contract).”
Bukhari 7:62:132
Narrated ‘Abdullah bin Zam’a:
The Prophet said, “None of you should flog his wife as he flogs a slave and then have sexual intercourse with her in the last part of the day.” (Ideally when you flog one of your wives, let her recuperate that day and sleep with your other wives or your slave girls.)
Muslim Men can Capture Infidel Women as Sex-slave Booty
The Quran:
Sura (4:24) “All married women (are forbidden unto you) save those (captives) whom your right hands possess. “ You can’t have sex with married women, unless they are slaves obtained in war (with whom you may rape or do whatever you like). A man is permitted to take women as sex slaves outside of marriage.
Sura (4:25) “If any of you have not the means wherewith to wed free believing women, they may wed believing girls from among those whom your right hands possess.” In Islam the phrase “ Whom your right hand possesses” means – sex slave.
Sura (23:5,6) “…who restrain their carnal desires (except with their wives and slave girls, for these are lawful to them…” Again, Muslim men were allowed to have sexual relations with their wives and slave girls.:
Sura (33:52) “It is not allowed thee to take (other) women henceforth, nor that thou shouldst change them for other wives even though their beauty pleased thee, save those whom thy right hand possesseth. And Allah is ever Watcher over all things.”
Sura (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.”
Sura (70:29-30,35) “And those who guard their chastity, Except with their wives and the (captives) whom their right hands possess,- for (then) they are not to be blamed, … Such will be the honoured ones in the Gardens (of Bliss).”
A Woman’s Testimony is Worth Only Half of a Man’s
The Quran:
Sura 2:282 – Get two witnesses, out of your own men, and if there are not two men, then a man and two women, such as ye choose, for witnesses, so that if one of them errs, the other can remind her.” Establishes that a woman’s testimony is worth only half that of a man’s in court (there is no “he said/she said” gridlock in Islam).
From the Hadith:
Bukhari (5:59:462) – The background for the Qur’anic requirement of four witnesses to adultery. Muhammad’s favorite wife, Aisha, was accused of cheating [on her polygamous husband]. Three witnesses corroborated the event, but Muhammad did not want to believe it, and so established the arbitrary rule that four witnesses are required.
It is virtually impossible for raped women to prove it under Islamic law (Sharia). If the man claims that the act was consensual sex, there is very little that the woman can do to refute this. Islam places the burden of avoiding sexual encounters of any sort on the woman.
Brutal Punishment For Women
Sura 4:15 – Lewd women should be punished with life imprisonment until death: “If any of your women are guilty of lewdness, Take the evidence of four (Reliable) witnesses from amongst you against them; and if they testify, confine them to houses until death do claim them, or God ordain for them some (other) way.”
But men can get away with the same crime if they simply repent:
“If two men among you are guilty of lewdness, punish them both. If they repent and amend, Leave them alone; for God is Oft-returning, Most Merciful.” (Koran 4:16)
Fewer seats for women in Allah’s Paradise
Islamic Scriptures inform us that most Muslim women will go to hell.
The Quran:
Sura (37:22-23) “Those who “did wrong” will go to hell, and their wives will go to hell with them (no matter how they behaved).”
From Hadith:
Bukhari (2:28) – Women comprise the majority of Hell’s occupants. This is important because the only women in heaven ever mentioned by Muhammad are the virgins who serve the sexual desires of men. (A weak Hadith, Kanz al-`ummal, 22:10, even suggests that 99% of women go to Hell).
Narrated Ibn ‘Abbas:
The Prophet said: “I was shown the Hell-fire and that the majority of its dwellers were women who were ungrateful.” It was asked, “Do they disbelieve in Allah?” (or are they ungrateful to Allah?) He replied, “They are ungrateful to their husbands and are ungrateful for the favors and the good (charitable deeds) done to them. If you have always been good (benevolent) to one of them and then she sees something in you (not of her liking), she will say, ‘I have never received any good from you.”
“Among the inmates of Heaven women will be the minority” (Sahih Muslim 36: 6600)
“I (Mohammed) have seen that the majority of the dwellers of Hell-Fire were women…[because] they are ungrateful to their husbands and they are deficient in intelligence” (Sahih Bukhari: 2:18:161; 7:62:125, ).
Narrated ‘Abdullah bin Abbas:
…The Prophet replied, “I saw Paradise and stretched my hands towards a bunch (of its fruits) and had I taken it, you would have eaten from it as long as the world remains. I also saw the Hell-fire and I had never seen such a horrible sight. I saw that most of the inhabitants were women.” The people asked, “O Allah’s Apostle! Why is it so?” The Prophet replied, “Because of their ungratefulness.” It was asked whether they are ungrateful to Allah. The Prophet said, “They are ungrateful to their companions of life (husbands) and ungrateful to good deeds. If you are benevolent to one of them throughout the life and if she sees anything (undesirable) in you, she will say, ‘I have never had any good from you.’ ”
The Tyranny of Men over Women
The Quran:
Sura (24:31) – “And say to the believing women that they cast down their looks and guard their private parts and do not display their ornaments except what appears thereof, and let them wear their head-coverings over their bosoms, and not display their ornaments except to their husbands or their fathers, or the fathers of their husbands, or their sons, or the sons of their husbands, or their brothers, or their brothers’ sons, or their sisters’ sons, or their women, or those whom their right hands possess, or the male servants not having need (of women), or the children who have not attained knowledge of what is hidden of women; and let them not strike their feet so that what they hide of their ornaments may be known.” The woman is not only supposed to cover herself, except with relatives, but to look down, so as to avoid making eye-contact with men.
Sura (33:59) – “O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks (veils) over their bodies (when outdoors). That is most convenient that they should be known and not molested.”
Sura (24:60) “Such elderly women as are past the prospect of marriage,- there is no blame on them if they lay aside their (outer) garments, provided they make not a wanton display of their beauty: but it is best for them to be modest: and God is One Who sees and knows all things.”
Sura (33:32-33) “O Consorts of the Prophet! … stay quietly in your houses, and make not a dazzling display, like that of the former Times of Ignorance” (i.e., Muhammad’s wives should stay in their houses)
Sura (33:30) “O Consorts of the Prophet! If…any of you are devout, obedient, and submissive in the service to Allah and His Messenger, and does good, to her shall We grant her reward twice. We have prepared for her a generously rich provision.”
Sura (33:53) “And when ye ask (his ladies) for anything ye want, ask them from before a screen: that makes for greater purity for your hearts and for theirs. Nor is it right for you that ye should… marry his [Muhammad’s] widows after him at any time. Truly such a thing is in God’s sight an enormity.” (i.e., Nobody can marry Muhammad’s widows after he is dead.)
Sura(33:54) “You must not speak ill of God’s apostle, nor shall you ever wed his wives after him; this would be a grave offense in the sight of Allah.” The great adulator/fornicator condemned his wives to a life of loneliness.
From the Hadith:
Bukhari (6:321) – Muhammad is asked whether it is right for a young woman to leave her house without a veil. He replies, “She should cover herself with the veil of her companion.”
Bukhari (60:282) – After Muhammad issued the command (Sura 24:31) for women to cover themselves, the women responded by tearing up sheets to cover their faces.
Narrated Safiya bint Shaiba:
‘Aisha used to say: “When (the Verse): “They should draw their veils over their necks and bosoms,” was revealed, (the ladies) cut their waist sheets at the edges and covered their faces with the cut pieces.”
Abu Dawud (2:641) – The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Allah does not accept the prayer of a woman who has reached puberty unless she wears a veil.
Bukhari (52:250) – [The Prophet said] “It is not permissible for a man to be alone with a woman, and no lady should travel except with a Muhram (i.e. her husband or a person whom she cannot marry in any case for ever; e.g. her father, brother, etc.).” – Neither is a woman allowed to travel by herself.
Narrated Ibn Abbas:
That he heard the Prophet saying, “It is not permissible for a man to be alone with a woman, and no lady should travel except with a Muhram (i.e. her husband or a person whom she cannot marry in any case for ever; e.g. her father, brother, etc.).” Then a man got up and said, “O Allah’s Apostle! I have enlisted in the army for such-and-such Ghazwa and my wife is proceeding for Hajj.” Allah’s Apostle said, “Go, and perform the Hajj with your wife.”
Arafat • Apr 27, 2016 at 10:18 am
The move to paint Islam as a pioneering force in women’s rights is a recent one, corresponding with the efforts of Muslim apologists (not otherwise known for their feminist concerns) and some Western academics prone to interpreting history according to personal preference. In truth, the Islamic religious community has never exhibited an interest in expanding opportunities for women beyond the family role.
The fourth Caliph, who was Muhammad’s son-in-law and cousin, said just a few years after the prophet’s death that “The entire woman is an evil. And what is worse is that it is a necessary evil.”
A traditional Islamic saying is that, “A woman’s heaven is beneath her husband’s feet.” One of the world’s most respected Quran commentaries explains that, “Women are like cows, horses, and camels, for all are ridden.” (Tafsir al-Qurtubi)
The revered Islamic scholar, al-Ghazali, who has been called ‘the greatest Muslim after Muhammad,’ writes that the role of a Muslim woman is to “stay at home and get on with her sewing. She should not go out often, she must not be well-informed, nor must she be communicative with her neighbors and only visit them when absolutely necessary; she should take care of her husband… and seek to satisfy him in everything… Her sole worry should be her virtue… She should be clean and ready to satisfy her husband’s sexual needs at any moment.” [Ibn Warraq]
A Yemeni cleric recently explained in a television broadcast what makes women inferior and unable, say, to serve as good witnesses: “Women are subject to menstruation, when their endurance and mental capacity for concentration are diminished. When a woman witnesses a killing or an accident, she becomes frightened, moves away, and sometimes even faints, and she cannot even watch the incident.”
During a 2012 talk show on an Egyptian television channel, a cleric slammed Christianity – in part for teaching gender equality: “the Christian religion does not differentiate between women and men, but it confirms their perfect equality: it gives them an equal share in inheritance, it bans divorce, and it bans polygamy.”
In 2014, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan emphasized that men and women are not equal: “Our religion has defined a position for women (in society): motherhood.”
The many opportunities denied women under Islamic law, from giving equal testimony in court to having the right to exclude other wives from their marital bed, is very clear proof that women are of lesser value then men in Islam. Muslim women are not even free to marry outside the faith without being killed by their own families.
Islamic law also specifies that when a woman is murdered by a man, her family is owed only half as much “blood money” (diya) as they would be if she had been a man. (The life of a non-Muslim is generally assessed at one-third).
Although a man retains custody of his children in the event of his wife’s death, a non-Muslim woman will automatically lose custody of her children in the event of her husband’s death unless she converts to Islam or marries a male relative within his family.
Contemporary Muslims like to counter that Arabs treated women as camels prior to Muhammad.This is somewhat questionable, given that Muhammad’s first wife was a wealthy woman who owned property and ran a successful business prior to ever meeting him. She was even his boss… (although that may have changed after the marriage). Still, it is somewhat telling that Islam’s treatment of women can only be defended by contrasting it to an extremely primitive environment in which women were said to be non-entities.
Homa Darabi was a talented physician who took her own life by setting herself on fire in a public protest against the oppression of women in Islamic Iran. She did this after a 16-year-old girl was shot to death for wearing lipstick. In the book, Why We Left Islam, her sister includes a direct quote from one of the country’s leading clerics:
“The specific task of women in this society is to marry and bear children. They will be discouraged from entering legislative, judicial, or whatever careers which may require decision-making, as women lack the intellectual ability and discerning judgment required for these careers.”
Modern day cleric Abu Ishaq al-Huwaini has called for a return of the slave markets, where Muslim men can order concubines. In this man’s ideal world, “when I want a sex-slave, I go to the market and pick whichever female I desire and buy her.”
At best, Islam elevates the status of a woman to somewhere between that of a camel and a man.
Muhammad captured women in war and treated them as a tradable commodity. The “immutable, ever-relevant” Quran explicitly permits women to be kept as sex slaves. These are hardly things in which Muslims can take pride.
Arafat • Apr 27, 2016 at 10:16 am
“In the same breath you talked about how [Muslims in Saudi Arabia] oppress women and how they’re a valuable ally to the United States,” Kulkarni said. “The U.S. actually helped create a regime that is oppressive towards women and has actively spread extremism throughout the region.”
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What ridiculous poppycock. America had nothing, NOTHING to do with Islamic misogyny. Islamic misogyny has its roots in its prophet’s hatred for women. That’s right, your prophet used women as sex toys and discarded them (sometimes with a sword) when his lust was satiated.
The Qur’an and Hadiths are overflowing with verses and examples of misogyny being a required part of Islam.