Women and Islam 2

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	4 Previous Page Birth Control Family planning should be the right of every woman and Islam is not as negative in this respect as Roman Catholicism. Both religions want their numbers to grow by natural means, that is a woman should have a brood of children-just as Hitler tried to foster the breeding of warriors. But large families may not be all they are supposed to be. As far as the mother is concerned, excessive child-bearing can lead to premature ageing and poor health. Children tend to be undernourished, do not receive as good an education, and overcrowding can lead to sexual abuse by older siblings. Islam realizes that the millions of sperm and egg-cells cannot all be utilized and the story of Onan, who was killed by Jehovah for ejaculating on the ground, does not appear in the Qur'an. Nor is the prevention of the fertilization of an egg regarded as a sin by Islam. This includes azl (coitus interruptus or withdrawal) which the Prophet sanctioned on several occasions, although Caliph Umar forbade the practice without the permission of the wife. Rubber devices such as condoms and diaphragms, and spermicides or the contraceptive pill are not forbidden, at least not in Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Pakistan and Egypt. One saying of the Prophet used by supporters of Family Planning is: "The greatest of catastrophes is many children and meagre sustenance." However, many of the ulama (Muslim hierarchy) see contraception as encouraging pre- and extra-marital sex and so do not favor it. Sterilization is regarded as unnatural and abortion is forbidden as a family planning method. Illegal abortion in Egypt is the prime cause of death in pregnant women. Abortion is regarded as murder although whether from the moment of conception or from the quickening of the embryo at 3 months, differs among jurists. However abortion even later in the gestation is permitted if the life of the mother is threatened. Two liberal countries are Tunisia and Somalia, where abortion has been legalized to combat the high population growth.

Newsletter No.1 of "Women Against Fundamentalism" points out that, "after the downfall of the Shah and the establishment of the Islamic Republic, women became the first victims of Islamic ideology. One of the rights taken from women was the right of access to contraception and abortion. Abortion was illegalized with vicious persecution for both the doctor and the woman who took part. Ironically, this same regime executed many pregnant political prisoners!

In the eleven years since the revolution, the population of Iran rose from 36 million to about 50 million. The Iranian regime was unable to cater for this population growth. Now it has suddenly decided that contraception and abortion are not such great sins after all! Although it has not legalised abortion, it does not prosecute those who take part."

Often women themselves refuse to use contraceptives as they feel the need to be constantly pregnant to provide their husbands with sons. For this reason clinics, if legal, emphasize the repair of gynaecological conditions, the prevention of miscarriages and the spacing of babies rather than actual population control. The Muslim countries have the highest birth-rate in the world-higher than the poorer countries of Latin America.

Education of Women

Girls are under-educated in Islam. One text, "Women in Shariah" spent 90% of its chapter on "Education" discussing the learning of the Qur'an and the Hadith, and the rest on segregating the sexes in schools. Many mosque schools are still content to have their students recite verses from the Qur'an by rote, in Arabic which they may not understand.

No wonder scholarship of secular subjects such as mathematics, science, humanities, business and technical studies is so low in Islam when a disproportionate percentage of the time is given to the Sunna. No wonder non-Muslim governments will not register Muslim schools without demanding that a broadly educational, secular curriculum be taught which will help the students and the nation.

Egyptian psychiatrist, Nawal El-Saadawi ("The Hidden Face of Eve") who specializes in neuroses in women is perhaps bitter:

"Education of female children is a slow process of annihilation, a gradual throttling of her personality and mind... her capacity to think independently... so she will do what others have told her... and be a victim of their decisions."

In 1970, 85% of Arab women were illiterate as compared with 60% of men. Elsewhere similar figures were given for Pakistan but would you believe the definition of literacy? No, not the ability to read a newspaper, 5000 words or some such, but the ability to read and write one's own name!

More recently several countries have made attempts to remedy the state of schooling for girls but much more needs doing. A large part of the problem is that a negative view is held regarding girls' education: it may expose them to moral danger, it may increase their expectations, reduce their docility and modesty, and reduce their chances of marriage to self-opinionated males.

Legal Rights of Women

The punishment for the murder of a woman is the same as for the murder of a man. For example, a Jew killed a girl by crushing her head; the Prophet had him dealt with in the same way. Similarly a woman can be executed for murder.

Jurists differ as to whether a woman can be a judge, government minister, police chief, and so on. There is no doubt about the position of Chief of State, for the Prophet said: "A nation will not prosper if it is led by a woman". To this end the Islamic fundamentalists strove mightily to remove Ms Benazir Bhutto from the Prime Ministership of Pakistan.

Provided that her husband consents a woman can go out to work in certain jobs. However it cannot be to the detriment of the home and family which must come first. Jobs which are excluded include: dancer, barmaid, prostitute, model, waitress, actress or musician. Secretarial and factory work are not haram provided the workpool is exclusively women.

Trading by women, again is acceptable provided that she does not mingle with men. Trading in a market is therefore un-Islamic. This is not true for an older woman. Once she reaches 50 or so she is considered "past it", that is she is no longer a sexual object and can mix with men.

Trading from one's own house where customers are women, girls or small boys raises no problems. Indeed cottage industries in the home means that the women can observe purdah. Possible crafts are sewing, knitting, embroidery, dyeing and painting textiles, basket-making, pottery, jewelry, and so on. A Muslim woman can teach in a non-segregated primary school provided that all the other teachers are female, or in a girl's secondary or tertiary institution. Similarly women doctors and nurses should work in female wards and hospitals. Welfare workers are also needed to deal with young offenders and women.

A Religion For Women?

The ideal religion for a woman (if one was indeed necessary) would have as its mentor an understanding, non-judgmental "exalted bird", a goddess such as Isis, Venus or al-Lat.

Allah and Jehovah are far too male-oriented, based as they were on patriarchal societies where the male was head of the economic unit, the family. The monotheistic male god ensured that the woman was kept in her place in the field, the nursery, the kitchen and the bedroom. The man wanted to know that his property would be passed on to his seed.

Sex in Islam

When one considers the Qur'anic punishments against fornication and adultery, one would think that promiscuity and sex crime in Islam would be minimal. However rape and child abuse are not, in most cases, reported. The reason is that the "victim is blamed": a stigma is attached to having been defiled. For example a study into sexual aggression by grown up men on female children or young girls showed that nearly half of them had been sexually abused in Muslim Egypt-a figure of 45% compared to the United States figure of 24%.

For scientific reasons the ratio of boy to girl babies in any sizeable population is 50:50 so monogamy, group marriage or equal mixtures of polyandry and polygyny are statistically possible. Undoubtedly monogamy is the least complicated socially. However, in Muhammad's day many men were killed plundering and fighting and so it was possible for some males to have more than one wife. Most of Muhammad's eleven wives were widows. Some of them he had made widows himself! (Could you love, honour and obey your husband's murderer?)

Today, however, if richer men have up to four wives, then there must be a number of unmarried or late-marrying males. With prostitution and fornication banned, homosexuality haram, and masturbation disdained that leaves sex within the household. Sisters, cousins and maid-servants often take the place of the girl down the street in western society. A segregated society with strict separation of the sexes creates widespread sexual frustration and suppression. Muhammad's only advice to impecunious men was to weaken the sex drive by fasting.

Islam does not condemn sexuality as such, unlike Paul who managed to become the chief spokesman for Christianity. His ideal state was celibacy. "It is good for a man not to touch a woman. I say to the unmarried... abide even as I (celibate). But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn." (I Corinthians, Chapter 7)

However Qur'anic sex does seem to have the male mainly in mind. The Companions of the Garden (houris) "untouched before by man or djinn" are undoubtedly to delight the male. The handsome youths in Paradise, however, are not promised to the women. (52:24)

Islam has an obsession about virginity for girls. God has provided them with a hymen to prove their chastity. Yet only 40% of girls have a "normal" hymen that will rupture and bleed on the wedding night: for 20% it is so fine that it breaks during childhood, and 40% may have an elastic hymen that may not rupture.

So much for teleology, the concept that everything has a god-given purpose! What divine justice is there that more than 30% of girls have no bleeding at all during their first sexual act.'3 The father of the bride cannot hold up the white towel stained with blood the next morning. The bride is disgraced and may even be divorced or murdered. In a case where such a murder occurs it is often thrown out of court as a question of Izzat, "honour".

There is a double standard, for the male is proud of his sexual exploits and does not stop to think that his fair share of hymens is one per lifetime. To my knowledge, The Prophet Muhammad had only one virgin in his life, the child bride A'isha. He did not regard it as shameful to go where other men had been: he did not, however, cherish the idea of other men succeeding him after his death. (33:53)

There may be several reasons for insisting on virginity in the bride. One, of course, is that there is no danger of having someone else's child attributed to you. Another is that the groom can educate the young bride to his own idiosyncrasies and can not be compared with other lovers. Probably the economic factor is the greater.

Saying "I divorce you" three times is equivalent to the decree nisi in western society except that only the husband can say it. The divorce does not become absolute until the iddah is observed. The iddah of three monthly periods satisfies the ex-husband that he has not left an heir in the womb and satisfies any prospective new husband that the womb is ready for his breeding alone.

Rape In Pakistan

Unfortunately, since Pakistan has reverted to an Islamic state, rape against women has increased dramatically. Of course, official figures would say the opposite as, under Shariah, it is almost impossible to prove that rape has taken place. Rape is often used as revenge against a woman's husband, father, brother or son. When it is used against a political opponent it is called "power rape". The rapists often cut off the noses of their victims to show that they are "fallen women

Rape can only be proven if there are four adult male witnesses. (A female's testimony is not even taken as half-value in the case of capital crimes.) If the case is unproven, the woman can be charged with fornication which carries the death penalty. There are thousands of women in jail in Pakistan charged with zina. Even if the crime is not pursued, relatives may expect the woman to commit suicide, preferably by burning herself. Alternatively the husband may divorce her or, if he has to pay back too much dowry, have her committed to a lunatic asylum. "Human Rights Watch estimates that Pakistani police abuse 70 per cent of the women in their custody, though no officer has ever been penalized. "

Female Circumcision

FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) is carried out among Muslims in Egypt, the Sudan, Saudi Arabia, South Yemen, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, the Philippines, Malaysia, Pakistan and Indonesia. Some apologists point out that it is not performed in Iran, Iraq, Algeria, Libya, Morocco or Tunisia. They will also note that female mutilation was carried out in pre-Islamic times and is practised in some non-Islamic African states. This does not absolve Muslims for continuing the barbaric tradition and throws doubt on the "civilizing role" of Islam. Indeed some of the clergy still advocate female mutilation. Rather they should speak out vigorously to condemn the old practices.

There are three main degrees of female "circumcision" Firstly the "sunna proper" where the clitoral hood or prepuce is removed. This is analogous to male circumcision and does not physically damage female sexuality. It may well do psychological damage especially the way it is performed on older girls: a number of female relatives hold the girl down and the piece of skin is removed with a razor blade.

The practice has no Qur'anic justification and the Prophet did not have his daughter Fatima circumcised. '4 There is one hadith where he is reputed to have told Umm Attiya who performed excisions: "Reduce, but do not destroy." (He would not have liked his sexuality reduced by one micro-watt.) The inference from this hadith is to remove only the glans (tip) of the clitoris. This is analogous to removing the glans (head) of the male penis. To confuse things this circumcision is also known as "sunna" although a better name sometimes used is Khifad ("reduction").

The second level of female mutilation is clitoridectomy where the whole of the clitoris is removed. This is particularly traumatic for the girl: the pain and bleeding may continue for days-the clitoris is well-supplied with blood vessels so that it can swell on stimulation. This is analogous to the removal of the penis of a male as the clitoris is the centre of female sexuality and most women cannot achieve orgasm without it. What a terrible thing to do to your daughter!

If sexuality is given to us by Allah then the implication is that it is there to be used, enjoyed. But sexual desire is not reduced by mutilation, only the means of satisfying it. It is not surprising that instead of being chastely frigid, some of these women go on a "promiscuous" search for satisfaction.

Thirdly there is pharaonic circumcision (often called infibulation, the Roman practice of putting rings across the vaginas of slave women.) All exterior genitalia are removed: the clitoris, the labia minora (the inner lips) and the labia majora (the outer lips). What is left of the vulva is sewn up leaving a small hole for urine and menses to escape, but penetration by a penis is impossible.

On marriage, the macho male tries to penetrate often causing "hufta"-invaginated skin near the vaginal opening. On divorce, social pressures dictate that the opening be sewn up again. On childbirth, the skin must be cut but even then there can be complications: prolonged labor, foetal death and brain damage.

Many males favor the pharaonic method as the vaginal orifice can be made tight to enhance their sexual pleasure even if it is painful to the woman. Indeed, many women find anal sex preferable. If the woman is Makhtoma, too tight, she can take an hour to void her bladder and it is common for the abdomen of a girl to swell with undischarged menstrual blood-girls have even been murdered by fathers thinking that they were pregnant.

Pharaonic circumcision often leads to permanent trauma, frigidity, urinary and gynaecological infections, abortions or sterility, painful menstrual periods, fistulas, scar tissue, abscesses and even cancers. And yet the girl's relatives and the bridegroom expect it. The little girl aged 4 to 8 must have her tahara (purification) as she would be unacceptable in a Ghalaja (uncircumcised) state.

The name "sunna" (Muhammad's traditions) should not be given to any method of circumcision as surveys have shown that the name was the primary reason (religion) given by men for approving circumcision. However the fact should be faced that many of the husbands like to be in full control of the sexual act. He should be able to prolong it or bring it to an end when it suits him and not the woman. They can be compared with necrophiliacs but few normal western men would agree that passivity on the part of the female contributes to sexual enjoyment.

The reason for female mutilation is sometimes given that it prevents promiscuity. A random survey of 200 prostitutes in Cairo showed that 170 of them had suffered a clitoridectomy, exactly the same percentage (85%) as the general population. Of fifty women who had had sexual experience before "circumcision", none had been able to reach the level of satisfaction they knew before-hand.'5

But the girl does not only face physical circumcision, there is also the denial of mental and psychological development. Ignorance of the human body and sex is considered a virtue. Experience and knowledge about life is regarded as shameful. Passivity of the personality is considered a prerequisite of a wife.

Shame and Respect

The woman who chatters loudly, is too bright and perky, flits her glances or is not modest in walk and dress is Be-Sharm, shameless. A young girl who covers her head when her father enters the room is pleasingly modest or bashful. She has Izzat, respect for her father.

The younger women, the unmarried and new brides all show respect to the older women by deferring to them in conversation. Older women transmit the male dictates, are usually guardians of tradition and can be tyrants in their households. When a woman visitor comes, the younger ones push on with their sewing or whatever without interrupting their mother's conversation.

It is rare for a son-in-law to visit his mother-in-law but when he does he must be treated with reserve and diffidence as he is head of her daughter's family. Young women must talk in lowered tones to elder relatives and, except for greetings which they should initiate, only respond and then positively to conversation and instructions. Their heads should be somewhat bowed and their hands covering their mouth. They should observe eye-purdah, that is avoid eye-contact.

In many parts of Islam marriages are still arranged. Even the shame of a "love marriage" is covered up as an arranged one. The bride is expected to be modest and demure. She sits quietly with her head bent and may not come "out of her shell" for weeks or months-not perhaps until she has had her first baby.

It is rare for an unmarried girl to go to a wedding as some of the remarks may be too risque' for her. If they can afford it the bride and groom will have separate bedrooms again for the sake of the modesty of the younger girls in the household. The bride is not addressed by her first name, even by her husband. She is the daughter (bint) of so and so. When her first son is born she becomes mother (umm) of so and so and this name stays with her until she dies.

Nudity

Nakedness is generally considered ugly and the chaste wife sneaks under the bed covers. The Qur'an tells Muslims: "0 ye Children of Adam! We have bestowed clothing upon you to cover your shame..." (7:26) "Let not Satan seduce you in the same manner as he got your parents out of the Garden, stripping them of their raiment, to expose their shame."(7:27)

In hadith 134 (Sahih Muslim) the Messenger said: "A man should not see the private parts of another man, and a woman should not see the private parts of another woman." It is also forbidden for both men and women to see the private parts of the opposite sex. The husband can expose his equipment before his wife and vice versa at the time of sexual intercourse but it is not desirable to see it. It is, however, allowable in case of extreme necessity for example medical examination and treatment. Yet in many cases a husband has not allowed his wife on her death bed to receive treatment from a male doctor.

Hadith 135 (Sahih Muslim) relates how the Children of Israel lost their modesty and indulged in moral depravity by bathing nakedly in front of each other. Only Moses took his bath alone. However, on one occasion he left his clothes on a rock and the rock moved so that Moses had to chase after it. By the time that Moses had caught up with his clothes and chastised the rock by striking it, everyone had had a chance of viewing his equipment. This cleared up a bone of contention: some had thought that Moses was modest because he had a scrotal hernia.

"Not Without My Daughter"

The villain in this true story is Sayyed Bozorg Mahmoody.The title Sayyed signifies that he is a direct descendant of the Prophet. He was brought up by religious parents but went from Iran to the USA as a young man and did not then strictly observe Muslim customs. "Moody", as he was nicknamed studied, became an anaesthetist and was quite "Americanized" when he met Betty, a divorcee. After three years of courtship they married in a mosque but he made no efforts to convert her to Islam.

Several years later, however, in 1979, Moody was inspired by the revolutionary situation in Iran, participated in marches against the Shah, bought a high-powered radio receiver to listen to short-waves, read all the pro-Khomeini literature that he could and entertained young Iranian students. The Islamic religion started to assume a greater importance in his life.

In 1980 they had a daughter whom he named Mahtob, Moonlight. When she was four, Moody insisted on going for a two-week holiday to visit his relations in Iran. Betty did not want to go but was afraid that he might take Mahtob with him and that she would never see her again. Her husband swore on the Qur'an that they all would return to the USA; little did she know that one can break such an oath if it is for the greater good of Allah. Indeed any agreement with a non-believer may be broken by a believer.

When the fortnight expired, Betty discovered that the Iranian Legal Code considered that she and her daughter were Iranian citizens and, being women, second-class citizens at that. She could be executed if she tried to remove Mahtob from the Islamic Republic against her husband's wishes.

Moody became more and more under the sway of his family and the macho hero would hit Betty whenever he felt she needed it. He had his family spy on her and would not allow her to use the telephone. Someone accompanied her whenever she went out.

The customs and lack of hygiene disgusted her. Several times she was mobbed by revolutionary guards with machine guns because she showed a wisp of hair. The inconsistencies were incongruous: a children's TV program showed a woman giving birth to a baby-not that I disapprove of that-but the woman was still encumbered by a chador to cover her face. Similarly women would breast-feed in the streets and men urinate in the gutter.

For a while Betty made out to be accommodating to Islam to gain greater freedom from her husband. She found in a Qur'anic class of English-speaking women that wife-bashing was the norm.

Mahtob started school and with the other little five year olds had to yell out, "Death to America".

Betty made contact with the US Interests Section of the Swiss Embassy and when Moody found out, he threatened to kill her. He became less and less rational and no doubt would have dispensed with Betty but he needed her to liquidate his assets in the USA. He was prepared to allow her to return home to do this and to see her dying father but, of course, would not allow Mahtob to accompany her.

Betty had been lucky enough to find a safe-house in Teheran: some of the democratic forces were prepared to risk their lives to help people escape. They even paid up front for guides and transport out of their own pockets, with the chance of never being repaid.

One day when Moody was called away in an emergency they made their escape. Although it was winter and there was snow on the mountains they were, with the aid of Kurdish smugglers, able to flee to Turkey.

Safely back in the USA they have changed their names to protect themselves from the long arm of Iran. Apart from co-writing her book, Betty has gone on lecture tours to warn women against marrying Muslims. They may seem attentive lovers and doting fathers but in the background is the brainwashing, the sense of male superiority and the Allah-consciousness.

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