Interview Transcript
We as Muslim women now . . . When I was a Muslim woman, we were brought up to believe in our own submission – submission to the will of God, submission to the will of your parents, submission to the will of your husband. And submission to the will of the husband is absolute except when he asks you to forsake Allah. Now if we have been indoctrinated to believe that, then that’s how we act. That’s how we behave. But not all of us . . . and that’s I think what’s so fascinating about the human mind – is that you cannot enslave the human entirely. Many of us have been exposed to other ideas. We have our own personalities, seek freedom. We can’t, I think, wake up to the programming and de-program ourselves. And if we become aware of the fact that what we are programming our kids from generation to generation is repressive. We can decide not to do that and to take on alternative ideas. We can be, for instance . . . We can wake up to the fact that the God that says in Chapter 4 verse 34 . . . tells the husband "you have the right to beat your woman", is the same God that after we are beaten and bruised, that we pray to for comfort. Just waking up to that dissonance alone will, I think, create a platform for change. It will create the grounds for change. Recorded on: 8/15/07
Who is the Muslim woman?
Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
The will of the husband is absolute except when he asks you to forsake Allah, says Hirsi Ali.
November 18, 2007 | In Politics & Policy
Discuss
Logan Mackey on January 7, 2008, 7:34 PM
Do you think that womens rights will one day phase out old world religions that repress womens rights? And if that day comes, Do you think women would take the choice of living in a repressive religion as a act of faith. or live a life of equal rights, and faithless? Do you think these religions would adapt to a female equal.Khatera Rahmani on January 18, 2008, 3:23 AM
I feel her opinion is too narrow. As a Modern Muslim woman, I didn’t relate at all to her view. She brings up a very controversial verse from the Quran, Chapter 4, Verse 34, which has been commonly interpreted as giving men permission to beat their wife/wives. However this verse has been interpreted in many different ways that do not condone violence and also needs to be understood in a historical context. One of the recent interpretations offered by Laleh Bakhtiar, is that the verse calls for the husband to tell his wife to “go away”, which is supported by accounts of Muhammad becoming reclusive when angry at his wife. There are also verse within the Quran that condemn abusing women. The prophet Muhammad has been quoted to have said “Do not beat your wife like you beat your camel, for you will be flogging her early in the day and taking her to bed at night.” The common interpretation of the verse also contradicts the verses referring to divorce. It states in the Quran that a women must not be “mistreated” if she asks for a divorce. In a historical context, the verse is actually reforming the much more violent practices of the time. I don’t think its fair to simply write off societal follies on a religious text. There are many devout Muslims in America, and domestic violence is no more a problem for the Islamic community as it is for the rest of Americans (a statistic I picked up from an article in the New York Times). As for a response to your comment Logan, I don’t think its “old world religion” we are up against. I think the more appropriate term should be “old world practices”.
Omar Sapayeen on January 21, 2008, 12:30 PM
In the 60 or so years that Pakistan’s existed, it’s managed to have a female Prime Minister. Bangladesh has had two. Iran has had a female vice president. How many female presidents have the US had?
That Islam does not have women wearing mini skirts and participating in wet t-shirt competitions doesn’t mean women are without rights in Islam. The percentage of women in university in Iran exceeds men. And yet American propagandists try to push this notion that Iran, and Islam in general, oppresses women.
There are people of a backward and rural mindset who mistreat women. The Taliban as a whole was abhorrent towards women. But guess what? Iran was more vocal on Taliban’s human rights record long before the US pretended to care. Abuse of women is a problem everywhere where men adopt an archaic mindset.
Mary Coyote on March 25, 2008, 5:33 PM
Thank you OmarS for your observations. Unfortunately, they are flawed.
Please note that Iran is a very different culture and represents more the differences within Islam than representing the typical Muslim. They are not Arabic like their neighbors, but Persian; they are the ‘rebels’ of Islam, Shite, rather than the Sunni majority. Their culture was the birthplace of Monotheistic beliefs (Ahura Mazda of the Zoroastrian faith. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahura_Mazda) adapted by Hebrews and Christians alike and again re-adapted by Muslims.
So to use Iran as example of Islam in comparison to the west is disingenuous.
I think the point is more clear that cultures held captive by their monotheistic religious beliefs tend to be hierarchical and tend to oppress rather than liberate. Western culture has a 500 year history of of fighting to break free from this oppression-of-faith where Muslims have not. Of course, America is an aberration here, with the last 30 years spent resurrecting religious oppression of freedoms; a historical anomaly.
Muslim women’s choices seems to be acceptance of western rights values or fighting their own battles. Judging from how long it took the west to free itself of religious-based oppression, I would argue that Muslims need find a way to adopt current rights-values rather than spend the next several hundred years struggling against the chains of Islam.
Mary Coyote on March 25, 2008, 5:41 PM
Ayaan Hirsi Ali; I want you to know that you are beloved honored and respected by anyone who loves humanity and respects the rights of individuals. Coyote loves you.
Omar Sapayeen on August 10, 2008, 12:51 AM
I mentioned Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Iran. Both Pakistan and Bangladesh are Sunni. I could mention Indonesia. I could mention Brunei. In the Mid East, religious fanaticism is mostly a reactionary response to the totalitarian ‘pro-west’ dictators. Syed Qutb’s perspective on the need for Islamic radicalism grew while he was imprisoned and tortured in Egypt. The liberation movement of the Palestinians used to be entirely secular until they found that approach failed, and they turned to religion.
If you consider the world of Muslims, it’s Hrsi Ali who is promoting a false image of Islam, and profiteering from that hate mongering.
Societies that are godless have their own flaws. Consider what was the Soviet Union, consider North Korea..Consider China. Nations and cultures with no moral underpinnings. That part of America that exploits teenagers as sexual toys for an audiences pleasures…The Paris Hiltons and Lindsay Lohans..How is exploiting women as sexual pleasures better than Islamic rules on Hijab?
There’s a moderate middle ground that is possible, but condemning religion, Islam particularly, isn’t a solution.
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