Shakila, the ex-Muslim living in a Muslim country who blogs at Liberated, has a new post up about Muslim men, Muslim women, and marriage:
Each time I see a Muslim woman dressed up in the complete Islamic burqa with only her dead expressionless eyes piercing through the black face veil, I cannot but help feel extremely helpless and distressed. It breaks my heart to see a woman being treated worse than an animal. On top of that, they actually feel they are doing the right thing by subjugating themselves to the tyranny of their husbands or fathers.
Mr. Spencer:
I am so releived that these evil people will be locked up for 25 years.
Let's remember the four beautiful women who lost their life to their hands. So sad!
Some clothing selections can have no defense. The "outfit" of the KKK is one of them. The burqa is another.
I am offended by the sight of a burka! Will my sensitivity count for anything?
Burn the hijab, death to the Islamic female slave rag...
Damn... now that could be the beginnings of decent ex-muslimah rap tune! lolll
Take care yer self Shakila! many brighter days are sure to come...
After examining Muhammad's hadiths, the famous muslim scholar Al-Qurtubi writes:
"A woman may be likened to a sheep, a cow or a camel for all are ridden."
Al-Qurtubi (172/15)
Yep, islam elevates women!
Phyllis Chesler calls Islam "female aparteid".
Not trying to split hairs, but it appears 'Liberated' doesn't know the difference between the Burkha and the Niqab. The latter leaves the woman's eyes exposed, the former has them covered by a cloth mesh.
Cornelius,
There are a lot of regional and other stylistic variations of the burqa. Some have a very fine thin see-through veil material for the eye aperture rather than the coarser cloth mesh.
"Each time I see a Muslim woman dressed up in the complete Islamic burqa with only her dead expressionless eyes piercing through the black face veil,"
I didn't bat an eye when I read that (no pun intended), because I assumed Liberated was talking about the fine see-through type of veil over the visual area, through which they eyes of the wearer can be seen.
And seven years ago, if someone had told me I would be on the internet commenting on Muslim women's traditional clothing, I would have told them they were crazy. Now I think I must be crazy.
Cornelius, dear fellow, ''piercing through'' implies a covering of the said eyes, surely, does it not?
Important post, Shakila.
I've been with my husband over 23 years now, and am overall very happy.
But that would *not* be true for me in the average Muslim marriage, where it would be anything but a relationship of equals. I would much rather be on my own than under someone's "ownership".
You can, of course, make your own choice—indeed, that is the whole point. But so you know, marriages of equals are indeed possible. It is, in fact, the legal norm in the West.
Many posters here have mentioned that they are in equal relationships. It isn't the case everywhere that one is forced to choose between family and freedom.
And—as I'm all too well aware—many of your Muslim sisters do not even have that choice. They are forcibly married off, and if they have a strong sense of self, are frequently beaten for it.
Niqab, burqa, chador, abaya, hijab, etc and so forth...who cares what it's called, whatever it is, it's the Mohammedan Female Slave Rag.
And it's a black flag of jihad. It's her Sharia badge; the sign that she's a Mohammedan Gang Moll, out of bounds to anyone who is not a Gang member and out of bounds to other Gang Members so long as she is visibly under the control of her official Slavemaster (and the flip side of this is that any woman who is seen NOT wearing the Mohammedan Female Slave Rag, is deemed to be un-owned - like an unbranded animal running loose - and is therefore lawful prey, to be seized by any Mohammedan Male Gang Member who feels so inclined and thinks he can get away with it).
N Maruani's classic summar of Iranian-French female writer Chahdortt Djavann's analysis of the significance of the Mohammedan female slave rag:
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-EdContributors/Article.aspx?id=148041
"She [Djavann] writes that the veil cannot be presented as a personal choice, disregarding centuries of Islamic history.
'She adds that it is inappropriate to probe the motivations of every young girl wearing the veil when what is at stake is a political agenda.
'Djavann explains further: "The veil has never been innocent or innocuous. **It has always signified the submission of women to men and the denial of legal rights to women in Islamic countries."** {my emphasis - dda}.
...
'ADDRESSING THE growing phenomenon of veiled women in Europe, Djavann points out its centrality to Islamist propaganda:
"The political, ideological and psychological impact of the veil goes far beyond its appearance... If this weren't the case, why would the Islamists make it their main focus?... It constitutes a constant call to order by Islamic law."
Those two passages are the core point that must be grasped.
"The veil has never been innocent or innocuous.It has always signified the submission of women to men and the denial of legal rights to women in Islamic countries".
"It [the veil, the slave rag, no matter whether it be a simple, innocent-seeming headscarf or the burqa as worn in Afghanistan - dda] constitutes a constant call to order by Islamic law."
I see a Mohammedan female in her slave rag scuttling behind her male owner, and I do not merely see a slave; I feel the same shock that someone in an Allied country during WWII would have felt, had they seen someone strutting down the street wearing a Swastika armband or sporting the SS deathshead.
Veil is the most hated abject there is for me. When I see it, rapped around my daughter's head, I cringe inside but I put on a smile, so I do not hurt her feelings ..
I know, she feels my reject to her veil … there is no help for this situation ….
Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhh
I'm guessing most muslim women would be offended if a white Westerner were to try to liberate them of their headbags.
That all said, it is difficult if not impossible for a citizen of the U.S.A. to understand any of this. Why? Because we have never lived it, seen it, or imagined such uncivilized ideology.
Most of our legislators are liars, greedy, and eaily paid off. But they wont endorse, nor approve of such barbaric logic as has Sharia Law.
It has taken me nearly 23 years to realize what I now know about Muhammad, Sharia, and Jihad, which is probably only about 50% of it.
It is very unlike our laws, ideology, and faith. So much so that we may never totally understand such behavior or beliefs.
And so to Shakila I say give us non-Muslims time to fully consider the logic and laws of Sharia. Now that the Koran has been decoded (see Bill Warners writings) it should be easier for us to understand how this can be possible.