• Why Jihad Watch?
  • About Robert Spencer and Staff Writers
  • FAQ
  • Books
  • Muhammad
  • Islam 101
  • Privacy

Jihad Watch

Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

Sharia in action in Mali: Women whipped for having cellphone images of pop stars, venturing out unveiled

Feb 7, 2013 8:46 am By Robert Spencer

Oddly enough, Western feminists are completely silent about this.

Actually, it isn’t odd at all. I have taken feminists to task more than once not only for their failure to stand up for Muslim women, but for their active excuse-making for the oppression of those women. See, for example, my article in FrontPage, “Feminists Betray Muslim Women,” on how the feminist writer Laura Briggs justifies the oppression of Muslim women.

See also “Two Women Stoned: Feminists Mum,” by David Horowitz, Janet Levy and me; “A Response to Feminists on the Violent Oppression of Women in Islam,” by David Horowitz and me; and my article “The Conservative Vanguard of the Feminist Movement” in National Review.

Other articles I’ve written in FrontPage on issues revolving around women’s rights in Islam include “Covering Up the Plight of Muslim Women“; “There Must Be Violence Against Women“; “Muhammad Mended His Own Clothes!“; Open Season on Muslim Women“; “Women Are Treated Better in Islam?.”

Also there are my articles in Human Events, “Unveiled Women and ‘Uncovered Meat’“; “Media Ignore Abuses of Women in Islam.”

I also coauthored the monograph “The Violent Oppression of Women in Islam” (available as a pdf here).

“Timbuktu: the women singled out for persecution,” by David Blair in the Telegraph, February 3 (thanks to all who sent this in):

The harsh reality inflicted on the people of Timbuktu by al-Qaeda and its allies is betrayed by the ordeal of Azahara Abdou Maiga.

Five of the Islamists placed a gun to the 20-year-old’s head, ordered her to keep silent or be killed, and then raped her one by one.

“I did not cry out,” said Miss Maiga. “I just cried inside of me.”

For 10 months, Timbuktu endured occupation by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and other extremists. This isolated city of 60,000 people in the Saharan wastes of northern Mali was compelled to discover what life would be like under al-Qaeda’s rule. As such, Timbuktu became the unlikely test bed for the world that Osama bin Laden’s followers wish to create.

That era, which began with AQIM’s capture of the city last March, ended a week ago when French paratroopers and helicopter gunships forced them to flee Timbuktu. In the aftermath, the full story of a brutal occupation is now beginning to emerge.

Perhaps inevitably, the women of Timbuktu were singled out for special persecution. Miss Maiga committed two offences in Islamist eyes: she sometimes failed to cover her face when venturing out. Most heinously of all, she carried pictures of Western pop stars, notably Celine Dion, on her mobile phone.

The latter crime was discovered by four Islamist gunmen who stopped her in the street last November. When they saw the offending images, they beat her with a whip made from camel skin.

“I did not count how many times they hit me,” she said.

From then on, they kept track of her movements and watched the home that she shares with her parents and siblings.

In late November, she ventured outside to hang some laundry — and a gunman noticed she was apparently unveiled.

She was immediately arrested and taken to a large sand-coloured building in the city centre which AQIM had commandeered as its security headquarters. Timbuktu’s police station and military base were both considered too vulnerable, so the Islamists had taken over the local branch of Mali’s biggest bank, transforming its rooms into cells and interrogation centres.

Miss Maiga, terrified by the memory of her previous beating, suffered a nervous collapse.

“I had a breakdown. I lost control. There was no one to help me.”

She injured herself by kicking a glass door, covering her left leg in jagged cuts. But her guards refused to treat her, leaving her bleeding in a cell overnight.

The following day, she received some basic hospital treatment, before being returned to her cell, unable to walk. When her father came to plead for her release, he was sent away with a warning: “If you come back again, your daughter will stay here for a month and we will beat her every day.”

On the fourth night, she was taken from her cell and into a neighbouring room where five men, all with their faces concealed, took it in turns to rape her. “They put a gun at my head and they said ‘if you say a word, you will be dead’.”

The following morning, they let her go, but the Islamists were not finished with Miss Maiga’s family. When AQIM’s gunmen fled the French assault a week ago, her half brother, Mustapha, 35, celebrated by shouting “Vive la France!” on a street-corner. A vengeful fighter shot him dead. He left a wife, Zainab, and a four-month-old son, Yusuf.

Near where Mustapha was murdered stands a street market with a cluster of ramshackle stalls. This was AQIM’s chosen venue for public punishments.

Salaka Gikai, 25, was accused of consorting with a married man and sentenced to receive 100 lashes. The judge of the Sharia court decided to show clemency by reducing the total to 95.

Miss Gikai was then forced to squat in the dust in the middle of the market while 10 men took turns to flog her with a stick. “Everybody was there: women, children, every kind of people,” said Miss Gikai. “I had blood everywhere.”…

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Follow me on Facebook

Filed Under: Mali, Sharia, women's rights in Islam


Learn more about RevenueStripe...

FacebookYoutubeTwitterLog in

Subscribe to the Jihad Watch Daily Digest

You will receive a daily mailing containing links to the stories posted at Jihad Watch in the last 24 hours.
Enter your email address to subscribe.

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!
If you are forwarding to a friend, please remove the unsubscribe buttons first, as they my accidentally click it.

Subscribe to all Jihad Watch posts

You will receive immediate notification.
Enter your email address to subscribe.
Note: This may be up to 15 emails a day.

Donate to JihadWatch
FrontPage Mag

Search Site

Translate

The Team

Robert Spencer in FrontPageMag
Robert Spencer in PJ Media

Articles at Jihad Watch by
Robert Spencer
Hugh Fitzgerald
Christine Douglass-Williams
Andrew Harrod
Jamie Glazov
Daniel Greenfield

Contact Us

Terror Attacks Since 9/11

Archives

  • 2020
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2019
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2018
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2017
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2016
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2015
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2014
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2013
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2012
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2011
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2010
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2009
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2008
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2007
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2006
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2005
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2004
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2003
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • March

All Categories

You Might Like

Learn more about RevenueStripe...

Recent Comments

  • Brando on New study reveals that Muslim religiosity strongly linked to hatred towards the West
  • gravenimage on Audio: Robert Spencer on Muslim Brotherhood influence in a Biden/Harris administration
  • Boycott Turkey on New study reveals that Muslim religiosity strongly linked to hatred towards the West
  • gravenimage on Audio: Robert Spencer on Muslim Brotherhood influence in a Biden/Harris administration
  • gravenimage on Audio: Robert Spencer on Muslim Brotherhood influence in a Biden/Harris administration

Popular Categories

dhimmitude Sharia Jihad in the U.S ISIS / Islamic State / ISIL Iran Free Speech

Robert Spencer FaceBook Page

Robert Spencer Twitter

Robert Spencer twitter

Robert Spencer YouTube Channel

Books by Robert Spencer

Jihad Watch® is a registered trademark of Robert Spencer in the United States and/or other countries - Site Developed and Managed by Free Speech Defense

Content copyright Jihad Watch, Jihad Watch claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to their respective owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish for it appear on this site, please E-mail with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.

Our mailing address is: David Horowitz Freedom Center, P.O. Box 55089, Sherman Oaks, CA 91499-1964

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.