> Bob Brown wrote:
>
> >yoshie and abu, i agree with you up to a point, what you say about US
> >imperialism is certainly very true, but don't islamic culture and islamic
> >men have to take some resposibility for their sexism and patriarchalism,
> >and patriarchal afghani men responsibility for the Taliban, etc? after all
> >the US did not teach the Taliban to be patriarchal assholes they got there
> >on their own. what really interests me is how patriarchal
> >capitalism/imperialism is so two-faced when it comes to women; pushing
> >liberal feminism for the US and europe while patriarchal fascism is quietly
> >supported or tolerated in the 3rd world.
> >--
Its wrong to blame Islam wholesale for the status of women in Islam-dominated countries. There is no basis in the Quran for many of the Sharia laws that commit women to an inferior social status than men. Part of the problem stems from the pre-capitalist agrarian economies that some Islamic countries (like Aghanistan) inherited. Class was reproduced through sons inheriting land thus "Islamic" laws forbidding females from inheriting land or wealth of any kind (this is most clear in Sunnism). This is clearly in contradiction to the Quran which states:
"Men shall have a share in what their parents and kinsmen leave; women shall have a share in what their parents and kinsmen leave; whether it be a little or much, they are legally entitled to their share." Chap 4 verses 7&12.
The Quran guards against female infanticide:
"you shall not kill your children because of want. We will provide for tehm and you. TO kill them is a great sin." Chap17:31 also chap16:57-8.
I would also note that _all_ major religions preach female inferiority. This is to preserve the status quo and the class structure by preserving the patriarchy, keeping women economically dependent on men. Another area that is oft criticised by liberals si the death penaltly for adultery which is in force in (I think) all Islamic countries. _Nowhere_ in the Quran does it state that adultery is punishable by death. There are two verses on adultery:
'If any of your women commits fornication, call in four witnesses from among yourselves against them; if they testify to guilt confine them in their houses until death overtakes them or till Allah finds another way for them. It two men among you commit indenceny punish them both. If they repent and mend their ways, let them be, Allah is merciful." Chap4 v15/16.
and
"The adulterer and adulteress shall each be given a hundred lashes...Those who defame honorable women and cannot produce four witnesses shall be given eighty lashes...If a man accuses his wife but has no witnesses except himself he shall swear four times by Allah that he is telling the truth, calling down upon himself the curse of allah if he is lying. But if his wife swears by Allah thathis charge is false and calls down Allah's curse upon herself if it be true, she shall receive no punishment." chap24,2-9.
Clearly the death penaltly and "honor killings" for adultery are not sanctioned by the Quran (though they are in the Bible see Levitus 20:10.) The penalty is 100 lashes and 80 lashes if a male wrongly accuses a female. Further, to prove adultery you need four eyewitnesses. In how many cases will their be 4 eyewitnesses to a couple having sex?
The first verse addresses homosexuality whic is severly punished in Islamic countries and punishable by death in Afghanistan (even though the Taliban practice it themselves.) If homo men repent they are not to punished.
What has happened is that Islamicists have adopted their own laws (through feqh and Torah)that are not based on the Quran but rather to express, preserve and protect the ideology and domination of the ruling class. There is some room within Islam for women to better their conditions.
Sam Pawlett