Posted on 12/05/2007 6:22:34 PM PST by DogByte6RER
“A good wife must live in fear”
05/07/2007
SAUDI ARABIA
Women are forbidden to drive, to show their head and to speak in public, and to shake a man’s hand. On television, preachers incite husbands to beat their wives “for their own good”. Saudi journalists describe the countless prohibitions facing Muslim women in their country and appeal for a distinction between religious truths and social customs.
Riyadh (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Without permission, women cannot even drive a car or change the colour of their clothes, and television preachers warn that women who shake a man’s hand are committing “adultery of the hand”. Citing such examples, Saudi journalists have criticized the social mentality that rules the relationship between wife and husband.
In the Saudi daily Al-Watan, Fatima Al-Faqih described the many bans imposed on Saudi women: “[They] are forbidden to drive, forbidden to travel without permission [of their husband or father or whoever has authority over them] , forbidden to stay alone at a hotel without permission, forbidden to name their own children without [a man's] consent... forbidden to leave their homes or to take a job without permission... forbidden to change the color of their abayas [traditional, long tunic], forbidden to go to school or to the university without permission.”
In some Saudi cities, a woman cannot even “show her face”, she cannot get married without permission nor can she “remain married if one of her male relatives decides that her husband's lineage is inferior to hers... nor can she sue for divorce without apologizing and paying a fine.” Without permission, she “cannot keep her children after the divorce... hold a senior position in the private or public sectors... annoy her husband, and finally, a woman's voice is considered [a form of] defilement, and she is forbidden to speak in public.”
Many men, writes Hasna Al-Quna’ir on the Al-Riyadh daily, justify the inferiority of women by resorting to a “distorted reading of the sayings of the Prophet”, a tactic often used by television preachers. For example, there is a verse that says: “A tribe that nominates a woman [as leader] will not succeed”. The journalist explained that on the strength of this saying, an expert said on television that wives should not be asked for their views as they were completely emotional. Another television expert, to “defend the virtue of women”, “incites fathers, brothers and husbands”, telling them that “a girl who is not beaten from an early age grows up to be a rebellious woman, difficult to control” and that “a woman who leaves her home without a veil is like a woman who goes out naked”. The same preacher warned Muslim women that not covering their heads was “the main reason that women are seduced and fall [into sin].” Another preacher said the woman “who shakes the hand of a man that is not her husband is guilty of... 'adultery of the hand'”. The journalist said that the sayings of the Prophet needed to be considered in the “historical circumstances and particular context” in which they were pronounced and that “religious duties” had to be distinguished from norms of social conduct that were controversial and not subject to dogmas of faith, “like the custom of covering the face”.
Due to this culture, writes Maha Al-Hujailan on the Al-Watan, “women live in constant fear… that the husband may take another wife.” “Only women living in this fear properly fulfill the role of the wife, while a woman who feels assured that her husband will not take another wife comes to disdain her husband and her family life...This culture causes a women to feel mentally and psychologically inferior, like a quarrelsome child who must be constantly supervised, intimidated and punished into performing her duties.”
The journalist said that women who felt this way may even believe that “a good man who respects them is nothing but a weak and unstable man... In their opinion, an ideal man is a violent one who humiliates his wife.”
Hasna Al-Quna’ir added: “The woman is the victim of this insular culture, and her only salvation would be a reorganization of the cultural structure of [our] entire society."
Their silence in regards to Islam is deafening.
This report just further illustrates why Islam is "The Religion of Peace."
Big deal, did you see the last American Idol rerun?
( /sarc)
What's the saying about a stopped clock being right twice a day, Hillary?
Saudi Arabia needs a Lysistrata.
Maybe we should have a demonstration? One day, in a small town somewhere, hold a "Sharia Day" event. All the women in burkas, getting beaten by their husbands, prohibited from driving or even going outside without a male escort. All the men force to wear turban and put on fake beards, go to the bathroom according to Mad Mo's instructions, all that stuff.
It would be enlightening. And you know what? CAIR would protest to no end, to see Americans simulating the world that CAIR fights to create, because it would expose their Arab cultural backwardness and fascism.
Nah..only Christian men are benevolent enough to change abuse against women and then have those same women turn against them when they are given power. In our world, the femi-nazi movement will be declared obsolete by other women, then and only then will life become better for women in the ME.
The opposite of fear is faith, and the author of faith is the Lord. What does that tell you about the author of fear?
Females rank down at the bottom with sheep, goats and camels. While living in Saudi we saw men and boys riding the cab of pickups while all females (any age) rode in the pickup bed with whatever animals were being transported, even a small camel.
While living in Saudi, we were invited to my drivers home for dinner one night. His wife served the meal, but couldn't look at anyone much less speak, then disappeared back to the "kitchen" where she ate alone.
Having control over other people makes a mess of the controllers and the controlled. It’s a sick way to live one’s life.
People always say money is the root of all evil. If I had my way, I would change that to say, the need for absolute power is the root of all evil.
I actually agree with that. It brings riches, but it's not the point.
ping
O I don’t know, I kinda like their “rent a weekend wife” program.
It's a "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" situation for these bitter hags. They view we conservative Americans as their #1 enemy, and it hasn't passed their notice that the Islamists despise us as well. ...albeit for vastly different reasons. Having this major item in common with the Mohammedans, the hags duly ignore their violently anti-women culture.
Exactly
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