A church group in West Grove, Pennsylvania, asked Dr. Kaukab Siddique a number of questions based reports in the media.
The questions, each followed by Dr. Siddique's answer, are listed here.

Questions and Answers:

• Q. Women seem to be totally under male domination in Muslim countries. This can be seen in the heavy veils they wear.
  
• Ans: During colonial times Muslims became inward looking in their approach to religion in their attempts to safeguard their way of life from the Europeans. As a result they became conservative and restrictive in their attitudes towards their own women. Many of them started confusing CONSERVATISM with religiosity. Males used the situation to impose their dominance on women. Thus, among the older generations of present day Muslims, purda or hijab is worn usually owing to insistence by males or to please males or often because the males consider women their property.
  
• However, RESURGENT ISLAM sees the purda and hijab very differently. Here the Islamic dress is the sign of a woman's acceptance of the WILL of ALLAH and as a form of resistance to Euro-American hegemony. University women are now wearing the complete outer covering signifying their pride in being Muslim, their love of Allah and their refusal to be objectified as commodities in the consumer market. The more radical among them also wear the face veil.
  
• Q. What about female mutilation?
  
• Ans: You probably mean female genital mutilation? ["Yes" from questioner.] All forms of mutilation are forbidden in Islam. Even in war, mutilation of enemies is not permitted. Female genital mutilation [FGM] is a pagan custom prevalent in tribal cultures in Africa and parts of Asia, including India. In some Muslim cultures where Islamic rights of women have been sidetracked, this abuse of women occurs.
  
• To fully understand the Islamic opposition to female genital mutilation [FGM] one must understand the Islamic view of sexual pleasure. FGM is carried out to deny sexual pleasure to the female. By contrast, Islam recognizes the right of the female to sexual pleasure EQUAL to that of the male. The Prophet, pbuh, answering a question about whether a female too has sexual desires and dreams made his famous comment that: "Women are the twins of men." (1) In Islam, a woman can sue for divorce if her husband cannot give her sexual satisfaction. There is an entire chapter in the Qur'an about the woman who complained to the Prophet, pbuh, about her husband ignoring her and claiming that "her back to him was like the back of his mother." The Qur'an supported the woman. (2)
  
• Q. Doesn't the Qur'an say that a man should treat his wife as if she is his "tilth" and that she should be subservient to him?
  
• Ans: The verse [in chapter 2 of the Qur'an] legitimizes sexuality and links it to having children. Sex is honored in Islam between husband and wife and marriage is strongly encouraged. The verse's audience are MEN. It is not addressed to women and it does not tell women to be subservient. [3] In fact Islam does not allow, in ANY of its texts, a man to force himself on his wife. Islam however does teach the wife to be accepting of the husband because she is all he has. He cannot fornicate or commit adultery and the punishments for such acts are severe. So, if a wife keeps denying her husband's needs "the angels curse and leave the house." [4]
  
• Q. We have seen pictures of the Taliban shooting a woman and beating women in enforcing the burqa or strict Islamic dress. Isn't that harsh?
  
• Ans: CONTEXT is essential in understanding people and nations other than ours. Afghanistan has been ravaged by war ever since 1979, that is 32 years. It fought Soviet occupation and more than 7 million Afghans became refugees. After the Soviet withdrawal, the U.S. refused to support the establishment of an Islamic government in Kabul. The result was civil war and the general breakdown of law and order. Now the country is occupied by NATO and the war goes on. During the civil war, crime and brigandage became common. The people appealed to a Taliban leader named Mullah Umar to save them, in a specific case of rape. Mullah Umar hanged the rapist and drew support as he moved from village to village. Finally the Taliban under his command captured Kabul. Within that context, a woman and a man were executed by the Taliban after being convicted. The conviction was carried out in a stadium so that the public may attend and realize that the rule of Law would be enforced. An agent from a fringe communist group, known as RAWA, photographed the execution and passed it on to U.S. intelligence. It was shown about a million times on CNN and other media and became the source of propaganda to demonize the Taliban and to justify war against them.
  
• The Taliban imposed burqa on the women of Kabul and there you have the second photo of a woman being hit with a stick by a Taliban regulator. Again, this was used to justify U.S. military intervention. The source of the photo was again RAWA. At this point Hillary Clinton took on the cause of Afghan women. Most people did not realize that Kabul was the base for Communism in Afghanistan. The Taliban captured Kabul but the total punishment they imposed was ONE execution and a few beatings wih sticks. Compare with other cities which have been taken by force. The Soviet took Berlin and other German cities and RAPED EVERY GERMAN WOMAN, from age 8 to 80. [5]The U.S. occupation forces often "took" starving German women for nothing more than a chocolate.
  
• The RESURGENCE of the Taliban, 2005 till today, has become possible owing to the support of Afghan women. The Taliban are fighting NATO and winning because the women are telling their sons, husbands and brothers to go and fight the occupiers. It is said that the women do not want to see the face of a husband who does not oppose the occupiers. NO WOMAN HAS EVER BETRAYED THE TALIBAN. Thus the stories of Taliban being against women are nothing more than war time propaganda.
  
• Q. What about honor killings? Why are they permitted in Islam?
  
• Ans: Islam STRICTLY FORBIDS all violence against women including "honor killings." In Shari'a Law, a man who expresses suspicion against the chastity of a woman must bring four witnesses or such expression could result in severe punishment. Gossip against innocent and/or naive/careless women is strongly prohibited. [6] "Honor killings" do take place in Muslim countries, not owing to religion but owing to conservatism where the man thinks the woman is his property. Similar crimes are committed in the USA and are related to the activities of "stalkers" who have a similar view of women. The highest rate of "honor" killings is in Jordan, a highly secularized but conservative country. Its king is a playboy whose exploits feed the male ego of Jordanians. His father used to work for the CIA, so the moral quotient is very low
  

REFERENCES:
1. Hadith, Sunan of Abu Dawud.
2. The Qur'an, chapter 58.
3. Chapter 2, verse 223.
4. See 2:228 for mutuality of rights. Men have a "degree" above them only in divorce because they don't have to wait for re-marriage. Men often use this verse to claim superiority.
5. Armageddon. The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945 by Max Hastings
6. The Qur'an 24:4
WRCI.org

2011-11-27 Sun 15:14:31 cst