[Warrior-Mentor]

Originally Posted by Richard

At the time of Muhammad's birth, women in 7th century Arabia had few if any rights. Even the right of life could be in question, since it was not uncommon for small girls to be buried alive during times of scarcity. In the Qur'an, it is said that on Judgment Day "buried girls" will rise out of their graves and ask for what crime they were killed. Part of Muhammad's legacy was to end infanticide and establish explicit rights for women.

Child Marriage. This photo wasn’t taken in the 7th Century.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lmw6-zrPSi...fghanistan.jpg

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/....5870970c-500wi

According to UNICEF, 57 percent of marriages in Afghanistan involve girls below sixteen years of age. [1][2]

Originally Posted by Richard

Islam teaches that men and women are equal before God.

Stop. “The indemnity for the death or injury of a woman is one-half the indemnity paid for a man. The indemnity paid for a Jew or Christian is one-third of the indemnity paid for a Muslim.” [3]

In fact, by Islamic law:
“The husband may forbid his wife to leave the home.” [4]
“Men are already destroyed when they obey women.” [5]
When a wife commits rebelliousness, he (her husband) “may hit her, but not in a way that injures her, meaning he may not break bones, wound her or cause blood to flow.” [6]

And “A husband possesses full right to enjoy his wife’s person (A: from the top of her head to the bottoms of her feet, though anal intercourse is absolutely unlawful) in what does not physically harm her.” [7]

It would be easy to go on, but you can already see that this is simply not the case – women aren’t equal under Islamic law.

Bottom line: Richard’s quote would only be correct if it was listed as “Islam teaches NON-MUSLIMS that men and women are equal before God.”

Originally Posted by Richard

It grants women divinely sanctioned inheritance, property, social and marriage rights, including the right to reject the terms of a proposal and to initiate divorce.

Let’s look at just one of the rights listed above, marriage “rights.” For women in Islamic law Per Islamic law, the wife’s marital obligations include: “it is obligatory for a woman to let her husband have sex with her immediately when: a. he asks her, b. at home, c. and she can physically endure it. [8] But the wife does have the right to intercourse: “One should make love to one’s wife every four nights, as is fairest, since the number of wives on may have is four…” [9]

Originally Posted by Richard

The American middle-class trend to include a prenuptial agreement in the marriage contract is completely acceptable in Islamic law. In Islam's early period, women were professionals and property owners, as many are today. Although in some countries today the right of women to initiate divorce is more difficult than intended, this is a function of patriarchal legislation and not an expression of Islamic values.

A reading of Book N “Divorce” in Reliance of the Traveller will show why this isn’t accurate. Islamic law is strictly derived from the Koran, sira and hadith. To say that Islamic law doesn’t reflect Islamic values simply isn’t correct. In fact, once scholarly consensus exists, the ruling becomes a part of sacred law – obligatory to obey and not lawful to disobey.[10] Further, “to deny any verse of the Koran or anything which by scholarly consensus belongs to it, or add a verse that does not belong to it…” entails apostacy from islam. [11]

Originally Posted by Richard

Muhammad himself frequently counseled Muslim men to treat their wives and daughters well. "You have rights over your women," he is reported to have said, "and your women have rights over you."

Muhammad was orphaned at an early age. He once remarked that, "Heaven lies at the feet of mothers." As the father of four daughters in a society that prized sons, he told other fathers that, if their daughters spoke well of them on the Day of Judgment, they would enter paradise.

Beginning from the time of Muhammad's marriage to his first wife Khadijah, women played an important role in his religious career. According to Muslim sources, Khadijah was the first person Muhammad spoke to about his initial, terrifying experience of revelation. She consoled him and became the first convert to Islam. She remained a confidant and source of support throughout their entire marriage. Though men commonly took more than one wife in 7th Century Arabia, Muhammad remained in a monogamous marriage with Khadijah until her death, when Muhammad was in his fifties.

Irrelevant. So what? He was a nice guy by only having one wife until he was 50? What has this got to do with our discussion?

Originally Posted by Richard

By then, Muhammad was working to establish a new community. In that context, over the next 10 years, he married several women. [12] In some cases, these marriages occurred in order to cement political ties, according to the custom of the day. In some cases, the marriage provided physical and economic shelter to the widows of Muslims who had died or who had been killed in battle, and to the wife of a fallen foe. Of all his marriages, only one appears to have been controversial , and it was to the divorced wife of his adopted son.

This is the previously footnoted marriage to a 6 year old girl Aisha. But is suppose if you’re married at 9 years old, it’s not statutory rape. I know, I know – statutory rape didn’t exist back then. My point is, we – humanity – has evolved since then. Islam hasn’t. What was once good for islam will always be good for islam – for all time.

Originally Posted by Richard

Only one of his wives had not been previously married. Her name was Aisha, the daughter of one of his closest companions. Aisha was betrothed to Muhammad while still a girl, but she remained in her parents' home for several years until she reached puberty. Years later, when absent from Medina, Muhammad often recommended that, if religious questions arose, people should take them to his wife Aisha. After Muhammad's death, Aisha became a main source of information about Muhammad, and on medicine and poetry as well.

Stockholm Syndrome anyone? [13]

“It had been recognized many years before and was found in studies of other hostage, prisoner, or abusive situations such as:
- Abused Children
- Battered/Abused Women
- Prisoners of War
- Cult Members
- Incest Victims
- Criminal Hostage Situations
- Concentration Camp Prisoners
- Controlling/Intimidating Relationships”

Clearly Aisha, a young and impressionable young girl subjected to years of abuse, fits several of these categories.

Originally Posted by Richard

Aisha's assertion that Muhammad lived the Qur'an became the basis for Muslims ever since to emulate his example.

Now there’s an example to follow:

Pedophile. An adult who is sexually attracted to a child or children. [14] Already discussed with Aisha.

Statutory Rape. Sexual intercourse by an adult with a person below a statutorily designated age. [15]

Psychopath. A person with an antisocial personality disorder, manifested in aggressive, perverted, criminal, or amoral behavior without empathy or remorse. [16] “The Prophet cut off the hands and feet of the men belonging to the tribe of Uraina and did not cauterise (their bleeding limbs) till they died.” [17]

Highway Robber, Thief. “The Apostle had gone out to meet the caravans of Quraish, but Allah caused them (i.e. Muslims) to meet their enemy unexpectedly.” [18]

Polygamist. One who practices having more than one spouse at one time.

Originally Posted by Richard

Muhammad's daughters also played an important and influential role, both in his life and in the establishment of Islam. Most notable was his daughter Fatima, who is still revered by all Muslims, particularly Shiite Muslims.

Irrelevant fluff. Thanks for wasting our time.

Originally Posted by Richard

Following the Battle of Uhud (625), in which scores of male combatants died leaving unprotected widows and children, Muhammad and the Qur'an decreed that, in order to protect the orphans of such families, men might take up to four wives. The permission itself is surrounded with language that discourages the very thing it permits, saying that unless a man can treat several wives equally, he should never enter into multiple marriages. The usual supposition in the modern monogamous West-that Islam institutionally encourages lustful arrangements-is rejected by Muslims themselves as an ill-informed stereotype. At the same time, Muslim feminists point out that in various cultures at different economic strata the laws of polygamy have frequently operated to the clear detriment of women. Polygamy is an uncommon occurrence in the modern Muslim world.

This is part of the inflexibility of islam. You see, it’s in the books. It’s legal and once it is ijthad (a legal ruling), verified by scholarly consensus, it is an absolute legal ruling which cannot be contravened or annulled. [19]

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