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Thoughts on Women and Islam

By Anita Mathias

    A policeman gives a woman a public whipping for wearing trousers underneath her Islamic clothing in Sudan (YouTube)
A A policeman gives a woman a public whipping for wearing trousers underneath her Islamic clothing in Sudan (YouTube) Woman publicly whipped for wearing trousers in Sudannderneath her Islamic clothing in Sudan (YouTube)

                     I


Women in Afghanistan, even doctors, not allowed to work. Male doctors not allowed to examine women. Single female doctors forced to beg. Acid thrown in the faces of young girls who go to school. 
http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-07-21/news/21991344_1_afghan-women-women-s-rights-troop-withdrawal


Unbelievably high rates of depression among women in Afghanistan.  
“At one of the rare hospitals for women, a reporter found still, nearly lifeless bodies lying motionless on top of beds, wrapped in their burqua, unwilling to speak, eat or do anything, but are slowly wasting away. Others have gone mad and were seen crouched in corners, perpetually rocking or crying, most of them in fear”

http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/womenwar.html


Forced kidnappings of women, including university students on the way home, to become 3rd or 4th wives in Chechnya and Kazakhstan. If they don’t settle down happily to do the housework in their in-laws’ houses, they are taken to an Islamic Medical Centre to be exorcised.
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/6185.htm.

Observe this 17 year old woman, flogged and whipped on her buttocks 34 times surrounded by a group of silent men. She screams and begs for mercy. To no avail. She had a boyfriend.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/04/taliban-flogging-inquiry-pakistan

Honour killings in Turkey. A 16 year old buried alive for talking to boys.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/04/girl-buried-alive-turkey

Lifelong pain while urinating or during intercourse after female genital mutilation. Lasting psychological trauma.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/05/female-genital-mutilation-kurdish-iraq
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1998966,00.html

Twelve women on death row in Iran, awaiting death by stoning for adultery. How does one commit adultery alone?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/08/iran-death-stoning-adultery

Women forced to wear a burkha in the stifling heat of summer in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Billy Graham’s son Franklin took a lot of flak for his statement, Islam is a “very evil and wicked religion”. Then in an interview with CNN’s Campbell Brown in December 2009, he said: “True Islam cannot be practiced in this country. You can’t beat your wife. You cannot murder your children if you think they’ve committed adultery or something like that, which they do practice in these other countries.”  (Verse 34 in the fourth Surah (chapter) in the Quran which says that if a man’s wife is not obedient, he is allowed to beat her.)
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/franklin.graham.obamas.onesided.praise.of.islam.is.horrific/25877.htm 


                                                                           II
Because of its regrettable and reprehensible role in slavery and colonialization, the West, understandably, is hesitant to criticize those with darker skins from the formerly colonized nations, not wanting to be accused of ethnocentricity, paternalism, racial superiority and racism, which have come to be associated with the uneducated and ignorant. 

But, let’s say that in Great Britain, Ireland or France, women were flogged, stoned, mutilated, buried alive, forced to wear heavy black burqas, forbidden to get an education or to work. What outrage would there be!

In my opinion, the West should be equally outraged about what is happening to women in Pakistan, Iran, Chechnya, Kazakhstan, Somalia, Afghanistan–I could go through the World Book and add dozens of Islamic nations.

                                                                   III

One should never hate. As Christians, we should aspire to follow Jesus, who taught that “God is Love” and told us God loved the world.

But we do need to take arms against a system which degrades many women, while of course, of course, not hating the victims.

For instance, it would be right for Christians to do everything they could to oppose Hitler, or Stalin,  or Kim Jong of North Korea or Pol Pot or Mao while, of course, not hating Germany’s Jews or Germans, ordinary Russians, or North Koreans, or Cambodians or Chinese.
                                                                     IV

If you see something evil in a social system or religion, it takes courage to point it out, even if when doing so is uncool and unfashionable.

However, one needs to keep a cool head, and point out the evil in the system you are opposing,  while not encouraging hatred of its adherents.

Both Christianity and Islam are exclusive religions, unlike, say, Hinduism which is wide and all-encompassing. “There is One God and Muhammed is His Prophet” Islam claims. “Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one come to the Father except through Him,” Christians  believe. Insofar, as their claims are irreconcilable, the two belief-systems are natural opponents.

So if Christians truly believe they have a more excellent way, it is honourable and kind to engage Islam, and share their truth with Muslims. While, however, never, ever inciting hatred for the ordinary adherents of Islam, the “tired, poor, wretched, huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

Christian activists should point out and protest and see if they do anything to ameliorate the sufferings of many women in many Islamic nations. 

However, the inflammatory way Terry Jones of Dove World Outreach Centre has chosen to go about it–burning an object as precious to Muslims, presumably, as the Bible is precious to us Christians–could incite hatred of ordinary Muslims in ordinary Christians.

And that would be a tragedy because Christians are called to dwell in God, and God is love. 

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Comments

  1. Rati Parker says

    September 10, 2010 at 2:30 am

    “However, the inflammatory way Terry Jones of Dove World Outreach Centre has chosen to go about it–burning an object as precious to Muslims, presumably, as the Bible is precious to us Christians–“

    Terry Jones is talking to them in the only language they understand…

    “tolerance”, “love” etc are being misused by them ( including the supposedly moderate) to push through an insensitive, self serving agenda of the mosque @ Ground Zero…

    If they really wanted reconciliation…an offer to help in the reconstruction of the Twin Towers might have been a demonstration of positive intent.

  2. Anonymous says

    September 10, 2010 at 1:38 am

    This may be of interest to you Anita http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/09/mcconnell-urges-media-not_n_711163.html

    “Should Jones reverse course and go through with his Quran burning, it will be telling to see what kind of audience he receives. Even before McConnell urged the Fourth Estate to ignore the affair, Fox News let it be known that it would not be covering the burnings. In a way, the story has become less about the antics of a crazy pastor and more about how the editorial and business structures of modern media outlets enable those antics to be broadcast widely…..”

  3. Anita Mathias says

    September 9, 2010 at 8:49 pm

    Yes, what I admired about Franklin's comment mostly was his courage to say something so uncool which he really did believe, even though, by saying it, he fell out of favour with the administration, something his father never did, no matter the administration!

  4. Michael Wenham says

    September 9, 2010 at 7:33 pm

    Hi Anita
    Potent comment. I have reservations about young Mr Graham's comments. I guess Christians would be upset by people citing individual Bible verses to discredit their faith. It's quite easy to do, isn't it?

  5. Anita Mathias says

    September 9, 2010 at 7:28 pm

    Sentence edited in light of comment 1.
    Comment 3 very perceptive, indeed!

  6. Mike Griffith says

    September 9, 2010 at 7:16 pm

    It is not Christians, rather it was Jesus who said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the father except through me.”

    As C.S. Lewis says, “he was either a liar, a lunatic, or the Son of God.” He was not a prophet and he was not just a nice man or a great teacher. His own claims and statements don't leave the great teacher or nice guy options open.

    Not only can Terry Jones incite Christians to hate muslims, the opposite will also occur.

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anita.mathias

Writer, Blogger, Reader, Mum. Christian. Instaing Oxford, travel, gardens and healthy meals. Oxford English alum. Writing memoir. Lives in Oxford, UK

Images from walks around Oxford. #beauty #oxford # Images from walks around Oxford. #beauty #oxford #walking #tranquility #naturephotography #nature
So we had a lovely holiday in the Southwest. And h So we had a lovely holiday in the Southwest. And here we are at one of the world’s most famous and easily recognisable sites.
#stonehenge #travel #england #prehistoric England #family #druids
And I’ve blogged https://anitamathias.com/2020/09/13/on-not-wasting-a-desert-experience/
So, after Paul the Apostle's lightning bolt encounter with the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus, he went into the desert, he tells us...
And there, he received revelation, visions, and had divine encounters. The same Judean desert, where Jesus fasted for forty days before starting his active ministry. Where Moses encountered God. Where David turned from a shepherd to a leader and a King, and more, a man after God’s own heart.  Where Elijah in the throes of a nervous breakdown hears God in a gentle whisper. 
England, where I live, like most of the world is going through a desert experience of continuing partial lockdowns. Covid-19 spreads through human contact and social life, and so we must refrain from those great pleasures. We are invited to the desert, a harsh place where pruning can occur, and spiritual fruitfulness.
A plague like this has not been known for a hundred years... John Piper, after his cancer diagnosis, exhorted people, “Don’t Waste Your Cancer”—since this was the experience God permitted you to have, and He can bring gold from it. Pandemics and plagues are permitted (though not willed or desired) by a Sovereign God, and he can bring life-change out of them. 
Let us not waste this unwanted, unchosen pandemic, this opportunity for silence, solitude and reflection. Let’s not squander on endless Zoom calls—or on the internet, which, if not used wisely, will only raise anxiety levels. Let’s instead accept the invitation to increased silence and reflection
Let's use the extra free time that many of us have long coveted and which has now been given us by Covid-19 restrictions to seek the face of God. To seek revelation. To pray. 
And to work on those projects of our hearts which have been smothered by noise, busyness, and the tumult of people and parties. To nurture the fragile dreams still alive in our hearts. The long-deferred duty or vocation
So, we are about eight weeks into lockdown, and I So, we are about eight weeks into lockdown, and I have totally sunk into the rhythm of it, and have got quiet, very quiet, the quietest spell of time I have had as an adult.
I like it. I will find going back to the sometimes frenetic merry-go-round of my old life rather hard. Well, I doubt I will go back to it. I will prune some activities, and generally live more intentionally and mindfully.
I have started blocking internet of my phone and laptop for longer periods of time, and that has brought a lot of internal quiet and peace.
Some of the things I have enjoyed during lockdown have been my daily long walks, and gardening. Well, and reading and working on a longer piece of work.
Here are some images from my walks.
And if you missed it, a blog about maintaining peace in the middle of the storm of a global pandemic
https://anitamathias.com/2020/05/04/a-mind-of-life-and-peace/  #walking #contemplating #beauty #oxford #pandemic
A few walks in Oxford in the time of quarantine. A few walks in Oxford in the time of quarantine.  We can maintain a mind of life and peace during this period of lockdown by being mindful of our minds, and regulating them through meditation; being mindful of our bodies and keeping them happy by exercise and yoga; and being mindful of our emotions in this uncertain time, and trusting God who remains in charge. A new blog on maintaining a mind of life and peace during lockdown https://anitamathias.com/2020/05/04/a-mind-of-life-and-peace/
In the days when one could still travel, i.e. Janu In the days when one could still travel, i.e. January 2020, which seems like another life, all four of us spent 10 days in Malta. I unplugged, and logged off social media, so here are some belated iphone photos of a day in Valetta.
Today, of course, there’s a lockdown, and the country’s leader is in intensive care.
When the world is too much with us, and the news stresses us, moving one’s body, as in yoga or walking, calms the mind. I am doing some Yoga with Adriene, and again seeing the similarities between the practice of Yoga and the practice of following Christ.
https://anitamathias.com/2020/04/06/on-yoga-and-following-jesus/
#valleta #valletamalta #travel #travelgram #uncagedbird
Images from some recent walks in Oxford. I am copi Images from some recent walks in Oxford.
I am coping with lockdown by really, really enjoying my daily 4 mile walk. By savouring the peace of wild things. By trusting that God will bring good out of this. With a bit of yoga, and weights. And by working a fair amount in my garden. And reading.
How are you doing?
#oxford #oxfordinlockdown #lockdown #walk #lockdownwalks #peace #beauty #happiness #joy #thepeaceofwildthings
Images of walks in Oxford in this time of social d Images of walks in Oxford in this time of social distancing. The first two are my own garden.  And I’ve https://anitamathias.com/2020/03/28/silver-and-gold-linings-in-the-storm-clouds-of-coronavirus/ #corona #socialdistancing #silverlinings #silence #solitude #peace
Trust: A Message of Christmas He came to earth in Trust: A Message of Christmas  He came to earth in a  splash of energy
And gentleness and humility.
That homeless baby in the barn
Would be the lynchpin on which history would ever after turn
Who would have thought it?
But perhaps those attuned to God’s way of surprises would not be surprised.
He was already at the centre of all things, connecting all things. * * *
Augustus Caesar issued a decree which brought him to Bethlehem,
The oppressions of colonialism and conquest brought the Messiah exactly where he was meant to be, the place prophesied eight hundred years before his birth by the Prophet Micah.
And he was already redeeming all things. The shame of unwed motherhood; the powerlessness of poverty.
He was born among animals in a barn, animals enjoying the sweetness of life, animals he created, animals precious to him.
For he created all things, and in him all things hold together
Including stars in the sky, of which a new one heralded his birth
Drawing astronomers to him.
And drawing him to the attention of an angry King
As angelic song drew shepherds to him.
An Emperor, a King, scholars, shepherds, angels, animals, stars, an unwed mother
All things in heaven and earth connected
By a homeless baby
The still point on which the world still turns. The powerful centre. The only true power.
The One who makes connections. * * *
And there is no end to the wisdom, the crystal glints of the Message that birth brings.
To me, today, it says, “Fear not, trust me, I will make a way.” The baby lay gentle in the barn
And God arranges for new stars, angelic song, wise visitors with needed finances for his sustenance in the swiftly-coming exile, shepherds to underline the anointing and reassure his parents. “Trust me in your dilemmas,” the baby still says, “I will make a way. I will show it to you.” Happy Christmas everyone.  https://anitamathias.com/2019/12/24/trust-a-message-of-christmas/ #christmas #gemalderieberlin #trust #godwillmakeaway
Look, I’ve designed a journal. It’s an omnibus Look, I’ve designed a journal. It’s an omnibus Gratitude journal, habit tracker, food and exercise journal, bullet journal, with time sheets, goal sheets and a Planner. Everything you’d like to track.  Here’s a post about it with ISBNs https://anitamathias.com/2019/12/23/life-changing-journalling/. Check it out. I hope you and your kids like it!
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