Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[technomaniac_tzp]

Almost regularly, I get to read in newspapers of muslim women being thrown out of their in-laws house, killed or raped on charges of adultery and a lot more. Let me give you a few examples. The most recent one has happened in my own country, India. A woman was raped by her father-in-law in her husband's absence. On telling this to her husband, she was taken to the local mullah(Islamic priest) of the village. There she was ordered to be seperated from her husband as she has been raped. And yes, no punishment was given to the father-in-law. The logic of the clerics was that as she had been raped she could no longer live with her husband and all this because the 'shariat' says so. Is this JUSTICE?.

Now another one that happened in Pakistan. Mukhtar Mai, a resident of the village of Meerwala, in the central Punjab province, was raped in June 2002 on the orders of a tribal council, as punishment for her 12-year-old brother's alleged affair with a woman from a rival clan. Mukhtaran�s family sat helplessly while she was dragged into a room, even as she screamed and pleaded for mercy. To further humiliate her, and make an example of those who would defy the power of local strongmen, she was paraded naked before hundreds of onlookers. All this was supported by the Islamic clerics and considerd justified under the shariat. All this in the name of justice? But she is still lucky to survive. The less fortunate ones become victims of honour killings. Women in Pakistan and some other parts of South Asia are often subject to brutal "honour punishments", which include acid-burning, rape and even murder, to avenge alleged crimes committed by relatives.

Zarghona 15 lies in a Peshawar shelter, burned by her father-in-law, who said she had not cleaned her husband's clothes properly. The father-in-law survives because Islamic law protects him.

Now here's another. Under Islam if a woman is raped she must produce as witness at least three men to support her statement. Else the accused is set free.

I would like to ask why is this disparity? What is the need for such a law? Why should a section of people based on their religion have a different law for themselves? In India, for example, the muslims have a personal law board. But why. They are humans and hence they commit the same crimes that other humans do. So why should the justice and punishment system be different. Why isn�t there an uniform civil law? Why is it that the woman have to cover themselves in a veil(burqa)? Is morality only for women?

I am not saying that such crimes are not committed by people of other religion. But at least, such criminals are not shielded by their religion.

What is the need for a different law for muslims ? What purpose does the �shariat� serve other then to oppress the weak? Isn�t it time for the learned muslim people to change the law without giving in to any biases? After all the shariat did not arrive by fax from heaven.

I would like to know your views on it, especially those of my muslim brothers and sisters.
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[asterix]

This is a side of Islam that is very difficult for me to understand.
I cannot believe that the Koran actually condones such disgusting examples as those you have mentioned, but unfortunately they are far too common. Even then, I think we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg.