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BarkellWH -> RE: Ahmadinejad's Bodyguards (Feb. 21 2012 0:42:03)
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quote:
you will not understand what the middle east is truly like if you never lived there. its funny that most westerners who live in the middle east end up loving it and staying there for a long time, and when they have to leave for some reason, they wish to come back to the mid-east! its true!
Chester referred to "being a woman in a Muslim country." He was not referring to the Middle East, he was referring to Muslim Countries. Now, I have lived for many years in Muslim countries, from Pakistan (Peshawar) to Malaysia and Indonesia. My experience is that the closer you are to the Middle East and South Asia, the more restrictions are placed on women. The further away you get from the heartland of Islam in the Middle East (e.g., Indonesia) the more freedom women enjoy. I think this is because Islam in places like Indonesia is grafted on to a much older Hindu/Buddhist culture, and therefore is much more relaxed.
Nevertheless, even in places like Malaysia, any imposition of Sharia Law creates problems for women. Some examples regarding Sharia Law:
A. Women may inherit only half of what men may inherit.
B. In a Sharia court, it takes two women to equal the testimony of one man.
C. Perhaps most egregiously of all, if a woman is raped and wishes to take her case to a Sharia court, she must produce four (count them, four!) male witnesses to the rape in order to prevail. It is as if rape were a spectator sport. What's worse, if a woman cannot produce four male witnesses, she herself is charged with adultery.
This is not a case of projecting Western values on Muslim societies. It is a case of human decency. Yes, many women in Muslim societies readily accept their fate. But it is because they have been acculturated to it and know nothing else. It is like the caged bird who, while protected, does not know that a world exists outside the cage.
Cheers,
Bill
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