Muslim myth # 1431: women are respected in Islam.
Acid attacks are one of the most brutal forms of Islamist violence. They are also on the increase. These vicious assaults are not designed to kill, rather they are fashioned to maim and disfigure the victim beyond recognition so that they are left to live their lives in a constant state of shame, ridicule and rejection. Survivors are left with vivid memories of the attack and are forced to adapt to lifelong psychological distress, acute anxiety and fear, knowing that their attacker(s) will most likely be set free, able to return to repeat the abuse as he sees fit. Eighty percent of acid attack victims are girls and women and of that number, 40% are under the age of 18.
The Islamic Republic of Pakistan has the second largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia. A conservative nation ruled by sharia, it should come as no surprise to anyone that it is also one of the countries with high incidents of acid throwing along with Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran, India and among the Muslim Chan in Cambodia. Pakistan has little legislation against such violence. Article 209 of Iran’s constitution states that a woman’s life is valued only half as much as a man’s, leaving women ripe for violent sexual, physical and psychological abuse, social ridicule and harassment. They in turn are further victimized by a legal system void of equality under the law deeming them little better than cattle. Iranian courts do not provide women any protection from abusive husbands. The plight of the Iranian woman is depicted in the story of this woman:
” I was married at the age of 12, and I had my first child when I was 13. My husband was unemployed and we fought all the time. We never applied for a divorce because I was afraid of losing my child. Finally one night, he poured a bucket of acid over my body and I was completely burned. When I rushed to the sink to flush my face and body, I realized he had shut off the main water supply. I was taken to the hospital. My operation was held up pending advance money for the surgery, and permission from my husband to operate on my face. My mother sold all of her valuables to provide the money. My husband said he would only permit my operation if I contested to not seeing my children for the rest of my life. Finally, with the hospital’s pressure on the family court, they allowed me to receive the operation on my face and body”.
Not only are limitations on the lives of women legalized in Iran, Pakistan has very limited legislation protecting women from such deliberate, horrific abuse. The Telegraph U.K. runs an article ” Pakistan’s acid attack victims pin hope on new laws”, which illustrates the campaigning of activists who are pressuring for change to the already inadequate laws to prevent such attacks. A law was drafted, but is held in limbo due to opposition from a hardline Islamist senator. (Interestingly, one of the comments following the article was made by an upset reader who seemed not in the least bit concerned with the story, but rather decided to chastise the Telegraph for including the photo).
Islamic countries aren’t the only hot spots for honour crimes, of which acid tossing is only one tactic. Anywhere radical Muslims settle, trouble is bound to follow. Nor are men immune from such vile assaults. Last February, the BBC reported that a Pakistani man had been sentenced to 20 years in prison by a French court for setting fire to his ex-girlfriend because she refused to marry him. Chahrazad Belayani was set ablaze on the street in the Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Marne and suffered third degree burns to 60% of her body. Amer Mushtaq Butt had meticulously planned the attack in an attempt to restore his honour.
In December of last year Nadeem Badash wrote in The Guardian U.K.:
‘Just the thought of having acid hurled in your face or poured down your throat is enough to send shivers down the spine. Even more worrying is that this sickening practice is becoming increasingly evident in Britain, leaving victims with permanent scarring, blindness and a lifetime struggling with shame’.
Atifa Bibi, 14, the victim of an acid attack
This is a sure sign that Islam is not a religion, but a total control system.
It must be abolished.
i am a muslim woman, and i do get the respect that Islam orders. Whats been done to these poor girls cant be called “islamic” retaliation to anything! thats absurd..everytime a christian man throws acid on his wife, or stabs his wife or rapes little children, would we call that “christian ” act? no…its rubbish…these men do not know Islam, thats the truth. had they known Islam, they would dread even beating their wives. The punishments in the here after for such atrocities are clearly mentioned(the word ‘acid’ may not be mentioned, but disfiguring, mutilating…all are forbidden in Islam, including mutilating the dead, let alone the alive! get ur facts right before you criticise religion. i understand it boils our blood when such things are done…i cant look at teh picture without wiping away my tears…dont u dare bring religion into the actions of what a man named with an islamic name does!!!! capital punishment is what he needs…and the hell fire is definitely waiting for him…inshaallah(If God Wills)
That’s the difference between Christianity and Islam. Christian men do not throw acid at women. Can you leave your house alone? Are you covered from head to toe? Are you allowed to go to school, drive, vote? Women have no rights as Muslim men have taken them all! I am so sorry for you! Please don’t tell us this doesn’t happen to Muslim women. It is happening everywhere.
Najiya, Human respect is a universal condition not an Islamic code. If you find comfort in Islam’s definition of it, then so be it. The facts are straight and if by relaying them is critical of religion then so be it; no religion is above reproach. I will stop bringing religion into the mix when islamists stop inflicting cruelty, pain and suffering upon innocents in the name of Allah.
Grace, Human respect IS a code in Islam! believe it or not! Allah ordered us to respect each other. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said that human life is the most precious and the most respectful thing in all world and hereafter. So how dare, muslims or nonmuslims, not treat each other with respect! its not a choice for muslims…we have no choice but to follow the order of Allah(God) which is to respect others life .I’d also like to add that none of those crazy men did it in the name of Allah! If u had taken a moment to find out what Islam says about such actions, u wudnt hv said that its in the name of Allah. those hurt by the attacks are also muslims, so how is ur argument justified? im not trying to argue with u…but…these men…They did it for their own interests, or jealousy or plainly because they are demented. What all writers can do, is not bring religion into this. ou guys should bring these things in the open, the atrocities done against humans or animals. If a John did it..its not labeled Christian attack, but if a Muhammed did it then its Islamc Terrorism!!! dont lable it to a religion. Its like a hidden agenda for some people(im not accusing u of such a thing). Its probably coz, majority of the muslims or so called muslims that u have met any not have introduced u to the true religion. since u did write against islam, teh least u can do is read about islam, not what people have written about Islam, but , what Islam says Islam is…its easy to do that…its the least u can do….relating the atrocities to a religion does not hurt the religion, just other innocent muslims who lives in another part of the globe, who has to face the brutality of some person who reads such writeups, and are infuriated by it.
And, a religion that orders..yes ..orders all humans(obviously women are humans!)to educate themselves, so that they can make the world a better place…would a true follower of that religion hurt little girls for going to school??? So what are these men!!?? I have no idea!! I wonder if a word exists which i can use to describe these men! But i know one thing for sure, they did not learn Islam at all!!! Not the one that Prophet Muhammed preached anyway!!!The prophets wives were women who excelled in all subjects, including medicine and politics! I wish i were born in those years when Islam was Islam..not Osamas or Talibans excuse to do what ever they want!
Najiya Aziz,
Researchers research, reporters report, writers write and facts are facts.. I have taken the time to research Islam and such savage attacks are indeed perpetrated against Muslims by fellow Muslims.
A free press can indeed bring religion into whatever issue they want, and as I have said before, no religion is above reproach. Whether this suits you personally or not, is irrelevant.
Reporters are supposed to report the truth, since u have already made up ur mind, I wont waste time or space .
this man is reporting the truths. It would be much better if you muslims tried defending these victims by actually taking action, not just protecting the sayings of raving schizophrenic, here;s wat ur pedophile prophet said about women..
1“A nation headed by a woman shall never succeed”,
2”The worst sin and distraction from virtue that I have left for man is woman”,
3“When I stood on the door of hell, I saw most of its inhabitants were women”,
4 “Women lack brain and religion”,
5 “If I have commanded kneeling for somebody, I would command a woman to kneel for her husband”,
6 “If a man summoned his wife for intercourse and she refused, the angels will curse her till the dawn”,
7 “If a man summoned his wife for intercourse, she has to respond even if she was above the furnace”.
“The husband has the right to have sex with his wife even if she is above the camel”
8“A woman shall not fast without the permission of her husband”
these are from the hadiths, but also the quran is just as shitty..
I have been searching for examples of what good Muslims are doing to help this world. I can’t seem to find anything. Please point me to some resources of what is being done in the name of Islam to fight terrorism and abuse.
Rofl. The stupidity of you people. Find me one sentence in the Quran that tells men to throw acid at women. Or, no find one sentence that has anything to do with harming women. You idiots are getting culture and riligion mixed up. why do you think Islam was created? TO CHANGE THE WAY OF THE ARABS!!
I don’t have it quoted, but it says in the the quran that a messenger will come to earth when the people have forgotten their dignity and start acting like animals.
Now tell me, is throwing acid at women something a “normal” human would do.
Seriously, when you are that unintelligent, you should not even have the right to have a say in these things.
Oh, and for the last comment. The countries that have the terrorism are extremely poor. Afghanistan has the 5th worst economy in the world. Think about that. Than, do some real researching and you will find programs like Islamic relief – a relief program that supports and provides for more than 4 continents worth of food and shelter. And no, not all of the countries are muslim countries. Now think.
To
“mo took up it up the as”
Please, you’ve got to be kidding me. I have read the quran, and never found any of those things, not even a hint of any of those things. Also, I did alot of research and only found one website that had the exact same quotes as you. What does that show?
I’m not ignorant like you, I actually question what I believe, that’s why I did all that research.
to believe that all Muslims are evil based on the actions of several people is by far the greatest display of stupidity I have ever seen. As a Christian, I really have lost faith in…wait no, that’s hypocritical. Never mind.
Anyways, There are over 1.5 billion Muslims on earth. there is less than 20 cases like this, and most of them are not even based on islam at all. Want proof? Read.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ameneh_Bahrami
This is like believing that all white people are white supremacists. And we all know that’s not true. You people need to grow up.
To Najiya Aziz,
I respect you for standing up for what you believe is Islam.
What you others don’t understand what Najiya Aziz is trying to get out for you to understand is that her beliefs, culture and religion does not stand for such actions. Yeah sure this has happened with all the abuse and violence, but not ALL muslims are like that. I think it is wrong for people to judge on stereotypes, especially towards a whole race. I have muslim neighbours and they’re honestly one of the most humble people I know, they treat each other with equal respect (known them since I was five, now 19). But I do believe that more law should be brought into the muslim system as such to at least have the right to be and feel protected from the abuser.
Najiya Aziz is trying to say these people don’t know the proper way of Islam, they are disobeying their own beliefs. So why should they represent every other muslim out there?
Whether you’re American, African, Italian, English Muslim or any other race, I just think violence towards each other needs to stop all together. Why concentrate on one problem when there are so many more of the same kind out there. We all should work together to make a better future.
One simple question for everyone reading this zombie thread:
How many Muslim men have ever been subjected to an acid attack?
There is every indication that disfiguring acid attacks are almost exclusively a practice conducted by Muslim men against Muslim women (i.e., Muslimas). I would be willing to bet a substantial sum of money that the combined annual quantity of global (non-Muslim) acid attacks against anyone (male or female) is but a tiny fraction of those committed against women in Islamic countries.
Arguing that acid attacks are un-Islamic defies all logic and credibility. When Muslim men who commit acid attacks begin finding themselves disfigured by retaliatory acid attacks from the (female) victims’ families, then I might begin to modify my position. Acid attacks are just another facet of the hideously brutal and violently misogynistic practices that are embedded throughout Islamic “culture” (yes, those are sneer quotes). They represent just one more reason why so many people in the West have nothing but scorn for Muslim men and their Muslima enablers (i.e., defenders).