Thursday, June 01, 2006

Modern Islam and Women. From the State Department's Country Report on Human Rights Practices in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for A.D. 2000:

"The testimony of one man equals that of two women . . . Female parties to court proceedings such as divorce and family law cases generally must deputize male relatives to speak on their behalf . . . Women play no formal role in government and politics and are actively discouraged from doing so . . . The government does not keep statistics on spousal abuse or other forms of violence against women, [which] appear to be common problems. Hospital workers report that many women are admitted for treatment of injuries that apparently result from spousal violence . . . Women are not admitted to a hospital for medical treatment without the consent of a male relative. By law and custom, women may not undertake domestic or foreign travel alone . . . In public a woman is expected to wear an abaya (a black garment that covers the entire body) and to cover her head and face? Daughters receive half the inheritance awarded to their brothers? Women must demonstrate legally specified grounds for divorce, but men may divorce without giving cause? If divorced or widowed, a woman may keep her children until the age of 7 for boys, 9 for girls."

As quoted in "Islam and Women: The Christian Science Monitor's Distortion and the Reality" by Serge Trifkovic in Chronicles Magazine. (I am going to try to find the original source, and I will update when I do. Right now, I am reading Trifkovic's The Sword of the Prophet: Islam History, Theology, Impact on the World, a very disturbing book.)

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