Monday, April 6, 2009
Suffering through the Koran – Sura 4 named 'The Women'
Have any Marxist-Fembots read this Sura as they violently declare that Islam is peaceful ?
by Ferdinand III
It is highly doubtful that the Fembot-Marxist-Neo-intolerant alliance has bothered to read any of the Koran [reading is so boring and takes too much effort – easier to yell and scream and demand that you acquiesce to a certain neo-fascist viewpoint]. Sura 4 from the jumble-mash of nonsense [ah sorry the sacred holy book], named the Koran addresses man's responsibility to, and his control of, family and women. In summary the Koran is about as far from the liberal concept of feminist freedom, as Globaloney Warming theory is from science. But you will never see the Fembot-Marxist alliance marching in protest of such a document.
Sura 4 is divided into three parts. The first few verses are a direct plagiarism from the Jewish bible and deals with a man's responsibility to family, his wife and children. It also outlines why charity is necessary and how a man with assets and money should behave in a 7th century society which was largely illiterate and poor. These 10 or 12 verses [about 1.5 pages] though they are a direct rip-off of Jewish liturgy are in the main a good code of behavior.
It is the rest of the Sura – or about 90% of the verses - which presents a problem. Again, as with much in Koran, the real focus of this Sura is about power, control and submission. This Sura makes the claim that males [meaning an Arab male] should have complete control over women; that the effective management of society means the subjugation by men of women; and men should dominate women not only in public, but also in private.
Whereas in Judeo-Christian ideas and practices women, along with the poor, are empowered, in Islam, the female is an asset, equivalent to gold, a horse, or a home, to be managed by men and if need be, punished by men for any infraction against either Allah, his Messenger or the authority of the family patriarch.
Ennobling and enabling this is not.
It also denounces, as usual, Jews and Christians, as enemies to be fought or converted.
[Note: This Sura is taken from 'The Holy Quran', translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, reprinted in 1995, Goodword Books. Regarded as one of the best translations from Arabic to English of the Koran.]
Sanctioning the Beating or Killing of Women
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15. If any of your women are guilty of lewdness, take the evidence of four (reliable) witnesses from amongst you against them; and if they testify, confine them to houses until death do claim them,....
Note; The head-scarf and body coverings now prevalent amongst Muslim women are not strictly a part of the Koranic tradition. They do however, emanate in part from this and other Suras which demand that women not attract the attention of men, or engage in illicit sexual encounters, including extra-marital. Notice in this Sura that the use of 'justice' is entirely one-sided and male-dominated. It is the man who summons the witnesses, and it is men who prescribe the death penalty for 'lewdness'. What exactly is the definition of lewdness ? The Koran never says. It is another arbitrary injunction.
34. .....As to those women on whose part you fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them (first), (next), refuse to share their beds, (and last) beat them (lightly); but if they return to obedience, do not seek against them means (of annoyance): for Allah is most High, Great (above you all).
Note; Beating women is okay to return them to submission to the male. Once they are obedient and one assumes, slavishly devoted to their polygamous husband, all is well, and Allah is happy. Is the beating of women now considered sacred ?
Double Standards
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16. If two men among you are guilty of lewdness, punish them both, if they repent and amend, leave them alone; for Allah is oft-returning, Most Merciful.
Note; This verse of course references homosexuality – a behavior associated in the ancient world and in the modern era with disease and cultural dis-integration. Notice the double standard – men can repent and escape punishment. Women cannot.
Men Rule, Women obey
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34. Men are the protectors and maintainer of women, because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the other....Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in (the husband's absence) what Allah would have them guard.
Note; This verse uses 'women' supporting a husband. Polygamy denotes a patriarchal society in which the desires of men and the support of their needs and wants, supersedes the worth of the individual female. Allah ordains the superiority of men, and gives them a free license to manage as seen fit.
Fight the Jews and Christians
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46. ....If only they had said: “We hear and we obey”; and “Do hear”; and 'Do look at us”: it would have been better for them, and more proper; but Allah has cursed them for their Unbelief; and but few of them will believe.
Note; Mohammed and the Arabs were frustrated by the lack of Jewish and Christian conversion early on during Islamic imperialism in the Arabian peninsula. As such they cursed the People of the Book for their disbelief, and lack of submission. In the Koran, those who do not submit to Allah go to Hellfire.
52. They are (men) whom Allah has cursed: and those whom Allah has cursed, you will find, have no one to help.
56. Those who reject Our Signs, We shall soon cast into the Fire: as often as their skins are roasted through, We shall change them for fresh skins, that they may taste the penalty: for Allah is exalted in Power, Wise.
Note; The Koran switches from the first, to the third person arbitrarily and randomly. This is a first person narrative, presumably from Mohammed directly to his followers using 'Our' and 'We' pronouns. For the disbelieving Jew or Christian an eternal hellfire awaits – the eternal roasting of skin is particularly interesting and gruesome.
74. Let those who fight in the cause of Allah who sell the life of this world for the Hereafter. To him who fights in the cause of Allah, - whether he is slain or gets victory – soon shall We give him a reward of great (value).
Note; This and many other verses adjuring the Muslim to fight on behalf of Allah and gain a permanent heavenly award make a mockery of those who claim that Islam is focused on peaceful intentions. The number of verses demanding that Muslims 'fight' far outnumber those which dwell on the inner spirit.
78. “Wherever you are, death will find you out, even if you are in towers built up strong and high!”...Say: “All things are from Allah.”
Note; The Muslims will find and destroy the non-believers – no matter where they hide and no matter how strong their defenses. Allah will provide all necessary support in ensuring their demise. The following verse reinforces this claim.
104. And do not slacken in following up the enemy: if you are suffering hardships, they are suffering similar hardships; but you have hope from Allah, while they have none. And Allah is full of knowledge and wisdom.
Obey the Messenger and Allah
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69. All who obey Allah and the Messenger are in the company of those on whom is the Grace of Allah....ah what a beautiful Fellowship!
Note; This supremacist ideal of the divine and superior Muslim is one of the most important propaganda points of the Koran. Join and be blessed. Refuse and be cursed.
136. O you who believe ! Believe in Allah and His Messenger, and the scripture which He has sent to His Messenger and the scripture which He sent to those before (him). Any who denies Allah, His angels, His Books, His Messengers, and the Day of Judgment, has gone far, far astray.
Summary:
One could go on and on with the examples, but the above suffices. Key aspects of a religion which differentiate it from a cult are the following: respect for the individual; meditation and spiritual improvement; the Golden Rule or some variation thereof; the emancipation of women, slaves and the poor; humility, tolerance and the realisation that humans are not divine, but neither are they beasts; and the recognition of the worth, value and potential of each human centered in living in the real world.
A cult mandates the opposite; submission, obedience, the killing of non-believers, the enslavement of women and the domination by a certain group who have power and control over all of society. The Koran certainly fits the concept of a cult and as this Sura proves, it misses the essential elements of a religion, or an ideology based on self-improvement and ethics and which demands that the individual participate in the real world to effect justice, improvement and freedom.
Why then is this pre-destined fatalist screed considered a 'sacred' text ?
Why ?