For Chicks Only Toronto Conference Spins Sharia-Decreed Second Class Status as "Liberating"

The spinmeisters worked overtime on this one:

“Iqra” (“Recite”) – a word, a word of action that created a paradigm shift and changed the course of humanity in an unprecedented manner. A new concept was born, a new beginning dawned. Humanity was never to see, judge, understand, position itself like it used to. The concept of ‘self’ was born; mankind was no longer to be judged in relation to their colour, gender, ethnicity, wealth,and physical attributes. In the form of revelation, a divine message emerged to renew and revive a World engulfed in inequality, injustice, and corruption. This message spread the idea of liberating the inner self from the shackles of institutionalized social injustices. What Islam introduced is this new perspective to life, to personal dignity, honour, and the concept of ‘self’ in a world that was hostile to these very ideas by all counts. This message that spread humanity, freedom, compassion and determination to the greater good had inspired the lives and hearts of men and women, young and old, rich and poor.

This message transformed the status of women from that of a mere possession to that of a dignified human being. This was at a time when women were denied inheritance, in fact they were inherited, wives were denied many marital rights and, in some cases, daughters were denied the right to life. With divine revelation, their status was no longer in relation to men, but in relation to God. This message restored the rights of women to be respected as women of conviction, to worship with excellence, to be scholars, to control property, to run households with full support, and enhance their lives with all the liberties and responsibilities available to them.

“Verily the most honorable (in the sight of Allah) are those who are most God-fearing”
With this, women no longer had to be equated with men, the battle of the sexes need not continue anymore. Women could now even be superior in status than men; not just equal. The atmosphere of the battleground had been changed forever. There remains no need for the champions of women’s liberation to find new grounds for footing. No longer did women have to play by the rules created by the great patriarchs, now they could play by the rules of the Divine; revealed from the Seventh Heaven – from a “genderless”, Just, Wise, All Knowing God.

This year’s theme will focus on this message of divine empowerment derived from the Quran and the Sunnah. It brought about undeniable change to the status of women all around theworld in their respective societies from many centuries ago to today. History is a witness to this. Today, we want to remember and reflect on this divine message sent down to remove the barriers that existed but still have an influential presence in our current times. We take pride in our identity as Women and hope to inspire and empower others as we spread this awareness to the masses.

Join thousands of Women on October 6th at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre as we strive to learn, share, teach and inspire one another to become contributing members of society...

Pace this spin, the truth about womens' place under the terms of sharia is pretty straightforward: it is to take a back seat to men, their Allah-decreed superiors; it is to have their testimony in court worth half that of a man's; it is to be seen as a "tilth" to be "plowed" (so to speak) by their husband whenever he feels like it; it is to be covered in public out of a misogynistic fear of/contempt for female sexuality; it is for a wife to be discarded as easily as it is to say "I divorce thee" three times, a prerogative that she, of course, does not have; it is to be blamed--and punished--for your own rape; it is to be stoned to death for the crime of adultery.

There is nothing--I repeat, nothing--"liberating" or "empowering" or, heaven help us, "superior in status to men" about any of that. And it is only when Muslim women in sufficient numbers come to grips with the truth and balk at this spin that anything will truly change--for them and for the Muslim world at large.