Friday, February 27, 2015

"Mecca Syndrome"

That's what I call the malady suffered by those, especially "progressive" Muslim chicks, who believe that Islam accords them all the rights--and then some--granted to women in the West.

Think of it as a kind of Islamic Stockholm Syndrome.
 
Toronto Sun columnist Farzana Hassan unpacks it here:
The concept of utopian gender equality is much touted even among the more liberal and moderate factions within Islam. The notion that men and women are “equal before Allah” attracts many impressionable Muslim women toward a life of abject piety and submission. 
Against all the evidence, many Muslim women cling to the view there is no discrimination against them in Islam. They believe Islam gives them privileges that Western women cannot even imagine. 
Apparent inequalities, such as polygamy, wife battering, segregation, or thwarted educational and work opportunities, occur for the best of reasons, known only to Him who sustains the universe.
It is argued, for example, that polygamy is socially beneficial if it prevents extra-marital affairs.
And why, pray tell, do otherwise modern, intelligent females fall for it? Hassan says it's because
An entire industry, developed by Islamic scholars, hones this rationale to counter any challenges to sharia law from the real world, and even from progressive Muslims.
Orthodox Islam hides itself away from progress, and the main victims are women. 
Hence a reason, writes Hassan, why some ignorant young women, many of them teenagers, can and do swoon for ISIS:
ISIS takes this insularity to the most barbaric extremes. 
Women can be married at nine, their manifesto states. They must not seek education beyond the age of 15.

They must then agree to marry to fulfill the “divine duty of motherhood”. 
The insidious views of its manifesto ought to be publicized among Muslim women so they are made aware of the dangers awaiting them under ISIS. 
But more broadly, Muslim women should examine sharia provisions more dispassionately, to understand that even Islamic orthodoxy denies them equality.
Hassan's brave and honest wrap-up should adorn posters, mugs, T-shirts and bumper stickers, and be memorized by every security official who works for CSIS and the RCMP:
The difference between the ISIS agenda and mainstream sharia is only one of degree, not essence.
You nailed it, Ms. H.

A little Sharia Law... T-shirts

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