Ustwo

I agree its not slavery in the typical definition. The Islamic ideal for women seems to be based on the paranoid fear of infidelity/cuckolding. Women are not allowed to be with men who are not relatives until they are married and after they are married the only exception is the husband. Its a social chastity belt. The independence of women is limited as well, they are always reliant on their male relatives and therefore always 'under guard'. This can be seen for example in Saudi Arabia where women are not allowed to drive. To make it even more clear, as a doctor you are not allowed to work on a woman of child bearing age as a male. I know this from the Saudi Arabian women we had in my dental program, as well as my female department head who spent time over there. No other major cultures are as paranoid about their genetic inheritance on the planet today. From my readings of the Koran (its easier to spell with a K) I don't think this level of paranoia is justified. Yes women are very much second hand citizens, but they are in the old Testament as well, and I view this is merely a cultural quirk using Islam to justify it. Interestingly the idea that faithful Muslims (males) will be attended by virgins of unparalleled beauty in the afterlife is throughout the Koran, to the point I think there was something of an obsession with sex at the time of its writing. This plus the obsessive cloistering of breeding age women makes me wonder what the culture was like prior to Islam among the common people.

You know this had not struck me prior to writing this but Mohammed was a crafty guy. He set up a system which guaranteed warriors had a motive for conquest, and a very basic, instinctive motive. Let me explain....

1. 'Casual' sex was made difficult among young men (and women but thats not an issue).
2. The Koran specifically allows for captured slave girls.
3. The Koran states multiple, multiple, multiple times that faithful Muslims will find unspoiled women awaiting them in heaven.
4. Polygamy means that men at the lower rungs on the social ladder may have no wife at all.
5. You MUST fight non-believers, you must never trust them, and if they are stronger than you, you wait until you can beat them. Any horror you inflict upon them is Allah's will.
6. To retreat from non-believers is sinful. Fight and die!

This is really an amazingly simple but effective system. War and conquest is what leads to you being able to have sex, either with captured slave girls, or virgins in heaven. I'm glad I decided to respond to this as I had not seen the genius of the original design until now. Its the exploitation of instinct and religious fervor, and explains how the early Islamic invasions were so successful.


I have, women are second class citizens in Islamic nations. They are treated very well, like favored pets, but still no where near a mans equal.

History and the Koran disagree with you here. Interestingly, while the old testament is very violent, it does not as a rule preach violent expansion but was more the taking of the 'promised land' and maintaining it. The Koran is open ended in its goals and views the whole world as its promised land for the taking.

What nobel cause? As for what I mean by that, it was the modern state of Israel which was born out of the ashes of WWII. The historic state of Israel was invaded so many times that claims to the land are rather hard to sort out at this point. The Jews would be the oldest remaining group who has a claim.

Islam has become a retrograde force. The reason the Arab world is so far behind technologically is Islam. It holds such a grip on the people that they can not advance socially beyond a 5th century mentality and technology is a danger to the status quo, for example Saudi Arabia has internet filters that would make the Chinese blush. I could go in depth on this, I have before, but most Arab scholars feel the same way. Christianity was the same way, but we did shake it off so to speak (and this was eluded to by Churchill). Our cultural traditions and the framework of Christianity was such that we were able to do so, I don't think Islam gives you any wiggle room to do so without completely rejecting it. Its not even allowed to have an non-Islamic state in the Koran. Western gay rights, womens right, even democracy would all be sinful and worthy of destruction as non-believers. This little factoid has me more worried about the concept of Iraqi democracy than any other factor.

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