Islam - a resounding success story, why and how

Submitted by y brandstetter MD (Israel), Dec 4, 2005 at 18:01

Islam - a resounding success story

A survey of the world's most unfortunate countries and territories will reveal a preponderance of Islamic entities. From Indonesia to Bangla-desh to Pakistan to Yemen to Kurdistan to the Barbary coast, the Islamic world is probably the least well educated, least well-off, of lowest personal and public health, lowest scientific achievement of any social conglomerate in the world, and declining. Take away the petro-dollars and the picture becomes even more bleak. To quote a prolific observer and statesman, Sir Winston Churchill, from The River War, first edition, Vol. II, pages 248 50 (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1899).

"How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity".

"The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property".

"Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step;

Sir Churchill could not reconcile Islam's apparent failures and Islam's overwhelming success in recruiting and retaining adherents, but inadvertently pointed a finger in the right direction. Since those comments the Islamic realm has contributed almost nothing to the medical, scientific, or economic wealth of the world, save oil, which was actually developed by Western powers. The total gross national product of 22 Arab countries, without oil, is less than that of Israel. Moreover, even the military prowess of Islamic political entities is a shambles. In recent history all such conflicts with a Western military force have resulted in a resounding defeat. This sorry state of affairs is not due to isolation. The Islamic World has been in close contact, in war and peace and commerce, with both East and West ever since the inception of the Mohammedan religion. It is not a matter of inability, since the Muslim community of the USA is mostly upper economic and intelligence crust and that of Andalusia had a measure of greatness. It is not due to inherent poverty of the soil occupied by the Islamic world since those very same countries housed the world's greatest and richest cultures (Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, the Spice rout) before being run over by the Islamic warriors. It is telling that the Nabatean Spice route, now on the United Nations Heritage list, disappeared at the time of the Arabs conquest of the Middle East, and is being resurrected by Jews. Since it is none of the above, then the onus lies squarely in the lap of Civilization, the way humans think and do and manage their resources. That is where one must look to find explanations for the abject state of so many Muslims, in so many countries.

David Bukay attributes the weakness of Islam as compared with the West to the IBM culture Inshallah, Bukra, Ma'alish, a general disrespect for the written word of contract, and a slavery to flowery speech. http://www.acpr.org.il/ENGLISH-NATIV/issue1/bukay-1.htm. I fear this too may only be a partial explanation.

If the civilization itself condemns the believers to this sorry state, why persist? Why would humans chain themselves to a system of belief which brings them so much poverty and misery? How is it that despite the general decline of the fortunes of the members of the Islamic faith, its numbers have been growing by leaps and bounds, both by birth and by conversion? Why is it that immigrant Muslim communities are so cohesive, so persuasive, so resistant to assimilation?

We Jews in Israel find this state of affairs very puzzling. The Muslim minority is by far less well off than the Jewish majority, in all aspects of personal and public achievement. Most flagrantly, school achievements in Math and sciences are lower by thirty to fifty percent than the general population. Even so, the Muslim minority in Israel is by far better off than the Muslim majorities in the countries and territories surrounding Israel. One could assume ethnic disenfranchisement, but the fact remains that other minorities, such as Christians, and Druze maintain a level of economic and cultural achievement on par with the majority, though they term themselves Arabs, or Palestinians. Therefore, assuming a basic human drive to achieve better, higher, live longer, and better off, it is difficult to understand the success of Islam in recruiting and retaining the Faithful.

Further, in Europe the contrast is even starker. A majority of the underclass, the public assistance housing, the crime, the dis-education, poorer health, poorer longevity is now concentrated in the Islamic Immigrant community. The recent spate of violence, mayhem and destruction is primarily an Islamist phenomenon. Not of first generation newcomers, but of native-born Muslims, raised and educated in Europe. This within countries which promise and deliver egalitarian access to all the accoutrements of the State, countries which lionize the right of the immigrant to the best the country can offer in education, health-care and equal opportunity. Under those circumstances it is difficult to see why a young human would choose to resist assimilation, and rather than avail himself or herself of the freedom to expand opportunity, prefer to remain within the fold, and swell that fold further. Many are willing to go as far as participate in violent warfare with the society that feeds them, act as executors of far-away Mullahs, the object being the extension of the Islamic dominion, however poor a job it does in feeding its people http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,22989-1723196,00.html

A telling example is the success of the Islam among the Black community of the United States. From a footnote on the outskirts of Black society the Nation of Islam has become one of the most cohesive, well organized, influential, and violent ethno-religious groups in America. http://www.danielpipes.org/article/341 Great sportsmen who personify everything America stands for, the realization of self-betterment via dedicated honest effort, have chosen to join the faith, for no apparent reason.

One could postulate many explanations. A strong sense of community, deeply inculcated faith, enforced isolation, none of which will hold water. I postulate that Islam's secret to success is the dominion it gives Men over Women. This dominion is so powerful an incentive, it overshadows all the weaknesses of the Faith.

This assay is based entirely on open internet documentation, mostly translated, and upon personal experience of being a health-care provider to Arab-Muslim families, especially children. Special thanks to the Danielpipes.com which contains a wealth of information regarding the Arab Muslim world.

Men, by nature of Physiology and Genetics are the more physically endowed gender of the species. Simply put, the average male has 20 percent more muscle-mass and energy consumption than the average woman, in all societies. That is not true of all species. In birds of prey, for example, the situation is reversed. The very fact that woman is significantly hampered by lower muscle-mass, pregnancy and care of the young, creates an inherent inequality, which in Western society is compensated for by religion and culture. In the West, the Judeo-Christian paternalism is compensated for in multiple forms. Catholic Christianity is heavily invested in the Madonna, motherhood so elevated, that womanhood achieves a state of divinity. In fact fatherhood, personified by Joseph, is relatively reduced in stature. The Madonna is revered in thousands of paintings, statues, and pageants. Women are portrayed generally as saints, and figure heavily in the saint lists and reverence days. Orders of nuns were equally respected as orders of monks, able to acquire lands and administer vast holdings. Women of achievement are lionized, such as Joan of arc, Queen Elizabeth, Queen Aldehide. The female form is adored, revered, loved and respected by the arts. Love between man and woman, rather than lust, is an elevated concept, giving the ultimate legitimacy to sexual and marital relations. Bilateral Fidelity is upheld as a supreme value.

To be sure, this conceptual status failed to prevent many abuses but those are not built into the system, rather, they occur when the system is not adhered to or enforced. In modern society, where muscle mass figures little in the ability to win bread, women have integrated into the workforce, the arts, politics, and strict legislation put in place to prevent application of force as a means of persuasion. Ownership of property has been equalized, as has standing before the law. Rape is considered a heinous crime, even within the family. Most importantly, marital relations have become generally egalitarian, men and women sharing in the outcomes of such equality. (fewer children, more divorces). There is no clear dominion of one gender over the other.

In Judaism, the basic tenet is of an asexual God presiding over the Family, where man and woman becomes a unit. (Therefore man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, so they shall become one flesh, Genesis chapter one) The rights of women are strictly guarded, rape is considered a crime akin to murder, carrying the same penalty. Care of the woman deprived of male counterpart falls squarely on the shoulders of society, the widow, the orphan being specifically mentioned for public support. Bigotry against foreign women is punished by divine intervention (Moses' black wife) cruelty to women acquired in war is eloquently forbidden, and woman's property rights are upheld. The Jewish marital contract assures the woman of care and food and sexual attention, it is almost a unilateral bondage of the man to the needs and happiness of his wife. A multiplicity of wives was initially frowned upon, and eventually banned. Fidelity is lionized. Independent powerful women figure largely in the mythology, the history of the people, from the daughters of Zlofhad (each mentioned by her own name) to the prophet Devora, to Beruriah, who forced her man to become a leader, to the late Prime Minister of Israel, Golda Meir, and Chana Senesh, the fearless paratrooper who braved the Nazi power. The song of praise for the woman recited prior to the Sabbath is replete with achievement, rather than sexual servitude. The modern Jewish state has all but equalized the status of the Genders, women participate fully in the social, political and the arts. There is no dominion of man over woman, although there are parts of the marital law which accord advantages to either gender depending on circumstances.

All this in stark contrast to the status of women in the Muslim sphere. To put things simply a woman is regarded as an appendage to a man, her being concentrated in the ird, that is her pelvis. It is by the function of that pelvis that her value, her honor is measured, other attributes being either valueless, or plainly dangerous. A man's honor, his face in society, is measured by the virginity, or the control of the ird he has acquired or is related to. "and for them is like what is (a duty) upon them . . . And women shall have rights similar to the rights against them, according to what is equitable; but men have a degree over them." The holy Qur'an: The Heifer (2): 228. Protection of that honor is paramount, rather than protection of the woman. A woman's body is not hers, but belongs, for better or for worse, to the men of her family. Therefore incest within the family does not carry a penalty, but the same sister coming in contact with an unapproved man (unapproved for a multiplicity of reasons) is likely to be murdered in a process of "honor killing". http://www.secularislam.org/women/dont.htm and http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4357158.stm
The list of inequalities is interminable. In Islam there are the concepts of polygamy, the difference in the inheritance and compensation rates, the witness arrangement, the man being regarded as the maintainer, and that she cannot be a judge or a leader for men. In all these cases if there were no such legislation it would have led to the oppression of man as well as woman http://www.shirazi.org.uk/womanstatus.htm


The following is a short discussion of some of the concepts of Female subjugation.
Polygamy: A man is allowed four official wives, but no limit is placed on concubines, certainly not on casual contacts. The prophet himself set the standard, having allowed four wives, but having had nine official wives. Besides official marriage, which is very costly due to the Mahr the man must pay the bride's father there are multiple types of arrangements for acquisition of the female Ird. A man may claim is marital status as an advantage when attempting some additional sexual conquest. Or he may offer a limited type of marriage, without permanence, wholly convenient, as an alias for marriage. Both Sunni and Shi'a Islam invented a temporary marriage surrogate for the real thing for the convenience of the male. http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=27814&d=22&m=6&y=2003 Although the number of wives is up to four, they can be dispensed with and replenished through the agency of Nikaah. Fidelity is a totally irrelevant concept, as is love, as a main motive for marital relations. Marriages are wholly arranged, the woman being bought and sold as a chattel, mainly within the family or the clan, so as to preserve clan property. Nor is there any security in the household. A man may divorce his wife by the simple expedient of pronouncing the sentence "you are divorced" three times, even when she is not present, at which time she must leave her chattels and belongings and children and fend for herself in an inhospitable world within three months. The lot of a wife scorned may be incredibly harsh. Bangla-deshy women repatriated after being divorced from their Muslim husbands in England are likely to face death. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,173-1320100,00.html The women of the Beduin household are always in fear lest the patriarch divorce them and acquire a new, nubile wife from some impoverished family.

Pedophilia: The age of eligibility is incredibly young. A child may be married off at six and first sexual intercourse allowed at nine years of age. Accordingly the number of married Arab teenagers in Israel is nine-fold that of the Jewish population. Again the example is set by the prophet who acquired his youngest wife at six years of age, and held his impulses with an iron will till she was nine years old. In this light one can judge the forays of wealthy Arabs from the gulf to the Indian subcontinent, which is a third Muslim, for the purposes of one night marriages. The men pay the fathers of the unfortunate pre-adolescent girls a sum of 450 dollars, buying the luxury of examining their one-night or one-week stands as one would examine a head of cattle and feel them up the wazoo. The young victims are then married by a the Qazi, the marriage consummated (that is the poor girl is brutally raped) and the marriage dissolved by the same Qazi the next day or week. These one night stands with helpless minor females who will never stand again in the society to which they were born. Are the perfect way to achieve with Lucre that which was achieved in the past with bloody Razzias . http://www.danielpipes.org/article/3022. Cairo, the teeming capital of Islam, is home to an arrondissment where the rich men of the gulf can do the same, for a week or a month, hoping not to be tricked into believing the girl is a real virgin rather than a stitched-up used goods. Israeli Arabs are fond of taking vacations in North Africa, not so much for the view and the beach but for the acquisition of a virgin wife for a month. Not that Pedophilic Sex tourism is unheard of in the West, but it is prostitution at best, and a heinous crime at worst, not a practice enshrined and blessed by the officers of the faith.

Inheritance: The laws are clear. Man gets twice as much as woman. In Islamic law the son takes priority over the father who in turn takes priority over the brothers who in turn take priority over the paternal uncles.

As we shall see the Quran does not expressly state the share of the male agnate relatives as such, although it does enact that the share of the male is twice that of a female. Says Dr Abid Hussein in http://www.islam101.com/sociology/inheritance.htm citing the Quran "Allah commands you regarding your children. For the male a share equivalent to that of two females. " [Quran 4:11]

The reason given this glaring inequality is the greater responsibilities (the multiple wives the man is expected to support) http://www.jamaat.org/islam/ WomanDivorce.html inherent to being a man.

Power within the family: Female involvement in decision-making is severely curtailed by isolation from all decision-making forums, by banishment to the back rooms when the men discuss policy. The choice of work is limited. Certain professions are considered appropriate and others are forbidden. Education is abrogated and in some cases prohibited entirely to females, no intelligent input is expected of them, in fact it appears the culture is willing to nullify half of its brain power. Women are apriori considered unable to manage the affairs of the family due to sentimentality ( As for the role of the maintainer being given to man, the society needs a manager to manage its affairs, even for a small community such as a family. Therefore the community cannot go without any of leadership of either the man or the woman or both of them together. The issue of leadership may on one hand be given to the man, or to the woman or to both of them, or on the other hand there may be no leadership at all. If it is given to man, it will be within his intellectual ability. If it is given to woman, it will be the case of giving an intellectual task to a generally sentimental and emotional individual. If it were given to both, it would result into dispute and quarrel. As for the fourth case, it means that the society is not managed. Therefore the best viable option left to any community is the first. http://www.shirazi.org.uk/womanstatus.htm for the same reason a woman is unfit for testimony. Sentimentality contradicts the rationality of (giving) witness, and for this reason Allah the Almighty states: "If one of them errs the other can remind her. . ."

Freedom of movement: There is none. A woman must account to her husband or father of her time, at all times. Thus a woman who brings her child to the doctor must return with medicine, any medicine, as proof of having been to the doctor Basics of modern society such as driving education is denied to women in many Islamic countries, as is leaving the house without a male chaperone. Mehmet Gaye, the chief imam of Stuttgart, holds that "A woman is not allowed to travel in the company of a stranger without the presence of her guardian. . . . Alone she may not travel a distance longer than 50 miles, as that would be a sin." http://www.danielpipes.org/ article/232

Dress: Female attributes such as beauty, grace, attraction, are considered so dangerous to society they must be concealed behind tent-like clothing, in some cases inclusive of face, nose and eyes, so as to totally obscure the female form. Clothing which is complimentary to the female form is abhorred as a Kaffir abomination. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/08/30/ wburqa30.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/08/30/ixportal.html The Hijjab, a headcover that extends down the back and closes tightly at the chin is considered the woman's virtue. Recently Islamist women have decried the loose ways of England's new Beauty Queen, an extraordinarily beautiful woman of Uzbeck ancestry, and demanded she either adopt the Hijab, or foreswear her Islamic origins. Since it is illegal under Sharia to foreswear one's Islamic heritage on pain of death, it seems the choice is non-existent, the Queen is marked for death or mutilation. http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,31100-1202233,00.html In some locales a loose hijjab may entail severe punishment. The Taliban would arrest and try women whose toes projected out of the Burqa. Emigration to the West does not seem to improve the lot of the Muslim female, nor does the ban on face-obscuring veil imposed by certain European locales. But why should they since the fine exacted for the violation of the ban is levied out of the state support they get by "right" from the host governments? In fact the Hijab is the favorite trick with which to humiliate the multi-culturalist jurists, a slap in the face to the common order of school uniform and school order. http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,15410-13268300,00.html

Female sexuality: the treatment of the sexual needs and wants of women is anywhere between indifferent to apprehensive to dangerous. Thus from the Western point of view there is no more repugnant a deed as the not uncommon phenomenon of mutilation of the female sexual satiety organ, the clitoris, to be practiced in childhood. http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0810/p06s01-woiq.html. The practice being smiled upon by no lesser a personality than the Prophet himself http://www.religioustolerance.org/fem_cirm.htm as a gift to the prospective husband. The defenders of this practice testify that it is entirely in the woman's interest to lose interest in sex, since her chances of contracting sexually transmitted diseases is lower. How to square this with the sanctioned licentiousness of the husband is not explained.

Use of contraceptives is anywhere between strictly forbidden to frowned upon, enslaving the woman to endless procreation and child rearing. Especially if the products of pregnancy are reared for a purpose of becoming a weapon of Jihad. For example, Hamad Al-Majid, a columnist for the Al-Sharq Al-Awsat weekly, (a London publication) "The Palestinians are fighting against the Zionists with a lethal weapon - the weapon of the multi-birthing woman. If they kill ["The Engineer" Yahyah] 'Ayyash, or if a Mujaheed is Martyred, the wombs of the women pushed, push, and will continue to push thousands Ayyash's of Mujahideen who suckle with their mothers' milk, the education for Jihad... Ah, If only Sharon and his angels of destruction knew that the mother of a Shahid receives the news of her son's Martyrdom with cries of joy... One of them, so it was reported, took an oath to send the four sons she had left to the battlefield so they would gain Martyrdom as well, just like their brother. http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=ia&ID=IA6601. Great words of adulation, reminiscent of Nazi exhortations to Arian women to deliver more men for the needs of the Reich.

If the lot of Muslim women appears to be harsh, the lot of non-Muslim females captured in the incessant wars of expansion is far worse. The proper mode of conduct is exemplified, or attributed directly to the Perfect Prophet Mohammed who enslaved women after raiding an unsuspecting community without any warning and had sex with them. Here are examples:

Bukhari vol 3,Book46, No. 717
"Narrated Ibn Aun:
Prophet had suddenly attacked Bani Mustaliq without warning while they were heedless and their cattle were being watered at the places of water. Their fighting men were killed and their women and children were taken as captives; the Prophet got Juwairiya on that day. The young Saracen is allowed, indeed encouraged to foist his sperm on the unwilling female of the vanquished, especially after her husband, or brother has been dispatched to a higher plain. In order to avoid the formal prohibition on rape, the warrior and the unfortunate female were wed, consummated (that is, raped) and divorced, all in a matter of minutes by the process of nikaah, sanctified by Mohammed, except he called it a temporary marriage.
Bukhari,Vl7,Bk62,No.130
Narrated 'Abdullah:
We used to participate in the holy battles led by Allah's Apostle and we had nothing (no wives) with us. So we said, "Shall we get ourselves castrated?" He forbade us that and then allowed us to marry women with a temporary contract .

Thus were Egypt and Lybia and North Africa subjugated, and the continent Islamised. The same tactics were employed in the Indian subcontinent, giving rise to the tremendous population shift from Afghanistan to Pakistan to India to Bangla-desh. Women abducted in Europe and England were put into sex-bondage, and their progeny raised to be Saracen. It was exhilarating to be a Saracen warrior. Present day warriors, in truly godforsaken locales such as Sudan http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/04/11/sudan10467.htm and Nigeria uphold the same practices. Women who do not agree to be raped and Islamised, may face an even harsher sentence, beheading. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4387604.stm Under such circumstances it is no wonder that Islam has spread so successfully.

Heaven and Hell The Holy Land has seen its undue share of Jihadist warriors willing to take their faith to the highest degree and be martyred. If a Chech Martyr is someone who burned himself as a protest against the rape and subjugation of his country, an Islamist martyr is someone who is willing to burn the maximum of other humans along with himself as a way to enshrine Islam. Every Shahid has his price, though. Shahids are promised seventy two virgins in the just Islamic heaven when they commit fiery suicide, sending the Dhimmis to hell. There is no account of the feelings of those well-endowed virtual virgins forced to accept the sexual attention of the victorious dismembered Shahid. It is telling that the Islamic heaven does not manifest in the shelter under the wing of the Lord, or studying Torah without ever worrying about bodily needs. The Islamic male heaven is about an endless unleashing of lust upon virgin black-eyes women who are sentenced to eternal servitude to this brute. To put it bluntly, the Islamic male heaven is the Muslim Woman's hell.

The written versus the practice: A search of websites in the English language dedicated to the subject of the status of females in Islam will yield a vast array of apologetics which always start with a comparison of scriptural descriptions, the Qur'an versus the Jewish and Christian testaments. As presented by Joseph Badawi and a host of like-minded commentators http://www.iad.org/books/S-women.html, the Quran is a significant liberal egalitarian and progressive document. The chief claim to progressive thought in Islam is the protection it affords women from the rapacious, licentious eyes and deeds of men, the abuse of female attributed to and for men, using the mandatory rules of concealment. The assumption underlying all those protective custody, the denial of free will, is that woman by nature is unable to reach sound decisions concerning her fate. For example, polygamy is good because then no woman is left without a man to be her custodian, from the age of ten onwards. Her consent may be warranted, but what girl aged ten is able to provide an informed consent about the single most important decision of her life?

On the other hand, the multitude of young men unable to find a wife, because older wealthier men have already purchased them is likely to create a class of warriors who are out not only to extend the realm, but to find a mate! Of course polygamy is good because it shelters income and estate from taxes, at least in England!! http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1415741,00.html It is significant that the vast majority of the Islamic apologists are male, whereas female Muslim writers in the west generally deplore their situation in no uncertain terms, Van Gogh's documentary films being the best example of such heart rending cries. Theo Van Gogh was brutally and ritually murdered due to these expositions http://www.danielpipes.org/article/2218 .

It is not the Quranic decrees that are inherently and unabashedly female-fobic. Rather, it is the extension and application of those assertions which are lop-sided. "sex outside marriage is considered in Islam law not only as a sin but as a crime which is punished under the law in the same way as theft or murder. The punishment for it applies equally to the man and woman and is severe and deterrent in its effect" says the Imam of a Pakistani Islamic authority. The problem is, in practice, the punishment appears to be reserved for the woman only, because men will testify against woman, but a woman's testimony is unacceptable.

Islam prides itself on the dignity it affords the female gender, as opposed to the licentious West, and claims shrilly that the oldest profession, of women who entertain men with sexual favors, does not exist. It is said that a lie if repeated often enough will be acquire veracity. The reality is that Islamic cities are rife with brothels, or institutions where men, tired of their staid wives., come for entertainment and the famous belly dance. http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticleprint/2004/07/638ea162-1da6-478f-8541-8ca9c840a8ff.html For a society which has hidden the ird so deep under the Burqa, it is remarkable how deft those dancers are at moving that very pelvis as if it were separated from the rest of the body, sending frissons through the spines of the virtuous men. To say nothing of the luscious beauties inhabiting the harems, watched over by eunuchs (that is men whose testicles have been forcibly removed by the benevolent Caliph or Amir). Those phenomena are studiously ignored by mainstream Imams, as if they do not exist, since they aught not to exist, adding to the general attitude of the One True Faith to disregard Fact if it does not jive with the Theory. But for the Men of the faith, it is heavenly, domination over the female assured, since if those sexual professionals do not officially exist, one may consider them non-entities.

if sex is not in the offing, then slavery is just as good. Wealthy Saudi families bring servants into the US households, and treat them to all intents and purposes as slaves http://www.danielpipes.org/article/2687 all these cases of abusive slavery involve young women lured with false promises, then enslaved, beaten and raped.

The pinnacle of Islamic achievement was the Taliban who refined the ban on the female gender to the highest level. The following are some of the restrictions placed on women by the Taliban regimes, enslaving close on 15 million women under their sway
Taliban restrictions and mistreatment of women include the:

1- Complete ban on women's work outside the home, which also applies to female teachers, engineers and most professionals. Only a few female doctors and nurses are allowed to work in some hospitals in Kabul.
2- Complete ban on women's activity outside the home unless accompanied by a mahram (close male relative such as a father, brother or husband).
3- Ban on women dealing with male shopkeepers.
4- Ban on women being treated by male doctors.
5- Ban on women studying at schools, universities or any other educational institution. (Taliban have converted girls' schools into religious seminaries.)
6- Requirement that women wear a long veil (Burqa), which covers them from head to toe.
7- Whipping, beating and verbal abuse of women not clothed in accordance with Taliban rules, or of women unaccompanied by a mahram.
8- Whipping of women in public for having non-covered ankles.
9- Public stoning of women accused of having sex outside marriage. (A number of lovers are stoned to death under this rule).
10- Ban on the use of cosmetics. (Many women with painted nails have had fingers cut off).
11- Ban on women talking or shaking hands with non-mahram males.
12- Ban on women laughing loudly. (No stranger should hear a woman's voice).
13- Ban on women wearing high heel shoes, which would produce sound while walking. (A man must not hear a woman's footsteps.)
14- Ban on women riding in a taxi without a mahram.
15- Ban on women's presence in radio, television or public gatherings of any kind.
16- Ban on women playing sports or entering a sport center or club.
17- Ban on women riding bicycles or motorcycles, even with their mahrams.
18- Ban on women's wearing brightly colored clothes. In Taliban terms, these are "sexually attracting colors."
19- Ban on women gathering for festive occasions such as the Eids, or for any recreational purpose.
20- Ban on women washing clothes next to rivers or in a public place.
21- Modification of all place names including the word "women." For example, "women's garden" has been renamed "spring garden".
22- Ban on women appearing on the balconies of their apartments or houses.
23- Compulsory painting of all windows, so women can not be seen from outside their homes.
24- Ban on male tailors taking women's measurements or sewing women's clothes.
25- Ban on female public baths.
26- Ban on males and females traveling on the same bus. Public buses have now been designated "males only" (or "females only").
27- Ban on flared (wide) pant-legs, even under a burqa.
28- Ban on the photographing or filming of women.
29- Ban on women's pictures printed in newspapers and books, or hung on the walls of houses and shops. http://www.rawa.org/rules.htm
That is probably the most important feature of the dominion of Men in Islam, woman's opinion does not matter, is never taken into account. Her place in the world is circumscribed and any attempt to step beyond those bounds is severely, or lethally punished. She walks five steps behind the man, she is unfit for testimony in court, men may testify against woman and win a death sentence based upon testimony with no evidence. Thus it is comfortable to be a man in Islamic society.


A young Muslim man attempting to truly assimilate into western society finds that women are able and sometimes combative competitors, armed with the legislative powers of society. A man raised to total domination of the women in his sphere finds it difficult if not impossible to accept woman as an independent being who chooses to be a partner, rather than a slave. Muslim and especially Arab men who do marry Western women are likely to try and shoe-horn them, after the marriage, into the mold they believe is proper, with catastrophic results. Hundreds of Jewish women are thus lured, impregnated, abused, and and essentially buried alive in Arab cities and villages within screaming distance of Israel Defense Forces outposts. Scores of such women are each year rescued from such horrendous circumstances, finding it necessary to disappear, just like material witnesses in a Mob trial, in order to survive and keep their children.

A woman raised in this fashion finds it difficult to become assertive, rather than combative. Should she attempt to assimilate and change, she is likely to run into the stiff, and often violent opposition of her male family. There is no aspect of modernity that Fundamental Orthodox Islam has tried to resist a change of, more vigorously that the emancipation of woman. Devout Muslim women are encouraged to hold up this abhorrent state of affairs as protective of women. Should a Muslim woman work and act against these edicts, she is likely to be threatened, terrorized, and possibly maimed. The violence perpetrated on women which have tried to breach the walls is limitless, administered with absolute ferocity, and godly (Satanic?) absolution. No wonder women are champions of Islam, any other attitude constitutes a sentence of death. http://www.rawa.org/meena.html

Conclusion
Islam is the most failure-ridden faith when it comes to providing a framework for a prosperous society. Islamism is at this time equated with poverty, failure, terrorism, mayhem and death. Despite these shortcomings Islam is a fast-growing faith, a vibrant scene of new adherents and converts. In searching for an explanation for this remarkable success in the face of abject failure, I can come up with only one satisfactory, all encompassing theory, the theory of the Female subjugation as a powerful motive for the male adherence to the faith.

If the West truly feels that the Islamist tsunami now expanding through Humanity can be stopped at the source, then it is not the deprivation, the failure, the housing, the opportunities it needs to correct, but the emancipation of Woman from the clutches of Islam. Only when the Muslim woman is in firm control of her life body and future, will Radical islam and the tangible danger it represents to the West, be checked, and turned back. The alternative is Jihad, and the inevitable defeat at the gates of the Womb.

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