Author: Dick Cornelia
Publication: www.delawareonline.com
Date: July 12, 2004
A recent News Journal article, "With
Islam on world stage, Del. Muslims defend faith," distorted my responses
in an interview. Since Islam is of prime importance to our nation, I am
compelled to respond.
The repression of women proves that
Islam is not a cultural system of peace and compassion. Honor killing of
females for perceived indiscretions, polygamy, acid burning, genital mutilation
and other horrors do not constitute care and understanding.
In Jordan, generally considered
the most Westernized of Islamic nations, 25 percent of all murders are
honor killings. Worse, the Jordanian Penal Code justifies this with "He
who discovers his wife or one of his female relatives committing adultery
and kills, wounds or injures one or both of them, is exempt from any penalty."
In Pakistan during 1996, the known
numbers of honor killings were 416. A 2001 World Health Organization report
estimated that 140 million Muslim women suffered female genital mutilation.
To apologists who say this is largely an Egyptian practice, 140 million
is nearly twice the entire population, men, women and children, of Egypt.
The Arab Human Development report
of 2002 emphasizes that more than 50 percent of all Arab women are illiterate,
have the world's lowest political participation and suffer social and legal
discrimination in all 22 Arab countries. The situation is no better in
other Islamic countries. Female literacy in Afghanistan is under 10 percent.
It is important for Western readers
to recognize that Muslims regard the Qur'an as the immutable, literal word
of God, never to be debated or questioned under penalty of death. Surah
4, verse 34 states: "As to those women on whose part you fear disloyalty
and ill-conduct, first admonish them, then refuse to share their bed, and
last beat them, but then if they return to obedience, do not seek a way
against them."
So whereas spousal abuse is a crime
in our society, it is divinely ordained under Islam. Further, the Qur'an
commands that women are entitled to only half the inheritance rights of
men and are relegated as inferior and untrustworthy.
Literal truth
The notion that there are as many
interpretations of Islam and the Qur'an as there are for the Bible is entirely
wrong. The Bible is written in a language of persuasion, teaches by metaphors
and parables, and is debated endlessly in church groups and elsewhere.
The Qur'an and its acceptance among Muslims is different. It is written
in commandments. The Bible is read in an allegorical fashion while the
Qur'an is accepted as if it literally fell from heaven.
Across the Islamic world, classroom
studies encourage memorization of the Qur'an to the detriment of more meaningful
studies. Whereas doubt and debate has produced theological refinement in
the Christian world, comparable debate is heresy in the Islamic world.
Five centuries ago, the Christian
world underwent Reformation that lead to individual rights and reasoning.
No such reformation has ever taken hold in the Islamic world and is largely
to blame for its backwardness. The superficial argument that Islam has
been hijacked is a smokescreen.
What allows Islam to be hijacked?
It is the many intolerant Qur'anic verses such as: "When the sacred months
have passed, then kill the polytheists and disbelievers wherever you find
them, and lie in wait in each and every ambush." Whereas Christians would
dismiss such verses, Muslims accept them as divine guidance.
The terrorist threat is not simply
a limited minority but the dysfunctional society that prevails throughout
the Islamic world and supports terrorism. If terrorists were active in
your community, would you engage the authorities to suppress it? Why does
this not occur in many Islamic communities?
Dick Cornelia, of Hockessin, teaches
at the University of Delaware's Academy of Lifelong Learning.
