Nigerian faces death for 86 wives

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Nigeria's Islamic authority has told the man who has 86 wives to choose only four and repent within three days or else he will be sentenced to death.

The Jamatu Nasril Islam (JNI) passed their verdict on Mohammed Bello Abubakar, 84, according to Sharia law.

This comes two weeks after the Nigerian press and the BBC reported on the case.

Talking to the media then, Mr Abubakar challenged Muslim scholars, saying there is no punishment stated in the Koran for having more than four wives.

Yes 86 wives is a bit much, but to kill him for it? I'd think just having that many wives would kill a man!

~ A, not muslim anymore ~

Why Muslim Apostates Should be Executed!

Many Muslims say that people who leave Islam shouldn't be killed, but many say they should. This Islam Q and A (Question and Answer) site explains the "good" reasons why.

The punishment for the apostate is execution. Why such harshness?

Let's look at the reasons they state.

1. This punishment is a deterrent to anyone who wants to enter Islam just to follow the crowd or for hypocritical purposes...

Is thing kind like "until death do us part"? They don't enforce that! People change. That doesn't mean that they went into it as a fad or anything. I was Muslim for about 13 years. I lived as a Muslim, raised my kids as a Muslim, and really never thought I wouldn't be one. But what I believed and felt was important changed. Does that mean I went into Islam just to "follow the crowd"? If I was following the crowd, I never would have become Muslim!

2. The one who announces his Islam has joined the jamaa’ah (main body) of the Muslims ... Apostasy from Islam means forsaking the jamaa’ah and its divine order, and has a harmful effect on it. Execution is the greatest deterrent that will prevent people from committing such a crime.

Is freedom of religion a crime? When I became Muslim, they didn't have me sign an oath in blood! Why is one person or some people leaving Islam harm it? Is that the only way you can keep people in, by force?

3. Those Muslims who are weak in faith and others who are against Islam may think that the apostate has only left Islam because of what he has found out about its real nature, because if it were the truth then he would never have turned away from it.In this case executing the apostate is obligatory, in order to protect the true religion from the defamation of the liars and to protect the faith of its adherents and remove obstacles from the path of those who are entering the faith.

Oh, so they don't want people to see others leave Islam and think that they can leave it too. Or think that maybe things are perfect in Islam. Why don't you let people think for themselves and come to their own conclusions, instead of killing people who leave so others won't leave it?

4. We also say that the death penalty exists in the modern laws of man to protect the system from disorder in some situation and to protect society against certain crimes which may cause its disintegration, such as drugs etc. If execution can serve as a deterrent to protect man-made systems, then it is more appropriate that the true religion of Allaah, which Falsehood cannot come to it from before it or behind it [cf. Fussilat 41:42], and which is all goodness, happiness and tranquility in this world and in the Hereafter should punish those who commit acts of aggression against it and seek to extinguish its light and defame its image, and who fabricate lies against it to justify their apostasy and deviation.

So all apostates lie about the religion? How does leaving Islam and stating what you think about it relate to the death penalty in modern laws? That is for murderers, not people who want to change their religion!

This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever read! You want to justify killing people who left Islam. Is that the only way you can keep people in your religion? Thank DOYC that I left it!!!

An.

Women the world over find veil limits job choice

Interesting article. Intro:

DUBAI (Reuters) - Aysha Obeid couldn't get a job as a shop assistant in Dubai because of the veil that covered her face, exposing only her eyes to the outside world. So to improve her employment prospects, Obeid stopped wearing the veil.

"No one takes women with niqab in the retail sector," said Obeid, 22.

While women who cover up for their faith may expect problems getting some kinds of work outside the Muslim world, those in the region also say they have trouble getting jobs -- particularly ones requiring them to interact with the public.

Egyptian Girl Dies in Circumcision

CAIRO, Egypt -

A 13-year-old Egyptian girl has died during a circumcision operation, two months after the death of another girl prompted health officials to ban the widespread traditional procedure, local media said Saturday.

In June, the death of 12-year-old Badour Shaker during a circumcision operation in the southern town of Maghagh sparked a public outcry, prompting the government to officially ban hospitals from performing female circumcisions...

The Egyptian Health Ministry said violators would be punished, but did not specify the penalty. The ban is not as enforceable as a law, which requires passage in the national legislature...

While top clerics insist the practice has nothing to do with Islam, parents, especially in rural villages and Cairo slums, believe they are helping their daughters by protecting their virginity before marriage...

A 2003 survey by UNICEF said that 97 percent of married women in Egypt have undergone genital mutilation. A recent study by Egypt's Ministry of Health and Population found that only half of all girls between the age of 10-18 years have been circumcised.

Yes let's protect their virginity at all costs, even life. Better for them to be dead than to "disgrace the family." And of course no one cares if a man is a virgin or not. No, let's let them do whatever the hell they want.

Why do I think that he won't really be punished? A slap on the wrist, don't do this again, kind of thing. 97% of married women have had this done to them? This is really sad.

Iran to intensify Dress Crackdown

Iran will intensify a crackdown on women flouting Islamic dress laws, a senior policeman has told local media.

Tehran police chief Ahmad Reza Radan said from 23 July twice as many police will tackle "immoral behaviour".

Hundreds of women have already been arrested and some beaten by police since the drive began in April, human rights groups say.

Great, instead of going after real crimes (murder, rape, robbery, etc.) they have to take women to jail for showing their hair. [sarcasm] Because we all know that women who show their hair are whores [/sarcasm]. What's next? Going out alone? DOYC (Deity of Your Choice) forbid!

A, hair today, gone tomorrow

Man Jailed Over "Bible" Rape

A Man who raped a Muslim woman because she showed an interest in Christianity has been jailed for at least five years by a Sydney court...

The men told her they [Christians] were "infidel people" and if she went with them, her killing "would be halal" - meaning her killer would go to heaven.

It states that she converted to Christianity (after this happened). Do you blame her the way he acted? Do they have to force people to stay in Islam in order to keep Muslims? If so, what does that say about Islam? A lot, to me.

He got 5 years in prison. Does 5 years seem even remotely long enough? No damn way!

A.

Malaysia's Lina Joy loses Islam conversion case

It's sad that in Muslim countries they don't let people be the religion that they want to be. I guess if they don't force people to stay in Islam, many will leave.

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (Reuters) - Malaysia's best known Christian convert, Lina Joy, lost a six-year battle on Wednesday to have the word "Islam" removed from her identity card, after the country's highest court rejected the change.

She could not marry her non-Muslim boyfriend while her religion was Islam on her identity card.

Interestingly, the only opposing judge was the only non-Muslim judge:

The three-judge appeal bench ruled 2-1 against Joy. The dissenting judge, the only non-Muslim on the bench, said the department responsible for issuing identity cards should have complied with Joy's request to remove "Islam" from her card.

A, glad to live in the West where everyone can choose their religion and marry who they want to.

'Honor Killing' Sister Breaks her Silence

A really great article, and sad too.

The Introduction:

Britain was appalled by the horrific 'honour killing' of a girl murdered by her father for daring to kiss the man she loved.

Here, her sister, who narrowly escaped death herself and now lives in fear of her life, breaks her silence.

Every time Bekhal Mahmod leaves the safety of her home, she wears the hijab with a black veil covering her face - even though she would give anything for the freedom not to have to.

From Head Scarf to Army Cap, Making a New Life

Interesting article of Muslim women who joined the US Army after being abused/victimized by their Muslim families. Very inspiring!

A.

Women's Bill in Pakistani Assembly

Finally the women in Pakistan are getting their rights, but I seriously doubt that they will really get all the rights that the bill says they will.

Pakistan's national assembly has begun work on a bill to safeguard women's rights to property and inheritance.

The Prevention of Anti-Women Practices Bill seeks to ban various customs that deny women the right to marry or subject them to forced marriages.

Last November the assembly overcame bitter opposition from Islamic parties to amend the country's controversial rape laws...

The damn Islamic party is trying to keep women under the foot of the man. Now women can be jailed if they say a man raped them. Is the man in jail? No, there's not enough evidence. WTF??? I don't think there's any logic there.

Lastly it says:

The bill proposes that husbands who bring charges of infidelity against their wives under Islamic law but fail in their cases could face charges of slander.

In such cases, the wife would be given the power to initiate divorce proceedings.

Which means, in other words, they usually DON'T have the right to initiate divorce there. Islam treats women like they are children! And like we will just get mad every month when we are on our "monthly" and want to divorce our husbands!

When someone says that women in Islam got many rights in the 8th century that women didn't have anywhere else, ask them why they are still treated like it's the 8th century!

They need to treat women like the ADULTS we are! As long as women put up with this, in other words go along with it, it will keep happening. The "moderate" Muslims aren't making much headway in the actual lives of women in many Muslim countries, and some of them are not trying very hard.

A., lack of an appendage doesn't make me less of an adult

Taliban Tells Pakistani Christians: Convert or Die

Edited to add: BBC News Story Here

This really doesn't surprise me after how the Taliban has acted. It's just more of their stupid crap.

About 500 Pakistani Christians in Charsadda, a town in the North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan, received letters earlier this month telling them to close their churches and convert by Thursday or be the target of "bomb explosions."...

Asif Daudzai, a spokesman for the provincial government, asked Christians not to panic, saying authorities were doing all they could to ensure their protection.

"Christians are our brothers and sisters, and we will not allow any one to harm them," he told The Associated Press.

Brothers and sisters? Why does that not reassure me? Honestly I don't think Muslims consider them their "brothers and sisters". That is from 14 years of my own experience with Muslims, some from Pakistan. I don't think most of them wish them ill, but they don't consider them brothers, as only Muslims can be "brothers and sisters".

A., not a sister anymore

Feminist, socialist, devout Muslim: woman who has thrown Denmark into turmoil

Interesting article about a Danish-Muslim woman who is running for Parliament.

The 25-year-old social worker, student and town councillor describes herself as a feminist, a democrat, and a socialist. She has gay friends, opposes the death penalty, supports abortion rights, and could not care less what goes on in other people's bedrooms. In short, a tolerant Scandinavian and European.

She is also a Palestinian and a devout Muslim who insists on wearing a headscarf, who refuses, on religious grounds, to shake hands with males, and who is bidding fair to be the first Muslim woman ever to enter the Folketing, the Danish parliament in Copenhagen...

The 25-year-old social worker, student and town councilor describes herself as a feminist, a democrat, and a socialist. She has gay friends, opposes the death penalty, supports abortion rights, and could not care less what goes on in other people's bedrooms. In short, a tolerant Scandinavian and European.

I think she should have the right to wear a scarf if this is what she believes. Why can't she be a tolerant Scandinavian and a Muslim who believes she should cover?

"This goes far beyond the extreme right," says Toger Seidenfaden, editor of the Politiken daily newspaper. "Asmaa is insisting on the right to be a religious Muslim and that's provoking broad debate among the public."

I don't know about Denmark, but in the US she would have the right to wear a scarf and get a job anywhere.

"We don't like the idea of her performing as an Islamist in the parliament," says DFP spokesman Kim Eskildsen. "We find it wrong that she'll use the parliament as a tool for Islamism ... We don't consider this woman a Nazi. But the way the headscarf is used is comparable to other totalitarian symbols."

Why are they afraid of a small scarf? Do they think all Muslims are terrorists? Just because she wears a scarf doesn't mean she will try to make everyone in the country Muslim or use Parliament as a tool for Islam. That is ridiculous. She should be judged on more than just her looks.

Ironically, Muslims are not on her side either!

But conservative Muslim leaders are also disapproving of her activism.

"Some Muslims don't think it's right for a female to act like this. They go to my father and tell him, get her married, get her married," she laughs. "Others think you can't be Muslim and Danish at the same time. Some of the Muslims and the extreme right are just the same.

I say go girl. Go with what you believe. As long as you aren't saying that all non-Muslims are going to hell and stuff like that, then live your life according to your own path.

Muslims are more integrated in society in the United States, in all kinds of jobs and parts of the country. They have jobs in government and schools. I think they need this in Denmark, so they won't think that all Muslims are terrorists or want to convert all non-Muslims.

A.

Saudi woman Sues Moral Police

Wow, you go girl! It's about time! Some excerpts from the article:

A Saudi civil court is to hear the first ever case brought against the kingdom's religious police, commonly known as the Muttawa.

The unnamed woman is seeking compensation after she and her daughter were allegedly wrongfully arrested in a shopping centre car park in 2004 for "not wearing decent clothing", Abderrahman al-Lahm, her lawyer said...

The woman's family is bringing the case before a civil court in Riyadh on Sunday after an Islamic court rejected the complaint, ruling that "a member of the religious police cannot be judged".

Al-Lahm said he hoped his client's case would help consolidate the role of justice in defending individual freedoms and human rights...

The interior ministry issued a decree in May 2006 aimed at reining in the religious police by requiring them not to interrogate detained suspects, as they had previously done, but to hand them over to the regular police instead.

It probably won't go anywhere, but I am glad that someone is trying.

A.,

Iran Cracking Down!

I guess they think they can't trust people to make decisions for themselves, they must tell them how to dress, how to have their hair cut, and even what to text each other!

50 women barred from boarding flights over un-Islamic dress

Tehran: Iranian police have prevented 50 women from boarding flights in their ongoing crackdown on dress styles deemed to be out of line with Islamic dress rules, officials said yesterday.

"Fifty badly-veiled women were prevented from boarding domestic and international flights for failing to respect Islamic dress rules," said the head of airport police Mamoud Bot-Shekane, according to the Fars news agency.

So they're not only telling them what to wear in Iran, but in other countries as well. Do they think they are going to obey them once they leave the country?

Now Iran bans Western Hairstyles.

Tehran: Iranian police have warned barbers against offering Western-style hair cuts or plucking the eyebrows of their male customers, Iranian media said on Sunday.

The report by a reformist daily, later confirmed by an Iranian news agency, appeared to be another sign of the authorities cracking down on clothing and other fashion deemed to be against Islamic values...

Iranian young men have in recent years started paying more attention to the way they look and dress, especially in affluent parts of the capital Tehran. Spiked up hair, by using gel, is known as the khorusi (rooster) style and some also use make-up...

Barbers who do not follow these rules might be closed down for a month and even lose their permits to operate, Etemad quoted him as saying...

"Currently some barber shops apply make-up and use hair styles that are in line with those in European countries and America," Eftekharifard said.

He added: "An official order has been sent to the union ... not to apply make-up on men's faces (or) do eyebrows ... and hence the barbers are not allowed to do these things."

Oh no, we must not have men with plucked eyebrows or makeup, that's a sure-fire way to go to hell! They must be MANLY men!

Iran to Filter Immoral Mobile Messages

Tehran: Iran's Telecommunications Ministry will start filtering "immoral" video and audio messages sent via mobile phones, state television reported on Saturday.

The Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, a body set up after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, has instructed the ministry to buy the equipment needed to prevent any misuse of Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), it said.

How ridiculous it this?!? They should just take away cell phones, and make people pass notes to each other like we did in school. Of course, then they'd have to have "official" note readers to make sure there was nothing immoral in the notes, or that they did not *GASP touch hands when they passed the notes. Are they going to be monitoring phone calls next? Or maybe they already do that. I'm sure email is next.

We mustn't have free speech. That's a Western concept!

A., don't look at my unplucked eyebrows!

Malaysia's converts test freedom of faith

I posted my opinions about Does Islam say Apostates should be Killed a few days ago. I just found this article today, although it is not a new article.

Five days after she declared legally that she had converted from Islam to Christianity, several officers from Malaysia's state Islamic department turned up at the woman's office and arrested her...

While Malaysia is one of the world's most modern and relaxed Muslim countries, its treatment of apostates, primarily those who have given up the Muslim faith, has ignited a heated debate...

The ruling comes amid calls for capital punishment for apostasy, and follows a spate of civil suits by Malaysians seeking official recognition of their decision to leave Islam.

Half of Malaysia's 26 million people are ethnic Malays, who by law must be Muslim, while its Chinese and Indian minorities include Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs.

Why is there a law saying they HAVE to be Muslim? Are they that concerned that they might leave Islam?

Malaysia's civil courts have said they cannot recognise conversions from Islam and refer apostates to the Islamic courts, where sentences for various offences range from caning to jail.

Although such sentences are rarely carried out on apostates, Malaysians who leave Islam can find themselves in a legal limbo, unable to register their new religious affiliation or to marry non-Muslims. Many keep quiet about their choice or move abroad.

This is just wrong. Islam is holding people hostage. They don't live in the US where they can believe what they want to believe. Yes the US has many problems, but I am glad that everyone here has the right to hold their own beliefs, whether Muslim, Athiest, Hindu, Christian, Pagan, etc.

Some groups, including the opposition party Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS), want apostasy to be punishable by death. One government cleric said about 250,000 Malaysians had left Islam.

The Koran forbids Muslims to abandon their faith, but it doesn't specify the penalties, said Sohirin Solihin, professor of Koranic studies at Malaysia's International Islamic University.

But traditional writings, or Hadith, associated with the Prophet Mohammad proscribe death.

"The Koran is clear that there is no compulsion of religion but the issue of religious freedom is different for Muslims and non-Muslims. The Muslim understanding of this is different from the Western one," he said.

Oh, so religious freedom is for non-Muslim, not Muslims themselves? They are in it till they die, whether they like it or not?

I am all for everyone having their own path, their own belief. But my path is not yours, and I am against forcing anyone to be on a path that is not for them. And paths do change, look at mine: I grew up as a Seventh-day Adventist, didn't go to any church for years afterward (and was married to a Hindu), then was Muslim for 13 or 14 years. Now I have been going to a Unitarian Church. If someone wants to be Muslim, go ahead. If my kids want to be Muslim someday, that is their own choice. I won't like it, but it is a mother's job not like what her kids do, right? But I will say something if they are intolerant of anyone else's path.

This is the scariest part of the article:

The minister in the Prime Minister's Department for religious affairs, Abdullah Md Zin, declined to comment. His spokesman referred questions to the government's Department of Islamic Development where officials declined comment.

But the department's Web site recommends isolating and counselling apostates and then jailing them if they fail to repent.

"If the person remains an apostate, it is left to the respective authorities to impose the fitting sentence that is death," the department said in its Malay-language "Frequently Asked Questions" section.

A, catch me if you can

Crackdown in Iran over Dress

Thousands of Iranian women have been cautioned over their poor Islamic dress this week and several hundred arrested in the capital Tehran in the most fierce crackdown on what's known as "bad hijab" for more than a decade...

Can't have "bad hijab", can we? It might make men actually look at women, then the country would implode.

Police cars are stationed outside major shopping centres in Tehran.

They are stopping pedestrians and even cars - warning female drivers not to show any hair - and impounding the vehicles and arresting the women if they argue back.

Why the heck does a woman showing her hair merit this? Why do they blame all ills on women?

Thousands of women have been cautioned by police over their dress, some have been obliged to sign statements that they will do better in the future, and some face court cases against them.

All over a scarf? And we wonder why the world doesn't take the Middle East or Islam seriously?

Here's an article talking to 3 Iranians about their views.

ZAHRA ANSARI, 36, MOTHER OF TWO CHILDREN said:

I believe in personal choice but also in modesty, as modesty is a virtue that our religion advocates - for both from men and women.

I am all for modesty, but modesty cannot be imposed by force.

Hmmm, soo which is it, personal choice or modesty? What if it is someone's personal choice Not to be modest? Does personal choice go out the window then?

HS, BUSINESSMAN, TEHRAN said:

For women, since we live in an Islamic country, they should wear something polite and modest and respect Islamic rules. But I do not believe in police enforcing these rules!

Oh, so only women should be modestly dressed? But who is to enforce this, if not the police? If they don't enforce it, the women will go wild and all dress naked!

A., glad she lives in a country without the fashion police.

Does Islam say Apostates should be killed?

Many Muslims say that this is just culture, that it is not in the religion at all. However, there are many Hadith (sayings and doings of the "prophet" Muhammed) which state this (the links are from a Muslim site with Hadith online):

Sahih Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 83, Number 17

Narrated 'Abdullah:

“The blood of a Muslim who confesses that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that I am His Apostle, cannot be shed except in three cases: In Qisas for murder, a married person who commits illegal sexual intercourse and the one who reverts from Islam (apostate) and leaves the Muslims.”

Sahih Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 84, Number 57

Narrated 'Ikrima:

Some Zanadiqa (atheists) were brought to 'Ali and he burnt them. The news of this event, reached Ibn 'Abbas who said, "If I had been in his place, I would not have burnt them, as Allah's Apostle forbade it, saying, 'Do not punish anybody with Allah's punishment (fire).' I would have killed them according to the statement of Allah's Apostle, 'Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him.'"

Sahih Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 84, Number 58

Narrated Abu Burda:

...Behold: There was a fettered man beside Abu Muisa. Mu'adh asked, "Who is this (man)?" Abu Muisa said, "He was a Jew and became a Muslim and then reverted back to Judaism." Then Abu Muisa requested Mu'adh to sit down but Mu'adh said, "I will not sit down till he has been killed. This is the judgment of Allah and His Apostle (for such cases) and repeated it thrice. Then Abu Musa ordered that the man be killed, and he was killed...

Sahih Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 89, Number 271:

Narrated Abu Musa:

A man embraced Islam and then reverted back to Judaism. Mu'adh bin Jabal came and saw the man with Abu Musa. Mu'adh asked, "What is wrong with this (man)?" Abu Musa replied, "He embraced Islam and then reverted back to Judaism." Mu'adh said, "I will not sit down unless you kill him (as it is) the verdict of Allah and His Apostle.

Sahih Muslim, Book 016, Number 4152

'Abdullah (b. Mas'ud) reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: It is not permissible to take the life of a Muslim who bears testimony (to the fact that there is no god but Allah, and I am the Messenger of Allah, but in one of the three cases: the married adulterer, a life for life, and the deserter of his Din (Islam), abandoning the community.

Sahih Muslim, Book 020, Number 4490

It has been reported on the authority of Abu Musa who said: ... Mu'adh said: Who is this? Abu Musa said: He was a Jew. He embraced Islam. Then he reverted to his false religion and became a Jew. Mu'adh said: I won't sit until he is killed according to the decree of Allah and His Apostle (may peace be upon him) (in this case). Abu Musa said: Be seated. It will be done. He said: I won't sit unless he is killed in accordance with the decree of Allah and His Apostle (may peace be upon him). He repeated these words thrice. Then Abu Musa ordered him (to be killed) and he was kilied.

Muslims are supposed to follow the Hadith as well as the Quran, not just selective parts of it. They say that this isn't Islam. If they admitted otherwise, it kind of makes it laughable that they say the religion is peace. Killing apostates is a part of Islam, although a part they wish to remain hidden from non-Muslims.

A.

Veil Row in England

If you haven't read about it: No Discrimination in Veil Row.

Aishah Azmi, 23, was asked to remove the veil after the Church of England school in Dewsbury, West Yorks, said pupils found it hard to understand her.

The tribunal dismissed her claims of religious discrimination and harassment on religious grounds...

Headfield Church of England Junior School, which has 546 pupils, suspended Mrs Azmi because it said pupils found it hard to understand her during lessons.

Kirklees Council said the decision was taken after a monitoring period in which the impact of wearing the veil on the teaching and learning was studied.

I am against discrimination in women wearing hijab or niqab, but sometimes the situation just isn't conducive to someone wearing niqab. Teaching children at a Christian school is probably one of them. She brings up that if you call someone in a call center, you can't see what they are wearing. Yes that is true. But she wasn't working in a call center, and what you wear around children can impact their education.

I have posted an interesting interview with her above from You Tube (here's the link if you can't see it). You noticed the interviewer asks her several times if she wore a veil in front of a man during her interview. She kinda beats around the bush (doesn't really answer the question) before she answers that no, she didn't. She can't say that she can't take it off when she is teaching there, when she wasn't upfront and honest during her interview. It sounds like she is wearing it selectively. If you wear hijab or niqab and say it is obligatory on you, but only wear it sometimes, then that kind of negates your wearing it for religious reasons, doesn't it?

A, just my 2 cents.

Ahmadinejad accused of indecency

Iran's president has come under fire from a conservative newspaper after he publicly kissed the hand of a woman who used to be his school teacher.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a conservative by the standards of Iranian politics, was attacked by the Hezbollah newspaper for acting "contrary to Sharia law".

It accused him of "indecency and violating religious values".

The elderly woman at the centre of the controversy was wearing thick gloves, a headscarf, and a long black coat.

Ahmadinejad, better known in the west for his fiery anti-Israel rhetoric and his staunch defence of Iran's nuclear program, has been criticised in the past by ultra-conservative elements in Iran.

He once suggested that women should be allowed to watch football matches. This proved highly controversial and was turned down.

How ridiculous is this? Indecency for kissing an elderly lady's hand that had a heavy glove on it? And ohh, can't let women watch soccer ("football") matches. It might make us attack the men. They are half naked ya know! It's inappropriate!

A, who will be inappropriate if she wants to!

Another ridiculous post that I have to comment on

A post I saw today about Polygamy Here

My husband believes that God knows the nature of men and He knew that a “typical” man would not be happy or satisfied with one woman so, He allowed polygamy in Islam...

I, on the other hand, think that when God knew that men would mostly be “typical” and would not be satisfied with one woman..

Sorry but that's another big load of crap today (see the previous post, not sure which is the biggest one). A typical man can't be satisified with one woman? What are women, just a place for him to satisfy himself? Sorry but this is just an excuse that men make up so they can have more than one woman. In Islam they say it's ok since they're married, but many Muslim men just marry because their wife is away and they want to have sex. They don't spend equal time with their first wife, they want to spend all their time with the new, more exciting (for now) one. Plus in the Western countries they cannot legally marry more than one woman, so the woman doesn't have the protection of the law. Don't give me "but he will give her her rights." That's another load of bull.

Most men can be satisfied with one woman, but not if they want to find any excuse not to be. Those are not typical men, they are just idiots.

Islam is supposed to allow polygamy so that women can have a husband and protection, plus have legal sex with a man, since that's not allowed outside marriage, esp. if she is divorced/widowed and it's not very easy for her to find a husband, not just as an excuse for a guy who wants to someone new and younger to screw around with.

Muslims regularly argue with non-Muslims that certain verses or Prophetic traditions (ahadith) were taken out of context or not read within the context in which they were revealed/said, but the verse on polygamy is never read within the context in which it was revealed.

But sometimes things are in black and white, and saying you are taking them out of context is just excusing the real meaning (such as the verse in the Quran saying men can beat their wives, read it here: Quran 4:34)

If a Muslim woman remarries, her children from the first husband automatically go to the father.

This is mostly cultural. In most muslim countries a man won't accept or take care of children from another man. Easy way out of that: just send the kids away. So what the woman is only the mother if she is with their father? If she is with someone else she is not their mother and won't put their well-being above her own? I have a big problem with that. "Islam respects women," but we'll take away their kids if they want to remarry. Hmm, somehow I missed the respect there.

A, try to take my kids away and you may die trying.