By Daphne Anson
“We need to put voices like mine in the House of Commons.” So declares British campaigner against Islamic misogyny and creeping sharia Ann Marie Waters, and who, having heard her calmly delivered yet urgent message, spoken earlier this year, can blame her?
We need more voices like hers in influential positions in the West in general, of course, people who tell the truth about Islamic misogyny and refuse to jump through politically correct hoops on its behalf, people like American Professor Phyllis Chesler, whose recent shameful and ludicrous treatment has been well-described by Professor Richard Landes here
Women like the writer of this article on the terrible plight of women in Afghanistan
People who can respond to and neutralise the apologetics for Islam such as characterises this BBC report by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore entitled “Urban Burqa: An artist’s striking critique of Islamophobia”
People who write robust articles about radical Islam such as this one
People like Australia’s most widely read columnist Andrew Bolt, who today absolutely demolishes preposterous claims by Islam’s apologists, following this weekend’s airing of an embarassing (to Islam and its leftist allies) Hizb ut-Tahrir video, that violence against women in Islam is not allowed:
‘Sure [he concludes], most Muslims probably oppose domestic violence, and many imams say other passages of the Koran recommend mercy. But I’d suggest most also know Mohamed gave men control over their wives and let them beat the disobedient, which is exactly what Keysar Trad, head of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, conceded in an interview with me earlier this year.
Trad confirmed that beating wives was “step three” after counselling, but urged: “Before you even consider using your hand, before you consider an act of violence, have you checked box No. 1?”
But when you point all this out, quoting the Koran, apologists protest.
Silma Ihram, a convert from the Australian Muslim Women’s Association, even claimed on Sky News we had “no right” to quote the Koran like this: “That is for a scholar to do and not for you or me.”
More evasion, I’m afraid. You see, the most authoritative scholars confirm the Koran’s plain words.
Take Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars: “If the husband senses that feelings of disobedience and rebelliousness are rising against him in his wife”, he should counsel her or stop sleeping with her. But “if this approach fails, it is permissible for him to beat her lightly with his hands, avoiding her face and other sensitive areas”.
Or take Sheik Ahmad al-Tayyeb, Grand Mufti of the Egypt’s famed Al-Azhar Mosque and voted the “most influential Muslim in the world” by the Muslim 500 magazine: “With regard to wife beating … in a nutshell, it appeared as part of a program to reform the wife …
“By Allah, even if only one woman out of a million can be reformed by light beatings … It’s not really beating, it’s more like punching …
“It’s like shoving or poking her. That’s what it is.”
I’m glad apologists say that’s not how they understand the Koran, but they shouldn’t pretend that’s not what Mohamed preached.
Otherwise, it seems they’re fooling themselves … or us.’
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