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Sophia
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48
http://www.washingtondispatch.com/article_8165.shtml
Islam and Christianity ' And Disobedient Wives
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exclusive commentary by Egbert F. Bhatty
Feb 23, 2004
Are disobedient wives treated better under Christianity than Islam?
In a recent piece published in these pages, Mr Paul M Weyrich, the noted conservative, blasted Islam because the Qur'an contains a directive for the husband to beat his disobedient wife.
The relevant verse [Sura 4:34] is as follows:
Men are the
aintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property;
the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded;
and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave th
em alone in the sleeping-places and beat them;
then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great.
Mr Weyrich opined that this situation should make every adult ' especially women ' in our country rise to their feet in righteous indignation.
I agree.
However, it is quite apparent that Mr Weyrich is unaware that
a woman is beaten every 9 seconds in America,
the most Christian society on the earth today.
[Source: Commonwealth Fund study [1993] based on Straus, Gelles, and Steinmetz' book Behind Closed Doors: Violence In The American Family]
Straus, Gelles, and Steinmetz estimate that some 2 million women
are beaten a
nd abused in America each year. They believe the number could be as high as 4 million each year.
In contrast, President George Bush [2003] puts the number at 700,000 each year.
But, like
his claim o
f WMDs in Iraq, the President's data has to be treated with some circumspection.
Especially
as statistics from the Family Violence Prevention Fund [2002] show that some 3 million women are physically abused each year.
In the end, whatever the number of women beaten in America ' whether 4 million or 3 million or 2 million or 700,000 or just one
' it is one too many!
Whence this violence against women in America, the stronghold of Christianity?
Gloria Durka writing in Religious Education 86 [1994]: 337 [Facing Ourselves, Facing The Unfamiliar]
points to studies that show that members of most U.S. religious denominations"‚¦..
see no connection between the belief system of their church and family violence.
And, yet, we are all aware that
the Christian religious tradition teaches male dominance and female submission.
See, for example, Ephesians 5:22 and 5:24; Colossians 3:18; and 1 Peter 3:1.
Matilda Joslyn Gage in
her magisterial st
udy Woman, Church and State [1893]:
305 encapsulates this perfectly:
From Moses to Paul, t
he Bible everywhere speaks of her being made for man,
secondary to man, and under his authority by direct command of the Almighty.
It is this superior/inferior, master/slave relationship which derives from these
Biblical teachings that leads to the beating of women in the Christian tradition.
Not long ago, before secular law came to their rescue,
women in Christian countries were the property of their husbands.
As such they could be killed by their husband or sold in the market.
Disobedient wives could be drowned, bridled, or flogged.
In Christian countries flogging of disobedient women was so common
that the size of
the whip was regulated by law '
no thicker than a man's thumb.
Pity the woman whose husband had a large hand!
Islam, on the other hand, did not permit the flogging of
a disobedient wife.
In Islam, the disobedient wife could be hit but only with the force of water hitting the face during ritual cleansing
[daraba al-ma ala w
ajhihi] such that the punishment,
as Mr Weyrich rightly points out will not leave scars and bruising.
That is a far better treatment than meted out to a Christian wife.
It is true that Christian women were not subjected to stoning,
as in Islam,
but, surely the prospect of dying by drowning is not any more pleasant.
If a Christian husband did not want to hire an assassin to strangle his wife,
all he had to do was push her into the river,
and prevent her rescue with a remark such as:
"t is nothing, only a woman being drowned. [Gage: 304]
While agreeing with Mr Weyrich that a
ll of us should rise in righteous indignation
at the treatment of women in Islam,
I cannot wear the blinkers that the rabid right-wingers do.
Yes, the treatment of Musl
im women is bad.
But, given
the fact that a women is beaten every 9 seconds in America,
is Christianity any better?
http://www.washingtondispatch.com/article_8165.shtml
Islam and Christianity ' And Disobedient Wives
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exclusive commentary by Egbert F. Bhatty
Feb 23, 2004
Are disobedient wives treated better under Christianity than Islam?
In a recent piece published in these pages, Mr Paul M Weyrich, the noted conservative, blasted Islam because the Qur'an contains a directive for the husband to beat his disobedient wife.
The relevant verse [Sura 4:34] is as follows:
Men are the
aintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property;
the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded;
and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave th
em alone in the sleeping-places and beat them;
then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great.
Mr Weyrich opined that this situation should make every adult ' especially women ' in our country rise to their feet in righteous indignation.
I agree.
However, it is quite apparent that Mr Weyrich is unaware that
a woman is beaten every 9 seconds in America,
the most Christian society on the earth today.
[Source: Commonwealth Fund study [1993] based on Straus, Gelles, and Steinmetz' book Behind Closed Doors: Violence In The American Family]
Straus, Gelles, and Steinmetz estimate that some 2 million women
are beaten a
nd abused in America each year. They believe the number could be as high as 4 million each year.
In contrast, President George Bush [2003] puts the number at 700,000 each year.
But, like
his claim o
f WMDs in Iraq, the President's data has to be treated with some circumspection.
Especially
as statistics from the Family Violence Prevention Fund [2002] show that some 3 million women are physically abused each year.
In the end, whatever the number of women beaten in America ' whether 4 million or 3 million or 2 million or 700,000 or just one
' it is one too many!
Whence this violence against women in America, the stronghold of Christianity?
Gloria Durka writing in Religious Education 86 [1994]: 337 [Facing Ourselves, Facing The Unfamiliar]
points to studies that show that members of most U.S. religious denominations"‚¦..
see no connection between the belief system of their church and family violence.
And, yet, we are all aware that
the Christian religious tradition teaches male dominance and female submission.
See, for example, Ephesians 5:22 and 5:24; Colossians 3:18; and 1 Peter 3:1.
Matilda Joslyn Gage in
her magisterial st
udy Woman, Church and State [1893]:
305 encapsulates this perfectly:
From Moses to Paul, t
he Bible everywhere speaks of her being made for man,
secondary to man, and under his authority by direct command of the Almighty.
It is this superior/inferior, master/slave relationship which derives from these
Biblical teachings that leads to the beating of women in the Christian tradition.
Not long ago, before secular law came to their rescue,
women in Christian countries were the property of their husbands.
As such they could be killed by their husband or sold in the market.
Disobedient wives could be drowned, bridled, or flogged.
In Christian countries flogging of disobedient women was so common
that the size of
the whip was regulated by law '
no thicker than a man's thumb.
Pity the woman whose husband had a large hand!
Islam, on the other hand, did not permit the flogging of
a disobedient wife.
In Islam, the disobedient wife could be hit but only with the force of water hitting the face during ritual cleansing
[daraba al-ma ala w
ajhihi] such that the punishment,
as Mr Weyrich rightly points out will not leave scars and bruising.
That is a far better treatment than meted out to a Christian wife.
It is true that Christian women were not subjected to stoning,
as in Islam,
but, surely the prospect of dying by drowning is not any more pleasant.
If a Christian husband did not want to hire an assassin to strangle his wife,
all he had to do was push her into the river,
and prevent her rescue with a remark such as:
"t is nothing, only a woman being drowned. [Gage: 304]
While agreeing with Mr Weyrich that a
ll of us should rise in righteous indignation
at the treatment of women in Islam,
I cannot wear the blinkers that the rabid right-wingers do.
Yes, the treatment of Musl
im women is bad.
But, given
the fact that a women is beaten every 9 seconds in America,
is Christianity any better?
