Saudi rape victim 'pardoned'
The poor young woman known as the 'Qatif girl' has been pardoned by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia for her 'crime' of being with an unrelated male. She was the victim of a multiple gang rape, but because she was accused of being alone with a man, and then complaining about her initial sentence, she was given a punishment of 200 lashes and six months in jail. The case provoked an international outcry, which seems to have paid off with this pardon.
I welcome the fact that the victim will not have to endure further punishment. Her husband has stated that she is a "crushed human being." Who wouldn't be after a rape ordeal like hers? And then having to face the prospect of further punishment, and supposedly her own brother wanting to kill her to save honour? I feel huge relief for her, but also worry about her ongoing physical and mental well-being, and her safety as the case comes to a close.
It seems the pardon comes with a forked tongue. The letter states that "the suffering of the two rape victims was in itself enough "discipline" so they would "learn the lesson"", implying that the guilt was there, and that somehow the two involved had invited what happened to them. The country's Ministry of Justice had defended the woman's punishment, declaring her to be an adulteress who "provoked the attack" because she was "indecently dressed". The man she was alone with was also raped and sentenced to punishment for being alone with her. The pardon also applies to him. Despite the threats of being disbarred, the lawyer will also retain his license to practice.
A great post on the utter ludicrousness and incoherency of the Saudi laws is here explained by a young woman living in said country. Her post entitled "Lash me I was alone with my driver" runs riot through the impossibilities of the law of not being alone, starting from the simple point that women are not permitted to drive in Saudi Arabia, and therefore must have a driver, with whom de facto they end up being alone.
This horrific case illustrates the extremity of the problems that the Muslim world has to deal with in relation to gender. The point of the Islamic ideals of modesty, in my humble opinion, is to make gender interaction and relationships easier and smoother and reduce the tensions, heartache and difficulties that exist in human societies. However, Muslims seem to have taken modesty in the entirely opposite direction and completely split the genders apart. First of all, how does a society then function holistically? And second, and what is illustrated here, is that the genders have no clue how to interact with each other. It foments hatred and discrimination.
Instead of modest dress and behaviour allowing women and men to be seen as human beings rather than physical objects, the extreme segregation has had the total opposite effect - of seeing women as physical objects with only sexual intentions by them and towards them. That's why the court can make a ridiculous statement like "she provoked it" or elsewhere statements like "inviting rape like open meat to a cat".
Muslims need a fundamental overhaul in their understanding of 'modesty' and gender relations.
Before anyone reading this gets too complacent that the 'western world' has all the answers: Europe, the Americas, the West and the East, all have issues with gender relations, whether it be in areas such as political representation, domestic violence or equality of pay. Even rape is a difficult area, with only 5% of cases in the UK leading to conviction, and the victim having to defend her credibility and good character. The 'She asked for it' attitude also exists here. However, at least the debate has recognised the victim's status and is in principle set to defend her. For this I am thankful.
I notice that whenever I point out that we in the 'west' still have problems dealing with women, I am quickly barraged and sent insults and offences. (I've been called 'weasly, very weasly' by a well-known journalist).
I am in no way drawing a direct comparison but simply pointing out that we also have issues to deal with. The scale and magnitude of the problems are quite different I agree, quite distressingly different. At least we can have a debate and discussion - something that is sadly progressing very slowly, or is not permitted or possible, in some parts of the Muslim world. But if we are asking the Muslim world to apply some honesty and integrity, then we must be willing to do the same.
I welcome the fact that the victim will not have to endure further punishment. Her husband has stated that she is a "crushed human being." Who wouldn't be after a rape ordeal like hers? And then having to face the prospect of further punishment, and supposedly her own brother wanting to kill her to save honour? I feel huge relief for her, but also worry about her ongoing physical and mental well-being, and her safety as the case comes to a close.
It seems the pardon comes with a forked tongue. The letter states that "the suffering of the two rape victims was in itself enough "discipline" so they would "learn the lesson"", implying that the guilt was there, and that somehow the two involved had invited what happened to them. The country's Ministry of Justice had defended the woman's punishment, declaring her to be an adulteress who "provoked the attack" because she was "indecently dressed". The man she was alone with was also raped and sentenced to punishment for being alone with her. The pardon also applies to him. Despite the threats of being disbarred, the lawyer will also retain his license to practice.
A great post on the utter ludicrousness and incoherency of the Saudi laws is here explained by a young woman living in said country. Her post entitled "Lash me I was alone with my driver" runs riot through the impossibilities of the law of not being alone, starting from the simple point that women are not permitted to drive in Saudi Arabia, and therefore must have a driver, with whom de facto they end up being alone.
This horrific case illustrates the extremity of the problems that the Muslim world has to deal with in relation to gender. The point of the Islamic ideals of modesty, in my humble opinion, is to make gender interaction and relationships easier and smoother and reduce the tensions, heartache and difficulties that exist in human societies. However, Muslims seem to have taken modesty in the entirely opposite direction and completely split the genders apart. First of all, how does a society then function holistically? And second, and what is illustrated here, is that the genders have no clue how to interact with each other. It foments hatred and discrimination.
Instead of modest dress and behaviour allowing women and men to be seen as human beings rather than physical objects, the extreme segregation has had the total opposite effect - of seeing women as physical objects with only sexual intentions by them and towards them. That's why the court can make a ridiculous statement like "she provoked it" or elsewhere statements like "inviting rape like open meat to a cat".
Muslims need a fundamental overhaul in their understanding of 'modesty' and gender relations.
Before anyone reading this gets too complacent that the 'western world' has all the answers: Europe, the Americas, the West and the East, all have issues with gender relations, whether it be in areas such as political representation, domestic violence or equality of pay. Even rape is a difficult area, with only 5% of cases in the UK leading to conviction, and the victim having to defend her credibility and good character. The 'She asked for it' attitude also exists here. However, at least the debate has recognised the victim's status and is in principle set to defend her. For this I am thankful.
I notice that whenever I point out that we in the 'west' still have problems dealing with women, I am quickly barraged and sent insults and offences. (I've been called 'weasly, very weasly' by a well-known journalist).
I am in no way drawing a direct comparison but simply pointing out that we also have issues to deal with. The scale and magnitude of the problems are quite different I agree, quite distressingly different. At least we can have a debate and discussion - something that is sadly progressing very slowly, or is not permitted or possible, in some parts of the Muslim world. But if we are asking the Muslim world to apply some honesty and integrity, then we must be willing to do the same.
Labels: comment, Extremism, Hijab, Muslim women, women
posted by Shelina Zahra Janmohamed at 10:58
5 Comments:
don't you think we need an alternative to the hudood laws(??)
Surely there is someone out there who can make Shariah likeable!
On the whole I agree with the need for an overhaul on ”extreme segregation” that is widely practised in the east without intending to compromise basic Islamic principles/ideals. More importantly however, is the need to remind ourselves that “moderation” of almost everything is a basic Islamic principle, in my opinion(I’ll save pulling out the relevant translated text from the Quraan ) and I don’t see why when it comes to gender related issues we scream unislamic ( all carefully written knowing the risk of being labelled a “reformer”).
On a lighter note, from my little experience of Brunei-ians, I would say I quite fancy their way of life!
Sometimes I feel as though gender (and in particular telling Muslim women how to behave) is the thing Muslims are most preoccupied with. Keep the genders apart and the women covered, and all is right in the world, seems to be one attitude. The problem is that the fabric of society disintegrates under this attitude, and gender relations break down. Both men and women together make a successful society.
One of the things I have always been confused about in Islam is this strict adherence to the total segregation of men and women. While I get why we pray in separate lines/groups, what makes us need a screen, sheet, or separate room to further separate us? In some instances, women have never even met their imam.
Do you have any background on this ruling?
I know there is a hadith that states (paraphrasing) that when a man and a woman are alone, the Shaitan is the 3rd party - but to me that really means *alone* alone, as in wink, wink.
Even some of the other popular ways to "suppress" women (like women's voices shouldn't be heard in public) supposedly derive from ahadith where the ruling came from a man dealing with a woman. Like when Umar (RA) wanted some women to stop singing and Rasululah (saw) ordered him to leave them alone. How could he have even known they were singing if they'd been separate from the men?
Even in the Quran, when Aisha was accused of infidelity - she had been alone with a man. No, it was not planned, but my point here is that even after the situation was resolved, no ruling of "men should never be alone with women" followed. In fact, the only thing that followed was more strict requirement for proving accusations.
I could be totally of base here, but some of the things we do today seem contradictory to the very essential historical records in Islam, and practices established by Rasululah.
a brilliant piece of writing - well done Shelina. As a humanist, its great to see such bad ideas in islam being challenged. However, I simply feel that such ideas only get do challenged as further generations of muslims live in liberal democracies. Moreover, are these attitudes simply generational? I worry these ideas -that a woman can be held responsible for rape - will continue.
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