April 17, 2016
|
Harriet Taylor
For
today’s dismal topic, let’s look at what madness can ensue in Islam
when taboos about menstruation are combined with certain views about the
status of women, the sexual rights of men over women, and an ethic
which encourages adherence to the minutiae of rules for rules’ sake,
rather than anything more basic and meaningful such as, for example,
actually giving a shit about other people.
Pardon
my language, but this topic makes me a bit mad. Read on and you’ll see
why. A lot of cultures, especially historically, have had taboos about
menstruation. But let’s talk about Islam. Get your heads around this.
One, in Islam, women are unclean when they are bleeding so sex is out.
Two,
but note that Mohammed – the perfect example of conduct – was good at
massaging rules to suit himself, and found a way to get around this with
his favourite wife, Aisha, by fondling her during her period while she
was wearing a garment around her lower half.
Three,
men are allowed to have sex with women in any way they choose: ‘women
are your fields, so plough your fields any way you like’ (Qu’ran 2.223).
Note, this is not some kind of Islamic Karma Sutra or Joy of Sex. It’s about a man’s right to penetrate a woman ‘willy-nilly’, if you pardon the expression.
Four,
if a woman refuses sex, and makes her husband angry, ‘the angels will
curse her ‘til morning’. So, a man can have sex with a woman any way he
likes, and whenever he likes. She’s just like the bare earth waiting for
his ‘plough’ to enter her.
Five,
men have the right to have sex with their wives and also with those
‘whom their right hand possesses’, i.e. slaves taken in war.
And
six, Muslims have a myriad excuses for going to war, since their ‘holy’
texts entitle them, even command them, to wage war against infidels for
the sake of advancing Islam – which kind of invites the interpretation
that any assault against infidels is okay, and that any infidel
womenfolk they control are their slaves.
And
lastly, lucky number seven, Islam is peppered with thousands and
thousands of rules of behaviour which have to be copied minutely – with
Mohammed himself the ‘perfect example to follow’. Although many Muslims
have their own innate sense of right and wrong and treat others
decently, such a rule-obsessed ethic, bound by a myriad of often
trivial, often distasteful or even sickening rules, tends to produce
what I’ve called a ‘monkey see, monkey do’
morality, where the point of morality – living a decent, meaningful
life where you recognise the moral worth of others – can be lost in the
slavish submission to rules.
But then, submission is what Islam is all about.
[And
while we’re on the subject, to get a grasp of just how mad Mohammed’s
views were, note the nature of ‘uncleanliness’ in this instance. Some of
Mohammed’s followers wanted to get water at some point, but the water
supply had been contaminated with menstrual cloths and had dead dogs
floating in it. ‘Is the water safe to drink, Mohammed?’ they asked.
‘Yep, fine, go ahead,’ came the reply, ‘for water is pure and nothing
can contaminate it.’
This is
sheer madness. DO NOT DRINK WATER THAT HAS MENSTRUAL CLOTHS AND DEAD
DOGS FLOATING IN IT, OKAY? Menstruation is just a normal part of life, a
necessary part of the human reproductive cycle, but of course, as with
any other blood products, simple rules of cleanliness apply. But
Mohammed’s views of biology and of women’s bodies are just away with the
fairies. He’s concerned with ritual cleanliness, but not with actual cleanliness???]
Now
put all of these things together. Result: a recipe for disaster. Usual
disclaimer: OF COURSE most Muslims are not as bad as the example to
follow. But what might be made possible by Islam?
Let’s look at an account given by one of the bravest young women in Britain, ‘Girl A’, author of Girl A: My Story: The truth about the Rochdale sex ring by the victim who stopped them.
The
Rochdale sex ring was one of scores, if not hundreds, of gangs still
operating up and down the length of the UK, of almost exclusively Muslim
men: friends, brothers, cousins, uncles, ‘grooming’ underage girls for
sex. Not just sex, in fact, but often acts of extreme violence and
depravity.
‘Nothing to do with Islam’, many cry. There are sex offenders in every culture and every walk of life.
That’s
as may be. But the idea that Islam had nothing to do with how these
‘men’ operated? If you have a strong stomach, read just a little of what
Girl A endured:
‘The
worst times with Aarif were when he wanted me “the other way”. When he
did it the first time, he promised me he wouldn’t but, of course, he
did, suddenly and without warning, and the pain of it shot right through
my body. … Aarif just carried on the attack until they came in, me
sobbing from the searing pain and humiliation, trying desperately to
fend him off. …
In
his mind it was all about practicalities. “If it’s your period, you
have to do it that way because otherwise it’s unclean for the man,” he
said. “There’s no point crying about it.”
Most
of the other men liked to do that to me as well, especially if I was on
my period. As Tariq had made it clear, it meant they stayed “clean”
while they were raping me. Lucky them.’
For
most normal people, it beggars belief that a response to religious
taboos against sex during menstruation would lead to substituting
vaginal rape with even more painful anal rape. But fourteen centuries on
from your edicts, Mohammed, your vile views on women, your vile views
on sex, your vile view on infidels, have created a policy of anal rape
as these violent criminals, swayed by your influence, treat girls like
animals being ritually slaughtered, all so that the men can stay ‘clean’
while they fulfil their vicious desires. Because they care more about
their own ritual ‘purity’ than about recognising the humanity in another
person.
These men thought they were staying clean? Clean? What filth you have brought the world, Mohammed. ‘Nothing to do with Islam?’
Thanks
for telling your story, Girl A, and for getting these criminals locked
up. May you grow in strength, peace, and happiness for the rest of your
days.
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