Why is there so much crime against women in Muslim societies. Yes there is quite a lot of it. A case that caught international attention is of rural Pakistan where a girl named Mukhtaran Mai was gang raped on orders of the informal village court for the crime of her brother who allegedly had some relationship with the girl from the opposite party. Barbaric? Sure. In accordance with Islamic teaching? Let's see.

"KOLKATA, Jan 23 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A 20-year-old woman in eastern India was gang-raped by 13 men on the orders of a village court as punishment for having a relationship with a man from a different community.....she had violated the rules of her tribe by falling in love with a man from another community.........West Bengal recorded the highest number of gender crimes in the country at 30,942 in 2012 - 12.7 percent of India's total recorded crimes against women. These crimes include rape, kidnapping and sexual harassment and molestation..(Reported by Sujoy Dhar)

Clearly the villagers of Mukhtaran Mai have something in common with the non Muslim villagers in neighboring India; the cultural baggage and tribal customs they have carried along, in spite of embracing Islam.
This may explain the plight of women in UK from South Asia and neighboring countries.....not Muslims only.

Are the females suppressed in these societies? Yes. Is the situation likely to improve? Yes, if I am reading the trend correctly. May be these societies are where the west was in Victorian time or there about. They'll make it too, in time. Expecting them to achieve immediately, the mind change that requires generations, is unrealistic. This "holier than though" and demonizing approach does not help, it only vitiates the atmosphere.

This is how it appears to me, I am no expert on the subject and I can be wrong in my understanding. But what I have presented is true, to the best of my judgement.

McAdam

You've come all this way and you still haven't answered my question. Just leave out the evasion, and abuse, and telling me what my subjective thoughts are, and answer it: Are you saying that no part of the Koran preaches or authorises the killing, enslaving or raping of unbelievers?

If someone were charged with murder or other serious crime, and they attempted to defend or excuse their conduct by saying that other people were doing it, can you see that that would be operating at the level of a moral imbecile?

Also what steps have you taken to persuade the the many Muslims who obviously don’t agree with you and are currently committing atrocities, that their views of the hadith, Koran, Mohammed and Allah are wrong, and that you renounce and condemn their views as unIslamic?

@McAdam & Co,

Lets assume for a brief moment that McAdam has the correct interpretation of his religions texts --so he is right.

The fact that HUGE numbers of the movers and shakers in Islam interpret the same text very differently must surely be seen as a huge warning sign. If his texts can be so readily mis-read what a huge danger they pose.

However, on balance of probabilities -- I think what is most likely is that McAdam and NC are practising a form of taqiyya repacking things in terms which will go down well with a Western liberal audience—and should one day they get the numbers they will give a very different interpretation

NC/McAdam,

Just one simple question:

Is Islamic State acting in accordance with the Koran ? Yes ? No ?

Any obfuscation from now on will be a sure sign of complicity, and/or taqqiya. At least, then, we'll know where we stand with 'moderate' Muslims.

Yes ? No ?

Joe

Sane Minds on Muhammad .. continued..

An interesting fact about Muhammad is that he was unlettered and led a very quiet life for forty years. Then all of Arabia stood in awe and wonder of his eloquence when he began to preach Islam. It was so matchless that legions of Arab poets, preachers, and orators failed to produce a composition that could compare with or equal it.

Today’s quote is from:

"Islam: The Misunderstood Religion," by James A. Michene- Reader's Digest May 1955, pp. 68-70.

“Muhammad, the inspired man who founded Islam, was born about AD. 570 into an Arabian tube that worshipped idols. Orphaned at birth, he was always particularly solicitous of the poor and needy the widow and the orphan, the slave and the downtrodden.

At twenty he was already a successful businessman, and soon became director of camel caravans for a wealthy widow. When he reached twenty-five his employer, recognizing his meet, proposed marriage. Even though she was fifteen years older, he married her, and as long as she lived remained a devoted husband.

Like almost every major prophet before him, Muhammad fought shy of serving as the transmitter of God's word, sensing his own inadequacy. But the angel commanded Read'. So far as we know, Muhammad was unable to read or write, but he began to dictate those inspired words which would soon revolutionize a large segment of the earth: "There is one God."

In all things Muhammad was profoundly practical. When his beloved son Ibrahim died, an eclipse occurred, and rumours of God's personal condolence quickly arose. Whereupon Muhammad is said to have announced,' An eclipse is a phenomenon of nature. It is foolish to attribute such things to the death or birth of a human-being."

At Muhammad’s own death an attempt was made to deify him, but the man who was to become his administrative successor killed the hysteria with one of the noblest speeches in religious history:

'If there are any among you who worshipped Muhammad, he is dead. But if it is God you worshipped, He lives for ever'.”

@NC,
<<An interesting fact about Muhammad is that he was..>>

The most interesting thing about your little piece is your fanatical one-eyed editing of history--heaven help us if you ever was in a position to oversee the media or redesign the schools curricula --- it would be: new dark age here we come courtesy of NC & co