About damn time--this is some feminism I can support.
This is great! How long before she's killed by radical fundementalists who have too much at stake to let women run free, I wonder?
It takes real courage in the Muslim world to even suggest that women might not be beaten for real or imagined offenses against their husband. This isn't really about feminism as we know it now, its about basic human rights and decency.
Woman re-interprets Koran with feminist view
Thu Mar 22, 2007 8:25pm ET
By Manuela Badawy
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A new English-language interpretation of the Muslim Holy book the Koran challenges the use of words that feminists say have been used to justify the abuse of Islamic women.
The new version, translated by an Iranian-American, will be published in April and comes after Muslim feminists from around the world gathered in New York last November and vowed to create the first women's council to interpret the Koran and make the religion more friendly toward women.
In the new book, Dr. Laleh Bakhtiar, a former lecturer on Islam at the University of Chicago, challenges the translation of the Arab word "idrib," traditionally translated as "beat," which feminists say has been used to justify abuse of women.
"Why choose to interpret the word as 'to beat' when it can also mean 'to go away'," she writes in the introduction to the new book.
The passage is generally translated: "And as for those women whose illwill you have reason to fear, admonish them; then leave them alone in bed; then beat them; and if thereupon they pay you heed, do not seek to harm them. Behold, God is indeed most high, great!"
Instead, Bakhtiar suggests "Husbands at that point should submit to God, let God handle it -- go away from them and let God work His Will instead of a human being inflicting pain and suffering on another human being in the Name of God."
Some Muslims said the new interpretation strayed from the original. Omar Abu-Namous, imam at the New York Islamic Cultural Center Mosque, questioned Bakhtiar's interpretation. Continued...
of course Omar Abu-Namous Muhammed Omar Osama Muhammed Shahar Jibjab questions the interpretation. He probably LOVES being able to beat up on his daughters and wife. Otherwise, they might pose a threat to his masculinity and *gasp* shame him! Now THAT'S cause for stoning! Maybe these women might be better off keeping the beatings if the alternative is stoning. Yes, I'm kidding. But its the problem that many Muslim women face. Submit and be punished, or don't submit and be punished more severely.
It takes real courage in the Muslim world to even suggest that women might not be beaten for real or imagined offenses against their husband. This isn't really about feminism as we know it now, its about basic human rights and decency.
Woman re-interprets Koran with feminist view
Thu Mar 22, 2007 8:25pm ET
By Manuela Badawy
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A new English-language interpretation of the Muslim Holy book the Koran challenges the use of words that feminists say have been used to justify the abuse of Islamic women.
The new version, translated by an Iranian-American, will be published in April and comes after Muslim feminists from around the world gathered in New York last November and vowed to create the first women's council to interpret the Koran and make the religion more friendly toward women.
In the new book, Dr. Laleh Bakhtiar, a former lecturer on Islam at the University of Chicago, challenges the translation of the Arab word "idrib," traditionally translated as "beat," which feminists say has been used to justify abuse of women.
"Why choose to interpret the word as 'to beat' when it can also mean 'to go away'," she writes in the introduction to the new book.
The passage is generally translated: "And as for those women whose illwill you have reason to fear, admonish them; then leave them alone in bed; then beat them; and if thereupon they pay you heed, do not seek to harm them. Behold, God is indeed most high, great!"
Instead, Bakhtiar suggests "Husbands at that point should submit to God, let God handle it -- go away from them and let God work His Will instead of a human being inflicting pain and suffering on another human being in the Name of God."
Some Muslims said the new interpretation strayed from the original. Omar Abu-Namous, imam at the New York Islamic Cultural Center Mosque, questioned Bakhtiar's interpretation. Continued...
of course Omar Abu-Namous Muhammed Omar Osama Muhammed Shahar Jibjab questions the interpretation. He probably LOVES being able to beat up on his daughters and wife. Otherwise, they might pose a threat to his masculinity and *gasp* shame him! Now THAT'S cause for stoning! Maybe these women might be better off keeping the beatings if the alternative is stoning. Yes, I'm kidding. But its the problem that many Muslim women face. Submit and be punished, or don't submit and be punished more severely.
posted by Conservotarian Emmy at 2:50 PM
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