Comments on: Radio Heads: the BBC Asks the Wrong Questions

By: Susan

Susan — Thu, 01 May 2008 15:48:00 +0000

@anonymous – i agree with you entirely. the real damage in that, too, is that it not only reinforces the idea of men in the active role and women in the passive but that it actually alienates Muslim women from the question and from Islam, suggesting that they should comment on how “their men” treat them and to do so knowing it will be read as a commentary on their religion. i am not a Muslim woman but i felt a little irritated at the suggestion that these women should be asked to take a stance against the men in their society. this positioning of the Western interlocutor on the side of the Muslim woman against Muslim men is so counterproductive.

By: Zeynab

Zeynab — Thu, 01 May 2008 04:28:00 +0000

ANONYMOUS–GREAT POINTS. GREAT. POINTS.

By: Zeynab

Zeynab — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:21:00 +0000

Forsoothsayer, the purpose of this post isn’t to answer the BBC’s Islamophobic question, and I’m not going to do that here. But I’m curious as to why you believe Muslim men’s voices and the voices of non-Muslims living under shari’a law matter when we’re struggling with the question, “Do Muslims treat women badly?” The question implies that Muslim men treat Muslim women badly–so why should anyone other than a Muslim woman answer the question?

By: Forsoothsayer

Forsoothsayer — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:07:00 +0000

well, Muslim men’s voices matter as well presumably – and i guess the voices of non-Muslims who live in countries with sharia law (me). the blog post is repugnant of course. it’s just a sneaky side way of saying “do you think Islam is inherently misogynist?” and if that’s what they mean they should come out with it instead of assuming that muslims have some kind of unified belief and practice.but this itself is key: in a religion where jurisprudence and male-passed hadith are given SO much weight, who is to say that the so-called patriarchal interpretations are not the right ones? some interpretations are wildly sexist, incomprehensible, contradictory: this i grant you. re-interpretation would go far in improving the status and treatment of muslim women (and us non-Muslims who live under their law). but there are quranic discriminations that simply cannot be argued away by feminist revisionists: the half-weight of a woman’s legal testimony, the permissibility of polygamy, the child custody laws, the concept of so much as “3awrah”, the concept of woman as fitna…just to begin with. How do you suggest that these are treated? yes, women everywhere are treated badly in comparison to men, but there are usually laws against that; and the laws aren’t said to come from god. a blanket answer to the question “do muslims treat women badly?” would have to be yes, because in many Muslim majority countries, they do. is that what islam dictates? maybe, maybe not, but i think there’s a strong case to be made that there are some inherent inequalities.

By: Marcia

Marcia — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:03:00 +0000

I think the last line of this piece says it all. Sure, as Sofi says, people are entitled to opinions. I don’t hear anyone demanding we censor men’s or Christians’ or Buddhists’ thoughts on Muslim women. But it’s no longer just an opinion when it’s featured on CNN, the NYTimes, the New York Post, FoxNews, etc. At that point, it has a new status, an opinion on steroids–a bunch of them together begin to create a master narrative, a framework of how people are defined.Plus, as you say, women just have it harder. Everywhere (that I know of). Today’s news where I live says girls are more likely to commit suicide, more likely to be assaulted, more likely to be poor, and on and on:http://www.minnpost.com/bethhawkins/2008/04/29/1670/new_report_and_focus_groups_address_troubling_findings_about_states_girls

By: Sofi

Sofi — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 09:41:00 +0000

A very insightful critique. I believe everyone is entitled to their opinion (maybe you believe this too!)…and although I say when it comes to the topic of muslim women, let the muslim women speak out, its also worth remembering many suffer in silence or its not in the cultural norm to speak out against your “own”. Unless the women themselves speak out, and demand change, nothing significant will transpire in my opinion. But yes, admittedly I am tired of hearing how muslim women have it oh so bad from all those sitting in self erected loftier positions.

By: amirah

amirah — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:32:00 +0000

salaam alaikum,i dont think their voices should matter when it comes to muslim women, all the time i hear people speaking about muslim womens rights and they arent muslim, including having someone tell me to my face why im so oppressed. for me its like i heard in a lecture on youtube lol… if you want to know about muslim women , ask muslim women. dont ask cnn , fox news or whoever. we are the only ones who can speak for ourselves, and ppl need to learn that we do speak our minds and we arent brainwashed.

By: Safiya Outlines

Safiya Outlines — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 21:54:00 +0000

Salaam Alaikum,Masha Allah that they asked you to speak.Obviously Muslim women are downtrodden and suffer from a form of Stockholm Syndrome, so we cannot be trusted to speak our minds.P.S More nonsense from Jezebel.http://jezebel.com/384922/ayaan-hirsi-ali-vs-irshad-manji-which-infidel-would-you-rather-have-a-beer-with#c5415551

By: Melinda

Melinda — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 17:27:00 +0000

I’m looking at the blog. This makes me cringe: Are women treated fairly by Muslims? Is it possible to generalise or do we need to look at specific countries, or specific interpretations of Islam? Is there a danger that some critics are judging Islam and Muslims by Western or Christian values, and fundamentally misunderstand the way Muslims want to live? (Emphasis mine.) It’s dripping with “othering” and the cultural supremacist attitude you discuss.By the way, that’s really cool that they asked you to speak!