Iranian Embassy Holds Conference on Women's Rights - Fars News Agency

Top Iranian and Indonesian figures participated in the conference on "Rights of Muslim Women," which was held by the Cultural Department of Iran's Embassy in Jakarta and Islamic University of Sonan Kolija.

During the conference, Iran's Cultural Attach? Mohammad Ali Rabbani touched on a range of issues pertaining to Muslim women, including the role of women as half of the Islamic community, Muslim women's capabilities and their influence on ideological and cultural changes, role of women in the current events of the world, cultural invasions and negative advertisements regarding the status of Muslim women as well as problems of western views on women in Islam.

The Iranian official referred to some of the most concise and precise legal discussions on the rights of Muslim women, and demanded Iranian and Indonesian elites to cooperate in explaining the rights of Muslim women to the world.

Women lecturers from Iran and Indonesia in this conference elaborated on Women in Islamic Fiqh (jurisprudence), virtual space and the role of Muslim women in preventing the damage of virtual space to the family, responsibilities and duties of Muslim women in Islamic thinking and also legal and social challenges for Muslim women.

Position of women in the West, collapse of family in the West, impacts of an ideological and cultural system of the West regarding women in Muslim societies and also achievements and problems of women in Iran and Indonesia were among other topics discussed in the conference.

Women Could Promote Rights Through Islam - U.S. News & World Report

Despite the perception that strict Islamic law and feminism are incompatible, women's rights advocates argued Wednesday that Muslim values could actually help women of the Arab Spring promote greater equality.

The U.S. ambassador for global women's issues Melanne Verveer testified on Wednesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Operations and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy, and Global Women's Issues that women in predominantly Muslim countries have shown in the past that critical reforms are indeed possible within the context of their religious values. She argued that although the political future of countries like Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya are uncertain, it's possible that the rights of women there will be protected, even if Islamist parties take control. [See a photo gallery of the unrest in Libya.]

"Sharia is thrown around a lot," she said, speaking of the brand of Islam most associated with radical movements. "[But] so much has to do with whose interpretation."

Verveer acknowledged that leaders with stricter interpretations of Islam could significantly push back the civil rights gains already made by women involved in the so-called Arab Spring movement. But, examples like Morocco—where women now enjoy improved political and personal status—could give women in other Muslim-dominated nations hope.

In Morocco, Verveer noted that women went through a difficult process that lasted "many, many years," during which many activists were jailed. However, as "good Muslims," she said, these women realized that their desire for civil rights didn't clash with their religious faith.

"They were not about to sacrifice their values to the voices of those who said, 'You are being anti-Islamic because you are supporting personal status law reforms,'" she said. "They steeped their reform effort in the very values of their religion."

Indeed, according to Verveer, Moroccan women made a legitimate case to their country's leaders by putting their arguments for equality in Koranic verse.

"The values that the religion represents, and that so many women are a part of in a very significant way, infuses the kind of reforms they want to see for themselves," she said.

Recent revolutions in northern Africa have prompted the U.S. State Department to commit resources to training women on how to better communicate their ideas and become more politically engaged. This includes helping them form cross-border coalitions so they can learn the strategies that other women in the region, like those in Morocco, used to promote their interests successfully in the past.

"They are all from predominantly Muslim societies. They are all reform-minded. They all want to see a better life," Verveer said. "To learn what those lessons and best practices are, and the support mechanism that they represent for each other, the mentoring that they represent for each other, I think is a very lost-cost, significant investment that we need to keep making." [Read: U.S. Role Continues After Qadhafi in Libya.]

Mahnaz Afkhami, president of the Women's Learning Partnership, an international non-profit advocacy group, cautioned that while some Islamic countries have provided a more positive outlook, other examples, like Iran, give women reasons to worry.

"A lot of the organizations who self-identify as Islamists are the ones whose goals and aspirations don't necessarily match those of the progressives and the rest of the democratic world," she said. "The definition of moderate should be looked at very carefully when we look at these countries."

Afkhami said Iranian leaders originally stated the same goals as today's self-proclaimed moderate Islamist political parties in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya which promise democracy and equality. However, as Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini remains in power three decades later, women in Iran are among the world's most oppressed, she explained.

Women's Rights in Tunisia Elections - PRI's The World

 Election campaign panels are seen all around Tunis (Photo: Ezequiel Scagnetti/European Parliament/Flickr)

On Sunday, Tunisia will hold its first democratic elections, and the stakes are very high. This could pit secularists against Islamists, and women especially are worried that the most liberal laws in the region will be rolled back.

During his 23-year dictatorship over Tunisia, former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was keen on the promotion of women’s rights and the strict repression of Islamists. Both practices were also part of his propaganda, which made him a tolerable tyrant with Western governments.

But since his regime was toppled in a popular revolution back in January, things for women and Islamists in Tunisia appear to be changing because Islamist parties appear poised to take control.

That’s playing a key role in political campaigns leading up to the country’s first democratic elections this coming Sunday. These elections are especially crucial because Tunisians will choose the assembly that writes the country’s new constitution and will set the tone for what kind of country Tunisia becomes.

It was unimaginable under Ben Ali to see thousands of Islamists calling for the establishment of an Islamic state in Tunisia.

But that’s just what happened at demonstrations last week.

Islamists were brutally repressed under the Ben Ali regime. So this resurgence of religious fervor has raised tensions, especially ahead of this Sunday’s election.

Islamists like 30 year-old Slim, know exactly what they want Tunisia to be.

“Everyone wants to see the Islamic religion in all the regions, in the state, in clothing and in the judiciary,” he said.

Slim, who wouldn’t give his family name, is sitting in one of the many cafes of Cité Ettadhamen, a poor suburb of Tunis, which has become known as an Islamist stronghold.

“We are Muslims. We like being Muslim with our own clothing, our own prayers and all the forms of Islam. Women have a special clothing for themselves,” he said.

It’s this kind of talk that spooks the secular parties in Tunisia. They are wary of the new political currents.

Souad Rejeb, a committee member of the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women, says while Tunisia’s civil society has flourished since the revolution, she’s worried about the effects the shifting political landscape could have on women’s rights.

“We just hope there will be enough progressive people in the Constituent Assembly that there won’t be an erosion of the Personal Status Code,” Rejeb said.

The Personal Status Code is the backbone of women’s rights legislation in Tunisia. It’s a law that was passed in 1956, and gave women the right to vote, to be elected to parliament, to earn equal wages, and to initiate divorce.

Polygamy was outlawed by the code and then, in 1961, abortion rights were granted. Women’s rights here are more advanced than anywhere in the Arab world and the secular parties say they will fight to maintain that unique status.

“There are retrograde forces in the country,” said Abdelaziz Messaoudi, a member of the political committee of the center-left Ettajdid party.

Ettajdid is one of the main opponents of Al Nahdha, Tunisia’s most prominent Islamist party. Al Nahdha was established in 1989 but banned under Ben Ali. Since the revolution, it’s bounced back with gusto.

Polls predict it could take around 20 percent of seats in the Constituent Assembly. Messaoudi is not happy about that possibility.

“If Al Nahdha wins a big part of the election and if it is well represented in the next Constituent Assembly, it could call back into question a certain number of gains in women’s rights. That’s a real threat,” Messaoudi said.

Al Nahdha says the secular parties are using women’s rights and Ben Ali-style anti-Islamist propaganda to stir up fears and win votes. Yusra Ghannouchi, the daughter of Al Nahdha leader Rachid Ghannouchi, and a spokesperson for the party, says the party’s platform on women’s rights is unambiguous.

“It’s clear on women’s issues, that it respects women’s rights to equality, to education, to work. It does not believe in a theocracy,” Ghannouchi said. “It does not believe in a system that will impose a particular believe or lifestyle on people. It believes in equality, regardless of race, faith, sex or color.

But the country’s secularist parties and women’s activists, like the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women’s Souad Rejeb, accuse Al Nahdha of sending out a double message.

“They have what we call a duplicity of discourse,” said Souhad Rejeb of the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women. “They have two lines: on TV they say ‘We are for equality, we won’t touch woman’s rights,’ but in the mosques or abroad, they say ‘the Personal Status Code is not in the Koran.’”

And it is this perceived inconsistency that brought many women out on the streets last Sunday in defense of freedom of speech and equality.

Faced with such demonstrations, Yusra Ghannouchi of Al Nahdha says that actions and not words are the only things that can be really judged in politics.

“What will guarantee respect of these freedoms and rights is not be anyone’s word for it, but to have a system that ensures that there will be checks and that there will be institutions that ensure that politicians keep their promises and that should apply to secularists and Islamists,” Ghannouchi said.

In the 10 months since the fall of Ben Ali, Tunisia has been furiously building the hardware of democratic politics – institutions and procedures to cradle and protect its democracy regardless of who’s in charge of the government.

Expat women struggle for rights granted by religion - Arab News

JEDDAH: Many expatriate women in the Kingdom suffer in their quest to deal with Khula (the Islamic right of a woman to divorce or separate from her husband under certain circumstances), child custody and other marital affairs.

Indian, Pakistani and Filipino women are afraid to speak about their suffering marriages in public due to the social stigma related to divorce. They feel they lack credibility in comparison to men.

Mahira Tahir, a 38-year-old Indian living in Jeddah, told Arab News, “My first fear is that I will not be believed. Our culture and society rooted have a way of disregarding women suffering, and most men get away with all their wrongdoing.”

According to her, most women who have problems at home and apply for Khula do not get their rights. “Men usually do not allow a separation, and there is no consequence for them. If I were Saudi, I feel I could have obtained my rights more easily, and honestly, I do not want to go to the embassy to defame my family. Why isn't there an easier way for expat women to escape this turmoil?”

Sultan Hisham, a 39-year-old Saudi married to an expat says he feels pity for men who do not give women their right to divorce.

“Women might be known to be hasty, but so are men,” says Iman Khalid, an Indian executive living in Jeddah. “Yes, I believe we should be given a period to reconcile, but what after that? What if I can't stand the man at all? Islam has given me the right to move out.”

Iman thinks that no man should interfere with God's law.

In the Holy Qur'an, Allah says, “So when they have reached their prescribed time retain them with kindness or separate them with kindness, and call to witness two just ones from among you.” (65:2)

Iman thinks that society should look at the injunction the way it is. “Allah uses the word ‘kindness,’ but in our culture, divorce is looked upon with respite, as if it were evil and unforgivable.”

The Indian expatriate wonders, “If it is OK in the eyes of the Almighty, then who are we to judge?”

Hamdan Khalid, a 33-year-old Saudi engineer, believes no woman should be kept within the confines of a house when the couple are not compatible. Instead, he thinks women should contact their embassies and get an official decision endorsed. “If at all it is not possible, it is allowed in Islam and you should keep trying in courts. Even though it might take a lot more time, do not give up on your struggle to what is your fundamental religious right.”

Islam preaches peace and supports women through laws prescribed to them in the Qur’an and Sunnah. “My religion gives women their rights, but the system and people work against it, abusing the meaning of the holy text,” says Shaista Iqbal, a 49-year-old Pakistani doctor in Jeddah. She feels men in power and those preaching have to hold the noblest character. “But in India and Pakistan, women have lost trust in masked preachers who issue fatwas (religious laws or decrees) for their own convenience.”

According to the Qur’an, there is no supremacy for men or women in the spiritual sense. “Contrary to popular belief, women are liberated in Islam. It is just that women should learn more about their rights and fight for them,” says Lubna Fahim, a 46-year-old Indian woman who married a Saudi living in Jeddah. She thinks women should not be dictated rules that may not be true, but believe in what Allah says, for it is the only truthful way.

Activists highlight Islam-in the daily star in women's rights

Beirut: head to be appointed as the first Muslim women in the United States international religious freedom, Azizah Al-Hibri, a Lebanon-United States Attorney for the Committee and prominent human rights activist, in front of her has uphill battle.

However, worth more than 30 years experience in human rights issues, especially in the United States and foreign Muslim women regarding treatment Hibri know where her priorities lie and how these are some of the worst social injustices to overcome Lebanon can help.

"The first challenge, and the most important one is Muslim women's rights within their own lack of knowledge of the religion," she told the daily star, June 10, United States President Barack Obama [NULL] by after her appointment this week.

"Many people of the time, they did their religion [NULL] know what it is about thinking, but they don't really come back to the original study looked at not from the way, most people don't have the time." she said over the phone, her Office in Virginia at Richmond College, where he teaches law Hibri.

Domestic violence, Hibri moral and social rejects as incorrect the tradition of this misconception most obvious is one of the field.

"Civil court, a lot, but I travel to many Islamic countries were the first Muslims, both men and women, understanding and mercy of God's all women, did not allow violence believes that the beliefs," he said, look and Hibri Lebanon from continuing civil society campaign to support potentially vowed to prohibit domestic violence is struggling to pass legislation.

The current Commission to proceed with the discussion in the draft Bill fire in particular religion, the authorities of the Islamic custom, bath considering it and also has been criticized by newly appointed Minister of sports and youth Faisal Karami, who family values to attack slammed about.

"Women as well as men, believe this need [domestic violence does not allow] abusing them when he was not understanding something has been accepted by God because" Hibri, daily star USCIRF head her new post rather than personal capacity, said said.

"God is justice ... And he's mercy. So understanding and Islamic texts and women, condone acts of violence of those who believe in the kind of interpretation, review and revisit, in great need "more Beirut born Hibri, a Sunni politician's niece and ex-public Ministers, Khalil al-Hibri and the famous Lebanon Scout Movement founder, Toufik Al-Hibri's granddaughter.

She's widely published research and the work itself, like a story about the many early Islamic Hibri, under text, imports, according to Islamic teachings, she justifies the view of.

"I never said Islam's traditional or conservative elements disposition, because we consider ourselves quite conservative when we developed our views, we go back to a very traditional and default text is" in addition, the United States-based civil society groups of their rights by increasing knowledge of Muslim women to promote the status of the world are committed to the founder of Karamah Hibri said.

"We do not invent something new we simply said what shed light on."

Instead, most female genital cutting-Islamic practice-such as is associated with only the horror stories for centuries.

"Islam [NULL] on the lack of a lot of shooting and customary political and other factors have been infected by. [We find] basic problem was that Islam what we are really clean if you want to go back to understanding very gender equitable view "Hibri said.

According to her research work the true teachings and in doing so "God gave them the ability to develop." to work to push him to take an active role in the society to encourage women perform

Political wrangling in almost five months after announcing a new Cabinet on Monday, the participation of women in development, therefore, disappointed by the lack of.

"[The problem] not really political, it is women's rights and leadership in all countries [NULL] is not a very fun Cabinet are women, previous ones when" Hibri said. "I'm a girl's voice is really urgent, Lebanon, where women tend to be more of a voice-based conflict resolution and hopefully mediation and [public] service especially thought.

"Disappointed but also understand so they can do, they can do is wish all success and the best the country calm, peace, so a very delicate situation through the country," she added.

Women's rights and coercion-family security matters

I have been producing a weekly synopsis and articles on the global encroachment of Islam for about two years. In that time, a week hasn’t passed without certain ‘staples’ of Islam perpetrated on Muslims and non-Muslims alike. One of the traits that are unquestionably unique to Islam is ‘forced conversion’.With very little research, it is easy to discover that forced conversion in hand with over-breeding, is part of a larger Islamic strategy to achieve the state of Dar al-Islam, or the ‘house of Islam’.  Simply defined, it is the chipping away at a country until it is an Islamic state and continuing this, on a global scale, until all religion is for Allah. The weekly synopsis certainly gives a clear picture of this objective.This past week, The Pakistan Christian Post reported on yet another case of young girls being kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam. The father of the girls, Rehmat Masih, was told by a rich, local businessman that he intended to marry both daughters and had threatened to kidnap them if this wasn’t approved of. A complaint to the local Police Station proved pointless as the Police refused to take action.A few days later, the girls were kidnapped by the man while on the way home from a market. Rehmat rushed back to the Police Station to complain. After an investigation, Rehmat was accused of making false accusations against the Muslim business man. It was further stated that Rehmat was a drunk and that he often beat his daughters and they had likely ran away from home to escape this treatment.Forced conversion isn’t unique to Pakistan and in fact regularly occurs in Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Egypt and even England. It begs the question, what could possibly embolden the adherents of Islam to engage in such a heinous act? The answer is simple, the teachings of Mohammad.Islam was spread by the sword after a slight initial, peaceful hiccup. The warlord and slave –trader Mohammed’s war conquests are very concisely documented. Sûrah al-Baqarah 256: Allah says, “Let there be no compulsion in religion. Truth has been made clear from error. Whoever rejects false worship and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that never breaks. And Allah hears and knows all things”. Sadly, this verse and other verses of peace were replaced by more violent ones, like Sura 8:12, 9:5, 47:4 and many others. Prior to emigrating from Mecca to Medina (the Hijra) in 622 CE, Mohammad preached sermons of peace and tolerance, taking and perverting verses from the Bible, the Torah and sacred Greek texts. This had proven to be an abject failure to Mohammad, as barely 100 to 150 people had converted to Islam in its first 13 years. Most of these converts were either close or long-time friends or members of his family.From 624 CE, raids on defenseless communities reaped great rewards for the early Muslims in slaves, wealth and converts to Islam. A large portion of these people converted for self-preservation as the warring Muslims murdered, tortured, enslaved and raped their way across Arabia. This had proven a more lucrative tact to the one of peace and tolerance.This is accentuated in Ibn Ishaq 814: “Submit and testify that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is the apostle of Allah before you lose your head”. As well as Sahih Muslim 31:5917: “Fight with them until they bear testimony to the fact that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his Messenger.” The people of Mecca who refused to convert to Islam were forcibly removed following Mohammed’s last sermon in 632 CE. The same offer was made to the Christians and Jews in Arabia, though their choice was extended to either accept Islam as their faith, leave their land or be killed.From Mohammed’s last sermon, Koran 9:5, “Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them and prepare for them each ambush. But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then leave their way free. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.” “I have heard the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) say:’ I will expel the Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula and will not leave any but Muslim’.”In June 2008, Saba and Anila Younas, both Christian girls from Pakistan, were abducted by a group of Muslims, and forced to marry and convert to Islam. When the matter came before the court, Naeem Sardar, the District and Sessions Judge, ordered that the girls were not to be remanded to their Christian parents because the girls are Muslim now.In June 2009, a Hindu woman Koli Goswami, 21, from Bangladesh was asleep in her bed when five Muslim men broke into the family home. They vandalized her home and attacked other family members that attempted to intervene before they abducted her. After some investigation by authorities, Koli’s mother was told that she had converted to Islam after a ‘long, mutual love affair’ with one of the abductors. Her parents eventually gave up pressuring authorities for answers, Koli’s mother stated, “we are afraid we may further be attacked and our other daughters might be abducted.”In January 2010, Joselyn Cabrera, a Filipino Catholic nurse working at Riyadh Hospital in Saudi Arabia said, “After some months, employers give you an ultimatum, telling you to become Muslim to keep your job. For us, it is hard to make such a choice, but if we don’t, we become the victims of abuse.”In her 10 years in The Kingdom, she said she saw at least 50 forced conversions at work. She tells of another woman that refused to convert that was raped, became pregnant and jailed under Saudi Law. She then later miscarried because of harsh conditions in the prison.In March 2010, Chakra News reported that “Susceptible teenage girls who are forced to convert to Islam by Muslim men are being protected by London police.” ‘Aggressive conversions’ at university campuses are being discovered and Police are looking into finding the groups of men responsible. The Hindu forum of Britain has claimed that Hindu and Sikh girls are the primary targets of these terrorizing men who lure girls and take them out on dates before revealing to them that they must convert.On April 19, 2011, USNewswire released the following statement: “Eighteen Members of Congress, from both parties, expressed “concern over continuing reports of abductions, forced marriages and exploitation of Coptic women and girls in Egypt”.Writing on the 16th of April to Ambassador Luis C deBaca, Director of the State Department’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Office, the Members noted that they had received disturbing reports documenting ‘a criminal phenomenon that includes fraud, physical and sexual violence, captivity, forced marriage and exploitation in forced domestic servitude or commercial sexual exploitation and financial benefit to the individuals who secure the forced conversion of the victim.’According to a statement of the Canadian Egyptian Organization for Human Rights on the situation of the Coptic minority in Egypt, Islamist groups practice forced conversions of members of the Coptic community to Islam: “Forced conversion of members of the Coptic community to Islam, largely publicized as a psychologically demeaning tactic against the minority, is practiced by Islamism groups under police manipulation and with their cooperation. Some of these cases start with rape of underage girls.From Mohammed’s day to present day the heinous action of forced conversion continues, unabated and with little acknowledgment by anyone other than advocacy groups.The above article appears in the latest edition (Part 13) of Vin’s Notes (pdf). The article below appears in Part 12 of Vin’s Notes (pdf).The (Lack of) Rights of a Muslim WomanThe Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia is in the news again, with the arrest of a 32 year old female Computer Security Consultant named Manal al-Sharif.Manal was arrested by Saudis religious traffic police for ‘inciting women to drive’ and ‘inciting public opinion’. Two days prior to her arrest, Manal had posted a video of herself on YouTube, defying what is in effect a religious ban or ‘fatwa’, on driving. There is no actual legislation for banning women to drive in the Kingdom. Manal was imprisoned for 5 days after also being arrested the previous day, where she had signed a pledge, affirming that she will not drive. A local Saudi news organization, Sabq, claims that it has insider information that Manal’s prison sentence has been extended by ten days, starting from 26th, May.Manal’s lawyer stated that ‘since the driving ban, the only one of its kind in the world is based on a religious fatwa, rather than a law. Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah, whose regime adheres to a strict Wahhabi strain of Sunni Islam, ultimately has the power to decide whether women should drive. This is the pressure from some fathers, brothers and other members of the family, preventing women from taking up this right, along with the ultra-conservatives have come out in full force against Manal with Sheikh Nasser Al Omer giving a sermon on the matter of women driving.Manal is a vocal advocate on the issue of women driving and with a group called Women2Drive, has called upon women across Saudi Arabia to show solidarity and drive their cars in a nationwide protest on June 17 this year. A 12,000 member Facebook page supporting the protest was removed by authorities, but more pages have since sprouted up in its place.News site Ansamedreported recently that another Facebook page, with some 6,000 members has now entered the debate, though this page is calling for the beating of women drivers.  The page titled, ‘The Iqal Campaign: June 17 for preventing women from driving,’ refers to the Arabic name for the cord used to hold on the traditional headdress worn by many men in the Gulf, advocates the cord be used to beat women who dare to drive.Muslims and their apologists will tell you the rights for women were laid down by Allah long before the rest of the world. Here is the typical PR line that they would have you believe: The rights of Muslim women were given to us by Allah who is All-Compassionate, All-Merciful, All-Just, All-Unbiased, All-Knowing and Most Wise. These rights, which were granted to women more than 1400 years ago, and were taught, by the perfect example of the Prophet Muhammad, were given by the one who created us and who alone knows what rights are best for our female natures, Allah says in the Koran.Who suffers most from this abrogation? Infidels and women. Here are some actual verses from the Koran that contradicts the PR view: Koran (24:31) – “And say to the believing women that they cast down their looks and guard their private parts and do not display their ornaments except what appears thereof, and let them wear their head-coverings over their bosoms, and not display their ornaments except to their husbands or their fathers, or the fathers of their husbands, or their sons, or the sons of their husbands, or their brothers, or their brothers’ sons, or their sisters’ sons, or their women, or those whom their right hands possess, or the male servants not having need (of women), or the children who have not attained knowledge of what is hidden of women; and let them not strike their feet so that what they hide of their ornaments may be known.” This verse were spawned from Mohammed’s jealousy of his followers lusting after his many wives and slaves and thus, affects millions of women worldwide to this very day.It has also sparked controversy with various countries looking to ban the Burka, as it represents a symbol of female oppression. So we have a woman’s right to cover up as men cannot be responsible for raping a woman if she is uncovered.In October 2006, the Grand Mufti of Australia, Sheikh Taj El-Din Hilaly delivered a Ramadan sermon in Arabic in which he made statements concerning female clothing which proved highly controversial. The key part of the sermon was: “If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it … whose fault is it, the cats’ or the uncovered meat? The uncovered meat is the problem. If she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab, no problem would have occurred.”In March this year, the unmarried partner of Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard had visa issues when attempting to visit Indonesia. The Muslims of that country did not understand this type of relationship and in fact, with so much Koranic verse about women being less than men, Muslims the world over have issues with any women in authority. Some of the Indonesian delegation had a problem with shaking the Prime Ministers hand.Islamic or Sharia courts have sprung up in parts of the Non Muslim world. In the UK, there are reportedly over 90 such courts. The line the Muslims use to get Sharia in the door relates to inheritance and divorce. In regards to inheritance, the Koran says: Koran (4:11 and 4:176) – (Inheritance) “The male shall have the equal of the portion of two females.”Islamic verse in both the Koran and Hadith also tells us the women are unclean, similar to a good goat or cow and incapable of looking after themselves. Luckily Allah made it so that men are in charge of women:  Koran (4:34) – “Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). Koran  (66:5) – “Maybe, his Lord, if he divorce you, will give him in your place wives better than you, submissive, faithful, obedient, penitent, adorers, fasters, widows and virgins.” Simply put, if a woman doesn’t behave, she can be replaced.Koran (5:6) – “And if ye are unclean, purify yourselves. And if ye are sick or on a journey, or one of you cometh from the closet, or ye have had contact with women, and ye find not water, then go to clean, high ground and rub your faces and your hands with some of it” Tabari Vol 9, Number 1754 – “Treat women well, for they are [like] domestic animals with you and do not possess anything for themselves.” All around the Muslim world, a married woman who is raped is called an adulterer and a single woman is a fornicator. As a man surely cannot be held responsible for his own carnal desires, the onus of proof lies squarely on the shoulders of the woman.Koran (24:4) – “And those who accuse free women then do not bring four witnesses (to adultery), flog them…”Koran (24:13) – “Why did they not bring four witnesses of it? But as they have not brought witnesses they are liars before Allah.”Realistically, 1,400 years of abusing women bring us to where we are today with Manal in Saudi Arabia. A believer in Islam is one who accepts that Allah is God, Mohammed is his Messenger and the Koran and Hadith are the ultimate authority. The teachings of the Koran and the evidence in daily articles from the Muslim world and the rantings of Imams and assorted holy men etc. prove without a doubt, the worth of a woman in Islam.I would like to give a special note of thanks to the amazing Erin Fiora, who selflessly assists me in the production of this note.