Rape by religion

 

I tell myself it's not good to hate but then I read stuff like this:

Ten-year-old girls are ready for marriage, according to Saudi Arabia's most senior cleric.

Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Al Sheikh, the country's grand mufti, told Al Hayat newspaper that those saying ten or 12-year-old girls are too young to marry are being 'unfair' to them.

Al Sheikh's comments come at a time when Saudi human rights groups have been pushing the government to put an end to marriages involving the very young and to define a minimum age for marriage.

<SNIP>

Though the mufti's pronouncements are respected and provide guidance, the government is not legally bound by them.

On Sunday, the government-run Human Rights Commission condemned marriages of minor girls, saying such marriages are an 'inhumane violation' and rob children of their rights.

The commission's statement followed a ruling by a court in Oneiza in central Saudi Arabia last month that dismissed a divorce petition by the mother of an eight-year-old girl whose father married her off to a man in his 50s.

Newspaper reports said the court argued that the mother did not have the right to file such a case on behalf of her daughter and said that the petition should be filed by the girl when she reaches puberty.

Responding to a question about parents who force their underage daughters to marry, the mufti said: 'We hear a lot about the marriage of underage girls in the media, and we should know that Islamic law has not brought injustice to women.'

The mufti said a good upbringing will make a girl capable of carrying out her duties as a wife and that those who say women should not marry before the age of 25 are following a 'bad path'.

How about a fistula to your face, Mr. Mufti?

Comments

[johnnykap]

"How about a fistula to your face, Mr. Mufti?"

In this specific case, Antonia appears to be advocating violence against men.

Can she outline for us specific examples where it is ok to punch a woman in the face?

[Alex]

I find it interesting that although there is some condemnation of this barbaric practice, and some criticism of the discriminatory way in which Islam often treats women, for the most part we seem to tip-toe around this. Imagine the world outrage if the French, German or Greek governments were to tacitly (sometimes expressly) condone the marriage of 10 year old girls. Is it just that the Islamic countries have so much of the world's oil reserves? Or have we been intimidated by the propensity to violence by Islamic fundamentalists? Or have we bought into the philosophy that since we are not perfect, we have no right to criticize anything or anyone?

Inquiring minds want to know.

[Kim]

If, for example, Mr.Mufti was Mrs. Mufti and suggesting the same thing, you could punch HER in the face. See? Equality! :D

[lagatta]

Do you know what a fistula is, Mr Kap? It is a horrible injury caused to children who are raped by adult men, (including anal rape of little boys, as well as the more common vaginal rape of little girls) and often, to women who have been subjected to genital mutilation. And it is a serious health concern in countries with endemic poverty, poor nutrition, hygiene and health care. Saudi Arabia is not among the latter, but it is a terribly discriminatory country against women, with its extremely rigourist and reactionary reading of the Koran (hmm, the Prophet Muhammad's first wife was a businesswoman - a widow who owned caravans)...

From the Fistula Foundation www.fistulafoundation.org - a charity that helps women afflicted with obstetric fistulae:

What is an obstetric fistula?
A:
A fistula is a hole. An obstetric fistula of the kind that occurs in Ethiopia (and many other developing countries) is a hole between a woman's birth passage and one or more of her internal organs. This hole develops over many days of obstructed labour, when the pressure of the baby's head against the mother's pelvis cuts off blood supply to delicate tissues in the region. The dead tissue falls away and the woman is left with a hole between her vagina and her bladder (called a vesicovaginal fistula or VVF) and sometimes between her vagina and rectum (rectovaginal fistula, RVF). This hole results in permanent incontinence of urine and/or feces. A majority of women who develop fistulas are abandoned by their husbands and ostracized by their communities because of their inability to have children and their foul smell.

[Antonia Zerbisias]

JohnnyKap,

The moderators tried to spare you embarrassment several times, maybe half a dozen times, each time you submitted different versions of the same snarky comment about fistulas. Had you bothered to click on the link embedded in the word in my post, you would have learned that hundreds of thousands of girls around the world suffer horrible and permanent injuries to their genitals and urinary tracts when they are forced to have babies before their bodies are fully developed. But no. You did not think before you wrote, as usual, and, once again, your hatred of women and utter dismissal of their legitimate issues have been made plain.

I have been asked by the mods many times whether your comments should be deleted out of hand and I have refused. You know why? Because you sir are exactly why a blog like this must exist.

Carry on.

[Antonia Zerbisias]

Kim, I believe that would be. MS. Mufti. LOL

[Kim]

lol. Good point. MS. Mufti it is. ;P

[The Stygian and his Shemitish Dogs]

ACTUALLY, it's "Muftiya"
(I can't do Arabic script in this programme)

[Keith]

First off, forced marriage of any person should be considered adding and abedding a rape.

With that said, Johnny Kap's comment was spot on. While a facial fistual is possible typically via oral infections, the link Antonia used details fistuals related to the birthing of children, which is clearing impossible to occur on a man's face.

Johnny Kap's was correct in pointing out Antonia's play on words advocating violence towards this man. While I agree with Antonia that the practice of marring off young women, scratch that, young girls is disgusting, it is equally disgusting for Antonia to advocate violence via word play toward a person that doesn't agree with her opinions. If not agreeing with someones opinion is grounds for a fistual to the face, than would it be ok for a man to put a fistual to the face of his wife because she didn't agree with him that she should have the dinner ready when he got home? Antonia's double standards are everywhere. For most people, equality means what's good for the goose is good for the gander, but it doesn't seem to be that way with Antonia's feminism.