The Koran in the West.

4:34 Scourge them?

In the eighteenth century people who spoke out against slavery were labelled as anti-commerce and would just be dismissed by half the population as cranks.  Being pro-commerce was the moral high ground.  In the twenty first century the label racist Islamophobe is used against anyone who points out that there might be problems hosting Islam in a Western culture.  This article is not Islamophobic, it is on the side of women and children.

Most Moslems are not fanatics and if you ask them whether they believe they have the right to rape, beat and kill their wife they will laugh in your face and say "of course not" and if you ask them whether they shun non-moslems and want to kill them the reply will be the same. The Koran contains prominent passages that seem to exhort people to do these things but until recently moslems have interpreted these passages liberally, however, with the rise in Wahhabism a literal interpretation is gaining popularity. We live in a period when the literal acceptance of the Koran and Bible is fashionable and this poses dangers for the rest of society.

Literal acceptance of the Koran carries special risks because of the importance of this document in Islam. The Christian gospels and the Buddhist scriptures preach a path of non-violence but the Koran differs radically. It contains passages, quoted below, that instruct the believer to perform actions that are crimes in modern Western society. What can be done about this?

Some people take the view that the best approach is to treat extreme Islam like any other faith and there has been a lot of talk over recent years, especially from Church leaders, about how Islam accommodates and is a natural ally of other religions. However, those who believe this should read the Koran which says that friendship should only be shown to unbelievers to guard against them:

"Let not the believers Take for friends or helpers Unbelievers rather than believers: if any do that, in nothing will there be help from Allah: except by way of precaution, that ye may Guard yourselves from them. But Allah cautions you (To remember) Himself; for the final goal is to Allah (3:28). "

So there is a serious problem with the content of the Koran when taken literally. If we assume that Moslems have a literal belief in the Koran then there must be serious doubt about the good faith of Moslems. Moslems even have a word for the practice of this bad faith: Taqiyya. The good faith could be restored if Moslems are prepared to make the following statement of belief:


"I do not believe that women should be beaten (4:34).
I do not believe that women should be killed for indecency (4:15).
I do not believe that husbands should commit marital rape (2:223).
I do not believe that I should discriminate against or kill unbelievers (4:89)."

The figures in brackets are verses from the Koran that are being rescinded.


Without this public statement it could easily be assumed that a Moslem may believe in beating and killing women and discriminating against and even killing non-Moslems. These beliefs are incompatible with life in a Western society and the Moslems who refuse to make such a statement of belief should be deported to an Islamic country. The deportation is for conspiracy to commit the crimes of murder, rape, and assault and battery. This sounds harsh but who in their right mind would not declare that they are opposed to beating and killing women and murdering non-believers? These are serious crimes, not simply differences of opinion such as being against homosexuality or divorce etc. Notice how the criminal nature of parts of the Koran is largely linked to the treatment of women (See Are women the cause of conflict with Islam?). Of course, Moslems may invoke the idea of Taqiyya but the oath would at least make clear to each and every Moslem what western democracies find unacceptable in Islam.

An oath would not stop fanatics but it might wake up the ordinary moslems, the decent people. Ordinary Moslems would say: "No, I do not believe in beating, raping and killing women and I do not believe in discriminating against and killing unbelievers. Of course not. What do you mean the Koran says these things?". Even the possibility of Moslems being required to take such an oath might lead to a widespread and public re-interpretation of the offending passages in the Koran.

The institutional racism of verses such as 3:28 and the anti-miscegenation of verse 2 221 are also contrary to the laws of many Western countries.

The Koran also creates difficulties in the treatment of unbelieving women, assigning them a status slightly lower than slave girls.  The Koran approves of sex with slave girls, even if a man is married.

Lastly, Mohammed had sex with Aisha when she was nine years old.  This creates a problem with the idea of age of consent.

The combination of lack of respect for unbelievers and approval of underage sex is a dangerous combination and the sexual exploitation of children by groups of Moslems is relatively common in all Western countries that have large Islamic populations (See Oxford paedophile ring and Oldham rapes and child abuse).  The men engaged in this organised crime have been indirectly protected by left wing organisations who are using racism as a political tool.

Some of the verses in the Koran are given below. Unlike Christianity, which is defined in the Gospels (not in the Old Testament) as a non-violent religion, the Koran contains incitement to violence. The Koran is the definition of Islam. Certainly, if Christianity were defined by the Old Testament it might be necessary to ask Christians to take a similar oath but this is not the case.

Verses from the Koran that must be rescinded

[4.15] If any of your women are guilty of lewdness, Take the evidence of four (Reliable) witnesses from amongst you against them; and if they testify, confine them to houses until death do claim them, or Allah ordain for them some (other) way.

(This makes an interesting contrast with the penalty for men: 4.016 "If two men among you are guilty of lewdness, punish them both. If they repent and amend, Leave them alone; for Allah is Oft-returning, Most Merciful.")

[2.223] Your wives are a tilth for you, so go into your tilth when you like, and do good beforehand for yourselves, and be careful (of your duty) to Allah, and know that you will meet Him, and give good news to the believers.

[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). So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah hath guarded. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them. Then if they obey you, seek not a way against them. Lo! Allah is ever High, Exalted, Great.

[4.144] O you who believe! do not take the unbelievers for friends rather than the believers; do you desire that you should give to Allah a manifest proof against yourselves?

[4.89] They desire that you should disbelieve as they have disbelieved, so that you might be (all) alike; therefore take not from among them friends until they fly (their homes) in Allah's way; but if they turn back, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them, and take not from among them a friend or a helper.


The following verse shows that covering faces is NOT a requirement of Islam and should be affirmed:

[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; and turn to Allah all of you, O believers! so that you may be successful.

Perhaps Moslems might also affirm the Koran with "I do not believe that women should cover their faces."

It is sad that the Reverend Jones threatened to burn the Koran as a protest, he should have burnt these offensive verses alone and asked moslems to support him.

Paedophilia

Aisha was pre-pubescent when Muhammad consummated the marriage:

“My mother came to me while I was being swung on a swing between two branches and got me down. My nurse took over and wiped my face with some water and started leading me. When I was at the door she stopped so I could catch my breath. I was brought in while Muhammad was sitting on a bed in our house. My mother made me sit on his lap. The other men and women got up and left. The Prophet consummated his marriage with me in my house when I was nine years old. Neither a camel nor a sheep was slaughtered on behalf of me.”
Al-Tabari, Vol. 9, p. 131

This is taken as permission for prepubescent intercourse, for instance, the Ayatollah Khomeini married a ten year old girl when he was 28 (Taheri 1986).

The Quran in Sura 65:1, 4 says that men may have sex with women three months after pregnancy and before they have started menstruating:

65:1 O Prophet, when you [and the believers] divorce women, divorce them for their prescribed waiting—period and count the waiting—period accurately . . . 4 And if you are in doubt about those of your women who have despaired of menstruation, (you should know that) their waiting period is three months, and the same applies to those who have not menstruated as yet. As for pregnant women, their period ends when they have delivered their burden.


Other verses

It is permissible to have sex with women your "right hand possesses" ie: those taken as or converted to slaves.
033.052
It is not lawful for thee (to marry more) women after this [marriage], nor to change them for (other) wives, even though their beauty attract thee, except any thy right hand should possess (as handmaidens): and Allah doth watch over all things.

Unbelievers are less than believing slaves:
2 221
Do not marry unbelieving women (idolaters), until they believe: A slave woman who believes is better than an unbelieving woman, even though she allures you. Nor marry (your girls) to unbelievers until they believe: A man slave who believes is better than an unbeliever, even though he allures you. Unbelievers do (but) beckon you to the Fire. But Allah beckons by His Grace to the Garden (of bliss) and forgiveness, and makes His Signs clear to mankind: That they may celebrate His praise.




See also

The Roots of Islamic Terrorism: The Wahhabis of Saudi Arabia


Reference

Translations of Koran


Guardian article on the injunction to kill unbelievers (apostates)

Amir Taheri, The Spirit of Allah: Khomeini and the Islamic Revolution, Adler and Adler,  1986, 90-91.

First published 1/9/10