Dear Editor,
I refer to Ms Amina Chaudhury’s letter captioned “Letter heaps scorn on the victims of rape” (08.08.07). First we pray to God to enable us to see what is in front of us and to be able to understand at least some of it.
In a society where many from among the men are kept in a state of permanent sexual arousal by the environment (the way women dress, the music videos on the TV and the video stores, the unregulated mixing of the sexes in the workplace and other places of socialization etc) and where many from among the women are dressed to emphasise and expose their shape and portions of their privates, thereby seeming to invite men, those men who are not capable of` attracting partners will tend to deal with arousals as best as they can with whatever is available, whether dressed invitingly or not, at the time and place of opportunity. A rape occurs. The above is not in any way meant to be put forward as the only reason for rape– there are several others, including the use of rape as a weapon of war.
I do not heap scorn on the victims of rape. I merely point out that if a society allows certain modes of behaviour, then that society must be prepared to live with the consequences. You see, Ms Chaudhury, life is not as simple as you would like to make it out.
Ms Chaudhury’s statement that rape is one of the most committed crimes in Islamic societies leads one to wonder how she arrived at this conclusion. Is it the result of a scientific survey of all crimes in Islamic Societies where crimes are ranked by frequency, or the result of anecdotal evidence (Don’t you read the newspapers?)
I did not care to “pervertedly see the very mini-skirts” in the tennis game. I specified that this was one instance of the numerous examples available where Western Society turns its women into sex objects by dressing them in a certain way that was less modest than the dress of the men. I do believe that the evidence does not warrant the charge of perversion. Watch out for the Olympics, Ms Chaudhury!
Ms Chaudhury confuses Islam with the practices of some people. I implore her not to blame Islam for practices that are not sanctioned by it. In Islam rape of women, whether believers or unbelievers carries a penalty up to a maximum of capital punishment. Ms Chaudhury, I do believe that this starts to indicate the level of respect that Islam demands for women. The practice of rape as a form of punishment in certain countries is certainly not based on any law of Islam. It is a kind of intellectual deviance to say that because X happens in a certain country then Islam sanctions it. The nonsensical nature of your statement becomes clear if you ask yourself the following two questions. 1. Is the country mentioned being governed by the Sharee’ah? 2. Even if it is not, is there any law on the books that authorizes that form of punishment? The people who authorize such rapes, the persons who carry them out and even the witnesses to the event are all in Jahannam. This means that not only does Islam not permit or condone it, but the persons involved are guilty of a heinous crime. You see, Ms Chaudhury, life is not as simple as you would like to make it out. Also, you may be aware of the Islamic position that Heaven lies at the feet of your mother – that is, by serving her as a dutiful child you can attain Paradise – this is another instance of Islam’s regard for women – not the kind of people that you would go about raping or permitting to be raped! In fact, Islam has given 75% of the rights of parents to mothers and remaining 25% to fathers.
Genital mutilation is not permitted in Islam, a fact obviously unknown to Ms Chaudhury. I refer Ms Chaudhury to the fatwa (ruling) of Shaykh Tantawi, the then Rector of Al Azhar University which makes it clear that genital mutilation is not sanctioned by Islam. This habit of accusing Islam of matters of which it is not guilty and which accusations have been answered time and time again, is becoming somewhat tiresome. I appeal to people of this ilk to do some research before dashing off to the press.
In her parting cheap shot, Ms Chaudhury managed to raise an important but complex point – how do we minimize the contact between the sexes to allow us to maintain the integrity of the family unit, minimize promiscuity and adultery, reduce the incidence of divorce etc. Or do we ignore this and let things continue as they are with the horrendous costs in disease, teenage (unwed) pregnancies, adultery, divorce etc
Yours faithfully,
Al Haj Mujtaba Nasir
General Secretary
CIOG