My friend Quinto wrote on my Facebook wall "No to the stoning of Sakineh" and directed me to the page where people are collecting signatures for a petition to save her. I hardly have to write this, everyone is aware of this woman by now, but for the record I will say here that Sakineh Mohammad Ashtiani is the Iranian woman condemned to death by stoning for her alleged adultery and involvement in the murder of her husband.
At the weekend Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, wife of the French President , was branded a prostitute by the Iranian media. Carla Bruni had written an open letter pleading for Sakineh's life to be spared. Iranian papers did not hesitate to pass judgement on her lifestyle as a model and singer, virulently condemning her for being immoral.
On the page to which Quinto directed me there were dozens and dozens of comments. The ones that struck me most were written by people that felt entitled to condemn Islam altogether for being 'a barbaric religion'.
It has been said before, it has been pointed out by Islamic scholars in several articles, books and papers. It's worth repeating it. The kind of practices, such as stoning, embraced by the Iranian regime as also by the resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan are not representative of Islam. To begin with stoning is not prescribed by the Koran, but is found in the hadiths, where it is mentioned as the penalty for adultery. The hadiths are the legal traditions of the time of Mohammed. Stoning was a widespread practice in the Near East in the 1st century AD. There is a mention of it in the Bible and Rabbinic law describes it in great detail.
The fundamentalist Islam of Iran and of the Taliban is a very extreme attempt at restoring a long gone past in a search for religious authenticity.These countries endorse laws which are totally anachronistic and which most Muslims will not recognise as being part of their religion.
It is worrying to see that in the western media Islam continues to be identified with fundamentalism. I clearly cannot condone the killing of an innocent woman such as Sakineh, either by stoning or by hanging. I find the insults levelled at Carla Bruni-Sarkozy by a reactionary Iranian paper unacceptable as they are aimed at all Western women. But I dont go as far as condemning Islam wholesale on the face of such incidents. That too would be, if not barbaric, extremely disingenuous and false.
(All photos modelled by Alex B.)
Photographer: Jan Murphy
On the page to which Quinto directed me there were dozens and dozens of comments. The ones that struck me most were written by people that felt entitled to condemn Islam altogether for being 'a barbaric religion'.
Photographer: Pascal Renoux
It has been said before, it has been pointed out by Islamic scholars in several articles, books and papers. It's worth repeating it. The kind of practices, such as stoning, embraced by the Iranian regime as also by the resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan are not representative of Islam. To begin with stoning is not prescribed by the Koran, but is found in the hadiths, where it is mentioned as the penalty for adultery. The hadiths are the legal traditions of the time of Mohammed. Stoning was a widespread practice in the Near East in the 1st century AD. There is a mention of it in the Bible and Rabbinic law describes it in great detail.
Photographer: Bob Adams
Photographer: Marcello Pozzetti
It is worrying to see that in the western media Islam continues to be identified with fundamentalism. I clearly cannot condone the killing of an innocent woman such as Sakineh, either by stoning or by hanging. I find the insults levelled at Carla Bruni-Sarkozy by a reactionary Iranian paper unacceptable as they are aimed at all Western women. But I dont go as far as condemning Islam wholesale on the face of such incidents. That too would be, if not barbaric, extremely disingenuous and false.
(All photos modelled by Alex B.)
Very well written. Very well said.
ReplyDeleteThank you so very much ERosanne for lending your support. It is disheartening to see prejudice all round
ReplyDeleteIt makes sense that there are as many differences of belief and practice in Islam, worldwide, as there are in Christianity. And from what I've heard and read, these Islamic fundamentalists are as strongly against "other" Muslims and other branches of Islam as they are against non-Islamic beliefs--sort of like those fundamentalist Christians who insist "We are the only true Church." So I can easily believe that stoning is not practiced by all Muslims or all branches of Islam.
ReplyDeleteBut the mullahs who govern Iran seem to have lost all touch with reality. The people of Iran are among the best-educated and most progressive in the Middle East, and Iran of course has a rich history and culture and a long tradition of leadership in the humanities--yet its people are being increasingly oppressed by a tyrannical religiocracy. (I refuse to use the term "theocracy," since, being interpreted literally, that word means "government by God," and I doubt that the God I know has anything to do with the mullahs' words and actions.)
I pray for the Iranians to rise up and remove this tyranny from power.
Thank you Jochanaan. I do not support the Iranian regime nor the Taliban. I am just trying to reiterate that that is not what Islam is. It really has to be pointed out now and again, to avoid the demonisation of Muslims
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand...
ReplyDeleteThe Hadiths are a fundamental component of the Islamic Cannons. To discard them out of hand as not really part of islam, would be inaccurate.
That killing an infidel is not a sin in islam is true. Not demonization. No need to make a boogeyman out of muslims, but don't take a polyanna view of it either.
When a guy placed a bomb in times square it was a muslim. 9/11 was perpetrated by muslims. Fort Hood Shootings a muslim. You can claim that isn't "true" islam but it is part of islam and denials don't actually help. Far better to face up to it and ask why is islam interprated or practiced in this way and what can be done about it, than to pretend it's not real. That is denial, No?
Best regards
-jeff
I never denied the existence of extreme terrorism which is not just to do with Islam. How about Northern Ireland? Palestine? And so on and so forth. What I am against is the demonisation of Islam. That is not to say I take a Pollyanna view
ReplyDelete