If the Negus banned the headscarf would the Muslims of gone and lived under him? My point is that you complain about enforcing a certain dress code, but you want to do the enforcing aswell, but you cannot because you lack authority in the west, even in your own Muslim countries.

What I meant about divinely sanctioned oppression, is the verses in your Quran. The one that talks of the witnesses scenario and beating…many regard that as oppression.

I know the Muslim reply is to say this beating is only light, but what if a Muslim did not know about the light beating and he followed the aparent meaning of the Quran, would he be excused by God? Secondly, how can the beating be a ‘light’ one, since when did tapping someone with a miswak change their mind? If you was rebelious to your husband, would him tapping you wit a toothbrush change you and make you want to become less wicked and rebelious? I find it strange, please do explain your beliefs to me. Also, i do not know arabic, can we stick to the discussion on english please? You may find it strange if I finished my paragraphs with Spanish at the end lol

Salam Siraaj,

I am a muslim woman living in the middle east, and I have to say a lot of young people here are extremely weary of the whole ‘America is Satan” narrative. I’m tremendously proud of the recent revolutions that have taken place in Tunisia, Egypt etc, and how the nationals of these countries have conducted themselves in overthrowing their leaders and seeking institutional reform. For decades these despotic regimes have also legitimised thier institutional failures,failed attempts at national building and failure to provide adequate service, education, employment etc by recourse to the whole ‘everything is a zionist/american conspiracy”…a common ploy by all these states irrespective of whether they simultaneously recieve substantive US aid, be it in the form of arms or non-military assistance. The Zionist bogeyman is perhaps the most common deflection mechanism. I am not contesting the fact that US policy has been injust and very destructive ramifications in the past. But I believe that the fault lies primarily and overwhelmingly with us.

Where u take responsibilty for your own failures, take heart, put your trust in Allah and endeavour to change things, thats when Allah will facillitate change for you. The rallying cry of these recent movements was not “Death to America” or “Death to the Zionists’, it had a strongly domestic orientation, and it was about facing and addressing our own internal failures, and the systemic corruption which plagues our own society’s….not about pointing fingers and blaming others. And when u face your own problems, realise that they are primarily of your own making, and strive to address them, thats when you win other peoples respect. I think these recent revolutionary movements have generated a lot of respect for Egyptians and Tunisians (and indeed muslims) all around the world. I disagree with Lance that religion had nothing to do with these revolutions, it was a inspiration for many. Weeping and Wailing and screaming about how everyone is purportedly dead set against us and all out to get us would not have had the same effect. Respect has to be earned, it can’t be demanded. These dictatorships e.g Saudi might be backed by the US, but we have been endowed with agency, Allah has endowed us with agency, and the absence of a flourishing civil society, lack of foresight, lack of vision, lack of creative dynamism, and lack of courageous individuals in some of these countries cannot and ought not be attributed to the US. The blame game has gone on for too long, and it is petty and unbecoming for us as muslims.

When a leadership is corrupt, ineffectual and without compassion this kind of stagnation seeps down to all levels of society. The sort of hedonistic materialism, and living just for the present, and inegalitarianism is not confined to the Saudi or Kuwaiti ruling elite, it extends to all sectors of society. take a look at the plight foreign migrant workers both muslim, and non-muslim, in the gulf states. Many of the worst treated are from the Indian subcontinent ad the Phillipines. The general responses of local citizens are denial, or worse, indifference. This rarely makes other muslims as indignant as it should make them. All our ire is reserved for the US and its Zionist sidekick. We do exercise our own double standards.

Alhumdulila, I think that with the influence of recent events these things will change inshallah. One of the things I most admire about religious people is that they are intuitively introspective in nature, and thats what I think is one our Ummahs biggest problems, a tendency to deflect blame our legitimise the crap that goes on in our societies by identifying external players as its source. The US or “the west” is not the source of our problems, certain elements of the western ruling elite have capitalised on the pre-existing social, political and economic malaise infecting our societies. Once we overcome this, I believe that we are on the path to prosperity in this world and the next.