Friday, January 05, 2007

Islamist guide to beating your wife

Seems reasonable to me, except for the bit at the end:
glumbert.com | Islamist guide to beating your wife

In fairness, it should be mentioned that the views expressed in the video may not be attributed to Islam in general. If someone could point out exactly in which strains of Islamic thought this fits, I'd be very interested to hear about it.

3 Comments:

  • N.B.: OBVIOUSLY, I'm not arguing it's ok to beat your wife; but I just think that things should be presented as accurately as possible. And it strikes me that using the title, "Islamist guide to beating your wife," is simply misleading. This video is NOT a how-to; it's a how-NOT-to. It imposes limitations on something that, we can presume, is sadly all-too-common in Islamic cultures (or America, for that matter, though obviously without cultural structures allowing it). In this way, I would argue that it is similar to the Old Testament "eye for an eye," which was not intended as a rule ALLOWING revenge, but one guiding justice, insisting that retribution should not exceed the crime. Likewise, this video is saying to those who take it for granted that one may beat one's wife: your wife is NOT your property; her opinion of your beating her is irrelevant and does NOT make it ok (Allah may not forgive you on judgment day, even if she does). Again, the point is not that this man is advocating beating one's wife; he is trying actually to protect women.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:08 AM, January 10, 2007  

  • Anonymous,

    Well noted. Yeah, I agree that the intention of the speaker is to protect women (though I disagree with the premise that it is ever appropriate to beat one's wife). And I get that the unsaid here speaks more loudly, to those who would listen, than the said. But, nonetheless I found it worth posting, mostly in hopes that it would provoke some kind of thought/discussion.

    I agree that the title is misleading, but I did not title the glumbert page, and simply retained the default blogging title. I might have given it a different name in presenting it here, but left it, even though I felt uncomfortable with it. I hope it doesn't give offense, but I'll usually risk offense in hopes of provocating thought. No disrespect was intended on my part.

    And in some ways, your comments are exactly what I was hoping for. Only I would see more discusion still.

    What I find most intersting is the statement "Allah may not forgive you on judgment day, even if she does."

    By Blogger Paul, at 3:43 PM, January 10, 2007  

  • Oh, absolutely I agree with you - that is, I also disagree with the premise that it is ever right to beat your wife. If that wasn't clear, I apologize. Also, after I posted that, I realized that the source of the title might not be this blog, so that point is well taken.
    I'm curious in what way you find the statement about Allah not forgiving someone who beats his wife on Judgment day interesting - absolutely; but how so for you?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5:12 PM, January 10, 2007  

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