WOMEN IN ISLAM VERSUS WOMEN IN THE JUDAEO-CHRISTIAN TRADITION: THE MYTH &THE REALITY- Part 4, NewAgeIslam.com

WOMEN IN ISLAM VERSUS WOMEN IN THE JUDAEO-CHRISTIAN TRADITION: THE MYTH &THE REALITY- Part 4

According to the Biblical definition, if a married man sleeps with an unmarried woman, this is not considered a crime at all. … According to Encyclopaedia Judaica, the wife was considered to be the husband's possession and adultery constituted a violation of the husband's exclusive right to her; the wife as the husband's possession had no such right to him. 15 That is, if a man had sexual intercourse with a married woman, he would be violating the property of another man and, thus, he should be punished.

To the present day in Israel, if a married man indulges in an extramarital affair with an unmarried woman, his children by that woman are considered legitimate. But, if a married woman has an affair with another man, whether married or not married, her children by that man are not only illegitimate but they are considered bastards and are forbidden to marry any other Jews except converts and other bastards. This ban is handed down to the children's descendants for 10 generations until the taint of adultery is presumably weakened. 16

The Quran, on the other hand, never considers any woman to be the possession of any man. The Quran eloquently describes the relationship between the spouses by saying:

" And among His signs is that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that you may dwell in tranquility with them and He has put love and mercy between your hearts: verily in that are signs for those who reflect" (30:21).

http://newageislam.com/women-in-islam-versus-women-in-the-judaeo-christian-tradition--the-myth-&the-reality--part-4/books-and-documents/d/2419

Rights of Muslim women: Indian Supreme Court intervenes again, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam, Women and Feminism

Rights of Muslim women: Indian Supreme Court intervenes again

In a little noticed case, the Supreme Court has again intervened in support of maintenance for a divorced Muslim woman. Instead of Shahbano, this time it is Shabano Bano who approached the courts for maintenance, appealing against a lower courts decision that a divorced Muslim woman was entitled to maintenance only during the iddat period to ensure she is not pregnant. The apex court has ruled that a divorced Muslim woman is entitled to receive maintenance from her husband as long as she does not remarry, in what is yet another path breaking decision.

Shabano Bano was married to an Imran Khan in Gwalior on November 26, 2001. She filed a petition under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code in the family court, Gwalior. Imran challenged this, saying that under the provisions of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986 she was not entitled to any maintenance after the expiry of iddat. It might be recalled that Shahbano had won a right to maintenance from the Supreme Court, but following howls of protests from the Muslim conservatives, the then Rajiv Gandhi government intervened to reverse the decision through a legislation that sought to put the Muslim woman out of the purview of Section 125 of the CrPC.

The Gwalior family court ruled in favour of Imran Khan, after which Shabano Bano approached the high court that dismissed her petition. Almost following the footsteps of Shahbano, this courageous woman moved the Supreme Court. A two-judge bench of Justice B Sudershan Reddy and Justice Deepak Verma ruled: “It is held that if a Muslim woman has been divorced, she would be entitled to claim maintenance from her husband even after the expiry of iddat, as long as she does not remarry under Section 125 of the CrPC.” The apex court set aside the order passed by the Gwalior Bench of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh and remanded the matter to the family court of Gwalior to decide it on merit. The judges further said, “it would make it crystal clear that even a divorced Muslim woman would be entitled to claim maintenance from her ex-husband as long as she does not remarry. This being a beneficial piece of legislation, the benefit must accrue to divorced Muslim women too.”

http://newageislam.com/rights-of-muslim-women--indian-supreme-court-intervenes-again/islam,-women-and-feminism/d/2254

My imam father came after me with an axe: Hanna Shah,

Islamic Society

My imam father came after me with an axe: Hanna Shah

By Dominic Lawson

March 15, 2009

He is also an incestuous child abuser, repeatedly raping his daughter from the age of five until she was 15, ostensibly as part of her punishment for being “disobedient”. At the age of 16 she fled her family to avoid the forced marriage they had planned for her in Pakistan. A much, much greater affront to “honour” in her family’s eyes, however, was the fact that she then became a Christian – an apostate. The Koran is explicit that apostasy is punishable by death; thus it was that her father the imam led a 40-strong gang – in the middle of a British city – to find and kill her.

Hannah Shah says her story is not unique – that there are many other girls in British Muslim families who are oppressed and married off against their will, or who have secretly become Christians but are too afraid to speak out. She wants their voices to be heard and for Britain, the land of her birth, to realise the hidden misery of these women.

Hannah’s own voice is quiet and emerges from a tiny frame. She is clearly nervous about talking to a journalist and the stress she has been under is betrayed by a bald patch on the left side of her head. Yet she has a lovely natural smile, especially when she reveals that she got married a year ago; her husband works in the Church of England, “though not as a vicar”.

http://newageislam.com/my-imam-father-came-after-me-with-an-axe--hanna-shah/islamic-society/d/1778