The recent reports of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual misconduct have dominated the news cycle and shocked most of America.
The answer to preventing further abuse like this, according to The Independent’s Qasim Rashid, is strict adherence to Islamic law.
That’s right, kids – Muslim law! Why didn’t we think of this earlier? The answer has been right under our noses the whole time. Sure, strict adherence to Sharia law and jihad have contributed to the deaths of thousands of Americans over the past two decades, but it could still be the answer to ending rape in the world.
Never mind the fact that countries which adhere to strict Islamic rule – Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, and many others – punish women with disproportionately harsher laws, and often offer them no representation in a court of law. Marital rape doesn’t exist, and women can be stoned to death for adultery.
But yeah, the Koran might just be the answer to women’s liberation.
Rashid also says it’s men – yes, men – who should be entrusted with women’s liberation. He claims that “men worldwide are failing in our responsibility to end sexual abuse and gender based violence.”
Now I’m no gender studies scholar, but I’ve studied it enough to know that this is definitely not how it works. It’s inherently anti-feminist to ask men to advocate for women. How many times have we heard “stop asking for power and take it,” as a feminist battle cry? It’s pretty hilarious that this guy thinks his gender can singlehandedly carry all women to victory through civil rights legislation.
To back up his advocacy for strict adherence to the Koran, Rashid cites exactly one chapter to prove we should use it as a moral guide.
This verse also commands men to consort with women in kindness, forbidding men from so much as thinking ill of their wives. This preempts emotional and mental abuse. Chapter 4:35 furthermore prevents violence against women by forcing men to control themselves and never resort to physically harming women – preempting physical abuse.
This might work well for married heterosexual couples. But what does the Koran say about thinking ill of non-wives?
And history shows that “forcing” men to do things rarely works out well.
He goes on to talk about how the Koran mandates that men should “provide for a woman’s every financial need,” and urge women to wear hijabs to prevent males from “gawking.”
I’m sorry for laughing. But this stands in direct opposition to everything feminists stand for and allows for wealthy scumbags like Harvey Weinstein not only to subsist but thrive. He has the net worth to financially provide for a gaggle of women, but instead allegedly chose to abuse them.