The Myth of the Tolerant Version of the Quran
Four years ago Daniel W. Drezner at Foreign Policy Magazine reported on Morocco's plans to democratize the country through a tolerant interpretation of the Qur'an and wrote, "So far, it seems to be working." (1)
Drezner is naive. The most secular, the most democratic, the most modern Islamic nation in the world is Turkey. Turkey was the model of a country filled with Muslims who interpreted the Qur'an in the most tolerant way possible. Despite that, over the years, true Islam, the most intolerant, the most misogynistic, the most savage of all political ideologies, has slowly but surely asserted control over the Turkish polity and culture. So too will it do in Morocco.
For 1400 years Muslim men have ruled over their women and treated them as cattle. And this was not a big problem before the twentieth century because women rarely asked for divorce nor dressed immodestly nor did much to dishonor their families.
But once television and Hollywood films began to circulate among the Islamic nations, women wanted to be like their western counterparts, they wanted to dress like them, be beautiful like them. Finally, the Internet arrived, and all the temptations of the west flooded the lands of the Muslim faithful.
Even in advanced, democratic, secular, so-called tolerant Turkey, where women were not forced to cover themselves as in Saudi Arabia, where Muslim women were perhaps the most liberated in Islam, Muslim men still killed their wives for having the nerve to ask for divorce; killed their daughters for wearing American-style jeans, and killed their sisters for going out at night (2). Since honor killing is illegal, many Muslim men force their womenfolk to commit honor-suicide.
And this is the problem with Islam no matter how you interpret it. But if Muslims keep true to 1400 year old rural customs, if women are not exposed to modern lifestyles and liberties, if Islamic communities stay isolated from modern digital appliances accessing the Internet, then Muslims can remain peaceful in their desert tents, tending to their sheep, buying and selling little girls, and fornicating occasionally with a goat or two. As long as we keep them away from western exposure, as long as we do not allow them to infest western societies, these Muslims pose no threat to modern civilization.
Let me give you an example: Stupid Americans and Europeans have pressed many Muslim countries to give their women more rights and to offer Muslim women opportunities for education. This a grave mistake.
Educating Women Exposes Them to Murder
As young Muslim girls are allowed to become better educated and more exposed to the world and given more rights, they naturally want to be just like modern infidel women resulting in rebellion against repressive family traditions. As a consequence, honor murders and honor suicides (which are in fact murder by extortion) have surged in Turkey (and of course, in other Muslim countries). Exacerbating the situation, perpetrators of such crimes are permitted under Turkish (and Shariah) law to enjoy shorter prison terms than those who commit similar crimes for non-Islamic reasons. Women are seen as equally culpable in rape where men are given light sentences if it is determined that the victim was not a virgin (before the rape).
Those of us watching developments in the Muslim world see that modernization is not compatible with Islam and only makes Muslims go crazy. For more than half a century the cultural life of Morocco was buzzing with excitement: there was a great flowering of art exhibitions, amateur theater, film-making, and popular music. In the long run of Islam, these are not things that amuse Muslims.
Here's a troubling statistic: the illiteracy rate among girls in rural Morocco is 90%. By granting new rights to women, many more girls will get educated, with many attending college and going online where they will see Western Decadence at its finest. They will emulate western women, they will wear tight jeans, and they will decide who to marry. These are the things that will get them raped, tortured, and killed. As Muslim men saturate themselves in barbaric misogyny, the younger Muslim men look for even more violent outlets for their aggression.
As soon as enough women become un-Islamic, the religious clerics who currently have little fuel to excite the faithful, will be able to stir up anger against the corrupting influence of infidels. Agitated, angry, violent young Muslim men will then be recruited to fight against the infidel for his corrupting ways.
The King of Morocco is an idiot. Allowing Islam to bloom is like adding fertilizer to poison ivy. It will not end up well for the King. A democratic Islam is like a democratic Mafia.
I will return in ten years to this discussion and see how this new model of democratic Islam turns out for Morocco. Stay tuned.
ENDNOTES
(1):
Foreign Policy Magazine, 23 Jan 2006, That's some interesting Islam in Morocco
Religion is making a comeback in Morocco, and more and more young, well-educated Moroccans are devouring the Koran. The new piety, no longer limited to the mosque or prayers at home, is evident in full public view. More and more women are wearing headscarves, even in Casablanca's western fashion enclaves and Rabat's gleaming shopping centers.
...
By granting new rights to women and strengthening civil liberties, the ruler of this country of 30 million on Africa's northern edge, which is 99 percent Muslim, plans to democratize Morocco through a tolerant interpretation of the Koran.
...
If the king's reform plan succeeds, Morocco could become a model of democratic Islam....
(2):
Honor Killings Blog, Some real life stories:
- 23 year old Rukiye Küçükbirer was killed by her brother returning from military service because it was alleged that she had a relationship with her brother-in-law.
- Waterpolo teacher Müjgan Albayrak, divorced from her husband, was shot by her brother whilst she was dining with her boyfriend.
- Hülya Yakar was killed by her 11 year old son because she went out a lot.
- Cezvet Murat killed two of his sisters, Ayten Murat and Gülten Söylemez, because they came home late and he decided that they were prostitutes.
- Pregnant Ayse Tarhan was stabbed to death by her husband Behman Tarhan because he suspected that she was having an affair. After killing her he separated her flesh from her bones and then buried in the stove.
- 28 year old Salih Esmer killed his sister Semra Esmer for dating with men and he also killed his mother for not educating his sister enough.
- Abdullah Karadeve cut his pregnant wife’s throat with a knife because he only suspected that she was having an affair. The couple had 7 children together.
- Senel Habesoglu was killed by her ex-husband because she divorced him.
- Gönül Aslan was thrown to the river Firat by her parents and her husband because she left her husband whom she was forced to marry to be with her boyfriend. Later on she left her boyfriend as well and went to her parents house. After she was thrown to the river she managed to swim and survive and now the police are hiding her.
- Sevda Gök was stabbed to death by her adolescent cousin, assisted by her brothers in the middle of the market arena after Friday prayers. There were no witnesses to be found even though everbody in the mosque was coming out of the building.
- Sibel yildiz (25 years old), mother of 2, supposedly committed suicide. She was forced to live with her ex-husband even though she divorced him because he abused her. Sevki yildiz - ex-husband- is said to be a suspect in killing her by throwing her out of the window on the 13th floor of their apartment building. She had bruises all over her body.
- In Denizli, Ümit Sahan (21 years old) tried to commit suicide and was saved. She left her 3 month marriage home and went back to her parent’s house because her husband was heavily beating her. Her parents told her that their family honour will be damaged if she came back, so they sent her back to her husband’s house and she tried to kill herself.
- A 17 year old girl - a student of Kadiköy Kiz Lisesi jumped out of balcony on the 3rd level of building to kill herself because her parents were forcing her into an unwanted marriage.
- In Demirlibahçe, Ankara, Nuray Nergiz was raped by her father-in-law many times. Allegedly, she told this to her husband. In return, her husband did not do anything. And she went back to her parents’ house in Ürgüp Sahinefendi. Her relatives took her to the police to tell them what was happening. After she returned from the police station she hung herself.
- In Eyüp, Istanbul, Muazzez Yuvarlak (36 years old) jumped from Golden Horn Bridge as she could no longer bear to be beaten, in front of her children, by her husband. She had been saying that “ my husband will kill me soon.”
- In Kartal Istanbul, Hamide Kibar jumped out of her 5th floor apartment with her two kids, killing herself and the children. Her relatives are suspecting that her husband suggested or forced her suicide.
- A 17 year old woman, Yurdagül Ayaz, 8 months pregnant with twins was killed by 30 knife wound. She was found in the local cemetery with the knife in her vagina. Before her death, her father Hanife Ayaz (62 years old) chained her in his basement to make her to marry a man she did not love. She was supposedly in love with her cousin and married him but after the marriage he forced her into prostitution and was arrested by the police. Five days later she was found dead. It all happened in Gaziantep.
- Kemal Orcan killed his wife and his own daughter and then committed suicide. His wife was allegedly having an affair with his business partner. He also had a second wife through a religious marriage and 1 year old child from his second marriage. He also killed 3 other men in his office after killing his own daughter.
- Aysel Dikmen (18 years old) was executed in the name of honour by her father Mahmut Dikmen (55 years old). Aysel ran away from home with the man she loved - Ramazan Kiliç - to another village. Since she was under age she was arrested by gendarme. The police knew she would be killed because of traditional values, and they did not return the girl to her family, instead she was placed in an orphanage in Ankara. Afterwards her father kept insisting that he would not harm her and eventually she was returned to her family. The family forced her into a marriage with her cousin Ibrahim Ok. Both of them went to a relative’s house without knowing that her father was there and he killed her. While he was trying to run away, he fired the gun accidentally and killed himself.
