Qatif rape case

I get very impatient with the constant call for moderate Muslims to decry the words and works of extremist Muslims, when moderate Muslims do that all the time: it's just not as headline-grabbing. And if you didn't happen to hear about it from the news sources you follow, it may as well not have happened. (The same rubbish is said about feminists, often without even the effort of a thirty-second Web search.) The aim is to tar with the same brush over a billion human beings, from different countries, speaking different languages, from different races, with different politics (even within Saudi Arabia), following different beliefs and practices... but they're really all the same, you see.

Some more recent Saudi commentary on the Qatif case:

From Arab News: How 'Culture' Is Defended in a Globalized World: "Time after time judgments such as that passed in the “Qatif” case mortify us as Saudi nationals by their appalling and overt misogyny that inevitably makes headlines in the international press. It is an urgent issue because these authorities keep catching us by surprise and exposing us to international ridicule and condemnation with their own narrow religious-political agenda."

The Real Issue Raised by the Qatif Verdict: "The morality of the Qatif girl is not (and should not) be the main discussion point. The real issue at hand is that of a due process within our judicial system."

British Muslims on the Sudan teddy bear case:

A bear called Muhammad is no blasphemy; Blasphemy caused by cuddly animals; There's far more to Islam than a teddy

Beefic #4

For lferion: Methos meets the Ninth Doctor.

( Who's this young whippersnapper, anyway? )

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Next up: what Chris and Joel got up to in The Room With No Doors >:-)

Moderate Muslims redux

My cuz reckons the nasty Muslims outnumber the nice ones, worldwide, by at least a factor of ten. Now I reckon it's more like the other way around - a small minority of noisy extremists, making life miserable for other Muslims and rattling their sabres, so to speak, at the West.

What we need here are some hard figures. The pollsters at Gallup have been asking Muslims worldwide for their opinions, and have come up with results which may surprise you. For example, would you have guessed that as many Americans as Turks think religious law should be the sole source of their nation's law? Or that as many Palestinians as Americans think Sharia or the Bible should be one, but not the only, source of the law? That most Iranians, like most Americans, think that religious leaders should have no role in drafting the law? Or how about this - that a majority of people in Lebanon and Iran think women should be allowed to hold national leadership positions, and large majorities in Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco think women should have equal rights, vote freely, and hold any job they're qualified for.

Now this doesn't for a moment change what's happened recently in Sudan and Saudi Arabia. What it does point to is that firstly, Muslims in different nations hold different opinions, with some countries more sexist or Koran-thumping than others; secondly, large numbers of Muslims hold similar political opinions to Westerners; and thirdly, that perhaps the noise generated by a small number of fanatics, plus the injustices wrought by backwards leaders, officials, and judges, do not represent the average Muslim. (In fact, another Gallup poll revealed that most Americans admit they have no idea what the heck people in Muslim countries think. :-)