How Shari'a Treats Women

The following is an excerpt from a carefully-documented investigative report called Islam in American Classrooms: History or Propaganda? (PDF document). According to Islamic Law (Shari'a):

1. Men are superior to women (Surah 2:228, the Qur'an).

2. Women are deficient in intellect and understanding (the Hadith, Al Bukhari Vol. 3:826).

3. A woman is first the possession of her father and then her husband. Fathers may offer a daughter as young as 6 years old to a man of any age who is entitled to consummate the union with wives as young as 9 years old (Muhammad, the role model for all Muslims, took Aisha as a bride when she was six years old and consummated the marriage when she was nine — Bukkari, vol. 5, book 63, no. 3896; cf. Bukkari, vol. 7, book 67, no 5158).

4. Islam considers a wife to be a sex object who must submit to sex whenever, wherever and however her husband wants it. The concept of spousal rape does not exist in Islam (Surah 2:223, the Qur'an).

5. A husband has the legal right and religious obligation to beat a wife if she disobeys him, is disloyal to him or simply does not please him. The concept of wife abuse does not exist in Islam (Surah 4:34, the Qur'an).

6. A man may divorce his wife simply by saying "I divorce you" three times. The woman will be removed from the household with no legal rights to visit the children or financial rights to any shared property (for centuries Muslim men have been able to divorce their wives simply by saying, "I divorce thee" three times. See: "Islamic Divorce Ruled Not Valid in Maryland," Ruben Castaneda, Washington Post, May 8, 2008 page B02).

7. For a woman to prove that she has been raped she must have four male witnesses who will testify against the accused. Without these witnesses rape victims in Muslim countries are commonly accused of adultery and stoned to death, thus punishing the victim simply because she is a woman (Surah 24:12-15, the Qur'an).

8. Islam is the only religion in the world that condones, even encourages, rape of female captives taken as slaves or held for ransom as a tactic of war and a reward for victorious soldiers who conquer "infidels" (Surah 4:24, the Qur'an).