Pardon, my page made an error with my post and some of it got cut off.
Hello River
Here's a link to the Times article, if anyone else comes along:
www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2...
This is a shocking case. It's terrible, particularly since she's very young. Unfortunately Aisha's reconstructive surgery won't fully repair either the psychological trauma or the immediate situation with her family, village, and in-laws.
I know there's abuse in non Muslim countries towards women but when the perpetrators are caught they go to trial and if found guilty go to jail.
"If found guilty." That's a "maybe."
In the west you'll find tonnes of [religious background] women with partners that got away with domestic abuse for years until something got out of hand. See? The law can't garuntee that the people who break it will let themselfs get caught.
And "going to gaol" is another "maybe."
Example: my mother brought taped evidence in court that my father was abusive, not unlike Mel Gibson's ex-girlfriend. Without that evidence it was his word against his. The judge would've ruled in his favour. In the end, my father was never gaoled for domestic abuse, and in fact had visitation rights -- which he exploited, taking me (then a toddler) when and wherever he wanted without telling my mother. You know what happened in the end? She went back to him to ensure knowing where I was at all times.
So the West is no safe haven.
Besides, there's nothing in either Judaism or Christianity which allows such horrors. In the Muslim religion it seems to be perfectly OK and justified for men to do anything they want to women, even kill them, and get away with it. I find that incredible and horrifying! What kind of religion allows such things, especially in this day and age. It's not the first time I've read about abuse to women in some Muslim countries. Women are just as human as men. How dare men get away with such acts!
By Time's account we might assume (by silence) that Aisha is still a Muslim.
They also report that the Taliban mutilated her.
The Taliban are convinced their practise of Islam is correct, pure, and in the Prophet's example. Now, knowing the Taliban, I have a question.
Nevermind would a good Muslim mutilate a young girl and leave her for dead as an "example" to other girls.
My question is, Would a good Muslim faciliate and extort money from opium trade?
No. Islam forbids inebriating substanaces. Not to mention dishonest trade.
But the Taliban have and continue to profit gluttonously from the opium trade; Afghanistan is one of if not the biggest producer in the world. This article is from 2007; pay attention to the graph.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6965115.stm
The Taliban came to power in '96. Astoundingly they didn't ban opium until 2000. I mean, you couldn't bring a drop of liquor into Afghanistan but in 4,500 metric tonnes of opium were coming out of the country in 1999. Compared to 2007 stats, that's not much, but it's too large a figure to smuggle quietly without the Taliban's knowing; they certainly knew, and they certainly profited. If they were the "real" Muslims, there would be no opium trafficking in Afghanistan, no large-scale extortion, and certainly not on the scale it was in the south in 2007.
The Taliban is not by any means wholly representative of the Muslim world's treatment of women.
