"Somewhat unsurprisingly the threats perpetrated by extremist Muslims cover an array of appalling crimes including obscene sexual offences , [the women] are frequently accused of 'destroying Islam' or “corrupting our women'."

Qur'an 4:34 makes violence against disobedient women lawful. Whatever other rationalizations one trots out, at the end of the day, Allah says you can hit (yes, hit) your wife. Here, again, is the allegation that any change to improve the lot of women will only serve to corrupt, create prostitutes, and so on.

The home is a microcosm of society. If one believes there can only be either tyranny and fear, or licentiousness, it is not the building block of a free and democratic society. "The New Muslim suffragettes of the United Kingdom," by Charlotte Rachael Proudman for the Independent, January 18 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

An increasing number of Muslim women activists are receiving death threats, fatwas and even hate-mail from extremist male and female Muslims. Their crime: Rescuing fellow Muslim women from violent and life threatening situations.
With heightened media sensitivity surrounding forced marriage, honour based violence and domestic violence we are all too aware of the suffering experienced by vulnerable and marginalised Muslim women. But we know little about the Muslim women activists who risk their lives to fight for the rights of oppressed Muslim women. These women are the New Muslim Suffragettes (NMS) of The United Kingdom.

As wives and mothers themselves, they stand alone in their communities and apart from other prominent Muslim organisations, in offering sanctuary and support for vulnerable and marginalised women. The NMS provide refuge, advocacy and access to the British legal and welfare system for women whose daily lives consist of beatings, imprisonment, torture and even marital rape, as well as the mental health ramifications that unfold over time.

In fact there has been an exponential growth in Muslim women activists in the form of charitable women rights organisations. These organisations have emerged post 9/11 as a response to misogynist and extremist views which are contaminating the Muslim community. Like the suffragette movement in the late 19th and early 20th century, Muslim women activists are collectively gaining momentum in fighting for women’s rights in oppressive and patriarchal contexts. But facing fierce patriarchal resistance - akin to that experienced by the early Suffragettes – sympathy for the NMS does not always convert to action.

In seeking justice for Muslim women whose human rights have been eroded through hyper-conservative interpretations of Islam, the NMS turn to British Law. But in affording marginalised Muslim women their rights the NMS are perceived by extremist Muslims as “feminists”, a term loaded in the Muslim world with connotations of modernity, resistance and westernisation, and perhaps more importantly a term which challenges the patriarchal underpinning of Islam dictated by extremist Muslims.

So they face a backlash in the form of persecution, intimidation and death threats. Fearing for their lives the NMS are forced into hiding and prevented from undertaking the very work they set out to achieve – to highlight and prevent the gross abuse of human rights many Muslim women suffer. Instead the NMS risk becoming the vulnerable and marginalised Muslim women that they originally set out to help and support. It’s time for the public to be aware of the plight of the NMS in the United Kingdom. This is their story.

My mobile phone rang, I could hear heavy breathing and a deep male voice – “I know where you live, I’m going to find you, and then I’m going to chop your legs off for taking my daughter away from me”. This NMS received this threat along with a threat to bomb her car after she rescued a young woman from forced marriage and domestic violence. Fearing for her life, this NMS must check her car for bombs each day and cannot leave her home without a panic alarm.

For the NMS, life has become intolerable. Sara Khan, from the counter-extremist and gender equality consultancy Inspire and Shereen Williams from the Henna Foundation spoke about the persecution perpetrated against them and work colleagues often directed at family members. According to Diana Nammi founder of the Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation (IKWRO), the main motive behind the death threats is an extremist belief that the work of the NMS is shaming and dishonouring the Muslim community, particularly in cases where women are supported by the NMS in seeking legal redress for the wrongs inflicted upon them often by their own family members.

Somewhat unsurprisingly the threats perpetrated by extremist Muslims cover an array of appalling crimes including obscene sexual offences, which have become an increasing problem in the blogosphere and according to Shaista Gohir (MBE) the NMS are frequently accused of “destroying Islam” or “corrupting our women” and like the Suffragettes over a century ago – they are accused of being “mad”. While these accusations may appear banal and mundane to secular ears, they are devastating to women activists of faith who are accused of being apostates. In this case, these accusations lead to threats of Shaista Gohir’s throat being slashed,

http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/01/18/the-new-muslim-suffragettes-of-the-united-kingdom/

LagosShia:

"frosbel" please review the posts in the thread whose link is below on the subject of Quran 4:34 and the allegation of "wife beating".you started the thread some time back with your female username "plappville":

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-817561.0.html#msg9693077

If you cannot tell the difference between myself and plappville, then it is obvious you need some better assessment skills.

For this I cannot help you.

You and your fellow Jihadists are now seeing Frosbel under every stone and behind every tree. I am not a Jew ooo.   

I better leave you for a while, before I am blamed for your nervous break down

frosbel:

If you cannot tell the difference between myself and plappville, then it is obvious you need some better assessment skills.

For this I cannot help you.

You and your fellow Jihadists are now seeing Frosbel under every stone and behind every tree. I am not a Jew ooo.

I better leave you for a while, before I am blamed for your nervous break down

we only know of one person who has 50 usernames on nairaland with similar posts and wordings.and that is frosbel.i dont know if the jews also do a similar thing.but you should know about them better.you can educate us on them.

LagosShia:

we only know of one person who has 50 usernames on nairaland with similar posts and wordings.and that is frosbel.i dont know if the jews also do a similar thing.but you should know about them better.you can educate us on them.

You should have had an education before going to Koranic school from kindergarten, see what it has caused you

frosbel:

You should have had an education before going to Koranic school from kindergarten, see what it has caused you

LagosShia:

My Lagos Bro.

frosbel, here with ur lies again??

anything to keep the church business growing??

The most prevalent position of Islam followers is similar to what I have seen in several websites such as this;

As far as violence in the sense of the use of unjust force against the rights of others and laws is concerned, Islam stands totally opposed to it. Rights of human beings are defined by Islamic Law and are protected by this Law which embraces not only Muslims but also followers of other religions

But in reality this is not the same. The more Muslim adherents seek to be like the Prophet, the more they seek to replicate the intolerance he had for others. People seek to demonstrate this passively or actively. A Muslim may look calm underneath, but there is a volcano simmering under the surface.

Many have claimed that Qur'anic verses in support of fighting, were for a special historical situation. its argue that since prophet Muhammad was persecuted in Mecca for the first thirteen years of his ministry, he was justified in his military actions  for the support of the budding Islamic movement. The problem with this reasoning is that nowhere in the Qur'an itself the above commands to fight are restricted to a special time period or against a special people group. Orthodox Muslims believe that the Qur'anic commands are universal and thus applicable for all times and places and that is the problem.

Until that is addressed, the violence in the name of Islam will continue. unfortunately, many in Islam completely misdiagnose the problem as discrimination, phobia, or plain hate. That stands in the way of true "Islam reform"

brentkruge:

The most prevalent position of Islam followers is similar to what I have seen in several websites such as this;

But in reality this is not the same. The more Muslim adherents seek to be like the Prophet, the more they seek to replicate the intolerance he had for others. People seek to demonstrate this passively or actively. A Muslim may look calm underneath, but there is a volcano simmering under the surface.

Many have claimed that Qur'anic verses in support of fighting, were for a special historical situation. its argue that since prophet Muhammad was persecuted in Mecca for the first thirteen years of his ministry, he was justified in his military actions  for the support of the budding Islamic movement. The problem with this reasoning is that nowhere in the Qur'an itself the above commands to fight are restricted to a special time period or against a special people group. Orthodox Muslims believe that the Qur'anic commands are universal and thus applicable for all times and places and that is the problem.

Until that is addressed, the violence in the name of Islam will continue. unfortunately, many in Islam completely misdiagnose the problem as discrimination, phobia, or plain hate. That stands in the way of true "Islam reform"

i quite understand the point you are making.
1. muslims have not been practicing what they preach-- but in essence, those preaching the opposite  are different from those practicing the wrongs but since they are not known to you, kinda virtual, u can not tell. so am saying, the people who carry out those acts are the ignorant Muslims of the laws guiding Islam.

2. your statement that the Qur'an doesnt restrict the fightings to a specific time is borne out of ignorance as well. you probably never knew this aspect of tafsir where it is mentioned that

the Qur'an interpretes the Qur'an
so also, the hadiths interprete it.

therefore, if u never learnt it the way you should, there is no way u'd come up wv an understanding.

and here is a verse restricting the fight-

Fight those who fight against you along God's way, yet do not initiate hostilities; God does not love aggressors (2:190)