Women: A World Apart

Originally posted here.

By Nonie Darwish

Recently I spoke at Wellesley College and  a  large  number  of  female members of the Muslim Student Association attended. As I described the plight of seven Iranian women awaiting death by stoning for sexual violations, I saw no compassion towards their sisters in Islam.  I saw  only  rigid  faces  and hardened,  unsympathetic  hearts.  Some even made faces at me as I spoke. These young educated Muslim women live in America under the protection of the U.S.

Constitution, far removed from the harsh realities of Sharia law I experienced.

I lived in the Middle East under Family Sharia for 30 years and witnessed its cruel and inhumane treatment of women. When I was a teenager, our maid (who was my age) was pregnant as a result of forced rapes by her boss at the home where she previously worked. My mother, who did not want to send her back to her family because of the possibility she would be killed, sent her to a government facility. A year later, we learned the young maid was killed by her father and brother to protect the family honor.

I witnessed female genital mutilation, a common practice that my mother and almost all her generation were forced to endure. I also witnessed polygamy and its devastating effect on family dynamics,   husband-wife relationships, women-to-women relationships, and the upbringing of children. READ MORE...