im sure you know as well as i do that "mutual consent" is in a very high number of cases not carried out, certainly in pak. it's "mutual consent" in that the woman (or man, in some cases) can refuse if they really want to but if they do they'll be at the very least disowned and the worst killed. and no, this is not exclusive to muslims. but sikhs arent constantly on their high horse about the west being "immoral", and are not blowing up nightclubs in the name of their religion. sikh men in western countries generally dont think they have a god-given right to have casual sex with non-believers then come home to an obedient, subservient wife.
yes who ever does that needs to improve himself. and knowledgeable people do not condone such things. However, such misabuses of Islam are no different than of the west where a person can have premarital relationship.
[QUOTE]
can i also ask you what the difference is, in practice, between a westerner who has one several-year relationship then another one which becomes a life partnership, and a muslim who marries young, gets divorced in their twenties and then marries another muslim for life?
[/QUOTE]
its the law. if you think that shariah is somehow impeding your way to a better life and more just life then no one is holding anyone back.
[QUOTE]
they claim to be muslims. they use islam as a justification for their
[/QUOTE]
Yes. NO ONE should use islam to justify THEIR version of Islam
[QUOTE]
well out of interest, in your opinion why shouldn't a woman lead namaz?
[/QUOTE]
law
[QUOTE]
and its interesting that, as always the case, you're prepared to get annoyed about that yet stuff like hatan surucu just gets brushed off with a "well that's a shame; nothing to do with islam though.". interesting and sad. presumably you'd agree with the turkish schoolkid who thought it was right to kill her because "the whore lived like a german"? i mean, you wouldn't have killed her oh no no of course. but he had a point, right?
[/QUOTE]
no ones condoning any flagrant abuse.
[QUOTE]
my point is that muslims are all too easily to condemn westerners for being so utterly vile as to have more than one serious relationship in their lives, when most of the islamic world has an appalling record as regards gender equality.
[/QUOTE]
yeh all third world and developing countries suck at social indicators. but im sure your aware of western societies ills as well.