In her twisted mind, Salwa al-Mutairi, a well-known television hostess and a thankfully unsuccessful candidate for the Kuwaiti Parliament, illogically rationalizes that sex slavery is perfectly acceptable in Islam. She claims that it is a way to legitimize men's sexual relations outside of marriage without it being considered a sin, thereby preventing adultery. Not missing a beat, al-Mutairi further suggested in a recent video that imprisoned non-Muslim Western women from war-torn countries like Chechnya could be kidnapped and considered the spoils of war and could be sold as sex slaves to fill the needs of lusty sex-crazed Kuwaiti Muslim men. And not only that, she also went on to say that these poor women should happily welcome their new roles as sex slaves instead of starving to death in prisons. (I swear I'm not making this up!)
To give credence to her argument, al-Mutairi cited the example of Harun al-Rashid, the renowned Caliph of Baghdad, who ruled there from 786 to 809. Harun al-Rashid’s escapades became legendary in the tales of the "Thousand and One Arabian Nights,” where it is said that when he died, he had acquired a whopping 2000 concubines. Justifying her opinion with the al-Rashid illustration, al-Mutairi said, “I don’t see any problem in this, no problem at all.”
Al-Mutairi's irrational arguments for promoting sex slaves for Muslim men only further demonstrates the great chasm in the disparity of the attitude that exists between stereotypical radical Muslims and the rest of the world. In fact, this latest outrageous idea of hers has been called “a gift to Muslim haters,” has provided juicy fodder for Islamophobes, and has caused al-Mutairi to be labeled “Kuwait’s version of Ann Coulter.” Bloggers and Tweeters have labeled al-Mutairi “a disgrace to women everywhere,” suggested that she herself be treated like war booty and become a sex slave, and have attacked her declaration that sex slaves are acceptable in Islam, which is a disputable topic of debate .
Clearly this backward Kuwaiti bimbo is doing no favors for Islam or Muslims everywhere, not to mention how her opinion sets back the slow moving vision of progress for women’s rights in the Middle East region. No doubt the vast majority of Muslims don’t agree with this moronic woman. It’s just unfortunate that she’s the one getting all the attention.
Here are some additional articles and opinion pieces about this story:
Salwa al-Mutairi: A Gift to Muslim-Haters - by Shelina Zahra Janmohamed (Mideast Posts)
The curious case of the woman who thinks sex slaves will stop Arab men from committing adultery – by Muna Khan (Al Arabiya News)
Muslim Woman Seeks to Revive Institution of Sex-Slavery – by Raymond Ibrahim (Middle East Forum - FrontPageMagazine.com)
Female activist calls for legalizing sex slavery – by A Saleh (Kuwait Times)
Men should be allowed sex slaves and female prisoners could do the job - and all this from a WOMAN politician from Kuwait (Mail Online - DailyMail.co.uk)
What a loony! I would love to see how she'd react if she was taken against her will as a sex slave. I wonder if she'd still be praising it then... Shame on her! I hope she gets the help she needs.
ReplyDeleteI read this article a week back or so and posted it on my Facebook just to see people's reaction - of course everyone was disgusted to some degree or another. Of course one of my former high school classmates decided to pass judgment on the whole region and said "i don't know why we do business with these people in the middle east they have no human rights... blah blah blah" So yes she is a gift to Islamophobes everywhere...
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone else think this woman looks like Boy George?
ReplyDeleteSeriously tho, anyone who says there is a Western conspiracy to disparage Muslims/Islam is kidding themselves - people like this woman - and there are plenty of them here in the MIddle East - are doing a great job on their own! Much better than anything anyone outside could make up!
Thanks for sharing it, Susie. I'd missed it too, and it provided just the laugh I needed today :-)
I wonder if muslim men have a higher sex drive than non-muslim men. Its seems that men in the West are obsessed with sex when they are teenagers/early twentysomethings, but they lose a lot of interest in it as they get older. They are then quite content to just have sex with their wife or girlfriend.
ReplyDeleteMuslims on the other hand seem to need multiple wives to satisfy them, they often travel abroad to take part in sex tourism, there are reports of Saudi men raping their maids, etc. What is going on, why can't they be satisfied having sex with their wife? Are muslim wives really bad in bed I wonder. Perhaps they need to be more adventurous.
That picture of her in red - it blinded me in one eye - the Left Evil Eye. Will write more when I can see properly!
ReplyDeleteoh wait, is she hiding a book somewhere that needs promotion? She cant be serious.. Its a shame
ReplyDeleteHi Susie. Thanks for posting this - it's the 1st time I heard of it and gosh its DISGUSTING!! I mean what kind of a woman (or should I say human) can think this way? BTW (may I be forgiven for saying this!) she looks a bit uhm....androgenous ;)
ReplyDeleteYou all made me laugh - thanks!
ReplyDeleteBut she has all of Islamic scripture to back her up. And the sunnah of the prophet as well.
ReplyDeleteWomen are chattel and in case of conflict spoils of war and can be sold and/or raped at will.
Men can have sex with whatever woman their ''right hand'' owns.
Where she goes wrong is thinking that the victims would actually think that a preferable position.
She is articulating a condition that many men would actually like to bring about. Reflect on that reality.
ReplyDeleteis that super flaky white skin in the first pic real??? she's a disgrace for the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteShe just wants to legitimize this because she would'nt want her husband to legally take a co-wife,which would mean the co-wife would have the same rights of financial support and inheritance as would any childern that came from this marriage. Not so in the case of the concubine she would get nothing nor would her childern.
ReplyDeleteSo true Antoinette.. I'm Antoinette as well! How can they possibly have adultery when they can have so many wives anyway?
DeleteOMG! It's 2011... and this "woman" is making these remarks! Ugh!
ReplyDeleteShe's crazy. Better to promote paid prostitution.
ReplyDeleteI can tell you one thing ... I would NOT want to be in her employ. Imagine some poor maid brought in from Indonesia or some other place working for this woman who places such little value on others.
ReplyDeleteI can tell you one thing ... I would NOT want to be in her employ. Imagine some poor maid brought in from Indonesia or some other place working for this woman who places such little value on others.
ReplyDeleteAntoinette, that's an angle I hadn't thought of. How right you are.
ReplyDeleteThis woman is absolutely nuts! Obviously she has no daughters, or if she does, has given them up to slavery! This woman needs to be beaten by all women for her stupidity.
ReplyDeleteI have been saving a post on this issue for a while now, Susie. Since you already posted about the ugly, behemoth Muslimah from Hell in the red-hatrack, here is another person with such views, which BTW are not so unusual. Plenty of Muslims have said the same both in person, in print and online.
ReplyDeleteHere is a fascinating video of Egyptian Shaykh al-Huwayni Explaining the Islamic Doctrine of Offensive Jihad and Taking Sex-Slaves:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tssBq4jCWtw&feature=player_embedded
"When I want a sex slave, I just go to the market and choose the woman I like and purchase her”
In recent polls, the majority of Egyptians have stated that they want sharia law. Odd that al-Huwayni is wearing and infidel suit and tie.
___
Is slavery still legal in Islam?
The answer is that slavery is legal under Islamic law but only in theory. Slavery is illegal under the state law of all Muslim countries.
Theoretically Islamic law lays down that if a person was captured in a lawful jihad or was the descendent of an unbroken chain of people who had been lawfully enslaved, then it might be legal to enslave them.
Nonetheless, should the legal condition for the enslavement of anyone be proven (because he had been taken prisoner fighting against Islam with a view to its extirpation and persisted in invincible ignorance in his sacrilegious and infidel convictions, or because there did exist legal proof that all his ancestors without exception had been slaves descended from a person taken prisoner conducting a warfare of such invincible ignorance) Islam would be bound to recognize such slavery as legal, even though recommending the freeing of the person and if possible his conversion, in this modern age.
Tabandeh, Muslim Commentary on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, quoted in 'Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, Shari'a and Basic Human Rights Concerns, in Liberal Islam, ed Charles Kurzman, 1998
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/slavery_1.shtml#h2
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Many people in the Gulf are outraged at her assertions. However, as already mentioned by others, they are in Islamic scripture and most certainly part of documented history. Many a modern Muslim cleric has made such statements. The Arab slave trade lasted more than a millennium. Some historians estimate that between 11 and 17 million slaves crossed the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and Sahara Desert from 650 to 1900 AD. In Constantinople (today Istanbul), about 1/5 of the population consisted of slaves. As late as 1908 women slaves were still sold in the Ottoman Empire. In KSA slavery was only outlawed in 1962, but still exists. Slavery in Morocco was outlawed in the 1930s. As recently as the 1950s, Saudi Arabia had an estimated 450,000 slaves, 20% of the population. It is estimated that as many as 200,000 black south Sudanese children and women (mostly from the Dinka tribe sold by the Sudanese Arabs of the north) have been taken into slavery in Sudan during the Second Sudanese Civil War. In Mauritania it is estimated that up to 600,000 men, women and children, or 20% of the population, are currently enslaved, many of them used as bonded labor. Slavery in Mauritania was criminalized in August 2007. The Arab trade in slaves continued till the early 20th century. A noticeable amount of Iraqi women fleeing the Iraq War are trafficked abroad to countries like Syria, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and Iran.
…Since slavery is permitted by Islamic law, Muslim countries have used secular law to ban it…
“Sexual slavery - the harem” http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/slavery_1.shtml#section_7
Sources: “Race and Slavery in the Middle East” http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/med/lewis1.html
Stories are printed in Arab papers all the time how today, servants in the Gulf have been kept as house and sex-slaves. Many women who married Saudis are kept prisoner by their husbands.
How to explain it away since it exists?
“Kuwait’s version of Ann Coulter.”
They are both on the opposite side of creepy. Both would benefit from the veil to give the rest of the world a break. ;)
“Bloggers and Tweeters have labeled al-Mutairi “a disgrace to women everywhere,” suggested that she herself be treated like war booty and become a sex slave, and have attacked her declaration that sex slaves are acceptable in Islam, which is a disputable topic of debate .
“
It is hardly debatable IF one reads the Qur’an. However, this woman is much too repulsive to be a sex-slave. She’s much more used-up, wife material.
”Anonymous said...
I wonder if muslim men have a higher sex drive than non-muslim men. Its seems that men in the West are obsessed with sex when they are teenagers/early twentysomethings, but they lose a lot of interest in it as they get older. They are then quite content to just have sex with their wife or girlfriend. Muslims on the other hand seem to need multiple wives to satisfy them, they often travel abroad to take part in sex tourism, there are reports of Saudi men raping their maids, etc. What is going on, why can't they be satisfied having sex with their wife? Are muslim wives really bad in bed I wonder. Perhaps they need to be more adventurous.”
The reports are that Muslim men, especially Arabs are lousy lovers. There have been plenty of articles on that subject. Marrying young virgins who do not know the difference only lasts so long. Then they must get a new, naive wife.
When nonMuslim men grow out of adolescence they usually go to school or university then to work. Certain Muslim men do not seem to do much of that, especially those in the Arab world. Thus, they have more time to be obsessed with sex and lording it over their women instead of worrying about being productive.
The situation is called arrested adolescence.
I really wanted to post something, but the only things that come to mind about this women's twisted take on Islam is negative, So all I will say is, Inshallah she will see the errors in her actions and realize the damage her comments have had.
ReplyDeleteMarianne, I gotta hand it to ya for your comment:
ReplyDelete"'Kuwait’s version of Ann Coulter.'
They are both on the opposite side of creepy. Both would benefit from the veil to give the rest of the world a break."
Thanks, I needed a good laugh to start off my day...
How could Arab Muslim men (especially in KSA) be good lovers when sex education is not taught, when books on sex are not seen, when sexes are segregated. Same goes for women. Perhaps this woman has had enough of her husband. Another point is that often people who are abused become abusers. Perhaps this is her problem.
ReplyDeleteMuslims wonder why non-Muslims have 'not so great' opinions of Islam ......
I suggest this link for an Islamic perspective of slavery: http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=1&ID=712&CATE=115
ReplyDeleteWhat the Kuwaiti woman said is outrageous, but I'm not surprised to see anti-islam comments here,because they thrive on stories like this. It's also sad to see so many generalisations. How can you speak about "Saudi's" or "Arabs" like they all have the same mind set and do the same things? So all Kuwaiti's are like this woman? How ridiculous is that? I never see any Western person say something and people blaming his/her religion or nationality (except when this religion happens to be Islam of course).
Safiyah said...I suggest this link for an Islamic perspective of slavery: http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=1&ID=712&CATE=115
ReplyDeleteIslamic perspective on slavery? Hardly! This is a modern explanation, an excusing of slavery and a bogus claim that Islam treated slaves better than other peoples who had slaves.
The problem is that Islam, in the Qur’an, sanctions slavery. Safiyah needs to read some history as posted above. The international slave trade: http://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-24159
1. The International Criminal Court recently issued warrants for the arrest of Ahmed Haroun, the minister for humanitarian affairs of Sudan, and Ali Kosheib, a leader of that country’s notorious janjaweed militia… Charges include murder, rape, torture and “imprisonment or severe deprivation of liberty.”.. slavery. Egypt’s Al-Ahram Weekly observed…that in Sudan, “slavery, sanctioned by religious zealots, ravaged the southern parts of the country and much of the west as well.” Muslim slavers in the Sudan primarily enslave non-Muslims, and chiefly Christians. According to the Coalition Against Slavery in Mauritania and Sudan (CASMAS), a human rights and abolitionist movement
No other peoples or ideology excuses slavery—but Muslims do and then claim that historical facts are anti-Islam…
”How can you speak about "Saudi's" or "Arabs" like they all have the same mind set and do the same things? ..”
Facts on slavery being permitted in the Qur’an seem to have gone right over your head, Safiyah. The bottom line is that slavery is all too common in the world today, in particular in wealthy Arab states. Perhaps Kuwaitis treat their slaves better than do the Saudis, still not a week goes by without some slavery story being written in Arab News. Many Arabs have been prosecuted in the West for enslaving their domestic help.
The Arab slave trade originated before Islam and lasted more than a millennium. It continues today in some places. Arab traders brought Africans across the Indian Ocean from present-day Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Sudan, Eritrea, western Ethiopia and elsewhere in East Africa to present-day Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Turkey and other parts of the Middle East and South Asia (mainly Pakistan and India). Unlike the trans-Atlantic slave trade to the New World, Arabs supplied African slaves to the Muslim world, which at its peak stretched over three continents from the Atlantic (Morocco, Spain) to India and eastern China. Sources:
1. "The Forgotten Holocaust: The Eastern Slave Trade". Archived from the original on 2009-10-25.
2. Irfan Shahid, Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century, Dumbarton Oaks, 2002, p. 364 documents; Ghassanid Arabs seizing and selling 20,000 Jewish Samaritans as slaves in the year 529, before the rise of Islam.
Surah 8. Al-Anfal (Spoils Of War, Booty) http://www.harunyahya.com/Quran_translation/Quran_translation8.php Slaves were part of the war booty mandated in the scriptures.
European children used to be admonished by their parents to be “good” or the Turks would come and enslave them—that was in the early 20th century that Turks were still taking slaves. There were no Muslim abolitionists. Today Arabs still have slaves as one can read in Arab News and many other gulf papers.
A Saudi named Homaidan Al-Turki, ...was sentenced in September 2006 to 27 years to life in prison, for keeping a woman as a slave in his home in Colorado. For his part, Al-Turki claimed that he was a victim of anti-Muslim bias. He told the judge: “Your honor, I am not here to apologize, for I cannot apologize for things I did not do and for crimes I did not commit. The state has criminalized these basic Muslim behaviors. Attacking traditional Muslim behaviors was the focal point of the prosecution.”
Basic Muslim behaviors—enslavement? So, the fat-muslimah in the modest, red abaya is merely exhibiting basic, traditional Muslim mindset as sanctioned by scripture.
Islam prohibits slavery in verse 90:10-13. There are several other verses that command Muslims to free slaves as atonement for their sins. Sura 8 does not say that slaves were part of war booty. Only what the aggressors left behind them. There were also Muslim abolitionists as early as the 8th century. Marianne is lying as usual. It is true that slavery existed in Muslim history but it did exist in also in all societies throughout history. In addition to that slaves in medieval times were treated better by Muslims and even became rulers (The Mamluks).
ReplyDeleteToday all Arab and Muslim countries criminalize slavery and anyone who takes slaves is punished by prison. Again Marianne is lying as usual.
Marianne said: "The reports are that Muslim men, especially Arabs are lousy lovers. There have been plenty of articles on that subject. Marrying young virgins who do not know the difference only lasts so long. Then they must get a new, naive wife.
ReplyDeleteWhen nonMuslim men grow out of adolescence they usually go to school or university then to work. Certain Muslim men do not seem to do much of that, especially those in the Arab world. Thus, they have more time to be obsessed with sex and lording it over their women instead of worrying about being productive.
The situation is called arrested adolescence."
You are stupid and racist beyond repair. Many non-Muslim women marry Arab and Muslim men and love them. And many non-Muslim men never go to university or work especially in the US. Rather they become criminals. Almost all Muslim men in the Arab World have either gone to university or are working. Again you are a lying racist.
To Anonymous
ReplyDeleteMuslim men do not have higher sex drive than non-Muslim men. Why would they? Is there biological evidence for this?
Polygamy is rare in the Muslim world, and in many times it happens because the man wants to have children if his first wife cannot have children.
Raping maids and sex tourism are more common in your holier than thou countries than in Muslim majority countries. The latest case of the French politician, where other corrupted politicians defended him, reveals that.
But seriously what is with all the sectarian garbage posted here? And these are supposed to be the cultured Christians/Jews or whatever?
To Issam,
ReplyDeleteIn my experience muslim men have a higher sex drive. I've dated muslim (Pakistani) men for the past 5 years, before that I dated white men. I find that the muslim guys definitely have higher sex drives. These men were mostly married (and some had other girlfriends too) yet were constantly calling me for sex. Im not complaining at all. But it did make me wonder about why they are so keen. I also work with a lot of muslim guys who are mostly married and they chase after me and other females a lot more consistently and aggressively than the white guys.
I've visited a muslim country (Morocco) and found that 50% of the men on the street hassled me in some way, hissing or saying hi. I wasn't dressed provocatively. I read that men in other muslim countries like Saudi are also like this. Men do not behave in this way in non-muslim countries. You get the odd whistle or Hi, but its rare.
It could be a biological thing. Perhaps the fact that most of them don't drink alcohol gives them more energy for sex. Or maybe it's a psychological thing. The way that sex is kind of forbidden to muslims seems to make it more exciting to them. From what they tell me, even if they do get sex with their wives, its very tame, unadventurous, lights off kind of sex that doesn't seem to satisfy their desires.
Im a cultured atheist.
In some countries as long as a woman shows some skin (yes including face) she's dressed provocatively. Just saying. I totally agree with you but again, consider the source.
DeletePerhaps there is a method to her 'madness,' since she has exposed this issue to the world and it is now the cause of much debate within the muslim world as well as the non-muslim.
ReplyDeleteHi Susie, I have been following your blog for quite a long time but I don't think I have ever commented.
ReplyDeleteShortly after reading this post, I stumbled upon this page on a website while researching Islam.
If your interested, scroll down to the 4th article. Following the links leads to alot of interesting reads...
Cindy
She's obviously biased so any attempt at being reasonable she'll ignore.
DeleteI am usually an openminded person and I believe that people have the right to say what they believe....this woman makes me believe that people should take a common sense test before they are allowed to open their mouths.
ReplyDeletePlease, PLEASE tell me this woman was a victim of a female lynch mob?
ReplyDelete