THE TELEGRAPH: Did you notice this passage in Cherie Blair’s speech about women and religious discrimination? "It is not laid down in the Koran," she announced, "that women can be beaten by their husbands or that their evidence should be devalued, as it is in some Islamic courts."
I’m sorry, but that is exactly the sort slippery misinterpretation of the Koran produced by Western liberals who are embarrassed by what the Islamic scriptures actually say.
The Koran 4:34 tells men to chastise their wives after first warning them and sending them to sleep in separate beds. And "chastise" is one of the milder translations of the verse. Many editions use the words "scourge" or "beat". The historian Robert Spencer provides a useful list:
Pickthall: "and scourge them"It’s only recently that PC translations have appeared that render the word as "go away from them" or some other innocuous formula that Muslim apologists can wheel out on the Today programme. And they are just wishful thinking.
Yusuf Ali: "(And last) beat them (lightly)"
Al-Hilali/Khan: "(and last) beat them (lightly, if it is useful)"
Shakir: "and beat them"
Sher Ali: "and chastise them"
Khalifa: "then you may (as a last alternative) beat them"
Arberry: "and beat them"
Rodwell: "and scourge them"
Sale: "and chastise them"
Daryabadi: "and beat them"
Asad: "then beat them"
As for Mrs Blair’s claim that the Koran does not devalue the evidence of women, I’d like to see her try to stand up that claim in court. Koran 2:282 says quite unambiguously that if two men are not available to give testimony on financial matters, then the court should hear from one man and TWO women, "in case one of them errs". The Koran according to Cherie Blair (more) By Damian Thomson
THE VATICAN:
Muslim Migrants
Hat Tip: Tertullian
