Status of Women in Islam

The status of women in Islam is comparable to that of the human rights in Cuba: theoretically exalted if you subscribe to the theory, utterly deplorable in practice....Second-hand apologetics and propaganda notwithstanding, the original sources for “true” Islam--the Kuran and Hadith--speak for themselves. They provide ample and detailed evidence on Islamic ideology, theory, and subsequent Shari’a practice regarding the role and rights of women. 

This practice is in force through much of the Islamic world today. According to the New York Times (May 17, 2002), a judge in Pakistan sentenced a young woman to death for “adultery” by stoning. She had been raped by her husband’s brother. The judge defended his action by saying that he had merely followed the Kuran-based law that mandated this punishment. The fact the woman, Zafran Bibi, was raped was of no consequence. The woman had accused her brother-in-law of raping her and this was a confession to her crime of “having intercourse outside of marriage.” The Times noted that this case fit “a familiar pattern.”

Serge Tripkovic, The Sword of the Prophet: Islam history, theology, impact on the world, Regina Orthodox Press, Inc. 2002  pp.154-155