WOMEN
IN THE FRAY OF CLASHING WORLDVIEWS
PART 4 of 4
By Debra Rae
July
2, 2008
NewsWithViews.com
Fatalism is at the heart of Islam. It’s as if some Muslims reason: “If I live, I live; if I die, I die. Whether or not I conduct my affairs carefully, according to laws of physics, and in harmony with universally accepted mores, my plight in life rests solely in the hands of Fate. So be it.” Given this faulty thinking, every event—big or small, spiritual or mundane, sober or foolhardy—is punctuated with Insh’Allah, “God willing.”
The faith’s global charge, as summarized in the creed of Iraq’s Baath party, is this: “One Arab nation with an eternal mission.” Following the principle of dhimmitude, Christians and Jews may be permitted to live, but only under Islamic domination.
From Islamic perspective, the monotheistic faiths are typified in a three-camel caravan—the first going “just so far” in truth before stopping. That camel represents Judaism. The next (Christianity) takes truth farther still, but the final one (Islam) goes the distance. While this analogy presents an appearance of tolerance, the reality is far from it. According to Muslim belief, every human is born Muslim and, if necessary, even “People of the Book” (Jews and Christians) must be forced into submission—or die.
No wonder the most destabilizing conflict in the world today is between Islam and the West, but then the line between East and West is fast blurring. Significantly, the dominant religion in Great Britain is fast becoming Islam. Whereas in 1945 there was only one mosque in England, the number rose to 200 when, in 1976, the Queen of England welcomed Islam into her country. Today, there are thousands, and Islamic influence in Parliament and British society continues to grow. Had the late Princess Diana and her Muslim lover married, England’s conquering by Islam would have been viewed as complete.
Stunningly, the heart if not the soul of extremists is largely in the United States. Here, Muslim radicals have set up many of their fund-raising and political headquarters. This allegation is not mine; rather it was given in testimony to the Near East and South Asia Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (19 March 1996).
Radical Wahhabis from Saudi Arabia have financed some ninety percent of mosques and Islamic schools called madrassas. A grassroots coalition (Stop the Madrassa) exposes Islamization even in our public schools nationwide. One such example is the Tarek ibn Zayad Academy (TIZA), charter school in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota. At TIZA, students (K-8) pray daily in the school’s mosque, eat halal food (permissible under Islamic law), fast during Ramadan and observe Muslim holidays—all compliments of Minnesota tax payers.
Unlike syncretistic religions, Islam allows no compromise; therefore, its most ardent followers are fanatics. Ten-to-fifteen percent are willing to engage in terrorism which is guaranteed by Arab rage over U.S. support of Israel. For decades, Russians have financed the PLO and other Middle-Eastern based terrorist groups. Communist China and North Korea also supply munitions and training to radical Islamic fundamentalists.
Understand that Islam properly pervades every aspect of daily life. In fact, the word “secularism” does not exist in classical Arabic. To the Muslim, Allah is great, but not necessarily personal. He is nonetheless invariably on the Muslim’s side. The “Grand Design” is to unite Islamic nations under the leadership of a coalition led by Iran and Syria. The West, first, must be driven from out of the Middle East, thus “liberating” Palestine. Next, the Judeo-Christian world view must be supplanted with an Islamic one. Simple as that.
So where are the good guys?
As pointed out in Obsession, the Movie: Radical Islam’s War Against the West, the West needs to step up, support and empower liberal, democratic Muslims brave enough to speak out against injustice in the name of religion (www.obsessionthemovie.com). It stands to reason that international law is a good place to start.
Both Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan have ratified an international treaty promising women “the exercise and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms on a basis of equality with men.” While the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) sounds promising, reality flies in the face of its hollow precepts and vague language. For example, in Saudi Arabia, women still may not vote, drive a car or travel alone; and some women in Afghanistan continue to set themselves ablaze in order to escape forced marriages.
For good reason the United States has yet to ratify CEDAW. What this treaty really proposes is social engineering albeit in the name of “human rights.” Already, CEDAW has been used to eliminate Mothers’ Day, its practice purportedly responsible for perpetuating “unhealthy stereotypes.” More disturbingly, CEDAW has potential to shape the abortion debate, make way for “gay marriage,” promote voluntary legalized prostitution and require government-funded universal day care. CEDAW usurps the rightful role of parents in their children’s upbringing, and it could mandate gender re-education in all textbooks and school programs. If ratified, CEDAW would supersede all federal and state laws.
Although international law is no real friend to women and children, mounting international pressure to halt injustice within the Islamic community is helpful. In the case of Mehdi Dibaj, for example, Dibaj’s conversion from Islam to Christianity landed him in prison for ten years before an official execution order was issued. Leader of Evangelical Christians in Iran Haik Hovseplan launched an international campaign to end civil rights violations of Iranian Islamic courts. At the eleventh hour, the government was forced to release Dibaj; but in exchange for his courage, Haik Hovsepian suffered martyrdom.
In yet another case, the Shiite court ruled Kuwaiti Muslim-turned-Christian, Robert Hussein, an apostate who must be killed. The court ruled further that his wife should be divorced from him, and all his possessions distributed to heirs. These harsh religious court rulings violated even Kuwaiti civil law. When no help was to be found for him, the Charlottesville, Virginia-based Rutherford Institute intervened on behalf of Hussein.
Founded in 1993, Women for Women International (WWI) is a non-profit organization dedicated to female survivors of abuse, war and poverty. It helps women rebuild their lives, families and communities. According to the memoirs of Queen Noor, Jordan’s Institute for Children’s Health and Development share similar goals.
The Faith Community
More often then not, it is the Judeo-Christian faith community that steps up to the plate. Victor Khalil, Th. D., is director of Ministries International, Inc., which is mainly an evangelism ministry to the Muslim world. With oppressed and abused women of the Middle East at heart, Victor and Deborah Khalil produce a 30-minute television talk show created by and for Arabic women called Diwaniya for Women. The program reaches over 120 million homes in North America, the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. It airs on fifty Public Access channels, as well as satellite.
The Internet allows twenty-four hour access to shows that address numbers of topics vital to women. First aired only in Egypt, it is now available weekly to thousands of Arabic speaking women living in San Diego County. Almost all of the women featured on the show have come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. It is from this worldview that Dr. Khalil offers counsel, prayer and guidance; and women are given voice to address marriage problems, depression, health concerns, their children and even witchcraft in the home.
Evangelicals, as the Khalils, represent less than one percent of the entire population of the Islamic Middle East; and, as we’ve noted, Muslims who convert to Christianity risk their lives to “speak truth.” Clearly, Ministries International, Women for Women International and Rutherford Institute, among others, need our financial and prayer support.
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It is heart conversion—one heart at a time—that will curb injustice under the iron fist of oppression leveled against men, women and children of the world. This alone can introduce hope into the four-thousand-year-old blood feud still raging. No matter the cost in life, limb and reputation, brave souls must continue to “speak truth”; and freedom-loving Christians everywhere must back them. Lives depend on it.
