I never really trusted Saudi Arabia to truly represent Islam, but this is the closest to dilapidation that it can get. According to Islam (ahem), an unmarried woman is not allowed to accompany a man alone who is not a close family member or her husband. So obviously, Saudi Arabia, being an Islamic country, claims it upheld the laws of the Sharia while allowing the rape to simply pass by as an inevitable mishap and direct result of such an outrage of morals. The rapists walk free. Disgusted, are you? I doubt.
Truth be told, too often have we seen acts of the lesser evil being placed under the axe while the larger crimes pass by us right under our nose, to be surprised. Small time fry lie behind bars while the bigger fish rule countries. Paintings are being banned while female labourers still carry bricks during pregnancy for the lack of options. Why?
The lesser evil has a stench. It's new to us, sometimes at least, we recognize it and we don't like it. So we give all that we have to clean it. A perfume spray on the skin to hide the fact that the source of the stench still remains. The dirt which is all over us. That is a part of us, within us. So closely have we been bonded with the greater evil, so vastly has it creeped into our system that all we can do is ignore it, if not like it.
So I will pay my bribe of 100 bucks for my passport verification because I have to, but will fight for the one rupee change that the auto driver refuses to give, because I have to. Pass on the deodorant.
PS: This happens to be my 100th post on Lalbadshah's Domain. Yay!
By the way, I learnt this new smiley that I've started to use very often. _|_ . Cool eh?
Monday, December 03, 2007
Scent of the lesser evil
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I agree with each n every word written by you. Not only an interesting read but thought provoking as well! Hope to see more such enlightened posts....
That is one way of looking at it. Alternately, one might consider a larger, interesting and perhaps unsettling question, one which might never-the-less offer a more positive (meaningful, perhaps) approach.
Since it is Islamic Sharia under discussion here, the simple question to ask would be, What would the Prophet do if he were adjudicating the matter today, in the 21st Century world?
Setting aside the larger discussion of Islamic Jurisprudence and the role of the Mufti, etc., and, more importantly, based on the Prophet’s life itself, one might confidently say that he would have indicted the kidnappers/rapists without casting any aspersions on the woman. Indeed, he would be concerned with protecting the woman’s character and identity.
EU
Post a Comment