"Reyhaneh Jabbari: The crime of self defense!"

"I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religion than you. A cautious sensible man could be led astray by you....
 Is not the evidence of two women equal to the witness of one man?"
       (Hadith vol.1..book 6, number 301)



During the 2012 presidential election, liberals accused conservatives of suppressing the rights of women. The common phrase that was used to describe their "discrimination" was the hot button term entitled, "the war on women."
I believe there is a "real war on women," that has nothing to do with the continuous political debate being waged between conservatives and liberals!
The real war on women transcends the political arena here in America! The real war is being waged every second of every day against women in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and the rest of the middle east. This war has many scars, many casualties, many innocent victims..a deliberate hatred and discrimination against women!
 Recently I came across an article on the internet, (where else? lol)..it was a blatant statement made by an unidentified Saudi Professor ( who didn't have the balls to mention his name...) The Saudi Professor said,

"If a woman gets raped walking in public alone, then she, herself is at fault. She is only seducing men by her presence. She should have stayed home like a Muslim woman..."

Women all over the world should 

be outraged by this sexist and discriminatory statement! (As of yet I still don't hear any liberal women rising up to defend these women's rights in the middle east..) 
 Adding insult to injury, this man is a professor, a teaching professor at a university in Saudi Arabia!

In the Islamic world, women are treated like possessions, like property, and are considered little more than second class citizens. They are not allowed to travel alone and must obtain special permission from their husbands if they want to leave the country.
When you understand the male mindset against women in the middle east, then you can understand why a young 26 year-old girl is on death row in Iran.
Her name is Reyhaneh Jabbari. Her crime is self defense.
In 2007, Moreteza Abdolai Sarbandi, (identified as a former intelligence agent in Iran) contacted Reyhaneh and asked her to do some work in re-designing his office. According to Reyhaneh's testimony, she was driven to his apartment. Once inside the apartment, Sarbandi began to attack her and Reyhaneh did what any normal woman would do who is being sexually assaulted. She defended herself! In the struggle, Reyhaneh found a kitchen knife and stabbed Sarbandi. Later he died of his injuries.

The trial of Reyhaneh has been a travesty of justice, a perversion of the true judicial process! She was convicted of murder, coerced under pressure to confess and sentenced to hang! 
 Subsequent evidence of drinks laced with drugs demonstrated that Sarbandi had the whole scenario planned from start to finish and yet this vital evidence was suppressed along with many other facts in the case that would have easily exonerated Reyhaneh in any other criminal court!
 The simple question to be asked is, "Why wasn't Reyhaneh's testimony of the events accepted by the Iranian court?"

I think the answer lies in the view of women, according to teachings of Islam in Iran and all across the middle east.
In the Hadith, (The teachings and sayings of the prophet Mohammed not contained in the Quran) there is an interesting story:

Once Allah's Apostle went out to the Musalla (to offer the prayer) o 'Id-al-Adha or Al-Fitr prayer. Then he passed by the women and said, "O women! Give alms, as I have seen that the majority of the dwellers of Hell-fire were you (women)." They asked, "Why is it so, O Allah's Apostle ?" He replied, "You curse frequently and are ungrateful to your husbands. I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religion than you. A cautious sensible man could be led astray by some of you." The women asked, "O Allah's Apostle! What is deficient in our intelligence and religion?" He said, "Is not the evidence of two women equal to the witness of one man?" They replied in the affirmative. He said, "This is the deficiency in her intelligence. Isn't it true that a woman can neither pray nor fast during her menses?" The women replied in the affirmative. He said, "This is the deficiency in her religion."
                                    (Volume 1, book 6, number 301)


In another Hadith, The Prophet Mohmmaed was given the news that the people of Persia had made the daughter of Khosrau their queen, to which he replied,  "Never will succeed such a nation that makes a woman their ruler..."
                       (Volume 9, book 88, number 21)


When considering the weight of this evidence, it is easy now to understand why Reyhaneh's version of the crime was not accepted! She is a woman..her evidence is less than half that of a man's..she is deficient in intelligence and in her religion.
I know exactly what I speak of. Everyday I talk with my dear Iranian friends and they share with me story after story of the oppression and discrimination of women in Iran.
 Reyhaneh faces execution in Iran for the crime of self-defense! You ask any woman who has been raped and they will tell you in tears of how the scars and humiliation of this disgusting crime has traumatized their lives forever!
Reyhaneh has spent the last six years of her life behind bars for doing what any normal woman does when sexually assaulted.
 It is time for women, regardless of their political orientation or religion, to stand up and be a voice for the oppressed women in the middle east. This is where the real war on women is being waged!
 Please join me and be their voice!

"Speak up for those who cannot speak up for themselves:
 Ensure justice for those being crushed.
 Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice!"
                           (Proverbs 31:8-9)
 .