Abuse is abuse

I’m not so sure we can lay this particular story entirely at the feet of Islam.

Aqsa Parvez would leave home each morning wearing track pants and a Muslim head scarf. Once the 16-year-old got to school, she would remove the scarf and change into close-fitting jeans.

But, her friends said, her parents got wind of what she was doing. Parvez soon began showing up at school with bruises on her arms.

It was a struggle that may have led to Parvez’ death this week at the hands of her father, who was denied bail Wednesday after being charged with strangling her.

My problem with blaming Islam for this is complicated. I understand that there are cultural issues with Islam, and that when strictly practiced it is difficult to adapt to the Western World. That being said, I feel like this guy would have killed his daughter no matter what religion he was.

Bad parents are bad parents – it usually doesn’t matter to whom they direct their prayers. If some guy thinks his daughter is dressing like a slut and decided that the only way to deal with it is to abuse her, that’s what he’s going to do. “You won’t leave the house dressed like that” is followed by a slap in a lot more places than just Muslim homes.

Of course, I also can’t hold Islam completely blameless either; specifically because of the cultural influences that you see at work here. You cannot import an abusive, repressive culture to the West and expect us to sit idly by as you mutilate, degrade, and otherwise marginalize women. It is simply not acceptable.

Thanks to Tam for the story.

7 Comments

  1. At least to some extent, Islam acted as an “enabler” in this sad tale. So there’s a little bit of Aqsa’s blood splashed onto Islam’s “feet.” And it’s on top of a little bit of blood from many, many, many others.

    That’s why those feet are so bloodstained. Not for any one incident, but for the accumulated incidents over the centuries.

  2. I don’t dispute that the culture of Islam shares some of the blame for enabling the murder; what I disagree with are the people saying “Islam killed this girl”. It didn’t – her scumbag father murdered her.

  3. Hm, counterpoint is the wrong way to phrase it. Interesting commentary on the events in question, perhaps.

  4. Yeah, “her scumbag father murdered her” because he was following his religion. That’s what Muslims do. They kill people, including their family members, because they’re members of a death-cult. I guarantee you that the daddy thinks he’s the victim. After all, he only did what Allah wanted.

  5. when the supposedly “moderate” muslims sit by silently as things like that happen, they are complicit in the actions…

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