Behind the Veil in Persia and Turkish Arabia: An Account of an Englishwoman's Eight Years' Residence Amongst the Women of the EastHume-Griffith, M. E.
Philosophy
Behind the Veil in Persia and Turkish Arabia: An Account of an Englishwoman's Eight Years' Residence Amongst the Women of the East
Hume-Griffith, M. E.
Arabian Peninsula -- Social life and customs; Iran -- Social life and customs
In a book lately published in Cairo the author, a well-known and
clever Moslem writer, says: "Man is the absolute master and woman
the slave. She is the object of his sensual pleasures, a toy as it
were with which he plays whenever and however he pleases. Knowledge
is his, ignorance is hers. The firmament and the light are his,
darkness and the dungeon are hers. His is to command, hers is blindly
to obey. His is everything that is, and she is an insignificant part of
that everything." This being the sentiment of every Moslem man, is it
any wonder that there is no happiness or mutual regard in the family
life? The men look upon the women, and treat them, as little better
than brutes; then when they become so, turn and revile them. They
keep their heels firmly planted on women's necks and then dare them
to rise. A man may be as vile as he likes himself, but the moment he
suspects one of his hareem of misconduct there is nothing but death,
or mutilation which is worse than death, for the offender.
A woman once came to the hospital who always insisted on keeping
her face entirely covered with the exception of the eyes; I soon
found that the reason of this was because her nose and lips were
missing. These members had been cut off in a rage by an infuriated
son-in-law, who declared that this woman had intrigued with his wife
in allowing another man to enter the hareem in his absence. This is
a husband's ordinary method of wreaking revenge on any of his women
folk whom he suspects of being false to him. This, or death.
The facility with which a man is able to divorce his wife is a great
source of trouble to the women. They never feel secure in the hearts
of their husbands, knowing that at any moment he may tire of them
and send them adrift.
When a woman is divorced she returns as a rule to her mother's house;
but should she have no relation at hand to whom she can appeal for
protection, her condition is deplorably sad.
A man may divorce his wife in a fit of anger and receive her back the
next day if he so desire; this may occur twice, but if he pronounces
the fatal words "I divorce thee" three times the divorced wife may
not be taken back till she has been married to another man for a time
and he also has divorced her; then her former husband may marry her
again if he wishes. This is one of the good (?) laws of Mohammed the
Prophet, and needs no comment.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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