Burka Barbie

manicstreetpreacher cannot believe his eyes.

I came across this article on the website of The Daily Telegraph last week which would have made me tear my hair out if I still had sufficient quantities of the stuff to grab hold of:

The look is part of an exhibition, backed by Barbie creator Mattel, of the doll in multicultural outfits by Italian designer Eliana Lorena.

Two of the Barbies are wearing the burka, the loose fitting robe with veiled holes for the eyes which is worn by some Muslim women.

The collection of more than 500 Barbies is being sold at a Sotheby’s charity auction in Florence, Italy, in aid of Save The Children.

The sale is part of Barbie celebrations for her 50th anniversary this year.

Britain’s biggest Barbie collector Angela Ellis, 35, who owns more than 250 dolls, said: “I think this is really important for girls, wherever they are from they should have the opportunity to play with a Barbie that they feel represents them.

“I know Barbie was something seen as bad before as an image for girls, but in actual fact the message with Barbie for women is you can be whatever you want to be…”

To put the matter at its mildest, I’m afraid that I beg to differ with Ms Ellis.  This is yet another example of multiculturalism gone mad.  The burka is the symbol of Islam’s inherent oppression of women.  It is not a symbol of freedom; it is a symbol of submission, a sign that they are the property of their husbands.

To quote from the Qur’an (Pickthall translation):

2:222 They question thee (O Muhammad) concerning menstruation.  Say: It is an illness, so let women alone at such times and go not in unto them till they are cleansed.  And when they have purified themselves, then go in unto them as Allah hath enjoined upon you.

2:223 Your women are a tilth for you (to cultivate) so go to your tilth as ye will, and send (good deeds) before you for your souls, and fear Allah, and know that ye will (one day) meet Him.  Give glad tidings to believers, (O Muhammad).

2:282 …And call two witness from among your men, two witnesses.  And if two men be not at hand, then a man and two women, of such as ye approve as witnesses, so that if one erreth (though forgetfulness) the other will remember…

4:34 Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women).  So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah hath guarded.  As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them.  Then if they obey you, seek not a way against them.  Lo! Allah is ever High, Exalted, Great.

12:28 So when he saw his shirt torn from behind, he said: Lo! this is of the guile of you women. Lo! the guile of you is very great.

24:6 As for those who accuse their wives but have no witnesses except themselves; let the testimony of one of them be four testimonies, (swearing) by Allah that he is of those who speak the truth;

66:1 O Prophet!  Why bannest thou that which Allah hath made lawful for thee, seeking to please thy wives?  And Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

Dealing with these verses in layman’s language as they appear: men should not touch a women when she is on her period, women are men’s property, a woman’s testimony in a court of law is worth half that of a man, a husband may beat his wife if she displeases him, women in general are duplicitous, a husband can accuse his wife of adultery with one witness, and the Prophet can cop off with his wives whenever he likes.

And here’s what one of Islam’s most esteemed “scholars” Abu Hamid al-Ghazālī (1058 – 1111 AD) said about women’s role, The Revival Of The Religious Sciences:

She should stay at home and get on with her spinning.  She can go out only in emergencies.  She must not be well-informed nor must she be communicative with her neighbours and only visit them when absolutely necessary.  She should take care of her husband and respect him in his presence and his absence and seek to satisfy him in everything.  She must not leave her house without his permission and if given his permission she must leave secretly.  She should put on old clothes and take deserted streets and alleys, avoid markets, and make sure that a stranger does not hear her voice, her footsteps, smell her or recognise her.  She must not speak to a friend of her husband even in need.  Her sole worry should be her “al bud” (reproductive organs) her home as well as her prayers and her fast (starvation for Allah).  If a friend of her husband calls when her husband is absent she must not open the door nor reply to him in order to safeguard her “al bud”.  She should accept what her husband gives her as sufficient sexual needs at any moment.  She should be clean and ready to satisfy her husband’s sexual needs at any moment.

This piece of theocratic lunacy is not something that Western liberal society should be condoning, let alone replicating, for the sake of political correctness.

Tags: Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, Barbie, Burka, Doll, Hijab, islam, koran, Marmaduke Pickthall, Mattel, Muhammad, multiculturalism, muslim, Prophet, Qur’an, The Daily Telegraph, The Revival Of The Religious Sciences