A thirty-year-old man known as "V" and identified possibly as Vali Azad was stoned to death in northern Iran for committing adultery. The woman involved had "'repented and so has not been stoned'" (FNC). In Iran, the guilty are "partially buried in a public spot -- men up to their waists and women to their shoulders. Stones are then hurled at them until they are dead -- although if they manage to free themselves their lives are spared" (FNC).
First of all, the Qur'an says nothing about stoning as a punishment for adultery. In fact, because the Prophet Muhammad's favorite wife 'Aisha was accused of adultery (when she was like, eight years old and because they'd forgotten her at a campsite and caught up with them a few days later with a young man leading her camel), Muhammad (inspired by God) made it very difficult for anyone to be accused of adultery (run a string between two bodies and hope it doesn't snag).
However, stoning has been used as punishment for adultery because at one point, a Jew and a Jewess approached Muhammad and asked how they should be punished. Muhammad asked to see their holy book, which prescribed stoning. Therefore, Muhammad said that they should be stoned, as their own law directed (too bad they didn't run to Jesus). This incident tends to be used as evidence that stoning is the proper form of punishment for adultery.
Second of all, the whole you-can-live-if-you-can-dig-your-way-out-of-the-hole game is just disturbing.
Third of all, this reminds me that I have yet to see "The Stoning of Soraya M.," but really want to.
Wow, I just watched the trailer for "The Stoning of Soraya M" and it looks like a great movie. I think that many need to see just how these countries really are before they defend them and blame the U.S. for everything.
ReplyDeleteSo true! However, from what I've been learning in class, Iraq was fairly secular under Saddam, and has now become more religious.
ReplyDeleteBut, Saudi Arabia is still incredibly conservative.