September 1, 2025 • 12 mins
This is Episode 136 of Christian Research Journal Reads. This is an audio version of the CHRISTIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL article, “Islamic Sharia and the Mistreatment of Women” by Hank Hanegraaff. This article first appeared in the Christian Research Journal, volume 40, number 05 (2017). https://www.equip.org/articles/islamic-sharia-and-the-mistreatment-of-women/
This podcast presents audio versions of Christian Research Journal articles. As the flagship publication of the Christian Research Institute, the Journal seeks to equip followers of Christ to think and to live Christianly—to exercise truth and experience life. Truth, especially essential Christian doctrine, forms the basis for how we live our lives in Christ. As the apostle Paul instructed Timothy in 1 Tim. 4:16, “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”The Christian Research Journal enjoyed a print incarnation of almost 45 years. Now exclusively an online publication, the Journal consists of thousands of free articles. We hope that through these audio articles you are not only equipped to proclaim and defend your faith but that as a disciple you also draw closer to Christ in your walk with Him. You can find the written version of each article that is an episode of Christian Research Journal Reads at the website of the Christian Research Institute, equip.org. All Christian Research Journal articles at equip.org are completely free and do not require a subscription and are not under a paywall.All episodes will be available at the following podcast platforms with more being added daily! You can help spread the word about this new podcast by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on and telling others!You can view off our Website at the at this link and off our Journal main page.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/christian-research-journal-reads--6022978/support.
This podcast presents audio versions of Christian Research Journal articles. As the flagship publication of the Christian Research Institute, the Journal seeks to equip followers of Christ to think and to live Christianly—to exercise truth and experience life. Truth, especially essential Christian doctrine, forms the basis for how we live our lives in Christ. As the apostle Paul instructed Timothy in 1 Tim. 4:16, “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”The Christian Research Journal enjoyed a print incarnation of almost 45 years. Now exclusively an online publication, the Journal consists of thousands of free articles. We hope that through these audio articles you are not only equipped to proclaim and defend your faith but that as a disciple you also draw closer to Christ in your walk with Him. You can find the written version of each article that is an episode of Christian Research Journal Reads at the website of the Christian Research Institute, equip.org. All Christian Research Journal articles at equip.org are completely free and do not require a subscription and are not under a paywall.All episodes will be available at the following podcast platforms with more being added daily! You can help spread the word about this new podcast by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on and telling others!You can view off our Website at the at this link and off our Journal main page.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/christian-research-journal-reads--6022978/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
This is episode one hundred and thirty six of the
Christian Research Journal Reads Podcast. Islamic Sharia and the Mistreatment
of Women by Hank Hanagraph. This article first appeared in
the Christian Research Journal print edition of Volume forty, number
(00:29):
five in twenty seventeen. The Christian Research Journal Reads Podcast
presents audio versions of Christian Research Journal articles. To read
the full text of this article and its documentation, please
go to equip dot org. That's e qu ip dot org.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Islamic Shariah and the Mistreatment of Women by Hank Hannigraf
read by Christina Winterstellar. President Donald Trump has been chastised
for the vulgar mistreatment of women. As the famed sports
columnist Christine Brennan put it, quote, when you're in business
with Donald Trump, the man who appeared on the infamous
(01:16):
Access Hollywood videotape bragging that he could sexually assault women
without having to worry about the ramifications, your values start
to fade. According to Brennan, the very notion that a
major golf tournament like the US Women's Open should be
played at Trump National is an affront to women everywhere.
(01:39):
The alleged mistreatment of women by Trump however, pales in
comparison to the mistreatment of women shackled by Sharia. Yet
a deafening silence continues to pervade the West. No less
illuminary than former President Barack Obama considers all such noise
a distraction, or worse, a distion. Speaking from a mosque
(02:02):
in Baltimore, he decried quote distorted media portrayals unquote of Islam. Quote.
I've had mothers write and say my heart cries every
night thinking about how her daughter might be treated at school.
A girl from Ohio, thirteen years old told me, I'm scared.
A girl from Texas signed her letter, a confused fourteen
(02:26):
year old trying to find her place in the world unquote.
Obama insists we know the facts. Quote. For more than
a thousand years, people have been drawn to Islam's message
of peace unquote. Indeed, according to Obama, quote, the very
word itself, Islam comes from Salam peace unquote. The Qoran,
(02:49):
of course, does not define the word Islam as quote
peace unquote. Islam means quote submission to the will of
Allah unquote. And many who have experienced Sharia firsthand do
not share Obama's enthusiasm. While his heart aches for how
Muslim girls are treated in school. Their hearts ache for
(03:10):
how girls are treated in Sharia. What Obama lauds is
a wonderful system of law and life, they loathe as
systematic oppression. In heretic, former Muslim i n Hersey Ali
explains the horror of Sharia for women. Quote Repeatedly, women
are considered under the code to be worth at most
(03:31):
half a man. Sharia subordinates women to men in a
multitude of ways, the requirement of guardianship by men, the
right of men to beat their wives, the right of
men to have unfettered sexual access to their wives, the
right of men to practice polygamy, and the restriction of
women's legal rights and divorce cases in a state law
(03:53):
in cases of rape, in court testimony, and in consent
to marriage. In her book Cruel and Usual Punishment, Egyptian
born author Nony Darwish explains what it was like to
grow up in Egypt under Sharia law. Quote. For the
first thirty years of my life, I lived as a
virtual slave. I was a bird in a cage, a
(04:17):
second class citizen who had to watch what I said,
even to my close friends. Under Islamic law, I had
to live in a gender segregated environment and always be
aware that the legal and social penalty for sin could
end my life unquote. Darwish goes on to explain that
Shariah quote deals with all aspects of day to day life,
(04:39):
including politics, economics, banking, business law, contract law, marriage, divorce,
child rearing and custody, sexuality, sin, crime, and social issues.
It makes no distinction between public and private life, treating
all aspects of human relations as governor by Allah's law.
(05:02):
The Sharia laws are based on the Koran and Hadiths sayings,
an example of the prophet, as well as centuries of debate,
interpretation and precedent unquote, says Darwish. Quote, it allows a
woman seen without a head dress to be flogged, punishes
rape victims, and calls for beheading for adultery. I never
(05:24):
questioned or challenged it, or dared to even think about
its validity unquote. As quote a student of history unquote.
Obama understands all of this and more. He is also
well aware that Muslim women in the West are in
no position to expose what many may consider hypocrisy. As
(05:44):
Darwish makes plain, Muslim women who complain about the inequities
of Sharia suffer untold consequences. Quote. The Koran, various Hadiths,
and Shariah all prescribes severe punishment for the rebellious woman unquote. Indeed, quote,
a rebellious woman can be beaten by her husband and
(06:04):
ordered by the Sharia court to never leave the home
without his permission. In yet alta meaning house of obedience,
a practice that amounts to house arrest unquote. When Darwish
and Hersili write about Sharia law, they are not blowing
smoke like Obama. Both grew up in a Muslim context.
(06:24):
Darwish writes, quote, a Muslim woman who commits adultery is
to be stoned to death. Unmarried girls who have sex
must be flogged. Women's testimony in court is half the
value of a man. Women get half the inheritance of
a man. There is no community property between husband and wife.
If a woman is killed, her indemnity money is half
(06:47):
the indemnity money of a man. If her family follows
Chaffi law, then her cletoris must be removed at a
young age, that is female castration. In order for the
man to make sure her sexual appetite is suppressed, she
needs her guardian's permission for marriage or else it is void.
She needs her husband's or male relatives permission for travel.
(07:10):
She must cover all her body except her face and hands.
Quote in short quote. While Islam claims respect for the
woman's body, the laws do not support that claim. Sharia
stone's women for adultery, but men are not stone for rape.
Such inequity contradicts any claims of Islam's honor of women unquote.
(07:33):
Yet Obama waxes eloquent regarding Islam's quote proud tradition of
tolerance unquote and ominously warns Westerners against quote impeding Muslim
citizens from practicing religion as they see fit unquote emphasis added.
In Obama's world, impeding the religio socio political practices of
(07:55):
Islam is nothing less than a manifestation of rank hostility
and quote we can't disguise hostility towards any religion behind
the pretense of liberalism unquote, emphasis added. Behind the rhetoric
of Obama looks the ever present specter of censorship. To
question the quote proud tradition unquote of Sharia is now
(08:17):
considered quote hostility unquote, and to impede quote Muslim citizens
from practicing religion as they see fit unquote is characterized
as Islamophobia. If consistent with his own dogmatism, Obama would
have little tolerance for those who question the right of
a Muslim man to hit a rebellious wife who refuses
(08:41):
to allow him quote full lawful sexual enjoyment of her
person unquote. Why because, in accordance with Shariah ordinances quote,
it is permissible for him to hit her if he
believes that hitting her will bring her back to the
right path unquote, emphasis added. What for Obama is tolerant
(09:02):
for Hersi Ali and Darwish is terrifying. From their vantage point,
the thirteen year old girl who wrote to the President
had a right to be scared. Scared not only because
the then most powerful man in the world considered Islam enlightened,
but scared because of what she will be subjected to
under its legalities. Hersi Ali tells the horrifying story of
(09:25):
a thirteen year old girl in Somalia who was found
guilty of adultery after reporting that she had been raped
by three men. Unlike the thirteen year old girl from
Ohio who told Obama that she was scared because someone
might scorn her. Aisha Ibrahim du Hulo, named after the prophet.
Mohammad's nine year old wife, was dragged screaming and flailing
(09:47):
into a stadium in Kissmayo to be stoned. It took
four men to bury her up to her neck in
the hole, then fifty men spent ten minutes pelting her
with rocks and stones. After ten minutes had passed, there
was a pause. She was dug out of the ground
and two nurses examined her to see if she was
still alive. Someone found a pulse and breathing. Aisha was
(10:11):
returned to the hole and the stoning continued. Unquot Following
the Sharia stoning quote, a local sheikh told a radio
station that Aisha had provided evidence confirmed her guilt and
was happy with the punishment under Islamic law unquote. For
social commentator Rod Dreyer quote, the idea that someone as
(10:35):
robustly vulgar, fiercely combative, and morally compromised as Trump will
be an avatar for the restoration of Christian morality and
social unity is beyond delusional unquote. Likewise, for social commentators
in the West to downplay Sharia's mistreatment of women, is
beyond dangerous.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Thank you for listening to another episode from the Christian
Research Journal Reads podcast, which provides audio articles of Christian
Research Journal articles.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
If you go to equip dot.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
Org, you will find a brand new article for the
Christian Research Journal published weekly. In addition, please subscribe to
our other podcasts. Wherever you find your favorite podcast, you
will find the Christian Research Journal Reads podcast, the Postmodern
Realities podcast, which features interviews with Christian Research Journal authors,
(11:32):
our flagship podcast, The Bible answer Man Broadcast, and the
Hank Unplugged podcast, where CRI President Hank Canagraph takes you
out of the studio and into his study to engage
in in depth, free flowing, essential Christian conversations on critical
issues with some of the most interesting and informative people
(11:55):
on the planet. At equip dot org, you will also
find a lot of resources to equip you, including many
thousands of Christian Research Journal articles. That's e q U
I P dot O r G
This is episode one hundred and thirty six of the
Christian Research Journal Reads Podcast. Islamic Sharia and the Mistreatment
of Women by Hank Hanagraph. This article first appeared in
the Christian Research Journal print edition of Volume forty, number
(00:29):
five in twenty seventeen. The Christian Research Journal Reads Podcast
presents audio versions of Christian Research Journal articles. To read
the full text of this article and its documentation, please
go to equip dot org. That's e qu ip dot org.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Islamic Shariah and the Mistreatment of Women by Hank Hannigraf
read by Christina Winterstellar. President Donald Trump has been chastised
for the vulgar mistreatment of women. As the famed sports
columnist Christine Brennan put it, quote, when you're in business
with Donald Trump, the man who appeared on the infamous
(01:16):
Access Hollywood videotape bragging that he could sexually assault women
without having to worry about the ramifications, your values start
to fade. According to Brennan, the very notion that a
major golf tournament like the US Women's Open should be
played at Trump National is an affront to women everywhere.
(01:39):
The alleged mistreatment of women by Trump however, pales in
comparison to the mistreatment of women shackled by Sharia. Yet
a deafening silence continues to pervade the West. No less
illuminary than former President Barack Obama considers all such noise
a distraction, or worse, a distion. Speaking from a mosque
(02:02):
in Baltimore, he decried quote distorted media portrayals unquote of Islam. Quote.
I've had mothers write and say my heart cries every
night thinking about how her daughter might be treated at school.
A girl from Ohio, thirteen years old told me, I'm scared.
A girl from Texas signed her letter, a confused fourteen
(02:26):
year old trying to find her place in the world unquote.
Obama insists we know the facts. Quote. For more than
a thousand years, people have been drawn to Islam's message
of peace unquote. Indeed, according to Obama, quote, the very
word itself, Islam comes from Salam peace unquote. The Qoran,
(02:49):
of course, does not define the word Islam as quote
peace unquote. Islam means quote submission to the will of
Allah unquote. And many who have experienced Sharia firsthand do
not share Obama's enthusiasm. While his heart aches for how
Muslim girls are treated in school. Their hearts ache for
(03:10):
how girls are treated in Sharia. What Obama lauds is
a wonderful system of law and life, they loathe as
systematic oppression. In heretic, former Muslim i n Hersey Ali
explains the horror of Sharia for women. Quote Repeatedly, women
are considered under the code to be worth at most
(03:31):
half a man. Sharia subordinates women to men in a
multitude of ways, the requirement of guardianship by men, the
right of men to beat their wives, the right of
men to have unfettered sexual access to their wives, the
right of men to practice polygamy, and the restriction of
women's legal rights and divorce cases in a state law
(03:53):
in cases of rape, in court testimony, and in consent
to marriage. In her book Cruel and Usual Punishment, Egyptian
born author Nony Darwish explains what it was like to
grow up in Egypt under Sharia law. Quote. For the
first thirty years of my life, I lived as a
virtual slave. I was a bird in a cage, a
(04:17):
second class citizen who had to watch what I said,
even to my close friends. Under Islamic law, I had
to live in a gender segregated environment and always be
aware that the legal and social penalty for sin could
end my life unquote. Darwish goes on to explain that
Shariah quote deals with all aspects of day to day life,
(04:39):
including politics, economics, banking, business law, contract law, marriage, divorce,
child rearing and custody, sexuality, sin, crime, and social issues.
It makes no distinction between public and private life, treating
all aspects of human relations as governor by Allah's law.
(05:02):
The Sharia laws are based on the Koran and Hadiths sayings,
an example of the prophet, as well as centuries of debate,
interpretation and precedent unquote, says Darwish. Quote, it allows a
woman seen without a head dress to be flogged, punishes
rape victims, and calls for beheading for adultery. I never
(05:24):
questioned or challenged it, or dared to even think about
its validity unquote. As quote a student of history unquote.
Obama understands all of this and more. He is also
well aware that Muslim women in the West are in
no position to expose what many may consider hypocrisy. As
(05:44):
Darwish makes plain, Muslim women who complain about the inequities
of Sharia suffer untold consequences. Quote. The Koran, various Hadiths,
and Shariah all prescribes severe punishment for the rebellious woman unquote. Indeed, quote,
a rebellious woman can be beaten by her husband and
(06:04):
ordered by the Sharia court to never leave the home
without his permission. In yet alta meaning house of obedience,
a practice that amounts to house arrest unquote. When Darwish
and Hersili write about Sharia law, they are not blowing
smoke like Obama. Both grew up in a Muslim context.
(06:24):
Darwish writes, quote, a Muslim woman who commits adultery is
to be stoned to death. Unmarried girls who have sex
must be flogged. Women's testimony in court is half the
value of a man. Women get half the inheritance of
a man. There is no community property between husband and wife.
If a woman is killed, her indemnity money is half
(06:47):
the indemnity money of a man. If her family follows
Chaffi law, then her cletoris must be removed at a
young age, that is female castration. In order for the
man to make sure her sexual appetite is suppressed, she
needs her guardian's permission for marriage or else it is void.
She needs her husband's or male relatives permission for travel.
(07:10):
She must cover all her body except her face and hands.
Quote in short quote. While Islam claims respect for the
woman's body, the laws do not support that claim. Sharia
stone's women for adultery, but men are not stone for rape.
Such inequity contradicts any claims of Islam's honor of women unquote.
(07:33):
Yet Obama waxes eloquent regarding Islam's quote proud tradition of
tolerance unquote and ominously warns Westerners against quote impeding Muslim
citizens from practicing religion as they see fit unquote emphasis added.
In Obama's world, impeding the religio socio political practices of
(07:55):
Islam is nothing less than a manifestation of rank hostility
and quote we can't disguise hostility towards any religion behind
the pretense of liberalism unquote, emphasis added. Behind the rhetoric
of Obama looks the ever present specter of censorship. To
question the quote proud tradition unquote of Sharia is now
(08:17):
considered quote hostility unquote, and to impede quote Muslim citizens
from practicing religion as they see fit unquote is characterized
as Islamophobia. If consistent with his own dogmatism, Obama would
have little tolerance for those who question the right of
a Muslim man to hit a rebellious wife who refuses
(08:41):
to allow him quote full lawful sexual enjoyment of her
person unquote. Why because, in accordance with Shariah ordinances quote,
it is permissible for him to hit her if he
believes that hitting her will bring her back to the
right path unquote, emphasis added. What for Obama is tolerant
(09:02):
for Hersi Ali and Darwish is terrifying. From their vantage point,
the thirteen year old girl who wrote to the President
had a right to be scared. Scared not only because
the then most powerful man in the world considered Islam enlightened,
but scared because of what she will be subjected to
under its legalities. Hersi Ali tells the horrifying story of
(09:25):
a thirteen year old girl in Somalia who was found
guilty of adultery after reporting that she had been raped
by three men. Unlike the thirteen year old girl from
Ohio who told Obama that she was scared because someone
might scorn her. Aisha Ibrahim du Hulo, named after the prophet.
Mohammad's nine year old wife, was dragged screaming and flailing
(09:47):
into a stadium in Kissmayo to be stoned. It took
four men to bury her up to her neck in
the hole, then fifty men spent ten minutes pelting her
with rocks and stones. After ten minutes had passed, there
was a pause. She was dug out of the ground
and two nurses examined her to see if she was
still alive. Someone found a pulse and breathing. Aisha was
(10:11):
returned to the hole and the stoning continued. Unquot Following
the Sharia stoning quote, a local sheikh told a radio
station that Aisha had provided evidence confirmed her guilt and
was happy with the punishment under Islamic law unquote. For
social commentator Rod Dreyer quote, the idea that someone as
(10:35):
robustly vulgar, fiercely combative, and morally compromised as Trump will
be an avatar for the restoration of Christian morality and
social unity is beyond delusional unquote. Likewise, for social commentators
in the West to downplay Sharia's mistreatment of women, is
beyond dangerous.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Thank you for listening to another episode from the Christian
Research Journal Reads podcast, which provides audio articles of Christian
Research Journal articles.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
If you go to equip dot.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
Org, you will find a brand new article for the
Christian Research Journal published weekly. In addition, please subscribe to
our other podcasts. Wherever you find your favorite podcast, you
will find the Christian Research Journal Reads podcast, the Postmodern
Realities podcast, which features interviews with Christian Research Journal authors,
(11:32):
our flagship podcast, The Bible answer Man Broadcast, and the
Hank Unplugged podcast, where CRI President Hank Canagraph takes you
out of the studio and into his study to engage
in in depth, free flowing, essential Christian conversations on critical
issues with some of the most interesting and informative people
(11:55):
on the planet. At equip dot org, you will also
find a lot of resources to equip you, including many
thousands of Christian Research Journal articles. That's e q U
I P dot O r G
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