Daniel 11:36-37 (NASB) 36 “Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods; and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done. 37 “He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will magnify himself above them all.
The “king” of Daniel 11:36 is not a literal “king.” He is what most prophecy interpreters refer to as an “antichrist type.” That is, the characteristics described are those that the last false prophet, i.e, the Antichrist, will possess. There is one characteristic given by the prophecy that is pertinent to this post: “He will show no regard…for the desire of women.” In an earlier post, I examined the original Hebrew behind the phrase used in Daniel 11:37 NASB. I concluded that the phrase does not refer to the absence of sexual desire of the “king” for women; but rather the absence of the “king’s” regard for what a woman considers precious or desirable. To quote my earlier post:
2) The “king” will show no regard … for “all the things which are desired” by women – based on the use of the word in Haggai 2:7 NIV. (Read more)
In a recent article, Crina Boros of Reuters, summarizes the result of a Thomas Reuters Foundation survey of 22 Arab states and the burden of oppression that women experienced in each state. The results were drawn from answers from 336 gender experts invited to participate in an online survey by the Reuters Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the news and information company, Thomson Reuters, in August and September of 2013. Questions were based on key provisions of the U.N. Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which 19 Arab states have signed or ratified.
Here is the opening paragraph of the article:
LONDON, Nov 12 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Sexual harassment, high rates of female genital cutting and a surge in violence and Islamist feeling after the Arab Spring uprisings have made Egypt the worst country in the Arab world to be a woman, a poll of gender experts showed on Tuesday.
The essential facts surveyed that resulted in Egypt’s claiming 1st place included the following:
* 99.3 percent of women and girls are subjected to sexual harassment.
* 27.2 million women and girls – or 91 percent of the female population – are victims of female genital mutilation.
* 63 percent of adult women are literate.
(Sources: U.N. Women, UNICEF, World Bank) For full survey facts, Read more here
Egypt has distinguished itself in world news in various ways in recent days. What was once considered the most progressive of Arab states seems to have fallen to new lows. Arab Spring and its promise of democracy, freedom, and the lifting of the veil of oppression upon humanity has somehow failed, particularly for Egypt. That should not surprise us actually. The Muslim Brotherhood came into power in Egypt in July 2013, and even though the military recently removed them from office, their impact was quickly experienced by Muslims all over Egypt, particularly women and minorities, e.g., Christians. The MB are Islamists. Their rule is the Quran. Sharia law. Sharia law does not bring an expansion of human rights — certainly not an expansion of rights for women. Here is what the Quran has to say about the rights of women (Qur’an 24:31 (Haleem translation)):
And tell believing women that they should lower their glances, guard their private parts, and not display their charms beyond what [it is acceptable] to reveal … they should not let their head-scarves fail to cover their necklines and not reveal their charms except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands’ fathers, their sons, their husbands’ sons, their brothers, their brothers’ sons, their sisters’ sons, their womenfolk, their slaves, such men as attend them who have no sexual desire, or children who are not yet aware of women’s nakedness; they should not stamp their feet so as to draw attention to any hidden charms. Believers, all of you, turn to God so that you may prosper.
“Tell believing women that they should lower their glances…” To understand the plight of women in Islam, you don’t need to read beyond that opening phrase in 24:31. That phrase tells it all. Have you ever known someone who would never look you in the eye? That is, they always looked at the floor, never raising their eyes to meet yours? Something wrong when someone won’t look you in the eye. Someone taught them they were not worthy. They were “lower” than everyone else, of less value; and, the “learned lesson” was in their lowered glances. Muslim women have been taught this same lesson. Their learning can be seen in their “lowered glances,” that is, the covering they are required to wear — not just their inability to look a man in the eye, but their dress, their garments, so dark that the garments themselves communicate messages that go far beyond the spoken word. This is an oppression, a spiritual bondage; and women in Islam are in spiritual bondage. The Thomson Reuters Foundation survey is the evidence of this oppression. Muslim men, particularly in sharia states, find ingenious ways to make sure their women have “lowered glances.” Count the female drivers in Saudi Arabia, for example. You won’t find any. The “religious police” of Saudi Arabia take care of that, the “Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice,” they make sure that Muslim women in the Peninsula comply with strict rules on how they dress and where they sit in an automobile (never in the driver’s seat).
If you wonder when the “lowered glances” first began you can go all the way back to the Garden of Eden when the serpent deceived a woman named Eve. Genesis 3:4-5 NASB (and her husband Adam, standing beside her. Genesis 3:6 NASB). Since that encounter, the serpent has consistently and persistently been at war with woman. It is quite logical that the religion under which satan cloaks in the modern day will continue the war satan began in his first encounter with woman. After all, satan is still eating Eve’s “dust” as the consequence of his own part in that encounter. Genesis 3:14-15 NASB; and he will forever eat her dust, even in the Millennium. Isaiah 65:25 NASB.
For women in Muslim states, darkness will never allow equality, security, or the “precious or desirable” things. In Islam, the Qur’an itself defines the absence of such rights as proper, appropriate, and right. It is in the definition that we see the presence of satan. I liken it to his “odor,” his “perfume,” a smell so striking that even if he is invisible you know his presence by his stench, the stench of human oppression and sin that results in it and through it. Everywhere he goes, he takes his stench with him. Woman has a keen sense of smell. She has experienced his odor since the first days. He is particularly pungent to an oppressed woman. One day, the King of Kings will take away his odor, will bind him up, and remove him to his cell where his stench will no longer oppress, and woman will no longer need lower her glance. Revelation 20:1-2. She and all of humanity will have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, and they will no longer hurt or wound or oppress in all His holy mountain. Isaiah 65:17 NASB.
Jesus come quickly.
Blessings.
Jack
Good post Jack. Thanks. What makes it even more heinously evil, is that women are so brainwashed as to actually believe that their “covering” is a form of “modesty” and this is how it is sold to the non-Muslim world. The hijab, the most revealing of the Muslmi coverings is just a step of several steps to fully cover Muhammad’s hatred for women. The niqab follows with face covering, and the burqa covers the entire body.
“Women used to roam about without Cloaks (Jilbaabs) and men used to see their faces and hands, but when the verse stating ‘O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks over themselves.’ (Surah Al-Ahzaab, verse no. 59) was revealed, then this was prohibited and women were ordered to wear the Jilbaab. The word Jilbaab means a sheet which Ibn Mas’ud explained as a cloak covering the entire body including the head, face, and hands. Therefore, it is not permissible for the women to reveal the face and hands in public” (Ibn Taymiyyah’s book on fatwaas p, 110 Vol, 2 also in the book Hijaab p. 15).
As in the seventh century, today Muslim men blame women for their own lack of sexual restraint. In Islam, it is not the man who is to blame for having lust, but the beauty of a woman. Instead of repenting from sin and not lusting, they impose the use of the Hijaab, the head and face covering, and for the entire body, the burqa. Muslim apologists will try to convince the public (and women converts) that wearing the hijab or burqa is voluntary and honors allah, but the fact that women are regularly beaten in Muslim countries when parts of their body are exposed (like face, or hands) suggests that it is not voluntary, but compulsory.
Muhammad also identified the entire body of the woman as a vagina,
(Tirmizi,Volume II, hadith, No. 65) ‘The woman is ‘awrah. When she goes outside (the house), the devil takes charge of her (i.e. possessed her)’
This hadith stated that whenever the woman went out of her house she would be possessed by demons. So she is dangerous to society and hence she should be confined inside her house. There is no definition so widely used and accepted among Muslims for defining the woman than ‘Woman is ‘Awarah.’
The term ‘Awarah is defined in the Encyclopedia of Islam as ‘the external genitals, especially of the female’ (Haqq & Newton 1996: 5). The word is derived from the noun ‘nakedness or nudity.’ So to put it in a simple meaning ‘woman is bare-naked or her whole body is a vagina.’ The prophet Muhammad said, “Even the woman’s voice is awarah (or vagina).”
From this it is understood why the Muslim woman was forced to cover her body from head to foot and not supposed to step out of her house and possibly, to remain silent.
Obviously, the view of women Muhammad had and has left as a legacy for future Muslims is in stark contrast to the Biblical view that upholds the value of women, praising them for their virtue, chaste character and high regard for their role in the family and home and in the church community.
For examples, Miriam, Deborah, Huldah were notable prophetesses in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, Tabitha/Dorcas, Phillip’ two unmarried daughters, Paul’s helpers Euodia & Synteche, Phoebe, Priscilla and Andronicus and Junia were known for being “outstanding among the apostles”. God calls the assembly of saints, His ekklesia, a Bride, adorned, ready, clothed in clean, fine, white linen, indicating spiritual purity and His righteousness surrounded by light without shadow. What a testament of God valuing and appreciating Christian women! They are mighty in the kingdom of God! Worthy of respect! Indeed, God has fearfully and wonderfully made all women. They are all precious in the sight of God.
In contrast, where Muhammad had paranoid fear of women being demons, God entrusted them with His word as prophetesses. When Muhammad says women have half the testimony of a man, the God of the Bible calls women a “helpmate”, an equal partner in the blessing and promise of God. Where Muhammad taught to keep women in submission by fear of being beaten, Jesus demonstrated kindness, gentleness and forgiveness, telling the woman accused of adultery “…neither do I condemn you. Go your way and sin no more”. The God of the Bible says to…
(1Pe 3:7) You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.
Where Muhammad refers to women pejoratively as a vagina (implied to be unclean), God values women so highly that He calls men to…
(Ephesians 5:25-27) “love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”
Jack,
That was an good article on women. Walid Shoebat has also mentioned this several times. Thanks for staying on top of things.