ABC tonight ran the sort of coverage of the Taliban’s oppressive treatment of women that is becoming very common. Unfortunately in her desire to really drive the point home, Barbara Walters added a touch that showed her ignorance. Trying to imply that hijacker Mohammad Atta must have really hated women, in grave tones she noted that he left behind a will asking that women be barred from attending his funeral.
Because of the exclusion of all women at the high profile funeral of Syria’s King Hussein, some in the West(like me) had the impression that Islam itself forbids women from attending funerals. This, in fact, is not true and there were women in attendance at Prophet Muhammad’s funeral.
But it is true that both Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, both ersatz United States allies, forbid women from attending funeral services. Atta’s request has its origins in cultural customs rather than anything in the Quran, but if his request is a sign of misogyny, what are we to make of the U.S. allies who formalize that stricture within their legal systems?