“Think for a minute about what Muslim spokesmen in Canada could be saying.
“They could acknowledge that the divine sanction given to the beating of disobedient women (Qur’an 4:34) has created a culture in which such abuse is accepted as normal.
“They could call for a searching reevaluation of the meaning and continued relevance of Qur’an 4:34, and call in no uncertain terms for Muslims to reject definitively its literal meaning, now and for all time to come.
“They could acknowledge the prevalence of honor killing in Islamic culture, which has no sanction as such in Islamic theology but nonetheless enjoys enough Islamic approval that the Jordanian Parliament a few years ago rejected on Islamic grounds attempts to stiffen penalties for it. They could call for sweeping reform and reexamination of the status of women in Islam.
“Instead, we get this.”
