Customer Reviews

The Stoning of Soraya M.: A True Story

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There are many Western countries today under the impression that Sharia Law, or Islamic Law, is a system of justice and impartiality. In truth, the whole concept of Sharia Law entirely benefits men; even falsely accused, women have little recourse but to submit. Under the Sharia, raped women are forced to provide witnesses to prove their innocence.

This book perfectly illustrates how easily such barbaric, outdated systems of 'justice' destroy innocent lives. The accused are guilty until proven innocent. Witnesses can be purchased. A man's testimony is worth more than a woman's, so even when he lies, the burden of proof is on the victim. True justice is non-existent.

The story of Soraya M. is heartbreaking. But the real tragedy is that it is repeated over and over in Islamic societies. Hopefully, this book will help expose the truth behind the oppression of women in the Middle East.

This is a well written, compelling account of the ugliness of fundamentalist Islamic mob justice in Khomeini-era Iran. With no way of verifying its complete veracity - e.g., the author writes about Soraya's thoughts from her pit of impending slaughter - there is nothing in this book that conflicts with Islam's teachings through its Koran, Hadiths, and most importantly, the Sunnah of Mohammad. I'm pretty well numbed to the horror stories coming out of Islam, because of the conditioning of reading al kortoby, al tobary, ibn katheer, Jalalayn, and Ibn Abass (all available online), but this book still ripped at my heart with the mystery and tragedy of it all.

Of benefit to me, and maybe others, is it is a very fast read. Good backround on this village provides a foundational understanding (as much as anyone not living under Sharia can understand) of the herd-mentality, the dangers of its gender apartheid, and the absolute suffocating environment such ignorance breeds.

Fact or fiction, or a little of both, this story opens up a painful glimpse into a society so steeped in the misogynist teachings of Islam, it should drive us all into more than just a casual peek into the Koran. Dig deep into Ishaq, read Bukhari and Muslim as needed, then scratch your head that any religion so ensconced in 7th century superstition, is now a world threat.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I didn't "enjoy" it, but who enjoys reading about stonings and murder and misogyny and injustice? It wasn't perfectly written. And, much of it is the victim's aunt's and the writer's interpretation of thoughts rather than Soraya's actual thoughts.

Still, it's a decent book and the stoning description is very graphic. That in itself, is good. For too long westerners have continued to close their eyes to the horrors of sharia law.

What I found to be the biggest fault with the book was the description on the back of the book. It reads, "She was punished to death by stoning-- a punishment officially prohibited by Islam but widely practiced." Nope. This isn't true. At all. It isn't true at all.

Stoning is part of sharia law. Sharia law is Islamic law and stoning is specifically permitted. From Muslim Hadith no. 4206: And when he had given command over her and she was put in a hole up to her breast, he ordered the people to stone her. Khalid b. al--Walid came forward with a stone which he threw at her head, and when the blood spurted on his face he cursed her . . .

And, from the Koran itself: Sura 24:2: The fornicatress and the fornicator, flog each of them with a hundred stripes. Let not pity withhold you in their case, in a punishment prescribed by Allah, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day. And let a party of the believers witness their punishment. [This punishment is for unmarried persons guilty of the above crime (illegal sex), but if married persons commit it (illegal sex), the punishment is to stone them to death, according to Allah's law.

So, if Muhammad did it, it's the perfect thing to do, according to Islam. Muhammad was the perfect example for humanity and must be emulated. That's the crux of this issue. No Muslim can criticize Muhammad nor Islam.

And, Muhammad did participate in stoning:

Volume 8, Book 82, Number 806:

Narrated Abu Huraira:

A man came to Allah's Apostle while he was in the mosque, and he called him, saying, "O Allah's Apostle! I have committed illegal sexual intercourse.'" The Prophet turned his face to the other side, but that man repeated his statement four times, and after he bore witness against himself four times, the Prophet called him, saying, "Are you mad?" The man said, "No." The Prophet said, "Are you married?" The man said, "Yes." Then the Prophet said, 'Take him away and stone him to death." Jabir bin 'Abdullah said: I was among the ones who participated in stoning him and we stoned him at the Musalla. When the stones troubled him, he fled, but we over took him at Al-Harra and stoned him to death.
[...]

Volume 8, book8, number 817 is particularly long but, as narrated by Ibn 'Abbas, it says: "Allah's Apostle (Muhammad) did carry out the punishment of stoning and so did we after him."

So, as we can see, there is some misinformation on the back of the book. I find this troublesome, too, and I wonder why this book, in particular, is accepted and okayed by the multi-culturalists. . . is it because they can then believe that Islam condemns this practice and then state what they believe as if it's fact so they can argue all religions are equal? They can accept it as an anomaly rather than law. But, it IS law-- don't be fooled.

One more thing: men are supposed to be subjected to stoning punishments as well. But, it is also true that they are not as often subjected to it. And, when they are, the technique is very different. Men are not tied up and stand free. They are also permitted to run away. If the man escapes and runs away, he is free-- he is not stoned to death. The woman, however, is stoned just as Soraya M. was stoned. She is buried up to her shoulders and is a still target for those participating in the stoning. It is illegal to kill her with the first blow, too.

Here is the way some believe it should be carried out:

"The stones should not be so large that the offender dies after a few strikes, nor so small as to fail to cause serious injury."

UPDATED JULY 1: I was wrong to assume that the "multiculturalists" appreciated "The Stoning of Soraya M". I read some very critical reviews of the movie that just came out (I haven't seen it yet) and they were specifically critical because the stoning was too graphic and the bad guys too bad, the villains too villainous. . . the critics wanted more "nuance". Here's a criticism of the critics, which I really appreciated.

In closing, I stand by this review. . . it wasn't a "great" book, but maybe I should have given it 4 stars because it IS an important book. The lack of nuances when it comes to the stoning is exactly why it IS important. There are NO nuances here nor should there be. Stoning is bad. Stoning because Muhammad said is still bad if you value Western freedom and liberty. Stoning for cardinal sins is NOT "okay" under any circumstances. It's unfortunate that leftist critics of the movie desire nuances where no nuance is deserved.
Criticism of the critics of the movie: [...]

Well written, factual and horrific account of how, in many countries today, religion has been twisted to suit the needs of certain people, namely men. Having lived in a few Muslim countries, I can factually state that this sort of event is not that uncommon. It is, however, uncommon, and most likely unknown in the Western world. The reason this book is so good is that hopefully it will bring more exposure to what is happening in these third world countries. Maybe by exposing it more and more, it will, eventually, be eradicated.

A culture that approves of men having sex with young girls, and a complete lack of women's rights, and the sick brutal act of stoning to death, is a severely evil and dysfunctional culture. And you are defending it. Shame on you and every Islamic woman that somehow sees fit to take that position.

In response to a book that documents utter barbarity occuring in Iran, Ariana chooses to spit at the West. Sorry Ariana, this is your cultural tradition, you have to account for it or change it. It is very telling that ARIANA writes from SWEDEN, a civilized country that respects human rights and women's rights in particular. Perhaps the available Islamic paradises are not to Ariana's taste. Unfortunately Sharia law, an invention of Islam is spreading in Nigeria and is very present in Sudan where stonings just like this are occurring now in March of 2002. The author was brave to document this atrocity and should be commended.

This story left me numb with sadness. This woman was brutally murdered by her neighbors and some of her family. The fact that it really happened, made it almost too hard to read. Yet it is a story that needs to be told in honor of Soraya and other women who have suffered so horribly and unjustly.

This book is one of those that can not say you enjoy reading. The subject matter is so awful that it is hard to define your feelings. I read this story and it horrified me to think that in modern times it is still happening to women. It is barbaric to treat women this way and this book makes sure that we are all aware of the practice.

How do you give five stars to a book on a small town execution? Freidoune Sahebjam has written an insightful and brave account of an event unimaginable to most of us. I found this book helpful in showing me once again what a deadly infection fundamentalism can become and how this sickness can overtake an entire town in one afternoon. Indeed, to value purity over simple things like life and love and truth will always lead to death and heartache. Even more so if God is mixed in. This is the message of Sahebjam's book.

This paperback can be read in one sitting and was penned by a French born and raised son of an Iranian Ambassador. It remains to this day a banned book in Iran, a country and culture not that far removed from a similar but different ethnic cleansing style fundamentalism I saw in Israel, Egypt and Palestine this week where I finished this book and wrote this review while on pilgrimage, amidst a backdrop of guns and soldiers and a chopper overhead. Muslims killing Christians and burning churches in nearby Egypt while we were there. Same old same old. We took in some 7,000 Jewish soldiers pointing assault rifles at Palestinians in the Holy Land, in Jerusalem, near the Western Wall, not far from the site and on the same day one Palestinian youth was shot and killed as I just learned from an airport monitor. We heard the gunfire over the wall. 34 were arrested; 12 killed the day we took off. Same old same old. Sad.

But back to our small town in 1979. Soraya was a mother and wife married to an archetypal creep of a man who went so far as to bring to his own house prostitutes in order to insult his wife and offload his marriage; a man unwilling to count the cost of an honorable divorce. The religious execution plot was hatched by a man willing to make murderous co-conspirators out of neighbors and friends he'd known since childhood.

Indeed Soraya's story was for me more than just another evil account of a befouled patriarchy. It was a death road telling of male politics and power trumping the basic spiritual values of truth, love, human kindness and the purity of a simple smile. On the flip side, this ritual and religious killing story and how it happened is also a tale of the courage of a loving aunt and niece against a male collusion of lust and lies. It's a story about divorce and love and sex, power and money. Your basic movie themes. But this one really happened. It was for me a story also of love and beauty and truth and a woman willing to risk the friendliness of a smile she was known for and would eventually cost her everything. So yes, buy this book. It will energize you on the dangers of fundamentalism, energize you perhaps to speak up early when you see the demon of false purity coming your way. That's my take.

Sure, this work, now back in print and in English, could have been written and translated a little better, especially since it just came out in a new edition. But it is a miracle the story ever saw the light of day in the first place. I suggest you see the Netflix 2008 Lionsgate title (starring Aghdashloo and Marno directed by Nowrasteh.) The violence of bad religion in that film will be even more real for you if with images to hang words on as you read.

For a companion study I'd recommend The Purity Myth by a young, 4th wave feminist, Jessica Valente. Like The Stoning of Soraya M., the focus of purity mongers (usually men) remains women and almost always mixes in religion. Bad religion. And of course politics. Purity rants always get around to being about sex--female sexuality and the purity of women. This was certainly the theme in that small, unnamed village outside Tehran three decades back during post-revolution Iran. The author uses fictional names for the people and town and region for obvious reasons but the work reads like journalism. Sahebjam describes himself, in fact, as a journalist and a theologian.

Through the introduction and book jacket you'll learn that some 1500 women have been stoned in the last twenty five years in the Middle East. OK, some men were stoned, too. But not many. Mostly it's women and mostly it's death dished up around the purity concept. Around evil, around sin. Yes, religious purity. And honor, too. Usually family or town honor. Far more effective and powerful than simply the us/them theme which serves as the engine of most wars. If you fancy yourself spiritual or religious and you have doubt about the price of walking down the purity road, read the story of Soraya. And as you read, I'd advise against the temptation of seeing this problem as only an Islam thing. It was for me far more than that. For me this book was about fundamentalism, those who say they want purity--not theirs, of course, but mine. And about a culture which does not value purity of heart so much as superficial, legalistic easy to go after purity so often aimed at others and specifically, women.

My takeaway from this book: reaching for purity and sinlessness anywhere but in your own heart and life will lead to death most every time. Indeed, who can throw a stone but a man or woman truly pure within.

In this book it's the men who throw the stones, of course. Not a pretty story line. But just as many women stood by and let it happen. No woman in that town but Soraya's aunt paid the price of speaking up. Silence remains an equally bloody stone.

One could go on and on about the price of trying to bring back 7th century Islam. Instead, read this book if you've ever gone to confession in your church and forgotten how you judged someone else rather than yourself in the past week; judged someone else as sinful or impure.

Soraya's story indeed brought back for me the fear of freedom thing that Jack Nicholson's character showed us in Dennis Hooper's Easy Rider classic, how an us/them deadly hate thing was alive in the South then and probably now; how it flowers in a mortal wound well beyond the death of Captain America back in the day. The same hate is alive and well now, of course. Same old, same old.

I don't mean to soft peddle real problems with Islam. In Egypt, where 90% are Muslims and 10% Christians today, in recent months and weeks Eastern Orthodox Copts have been shot (monks even) and killed. And 84% of the population in Egypt today still believes that should one convert from Islam to Christianity he deserves to be executed. Of course stoning is the ancient way to get the job done here.

It's been 30 years since Soraya's brutal death in Iran at the hands of 250 religious people in her village. There's a picture of her in this book. Read it for her and the white dress she wore that day. You'll feel awful but at the same time better. Because you'll know her story.

I wasn't surprised at how cruel people can be. Very disgusting to read about the men having so much power and women none. Very sad.