This is the number of Muslims living under the rule of democratically elected women in the past five years.
I hope that surprises some of you.
I use these figures to illustrate that when people on these boards use the terms “the Muslim world” or “the entire Islamic community”, they don’t actually seem to know what, or where, the fuck they’re talking about.
That despite certain bad attitudes towards women in parts of “the Muslim world”, 34,123,622 more people than the entire population of the United States, have recently seen fit to vote for a female leader. And this isn’t the first time - in the 1980s, Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan was, together with Eugenia Charles of Dominica, and Margaret Thatcher of the UK, one of the first democratically elected female leaders in history.
Yet again we get an assertion, in this thread, in addition to incorrect and some inaccurate and rather racist statements (against Arabs), to the tune of:
Now don’t get me wrong. I am not denying that there are dreadful, potentially threatening, and growing problems in parts of “the Muslim world”. Some of these problems - such as FGM - are cultural, and are often shared by non-Muslims in the same region. Some of them are indeed religious, such as Islamist terrorism. Some of them are down to a particular sect of Islam, such as the horrific treatment of women in Saudi Arabia.
However, I do wish people would stop pinning everything bad that ever happens (such as the inter-ethnic conflict in Darfur) amongst these 1.2 billion people around the globe, on their religion.
I have been accused of being “trendy” for defending Muslims in general (as opposed to murderous terrorist fanatics), or “PC” when I have attempted to counter ingorant, anti-Islamic prejudice, but I have no axe to grind. I have no great love for any religion whatsoever, particularly not fundamentalist or fanatical versions thereof. I am, however, thoroughly pissed off with the demonization of “the Muslim world” as a homogenous entity, and with this hopefully eye-opening fact, trying in one little way to redress the balance of the Islamophobia that is a shame to these boards.
If you’re going to condemn an entire group of people, then specify which entire group you’re condemning. If you mean “Arabs” then say “Arabs”, and let your statements stand and fall on their merits or demerits. But if you think that Bin Laden’s vile schemes deserve an apology from, or somehow tarnish, someone living quietly and peacefully in Sumatra, or Malaysia, or Brunei, then you’re fucking bonkers.
Khaleda Zia, Prime Minister, Bangladesh, 1991 - 1996, 2001-present day. Population 141,340,476 of which 83% Muslim: 117,312,595.
Megawati Sukarnoputri, President, Indonesia, 2001 until 2004. Population 238,452,952 of which 88% Muslim: 209,838,598.
