Woman, Kill Thyself

Feminisim has come to Islam! That's right. Some Muslim women are shaking up the ranks of radical Islam by demanding the right to--are you ready?--blow themselves up for Allah! No more just having babies for jihad. No, these women want to become full blown gun toting, suicide belt wearing jihadis. Just like the men. And you thought Islam couldn't be progressive on gender issues. You bigot you!

So, what trigged this distaff rebellion? It was a statement by Al Qaeda's number two man, Ayman al-Zawahiri who, on a jihadi website, denied there were women in Al Qaeda, thereby angering many of the women who are, in fact, part of the organization. On the website al-Zawahiri took a very traditional Islamic position, saying that women's role in jihad is to raise children and support their "brothers" who are fighting. This didn't sit well with a lot of the liberated ladies of radical Islam. Oh no. Just supporting the brothers isn't enough. They want any willing Muslim woman to be allowed to kill herself for Allah and experience martyrdom. Just what female martyrs will receive on their entrance to paradise--are they even guaranteed paradise?--isn't said, but I highly doubt it'll be a mansion full of virgins like the men get.

Some militant Muslims have been using female suicide bombers for some time. Those progressive Palestinians lead the way on that. Al-Zawahiri, though, wasn't willing to give the feminine martyrs their proper due. The hungry-for-martyrdom feminists are out to change that. It'll be interesting to see how this gender spat turns out. Who could imagine women complaining that they aren't allowed to kill themselves or aren't given proper kudos when they do? Only in the religion of peace, folks. Only in the religion of peace.