Women and the Koran

I wanted to know about the world she had left behind. I wanted to hear about the lions, the tigers, the tropical rain forest, the endless summers...

She laughed. Her country was not like that at all. It was dirt roads, arid dusty fields, no wildlife to speak of and, as far as the tropical forest was concerned, there was almost none left.

She talked about her family. Her father and mother remained in Africa. She hinted at a relationship which seems to have been her reason for coming to Canada; and that was to escape a marriage in the Islamic tradition, which she once described as "god-sanctioned rape."

Twelve years ago a young black women from Africa who preferred prostituting herself on the cold streets of Montreal rather than enter into an arranged marriage got me interested in the Koran. She opened my eyes. It is my hope that Women and the Koran will do the same for you.

Women and the Koran is mostly an excerpt from Pain Pleasures and Prejudice, a comprehensive review of the Koran.