Recent voting for the permanent Iraqi constitution was remarkable for the image of so many veiled Iraqi women coming out to vote in the face of fierce threats of death. However, the current draft constitution cannot miss the attempts by the majority Shiite parties to impose an Islamic religio-legal system on Iraq. Their goal is to make Islamic law the only source of legislation, insisting that no law in Iraq contradict Islam (and note that, throughout this article, I distinguish historical Islam from its twisted and abusive interpretation by militant Islamists).  This is paralleled by the demand to impose Shari’a law over all areas of personal status—the laws that regulate personal, marriage, family, divorce, and inheritance decisions. Shari’a will condemn women to permanent secondclass status wherever it is imposed in the Islamic world.

The worst (but not uncommon) example of its impact was the school fire in Saudi Arabia two years ago, in which due to Shari’a, the Saudi religious police decided not to unlock a door and release the female students who were burning to death because the girls were not properly dressed for being seen in public. Imagine it!  The agenda of Islamic fundamentalism is to turn the issue of the veil into a symbol of political struggle toward achieving a greater Islamic republic—a 21st century, nuclear-powered, supercaliphate running from Western Africa through the Middle East and Southern Asia to Eastern Asia and the Pacific. In the West, the veil is a Trojan horse used by Islamists to fulfill their agenda of challenging constitutions and overturning democratic laws to benefit Islamic groupings and organizations. And who is not aware that Shari’a law, and its common Shiite and Sunni legal interpretations, conflict with all international treaties that Iraq lives under, and with the International Declaration of Human Rights?

Much has been written on the attempts by Islamists to impose a stifling, Taliban-like control of women, and how they have made that their first battle in their fight to establish Shari’a law throughout the Islamic world. The infamous decree 137, which called for Shari’a law to replace the 1959 Iraqi civil law on personal status, was strongly opposed, especially by women’s rights organizations in Iraq, who fought against all kinds of discrimination against women (and who courageously called for the International Declaration of Human Rights and international treaties on women’s rights to be the source of Iraq’s civil laws).  It is a shame to see Iraqi MPs appear on TV to defend a man’s right to beat his wife because they believe that it is sanctioned in the Qur’an. Islamists demand that women’s rights be tied to “Islamic values.”

This means husbands have the right to beat their wives, places divorce in the hands of the husband, and allows marriage to minors and the “marriage of pleasure” [temporary marriage] permitted in Shia law and culture. It only gets worse, as women can be whipped and stoned for what we would consider minor violations, and have very limited inheritance rights vis-à-vis men. As for the veil, Saddam and the Islamists after him have turned Iraq into a black forest of frightened women, from childhood to old age. Should an Islamic system like that of Iran or Sudan rise in Iraq, then when the right moment comes, those in power will oppose all the articles of the constitution that are not to their liking.

These rights also empower Kurds and Christians and other ethnicities. Not only will women’s rights be banished, but also Kurdish federalism will not be safe, nor will the rights and freedoms of other religions and freedom of expression and thought. (It is a sad fact that the only group emigrating out of Iraq today due to ongoing persecution and death threats are Christians—a community that, although always a small minority, has thrived in Mesopotamia for nearly 2,000 years!) A nation run by Islamic clerics will abide by provisions that they agree to today, only to renege tomorrow if they do not line up with Shari’a.

The key Shiite leader in Iraq, Ayatollah Sistani, is a huge moderating force for peace right now. In my opinion, he should be nominated for a Nobel peace prize. But what if he is assassinated tomorrow? What about the Shia ayatollahs to come? The real issue in the ongoing constitutional battle in Iraq is: Will we witness the imposition of an Islamic constitution and Shari’a religious law, or will we have a modern democratic constitution that separates religion, to some degree, from the state? That kind of modern constitutional system is the only guarantee of equality for women and freedom for religion and the religious, as well as the indispensable freedoms of expression, thought, and belief. The modern Middle East presents a depressing and largely hopeless narrative of mosque/state relations, in which each institution has a long and sordid history of manipulating and abusing the other.

Religions freedom and women’s freedom are intimately and inseparably linked. Shari’a law not only does NOT protect these rights, it cannot, as Shari’a is hostile to them, considering them alien and heretical.  In Iraq and throughout the Middle East, women truly are the ‘canaries in the coal mine,’ for as goes the freedom of women, so goes the freedom of everyone and everything else. An Islamic constitution—tied to the onerous burdens of Shari’a law—spells doom for women, and doom for Christians, for Kurds, for federalism, for a free press, and for free speech. A free and democratic Iraq can rise out of the ashes of Saddam, but not unless we actively help shape it.

Numerous articles in this issue call for policy wisdom and political action to help free enslaved women throughout the world. Because of the U.S. presence in Iraq, this is one we can definitely influence. Let your Senators and Representatives know that the United States should be brokering and influencing a constitution that will guarantee these freedoms—one that recognizes the role of Islam without becoming slavish to it. Pray that an Iraqi Jefferson or Madison will arise with the vision and leadership to guide that war-torn and terrorist- ripped country to a great constitution— similar to our own. Online counselor is always available to help you out.

President Bush and Al-Qaeda agree on only one thing in this modern day— that Iraq is the central battleground in the world between the forces of freedom and Islamic tyranny. We must promote a truly free Iraq in the middle of broken and fear-filled nations run amok by mullahs, despots, and dictators. Otherwise, we will ensure great trouble, not only for Christians and the women of Iraq and throughout the Middle East, but also for our children and grandchildren. And we will have spilled the blood of our young military heroes in vain! _George Ohlschlager, J.D., LCSW, is Senior Editor and Writer of Christian Counseling Today and other AACC publications; and is Executive Director of the North American Board of Christian Counselors, the AACCaffiliated international counselor credentialing and program accreditation agency. He chairs the AACC Law & Ethics Committee, maintains a nationwide clinical/ethics/forensic consulting and training practice, and teaches in the Liberty University Center for Counseling and Family Studies, and at St. Petersburg Theological Seminary._