We've been following this with alarm and horror. In the past I've had to take hubster to task about his fondness for debating various issues of the religion with his Muslim work colleagues. He's been very lucky not to have been thrown out of several countries (or worse) because of arguing certain points with them that he thought were unworkable or unjust.
We often despair at the way the Koran and what Mohammed (*PBUH) is reputed to have said is interpreted. Very often it's not what has been laid down, but how man twists it to suit his own purposes. It's all so contradictory and one can pick enormous holes in the religion.
Why are they so strict about alcohol when the locals are plastered all over the hotel bars? Oman isn't quite so bad, but in places like Kuwait where it's a very serious offence to be caught with alcohol, the locals will find a way to get it or they will take a trip out of the country, maybe to Bahrain (which is almost next door) where alcohol is freely available in hotels. It's the same with the Saudis who beat a track across the causeway into Bahrain on weekends to binge drink. There's no consistency in the Muslim religion at all throughout the world. What goes in one country is a hanging offence in another. You'd think, if Muslims stuck strictly to what the Koran says and what was laid down by Mohammed (PBUH), as they all swear they do, they would all follow the same rules. After all, we're continually told that the Koran is their guidebook for living and they need nothing else.
And Kokopeli is quite right - nearly every man out here has Mohammed (PBUH)somewhere in his name.
We may have just been evicted from our home, so I hope we don't find we're also slung out of the country as well for daring to write this.
I just hope this poor woman can find some peace soon. These people whip themselves up fanatically and there's no reasoning with them.
*PBUH = Praise be upon him, which immediately follows any written reference to Mohammed here. I thought I'd better insert it in case I, too, end up in a similar plight. They often monitor what we're doing on the Net, especially our emails.