No Dating, No Context

Zain Shauk writes: In describing a Muslim father’s concerns about his daughters’ virtue, Robert King of the Indianapolis Star writes, “the Abdur-Rahmans have not hesitated to apply some of the more restrictive aspects of Muslim life to their kids: No dating. No interactions with the opposite gender unless closely supervised by an adult.” What an alien idea. So conservative Muslims are so much more extreme and restrictive than orthodox Jews and much of the Christian Right? King’s description of “some of the more restrictive aspects of Muslim life” seems a little distant and leaves room for unfair generalizations. Without drawing comparisons to make this conservative Muslim perspective more relatable to the average reader in Indiana, the description makes Abdur-Rahman’s and Muslim beliefs in general out to be more foreign than they are.

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