Nearly two months ago I saw this movie-“The Stoning of Soraya M.”-  in the theater and it still haunts me. Every time I read on the internet about a young woman being killed by her Muslim relatives–or a widow receiving 40 lashes in Saudi Arabia for baking bread and giving it to a young man who was not a relative—or a mother in Egypt who has her children taken away because she was now Christian—it reminds me that in many Muslim countries today women are still treated the same as they were in the Middle Ages.

For my complete review of the movie follow this link. 

This is a true story and the movie is incredibly powerful and horrible all at the same time. Soraya was falsely accused of adultery by her husband in order to get her out of the way and marry a wealthy younger woman. The Mullah, the Mayor, and the main witness were all manipulated into supporting the accusation and execution by her evil husband. It isn’t till after the stoning that some begin to question their involvement in the process.

By the way, the portrayal of the stoning itself is far worse than I expected. To add to the horror, Soraya’s own father is chosen to cast the first stone, and worse yet her own children participate.

The movie exposes the lack of rights that women are still subjected to in some Muslim villages in many parts of the Middle East. Unfortunately stoning is also still going on in far too many places in the Muslim world.

While the movie is no longer in the theaters, I highly recommend getting hold of the DVD when it becomes available. It is an experience that you will not soon forget and gives you some insight into life in the Middle East—in this case a rural village in Iran.

For even a greater understanding of the Middle East-particularly of life in Afghanistan, I also highly recommend two books by  Khaled Hosseini:

-"A Thousand Splendid Suns"  and -"The Kite Runner"

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