Rep. John Bennett, Oklahoma, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Islamophobia, Racism, KOLUMN Magazine, KOLUMN

Before Agreeing to Meet, Oklahoma Lawmaker Asks Muslims, “Do You Beat Your Wife?” – Slate

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Before Agreeing to Meet, Oklahoma Lawmaker Asks Muslims, “Do You Beat Your Wife?” – Slate

Republican state Rep. John Bennett from Oklahoma is no stranger to uttering Islamophobic statements. But if any of his Muslim constituents want to meet with him they must first answer several written questions, including, “Do you beat your wife?” That’s what a group of students discovered when they went to Bennett’s office last week and were handed the questionnaire.
The questions included:

  • The Koran, the sunna of Mohammed and Sharia Law of all schools say that the husband can beat his wife. Do you beat your wife?
  • I have heard that, according to accepted Islamic sources, Mohammed, at age of 49, married a 6-year-old girl, and that he had sex with her when he was 52 and she was only 9 years old. Is that really true?
  • Sharia law says that it must rule over the kafirs, the non-Muslims. Do you agree with this?

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Rep. John Bennett, Oklahoma, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Islamophobia, Racism, KOLUMN Magazine, KOLUMN

Rep. John Bennett, Oklahoma, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Islamophobia, Racism, KOLUMN Magazine, KOLUMN

Rep. John Bennett, Oklahoma, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Islamophobia, Racism, KOLUMN Magazine, KOLUMN


Oklahoma is the 20th-most extensive and the 28th-most populous of the 50 United States. The state’s name is derived from the Choctaw words okla and humma, meaning “red people”. It is also known informally by its nickname, The Sooner State, in reference to the non-Native settlers who staked their claims on the choicest pieces of land before the official opening date, and the Indian Appropriations Act of 1889, which opened the door for white settlement in America’s Indian Territory. The name was settled upon statehood, Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory were merged and Indian was dropped from the name. On November 16, 1907, Oklahoma became the 46th state to enter the union. Its residents are known as Oklahomans, or informally “Okies”, and its capital and largest city is Oklahoma City. (Wikipedia).