Mini-Mother of all Main Stream Mendacity

If Syl's suggestion, in the post below, that the MSM is retaining its influence through its web sites, is correct, then the latest story I have come across (ht: Lawrence Auster) of the Media's disconnection from reality and honesty is all the more scary. Writer Patrick Poole posts on how his hometown paper, the Columbus Dispatch, has painted him as some kind of white supremacist for Poole's revealing the operations of a local Muslim cleric and school to be sympathetic to Jihadist activities. Poole shows in detail how the Dispatch and local liberal protestant clergy are complicit in a cover-up or denial of the fact that Muslim leaders in their town are engaged in hate mongering.

Yet, having grown somewhat inured to MSM mendacity, what I found most interesting about the post was Poole's link to a site where you can read the cleric, Dr. Salah Sultan's, fatwas. Poole takes the local feminists to task for defending a man who is capable, for example, of giving some not-too-equalitarian advice to an American woman who asks this:

I was married before and have three children from that marriage. Unfortunately, it ended in divorce. I married my new husband in the USA in a civil ceremony. I became a Muslim after marrying almost immediately. We have been married by nikah. My husband is from Egypt and he is very close to his family and I respect all his wishes not to hurt them. He has never told them that he is married to me for 7 years now. I was told they would never accept me because I have children from a previous marriage. When we first got married, I told him it would be very difficult to get pregnant but not impossible. He told me at that time he did not care.

Now to my problem! As I have said before his family knows nothing of me. However, I just found out that he got married in his country this past summer and his new wife is now pregnant with their child. He never discussed this with me. I am very upset. I cannot discuss this with anyone. I understand that a husband can take more than one wife. Should he have not asked for my permission? We have no intentions of divorcing but I feel that I was lied to. I would have understood and accepted it more if he had confided in me. In addition, should not his new wife be entitled to know that he has a wife here in the United States? He has no plans of ever telling his family about us. Please help me! How do I get over the feelings of betrayal? How can I trust him again?

Sultan Responds:

[...]: 1. It is the right of the Muslim husband to get married to another woman. Seeking the permission of the first wife is not mandatory, but it is highly recommended because of the harmony and unity of the family Islam is keen to preserve[...]
2. It is your right that your relationship with your husband be frank and transparent. He should have not kept the marriage secret from his family and his second wife. If his second wife got to know about this, that would be more problematic.
3. I advise you to reconcile your difference with your husband and have him tell you honestly what he intends to do. Feeling sad or that you were lied to or betrayed will only add to your sufferings.
4. If your husband still wishes to keep you, then I advise you to get pregnant as soon as possible as children give a different taste of marriage and strengthen the relationship between spouses.

May Allah help you through your troubles.

You can also read: Going for Second Marriage: Do I Need Wife’s Permission?

With apologies for my title...