“As for the principle of equality regarding rights and duties among the citizens of democracies, this makes for a number of situations—all of them blasphemous.9 We have indicated these before, and among them are: A. No limit to apostasy [which, under sharia law, earns the death penalty], since the Constitution declares freedom of religion; likewise abolition of jihad against the apostates. B. Abolition of jihad in the way of Allah—that is, [Offensive] Jihad against infidelity and blasphemy—since the Constitution has established freedom of religion. C. Abolition of the jizya and the dhimmi conditions applied to those who are not Muslim—since there is no difference between citizens, due to the fissure created by the premise of equality, rights, and obligations. D. Abolition of man’s dominion over woman. The Most High said: ‘Men have authority over women, for Allah has made the one superior to the other’ [4:34]. But in a democracy, women have the right to emulate the dignity and legal status of men. Such are the fruits of ‘equality’—the essence of democracy: for man’s domination over woman contradicts the concept of equality. Like we said, the principles of democracy confront the commands of the sharia in direct opposition.”Raymond Ibrahim, trans., The Al-Qaeda Reader (New York: Doubleday, 2007), 135.