Hi Benbradley, i said i'll ill response to this and missed it. Some links below which show textually no one can be forced to marry.
http://discover-the-truth.com/2013/12/15/islam-on-forced-marriages/
Abusing children:
http://seekersguidance.org/ans-blog/2010/08/17/explaining-a-hadith-on-disciplining-children/
Beating wife:
http://www.islamicfinder.org/articles/article.php?id=307
You need to note that we are in a culture at present where speaking without respect to elders and parents is not an issue. Not even 30 years ago the concept of raising a hand in aggression (without even hitting) by a person was seen as a severe reprimand. Many years ago the concept of raising the voice voice harsh enough to be seen as a severe reprimand. Using to hit so lightly as to not leave a mark hardly constitutes a beating.
2nd class status of women - maybe in indonesia having a female president would end that speculation.
http://www.realislam.com/muslim_women.htm
Child marriages - look thru my posts in this thread and this topic has been covered to death.
at the question for me is where do you get you islamic knowledge from? Jave you cross checked it? So if someone says something about your mother, do you just accept it? No you will verify and cross check and go to the source. I follow the traditional Islam, the one that the majority follow. Unfortunately, in australia traditional scholars are a minority as the islamic community is relatively new and has seen a heavy influence of wahabism.
