The man has absolute power over his wives and children. The men in turn are ruled by the imam, the rector of the local mosque. No matter how peaceful a man's character may be, if his imam incites him from the pulpit to kill non-Muslims, he will do it, believing that it is God's will and therefore justified, even praiseworthy. The ruler of an Islamic state is always one man. If there is a woman prime minister she does not have the real power.
Elections are either non-existent or a foreboding of disaster, as in the case of Algeria and Turkey.
Enlightened rulers such'- as King Hassan, King Hussein or President Mubarak, is the best Islam can hope for. God forbid that Islam should ever come back to Europe. Some classical works on mathematics and medicine were translated into Arabic. Much fanfare is made about that, but it is forgotten that the essence of Greek science is development, not slavish copying. In Europe, science has developed, whereas in the Middle East it stagnated.