Friday, January 26, 2007

What Islam Means to Women, Part 3

Protection and standing before God and man


Two more areas of  great divide between Islam and Christianity relevant to the standing of women are:
  1. Protection of a woman’s right to say no 
  2. The overall presumption of the inherent competence of a woman. 
Most do not realize that Muhammad actually promoted slavery... especially sexual slavery.  Christianity restricted it and eventually rejected it.  Muhammad promoted it.   For Christians to “force” slaves into fornication is repulsive to the entire concept of Christian respect for their fellow man… Muslims, on the other hand, have kept much of this alive in their part of the world. Here the mob traffics in women. Note the vastly differing mindset of Islam:
“Also (forbidden are) women already married, except those (captives and slaves) whom your right hands possess. Thus has Allah ordained for you." [Koran Surah 4:24]

Note straight from the Koran, that it is not:  1) Rape, 2) Adultery, or even 3) Fornication to force your attentions on either captives or slaves!  Read on…..
"Yahya related to me from Malik from Damra ibn Said al-Mazini from al-Hajjaj ibn Amr ibn Ghaziya that he was sitting with Zayd ibn Thabit when Ibn Fahd came to him. He was from the Yemen. He said, “Abu Said! I have slave-girls. None of the wives in my keep are more pleasing to me than them, and not all of them please me so much that I want a child by them, shall I then _adist_e coitus interruptus?” Zayd ibn Thabit said, “Give an opinion, Hajjaj!” “I said, ‘May Allah forgive you! We sit with you in order to learn from you!’ He said, ‘Give an opinion! ‘I said, ‘She is your field, if you wish, water it, and if you wish, leave it thirsty. I heard that from Zayd.’ Zayd said, ‘He has spoken the truth.’" [Book 29, Number 29.32.99:]



"Yahya related to me from Malik from Humayd ibn Qays al-Makki that a man called Dhafif said that Ibn Abbas was asked about coitus interruptus. He called a slave-girl of his and sid, “Tell them.” She was embarrassed. He said, “It is alright, and I do it myself.”
Malik said, “A man does not _adist_e coitus interruptus with a free woman unless she gives her permission. There is no harm in _adist_e_g coitus interruptus with a slave-girl without her permission. Someone who has someone else’s slave-girl as a wife, does not _adist_e coitus interruptus with her unless her people give him permission.” [Book 29, Number 29.32.100:]

Look closely at the conclusion of the second quote.  If you wish to engage in sexual activity with a slave does she have to give her permission?  _________ What if she is not YOUR slave?  ________
Would it be fair to say that there is justification for saying that within Islam you can trade off women with or without THEIR permission? _____________________
 
 
How do modern Muslims explain this?   
There is a pro-Muslim website out of South Africa that selectively answers questions called, “Ask an Imam.”  They received this question from America: “Is having a Slave (girl) for sex now days is allowed?”

The answer given: 

“It may, superficially, appear distasteful to copulate with a woman who is not a man's legal wife, but once Shariat makes something lawful, we have to accept it as lawful, whether it appeals to our taste, or not; and whether we know its underlying wisdom or not. It is necessary for a Muslim to be acquainted with the laws of Shariat, but it is not necessary for him to delve into each law in order to find the underlying wisdom of these laws because knowledge of the wisdom of some of the laws may be beyond his puny comprehension. Allah Ta'ala has said in the Holy Quran: “Wa maa ooteetum min al-ilm illaa qaleelan” which means, more or less, that, "You have been given a very small portion of knowledge”. Hence, if a person fails to comprehend the underlying wisdom of any law of Shariat, he cannot regard it as a fault of Shariat (Allah forbid), on the contrary, it is the fault of his own perception and lack of understanding, because no law of Shariat is contradictory to wisdom. “   [source: Darul Iftah, Madrash In’aamiyyah,  Caperdown, South Africa]

“In other words, just as legal possession of a fish that has been fished out of the water, makes it Halaal for human consumption without the initiation of a formal slaughtering process; similarly legal possession of a slave woman made her Halaal for the purpose of coition with her owner without the initiation of a formal marriage ceremony.
In short, permission to have intercourse with a slave woman was not something barbaric or uncivilized; on the contrary, it was almost as good as a marriage ceremony. In fact, possession of a slave woman resembles a marriage ceremony in many ways and both have a lot in common with each other.” [ibid]
“One question that still remains is whether slavery still legally prevails anywhere in the Islamic world and whether it can be successfully implemented in this age. Well, there is no prevalence of lawful slavery in the Islamic world today and it would be difficult to implement it because of the stringent conditions attached to it. Firstly, the prisoners have to be captured in 'Jihaad' in the true sense of the word.”  [ibid]
  
Let’s take one example directly from Muhammad:
 

 “The Prophet offered the Fajr Prayer near Khaibar when it was still dark and then said, “Allahu-Akbar! Khaibar is destroyed, for whenever we approach a (hostile) nation (to fight), then evil will be the morning for those who have been warned.” Then the inhabitants of Khaibar came out running on the roads. The Prophet had their warriors killed, their offspring and woman taken as captives. Safiya was amongst the captives. She first came in the share of Dahya Alkali but later on she belonged to the Prophet . The Prophet made her manumission as her ‘Mahr.’”     [Sahih Bukhari, Volume 5, Book 59, Number 512:   Narrated Anas]

Safiya (apparently an incredibly beautiful woman) was married to Muhammad as soon as her menstrual cycle was ended…  Like most of Islam, you have to search to put this together.  Unlike the gospels of the Bible, a narrative of the life of Muhammad is not put together under “inspiration”… Ibn Ishaq  eventually created the earliest known Muslim biography of Muhammad.  Here is the other side of Safiya’s story, the plight of her husband:

“Kinana, the husband of Safiya, had been guardian of the tribe’s treasures, and he was brought before the apostle, who asked where they were hidden. But Kinana refused to disclose the place. Then a Jew came who said, ‘I have seen Kinana walk around a certain ruin every morning.’ The apostle asked Kinana, ‘Art thou prepared to die if we find thou knewest where the treasure was?’ And he replied, ‘Yes.’ So the apostle ordered the ruin to be dug up, and some of the treasure was found. After that Kinana was asked again about the remainder, but he still refused to tell. The apostle of Allah handed him over to al-Zubayr, saying, ‘Torture him until he tells what he knows’, and al-Zubayr kindled a fire on his chest so that he almost expired; then the apostle gave him to Muhammad b. Maslama, who struck off his head.”  [From Ibn Ishaq’s biography of Muhammad]

This makes the Abu Ghraib prison incident look pretty tame doesn’t it? So, you can capture a family in conquest, torture the man to death over treasure and take his greatest treasure (his wife) for your own.  Note the handing off of the girl here also.  She was originally in Dahya’s share… but she was too pretty...  Muhammad got first dibbs…

Compare this restriction from the Old Testament.   Note this is from about 1700 BC.  The passage above is a massive step back from the protection offered through Moses as seen below.
 

Exodus 21:
7.  If a man sells his daughter as a female slave, she is not to go free as the male slaves do.
 8.  If she is displeasing in the eyes of her master who designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He does not have authority to sell her to a foreign people because of his unfairness to her.
 9.  If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters.
10.  If he takes to himself another woman, he may not reduce her food, her clothing, or her conjugal rights."

I have often wondered at why God allowed the institution of slavery to exist.  I suppose it was maybe to demonstrate the depravity of man.  Man sinned in the garden and from there the pain of sin drug the human race into depravity. “But they will become his slaves so that they may learn {the difference between} My service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.” (II Chronicles 12: 8) They reached an all time low in the time of Noah when He destroyed the world.  Then God began methodically to lead men out of what can only be described as a sorry state of affairs.

Near the end of the Old Testament times, God strongly reigned in this depravity relevant to Marriage.

Malachi 2:

13.  “This is another thing you do: you cover the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping and with groaning, because He no longer regards the offering or accepts {it with} favor from your hand.
 14.  Yet you say, ‘For what reason?’ Because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.
 15.  But not one has done {so} who has a remnant of the Spirit. And what did {that} one {do} while he was seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth.
 16.  "For I hate divorce,” says the LORD, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with wrong,” says the LORD of hosts. “So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.”
 17.  You have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied {Him?}” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and He delights in them,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”"

    Four hundred years before Jesus, the woman is described in no uncertain terms as a companion.  This is how she had began in the garden of Eden.  Now she was back to where she belonged.  God was refusing to acknowledge these men because they were not dealing properly with their companion.  Older men dumping the wives of their youth and going for younger women.  Sounds familiar doesn’t it?  In worldly circles it is done.  Within Christian circles it is hypocrisy.  Within Islam it is a right!

    You might note what we have already studied… the man’s prayers and relationship with God is destroyed by abusing his wife. This was instituted 400 years prior to Jesus.  Jesus would elevate the status of women even further in His ministry.  A woman not only is a human being but a fellow heir.  This is all lost to those in Islam; Muhammad took his slice of humanity 2000 years backward to a time before Moses.

'Omar [one of the Khalifs] was once talking when his wife interjected, so he said to her: 'You are a toy, if you are needed we will call you.'“ [Al-Musanaf by Abu Bakr Ahmad Ibn 'Abd Allah Ibn Mousa Al-Kanadi who lived 557H., Vol. 1 Part 2, p. 263. See also Ihy'a 'Uloum ed-Din by Ghazali, Dar al- Kotob al-'Elmeyah, Beirut, Vol II, Kitab Adab al-Nikah, p. 52]

Muhammad said: "A woman is a toy, whoever takes her let him care for her (or do not lose her). [Tuffaha, Ahmad Zaky, AL-MAR'AH WAL- ISLAM, Dar al-Kitab al-Lubnani, Beirut, first edition, 1985, p. 180]

*NEXT: Part 4... read a survey of the lack of a woman’s intelligence
and Muhammad’s vision of hell mostly filled with women. *




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