To the Victims of the Culture of Disgrace and Shame, Who Are Too Much Impressed by the Culture of the West
Published in September 25, 2017
Translated by: Ahmed Fathy
Introduction:
We have received this comment via email about our previous article on polygamy: (... You’ve written about the Quranic warning against following whims ... Yet, why can't you see, dear Dr. Mansour, that men who marry many wives while seeking sexual pleasure are following their whims?! The first wife is often oppressed and forced to accept her husband's polygamy when she has no money or too weak and have to care for her children and thus she cannot demand divorce! What do you think?! ...).
OUR REPLY:
Firstly: we have sent this shirt reply to the sender of the email message:
In our previous article, we mean to criticize those who reject polygamy in the Quran based on their whims that oppose polygamy in all cases; this is not allowed to Quran-believing people, as they have to believe in the whole Quranic text, not to reject parts of it and accept other parts. It is OK to practice polygamy or not to practice it, as it is never obligatory in Islam, but it is sinful (and following of whims/desires) not to accept the fact that God in the Quran allows polygamy for men in general as part of Quranic legislations, and you must admit the fact that polygamous men are never sinful for taking up more than one wife. Let us remember that justice is the supreme purpose of all Quranic legislations and it controls all legislative commands and rules in the Quran. Wives have the right to seek divorce and self-repudiation and the right to keep their marriages or to end them, while preserving all their rights, because they are weaker than husbands. Quranic sharia laws seek to make men avoid being unjust toward women; people of Arabia at the time provided no rights for women at all, and this goes on in the cursed Wahabi KSA. Let us remember that American women have not received their full rights except very recently.
Secondly: details addressed to those who are too much impressed by the culture of the West and deny/undermine/hate the Quranic sharia because of it:
1- The Talmud and the Old Testament in the Bible have laws and legislations that show how ancient men despised women very much; sadly Sunnite legislations are influenced a great deal by the Old Testament and the Talmud, especially in oppressing women and committing injustices against them. All this contradicts women's rights mentioned in the Quranic legislations, as the Quran is the only source of Islam.
2- The Quran was revealed in the dark Middle-Ages (in the 7th century A.D.) within Arabia, when the Ancient World was dominated by tyranny, injustice, and oppressive power, as the stronger military powers controlled weak peoples and nations, and men oppressed women who were treated and objectified as commodities or prizes. Many men at the time doubted the fact that women were human beings or have souls like men! This dominant culture spread in Europe in the Middle-Ages as well, before and after the Quran was revealed, until recently in the 20th century when the struggle for women's rights gained momentum in Europe. We urge and call those Arabs of today who are too much impressed by the culture of the West to research the following topics within the internet: (1) when people began to think of protecting rights of women in the West, and (2) when such rights have been granted to women in EU and the USA within the political, economic, social, and individual levels. They should bear in mind that rights of women in the Quran care to apply justice and equality between men and women; for more details, we refer readers to our book in English titled "Women's Right to Aspire to the Presidency of Any Islamic State" (found on this link: http://www.ahl-alquran.com/arabic/book_main.php?main_id=79).
Thirdly: the best thing is God's promise of rewarding men for protecting rights of women:
God has made us many promises in the Quran, including Paradise for monotheistic believers who perform good deeds (see 5:9), and other promises for early believers have been fulfilled (see 24:55, 8:26, and 30:6), and the promise made or the mother of Moses (see 38:13). Without using the word (promise), God tells us about rewards for those husbands who treat their wives kindly; this shows that God cares very much for women as they are weaker than men. Let us provide examples below.
1- God says in the Quran: "O you who believe! It is not permitted for you to inherit women against their will. And do not coerce them in order to take away some of what you had given them, unless they commit a proven adultery. And live with them in kindness. If you dislike them, it may be that you dislike something in which God has placed much good." (4:19). Some Arabs in Arabia at the time refused to give women their inheritance shares and refused also to allow them to marry men they like/love. Among oppressive demeanors at the time was not to give dowries to wives, and this is against the divine command to treat wives fairly and kindly, and God will provide (much good) to those husbands who treat their wives fairly and kindly as per 4:19, especially when these husbands dislike their wives.
2- Within the steps of trying to reconcile a husband and a wife, the last step is to allow society to interfere (e.g., within courts or the judicial authority): "If you fear a breach between the two, appoint an arbiter from his family and an arbiter from her family. If they wish to reconcile, God will bring them together. God is Knowledgeable, Expert." (4:35), and we infer here that God promises goodness for spouses who wish to reconcile by seeking arbitration.
3- God ordains justice toward wives who are abandoned by polygamous husbands who care only for their newer/other wives: "You will not be able to treat women with equal fairness, no matter how much you desire it. But do not be so biased as to leave another suspended. If you make amends, and act righteously-God is Forgiving and Merciful." (4:129) and separation/divorce is suggested if reconciliation and fairness are not reached, with the promise of goodness provided by God for both sides in case of separation: "And if they separate, God will enrich each from His abundance. God is Bounteous and Wise." (4:130). Of course, realistically, justice needed and required here is relative and not absolute, and to abandon one's wife because of being busy with other wives is unjust and unfair, making divorce a better solution for suspended wives, with the promise of God rewarding both sides abundantly after separation.
4- God mixes between promises (to coax and urge men to act justly) and warnings (to deter men against committing injustices) regarding rights of divorced wives who must remain in the husbands' houses for the three-month period, as per the Quranic Chapter 65; let us quote some of its verses below.
4/1: we want readers to ponder on the warning followed by the promise/urging by the end of this verse: " O Prophet! If any of you divorce women, divorce them during their period of purity, and calculate their term. And be pious before God, your Lord. And do not evict them from their homes, nor shall they leave, unless they have committed a proven adultery. These are the limits of God-whoever oversteps God's limits has wronged his own soul. You never know; God may afterwards bring about a new situation." (65:1).
4/2: In the very next verses of the same Chapter 65, we find warning against disbelieving in God and/or in the Last Day while urging/promising people of finding a way out of troubles: "Once they have reached their term, either retain them honorably, or separate from them honorably. And call to witness two just people from among you, and give upright testimony for God. By that is exhorted whoever believes in God and the Last Day. And whoever fears God-He will make a way out for him. And will provide for him from where he never expected. Whoever relies on God-He will suffice him. God will accomplish His purpose. God has set a measure to all things. As for those of your women who have reached menopause, if you have any doubts, their term shall be three months-and also for those who have not menstruated. As for those who are pregnant, their term shall be until they have delivered. Whoever fears God-He will make things easy for him. This is the ordinance of God, which He sent down to you. Whoever fears God-He will remit his sins, and will amplify his reward." (65:2-5).
4/3: And we read the following about God's commanding men to preserve rights of divorced women while promising to bring ease after hardship: "Allow them to reside where you reside, according to your means, and do not harass them in order to make things difficult for them. If they are pregnant, spend on them until they give birth. And if they nurse your infant, give them their payment. And conduct your relation in amity. But if you disagree, then let another woman nurse him. The wealthy shall spend according to his means; and he whose resources are restricted shall spend according to what God has given him. God never burdens a soul beyond what He has given it. God will bring ease after hardship." (65:6-7).
Lastly:
When we examine Quranic sharia laws/legislations horizontally and vertically, while focusing on rights of women in them (while bearing in mind that Arab women are mostly deprived of their rights, past and present), we notice the following points as God cares for rights of women/wives.
1- All Quranic verses containing legislations in the Quranic text are less than 200 verses that include legislative commands, legislative purposes, legislative rules, and legislative details.
2- Within these 200 verses of legislations, legislative details that explain other concise verses outnumber those that bring new rules concisely.
3- Most of the legislative details in the Quran are linked to women's rights: marriage, divorce, self-repudiation (Khole'), menstruation, three-month waiting periods, breastfeeding, marriage proposals, dowries, sex, inheritance shares, wills and testaments, reconciling spouses, types of women a man cannot marry, not to suspend wives, women marrying non-Muslims, etc. while ending most of these verses by mentioning the supreme legislative purpose in Islam; i.e., piety. For instance, let us read this verse about preserving the right of women to have sex with their husbands: "Your women are cultivation for you; so approach your cultivation whenever you like, and send ahead for yourselves. And fear God, and know that you will meet Him. And give good news to the believers." (2:223). We have tackled the sexual rights of women in Islam in some of our videos of our YouTube show titled "Quranic Moments" (for instance, please watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89itv_SWwA0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W_P2AhBaxc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdwtS9lGXYs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R---A6ofJY8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-LGCwv3y_Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DZjFaS0z0Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6tk5Bg-NCA).
4- God cares for women as He ordains severe penalty (i.e., flogging) in this world (and in the next world, in case of non-repentance) for those who (falsely and without proof) accuse women of being fornicators/adulteresses, whereas no penalty is provided for accusing men of being fornicators/adulterers: "Those who accuse chaste women, then cannot bring four witnesses, whip them eighty lashes, and do not ever accept their testimony. For these are the immoral. Except for those who repent afterwards, and reform; for God is Forgiving and Merciful." (24:4-5); "Those who slander honorable, innocent, believing women are cursed in this life and in the Hereafter. They will have a terrible torment. On the Day when their tongues, and their hands, and their feet will testify against them regarding what they used to do. On that Day, God will pay them their account in full, and they will know that God is the Evident Reality." (24:23-25). Thus, if you describe a man as a fornicator, there is no penalty for this unproved claim, while calling his mother as a fornicator means you have to provide four witnesses or be flogged 80 times.
5- Apart from special focus on women in Quranic sharia laws, women are included in verses addressing all believers, all people, all progeny of Adam, spouses, and parents, within equal footing with men; for instance, within verses of immigration and self-defense fighting in 2:190-194, excuses for not fasting in 2:184-185, jihad in 48:17, social relations in 24:61, moralistic pieces of advice in verses revealed in Mecca like 17:22-39, 25:63, 6:151-153, and 16:90-95 and verses revealed in Yathreb like 4:36, 2:44-46, 2:83, 2:109, 2:153, 2:177, and 2:261-274.
6- The Yathreb city-state of Muhammad was based on a pledge of allegiance sworn by male and female believers, as women were citizens who participated in the city-state equally like men: "O prophet! If believing women come to you, pledging allegiance to you, on condition that they will not associate anything with God, nor steal, nor commit adultery, nor kill their children, nor commit perjury as to parenthood, nor disobey you in anything righteous, accept their allegiance and ask God's forgiveness for them. God is Forgiving and Merciful." (60:12).
7- Women are included in the Quranic word "experts" that refer to those who special in certain fields and they serve the whole society (like civil servants now) for the benefit of all citizens, and their pieces of advice must be obeyed, as this Quranic word NEVER refers to tyrants or rulers at all: "O you who believe! Obey God and obey the Messenger and those experts in authority among you. And if you dispute over anything, refer it to God and the Messenger, if you believe in God and the Last Day. That is best, and a most excellent determination." (4:59).
8- In a nutshell, most of Quranic legislations focus on women and their social, political, and economic rights, in contrast to oppression of women in the 7th century Arabia. We hope that those who are too much impressed by the West culture to ponder deeply and reflect on these facts mentioned in this article you are reading now.
9- Real believers must take pride in the Quran: God's Word and His sharia that precede all modern-world man-made laws of the 20th and 21st centuries, as the Quran was revealed 14 centuries ago with such elevated, refined laws for the benefit of women. These Quranic laws are still being ignored and discarded; Arabs still need to believe in the Quran as the only discourse in Islam and to ponder it using its own terminology to seek the Truth, while researching its verses without biases or prejudices that lead some people to quote decontextualized (parts of) verses superficially while twisting their meanings.