A Dialogue with A 15-Year-Old Syrian Girl about Fasting, Mingling of Sexes, and the Veil
Published in May 24, 2018
Translated by: Ahmed Fathy
Introduction:
1- This is a message we have received via email from a great, outstanding Syrian girl; we reply to her message in this article to greet and honor her.
2- She writes the following (may God protect her): (... Dear Dr. Mansour, peace be with you, ... I am a 15-year-old Syrian girl who never believes in any earthly religions or doctrines; I consider myself as a Muslim who believes only in the Quran like you. I browse your great website of Quranism on a daily basis to read your useful articles and fatwas and some other articles by other Quranists. In fact, I have few questions that I hope to be permitted to put to you, and it will be much appreciated if you have the time and if you take the trouble of answering my questions ... I live now with my family in Lebanon because of the Syrian civil war. In the region where we live, there are no mosques and we know the time of the five prayers using applications within the cellular phones. Some articles I've read within your Quranism website adopt the view that the Ramadan fasting-day is extended until the Night Prayers and not the Sunset Prayers! Is that true? When I've talked to my parents about this possibility, they refused to listen to me and told me not to imitate the notions of the Shiites! Their illogical reasoning drove them to tell me that one of our pious ancestors who recited the Quran all the time for 8 decades could never have misunderstood the meaning of this Quranic phrase in this verse: "...Then complete the fast until nightfall..." (2:187). Hence, I'm forced now to break the fast with my family after the Sunset Prayers and not the Night Prayers, the time which, I think, is the right understanding of the phrase in 2:187 to break the fast during Ramadan. Is this OK or not? What do you think? This is my first question ... My second question is the biggest one; how would I convince my family members that Quranism is the Only True Islam? They never pay attention to what I say about refuting the earthly Sunnite religion and showing how its notions/tenets contradict the Quran ... My mother, for instance, refuses to believe what I say about overpraising the Prophet as a form of polytheistic deification of him and that she should stop that; she refuses to believe what I say about not to recite the Quranic verses on my bed to 'bless' it; she thinks I must do this before I sleep so that devils (or incubuses!) would not 'sleep' with me during my slumber! I told her this is pure mythology which has nothing to do with Islam, but she simply would not hear me! What am I to do?! ... The third question is a tough one: my mother insists that I must wear the veil (i.e., hijab or headscarf) which I hate; she begins to pressurize me now and I tried in vain to tell her that covering my hair is never part of Islam at all. Sadly, I have to wear the silly headscarf when members of my mother's family would come to visit us at home. I told my mother that I will never wear the veil at all and that I insist on this; I told her clearly that my stance will never change, but she is very angry with me! My father, though he follows the Sunnite religion, is supporting me because he hates the veil and he told me I do not have to wear it as long as I wear clothes with long sleeves and covering my legs as per the modesty/decency regarding dress codes for women which dominate where we live now. I can easily refute, using Qurnaism, all their Sunnite notions which control their lives, but in most cases, I remain silent (if the matter is not related to me) so as not to be harmed or pressurized into doing things that go against my Quranist beliefs; I suffered a lot from my family because of questioning the veil and the duration of fasting ... The fourth question is as follows: what is your view about mingling of the sexes inside schools, workplaces, clubs, and universities? Is it OK within mutual respect? ... Lastly, I have this request to make: I'd like to have an account on your great website so that I can write comments, or is this not possible because I'm too young? I tried to register my personal data to make an account but I failed to do so; I later on knew that such accounts must be created by you and/or by the supervisor of your website ... Thank you in advance. Yours,...).
Our reply to our dear Syrian daughter (may God protect her):
Firstly:
1- We send our greetings to your parents because they have begotten a great young woman like you; we can hardly believe that a 15-year-old girl has such a high awareness. Your knowledge of Islam exceeds the sheikhs/cattle of clergymen in countless websites, centers, institutions, and mosques.
2- You, our dear Syrian daughter, are a great source of honor to your parents, family, and to dear Syria. We have no doubt that the great Syrian nation is filled with the likes of you who are punished for no reason though they are guiltless – may God curse the armed unjust ones who have destroyed Syria.
3- Every real, peace-loving believer and every advocate of human rights have the right to curse Bashar Al-Assad and those who support him and those who fight against him as well; all such unjust parties have caused the current plight to you and your family and to millions of Syrians. It is your primary right to live in your beloved homeland Syria within safety along with your fellow Syrian citizens while enjoying political and religious freedom and the human rights mentioned in the Quran: equality, justice, etc.
Secondly:
1- God's mercy in Islam (i.e., the Quran) is manifested in the main Quranic value of facilitation and ease regarding acts of worship.
1/1: God has made the times of prayers approximate and relative, not specified as per the minutes and seconds. There were no cellular phones, clocks or wrist watches at the time of Muhammad. It was known at the time that Dawn Prayers' time is with the first rays of light: "It is He Who breaks the dawn. And He made the night for rest, and the sun and the moon for calculation. Such is the disposition of the Almighty, the All-Knowing." (6:96). It was known at the time that Noon Prayers' time is when the sun disc is at the middle of the sky horizon. It was known at the time that Afternoon Prayers' time is when the sun disc is at the middle of the second course towards the sunset. It was known at the time that Sunset Prayers' time is when the sun disc disappears; this is the beginning of night. This is when fasting-day of Ramadan ends; i.e., at the Sunset Prayers' time and NOT at the Night Prayers' time as some might assume.
1/2: That the Planet Earth revolves around its axis causes the succession of night and day, expressed here: "That is because God merges the night into the day, and He merges the day into the night, and because God is Hearing and Seeing." (22:61). This merging means that darkness of night and light of day come gradually; this is why timings of prayers differ from one region to another worldwide. Please ponder on these verses: "...The night overtakes the day, as it pursues it persistently..." (7:54); "...nor is the night to outpace the day..." (36:40); "Another sign for them is the night: We strip the day out of it-and they are in darkness." (36:37).
1/3: Therefore, darkness of the night begins gradually and slowly; the time to break the fast is at Sunset Prayers' time that mark the beginning of the night. Please ponder on these verses: "And the night as it retreats. And the morning as it lights up." (74:33-34); "And by the night as it recedes. And by the morn as it breathes." (81:17-18); "By the night as it covers. And the day as it reveals." (92:1-2).
1/4: This also shows that the time which marks the beginning of the fasting-day of Ramadan is the Dawn Prayers' time as this is the beginning of the rays of daylight: "...And eat and drink until the white streak of dawn can be distinguished from the black streak. Then complete the fast until nightfall..." (2:187). We urge you to read our book about fasting; people at the European North or Scandinavia whose day is about 20-22 hours per day and whose day is merely two hours may either fast, if they can, or they may not fast if they cannot, while observing piety and donating money (or food) to the poor for every missed day of fasting during Ramadan.
1/5: The same idea of relative timing of prayers applies to when to perform them: one can perform the Noon Prayers anytime from the moment when the sun disc is at the middle of the sky until the Afternoon Prayers' time when the sun disc is at middle of the course to sunset. One can calculate timings of prayers easily without clocks and wrist watches and cellular phones. One must can calculate such timings in a relative manner when the sun is not apparent in the sky within any weather conditions all day long. Facilitation and ease are the main features of Islamic acts of worship. What is of paramount importance is to observe and attain piety within prayers and keep up the piety within one's deeds all day long; one is not to focus on apparent movements of prayers like hypocrites among the Muhammadans who adhere to thousands of silly items as per their fiqh books. God never accepts their prayers and their hypocritical fasting; i.e., their fasting is mere hunger without piety.
Thirdly: we assert the following to our dear Syrian daughter:
1- Your acts of worship within piety are between you and God; no one around you should ever interfere: all acts of worship aim at achieving piety within the fear of the Lord God: "O people! Worship your Lord who created you and those before you, that you may attain piety." (2:21); "O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become pious." (2:183); "The Hajj is during specific months. Whoever decides to perform the Hajj - there shall be no sexual relations, nor misconduct, nor quarrelling during the Hajj. And whatever good you do, God knows it. And take provisions, but the best provision is righteousness. And be mindful of Me, O people of understanding." (2:197); "Recite what is revealed to you of the Scripture, and perform the prayer. The prayer prevents indecencies and evils. And the remembrance of God is greater. And God knows what you do." (29:45). The Muhammadans have wasted and lost piety and their acts of worship are means/justifications for disobedience and committing more sins, because they never fear the Dominant Lord God within piety. In fact, the Muhammadans are now the worst Umma/nation among all humanity.
2- We urge you, our dear daughter, not to argue with your family members; it is of no use; they will not accept your words/stances because of your young age and because they cling to notions/tenets inherited from their forefathers; they prefer to follow the footsteps of their ancestors, and this stance is strongly disapproved by God in the Quran.
3- There is nothing in Islam that says that women must cover their head-hair; we urge you to watch our subtitled-into-English episodes of "Exposing Salafism" about this topic. As per 24:31, a Muslim woman should cover her chest/breasts, and to cover her legs as per 33:59; nothing is mentioned about her arms, head, face, or hair. The term veil/screen in the Quran means a wall or a curtain and never a dress code at all. It is a grave sin to consider hijab and/or niqab as part of Islam; one must never ascribe lies and falsehoods to God and to His Religion. It is OK that you observe decency in dress codes as per the location of your current residence; if your mother forced you to wear the veil, be rest assured that you are guiltless since you know it is not part of Islam and because you will not do it willingly; God punishes those who intentionally commit sins: "...There is no blame on you if you err therein, barring what your hearts premeditates. God is Forgiving and Merciful." (33:5). We refer you to our article in English titled "They ask you about the veil" (http://www.ahl-alquran.com/English/show_article.php?main_id=5892). We urge you to read out articles about our predicting the destruction of Syria, Libya, and Yemen.
4- Mingling between the sexes is never prohibited in Islam; the Quranic sharia laws and commands are addressing both men and women who mingled in society: "Muslim men and Muslim women, believing men and believing women, obedient men and obedient women, truthful men and truthful women, patient men and patient women, humble men and humble women, charitable men and charitable women, fasting men and fasting women, men who guard their chastity and women who guard, men who remember God frequently and women who remember - God has prepared for them a pardon, and an immense reward." (33:35). In Yathreb, women and men prayed together in the mosque and inside their houses; mingling was also practiced in markets and Shura councils (see 24:62-64). Men and women in Yathreb mingled in the streets to urge goodness and advise against sin and vice: "The believing men and believing women are friends of one another. They advocate virtue, forbid evil, perform the prayers, practice charity, and obey God and His Messenger. These-God will have mercy on them. God is Noble and Wise. God promises the believers, men and women, gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein forever, and fine homes in the Gardens of Eden. But approval from God is even greater. That is the supreme achievement." (9:71-72). In fact, segregation of sexes and the veil (hijab and niqab) negatively influences the moralistic levels of women; the veil is an insult to women; it has nothing to do with Islam. It is hypocritical and degrading to consider women as things/items or commodities to be covered from head to toe or to be covered as symbols of sin and temptation; the black niqab makes them look like rubbish bags or moving dustbin bags! Segregation of sexes by extremist Sunnites paves the way for corruption, moral degeneration, and promiscuity or illicit/forbidden sex (i.e., fornication, rape, etc.).
5- We have written this reply to you using our academic style because you are a cultured, brainy young woman with high awareness and because you adhere to monotheism (i.e., Qurnaism: True Islam). This is the type of mentality which we welcome within our Qurnaism website; we take pride in your joining us as a Quranist writer; you are indeed a very dear daughter to our person. Please send your personal data (prename, surname, country/city of birth, country/city of residence, cultural background, education, etc.) via email and the supervisor of our website, Dr. Othman M. Ali, will create an account with a password to you.
6- May the Almighty Lord God protect you from all types of harm.