Islam for Women

Practices according the Hadith’s  vs. teaching in the Quran 

 Pakistan deal enshrines sharia law 

Quote:  “As retaliation for the military presence, the Taliban carried out a series of deadly attacks, beheadings and destruction of girls’ schools. They also continued to gain ground, setting up checkpoints throughout the area.”

No matter what the reason for the confrontation in Northern Pakistan is, there is no justification for attacking Girl’s Schools. The Taliban (extreme Wahhabi branch of Islam and Taleban) object them as un-Islamic although education and gathering knowledge (even from “as far as from China”) is one of the most important duties for both sexes in Islam.

 “And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his punishment is hell; he shall abide in it, and God will send His wrath on him and curse him and prepare for him a painful chastisement. (Q.4:93)

“And do not kill any You shall not kill any person - for God has made life sacred - except in the course of justice, and whoever is slain unjustly, We have indeed given to his heir authority, so let him not exceed the just limits in slaying; surely he is aided.” (Q.17:33)

“…… You shall not kill - God has made life sacred - except in the course of justice. These are His commandments to you, that you may understand.” (Q.6:151)

“The true servants of The Merciful are they who walk gently on Earth, and who, when the foolish address them, reply with (words of) peace.” (Quran 25:63)

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On woman rights Qur’an gives also women a substantial role in choosing their own life partners:

 “Do not prevent them from marrying their husbands when they agree between themselves in a lawful manner.” (Q.2:232)

According to the Qur’an, the accusation (of unchastity) must be proven by four eyewitnesses, a practical impossibility. Even then a death penalty is not ordered in the Qur’an. The occasional stoning to death as punishment for adultery is a an ancient tradition also in the pre-Christian era as mentioned in the Bible. An unjustified accusation is a grave sin:

“Surely those who accuse chaste believing women, unaware (of the evil), are cursed in this world and hereafter, and they shall have a grievous chastisement.” (Qur’an 24:23)

“And those who speak evil things of the believing men and the believing women without their having earned (it), they are guilty indeed of a false accusation and a manifest sin.” (Q. 33:58)

Q.4:15 “And as for those who are guilty of an indecency from among your women, call to witnesses against them four (witnesses) from among you; then if they bear witness confine them to the houses until death comes close to them or God opens some way for them.”

The logical conclusion from these Verses of the Holy Quran is that a harsh punishment is not advised,  but immorally behaving woman should be kept at home or  until God shows a solution for the  situation.  The stoning of women  IS  NOT  mentioned in the Quran  but it was quite common in the pre-Islamic Middle East, as it was at the time of Jesus, a Prophet to Muslims, too.    Quoting the Bible, John 8:1-3  “If any of you have not committed a sin you can throw the first stone at her.”

Yesterday we celebrated the International Woman’s Day.

The following news article, once again, one cannot read without wondering and getting really upset. This is NOT  Islam!

Saudis order 40 lashes for elderly woman for mingling

(CNN) — A Saudi Arabian court has sentenced a 75-year-old Syrian woman to 40 lashes, four months imprisonment and deportation from the kingdom for having two unrelated men in her house, according to local media reports.

According to the Saudi daily newspaper Al-Watan, troubles for the woman, Khamisa Mohammed Sawadi, began last year when a member of the religious police entered her house in the city of Al-Chamli and found her with two unrelated men, “Fahd” and “Hadian.”

Fahd told the policeman he had the right to be there, because Sawadi had breast-fed him as a baby and was therefore considered to be a son to her in Islam, according to Al-Watan. Fahd, 24, added that his friend Hadian was escorting him as he delivered bread for the elderly woman. The policeman then arrested both men.

Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam called Wahhabism  and punishes unrelated men and women who are caught mingling.

The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, feared by many Saudis, is made up of several thousand religious policemen charged with duties such as enforcing dress codes, prayer times and segregation of the sexes. Under Saudi law, women face many restrictions, including a strict dress code and a ban on driving. Women also need to have a man’s permission to travel.

Al Watan obtained the court’s verdict and reported it was partly based on the testimony of the religious police. In his ruling, the judge said it was proved that Fahd is not Sawadi’s son through breastfeeding.

The court also doled out punishment to the two men. Fahd was sentenced to four months in prison and 40 lashes; Hadian was sentenced to six months in prison and 60 lashes. In a phone call with Al Watan, the judge declined to comment and suggested the newspaper review the case with the Ministry of Justice. Sawadi told the newspaper that she will appeal, adding that Fahd is indeed her son through breastfeeding…

Please read on the right Panel also my other topics, like Women and Islam.

In Islam there is a punishment for adultery which must be witnessed by four people, a practical impossibility. But even then it is not a death penalty, or corporal punishment:

“And as for those who are guilty of an indecency from among your women, call to witnesses against them four (witnesses) from among you; then if they bear witness confine them to the houses until death comes close to them or God opens some way for them.” (Q.4:15)

The punishment by flogging comes from the Hadith’s  and as my readers must know by now,  I am quite critical about  them.

Therefore modern scholars argue that Islam does not favor a harsh punishment, which was practiced before Islam. Like stoning to death was common as it was in  Christian Palestine, too.  We all are responsible for our deeds on the last day, when our good deeds are weighed against our bad deeds. Grandma mingling with two boys who go shopping for her is not a grave sin, in my humble opinion (sorry my sarcasm, cannot help it!)   

BUT:  there is a hash punishment for accusing chaste women, and I wish these religious fanatics will get their share on the last day:

Qur’an 24:23: “Surely those who accuse chaste believing women, unaware (of the evil), are cursed in this world and hereafter, and they shall have a grievous chastisement.”

Qur’an 24:2-4: “Those who accuse married women of adultery, then fail to produce four witnesses, you shall whip them eighty lashes, and do not accept any testimony from them; they are wicked.”

Qur’an 33:58: “And those who speak evil things of the believing men and the believing women without their having earned (it), they are guilty indeed of a false accusation and a manifest sin.”

While reading this article I had to think of the gravest sins in Islam:

an invention (which is NOT based on the Quranic teaching) to the practice of faith is one of them.

I cannot imagine that God would not allow women to drive   or grandma to send her neighbor’s boys for shopping or stopping by for a chat -   a case like this, where she knows him all his life. In fact I believe the reason for not allowing women to drive  has not so much to do with them but much more with men, who harass women  - it is quite common in Saudi Arabia.

I pray to God to guide Muslims back to the right path!

HE gave us a free will and the ability think, and we should use that gift.  Common sense is all I wish.

Salaam

Mona

Stoning a gang rape victim, Amnesty International Report

Amnesty: Rape girl, 13, killed for adultery

November 1, 2008  -  MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) – A 13-year-old girl who said she had been raped was stoned to death in Somalia after being accused of adultery by Islamic militants, a human rights group said.Dozens of men stoned Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow to death Oct. 27 in a stadium packed with 1,000 spectators in the southern port city of Kismayo, Amnesty International and Somali media reported, citing witnesses. The Islamic militia in charge of Kismayo had accused her of adultery after she reported that three men had raped her, the rights group said.Initial local media reports said Duhulow was 23, but her father told Amnesty International she was 13. Some of the Somali journalists who first reported the killing later told Amnesty International that they had reported she was 23 based upon her physical appearance.

It hard to come to senses after news like this knowing that it was Islam that introduced righteousness to a then pagan community. For thousands of years stoning to death and nailing on a cross (in Palestine)  were the most common ways of death penalty,  I suppose since Stone Age.

Jesus, who is also a Prophet for Muslims like all the other Prophets of Christianity said:  “If any of you have not committed a sin you can throw the first stone at her.” (Bible,  John 8:1-3)  

Painting: Jesus and the Woman Taken in Adultery, by Vasiliy Polenov   

  The Story in the Bible- The Adulterous Woman. (John 8:1-3)It was about a woman who had been caught committing adultery, and had to stand in front of the teachers of the law and Pharisees and also Jesus, and they said that “In our law Moses commanded that such a woman must be stoned to death,” and then they put all the pressure on Jesus by saying what do you think, and then said to Jesus, so that they could accuse him, but they didn’t trap Jesus.   Jesus then said “If  any of you have not committed a sin you can throw the first stone at  her.” The older people left first and eventually everybody had gone,  and there was just Jesus and the woman left. Jesus said to her “Where  are they all, there is no one left to condemn you,” and then said ” I  don’t condemn you either, go, but do not sin again.”  

As true Muslims believe in ALL the Prophets before Phophet Mohammed in my opinion this is a significant statement from Jesus.  And most importantly it  does not contradict the Quran.

In the Quran the stoning of an adulterous woman is not advised.    “And as for those who are guilty of an indecency from among your women, call to witnesses against them four (witnesses) from among you; then if they bear witness confine them to the houses until death comes close to them or God opens some way for them.” (Quran 4:15)

Some extreme branches of Islam still practice the stoning to death. In their understanding  its justification must be based on Hadiths, because in the Quran there is no mentioning of it. 

“Surely those who accuse chaste believing women, unaware (of the evil), are cursed in this world and hereafter, and they shall have a grievous chastisement.” (Qur’an 24:23)

“And those who speak evil things of the believing men and the believing women without their having earned (it), they are guilty indeed of a false accusation and a manifest sin.” (Q. 33:58)

I pray to God, the Allmighty, that all Muslims would finally start realizing the real Teaching of Islam, righteousness and human rights.

Salaam, Mona

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Edit: The complete story on BBC News from Somalia. Her 62-year-old aunt told the BBC that the teenager had in fact been raped by three armed men - and she took Asha to the police station to report it.

“I don’t know what crime she committed other than being raped - and I was not even allowed to see her body.”   - Asha Ibrahim Dhuhulow’s aunt

“They are wrong if they committed a kidnap. They will have to be punished under Sharia law.”- Hiiran’s al-Shabab Chairman Sheikh Ali Dheere