Islam and
Human Rights
Chapter 1: Islam and
Human Rights
Anwar Shaikh
March 8, 2017
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Chapter
1: Islam and Human Rights
Chapter 2: Islamic Jihad
Chapter 3: Islam and Intercession
Chapter 4: Idolatry, Islam
and India
Chapter 5: India and Democracy
Chapter 6: Thus Spake Anwar
Shaikh
Preamble
Islam is the
only religion that insists on God's rights. This is certainly
a strange concept because rights denote protection from aggression
and uncertainty. This is what "right to life, property, justice,
etc.," implies. It is clear that rights are needed by the
weak and the helpless, and they serve as a guard against the mighty,
the unjust and the aggressor. If Allah is really the Creator,
the All-powerful, the All-knowing, the All-wise, as the Muslims
claim, then how can He need rights? If He really does, then it
logically follows that He requires protection and assurance. This
is an absurd idea because it poses a direct insult to Allah: His
honour must be way above the notion of rights if He is really
the Greatest and totally Independent.
Again, according
to the Islamic jurisprudence, it is God's fundamental right that
man must obey His laws and refrain from making his own to suit
his needs and circumstances. This is theocracy, which is run ruthlessly
by the Clergy in the name of God, who cannot be seen or contacted.
It is simply a ruse of the tyrannical mind to destroy democratic
values, which protect human rights and dignity.
Yet the Muslim
scholars talk of "Islamic human rights." This is a farce
to mislead people. The article: "Islam And Human Rights"
examines the issue in depth.
The concept
of Human Rights is a very big thorn in the flesh of Islam, yet
the Muslim jurists ostentatiously talk about the rights that Islam
is supposed to have bestowed on man. This is the biggest myth
that human mind ever created. For the purpose of exposing the
fallacy of this assertion, I may divide the discussion into the
following categories:
1. Rights
of God (Allah),
2. Rights of the *Muslim men,
3. Rights of infidels, and
4. Rights of women.
(* Non-Muslims
have no rights because they are considered "the worst beasts"
by Islam).
1. Rights of God (Allah)
It is not
possible to explain the notion of " God's rights" without
considering its philosophical connotations. In view of the Muslim
claims about the immeasurable pomp, prestige and pre-eminence
of Allah, it is fair to say that He does not need any rights at
all, because rights are required to protect one's entity, interest
and future, threatened by aggression and fear of usurpation. Allah,
who is projected as the Almighty, the Absolute, the creator, the
All-wise and Free of desires, does not need the shield of rights
to shelter, secure and screen Himself from man, whom He is supposed
to have created and whose every movement He is said to control.
If Allah does need rights, then He is neither Almighty nor Creator:
He is no more than a stunning myth of the religious manipulators,
who impose their own absolutism in the guise of God's rights to
avoid public accountability.
This seems
to be a valid assumption because the Koranic God feels delighted
when He is worshipped but feels blighted when He is neglected.
To the existence
of the Semitic God, worship or gross obedience is, what colour
is to a flower, heat to fire or cold to ice. It is through the
magic of this Semitic concept of Godhead that the Jewish, Christian
and Muslim rulers were able to avoid democratic accountability
and rob people of their liberties in the name of Divine Rights.
The War of
Human Rights against God's Rights can be assumed to have formally
started with Magna Carta ( 1215 ) when King John of England was
forced to grant the Charter (of public liberties). Magna Carta
reads:
"In the
first place have (we) granted to God, and by this our present
Charter confirmed for us and our heirs for ever that the English
Church shall be free." (Clause 1)
"No free
man shall be arrested or imprisoned or disseised or outlawed or
exiled or in any way victimised, neither will we attack him or
send anyone to attack him, except by the lawful judgement of his
peers or by the law of the land." (Clause 39)
For the first
time in history, it is man who grants God's Church the right to
be free. God can no longer impose His will to be worshipped without
man's approval. Since God's despotism is arrested, the King, His
lieutenant on earth, is automatically subjected to the Law of
the land and cannot do as he pleases.
This flame
of Human Rights, ignited in England during the early part of the
13th Century, flared up in the United States of America. The Declaration
of Independence, 1776, (leading to the world-famous Constitution
of the United States (1787) stated: "....all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain Unalienable
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness."
The American
Declaration does talk about Creator but makes it abundantly clear
that man has unalienable rights to life, liberty and pursuit of
happiness, which cannot be interfered with even by the Creator.
The French
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789) asserted
categorically that "ignorance, forgetfulness or contempt
of the rights of man to be the only cause of public misfortunes
and the corruption of governments. "
First article
lays down: "Men are born and remain free and equal in rights
.."
Article two
states: " ......These rights are Liberty, Property, Safety
and Resistance to Oppression."
Article three
declares: "The source of all sovereignty lies essentially
in the Nation. No corporate body, no individual may exercise any
authority that does not expressly emanate from it."
Article four
reveals: "Liberty consists in being able to do anything that
does not harm others; thus the exercise of the natural rights
of every man has no bounds other than those that ensure to the
other members of society the enjoyment of these same rights. These
bounds may be determined only by law (enacted by the Nation).
One can see
that the French Revolution demolished the idea of Divine Rights,
which the man-hating religious wolves had invented to create absolute
authority for themselves to drive, degrade and despoil people
at will.
The English,
American and French achievements were, not only marvellous, munificent
and majestic in their own right, but their collective effect also
became the foundation-stone of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (1948 ), which recognised "the inherent dignity and
the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family
as the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.
"
The Declaration
of Human Rights (1948) also stressed: "Human beings shall
enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want."
Some of the
articles of the General Assembly ought to be noted:
Article 1
observes:
All human
beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are
endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one
another in a spirit of brotherhood.
2. Everyone
is entitled to all the rights and freedom set forth in the Declaration,
without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language,
religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin,
property, birth or other status.
3. Everyone
has the right to life, liberty and the security of person.
4. No one
shall be held in slavery or servitude: slavery and the slave trade
shall be prohibited in all their forms.
6. Everyone
has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before Law.
10. Everyone
is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an
independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his
rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
11. Everyone
charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent
until proved guilty according to Law in a public trial at which
he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
16. Men and
women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality
or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They
are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage,
and at its dissolution.
Marriage shall
be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending
spouses.
18. Everyone
has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion;
this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief,
and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public
or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice,
worship and observance.
21.(3) The
will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government;
this shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which
shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by
secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
Having suffered
torment, torture and tyranny of the most abject sort since inception
of life, people have been able to secure universal recognition
of human rights for the last fifty years only. Thus human rights
are highly precious, praiseworthy and phenomenal, but unfortunately,
it is Islam that happens to be the worst predator of human liberties,
yet claiming to be the greatest patron of humanity!
After this
short description of the historical development of human rights,
now I may explain the Islamic theory of God's or Allah's rights:
The Koran
claims that Allah is the Creator of this universe, and therefore,
He has proprietory rights over every thing that exists (including
man):
"To God
belongs all that is in the heavens and in the earth, and God encompasses
everything." (Women IV: 125)
Thus, there
is nothing that is not in the bondage of God, and therefore, constrained
to bow, bend and buckle before Him:
"To God
bow all that is in the heavens and the earth
willingly or unwillingly." (Thunder XIII - 15)
If Allah is
really the creator, does He have to hoast of His proprietory rights?
Ownership is asserted only when there is a rival claimant. In
that case, God is not necessarily the Master, and someone else
could hold this title. Whether or not Allah is the Creator and
Master of this universe, He wants to be considered as such, and
therefore, there is nothing that He loves more than submission,
slavery and servitude. It is this attitude of the Lord that dictates
man's purpose of creation. Therefore, Allah addressing mankind,
remarks:
"What
did you (humans) think that We (Allah)
created you only for a sport ..?" (The Believers XXIII: 115)
According to the Koran man has not been created for fun; he has
a serious purpose. What is man's purpose of birth? Allah narrates
it in the Koran:
"I have
not created ... mankind
except to worship me." (The Scatterers LI: 55)
A worshipper is someone who believes in his own utmost inferiority,
and to prove it, pleads, prays and prostrates before his superior.
Such a person, obviously, has no sense of self-respect, which
emanates from the awareness of personal rights. This type of person
is nothing but a slave, who loses his own entity to become the
property of his master. This is exactly the station of man in
Islam, and it is for this reason he is referred to as "ABD,"
that is a drudge, villein or serf.
Slaves and
serfs remain in bondage because they do not have any rights. By
declaring man "ABD" (slave), Allah has allotted him
the duty of worship, which is an extreme form of self-humiliation.
Therefore, it is man's purpose of life to have no desire, dignity
or destination of his own. To make sure that man seeks no status
other than servility, Allah has assigned the lowest birth to man
so that he should not feel proud and pompous to seek prestige
or priority:
"He (Allah)
made his (man's) seed from a draught of despised fluid."
(The Prostration XXXII: 8)
Someone, who has been created from "despised fluid"
is despicable and therefore, naturally lacks the virtues of self-development,
moral uplift and consciousness of human rights. This is God's
plan to make man servile. The irony is, that God dwells on the
"intrinsic" lowness of man to convince him of this fact:
"So let
man consider of what he is created; He is created from a gushing
fluid That issued from between the loins and ribs."
(The Night Star LXXXVI: 5-7)
Here, Allah
deliberately insults man by alluding to the seminal discharge,
which brings a human to life. Further, Allah condemns man for
his nature (which He Himself allocated him as the Creator!):
"Perish
man! How unthankful he is!
Of what did He (Allah) create him?
Of a sperm drop .."
(He Frowned LXXX: 15-17)
Here Allah
again taunts at man's "low" birth by associating it
with a sperm-drop i.e. the despised fluid. It is because of this,
the angels rebel against Allah when He declares His intention
of creating man:
"And
when Thy Lord (Allah) said to the angels,
'I am setting in the earth a viceroy,'
They said, 'What will Thou set therein one
who will do corruption there, and shed blood?"'
(The Cow II: 25)
Since man
has been declared "rebellious" by nature, he is not
allowed any rights by God, yet he is God's vicar or regent on
earth! How an insignificant creature like man can be the lieutenant
of God, the Almighty and the Perfect? He can improve his lot through
a constant show of submission, servitude and slavery to his Master.
Allah has laid down many procedures for man to demonstrate his
obedience. The observance of the Five Pillars is a routine matter,
which may or may not deprive man of his human dignity, but the
following methods have been devised by Allah with the purpose
of making man completely oblivious of his rights:
a. Prohibition to legislate,
b. Prohibition to think liberally, and change religion.
a.i Allah
declares:
"This
day have I (Allah) perfected your religion
for you and completed My favour unto you,
and have chosen for you as religion AL-ISLAM.
( The Table, V- 3 )
It means that
Islam is the perfect code of life, which Allah has prescribed
for man. Moreover, it is for ever and cannot be changed. Therefore,
legislating for man is God's prerogative!
The net result
of this verse is that Muslims are forbidden to make laws for themselves.
They must stick to what was laid down for them 1400 years ago
irrespective of the changed conditions and new problems. He who
breaks this rule, is an infidel and shall go to hell. This is
a big denial of human rights because legislating for himself according
to his needs, is a part of man's rights.
To uphold
His right to enact for man, Allah declares:
"He (Allah)
associates in His government no one."
( The Cave XVIII: 25 )
b.i Prohibition
on thinking and religious change:
A person born
as a Muslim is forbidden to be a free thinker. His thoughts must
be guided by the Koran. Study of any literature, no matter how
wise, pious and rational, is sinful to a Muslim if it affects
his faith.
Even more
restricted is the scope of a Muslim's action. Since the Prophet
Muhammad is considered the Model of Behaviour, every Muslim is
obliged to act as the Prophet Muhammad did. In other words, a
Muslim must copy the Prophet the way he walked, talked, slept,
ate, drank, dressed and looked. Since Islam is "the perfect
and eternal code of life," no Muslim is allowed to think
and act in any other manner. If he renounces Islam, he is held
guilty of apostasy (irtidad) which carries death sentence.
Ordinarily,
it is acknowledged that a baby is not born with a particular faith:
a person is a Hindu or a Christian because he was born in one
of the families holding these beliefs. Therefore, he has the right
to change his religious views with impunity, but Islam does not
recognise this human liberty. Once a person is born into the Islamic
faith, he must remain a Muslim. If he changes his religion, though
he did not adopt it deliberately, he becomes liable to execution.
2. Rights of the Muslim Men
Rights of
the Muslim Men is the next issue that we ought to consider now.
Having realised the nature of God's rights, one can conclude safely
that even a Muslim man has no substantive rights. If he has any
rights at all, they are the derived ones, and accrue to him from
his abject submission to Allah. Though we call them ''rights"
for the sake of convenience, they are, in fact, Allah's reward
for servility. What are these rights?
What Allah
may term as a benefit, bounty or bonus in fact, is a payment for
carrying out Divine commands, which are usually against the moral
conscience of man; he cannot refuse anything on the ground of
justice or decency. Allah has laid down the following law to exhibit
His relationship with man:
"God
has bought from the believers their selves and their possessions
against the gift of Paradise; they fight in the way of God; they
kill, and are killed; that is a promise binding upon God .....
and who fulfills his covenant truer than God." ( Repentance
IX: 110 )
Here the Koran
has stated clearly that Allah has purchased lives of the Muslims,
in return for paradise, and therefore, they must kill and get
killed in His way without any qualm of conscience. And what is
the purpose of this murder spree?
It is simply
degradation, death and destruction of the unbelievers. Allah hates
infidels to such an extent that He has divided mankind into two
camps: the believers are Allah's party and the unbelievers are
Satan's party. Allah has commanded eternal strife between His
and Satan's party, promising His people the final victory. This
fact has been clearly stated in the Koran (The Disputer LVIII:
20).
This is why
the Muslims consider themselves as the Divine appointees on earth
who, must act as Allah's managers. Thus, they have all the rights
of a warrior, a ruler, a judge and an elite but unbelievers have
all the obligations of a subject, a serf and a slave.
However, it
ought to be remembered that all rights belong to Allah: a Muslim's
rights are no different from those of a Roman slave, who could
rise to any commercial or political height but still remained
the property of his master, who owned him.
iii. Rights
of the infidels, according to the Islamic Law are, therefore,
a sheer nonsense. If it appears an exaggeration, I may quote the
Koranic verses on the subject:
Say ( Muhammad
): 'O God, Master of the Kingdom,
Thou givest the Kingdom to whom Thou wilt,
and seizest the Kingdom from whom Thou wilt,
Thou exaltest whom Thou wilt, and Thou
abasest whom Thou wilt; in Thy Hand is the good;
Thou art powerful over everything."'
(The House of Imran III: 25)
Obviously,
the allocation of honour and dishonour depends on the discretion
of Allah, who holds unbelievers as Satan's party. Therefore, they
are the people, who deserve dishonour. What can be greater abasement
than having no human rights? Allah feels justified in His attitude
to the infidels because He treats unbelief as the worst animosity
against Him. Does anyone allow rights to his enemy? Why should
Allah be any different? He makes it abundantly clear:
a. Oh believers! the non-Muslims are unclean." ( Repentance
IX: 27 )
b. "Certainly, God is an enemy to unbelievers." ( The Cow
11: 90 )
c. "Surely, the worst of beasts in God's sight are the unbelievers."
(The Spoil VIII: 57)
d. "O believers, do not treat your fathers and mothers as your
friends, if they prefer unbelief to belief; whosoever of you takes
them for friends, they are evil-doers." (Repentance IX: 20)
So great is
detestation of God towards unbelievers that a Muslim must treat
his own parents as enemies if they do not embrace the Islamic
faith! Again, since God has decalred non-Muslims as "the
worst of beasts," they cannot have human rights. Therefore,
the duty of Muslims is to:
"Fight those who believe not in God and the Last Day and
do not forbid what God and His Messenger have forbidden - such
men as practise not the religion of truth, being of those who
have been given the Book - until they pay the tribute out of hand
ani have been humbled." (Repentance IX: 28)
To explain
this verse I may add that, according to Islam, the Koran is the
only standard of vice and virtue, and therefore, people have no
right to follow any other code of law or morality. Thus, the followers
of non-Islamic practices are infidels and it is the duty of the
Muslims to fight them until they submit to the Muslims and "pay
the tribute out of hand" as a sign of their humiliation!
It is clear that a non-Muslim deserves humiliation and not human
rights. As contempt of the non-Islamic faiths, their practitioners
are not encouraged to stay in Muslim countries. This is the reason
that very few non-Muslims are found in the Islamic states such
as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc.
3. Rights of the Infidels
By now, it
ought to be clear that a non-Muslim, or more properly a Dhimmy
cannot have human rights as understood and practised in the Western
world. It is because:
a. Allah
is the enemy of the non-Muslims, known as unbelievers, and
b. because, in Allah's sight, unbelievers are the worst beasts. It
is obvious neither people bestow equal rights on their enemies
nor beasts deserve to equal humans. This is the reason that Islam
has discriminated against the Dhimmies.
Freedom of
expression is one of the major human rights, and this is forbidden
to a dhimmy (non-Muslim) in an Islamic state. He cannot promulgate
his doctrine openly, especially, if it has been opposed or forbidden
by the Koran. For example, it is the basic tenet of Christianity
that Jesus Christ was crucified, but the Koran holds
"...
For their saying 'we slew the Messiah, Jesus son
of Mary, the Messenger of God.
Yet they did not slay him, neither crucified him
only a likeness of that was shown them .....
God raised him up to Him." (Women IV: 155)
It means that
Jesus did not die on the Cross; He was raised to heaven before
suffering death. To a simple mind, it may look just an untrue
statement but, in fact, it is a shrewd piece of elocution because
it seeks to belie, belittle and batter the very foundation of
Christianity, which holds that Christ, Son of God, was used as
the Sacrificial Lamb by the Father to carry away the sins of mankind.
By denying the crucifixion of Jesus, the Koran has sought to destroy
the very foundation of Christianity.
Since Islam
does not allow anti-Koranic practices in its lands of occupation,
the Christians could not preach or even recite such tenets openly.
The fact that, in some so- called Muslim countries, churches and
synagogues may exist, does not prove that Islamic jurisprudence
approves of them. Truthfully, these countries have reneged on
Islam and become secular. Appearing to be Muslim is a face-saving
device, which carries good rewards.
It should
also be noted that it is a crime to preach a non-Muslim faith
to a Muslim because, according to the Koran, Islam is the only
true religion. This is the reason that the Muslim, who gives up
his faith is liable to beheading. The missionary is held as the
enemy of Islam, and deserves a similar fate!
Of course,
there is no room for democracy in Islam, yet we hear of Islamic
republics such as Pakistan, Iran, etc. Since a democratic government
represents the will of the people, an Islamic republic is an exact
antithesis of the Islamic Law, which clearly states that the government
belongs to Allah, who admits no participation in His affairs.
Thus non-Muslims are disfranchised in an Islamic State and cannot
vote.
It is also
true that they cannot hold high offices in the government because,
by having authority, they may interfere in Allah's affairs. However,
this is quite another thing that the non-Muslims have held high
ranks in some Muslim governments, and still do. This is simply
an un-Islamic practice, which shows the practical weakness of
this faith.
It is a crime
for a Muslim to marry a non-Muslim woman though having her as
a concubine (mistress) may be a matter of pride because it signifies
dominance of the Islamic spirit.
However, it
ought to be noted that there is a verse in the Koran, which allows
marriage between a Muslim man and a "woman of the Book"
i.e. a Jewish or a Christian woman:
"(Permitted
to you are) in wedlock women of them who were given the Book (Bible)
before you if .." (The Table IV: 5)
In fact, it
is just a theory which forms no part of the Prophet's practice:
he married Safya, a Jewish girl, who converted to Islam but kept
Rehana, another Jewish girl, as a concubine because she refused
to give up her faith. Of course, there are sporadic instances
of Muslim men entering matrimonial contract with Jewish and Christian
women but that has nothing to do with the Islamic traditions:
it is a part of mundane necessity.
It is just
a golden Koranic theory that a Muslim believes in the previous
Apostles of God and Books. The truth is that he only pays them
lip sympathy, and actually believes that Muhammad is the Last
Prophet and the Koran revokes authority of all the previous Scriptures.
Thus, all those Jews and Christians, known as "People of
the Book," are unbelievers and stand to share the fate of
the infidels such as the Hindus and Buddhists:
"The
unbelievers of the People of the Book
and the idolaters shall be in the Fire; of Hell
therein dwelling for ever:
those are the worst of creatures,
But those who believe, and do righteous deeds,
those are the best of creatures."
( The Clear Sign XCVIII: 5 )
Here the Jews
and Christians, who do not accept Muhammad, are dubbed as unbelievers
and called the "worst of creatures." It is unambiguously
stated that they will go to hell! In view of the significance
of this point, I may add further:
"O believers,
take not Jews and Christians
as friends; they are friends of each other.
Whoso of you makes them his friends
is one of them." (The Table V: 55)
It is quite
obvious that a Muslim, just by befriending a Jew or a Christian
becomes one of them i.e. an unbelievers. How can a Muslim man
marry a Jewish or Christian woman? Marriage is surely a greater
and more sacred tie than friendship.
The non-Muslims
suffer several other disabilities: a Muslim cannot be executed
for murdering a Jew or a Christian. He may receive half of the
prescribed punishment and may even be let off lightly. A hadith
(Muslim: 4138) states that when a Jew smashed the head of an Ansar
(Muslim) girl, the Prophet ordered to crush his head between two
stones, but in another case (Muslim: 4151 ) when the perpetrator
was a Muslim woman, who had broken someone's teeth, was required
to pay money-compensation despite the fact that the case came
under the Law of Retaliation, which prescribes: eye for eye and
tooth for tooth.
Further, in
criminal cases, the evidence of a Jew, Christian, Hindu, etc.
is not accepted in an Islamic court of law.
In fact, in
an Islamic country, an infidel is a necessary evil, who is just
about tolerated. The dignity of man signified by human rights,
and promoted by bloody revolutions over a period of centuries,
is a piece of sheer nonsense in Islam. It is because a non-Muslim
in an Islamic state is required to pay jaziya, which in the Koranic
language is a Humiliation Tax. In fact, the life of an unbeliever
is a series of humiliations in a Muslim country. He has to wear
distinctive clothes and mark his house to express the unbelief
of its dwellers. Muslims are forbidden to associate with him and
attend his matrimonial or funeral ceremonies. He must not ride
horses or bear arms. Since it is the Islamic way of life, which
requires an unbeliever to yield way to the Muslim when they happen
to be walking on the same path, it can be safely called the forerunner
of the South African apartheid.
According
to the planned discussion of "Islam and Human Rights"
I have so far dealt with:
1. Rights
of God (Allah),
2. Rights of the Muslim men and
3. Rights of the infidels.
Now, I may deal with the fourth category i.e. Rights of Women.
4. Rights of Women
Have women
really got rights in Islam? To explain this point, I ought to
add that Adam, the progenitor of mankind, according to Genesis,
the First Book of Moses, defied God to please his woman called
"Eve." The significance of this event demonstrates the
natural grip of woman on man.
To fathom
the significance of this act, one must realise that God had kept
Adam in the Garden of Eden, abounding in lush trees laden with
luscious fruits; its ground was emerald green, studded with heavenly
streams of milk, honey and wine; its valleys echoed with melodies
of the chirping birds that created a musical environment; the
more hilarious aspect of the Garden of Eden was that there was
no toil, pain, disease or death, and all provisions were abundant
and free. Yet Adam flouted the Divine Command to win favour of
his woman and preferred pain to pleasure, mortality to immortality
and drudgery to free living.
The act of
rewarding man with such a delightful opulence made God believe
that Adam would not choose anything but Him. It is baffling to
note that Adam preferred Eve, his woman, to God and all the fantastic
luxuries. In this game of selection, God lost to woman because
of her sex-appeal to man.
Realising
the significance of faminine charm, the Prophet Muhammad treated
woman as the final goal of existence; in this life woman is to
serve as the source of gratification for man, and salvation i.e.
achieving entry into paradise in the next world, means sexual
enjoyment of houris - the most beautiful virgins that await lucky
men to offer them their carnal delights.
This Islamic
plan, which is executed through a legal code, also serves as the
bait for attracting followers. However, there is a big paradox
to be resolved if this scheme is to operate successfully: woman
has got to be reduced to the status of a slave for neutralising
all her resistance to man's will. For this purpose, women must
be stripped of all their human rights, because a woman with rights,
is bound to claim equality. But, unless this process is conducted
skillfully, women are bound to rebel against Islam, and may thus
cause its downfall. This is the reason that Islam accords some
spurious rights to women to fool, snool and rule them.
Islam appears
gentle, generous and genuine in this field, but its veneer soon
crumbles when we judge the Islamic law in the light of practical
life. Historically, there is no doubt that Islam is the first
religion that appears to have given women the following rights:
1. The
right to inherit property, and
2. The right to divorce man.
But in effect,
these rights are spurious because they cannot be exercised by
women for the following reasons:
1 a. Allah has subjected women to the law of purdah, that is, they
must not participate in social life.
"And
so to the believing women, that they
cast down their eyes and guard their private
parts, and reveal not their adornment
save such as is outward; and let them cast
their veils over their bosoms, and not reveal .."
(Light XXIV: 30)
Again, the
Koran says:
"O Prophet,
say to the wives and daughters
and the believing women, that they draw
their veils close to them .."
(The Confederates XXXIII: 55)
In addition
to veiling, Allah confines women's activities within the four-walls
of their homes:
"Remain in your houses; and display not
your finery, as did the pagans of old."
(The Confederates XXXIII: 25)
With a view
to depriving women of their rights, the Koran lays it down:
"Men
are the managers of the affairs of women
for that God has preferred in bounty
One of them over another .....
Righteous women are therefore obedient .....
And those you fear may be rebellious
admonish; banish them to their coaches
and beat them." (Women IV: 35)
Since a woman
is obliged to wear a veil and restricted within her home, and
man is appointed her manager with the authority to beat her if
she does not obey him, her property rights are just an attractive
gimmick: they are a body without a soul, a locomotive engine without
steam and a bow without arrows.
2 a. A woman's right to divorce is called "Khula." A man
can undo his matrimonial tie quite independently and at will,
whereas the wife has to achieve this goal through the process
of law, which is very cumbersome to say the least. Also, she is
subject to the wrath of God and curses of angels if she takes
this step without complete justification. Again, in a male chauvinistic
society, it is likely that her pleas will have no effect on the
ears of a male judge, who is used to deriding, depressing and
dominating women.
According
to Ibn-e-Majah, vol. 1, page 571: A wife must not seek divorce
from her husband without a serious cause. If she does, she will
not enter paradise. If she can prove her case, she will be awarded
decree only if she returns all that her husband had bestowed on
her as an entitlement or outright gift. A woman who seeks Khula,
cannot expect settlement!
The laws of
inheritance treat one male equal to two females (Women IV 10).
The law of evidence is even harsher: not only two women equal
one man but she may not be allowed to tender evidence where male
witnesses are available.
In view of
the following limitations that Islam has imposed on woman, one
can honestly conclude that it has been done deliberately to deprive
her of human rights for converting her into a sexual toy so that
men should flock to Islam:
1. Woman has a religious duty to produce the maximum number of children,
Ibn-e-Majah reports in Vol. 1, page 518 and 523 in his "SUNUN:"
The Prophet said "Getting married is my basic doctrine. Whoso
does not follow my example, is not my follower. Marry, so that
I can claim preference over other communities (Jews and Christians)
owing to commanding a greater number of followers . "
"MISHKAT"
reports in Vol. 3 page 119, a similar hadith:
"On the
Day of Judgement, I shall have the greater number of followers
than any other prophet ..."
Having the
largest following was obviously the greatest passion of the Prophet
Muhammad, and could be realised only by subjecting woman to the
exclusive burden of motherhood. A woman who is the mother of a
dozen children, obviously does not have time to think about her
human rights. Her mind is likely to be tortured by the fear of
what happens if she is deserted by her husband. This is powerful
enough to keep her under his thumb.
2. The second condition that governs woman's status in Islam is stated
by
the Koran in "Iron: 25:"
"And
monasticism they invented - We
did not prescribe it for them - only
seeking the good pleasure of God; but
they observed it not as it should be observed."
Simply stated,
these verses mean that the Christians flouted God's will by practising
monasticism because enjoyment of women by man is "the good
pleasure of God. "
Thus woman
is nothing but the source of pleasure to man. However, it implies
that, in return for being the provider of delight, she is entitled
to love and reverence as her fundamental rights. In fact, every
woman is conscious of it and wants to be treated respectfully,
but Islam in line with the Semitic philosophy, which states that
man must have sexual pleasure by command, opposes this attitude.
In marriage, there is no Islamic concept of consent in carnality:
Woman in Islam is man's tillage and he is empowered to use her
as he wishes. This is the reason that Islamic law aims at man's
ascendancy, inflicting a corresponding humiliation on woman. The
reader can judge this truth from the following:
"Women
have such honourable rights as obligations
but their men have a degree above them."
(The Cow: 225)
This is a
highly debated verse, and Islamic zealots are always stretching
it to prove equality of sexes. Therefore, I may quote from the
hadith to demonstrate its truth:
"If women
comply with your commands, do not
molest them ..Iisten carefully, they have a right
over you that you take care of their food and
wear."
(Ibn-e-Majh, Vol. 1, p. 519)
Woman's rights
are limited to her maintenance provided she obeys her man. Instead
of indulging in further discussion of this point, I may state
the usually held Islamic belief that man is superior to woman.
In fact, the Koranic law supports this idea to the hilt. Here
is the explanation:
1. "
..marry such women
as seem good to you, two, three, four."
( Women: 1 )
Here man is
given the lawful prerogative to have four wives of his own choice
at the same time. The Muslim scholars have been putting various
interpretations on this verse to avoid the shame of polygamy.
For example, they say, woman is not allowed polyandry (having
more than one husband at the same time) because it becomes impossible
to know the father of the child. This argument does not hold good
when we are talking about the basic rights of man and woman, which
constitute the principle of equality.
Again, this
point of view is nullified by the scientific advances: firstly,
invention of the Pill has given woman control over her body, and
she does not have to have children unless she wants them. Secondly,
clinical tests today, can establish the fatherhood of a child
with certainty. Therefore, this type of argument proves nothing
but futility, frivolity and fictitiousness of the Islamic law,
which seeks to impose male dominance on woman in the name of fairness,
felicity and fruitfulness.
Add to the
above, the Islamic law of concubinage which allows a man as many
unmarried women in his harem as he can afford. For example, Akbar
the Great of India had 5,000 concubines and his son, Jehangir,
had no fewer than 6,000! There is only one description for them
- private brothels. Yet the Muslim scholars talk of morality and
women's rights.
3. We are
told, as men have rights over women so women have rights over
men. This is quoted as the proof of equality. In fact, this is
highly misleading because relationship of their mutual rights
makes man the master and woman the slave.
The only mentionable
right that woman has over man is the right to be fed and clothed.
I have already quoted a hadith to this effect. Now look at the
other side of the coin:
"If I
were to order someone to prostrate before other
than God, I would have commanded woman to
prostrate before her husband.
If a husband tells his wife to keep carrying a load of
stones from that red mountain to that black mountain,
she must obey him whole heartedly."
(Ibn-e-Majah, Vol. 1, ch. 592, p 520)
4. "By
God, who controls the life of Muhammad, a woman cannot discharge
her duty towards God until she has discharged her duty towards
her husband: if she is riding a camel and her husband expresses
his desire, she must not refuse." (Ibn-e-Maja, Vol. 1, ch.
592, p 520)
Again, if
a man is in a mood to have sexual intercourse, the wife must come
immediately even if she is baking bread at a communal oven.
(Tirmzi, Vol. 1, p 428)
5. One should
also bear in mind that Islam does everything to stop a woman from
divorcing her man, and this is especially true if she happens
to be a mother because it is father, who takes custody of children.
This cruelty is legitimised by Islam to establish man's grip over
woman.
6. So great
is the Islamic discrimination against woman to favour man that
it starts right from the lowest rung of the social ladder:
"Aisha
said that she had a slave and a slave-girl who
were married. She told the Prophet that she wanted to
set them free. He said that she ought to free the slave
(man) first."
(Ibn-e-Majah,Vol. 2, ch. 130, p 100)
7. The same
attitude asserts itself in the field of inheritance and legal
evidence. Though I have already stated Islamic views on these
subjects, I may add a word or two about the law of evidence regarding
women:
" ..And
call in to witness,
two witnesses, men; or if the two be
not men, then one man and two women,
such witnesses as you approve of .."
(The Cow: 280)
Thus, legally,
one man is equal to two women!
8. Nothing
is more erroneous than the assumption that the Islamic concept
of polygamy is confined to four wives; its hidden meaning is much
deeper than what appears because it carries a sense of built-in
mirage:
"And
if you desire to exchange a wife
in place of another ..take of her nothing .."
( Women: 20 )
It implies
that a Muslim husband is entitled to keep substituting one wife
with another provided the number does not exceed the prescribed
limit of four at the same time. He can do so easily because he
has the power to divorce at will, without giving a reason for
his action. This is how Hassan, a grandson of the Prophet multiplied
the number of his wives, ranging over seventy. It was his practice
to marry during the day, and after a night or two, he would divorce
her to marry again.
9. Having
intercourse with a concubine, who is a helpless woman, is a first
degree crime against humanity. The Roman Law made it punishable
by death but Islam encouraged this indecency to attract followers.
There is no law against the concubine-rapists but there is swift
retribution against an indecent woman, and her man can inflict
this punishment on her without fear of legal retribution.
"Such
of you women as commit indecency
call four of you to witness against them;
and if they witness; then detain them
in their houses until death takes them
or God appoints for them a way." (Women: 20)
Since nobody
has explained satisfactorily the meaning of: "Or God appoints
for them a way," the punishment for an indecent woman cannot
be anything but death by incarceration. And this is in addition
to other forms of punishment e.g. flogging and stoning.
10. The true
Islamic value of woman becomes evident when we realise that her
marriage is not substantive but precarious. If a man does not
like his daughter-in- law, and tells his son to divorce her without
giving a reason for it, he must do so.
(Tirmzi,Vol. 1 p 440)
a. There is also a famous tradition of the Prophet ascribed to Katib
al Waqidi and proudly recited by the mullahs to declare brotherhood
of the fellow-Muslims:
"Behold
my two wives and select the one you like the best."
This brotherly gesture was made by a Medinite Muslim (an Ansar)
to an immigrant Muslim, when the Prophet fled Mecca along with
his followers to seek refuge in Medina. The offer was accepted
readily and the offerer divorced the wife chosen by the offeree!
It shows that woman is just a souvenir in Islam. Look at the following
hadith as well:
b. In
the battle fought against FAZARA under the command of Abu Bakr,
a very pretty Arab girl was given as share of booty to Salama
Bin Al-Akwa. He had not seduced her when the Prophet met him in
the street, and said, " O Salama, give me that girl, may
God bless your father." Salam said, "She is for you,
Messenger of Allah! By Allah I have not yet disrobed her. "
The Messenger
of Allah sent her to the people of Mecca, and surrendered her
as a ransom for a number of Muslims, who had been kept there as
prisoners.
(Muslim: 4345)
The Prophet
himself accepted women as a gift. The Coptic Mary, who bore him
a son, is an example in point.
11. The Prophet
declared from the pulpit at Hajj, a wife must not spend anything
belonging to her husband without his permission, and this prohibition
equally applied to buying foodstuff.
(Tirmzi Vol. 1, p 265)
The Prophet
himself accepted women as a gift. The Coptic Mary, who bore him
a son, is an example in point.
12. Even in
religious matters of great importance, a wife is subjected to
her husband's command. There are several hadiths which say that
a wife may not observe fasting without her husband's permission
in case he wants to have sexual intercourse with her.
( Tirmzi, Vol . 1, p 300 )
13. Islam
treats woman as a devil owing to her erotic effect on man:
The Prophet
unintentionally looked at a woman and was aroused. He went home
and had intercourse with Zainab (one of his pretty wives). He
said, "Woman faces you as Devil. If you are affected by her
charm, have intercourse with your wife because she has the same
thing as the woman who affected you."
(Tirmzi, Vol. 1, p 428)
14. Woman
is twisted by birth:
The Prophet said:
Woman has
been created from a rib which is twisted.
If you try to straighten it, you will break it. It is
desirable to make the best use of it as it is.
(Tirmzi, Vol. 1 p 440)
15. Here is
a surprising hadith:
The woman whose husband remains happy at night, and
every night, she will be admitted into paradise.
(Tirmzi, Vol. 1, p 428)
It obviously
means that for a woman, gratification of man's lust is an act
of worshipping God!
a. This is the reason that another hadith says:
The woman
who decorates herself for anyone other than her own husband is
like darkness of the Day of Judgement.
(Tirmzi, Vol. 1, p 430)
16. A woman
is a calamity for man by her very nature:
The Prophet said that he had not left for man any calamity which
could hurt him except woman.
(Tirmzi, Vol. 2 p 286)
Add to the
above, the following to realise woman's status in Islam:
17. A woman
is not a believer if she undertakes a journey which may last three
days or longer, unless she is accompanied by her husband, son,
father or brother.
(Tirmzi, p 431)
18. If a woman
refuses to come to bed when invited by her husband, she becomes
a target of the curses of angels. Exactly the same happens if
she deserts her husband's bed.
(Bokhari, Vol. 7 p 93)
19. The women,
who are ungrateful to their men, are the denizens of hell; it
is an act of ingratitude for a woman to say:
"I have
never seen any good from you."
(Bokhari Vol. 7, p 96)
20. A woman
in many ways is deprived of the possession of her own body. Even
her milk belongs to her husband.
(Bokhari Vol. 7, p 27)
She is not allowed to practise birth-control either.
21. The Prophet
said: "When wife vexes her husband, then houri of paradise
utter curses on her saying, 'may God destroy you because he is
with you only for a short time; he will shortly leave you to come
to us.'
(Ibn-e-Majah, Vol. 1, p 560)
22. The Prophet
said, "A woman's evidence carries half the weight of that
of a man .. it is owing to lack of wisdom on their part. However,
they are also injurious to the dignity of faith and cannot be
allowed to say prayer during the period of menstruation or observe
tasting."
(Mishkat, Vol. 1, p 19)
23. The Prophet
said: "Beware of women because the calamity that the Israelite
suffered was caused by women."
(Mishkat, Vol. 2, p 70)
24. The Prophet
said: "Misfortune is a part of womanhood, residence and horse."
(Mishkat, Vol. 2, p 70)
25. The Prophet
said: "No woman should perform a marriage ceremony of another
woman or her own because such a woman is the true seducer."
(Mishkat, Vol. 2, p 78)
26. The Prophet
said: "If Eve was not created, no woman would have been dishonest
towards her husband."
(Mishkat, Vol. 2, p 98)
27. The Prophet
said: "When a man calls his wife to bed and she refuses and
he is angered, then angels keep cursing her all night ..even the
Master of Sky (God) is annoyed with her until husband is reconciled
with her."
(Mishkat, Vol. 2, p 100)
28. The Prophet
said: "When a woman dies, if her husband was pleased with
her, she goes to paradise."
(Mishkat, Vol. 2, p 102)
29. The Prophet
said: "On the Day of Judgement, a husband shall not be questioned
for beating his wife."
(Mishkat, Vol. 2, p 105)
a. Beating
is a speciality of Islam for taming the "feminine brutes."
The Koran says: "And those you fear may be rebellious admonish;
banish them to their couches, and beat them. If they then obey
you, look not for any way against them." (Women: 35)
It has been
said that, due to shortage of women, the Arab practised a culture
which was nearly matriarchal, that is, women had high social positions
in their clans, and were, therefore, inclined to dominate men.
The Prophet Muhammad was himself an employee of Khadija whom he
married, despite the fact that she was fifteen years older than
he was.
The Prophet was endowed with a masculine social approach and wanted
men to be dominant for creating a hardy, warrior Arab nation,
capable of conquering the world. This is the reason that the Koran
gave men an absolute authority to subdue women by beating, if
necessary. It was an essential part of subjugating woman to man's
sexual suzerainty. Men, certainly made the best use of this prerogative.
A hadith says:
" ..women
had become bold with their men, and so the Prophet authorised
beating them. As a result, seventy women, during one evening,
gathered at the residence of the Prophet to complain ruefully
against their husbands, who they thought, were not good people."
(Ibn-e-Majah, Vol. 1, p 553)
30. I ought
to repeat that with wife-beating goes the Koranic behest of purdah,
which has been a major cause of destroying female liberties:
"And
say to the believing women, that they
cast down their eyes and guard their private
parts, and reveal not their adornment
save such as is outward; and let them cast
their veils over their bosoms, and not reveal
their adornment save to their husbands .."
(Light XXIV: 30)
Again:
"O Prophet,
say to the wives and daughters
and the believing women, that they draw
their veils close to them:"
(The Confederates 33: 55)
31. Then came
the further Koranic command for women:
"And stay in your houses .."
(The Confederates 33: 25)
Thus the
Muslim woman was totally secluded from society and became a source
of sexual enjoyment and political pawn for man. One ought to bear
in mind that the Prophet himself concluded alliances with powerful
men through marriages: Abu Bakr and Umar were his fathers-in-law,
and Uthman and Ali were his sons-in- law. These are the men who
are considered next to the Prophet in rank and dignity for the
part they played in spreading Islam and establishing the Arab
Empire.
Recent rise
of women as political heads in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Turkey,
does not represent the Islamic ethos but a rebellion against it,
showing its spiritual decline.
What I have
said so far is about women in this world. They have been turned
into sexual toys for the gratification of man, who seems to be
Allah's darling. Women of the world-to-come, are called HOURIS.
So delicate, dainty and delightful they are that they rank as
the ultimate goal of man's existence; in fact, he prays, panegyrises
and pleads with Allah solely for the favour of granting him houris,
the providers of the most exquisite and charming sexual pleasures.
This is the Islamic salvation, which motivates men to embrace,
and stick to Islam. What a bewitching bribe a houri is!
Houris are
found in paradise which is their abode. Isiamic salvation means
gaining entry into the land of houris where carnal delight is
as plentiful as waves in the sea, flowers in a garden or stars
in the sky.
Woman is the
weakness of man: Adam defied God to please his woman. It is natural
for sons to follow in the footprints of their father. The Prophet
Muhammad knew this deep-rooted psychological mystery, which he
successfully exploited through his idea of houris. What is a houri?
The Koran
says:
" ....
for them (the Muslims) is reserved a definite provision. fruit
and a great honour in the Gardens of Bliss reclining upon couches
arranged face to face, a cup from a fountain being passed round
to them, white, a pleasure to the drinkers ..... and with them
wide-eyed maidens flexing their glances as if they were slightly
concealed pearls."
( The Rangers
40: 45 )
Whereas Chinese
have preferred flat-chested women, the Arabs are fond of rising
bosoms. So, in keeping with the Arab taste, the Koran declares:
"Surely for the God-fearing
awaits a place of security,
gardens and vineyards
and maidens with swelling bosoms."
(The Tidings
30)
The attraction
of paradise is made more impelling when wine is made a part of
paradisiac living:
"Surely
the pious shall be in bliss,
upon couches gazing:
You find in their faces the shining bliss
as they are offered to drink of wine sealed,
whose seal is musk ... and whose mixture
is Tasnim, a fountain at which to drink
those brought nigh."
(The Stinters 20: 25)
For better
illustration of the point under discussion, I may refer to Hadith
Tirmzi, volume two (p. 35-40) which gives details of houris, the
ever-young virgins of paradise:
1. A
houri is a most beautiful young woman with a transparent body.
The marrow of her bones is visible like the interior lines of
pearls and rubies. She looks like a red wine in a white glass.
2. She is of white colour, and free from the routine physical disabilities
of an ordinary woman such as menstruation, menopause, urinal and
offal discharge, child-bearing, and the related pollution.
3. She is a woman characterised by modesty and flexing glances; she
never looks at any man except her husband, and feels grateful
for being the wife of her husband.
4. A
houri is a young woman, free from odium and animosity. Besides,
she knows the meaning of love and has the ability to put it into
practice.
5. A houri is an immortal woman, who does not age. She speaks softly
and does not raise voice at her man; she is always reconciled
with him. Having been brought up in luxury, she is a luxury herself.
6. A houri is a girl of tender age, having large upright breasts.
Houris dwell in palaces of splendid surrounding.
Now add to
this description of houris, what Mishkat, volume three says on
pages 83-97:
7. If a houri looks down from her abode in heaven onto the earth,
the whole distance shall be filled with light and fragrance .....
8. A houri's face is more radiant than a mirror, and one can see
one's image in her cheek. The marrow of her shins is visible to
the eyes.
9. Every man who enters paradise shall be given seventy-two houris;
no matter at what age he had died, when he enters paradise, he
will become a thirty-year-old, and he will not age any further.
10. Tirmzi,
Vol. 2 states on page 138:
A man in paradise
shall be given virility equal to that of one hundred men!
It should
be noted that men who are so potent, shall not be inclined to
do anything except love-making. This is the reason that, according
to Islam, sexual gratification is the ultimate goal of life, and
thus, the behaviour of a Muslim becomes sexually oriented.
This discussion
reflects the true Islamic view of human rights in general, and
the position of women, in particular. Next
Page
Chapter 2
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