Islam:
Sex and Violence
Chapter Two: Manipulation
of Womanhood
Anwar Shaikh
2nd Edition: January 15, 2017
Muhammad in Dreams of Islamic Heavens with 72 Virgins!
Manipulation
of Womanhood
The Islamic
laws seek to reduce woman to the status of a sexual toy. Thus,
they have been forged to minimise female liberties for enforcing
the doctrinal policy: "Dominance-urge versus Feminine Charm."
However, through the force of indoctrination, the Muslims are
made to feel that Islam is the first religion that has 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:
Law is not
law unless it is equally applicable to all and sundry. Thus, the
law of inheritance must also apply to the descendants of the Prophet
i.e. Fatima (his daughter) with the same force as to other women,
but this is not the rose. The hadith 3: 4351-Muslim, is highly
illuminating on the subject:
1. "We
(Prophets) do not have any heirs; what we leave behind is (to
be given in) Charity."
It is difficult
to abide by the logic of this hadith for two reasons:
Firstly, the
Prophet claimed to be the Model of Behaviour for all the people
Therefore, depriving Fatima of her paternal inheritance is an
act of gross injustice and discrimination against her. A law cannot
be discriminatory against a person just because he or she is related
to the legislator.
1a. 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 )
Secondly,
Fatima expected her patrimony urgently and her husband Ali, was
equally desirous of it.
The matter
was referred to Abu Bakr, the Caliph, who "refused to hand
over anything from it (the Prophet's property) to Fatima. She
got angry with Abu Bakr for this reason, and forsook him and did
not talk to him until the end of her life ... when she died, her
husband, Ali b. Abu Talib, buried her at night. He did not inform
Abu Bakr about her death and offered the funeral prayer over her
himself."
It is evident
that if the Prophet can deprive his own daughter of her parental
legacy, other women cannot expect much from the Islamic law of
inheritance, which looks good on paper only .
2. The truth is that the Islamic law is completely outdated. A woman's
right to divorce her husband is a modern phenomenon, brought about
by Women's lib. movement. Further study of the subject revealed
to me that Khula has no validity in Islam, and has been made fashionable
by the Muslim divines to appease women for avoiding an open rebellion.
The Koran does not support Khula, but there are several hadiths
that oppose it. Just look at one of them:
" .....
The women who break the matrimonial ties by using Khula are hypocrites
and not Muslim." (Mishkat, 2: 3148)
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 couches 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.
2a. As stated in the footnote, a woman has no legal right to divorce
her man. However, Khula has come to mean that she can do so. Even
then, a man can undo his matrimonial ties quite independently
and at will, but 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. Who
so 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 deterrent
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 practicing
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.
This is why there is no Islamic concept of consent in sexual intercourse:
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 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: 2 2 5 )
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 listen 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:
3. " marry such women as seem good to you, two, three, four."
(Women: 1 )
Here man is
given legal 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 bear 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.
4. Add to the above, the Islamic law of concubinage, which allows
a man to have as many 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.
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)
"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-Majah, 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 legitimized 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)
8. Thus,
legally, one man is equal to two women! 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
to be 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 for an indecent woman, and her man can inflict this
punishment on her without fear of legal consequences:
"Such
of you women as commit indecency call four of you to witness against
them; and 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." Salama 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)
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.
( Ti rmzi,
Vol . 1, p 4 28 )
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. ( Ti rmzi, 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." ( Bokahri, 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 practice birth-control either.
21. The
Prophet said: "When wife vexes her husband, then houris 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 fasting." (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 Arabs practiced 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 world. This is the reason that Koran gave men an
absolute authority to subdue women to beating, if necessary. It
was an essential part of subjugating woman to man's suzerainty.
Men, certainly made 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.
For reader's convenience, I may requote the relevant Koranic verses:
"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 X XIV: 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 to make her a sexual
toy and a source of political convenience for man. This truth
can be easily verified from the personal attitude of the Prophet
towards women. I shall devote the next chapter to explain this
point. Next Page
Chapter 3
Islam: Sex and Violence Index
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