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Chapter 1
ISLAM AND HUMAN RIGHTS
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:
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.
2a. 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.
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Foreword
