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Islam and Human
Rights
by Anwar Shaikh |
EDITORIAL
| 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. |
Islam and Human Rights
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:
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:
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:
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.
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:
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:
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:
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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