Mrs Zainab Mubashar & Dr Yahya Mubashar
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Blasphemy & Apostasy in Islam
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Extreme preachers & Intolerance
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Muslims fighting in British Army
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Muslim women dress code
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Forced Marriage
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Gender segregation
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Four Marriage
“If God had so willed, He would have made you a single people, but (His plan is) to test you in what He has given you: so strive as in a race in all virtues. The goal of you all is to God. It is He that will show you the truth of the matters in which you dispute.” (Qur'an 5:48)
“God does not forbid you from being good to those who have not fought you over religion or driven you from your homes, or from being just towards them. God loves those who are just.” (Qur'an 60:8)
• No !
• “Not all of them are alike: Of the People of the Book are a portion that stand (For the right): They rehearse the Signs of God all night long, and they prostrate themselves in adoration. They believe in God and the Last Day; they enjoin what is right, and forbid what is wrong; and they hasten (in emulation) in (all) good works: They are in the ranks of the righteous. Of the good that they do, nothing will be rejected of them; for God knows well those that do right.
(Quran 3:113-115)
• No ! Divine in Quran does not like oppression.
• Muslims should fight against any oppressors
• “And why should ye not fight in the cause of God and of those who, being weak, are ill-treated (and oppressed)?Men, Women, and Children, whose cry is: "Our Lord! Rescue us from this town, whose people are oppressors; and raise for us from thee one who will protect; and raise for us from thee one who will help!” Quran 4:75
Are Muslims forbidden to join British Armed Forces by the Quran?
• First Caliph (Abu Bakar) declared war against Muslim rebels who rejected the Quranic demand of giving Charity (in 633),
• Battle of Camel which took place between the widow of Prophet
Muhammad & son-in-law-of Prophet
Muhammad (in 656) each believing the other to be wrong
To those against whom war is made, permission is given (to fight), because they are wronged;- and verily, God is most powerful for their aid;- (They are) those who have been expelled from their homes in defiance of right,- (for no cause) except that they say, "our Lord is God. Did not God check one set of people by means of another, there would surely have been pulled down monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques, in which the name of God is commemorated in abundant measure. God will certainly aid those who aid his (cause);- for verily God is full of Strength, Exalted in Might, (able to enforce His Will).” Quran 22:39-40
“
• No specific community or people are mentioned
• Rather fight against oppression is instructed
• 600 young Muslims men and women are serving in Afghanistan in British Armed Forces
• Some are on front line fighting Extremists
• Some are working on rehabilitation projects for widows and orphans in Afghanistan.
• No ! It would be unjust to the Quran if we say Yes
• Quran - Dress code only indicates overall Modesty Quran 24:30-31
• In the same verse the Divine instructed women of Madina to cover their chest with their scarves (Khimar) which they already wore long before Quran was revealed.
• Khimar was already part of their seasonal traditional dress
• It was used as a source of protection from the dust & extreme heat of the desert.
• History from “Message of Quran - Translated and explained by Muhammad Asad”
• The noun khimar (of which khumur is the plural) denotes the head-covering customarily used by Arabian women before and after the advent of Islam. According to most of the classical commentators, it was worn in preIslamic times more or less as all ornament and was let down loosely over the wearer’s back; and since, in accordance with the fashion prevalent at the time,
• ... the upper part of a woman’s tunic had a wide opening in the front, her breasts cleavage were left bare. Hence, the injunction to cover the bosom by means of a khimar, (a term so familiar to the contemporaries of the Prophet) does not necessarily relate to the use of a khimar (head covering) as such but is, rather, meant to make it clear that a woman’s breasts are not included in the concept of "what may decently be apparent" of her body and should not, therefore, be displayed
“And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and to be mindful of their chastity, and not to display their charms [in public] beyond what may [decently] be apparent thereof; hence, let them draw their head-coverings over their bosoms. ”
Quran 24:31
Does not Khimar indicate that hair should be covered?
• Hair covering is not mentioned anywhere in Quran
• We cannot put a lie on the Divine as He has said
• “But who does more wrong than one who invents a lie against God, to lead astray men without knowledge? For God guides not people who do wrong” Quran 6:144
Does Quran not mention Jilbab (outer covering) for ladies?
• Yes! But it was meant for the insecure situations in Madina
• The Argument about Jilbab in Sura Al-Ahzab
Ch 33 starts from Verse 57 where the whole historical background and atmosphere in Madinah at Prophet Mohammad’s times is described by God Himself in Quran
• This Historical background is also described by Ibn Saad: an early generation Muslim historian to write the full account of Prophet’s time
Does Quran not mention Jilbab (outer covering) for ladies?
• In his book Kitab Tabaqat Al-Kubra, vol 8 page 125-127, he has discussed the background of revelation of this verse (Ch 33 V 59) with reference of various ahadeeth about the problems faced by Muslim women in Madina.
• Similar historical background is also discussed in Musnad Ibne Hanbal by Imam Ibn Hanbal.
Does Quran not mention Jilbab (outer covering) for ladies?
• Ibne Saad’s historical account was translated into English “Women of Madina” – Translated by Aisha Bewley
• Published by Ta-Ha Publishers
London 2006
• The Translated text is as follows
• Women of Madina (Page 128-129)
• Abu Malik said, “The wives of The Messenger of God used to go out at night for their natural needs and some of the hypocrites used to accost them and annoy them. They complained about that. The hypocrites were spoken to about that and they said, “we do that to slave girls” So the Ayah was sent down, “O prophet! Tell your wives and daughters and believing women....
•
Women of Madina (Page 128-129)
• It is related from Al-Hasan about God’s words, “O Prophet! Tell your wives and daughters and believing women...
33:59” that he said,
• “Fools accost your slave girls in Madina and annoy them. A free woman used to go out and be thought to be a slave girl and be pestered. So God commanded them to draw their outer garments closely round themselves.
Ibn Ka’b al-Qurazi said, “A man from among the hypocrites used to accost believing women and annoy them. He was spoken to about that, and he said, “I thought they were slave girls” So God commanded them to dress differently to the salve girls and to draw their outer garment closely round themselves. They would cover their faces except for their eyes”. He said, “That makes it more likely they will be recognised and not be harmed”. He said, “That made it more likely that they would be known.”
“Those who annoy God and His Messenger – God has cursed them in this World and in the Hereafter, and has prepared for them a humiliating Punishment. And those who annoy believing men and women undeservedly, bear (on themselves) a calumny and a glaring sin. O Prophet! Tell thy wives and daughters, and the believing women, that they should cast their outer garments over their persons (when abroad): that is most convenient, that they should be known (as such) and not molested. And God is Oft- Forgiving, Most Merciful.” Quran 33:57-59
• The Holy Quran – Text Translation and Commentary by Abdullah Yusuf Ali
• “Truly, if the Hypocrites, and those in whose hearts is a disease, and those who stir up sedition in the City, desist not, We shall certainly stir thee up against them: Then will they not be able to stay in it as thy neighbours for any length of time:” Quran 33:60
• Comments on Ch 33:verse 60 are as follows
It was necessary to put down all kinds of unseemly conduct in the Prophet‘s City. And here is the warning in the plainest terms. And the warning had its effect. The "Hypocrites" were men who pretended to be in Islam but whose manners and morals were anti-Islamic. Those "with diseased hearts" may have been the ones that molested innocent women.
"Those who stirred up sedition" put false rumours in circulation to excite the crowd. Alas! we must ask ourselves the question: "Are these conditions present among us today?"
Does Quran not mention Jilbab (outer covering) for ladies?
• Comparison of Two verse Ch 24:31 & Ch 33:59
• Compare this whole Quranic attitude in Ch 33 verse 59 which is a solution in special situations
• To the verse 30 & 31 of Ch 24 where the purpose of keeping the gaze down, guarding the modesty, covering the bosom and appear as non revealing is told as "that will make for greater purity for them“ is a completely generalized instruction.
• There is no segregation mentioned in Quran – rather equailty
• “And thus does their Sustainers answer their prayer: "I shall not lose sight of the labour of any of you who labours[in My way],be it man or woman: each of you is like the other. ”
(Quran 4:19)
• Etiquettes in mixed gatherings are mentioned as;
• “Say to the believing men: they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty .......“And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty.......”
(Quran 24:30-31)
• Practice of segregation stems from Pre Islamic culture of Madina & also over time by mixing of other cultures in religion
“
O you who believe! You are forbidden to inherit Women against their Will. Nor should you treat them with harshness, (and also) that you may take away part of the dower you have given them,-except where they have been guilty of open lewdness; on the contrary live with them on a footing of kindness and equity. ” (Quran 4:19)
• No ! – Not until they have attained sound judgment
• “Make trial of orphans till they reach the marriageable age; then, if ye find them of sound judgment, deliver over unto them their fortune.” (Quran 4:6)
• No responsibility can be given to children until they reach the age of sound judgement according to the community they live in
“Also (prohibited for you are) women already married, other than those whom you rightfully possess [through wedlock]. Thus hath God ordained (Prohibitions) against you: Except for these, all others are lawful, provided ye seek (them in marriage) with gifts from your property,desiring chastity, not lust. ” Quran 4:129
• Permission was only granted as a solution for the aftermath of the Battle of Uhad in 625
• In which a great number of Muslim soldiers died
• leaving behind a community where there were more widows & more young orphan girls but very less Muslim men to take care of their ladies.
“If you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, Marry women of your choice, Two or three or four; but if you fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one.” Quran 4:3
• God mentions Man’s weakness as...
• “You are never able to be fair and just as between women, even if it is your ardent desire: But turn not away (from a woman) altogether, so as to leave her (as it were) hanging (in the air). If ye come to a friendly understanding, and practise self- restraint, God is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.”
Quran 4:129
End of part one
