Islam: Manipulation of
Womanhood
ISLAM
Sex & Violence
ANWAR SHAIKH
Chapter 2
Manipulation of Womanhood
The Islamic laws seek to reduce woman to the status of a sexual
toy. Thus, they have been forged to minimise female liberties for
enforcing the doctrinal policy: "Dominance-urge versus
Feminine Charm." However, through the force of
indoctrination, the Muslims are made to feel that Islam is the
first religion that has given women the following rights:
1. The right to inherit property, and
2. The right to divorce man.
But in effect, these rights are spurious because they cannot be
exercised by women for the following reasons:
Law is not law unless it is equally applicable to all and sundry.
Thus, the law of inheritance must also apply to the descendants of
the Prophet i.e. Fatima (his daughter) with the same force as to
other women, but this is not the rose. The hadith 3: 4351-Muslim,
is highly illuminating on the subject:
1. "We (Prophets) do not have any heirs; what we leave behind
is (to be given in) Charity."
It is difficult to abide by the logic of this hadith for two
reasons:
Firstly, the Prophet claimed to be the Model of Behaviour for all
the people Therefore, depriving Fatima of her paternal inheritance
is an act of gross injustice and discrimination against her. A law
cannot be discriminatory against a person just because he or she
is related to the legislator.
1a. Allah has subjected women to the law of purdah, that is, they
must not participate in social life:
"And so to the believing women,
that they cast down their eyes and guard their private parts,
and reveal not their adornment save such as is outward;
and let them cast their veils over their bosoms and not
reveal…."..... (Light XXIV: 30 )
Secondly, Fatima expected her patrimony urgently and her husband
Ali, was equally desirous of it.
The matter was referred to Abu Bakr, the Caliph, who "refused
to hand over anything from it (the Prophet's property) to Fatima.
She got angry with Abu Bakr for this reason, and forsook him and
did not talk to him until the end of her life ... when she died,
her husband, Ali b. Abu Talib, buried her at night. He did not
inform Abu Bakr about her death and offered the funeral prayer
over her himself."
It is evident that if the Prophet can deprive his own daughter of
her parental legacy, other women cannot expect much from the
Islamic law of inheritance, which looks good on paper only .
1. The truth is that the Islamic law is completely outdated. A
woman's right to divorce her husband is a modern phenomenon,
brought about by Women's lib. movement. Further study of the
subject revealed to me that Khula has no validity in Islam, and
has been made fashionable by the Muslim divines to appease women
for avoiding an open rebellion. The Koran does not support Khula,
but there are several hadiths that oppose it. Just look at one of
them:
" ..... The women who break the matrimonial ties by using
Khula are hypocrites and not Muslim." (Mishkat, 2: 3148)
Again, the Koran says:
"O Prophet, say to the wives and daughters and the believing
women, that they draw their veils close to them …" (The
Confederates XXXIII: 55)
In addition to veiling, Allah confines women's activities within
the four-walls of their homes:
"Remain in your houses; and display not your finery, as did
the pagans of old." (The Confederates XXXIII: 25 )
With a view to depriving women of their rights, the Koran lays it
down:
"Men are the managers of the affairs of women for that God
has preferred in bounty
One of them over another .....
Righteous women are therefore obedient ..... And those you fear
may be rebellious
admonish; banish them to their couches and beat them." (Women
IV: 35)
Since a woman is obliged to wear a veil and restricted within her
home, and man is appointed her manager with the authority to beat
her if she does not obey him, her property rights are just an
attractive gimmick: they are a body without a soul, a locomotive
engine without steam and a bow without arrows.
2a. As stated in the footnote, a woman has no legal right to
divorce her man. However, Khula has come to mean that she can do
so. Even then, a man can undo his matrimonial ties quite
independently and at will, but the wife has to achieve this goal
through the process of law, which is very cumbersome to say the
least. Also, she is subject to the wrath of God and curses of
angels if she takes this step without complete justification.
Again, in a male chauvinistic society, it is likely that her pleas
will have no effect on the ears of a male judge, who is used to
deriding, depressing and dominating women.
According to Ibn-e-Majah, vol. 1, page 571:
A wife must not seek divorce from her husband without a serious
cause. If she does, she will not enter paradise. If she can prove
her case, she will be awarded decree only if she returns all that
her husband had bestowed on her as an entitlement or outright
gift. A woman who seeks Khula, cannot expect settlement!
The laws of inheritance treat one male equal to two females (Women
IV: 10). The law of evidence is even harsher: not only two women
equal one man but she may not be allowed to tender evidence where
male witnesses are available.
In view of the following limitations that Islam has imposed on
woman, one can honestly conclude that it has been done
deliberately to deprive her of human rights for converting her
into a sexual toy so that men should flock to Islam:
1. Woman has a religious duty to produce the maximum number of
children; Ibn-e-Majah reports in Vol. 1, page 518 and 523 in his
"SUNUN:" The Prophet said "Getting married is my
basic doctrine. Who so does not follow my example, is not my
follower. Marry, so that I can claim preference over other
communities (Jews and Christians) owing to commanding a greater
number of followers."
"MISHKAT" reports in Vol. 3 page 119, a similar hadith:
"On the Day of Judgement, I shall have the greater number of
followers than any other prophet …."
Having the largest following was obviously, the greatest passion
of the Prophet Muhammad, and could be realised only by subjecting
woman to the exclusive burden of motherhood. A woman who is the
mother of a dozen children, obviously does not have time to think
about her human rights. Her mind is likely to be tortured by the
fear of what happens if she is deserted by her husband. This
deterrent is powerful enough to keep her under his thumb.
2. The second condition that governs woman's status in Islam is
stated by the Koran in "Iron: 25:"
"And monasticism they invented - We did not prescribe it for
them - only seeking the good pleasure of God; but they observed it
not as it should be observed."
Simply stated, these verses mean that the Christians flouted God's
will by practicing monasticism because enjoyment of women by man
is "the good pleasure of God. "
Thus, woman is nothing but the source of pleasure to man. However,
it implies that, in return for being the provider of delight, she
is entitled to love and reverence as her fundamental rights. In
fact, every woman is conscious of it and wants to be treated
respectfully, but Islam in line with the Semitic philosophy, which
states that man must have sexual pleasure by command, opposes this
attitude. This is
why there is no Islamic concept of consent in sexual intercourse:
Woman in Islam is man's tillage and he is empowered to use her as
he wishes. This is the reason that Islamic law aims at man's
ascendancy, inflicting corresponding humiliation on woman. The
reader can judge this truth from the following:
"Women have such honourable rights as obligations but their
men have a degree above them. " ( The Cow: 2 2 5 )
This is a highly debated verse, and Islamic zealots are always
stretching it to prove equality of sexes. Therefore, I may quote
from the hadith to demonstrate its truth:
"If women comply with your commands, do not molest them
listen carefully, they have a right over you that you take care of
their food and wear." (Ibn-e-Majh, Vol. 1, p 519)
Woman's rights are limited to her maintenance provided she obeys
her man. Instead of indulging in further discussion of this point,
I may state the usually held Islamic belief that man is superior
to woman. In fact, the Koranic law supports this idea to the hilt.
Here is the explanation:
1. " marry such women as seem good to you, two, three,
four." (Women: 1 )
Here man is given legal prerogative to have four wives of his own
choice at the same time. The Muslim scholars have been putting
various interpretations on this verse to avoid the shame of
polygamy. For example, they say, woman is not allowed polyandry
(having more than one husband at the same time) because it becomes
impossible to know the father of the child. This argument does not
hold good when we are talking about the basic rights of man and
woman, which constitute the principle of equality.
Again, this point of view is nullified by the scientific advances:
firstly, invention of the Pill has given woman control over her
body, and she does not have to bear children unless she wants
them. Secondly, clinical tests today, can establish the fatherhood
of a child with certainty. Therefore, this type of argument proves
nothing but futility, frivolity and fictitiousness of the Islamic
law, which seeks to impose male dominance on woman in the name of
fairness, felicity and fruitfulness.
Add to the above, the Islamic law of concubinage, which allows a
man to have as many women in his harem as he can afford. For
example, Akbar the Great of India had 5,000 concubines and his
son, Jehangir, had no fewer than 6,000! There is only one
description for them - private brothels. Yet the Muslim scholars
talk of morality and women's rights.
We are told, as men have rights over women so women have rights
over men. This is quoted as the proof of equality. In fact, this
is highly misleading because relationship of their mutual rights
makes man the master and woman the slave.
The only mentionable right that woman has over man is the right to
be fed and clothed. I have already quoted a hadith to this effect.
Now look at the other side of the coin:
"If I were to order someone to prostrate before other than
God, I would have commanded woman to prostrate before her husband.
If a husband tells his wife to keep carrying a load of stones from
that red mountain to that black mountain, she must obey him whole
heartedly. " (Ibn-e-Majah, Vol. 1, ch. 592, p 520)
"By God, who controls the life of Muhammad, a woman cannot
discharge her duty towards God until she has discharged her duty
towards her husband: if she is riding a camel and her husband
expresses his desire, she must not refuse. " (Ibn-e-Majah,
Vol. 1, Ch. 592 p 520)
"Again, if a man is in a mood to have sexual intercourse, the
wife must come immediately even if she is baking bread at a
communal oven (Tirmzi, Vol. 1, p 428)
5 One should also bear in mind that Islam does everything to stop
a woman from divorcing her man, and this is especially true if she
happens to be a mother because it is father, who takes custody of
children. This cruelty is legitimized by Islam to establish man's
grip over woman.
6 So great is the Islamic discrimination against woman to favour
man that it starts right from the lowest rung of the social
ladder:
"Aisha said that she had a slave and a slave- girl who were
married. She told the Prophet that she wanted to set them free. He
said that she ought to free the slave (man) first." (Ibn-e-Majah,
Vol. 2, ch. 130, p. 100)
7. The same attitude asserts itself in the field of inheritance
and legal evidence. Though I have already stated Islamic views on
these subjects, I may add a word or two about the law of evidence
regarding women:
" And call in to witness, two witnesses, men; or if the two
be not men, then one man and two women, such witnesses as you
approve of ……"
(The Cow: 280)
8. Thus, legally, one man is equal to two women! Nothing is more
erroneous than the assumption that the Islamic concept of polygamy
is confined to four wives; its hidden meaning is much deeper than
what appears to be because it carries a sense of built-in mirage:
"And if you desire to exchange a wife in place of
another……..take of her nothing ….. " (Women: 20 )
It implies that a Muslim husband is entitled to keep substituting
one wife with another provided the number does not exceed the
prescribed limit of four at the same time. He can do so easily
because he has the power to divorce at will, without giving a
reason for his action. This is how Hassan, a grandson of the
Prophet multiplied the number of his wives, ranging over seventy.
It was his practice to marry during the day, and after a night or
two, he would divorce her to marry again.
9. Having intercourse with a concubine, who is a helpless woman,
is a first degree crime against humanity. The Roman Law made it
punishable by death but Islam encouraged this indecency to attract
followers. There is no law against the concubine--rapists but
there is swift retribution for an indecent woman, and her man can
inflict this punishment on her without fear of legal consequences:
"Such of you women as commit indecency call four of you to
witness against them; and they witness; then detain them in their
houses until death takes them or God appoints for them a
way." ( Women: 20 )
Since nobody has explained satisfactorily the meaning of: "Or
God appoints for them a way, " the punishment for an indecent
woman cannot be anything but death by incarceration. And this is
in addition to other forms of punishment e.g., flogging and
stoning.
10. The true Islamic value of woman becomes evident when we
realise that her marriage is not substantive but precarious. If a
man does not like his daughter--in-law, and tells his son to
divorce her without giving a reason for it, he must do so. (Tirmzi,
Vol. 1, p 440)
a. There is also a famous tradition of the Prophet ascribed to
Katib al Waqidi and proudly recited by the mullahs to declare
brotherhood of the fellow--Muslims:
" Behold my two wives and select the one you
like the best."
This brotherly gesture was made by a Medinite Muslim (an Ansar) to
an immigrant Muslim, when the prophet fled Mecca along with his
followers to seek refuge in Medina. The offer was accepted readily
and the offerer divorced the wife chosen by the offeree!
It shows that woman is just a souvenir in Islam. Look at the
following hadith as well:
b. In the battle fought against FAZARA under the command of Abu
Bakr, a very pretty Arab girl was given as share of booty to
Salama Bin Al-Akwa. He had not seduced her when the Prophet met
him in the street, and said, "O Salama, give me that girl,
may God bless your father." Salama said, "She is for
you, Messenger of Allah! By Allah I have not yet disrobed
her."
The Messenger of Allah sent her to the people of Mecca, and
surrendered her as a ransom for a number of Muslims, who had been
kept there as prisoners. (Muslim: 4345)
The Prophet himself accepted women as a gift. The Coptic Mary, who
bore him a son, is an example in point.
11. The Prophet declared from the pulpit at Hajj, a wife must not
spend anything belonging to her husband without his permission,
and this prohibition equally applied to buying foodstuff.
(Tirmzi, Vol. 1, p 265)
1 2. Even in religious matters of great importance, a wife is
subjected to her husband's command. There are several hadiths
which say that a wife may not observe fasting without her
husband's permission in case he wants to have sexual intercourse
with her.
(Tirmzi, Vol. 1, p 300)
13. Islam treats woman as a devil owing to her erotic effect on
man:
"The Prophet unintentionally looked at a woman and was
aroused. He went home and had intercourse with Zainab (one of his
pretty wives). He said, 'Woman faces you as Devil. If you are
affected by her charm, have intercourse with your wife because she
has the same thing as the woman who affected you."' (Tirmzi,
Vol. 1, p 428)
14. Woman is twisted by birth.
The Prophet said:
Woman has been created from a rib which is twisted. If you try to
straighten it, you will break it. It is desirable to make the best
use of it as it is.
(Tirmzi, Vol. 1, p 440)
15. Here is a surprising hadith:
The woman whose husband remains happy at night, and every night,
she will be admitted into paradise.
( Ti rmzi, Vol . 1, p 4 28 )
It obviously means that for a woman, gratification of man's lust
is an act of worshipping God!
a. This is the reason that another hadith says: The woman who
decorates herself for anyone other than her own husband is like
darkness of the Day of Judgement. (Tirmzi, Vol. 1, p 430)
16. A woman is a calamity for man by her very nature:
The Prophet said that he had not left for man any calamity which
could hurt him except woman. (Tirmzi, Vol. 2, p 286)
Add to the above, the following to realise woman's status in
Islam:
17. A woman is not a believer if she undertakes a journey which
may last three days or longer, unless she is accompanied by her
husband, son, father or brother. ( Ti rmzi, p 431)
18. If a woman refuses to come to bed when invited by her husband,
she becomes a target of the curses of angels. Exactly the same
happens if she deserts her husband's bed. (Bokhari, Vol. 7, p 93)
19. The women, who are ungrateful to their men, are the denizens
of hell; it is an act of ingratitude for a woman to say:
20. "I have never seen any good from you." ( Bokahri,
Vol. 7, p 96)
20. A woman in many ways is deprived of the possession of her own
body. Even her milk belongs to her husband. (Bokhari, Vol. 7, p
27)
She is not allowed to practice birth-control either.
21. The Prophet said: "When wife vexes her husband, then
houris of paradise utter curses on her saying, 'may God destroy
you because he is with you only for a short time; he will shortly
leave you to come to us.' (Ibn-e-Majah, Vol. 1, p 560)
22. The Prophet said, "A woman's evidence carries half the
weight of that of a man…. it is owing to lack of wisdom on their
part. However, they are also injurious to the dignity of faith and
cannot be allowed to say prayer during the period of menstruation
or observe fasting." (Mishkat, Vol. 1, p 19)
23. The Prophet said: "Beware of women because the calamity
that the Israelite suffered was caused by women." (Mishkat,
Vol. 2, p 70)
24. The Prophet said: "Misfortune is a part of womanhood,
residence and horse." ( Mishkat, Vol. 2, p 70)
25. The Prophet said: "No woman should perform a marriage
ceremony of another woman or her own because such a woman is the
true seducer." (Mishkat, Vol. 2, p 78)
26. The Prophet said: "If Eve was not created, no woman would
have been dishonest towards her husband." (Mishkat, Vol. 2, p
98)
27. The Prophet said: "When a man calls his wife to bed and
she refuses and he is angered, then angels keep cursing her all
night…. even the Master of Sky (God) is annoyed with her until
husband is reconciled with her." (Mishkat, Vol. 2, p 100)
28. The Prophet said: "When a woman dies, if her husband was
pleased with her, she goes to paradise. (Mishkat, Vol. 2, p 102)
29. The Prophet said: "On the Day of Judgement, a husband
shall not be questioned for beating his wife." (Mishkat, Vol.
2, p 105 )
a. Beating is a speciality of Islam for taming the "feminine
brutes." The Koran says: "And those you fear may be
rebellious admonish banish them to their couches, and beat them.
If they then obey you, look not for any way against them."
(Women: 35 )
It has been said that, due to shortage of women, the Arabs
practiced a culture which was nearly matriarchal, that is, women
had high social positions in their clans, and were, therefore,
inclined to dominate men. The Prophet Muhammad was himself an
employee of Khadija whom he married, despite the fact that she was
fifteen years older than he was.
The Prophet was endowed with a masculine social approach and
wanted men to be dominant for creating a hardy, warrior Arab
nation, capable of conquering world. This is the reason that Koran
gave men an absolute authority to subdue women to beating, if
necessary. It was an essential part of subjugating woman to man's
suzerainty. Men, certainly made best use of this prerogative. A
hadith says
" ..... women had become bold with their men, and so the
Prophet authorised beating them. As a result seventy women, during
one evening, gathered at the residence of the Prophet to complain
ruefully against their husbands, who they thought, were not good
people." (Ibn-e-Majah, Vol. 1, p 553)
30. I ought to repeat that with wife-beating goes the Koranic
behest of purdah, which has been a major cause of destroying
female liberties. For reader's convenience, I may requote the
relevant Koranic verses:
"And say to the believing women, that they cast down their
eyes and guard their private parts, and reveal not their adornment
save such as is outward; and let them cast their veils over their
bosoms, and not reveal their adornment save to their husbands
" ( Light X XIV: 30 )
Again:
"O Prophet, say to the wives and daughters and the believing
women, that they draw their veils close to them." ( The
Confederates: 33: 55 )
31. Then came the further Koranic command for women:
"And stay in your houses " (The Confederates 33: 25)
Thus, the Muslim woman was totally secluded from society to make
her a sexual toy and a source of political convenience for man.
This truth can be easily verified from the personal attitude of
the Prophet towards women. I shall devote the next chapter to
explain this point.
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