A few questions about Islam

[Pico]

Someone told me a few things about Islam that I'm curious about if they are true or not.

1. The Quran says it's OK to lie if it promotes the religion in any way.

2. It's OK to beat your wife.

3. Women are inferior to men (made from a "crooked rib").

 

[farhan]

1. The Quran says it's OK to lie if it promotes the religion in any way.

As a general rule, lying is forbidden in Islam.

"The one who cheats is not of us."
[Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud]

"The one who does not fulfill trusts has no faith, and the one who does not fulfill commitments has no religion."
[Ahmad]

Quran does allow lying in case somebody puts a gun on your head & says,"Choose between Islam & life". The famous "oft-quoted verses are

(16:106) As for anyone who denies God after having once attained to faith-and this, to be sure, does not apply to... one who does it under duress, the while his heart remains true to his faith, but [only, to] him who willingly opens up his heart to a denial of the truth upon all such [falls] God's condemnation, and tremendous suffering awaits them
Muhammad Asad explains

Lit., "one who is coerced, the while his heart is at rest in [his] faith". This relates to believers who, under torture or threat of death, ostensibly "recant" in order to save themselves. Although the Qur'an makes it clear in several places that martyrdom in the cause of faith is highly meritorious, "God does not burden any human being with more than he is well able to bear" (cf. 2 : 233 and 286, 6 : 152, 7 : 42, 23: 62, and many other Qur'anic statements to the same effect).

(3: 28)LET NOT the believers take those who deny the truth for their allies in preference to the believers* - since he who does this cuts himself off from God in everything - unless it be to protect yourselves against them in this way.** But God warns you to beware of Him: for with God is all journeys' end.

*I.e., in cases where the interests of those "deniers of the truth" clash with the interests of believers (Manar 111, 278). Regarding the deeper implications of the term "allies" (awliya'), see 4:139 and the corresponding note.

**Lit., "unless you fear from them something that is to be feared". Zamakhshari explains this phrase as meaning, "unless you have reason to fear that they might do something which ought to be guarded against" - obviously referring to situations in which "those who deny the truth" are more powerful than the Muslims, and are therefore in a position to damage the latter unless they become their "allies" in a political or moral sense.

Some hadith also allow deception in the battle field. There again its a matter of life & death. BTW Stealth technology & camoflaudge are all means of deception.

Lying for promotion of Islam.....lying for truth....God's will be done, by lying ....IMO its an insult to God, that his word needs to be diluted with lies in prder to be spread among humans .

2. It's OK to beat your wife.

This question arises because of one word in Quran, which doesnot necessarily mean "to beat".A discussin by Yusuf Estes on the meaning of the word can be found here

Answering Tough Questions & Misconceptions About Islam

more detailed explanation here.

Wife Beating

3. Women are inferior to men (made from a "crooked rib").

I think this crooked rib thing started from Judaic texts. There is a hadith that talks about this, but nowhere does it say anything about superiority or inferiority of either sexes. It more like an old way of saying "women are from venus & men are from mars". Both of them thinks that the other sex acts in a weird way. Like the famous quote," Women...cant live with them, cant live without them".

An explanation by Mufti Taqi Usmani

Is the Woman Born of Crooked Rib - Status and Rights of Women in Islam

Peace

 

[Abdullah]

MashAllah nicely answered brother Farhan

Salaam.

 

[Muslimwoman]

Someone told me a few things about Islam that I'm curious about if they are true or not.

Hi Pico

Thank you for your questions about Islam, I am delighted that you came to ask about these issues, rather than just accept them as truth.

May I just add a female voice, so you don't think it is just men explaining away their views.

Farhan has explained these issues very well, so no need to go into detail.

1. The Quran says it's OK to lie if it promotes the religion in any way.

I share brother farhans view that this suggestion is an insult to Allah (G-d). He allows us to lie in order to save our lives, that is all and certainly not to promote Islam. However, that does not mean that if you have murdered someone you are allowed to lie in order to avoid the punishment.

Ask yourself, if we were allowed to lie in order to promote Islam would we not just remove from the books the things modern society finds uncomfortable? Surely this would bring in converts by the thousand but it is not allowed becuse it would be a lie.

2. It's OK to beat your wife.

Please ask yourself this question, if my husband was allowed to beat me would I have chosen to be a Muslim?

There is no point denying that some men do interpret this word to mean beat but that is an issue for those men and they will answer to G-d for their desires and of course for any harm they do to their wives. In all societies and religions there are men that beat their wives but this is a fault with the men, not a religious practice.

3. Women are inferior to men (made from a "crooked rib").

A man asked the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) who, after Allah, he should honour the most.
The Prophet replied "your Mother",
the man asked "then who"
the Prophet said "your Mother"
the man said but "then who"
the Prophet replied "your Mother"
and the man asked again "then who"
and the Prophet said "your Father".

Does this sound like women are in any way inferior to men? One of the misconceptions about Islam is that women are seen as inferior because they are not treated the same as men. In the west people think that to honour a woman she must be given equal treatment to men. Stuff and nonsense in my opinion. In Islam it is my husbands responsibility to feed and clothe me, to provide for my every need and if I desire I can spend my life sitting on silk pillows, eating grapes. Why? because I, as a woman, am seen as special, something to be cherished and cared for, not an object of sexual desire or a second pay packet. Yes, I can work if I want to but my husband is not allowed to spend £1 of my money unless I offer it, he is not even allowed to ask me for money.

I hope this has demonstrated in some way that, yes some people misinterpret our religion but a vast majority follow the correct path. If you look around the internet you will find many of these "issues" are only to be found in the Middle East where cultural practice has been woven into their faith. However, this does not mean it is a teaching of our faith or is held in the Quran.

Do you have any more questions?

Salaam
MW

 

[Amica]

Salaam,

1) No where in the Holy Qur'an does God The Mighty command/allow lying to promote religion. In fact, Qur'an teaches no compulsion.
2) Wife beating is not promoted in the Qur'an, but there is a verse that states that if a wife is being bad toward her husband, he is to reject her in bed for a certain time. If that does not help, he can hit her providing there there is no bruises left. However, the Qur'an also keeps telling Muslims that if they are angry for justified reasons, they may retaliate, but it is better for them if they keep patience.
3) Woman in the Qur'an is not inferior to the man. In fact Qur'an does not accuse the woman for the fall of humanity. It gives her certain privilages. The only place where Qur'an speaks of differences is where it states that one is in advantage from another by a degree. It could be martyrdom because the men fight in the battles and women often did not go in battles during the Qur'anic Revelation. And as we know, Qur'an puts a lot of emphasis on the martyrdom and how the martyrs will enjoy hight degree befor God All Merciful in the Hearafter.

 

[Pico]

Salaam,
2) Wife beating is not promoted in the Qur'an, but there is a verse that states that if a wife is being bad toward her husband, he is to reject her in bed for a certain time. If that does not help, he can hit her providing there there is no bruises left. However, the Qur'an also keeps telling Muslims that if they are angry for justified reasons, they may retaliate, but it is better for them if they keep patience.

Wait, you say beating is not promoted in the Qur'an but then you say that hitting a wife is ok under certain circumstances . What's the boundary then between "beating" and "hitting"? To me both are the same action.

 

[Abdullah]

Hi pico

Muslims are only allowed to 'lightly beat' their wives under the following circumstances:

If a wife gets upto some major disobedience, such as hanky panky with another man, then first the husband should admonish her verbally; if that takes no effect; i.e, if that is not enough for the wife to repent and ammend her ways, then he should not share her bed, and even if that is not enough... only then should he lighty beat her, and this light beating is so light, that it should not leave any marks on her body; it should be on a fleshy part of her body [excluding the face] and it should be so light, that it should resemble "a light tap that leaves no mark"; and that is exactly how the prophet [saw] described the word 'beat' in the Quran...

Infact, some would argue that "a light tap that leaves no mark" can hardly be called a beating at all; so that is why the Scholars have said that it is not the actual 'beating' that admonishes the woman [because it's hardly a beating at all] but it is the humiliation from that "light tap" that admonishes her.

This action of light beating which is done as a 'last resort', is undertaken in order to try save the marriage... for if a "light tap" manages to bring the wife back on the 'straight and narrow', then husband and wife can live happily together again and there will be no need for divorce; if however divorce is pursued rather then trying the last resort of "light tap", then the harm the divorce could cause to all involved...could be potentially great.

The law of a country would supercede this shariah sanctioned act, thus a man should not even lightly beat his wife...in countries that dont allow it.

Hope that helps

Peace

 

[Muslimwoman]

Wait, you say beating is not promoted in the Qur'an but then you say that hitting a wife is ok under certain circumstances . What's the boundary then between "beating" and "hitting"? To me both are the same action.

Hi Pico

Farhan posted an interesting piece to answer your questions but I am not sure if you read it, as it looked at many issues. This is the piece that discusses 'wife beating'

"Is it a religious duty for Muslim men to beat up their wives, because it says in Quran you should beat your wife everyday?"

Here again I will quote the good Sheikh Yusuf Estes who gives an excellent elucidation of this verse, he says :

"The operative word in this verse in Arabic is "daraba." While there are literally hundreds of uses for this word varying from "tap" to "walk in stride" to "strike at something" to "set a clear example", the only meaning that can be assigned to something in the Quran must be according to the rules of Quran. And Allah has used the same word a number of times with a consistent meaning. Let us examine them.

Raghib points out that daraba metaphorically means to have intercourse, and quotes the _expression darab al-fahl an-naqah, 'the stud camel covered the she-camel,' which is also quoted by Lisan al-'Arab. It cannot be taken here to mean 'to strike them (women).' This view is strengthened by the Prophet's authentic hadith found in a number of authorities, including Bukhari and Muslim: "Could any of you beat your wife as he would a slave, and then lie with her in the evening?" There are other traditions in Abu Da'ud, Nasa'i, Ibn Majah, Ahmad bin Hanbal and others, to the effect that he forbade the beating of any woman, saying: "Never beat God's handmaidens."

I have not included the different explanations of the arabic meanings for the root word and the examples from the Quran but if you are interested you can see them in the link.

Now, having pasted that, my husband is Arabic and he and his family say the word "darab" when refering to punishing a child by slapping their bum or leg, so I have to say this word can be used to mean punish or hit but in the sense of hitting a child, not 'beating' as we in the west would think of the word beating.

 

[bananabrain]

it's also probably the root of the english term "drub", as in "to give someone a drubbing", meaning to beat them up. not strictly relevant in terms of Qur'anic etymology, but i just thought it was interesting.

b'shalom

bananabrain

 

[Muslimwoman]

it's also probably the root of the english term "drub", as in "to give someone a drubbing", meaning to beat them up. not strictly relevant in terms of Qur'anic etymology, but i just thought it was interesting.

b'shalom

bananabrain

Have never heard that used in the enlish language BB, thank you. It just shows how words can travel but retain their original meaning.

Salaam
MW