Below is an example of anti-Islam rhetoric spewed by someone who is of the belief that Islam is 'anti-woman.' The response is provided by Sheikh G.F. Haddad. It is only an excerpt from his website, www.livingislam.org, and shows the importance of scholarship and knowledge and why this is the best - and only - way to combat the ruthless anti-Islam rants that are being spewed all over the Internet today. It is also an important reminder of why we can never interpret the Qur'an and hadith on our own without the help of erudite scholarship, and more importantly, why we cannot rely on literalism.
The initial charge is the writer, the 'comment' is the response by the Sheikh...
MEN'S SUPERIORITY
Comment: The true title of this section should be: “Men's greater share of responsibilities.”
The Qur'an expresses the equality of the works of the sexes and the oneness of origin of the sexes in the following verses.
"And their Lord answereth them, 'I will not suffer the work of him among you that worketh, whether of male or female, to be lost. The one of you is the issue of the other." (Q 3:195) Rodwell.
"Mankind fear your Lord, who created you of a single soul, and from it created its mate." (Q 4:1) Arberry
So while the Qur'an holds the works of men and women in equal regard and acknowledges that they are completely interdependent as to their very existence, they are not regarded as having equal worth as people.
Comment: This is a lie. The Qur'an clearly states: {O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female_. Verily the best of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you.} (49:13).
The men are a step above the women and superior to them as is clear from the following two verses.
"And it is for the women to act as they (the husbands) act by them, in all fairness; but the men are a step above them."[7] (Q 2:228) Rodwell "Men have authority over women because Allah has made the one superior to the other."(Q 4:34) Dawood.
Comment: Here are Muslim translations of the same two passages but _in full_, indicating that the context in each of the two verses denotes superiority of men in maintenance and financial responsibility. Imam al-Sha`rani said, “If the man does not work and support his wife then he loses that degree.”
The famous commentator Ibn Kathir commented on (Q 4:34) saying:
"Men are superior to women, and a man is better than a woman."[8]
8. Ibn-Kathir, commenting on Q 4:34.
Comment: As we already said, the Qur'an states: {O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female_. Verily the best of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you.} (49:13). This is enough to silence the lie that men and women in Islam “are not regarded as having equal worth as people,” which is the premise of the present section.
As for commentary, al-Tabari said the best explanation for 2:223 is that of Ibn `Abbas: "The degree mentioned by Allah Most High here is the exemption, on the man's part, of some his wife's obligations towards him and his indulgence towards her, while he is fully obligated to fulfill all his obligations towards her, because the verse came right after {And they (women) have rights similar to those (of men) over them in kindness}. Hence Ibn `Abbas said: 'I would not like to obtain all (astanzif) of my right from her because Allah Most High said {and men are a degree above them}.'"
Jazakallahukhair for the much-needed words.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I'm curious about one thing. If we contend that scholarship and knowledge is the only way to combat the slander of Islam, doesn't this presuppose that only the ignorant are guilty of such things? Proper knowledge may benefit the misinformed masses to some extent, but can only go so far in addressing the 'structural' contributors to bigotry, not to mention the leaders of the aforementioned masses, who, far from ignorant, are often well-educated, sophisticated and articulate (you could say by necessity!). With these leaders, it's just as likely to be about how they use what they do know, than how they don't use what they don't know. If that makes any sense.
Eid mubarak!
Waalaikumsalam brother. I appreciate your comment. My response to your comment is only to say that in Islam knowledge is not only what you know (in your head), it's how you use it. Imam Shafie said to the effect that knowledge is not what one has merely memorized, knowledge is what benefits. The type of leader you are referring to is, in effect, as ignorant as the 'masses.' They know not the ramifications of using their 'knowledge' to the harm of others. In Islam, true knowledge is realization, not merely what one knows in the mind. What do you think? Let's discuss this, it's a good topic for discussion.... wassalam
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reply sidi. So you are basically saying that despite the comparatively advanced knowledge of the aforementioned leaders, their lack of awareness of the cosmic ramifications of their doings ultimately makes the knowledge that they do have as useless as that of the 'flock'. Presumably this is as much a case of the difference between intelligence and wisdom as it is of ignorance and knowledge!
ReplyDeleteThat said, we are still operating on the assumption that people will actually care about the greater ramifications even if they do have some inkling of them (Prejudice is addictive).
I know I mentioned the 'structural' contributors to bigotry, but human nature itself trips us up even before we move onto such things as legislation and popular media.....well, I suppose that's another classroom topic for you!
Allah hafiz...