Is there Quranic evidence that allow men to beat their wives?
A Famous Multi-Meaning Word
The main problem comes from the word "Idribuhunne," which has traditionally been translated as "beat them." The root of this word is "DaRaBa". If we look at any Arabic dictionary, we will find a long list of meanings ascribed to this word. In fact, we will find that that list is one of the longest lists in our Arabic dictionary. It can be said that "DaRaBa" is the number-one multi-meaning word in Arabic. In fact it has so many different meanings, we can find numerous different meanings ascribed to it in the Quran. Below some examples:
- To travel, to get out: 3:156; 4:101; 38:44; 73:20; 2:273
- To strike: 2:60,73; 7:160; 8:12; 20:77; 24:31; 26:63; 37:93; 47:4
- To beat: 8:50; 47:27
- To set up: 43:58; 57:13
- To give (examples): 14:24,45; 16:75,76,112; 18:32,45; 24:35; 30:28,58; 36:78; 39:27,29; 43:17; 59:21; 66:10,11
- To take away, to ignore: 43:5
- To condemn: 2:61
- To seal, to draw over: 18:11
- To cover: 24:31
- To explain: 13:17
As we see, in the Quran we can attest to the verb "DaRaBa" having at least ten different meanings. "DaRaBa" has also other meanings that are not mentioned in the Quran. For example, in modern Arabic, you do not print money--you "DaRaBa" money. You do not multiply numbers--you "DaRaBa" numbers. You do not cease doing work--you "DaRaBa" doing work. In Turkish, we have many verbs similar to the Arabic DaRaBa. In English, we have two verbs that are almost equivalent to "DaRaBa". These are "strike" and "beat." Consider, for the sake of comparison, that Webster's Dictionary gives fourteen different meanings to the verb "to strike," and eight to the verb "to beat"! (One strikes a match, strikes a deal, strikes an opponent, strikes gold, goes "on strike" against an unfair employer; one beats another team, beats out a rhythm, beats a retreat, and so on.)
A Coherent Understanding of Verse 4:34
When we read 4:34, we should not understand "idribuhunne" as "beat those women". We should, instead, remember that this word has multiple meanings. God gives us three ways of dealing with marital disloyalty on the part of a wife. In the beginning stage of such misbehavior, the husband should begin to address the problem by giving advice. If this does not work, he should stop sleeping in the same bed and see if this produces a change in behavior. And if there is still no improvement in the situation, the husband has the right to compel a separation.
The Quran gives analogous rights to women who must deal with disloyal husbands (4:128); this is in accordance with the principle that women have "similar" rights to men in such situations, as stated clearly in 2:28. These would hardly be "similar" rights if women had to suffer physical beatings for marital disloyalty, and men did not!
Beating women who are cheating and betraying the marriage contract is not an ultimate solution, and it is not consistent with the promise of equitability and comparable rights that appears in 2:28. (This is an important consideration, because the Quran proclaims, and Muslims believe, that it is utterly free from inconsistencies.
Although urgent recovery measures are needed for battered women, one of the root causes of the problem is misinformation about Islamic teachings viz 4:34. The starting point is the education and Islamic civilizing effort esp for any masjid speakers and husbands.
One of the greatest misconceptions about Quran 4:34 is that it contains not only a permission but also a command to batter one's wife. We don't have to “apologize” or even provide justifications for the Quran because it does not even have a notion of "hit your wives".
So let us be cognizant of the fact that the meaning of physically touching, spanking or beating are impossible in this ayat's sentence from any point of view whether linguistic or logical or contextual.
The sad part is that there are people who would spend a lot of energy on trying to popularize their particular imams and hinge all faith in Islam through their Imams and to launch grave allegations of abuse against prophetic companions simply based on totally inauthentic apocryphal fabrications by their ancestors. However, many clerics imams will not bother to seriously analyze the Quran per:
"Do they not ponder on the Quran? Or do hearts have locks over them?"
Aqsa Pervez: Father and brother confess killing her while mother blames Aqsa for her own honour killing
This is a sad situation how ones own will galdly lie in the name of religion..... No different than the "Stoning of Soraya" true movie
The judge was told [Aqsa] Parvez feared for her life in the months leading up to her death, as her father and other family members became increasingly enraged over her desire for more freedom. She wanted to wear "western clothes" and didn't want to wear her hijab ... Aqsa explained how she wanted to dress like the other kids at school and have the same freedoms. She explained that she had no freedom at home and no privacy. She explained that she didn't have a door on her bedroom... School counsellors arranged family meetings with Parvez, her parents and social workers to try to resolve the issues. During one of those meetings, her father said that he was "in control of his house, he made all the decisions and his children do as he says," court heard. In another meeting in the fall of 2007, Muhammad Parvez told a family counsellor "women are able to open their mouths because they have rights, but if the same woman was in Pakistan, she don't dare open her mouth."
In a police interview after her daughter's murder, Anwar Jan said her husband told her afterward he killed his daughter because "this is my insult. My community will say you have not been able to control your daughter. This is my insult. She is making me naked." Jan added that, in Pakistan, it's normal to kill a girl or disown her if she doesn't obey her parents.
June 15, 2010
"Aqsa, you should have listened": Mother
Louie Rosella
Mississauga News
Aqsa Parvez's father and brother believed she was an "insult" to her family and her religion and vowed to silence her. Tragically, they made good on that promise, killing the 16-year-old girl in the family's Longhorn Trail home on Dec. 10, 2007, a Brampton court was told today.
Muhammad Parvez, 59, and Waqas Parvez, 29, pleaded guilty this afternoon to second-degree murder in the death of the Applewood Heights Secondary School student.
It remains unclear which man actually strangled the teen to death in the so-called honour killing.
According to a shocking police interview with the dead girl's mother on the day of the murder, Anwar Jan said her daughter would still be alive if she had only listened to her family.
"Aqsa, you should have listened": Mother
Louie Rosella
Mississauga News
Aqsa Parvez's father and brother believed she was an "insult" to her family and her religion and vowed to silence her. Tragically, they made good on that promise, killing the 16-year-old girl in the family's Longhorn Trail home on Dec. 10, 2007, a Brampton court was told today.
Muhammad Parvez, 59, and Waqas Parvez, 29, pleaded guilty this afternoon to second-degree murder in the death of the Applewood Heights Secondary School student.
It remains unclear which man actually strangled the teen to death in the so-called honour killing.
According to a shocking police interview with the dead girl's mother on the day of the murder, Anwar Jan said her daughter would still be alive if she had only listened to her family.
"You made my life into hell. Oh my Aqsa, you should have listened. Everyone tried to make you understand," Jan said, according to a transcript of the police interview. "Everyone begged you, but you didn't listen."
Prior to the murder, Parvez's father swore on the Koran "he would kill her" if she ran away again and her older brother told his friend he had intentions of killing his teen sister, and that his father would take all the blame.
The father told police and family members that fateful day that he committed the murder. He placed a 9-1-1 call that morning, saying he "killed his daughter using his hands," Crown prosecutor Sandra Caponecchia told the court in a lengthy agreed statement of facts read into the record today.
However, Peel Regional Police secretly caught Waqas Parvez, on tape months after the murder, admitting to his friend Steve Warda he had choked his youngest sister "until she died," Caponecchia said.
"Waqas explained to Mr. Warda that his sister was causing the family embarassment and that he had to do it," Caponecchia said.
Forensic tests showed Aqsa's father had her blood on his hands, and Waqas Parvez's DNA was found under his dead sister's fingernails.
The surprise guilty pleas sent shockwaves through Brampton court. Parvez's mother and some of her siblings were in the courtroom.
Both men will receive an automatic life sentence under the Criminal Code with no parole for a minimum 10 years. The parole ineligibility period has yet to be decided.
The pair were charged with first-degree murder and were scheduled to go to trial next year, prior to appearing in court today before Justice Bruce Durno.
Today's appearance was originally scheduled to hear a pre-trial motion. The plea agreement came together only recently.
Parvez was killed in her basement bedroom inside the Hurontario St. and Bristol Rd. E. area home. An autopsy revealed she died of "neck compressions." Police found her lying face-up on her bed.
"She was fully clothed and had her jacket on," Caponecchia said. "She had no vital signs. There was blood coming from her nose." She remained on life support for several hours, but died in hospital.
The judge was told Parvez feared for her life in the months leading up to her death, as her father and other family members became increasingly enraged over her desire for more freedom. She wanted to wear "western clothes" and didn't want to wear her hijab, a traditional headscarf worn by devout Muslim women.
She confided in friends and school counsellors in the months before she died.
"Aqsa explained how she wanted to dress like the other kids at school and have the same freedoms," Caponecchia said. "She explained that she had no freedom at home and no privacy. She explained that she didn't have a door on her bedroom, her freedom to talk on the phone with friends was restricted, she was required to come straight home after school and expected to spend her evenings and weekends at home, as well."
School counsellors arranged family meetings with Parvez, her parents and social workers to try to resolve the issues. During one of those meetings, her father said that he was "in control of his house, he made all the decisions and his children do as he says," court heard.
In another meeting in the fall of 2007, Muhammad Parvez told a family counsellor "women are able to open their mouths because they have rights, but if the same woman was in Pakistan, she don't dare open her mouth."
Aqsa Parvez told her friends and counsellors she was afraid to go home, court heard. She was being followed by her father and older siblings, including sister Irim.
Arrangements were made for her to stay in a shelter for a few nights and she was staying with a friend in the last days of her life, going home only when she knew it was safe, court heard.
She also went to the movies for the first time and was looking for a part-time job — things her parents didn't approve of. "During this week Aqsa appeared happy and determined to start a new life for herself," Caponecchia said.
Parvez's father offered her an allowance and some lenience to return home, but she refused, court heard.
Muhammad Parvez told a family friend that his youngest daughter "was making his life miserable and that he had given her more than he had given any of his other children."
On the morning she was attacked, Parvez was waiting at a bus with a friend when Waqas Parvez showed up in his van and picked up his younger sister.
The 9-1-1 call to police was made by the father about 30 minutes later.
In a police interview after her daughter's murder, Anwar Jan said her husband told her afterward he killed his daughter because "this is my insult. My community will say you have not been able to control your daughter. This is my insult. She is making me naked."
Jan added that, in Pakistan, it's normal to kill a girl or disown her if she doesn't obey her parents.
The siblings and other family members who were in the home when Parvez was strangled, told police they didn't see who killed the girl, they didn't hear anything and that Waqas Parvez wasn't home.
Aqsa's sister, Shasma Parvez, told police that Aqsa was disrespecting her father and her Muslim religion "by running away ... it made her dad and brother mad."
She added, "Whoever did this to her sister shouldn't go to jail."
Waqas Parvez, a tow truck driver, was initially charged with obstructing justice for lying to police. But when Warda, a good friend and fellow tow truck driver, came to police with new information six months after the murder, police placed a recording device on Warda and caught Waqas admitting to his role in the killing.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Darwin was a Christian.
Darwin was a Christian. Later on an Agnostic-Atheist.
The theory of Evolution originated from the Muslim scientists. Even Rumi remarked it in his poems how we are Adam and the Apemen were the raw form.
Muslims were the first to say we originated from apes! The Theory of Evolution, in the West originally known as the Muhammedan Creation Theory, was taught in the Islamic Universities. It was accepted and seen as logical and not going against the Quran at all. Only later on did the Muslims reject it, because it then represented Western science to them. Oh how many did Muslims forget!!!
Allah is called our Rabb, which means:
Who fosters, nourishes, brings up and regulate the things from the crudest state to that of the highest perfection, is such a matter to make it attain one condition after an other until it reaches its goal of completion. He is also called Al-Bari, the Evolver and Al-Masuwwir, the Bestower of Forms/Fashioner in 59:24.
The concept of Evolution was first described by the Greeks, but it was further developed by the early Muslims. Great Muslim scholars and scientists as Al-Kindi, Ibn-Rushd, Ibn Tufayl, Ibn-Arabi, Ibn-Khaldun all described and promoted the concept of Evolution. Before the 1800's, Evolution Theory was known in Europe as the 'Muhammedan Creation Theory' and was described in almost all Muslim Medicine and Science Books. It was also part of normal education in the Muslim schools and Universities. Ibn Khaldun [1332-1406, 400 years before Darwin!] wrote in his Muqaddimah, an Introduction to History:
"One should then look at the world of Creation. It started out from the minerals and progressed, in an ingenious, gradual manner to plants and animals. The last stage of minerals is connected with the first stage of plants, such as herbs and seedles plants. The last stage of plants such as palms and vine sis connected with the first stage of animals, such as snails and shellfish which have only the power to touch. The word 'connection' with regard to these created things means that the last stage of each group is fully prepared to become the first stage of the next group. The animal world then widens, its species become numerous, and, in a gradual process of creation, it finally leads to man, who is able to think and reflect. The higher stage of man is reached from the world of monkeys, in which both sagacity and perception are found, but which has not reached the stage of actual reflection and thinking. At this point we come to the first stage of man ( after the world of monkeys). This is as far as our (physical) observation extends."
This is just one example out of hundreds of opinions and observations made by Muslim scholars in the early centuries of Islam. When Darwin made his own speculations based on the Muslim Theory of Evolution, it was taken up by the Materialist Movement of the West. Because the Theory of Evolution is not supported by the Bible, and also because Darwin's speculations gave room for a Creator-less creation, Darwin's version of the Theory was taken up by the Atheist. Through this, Evolution Theory was seen as equal to Atheism, and Muslims, through loss of their knowledge and their aversion of the Materialist Colonial powers of the West that had conquered them, came to reject the Theory of Evolution. And together with the Christian world took up the concept of Instant Creation. A concept that goes directly against the language of the Quran and its Message as will be shown.
The theory of Evolution originated from the Muslim scientists. Even Rumi remarked it in his poems how we are Adam and the Apemen were the raw form.
Muslims were the first to say we originated from apes! The Theory of Evolution, in the West originally known as the Muhammedan Creation Theory, was taught in the Islamic Universities. It was accepted and seen as logical and not going against the Quran at all. Only later on did the Muslims reject it, because it then represented Western science to them. Oh how many did Muslims forget!!!
Allah is called our Rabb, which means:
Who fosters, nourishes, brings up and regulate the things from the crudest state to that of the highest perfection, is such a matter to make it attain one condition after an other until it reaches its goal of completion. He is also called Al-Bari, the Evolver and Al-Masuwwir, the Bestower of Forms/Fashioner in 59:24.
The concept of Evolution was first described by the Greeks, but it was further developed by the early Muslims. Great Muslim scholars and scientists as Al-Kindi, Ibn-Rushd, Ibn Tufayl, Ibn-Arabi, Ibn-Khaldun all described and promoted the concept of Evolution. Before the 1800's, Evolution Theory was known in Europe as the 'Muhammedan Creation Theory' and was described in almost all Muslim Medicine and Science Books. It was also part of normal education in the Muslim schools and Universities. Ibn Khaldun [1332-1406, 400 years before Darwin!] wrote in his Muqaddimah, an Introduction to History:
"One should then look at the world of Creation. It started out from the minerals and progressed, in an ingenious, gradual manner to plants and animals. The last stage of minerals is connected with the first stage of plants, such as herbs and seedles plants. The last stage of plants such as palms and vine sis connected with the first stage of animals, such as snails and shellfish which have only the power to touch. The word 'connection' with regard to these created things means that the last stage of each group is fully prepared to become the first stage of the next group. The animal world then widens, its species become numerous, and, in a gradual process of creation, it finally leads to man, who is able to think and reflect. The higher stage of man is reached from the world of monkeys, in which both sagacity and perception are found, but which has not reached the stage of actual reflection and thinking. At this point we come to the first stage of man ( after the world of monkeys). This is as far as our (physical) observation extends."
This is just one example out of hundreds of opinions and observations made by Muslim scholars in the early centuries of Islam. When Darwin made his own speculations based on the Muslim Theory of Evolution, it was taken up by the Materialist Movement of the West. Because the Theory of Evolution is not supported by the Bible, and also because Darwin's speculations gave room for a Creator-less creation, Darwin's version of the Theory was taken up by the Atheist. Through this, Evolution Theory was seen as equal to Atheism, and Muslims, through loss of their knowledge and their aversion of the Materialist Colonial powers of the West that had conquered them, came to reject the Theory of Evolution. And together with the Christian world took up the concept of Instant Creation. A concept that goes directly against the language of the Quran and its Message as will be shown.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
World Cup Soccer
My country is hosting the FIFA World cup soccer show piece. Cities such as Johannesburg and Durban are proudly displaying the fact that this event is taking place here. Sad to say, here in Cape Town we seem not have have the Gees (spirit). Why is this so?
Dress Code for Women
WOMEN'S DRESS CODE according to the Quran:
Allah made the Deen easy, practical and enjoyable for humanity. Allah also tells us that those who reject the guidance are making life miserable for themselves and for their loved ones who follow in their footsteps. Allah reminds us in the Quran that He has placed no hardship on us in practicing our Deen (see 22:78). Allah established also several rules in His book, the Quran, for humanity. Breaking any of His rules or refusing any of them means loss, misguidance, misery and suffering. Therefore, to understand a topic like the DRESS CODE for Muslim Women, we need to review quickly some of the rules established by our Creator to whom we will be responsible for our deeds. Every rule is important and every rule is meant to be.
(1) Quran is a complete book, See 6:19,38,114, 115, 12:111 and 50:45. Remember that when Allah says that His book is complete, it means 100% complete.
(2) Quran is perfect; no mistakes, no falsehood, 41:42, 12:40
(3) Quraan is detailed, and when Allah says He detailed His book it means FULLY detailed. 6:114, See also, 7:52, 11:1, 41:3, 10:37 and 12:111
(4) Allah does not need any addition to His book. 18:109
(5) Allah calls His book, the Quran, the BEST HADITH. 7:185, 31:6, 39:23, 45:6, and 77:50.
(6) Allah calls on humanity to make sure not to fall in the trap of idol-worship by following the words of the scholars instead of the words of Allah (see 9:31).
(7) Allah calls those who prohibit what He did not prohibit, aggressors, liars and idol-worshipers. See, 5:87, 9:37, 7:32, 6:119, 6:140 and 10:59.
(8) Muhammad (saw)is represented only by the Quran. The Prophet Muhammad was the last Prophet and a messenger of Allah (33:40). His duty was to deliver to the world what Allah was giving him, the Quran. See 42:48, 13:40, 5:99-100, Muhammad (saw) cannot prohibit things, or make lawful things on his own. Verse 66:1 reminds us that Allah is the only ONE to prohibit or make things lawful. NO ONE can attribute to Muhammad (saw) a prohibition that Allah did not give him in the Quran. Anyone who tries to do so is admitting his/her refusal of Allah's words and commandments in the Quraan.
(9) The TRUE believers KNOW that when Allah says something, He means it, and when He does not, he means it as well. Everything given to us in the Quran was done deliberately and anything left out was also left out deliberately. Allah does not forget. See 19:64. We are not to add to this religion what Allah deliberately left out and claim it to be from Him or His messenger. His messenger has only ONE message, the Qur`aan. Allah already told us He does not run out of words. 18:109
(10) Allah does not need us to improve on His book, the Qur`aan, but we very much need Him for every aspect of our lives. Those who think they have some improvement on the Quran are but asking for recognition of their idols as gods besides the ONE and ONLY ALLAH. Fabricated hadiths tried to add to Islam what the
disbelievers thought Allah forgot to mention in the Qur`aan.
(11) Allah calls on His TRUE believers to verify every piece of information they see, hear or read, see 17:36.
THREE RULES FOR WOMEN DRESS CODE IN ISLAM, THE BEST GARMENT, FIRST RULE:
7:26 The best garment is the garment of righteousness/taqwa.
SECOND RULE, COVER YOUR BOSOMS:
The second rule can be found in 24:31. Here Allah orders the women to cover their bosoms whenever they dress up. But before quoting 24:31 let us review some crucial words that are always mentioned with this topic, namely "Hijab" and "Khimar"
THE WORD "HIJAB" in the QURAN
"Hijab" is the term used by many Muslims women to describe their head cover that may or may not include covering their face except their eyes, and sometimes covering also one eye. The Arabic word "Hijab" can be translated into veil or yashmak. Other meanings for the word "Hijab" include, screen, cover(ing), mantle,
curtain, drapes, partition, division, divider.
Can we find the word "Hijab" in the Quran? The word "Hijab" appeared in the Quran 7 times, five of them as "Hijab" and two times as "Hijaban," these are 7:46, 33:53, 38:32, 41:5, 42:51, 17:45 & 19:17.
None of these "Hijab" words are used in the Quran in reference to what the traditional Muslims call today (Hijab) as a dress code for the Muslim woman.
Allah knows that generations after the Prophet's death the Muslims will use the word "Hijab" to invent a dress code that He never authorized. In fact, Allah used the word "Hijab" ahead of them just as He used the word "Hadith" ahead of them.
Hijab in the Quran has nothing to do with the Muslim Women dress code.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
While many Muslims call "Hijab", an Islamic dress code, they completely ignore the fact that, Hijab, as a dress code has nothing to do with Islam and nothing to do with QURAN. In reality "Hijab" is an old Jewish tradition that infiltrated into the hadith books like many innovations that contaminated Islam through alleged Hadith and Sunna. These in reality came from Jewish origin. Any student of the Jewish traditions or religious books will see that head cover for the Jewish woman is encouraged by the Rabbis and religious leaders. Religious Jewish women still cover their heads most of the time and especially in the synagogues, weddings, and religious festivities. Christian women cover their heads in many religious occasions while the nuns cover their heads all the time. This religious practice of covering the head was established from traditions thousands of years before the Muslim scholars claimed the Hijab as a Muslim dress code.
The traditional Arabs, of all religions, Jews, Christians and Muslims used to wear "Hijab," not because of Islam, but because of tradition. In Saudi Arabia, up to this minute most of the men cover their head, not because of Islam but because of tradition. THE WORD "KHIMAR" in the QURAN: "Khimar" is an Arabic word that can be found in the Qur`aan in 24:31 While the first basic rule of Dress Code for the Muslim Women can be found in 7:26, the second rule of the DRESS CODE FOR
WOMEN can be found in 24:31. Some Muslims quote verse 31 of sura 24 as containing the Hijab, or head cover, by pointing to the word, khomoorehenna, (from Khimar), forgetting that Allah already used the word Hijab, several times in the Qur`aan.
Those blessed by Allah can see that the use of the word "Khimar" in this verse is not for "Hijab" or for head cover. Those who quote this verse usually add (Head cover) (veil) after the word addition to the verse not Allah's.
"Khimar" is an Arabic word that means, cover, any cover, a curtain is a Khimar, a dress is a Khimar, a table cloth that covers the top of a table is a Khimar, a blanket can be used as a Khimar, etc. The word KHAMRA used for intoxicant in Arabic has the same root with Khimar, because both covers, the Khimar covers (a window, a body, a table. etc.) while KHAMRA covers the state of mind. Most of the translators, obviously influenced by Hadith (fabrications) translate the word as VEIL and thus mislead most people to believe that this verse is advocating the covering of the head.
In verse 24:31 Allah is asking the women to use their cover (khimar)(being a dress, a coat, a shawl, a shirt, a blouse, a tie, a scarf . . . etc.) to cover their bosoms, not their heads or their hair.
If Allah so willed to order the women to cover their heads or their hair, nothing would have prevented Him from doing so. ALLAH does not run out of words. ALLAH does not forget. Allah did not order the women to cover their heads or their hair. He was not waiting for a Scholar to insert the words for Him. The Arabic word for CHEST, GAYB is in the verse (24:31), but the Arabic words for HEAD, (RAAS) or HAIR, (SHAAR) are NOT in the verse.
According to the language used during the time of the Revelation, "jayb" means chest or bossom. It may also mean "collar" when used with shirt, that is, "jayb al qamees". It may also mean "heart" when used as "huwana sihu jayb" or "he has pure heart". Elsewhere in the Quran, that is, 27:12 and 28:32, "jaybika" is used for
Moses (as) for "your heart". Many Hadith-following translators have translated it as "your collar". But with the above examples it is clear that "jayb" corresponds to areas of human body between neck and chest. "Juyub" is plural of "jayb". The commandment in the verse is clear - COVER YOUR CHEST OR BOSOMS, but also the fabrication of the scholars and most of the translators is clear by claiming- cover your head or hair.
The last part of the verse (24:31) translates as, "They shall not strike their feet when they walk in order to shake and reveal certain details of their bodies." The details of the body can be revealed or not revealed by the dress you wear, not by your head cover.
Notice also the expression in verse 24:31, "They shall not reveal any parts of their bodies, except that which is necessary." This expression may sound vague to many because they have not understood the mercy of Allah. Again Allah here used this very general term to give us the freedom to decide according to our own Circumstances the definition of "Which is necessary". It is not up to a scholar or to any particular person to define this term. Allah wants to leave it personal for every woman and no one can take it away from her.
Women who follow the basic rule number one i.e. righteousness, will have no problem making the right decision to reveal only what is necessary. The word "zeenatahunna" in this verse refers to the woman's body parts (beauty) and not to ornaments and decorations as some people interpret or translate it.
At the end of the verse, Allah told the women not to strike with their feet to show their "zeenatahunna". You do not need to your feet while walking can expose or shake certain parts of the body that do not need to be emphasized.
Accepting orders from anybody but Allah, means idol-worship. That is how serious the matter of Hijab/ khimar is. Women who wear Hijab because of tradition or because they like it for personal reasons commit no sin, as long as they know that it is not part of this perfect religion. Those who are wearing it because they think Allah ordered it are committing Idol-worship, as Allah did not order it, the scholars did. These women have found for themselves another god than the One who revealed the Quran, complete, perfect and FULLY detailed to tell them they have to cover their heads to be Muslims.
THIRD RULE OF DRESS CODE FOR WOMEN:
The first regulation of DRESS CODE for Muslim women is in verse 7:26, the second is in verse 24:31 and the third is in verse 33:59.
In 33:59, Allah sets the other regulation for the dress code for the Muslim women during the prophet's life. Although the verse is talking to the prophet which means this regulation applies to the time of the prophet, just like the order in verse 49:2, the description fits the spirit of Islam, and can teach us a great deal.
If we reflect on this verse how Allah ordered the prophet to tell his wives, his daughters and the wives of the believers to lengthen their garments, we will understand the great wisdom of the MOST WISE, the MOST MERCIFUL.
In this verse, Allah, DELIBERATELY, (and all the TRUE believers know that everything ALLAH says, does, or did is DELIBERATE) said, tell them, to lengthen their garments, but never said how long is LONG.
Allah could have said tell them to lengthen their garments to such and such a length. But Allah did not, OUT OF HIS MERCY, not because Allah FORGOT as Allah knew that different communities and have different cultures and thus the minor details of this dress code will be left for the people of every community to hammer out for themselves.
It is clear from the above verses that the DRESS CODE for the Muslim women according to the Quran is righteousness and modesty. Allah knew that this modesty will be understood differently in different communities and that is why Allah left it open to us to decide for ourselves.
Decide, after righteousness what is modesty. Modesty for a woman who lives in Cape Twon may not be accepted by a woman who lives in Cairo Egypt. Modesty of a woman who lives in Cairo, Egypt may not be accepted by a woman who lives in Saudi Arabia. Modesty of a woman who lives in Jidda in Saudi Arabia may not be accepted by a woman who lives in a desert oasis in the same country.
This difference in the way we perceive modesty is well known to Allah, he created us, and He put NO hardship on us in this great religion. He left it to us to decide what modesty would be. For any person, knowledgeable or not to draw a line and make a conclusion for Allah about the definition of modesty is to admit that he/she knows better than Allah. Allah left it open for us and no one has the authority to restrict it, it has to stay open.
RELAXING THE DRESS CODE:
In the family setting, Allah put no hardship on the women, and permitted them to relax their dress code. If you reflect on the verses, 33:55 and 24:60, you will see that Allah did not give details of what this relaxation is, because every situation is different. A woman may relax her dress code in front of the four-year-old son of her brother but not as much in front of the 16-year-old son.
HARDSHIP IN DEEN:
Allah declares that those who will reject His complete book and go look for other sources for guidance will suffer in this life and in the HEREAFTER by their choice. Allah never put any hardship on the believers, but the clergy do, they invented their own laws in defiance of Allah, to regulate everything from the side of bed you sleep on, to which foot should step in the house, to what to do with a fly in your soup, to what to say when having intercourse with your spouse.
Those who believe Allah and believe that His book is COMPLETE, PERFECT AND FULLY DETAILED, will have everything easy for them as Allah promised, See verses 10:62-64. and 16:97 while those who do not believe Allah and have been seeking other sources than the Quran will have all the hardship of this life and the life to come. In the Hereafter they will complain to Allah, "we were not idol-worshipers," but Allah knows best, He knows they were See 6:22-24
CONCLUSION:
Allah, the Most Merciful, gave us THREE basic rules for the Dress Code for Women in Islam, (1) The BEST garment is the garment of righteousness. (2) Whenever you dress, cover your chest (bosoms). (3) Lengthen your garment. While these three BASIC rules may not sound enough for those who do not trust Allah, the TRUE believers know that Allah Alone is ENOUGH.
Allah could have given us more details to the point of having graphs, designs and colour rules, but He, Ar-Rahman, wants to give us exactly these very basic rules and leave the rest for us.
After these three basic rules every woman is more aware of her circumstances and can adjust her dress for her situation. Any addition to these basic Quranic rules is an attempt to correct Allah or improve on His merciful design.
Allah made the Deen easy, practical and enjoyable for humanity. Allah also tells us that those who reject the guidance are making life miserable for themselves and for their loved ones who follow in their footsteps. Allah reminds us in the Quran that He has placed no hardship on us in practicing our Deen (see 22:78). Allah established also several rules in His book, the Quran, for humanity. Breaking any of His rules or refusing any of them means loss, misguidance, misery and suffering. Therefore, to understand a topic like the DRESS CODE for Muslim Women, we need to review quickly some of the rules established by our Creator to whom we will be responsible for our deeds. Every rule is important and every rule is meant to be.
(1) Quran is a complete book, See 6:19,38,114, 115, 12:111 and 50:45. Remember that when Allah says that His book is complete, it means 100% complete.
(2) Quran is perfect; no mistakes, no falsehood, 41:42, 12:40
(3) Quraan is detailed, and when Allah says He detailed His book it means FULLY detailed. 6:114, See also, 7:52, 11:1, 41:3, 10:37 and 12:111
(4) Allah does not need any addition to His book. 18:109
(5) Allah calls His book, the Quran, the BEST HADITH. 7:185, 31:6, 39:23, 45:6, and 77:50.
(6) Allah calls on humanity to make sure not to fall in the trap of idol-worship by following the words of the scholars instead of the words of Allah (see 9:31).
(7) Allah calls those who prohibit what He did not prohibit, aggressors, liars and idol-worshipers. See, 5:87, 9:37, 7:32, 6:119, 6:140 and 10:59.
(8) Muhammad (saw)is represented only by the Quran. The Prophet Muhammad was the last Prophet and a messenger of Allah (33:40). His duty was to deliver to the world what Allah was giving him, the Quran. See 42:48, 13:40, 5:99-100, Muhammad (saw) cannot prohibit things, or make lawful things on his own. Verse 66:1 reminds us that Allah is the only ONE to prohibit or make things lawful. NO ONE can attribute to Muhammad (saw) a prohibition that Allah did not give him in the Quran. Anyone who tries to do so is admitting his/her refusal of Allah's words and commandments in the Quraan.
(9) The TRUE believers KNOW that when Allah says something, He means it, and when He does not, he means it as well. Everything given to us in the Quran was done deliberately and anything left out was also left out deliberately. Allah does not forget. See 19:64. We are not to add to this religion what Allah deliberately left out and claim it to be from Him or His messenger. His messenger has only ONE message, the Qur`aan. Allah already told us He does not run out of words. 18:109
(10) Allah does not need us to improve on His book, the Qur`aan, but we very much need Him for every aspect of our lives. Those who think they have some improvement on the Quran are but asking for recognition of their idols as gods besides the ONE and ONLY ALLAH. Fabricated hadiths tried to add to Islam what the
disbelievers thought Allah forgot to mention in the Qur`aan.
(11) Allah calls on His TRUE believers to verify every piece of information they see, hear or read, see 17:36.
THREE RULES FOR WOMEN DRESS CODE IN ISLAM, THE BEST GARMENT, FIRST RULE:
7:26 The best garment is the garment of righteousness/taqwa.
SECOND RULE, COVER YOUR BOSOMS:
The second rule can be found in 24:31. Here Allah orders the women to cover their bosoms whenever they dress up. But before quoting 24:31 let us review some crucial words that are always mentioned with this topic, namely "Hijab" and "Khimar"
THE WORD "HIJAB" in the QURAN
"Hijab" is the term used by many Muslims women to describe their head cover that may or may not include covering their face except their eyes, and sometimes covering also one eye. The Arabic word "Hijab" can be translated into veil or yashmak. Other meanings for the word "Hijab" include, screen, cover(ing), mantle,
curtain, drapes, partition, division, divider.
Can we find the word "Hijab" in the Quran? The word "Hijab" appeared in the Quran 7 times, five of them as "Hijab" and two times as "Hijaban," these are 7:46, 33:53, 38:32, 41:5, 42:51, 17:45 & 19:17.
None of these "Hijab" words are used in the Quran in reference to what the traditional Muslims call today (Hijab) as a dress code for the Muslim woman.
Allah knows that generations after the Prophet's death the Muslims will use the word "Hijab" to invent a dress code that He never authorized. In fact, Allah used the word "Hijab" ahead of them just as He used the word "Hadith" ahead of them.
Hijab in the Quran has nothing to do with the Muslim Women dress code.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
While many Muslims call "Hijab", an Islamic dress code, they completely ignore the fact that, Hijab, as a dress code has nothing to do with Islam and nothing to do with QURAN. In reality "Hijab" is an old Jewish tradition that infiltrated into the hadith books like many innovations that contaminated Islam through alleged Hadith and Sunna. These in reality came from Jewish origin. Any student of the Jewish traditions or religious books will see that head cover for the Jewish woman is encouraged by the Rabbis and religious leaders. Religious Jewish women still cover their heads most of the time and especially in the synagogues, weddings, and religious festivities. Christian women cover their heads in many religious occasions while the nuns cover their heads all the time. This religious practice of covering the head was established from traditions thousands of years before the Muslim scholars claimed the Hijab as a Muslim dress code.
The traditional Arabs, of all religions, Jews, Christians and Muslims used to wear "Hijab," not because of Islam, but because of tradition. In Saudi Arabia, up to this minute most of the men cover their head, not because of Islam but because of tradition. THE WORD "KHIMAR" in the QURAN: "Khimar" is an Arabic word that can be found in the Qur`aan in 24:31 While the first basic rule of Dress Code for the Muslim Women can be found in 7:26, the second rule of the DRESS CODE FOR
WOMEN can be found in 24:31. Some Muslims quote verse 31 of sura 24 as containing the Hijab, or head cover, by pointing to the word, khomoorehenna, (from Khimar), forgetting that Allah already used the word Hijab, several times in the Qur`aan.
Those blessed by Allah can see that the use of the word "Khimar" in this verse is not for "Hijab" or for head cover. Those who quote this verse usually add (Head cover) (veil) after the word addition to the verse not Allah's.
"Khimar" is an Arabic word that means, cover, any cover, a curtain is a Khimar, a dress is a Khimar, a table cloth that covers the top of a table is a Khimar, a blanket can be used as a Khimar, etc. The word KHAMRA used for intoxicant in Arabic has the same root with Khimar, because both covers, the Khimar covers (a window, a body, a table. etc.) while KHAMRA covers the state of mind. Most of the translators, obviously influenced by Hadith (fabrications) translate the word as VEIL and thus mislead most people to believe that this verse is advocating the covering of the head.
In verse 24:31 Allah is asking the women to use their cover (khimar)(being a dress, a coat, a shawl, a shirt, a blouse, a tie, a scarf . . . etc.) to cover their bosoms, not their heads or their hair.
If Allah so willed to order the women to cover their heads or their hair, nothing would have prevented Him from doing so. ALLAH does not run out of words. ALLAH does not forget. Allah did not order the women to cover their heads or their hair. He was not waiting for a Scholar to insert the words for Him. The Arabic word for CHEST, GAYB is in the verse (24:31), but the Arabic words for HEAD, (RAAS) or HAIR, (SHAAR) are NOT in the verse.
According to the language used during the time of the Revelation, "jayb" means chest or bossom. It may also mean "collar" when used with shirt, that is, "jayb al qamees". It may also mean "heart" when used as "huwana sihu jayb" or "he has pure heart". Elsewhere in the Quran, that is, 27:12 and 28:32, "jaybika" is used for
Moses (as) for "your heart". Many Hadith-following translators have translated it as "your collar". But with the above examples it is clear that "jayb" corresponds to areas of human body between neck and chest. "Juyub" is plural of "jayb". The commandment in the verse is clear - COVER YOUR CHEST OR BOSOMS, but also the fabrication of the scholars and most of the translators is clear by claiming- cover your head or hair.
The last part of the verse (24:31) translates as, "They shall not strike their feet when they walk in order to shake and reveal certain details of their bodies." The details of the body can be revealed or not revealed by the dress you wear, not by your head cover.
Notice also the expression in verse 24:31, "They shall not reveal any parts of their bodies, except that which is necessary." This expression may sound vague to many because they have not understood the mercy of Allah. Again Allah here used this very general term to give us the freedom to decide according to our own Circumstances the definition of "Which is necessary". It is not up to a scholar or to any particular person to define this term. Allah wants to leave it personal for every woman and no one can take it away from her.
Women who follow the basic rule number one i.e. righteousness, will have no problem making the right decision to reveal only what is necessary. The word "zeenatahunna" in this verse refers to the woman's body parts (beauty) and not to ornaments and decorations as some people interpret or translate it.
At the end of the verse, Allah told the women not to strike with their feet to show their "zeenatahunna". You do not need to your feet while walking can expose or shake certain parts of the body that do not need to be emphasized.
Accepting orders from anybody but Allah, means idol-worship. That is how serious the matter of Hijab/ khimar is. Women who wear Hijab because of tradition or because they like it for personal reasons commit no sin, as long as they know that it is not part of this perfect religion. Those who are wearing it because they think Allah ordered it are committing Idol-worship, as Allah did not order it, the scholars did. These women have found for themselves another god than the One who revealed the Quran, complete, perfect and FULLY detailed to tell them they have to cover their heads to be Muslims.
THIRD RULE OF DRESS CODE FOR WOMEN:
The first regulation of DRESS CODE for Muslim women is in verse 7:26, the second is in verse 24:31 and the third is in verse 33:59.
In 33:59, Allah sets the other regulation for the dress code for the Muslim women during the prophet's life. Although the verse is talking to the prophet which means this regulation applies to the time of the prophet, just like the order in verse 49:2, the description fits the spirit of Islam, and can teach us a great deal.
If we reflect on this verse how Allah ordered the prophet to tell his wives, his daughters and the wives of the believers to lengthen their garments, we will understand the great wisdom of the MOST WISE, the MOST MERCIFUL.
In this verse, Allah, DELIBERATELY, (and all the TRUE believers know that everything ALLAH says, does, or did is DELIBERATE) said, tell them, to lengthen their garments, but never said how long is LONG.
Allah could have said tell them to lengthen their garments to such and such a length. But Allah did not, OUT OF HIS MERCY, not because Allah FORGOT as Allah knew that different communities and have different cultures and thus the minor details of this dress code will be left for the people of every community to hammer out for themselves.
It is clear from the above verses that the DRESS CODE for the Muslim women according to the Quran is righteousness and modesty. Allah knew that this modesty will be understood differently in different communities and that is why Allah left it open to us to decide for ourselves.
Decide, after righteousness what is modesty. Modesty for a woman who lives in Cape Twon may not be accepted by a woman who lives in Cairo Egypt. Modesty of a woman who lives in Cairo, Egypt may not be accepted by a woman who lives in Saudi Arabia. Modesty of a woman who lives in Jidda in Saudi Arabia may not be accepted by a woman who lives in a desert oasis in the same country.
This difference in the way we perceive modesty is well known to Allah, he created us, and He put NO hardship on us in this great religion. He left it to us to decide what modesty would be. For any person, knowledgeable or not to draw a line and make a conclusion for Allah about the definition of modesty is to admit that he/she knows better than Allah. Allah left it open for us and no one has the authority to restrict it, it has to stay open.
RELAXING THE DRESS CODE:
In the family setting, Allah put no hardship on the women, and permitted them to relax their dress code. If you reflect on the verses, 33:55 and 24:60, you will see that Allah did not give details of what this relaxation is, because every situation is different. A woman may relax her dress code in front of the four-year-old son of her brother but not as much in front of the 16-year-old son.
HARDSHIP IN DEEN:
Allah declares that those who will reject His complete book and go look for other sources for guidance will suffer in this life and in the HEREAFTER by their choice. Allah never put any hardship on the believers, but the clergy do, they invented their own laws in defiance of Allah, to regulate everything from the side of bed you sleep on, to which foot should step in the house, to what to do with a fly in your soup, to what to say when having intercourse with your spouse.
Those who believe Allah and believe that His book is COMPLETE, PERFECT AND FULLY DETAILED, will have everything easy for them as Allah promised, See verses 10:62-64. and 16:97 while those who do not believe Allah and have been seeking other sources than the Quran will have all the hardship of this life and the life to come. In the Hereafter they will complain to Allah, "we were not idol-worshipers," but Allah knows best, He knows they were See 6:22-24
CONCLUSION:
Allah, the Most Merciful, gave us THREE basic rules for the Dress Code for Women in Islam, (1) The BEST garment is the garment of righteousness. (2) Whenever you dress, cover your chest (bosoms). (3) Lengthen your garment. While these three BASIC rules may not sound enough for those who do not trust Allah, the TRUE believers know that Allah Alone is ENOUGH.
Allah could have given us more details to the point of having graphs, designs and colour rules, but He, Ar-Rahman, wants to give us exactly these very basic rules and leave the rest for us.
After these three basic rules every woman is more aware of her circumstances and can adjust her dress for her situation. Any addition to these basic Quranic rules is an attempt to correct Allah or improve on His merciful design.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
The burqa is a war on women
The burqa is a war on women A bizarre form of political correctness is preventing us from an open discussion about what is, in fact, female subjugation.
But the time has come to get over our fears and cultural fragilities - and grow up. The call to ban the burqa is receiving serious consideration in European parliaments.
Belgian legislators voted last month to outlaw the burqa in public places. On Wednesday, a bipartisan resolution passed by the French parliament deploring the burqa - on the grounds of "dignity" and "equality of men and women" - was presented to the French cabinet, and a ban is expected later this year. Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Canada are also grappling with the issue.
But due to an intellectual weakness, we seem intent on shunning any meaningful debate about the burqa and its place in a liberal democracy. At one level this is understandable, given the issue has become a confusing tussle between feminists and well-meaning liberals; nervous libertarians and right-wing ideologues; and the usual smattering of racists and dog-whistling shock-jocks.
Unfortunately for Muslim women, the burqa is not just a garment. It has become a weapon in a war of ideology: a war in which women are the battleground and their rights and freedoms are at stake.Here's the problem. Those who are critical of calls to ban the burqa perceive it to be an attack on personal freedoms. They view the burqa as an individual choice - which is arguable - and a religious requirement, which it is not. They look straight past the woman hidden from public view under heavy cloth, and instead applaud our multicultural tolerance. This is a mistake.
The burqa has nothing to do with ethnic diversity and everything to do with a war against women. Those who wear it, and those who insist it be worn, subscribe to an ideology in which women are inferior sexual temptresses, whose female form is a problem and must be covered. This is based on the contradictory proposition that men are both superior and yet unable to control their sexual urges if they see women in their natural human state. If this wasn't deadly serious, it would be funny.Award-winning Muslim journalist Mona Eltahawy says she is appalled to hear Europeans defend the burqa and niqab. "A bizarre political correctness has tied the tongues of those who would normally rally to defend women's rights," she says. Yet, to argue directly with Islamic fundamentalists about gender equality is fruitless. According to Eltahawy, "the ideology that promotes the niqab and burqa does not believe in the concept of women's rights to begin with".Let's be clear.
This is not about the hijab - or headscarf. Like any hat or cap, the hijab is a matter of individual right. Whether worn for reasons of devotion, modesty, conformity or fashion, it is personal and the state has no business banning it. The burqa is an entirely different issue.
The burqa and the niqab shroud the full body, covering every part of a woman except her feet. The niqab includes a slit for the eyes, whereas the burqa has mesh netting. Malalai Joya, an Afghan MP and a devout Muslim, hates wearing it. "It's not only oppressive," she says, "but it's more difficult than you might think. You have no peripheral vision. And it's hot and suffocating under there."When visiting Australia recently, Joya didn't pack her burqa. She is one of the many millions of Muslim women around the world who choose not to wear it - when they don't have to. Numerous Islamic scholars, men and women, argue that there is not a single reference in the Koran that mandates women must cover their face and bodies and hide themselves from public view.
The Koran does call for modesty, which some interpret as an obligation to wear the headscarf. But even that is widely questioned by progressive Muslims scholars such as Tarek Fatah, founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress. Furious at Islamic extremists for their "gender apartheid", Fatah insists that even the hijab is being used by fundamentalists as a "political tool" who have turned it into "the central pillar of Islam".
British journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown is a Shiite Muslim who pulls no punches. "I abhor the burqa," she wrote in The Independent, saying that she was "offended" by the presumption that women who wear it "are more pious and true" than her.There is no doubt that women who don this ostentatious costume in the West are proud of their piety. One such woman told me, "the niqab is submission and servitude to my Almighty Creator" and that I had no right to question her choice to wear it. Well, I do. What God demands men roam free while women wear a sackcloth that restricts their movement and dehumanises them? What God wants to punish women in this way? What God hates women so much that he restricts her right to be man's equal?The answer is obvious. No God. This is the work of men - who claim a direct link to the divine - and wish to keep women subordinate and under their control. It's that simple.
But the time has come to get over our fears and cultural fragilities - and grow up. The call to ban the burqa is receiving serious consideration in European parliaments.
Belgian legislators voted last month to outlaw the burqa in public places. On Wednesday, a bipartisan resolution passed by the French parliament deploring the burqa - on the grounds of "dignity" and "equality of men and women" - was presented to the French cabinet, and a ban is expected later this year. Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Canada are also grappling with the issue.
But due to an intellectual weakness, we seem intent on shunning any meaningful debate about the burqa and its place in a liberal democracy. At one level this is understandable, given the issue has become a confusing tussle between feminists and well-meaning liberals; nervous libertarians and right-wing ideologues; and the usual smattering of racists and dog-whistling shock-jocks.
Unfortunately for Muslim women, the burqa is not just a garment. It has become a weapon in a war of ideology: a war in which women are the battleground and their rights and freedoms are at stake.Here's the problem. Those who are critical of calls to ban the burqa perceive it to be an attack on personal freedoms. They view the burqa as an individual choice - which is arguable - and a religious requirement, which it is not. They look straight past the woman hidden from public view under heavy cloth, and instead applaud our multicultural tolerance. This is a mistake.
The burqa has nothing to do with ethnic diversity and everything to do with a war against women. Those who wear it, and those who insist it be worn, subscribe to an ideology in which women are inferior sexual temptresses, whose female form is a problem and must be covered. This is based on the contradictory proposition that men are both superior and yet unable to control their sexual urges if they see women in their natural human state. If this wasn't deadly serious, it would be funny.Award-winning Muslim journalist Mona Eltahawy says she is appalled to hear Europeans defend the burqa and niqab. "A bizarre political correctness has tied the tongues of those who would normally rally to defend women's rights," she says. Yet, to argue directly with Islamic fundamentalists about gender equality is fruitless. According to Eltahawy, "the ideology that promotes the niqab and burqa does not believe in the concept of women's rights to begin with".Let's be clear.
This is not about the hijab - or headscarf. Like any hat or cap, the hijab is a matter of individual right. Whether worn for reasons of devotion, modesty, conformity or fashion, it is personal and the state has no business banning it. The burqa is an entirely different issue.
The burqa and the niqab shroud the full body, covering every part of a woman except her feet. The niqab includes a slit for the eyes, whereas the burqa has mesh netting. Malalai Joya, an Afghan MP and a devout Muslim, hates wearing it. "It's not only oppressive," she says, "but it's more difficult than you might think. You have no peripheral vision. And it's hot and suffocating under there."When visiting Australia recently, Joya didn't pack her burqa. She is one of the many millions of Muslim women around the world who choose not to wear it - when they don't have to. Numerous Islamic scholars, men and women, argue that there is not a single reference in the Koran that mandates women must cover their face and bodies and hide themselves from public view.
The Koran does call for modesty, which some interpret as an obligation to wear the headscarf. But even that is widely questioned by progressive Muslims scholars such as Tarek Fatah, founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress. Furious at Islamic extremists for their "gender apartheid", Fatah insists that even the hijab is being used by fundamentalists as a "political tool" who have turned it into "the central pillar of Islam".
British journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown is a Shiite Muslim who pulls no punches. "I abhor the burqa," she wrote in The Independent, saying that she was "offended" by the presumption that women who wear it "are more pious and true" than her.There is no doubt that women who don this ostentatious costume in the West are proud of their piety. One such woman told me, "the niqab is submission and servitude to my Almighty Creator" and that I had no right to question her choice to wear it. Well, I do. What God demands men roam free while women wear a sackcloth that restricts their movement and dehumanises them? What God wants to punish women in this way? What God hates women so much that he restricts her right to be man's equal?The answer is obvious. No God. This is the work of men - who claim a direct link to the divine - and wish to keep women subordinate and under their control. It's that simple.
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