Women in Islamic Law

General Look at Women in Islam

Souad Saleh, a female professor at Al-Ahzar University in Cairo and a vocal proponent of women's rights in Egypt, recently stated, "Islam is pure and simple, and it holds women in high esteem."^[1] Western Muslim organizations like CAIR make a similar impression. This article looks instead at what Islamic scriptures and its 1400-years of religious scholarship have to say about women, most of which contrasts sharply with the image presented by Saleh and CAIR. Indeed, Saleh herself stated that Muslim men have the right to enjoy sex slaves and that "If we [Egyptians] fought Israel and won, we have the right to enslave and enjoy sexually the Israeli women that we would capture in the war."^[2]

Islamic Writing and Women

Islamic scriptures and scholars have much to say in regards to Women and their role in Islam.

(note that sunnah.com has since revised the original translator's English for the above hadith)

Women are Deficient in Intelligence

Muhammad's declared that the majority of the inhabitants of Hell are women.^[3] When asked why he said it was because they are deficient in intelligence and religion and because they are ungrateful to their husbands. This article will present evidence showing Muhammad's belief that all women are less intelligent than their male counterparts, as well as examine the common claims popularly made about the ahadith in question.

Muhammad also said the following regarding female heads of state:

The Reason Why Women Have to Wear the Hijab

If you ask a Muslim why Muslim females wears the Hijab (veil) the reason given is usually one of the following two (or a mixture of both):

• They are showing obedience to a command from Allah as given in the Quran; it is a matter of piety.
• They are protecting their modesty by dressing this way instead of showing their body off for everyone to see.

According to the ahadith and sira, Umar bin Al-Khattab, a companion of Muhammad, wished that Muhammad would reveal verses from Allah requiring women to wear the hijab. when Muhammad did not oblige, Umar followed Muhammad's wives out at night and in the dark when they went to go to the toilet and made his presence known, later informing the prophet that he had spied his wives relieving themselves in the dark, and that had his wives been cloaked in a garment such as the hijab, he would not have been able to identify the women as being the prophet's wives. Having heard of this, Muhammad received the revelation that Umar had requested, and the verses of the hijab were sent down from Allah.

The Purpose of the Nikah Contract (Islamic "Marriage")

The correct Arabic word for "marriage", used primarily by non-Muslim Arabs, is "zawaj". In Islam, the nearest equivalent to a marriage is the nikah, a contract between a male and a female Muslim. Nikah literally means "sexual intercourse", hence an Islamic marriage is a "contract of coitus".

The Purpose of the Mahr (Dowry)

It is often said that the mahr is a token of goodwill given by the husband to the wife as a demonstration that he will be able to support her financially throughout the nikah (Islamic marriage). However, the Qur'an and sahih hadiths outline the true purpose of the mahr.

The purpose of the mahr as explained by the Islamic texts is clear - it is a payment from a man to a women; payment in full for the future sexual relations (nikah) he will have with her. This is illustrated by the requirement for a mahr in temporary "marriages", the statements of Muhammad, and the fact that a mahr cannot be taken back (except under extenuating circumstances) because the man has availed himself of the service for which it was payment. The Qur'an supports and confirms, rather explicitly, the explanation provided in these sahih hadiths.

Rape of Wives, Captives, and Slave Women in Islam

The Qur'an and hadith and, subsequently, Islamic law, all allow men to rape their female slaves, wives (Quran 2:223), and women captured in war. The rape of other then one's slaves is, however, prohibited. Still, several hadiths describe the rape of captive women by Muhammad's companions and his failure to condemn such actions when made known to him.

Qur'an chapter 4 verse 24 discusses lawful and forbidden women for Muslim men.

What we see in the beginning of this verse as “forbidden” refers to sexual intercourse. The Qur'an dictates, women already married are forbidden for Muslims except those whom their right hands possess (sex slaves). It is obvious from this verse, a Muslim can have sexual relations with his slave-woman.

Coitus Interruptus

Al-'Azl, (العزل) also known as coitus interruptus, is the practice of having sexual intercourse with a woman but withdrawing the penis before ejaculation. This was an important topic for Muhammad and his companions as evidenced by the abundance of Hadith material on the subject.

According to Muhammad, when raping a captive, it's better if you do not pull out the penis at the end.

Domestic Violence Against Women in Islam

Wife-beating in the Muslim world comes from the teachings of Islamic religious texts such as the Quran and the Hadiths. It has been an accepted part of Islam since its inception. Muhammad himself made attempts to limit the degree of violence, yet nevertheless declared "A man should not be asked why he beats his wife."^[4] and according to Aisha, "I have not seen any woman suffering as much as the believing women. Look! Her skin is greener than her clothes!"^[5] Domestic violence has been used as a tool to maintain control and dominance over Muslim women, this has created an intensely patriarchal society where men rule women and women must submit to men. This article explores how wife-beating is authorized by the Qur'an and Hadiths along with commentary from Muslim scholars, statistics on wife beating in the Muslim world and common apologetic arguments made by Muslims and responses to them.

In-Depth Analysis of an Apologetic Claim

This article looks at the mysterious translation of the verb darb (meaning "hit" "beat" or "strike") that has been presented on a few sites which claim to have "modern" translations of the Qur'an and are directed at non-Arabic speakers who lack adequate command of the language.

It has been claimed that the following verse (4:34) does not mean "to beat them," but rather to "separate from them" or to "strike them out."

Beat them and leave/separate/abandon them are different phrases in Arabic. The arabic word idribohunna derived from the root word Darab does not have any other meaning than Beat when it comes to mean "Yadreb Ahadan" = Hit someone. Idriboohunna (أضربوهن) means beat them (for female plural). Adriboo Anhunna (اضربوا عنهن) is the one that means abandon or leave them. According to the Arabic lexicon^[7]:

Quran 4:34 says Idriboohunna أضربوهن, not Adribu Anhunna اضربوا عنهن. These two phrases have different meanings. All the verses that contain darb against a human are understood to mean "beat" or "strike" that human, by their context, and this is agreed upon by even the sources making these strange claims. Why they then consider verse 4:34 to be a special case and translate "darb" to mean "separate from them" remains a mystery.

Honor Violence and Islam

Honor Related Violence is physical violence that is inflicted on an individual by perpetrators who believe the victim has brought dishonor upon the family, clan, or community by engaging in any conduct that is perceived as immoral or unacceptable by religious or social/cultural standards. This violence almost always happens in Muslim families.

While not prescribed in Islam, Muslim women are killed by family members for many "honor" related reasons, including being raped, associating with non-related males, getting pregnant outside of marriage, refusing a forced marriage, and for the belief they might have done something else immoral. In the eyes of their family, death serves restore the family's honor. The entire family may all collaborate on this, and in some cases the whole community may participate and even celebrate the occasion. The generally controlling nature of Islam towards women, and the death penalty in Islam for some types of zina (unlawful sexual intercourse) are plausible indirect reasons for such extremely negative attitudes towards women.

While honor violence is not explicitly endorsed in Islamic law, it often appears where Islamic law is implemented. Certain Islamic punishments such as stoning, flogging, and even death by being thrown off a tall building are prescribed for sexual crimes. While these punishment are not justified as 'recovering honor' as such, it is not difficult to see how a culture can make that connection and then implement the violence prescribed through other, extralegal means.

Polygamy in Islam

Main Article: Polygamy in Islam

Muhammad was a polygamist, and Islam allows a man to marry up to four wives at any one time:

It is also interesting to note that a Muslim male does not require the permission of his first wife before marrying a second. These articles looks at the various arguments that are often presented in defense this practice and the choices made by Muhammad.

Justice for Women in Islam

Main Articles: Dealing Justly with Wives and Orphans and Unjust treatment of wives

Verse 4:3 is often partially quoted to explain demonstrate a Muslim man may marry up to four women. However, if he cannot deal justly with each of the wives then he is forbidden to marry that many; and can marry only one wife, to prevent treating women unfairly. It is usually then explained that the use of the word "Justice" or "Justly" (depending on which translation is being used) refers to the man's ability to treat each of his wives exactly the same in every regard: not just materially (ie. food, clothing, shelter, time, money, etc..) but also that he must be able to love them all exactly the same. He must be able to feel the same amount of affection and love for each of his wives. If he cannot do this, then, according to (this interpretation of) the Qur'an he cannot marry more than one wife. According to most scholars, however, Qur'an 4:3 has nothing to do with treating your wives equally, but is in fact about orphans and their Mahr. Injustice in this verse is generally understood as being in reference to the financial equality regarding the Mahr (for orphans) and financial viability of having that many wives, not equality between them.

Adultery (with slaves) is Permitted in Islam

Main Articles: Zina, and The Punishment for Zina

Zina (Arabic: الزنا‎ ) is the Arabic word for "unlawful sexual relations." It is used to refer to both adultery and fornication.

The Islamic definition of adultery differs from the modern/secular definition as well as the Biblical definition. The meaning also differs in relation to gender. Adultery is a serious offense in Islam and earns the death penalty. However, according to the most widely accepted definitions of the term, Islam in fact allows adultery, so long as it is with one's slave women.

Moreover, not only may a Muslim man have sex with a married woman who is his slave, but he may also sell or give her as a slave to another man for him to have sex with .

Sex Segregation in Islam

Islam generally prohibits free-mixing between men and women. It is argued that direct references for this prohibition can not be found in either the Qur'an or the Sunnah of the Prophet; but this can not mean that such conduct is permissible in Islam. As a complete way of life, Islam has not failed to address the matter. Various scholars of Islam have formulated their opinions on this matter and acknowledged the practice of free-mixing as a crime punishable under Shari'ah laws. All of the Jurists have sourced their views from the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the prophet, using these as the basis of their argument. Under Islamic law, it is not permissible for women to freely mix or socialize with non-Mahram men who are not her husband (Mahram i.e. those whom marriage is prohibited in Islam, include fathers, uncles, brothers and close blood relatives) under any circumstances. Islamic scholars are unanimous on this matter.

72 Virgins in Paradise

Main Articles: 72 Virgins and Authenticity of 72 Virgins Hadith

These articles discusses what the Qur'an, hadith and Islamic scholars say about the 72 Virgins and heavenly houris in general, and dispel popular misconceptions surrounding them. The Qur'anic Paradise is sensual in nature, promising Muslim men voluptuous, gigantic, and transparent-skinned virgins, but does not specify their exact number. This cannot be, as is sometimes claimed, a mistranslation because raisins do not have large eyes, breasts, or be wed to men. The hadith literature compliment the Qur'anic text by specifying the exact number of virgins as 72 and providing us with detailed descriptions of their characteristics. These narrations are not weak but vary in strength from good to authentic. There are also given details on the physical attributes given to men to sustain 72 virgins, namely, ever-erect penises that never soften and the sexual strength to satisfy 100 women. Although it does say they will receive a "great reward" and there are also hasan (good) hadith which refer to 72 virgins as one of the "seven blessings from Allah" to the martyr, the Qur'an does not specify these virgins are a reward exclusively for jihadists/martyrs, but rather for any Muslim male who gains admittance to Paradise.

Arranged Marriage (in Reality, Forced Marriage) of Young Girls

Main Articles: Forced Marriage and Contemporary Pedophilic Islamic Marriages

Forcing a female to marry someone against her explicit wishes is forbidden in Islam. Nevertheless Shari'ah does not apply these protections to children. This failure to protect children has two aspects:

1. A father or guardian must ask the consent of his virgin daughter before offering her in marriage, based on a well known sahih hadith. However, according to that same hadith, if she remains silent when asked, offering no explicit acceptance, this counts as consent (Sahih Muslim 8:3303,Sahih Muslim 8:3305).

2. A girl is expected to make a life changing decision on marriage while still a child, with very limited experience and utterly dependent on her parents. Child marriages occur all over the world, but especially in Muslim countries that practice Shari'a. The UN regards child marriage as a human rights violation and aims to eradicate it by 2030. The girl is vulnerable to spousal abuse and childhood pregnancy which greatly jeopardizes her health and future.

Adult Suckling

In Islamic societies gender segregation is a common practice to avoid any form of adultery. Thus men and women are not advised to stay in the same room if they are alone, and any adult woman is required to wear a veil in public. Only if men and women are closely related (Mahram) or married is there no need for gender segregation and hijab. However, it is obvious that the strict application of Islamic law may cause some trouble and difficulties to daily life, particularly concerning business.

Some scholars today and historically have suggested a way around this:.

Dr. Atiyya, the head of the Hadith Department in Al-Azhar University, repeatedly declared that the sources he quoted belonged to the Islamic holy texts with the highest possible authority. According to him, no fewer than 90,000 contemporary scholars confirmed that the hadith referred to is authentic.

Wives and Concubines of Muhammad

Main Articles: List of Muhammad's Wives and Concubines and Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Muhammad's Wives and Concubines and Ages of Muhammad's Wives at Marriage

According to multiple sources, Muhammad had many wives and concubines, and was known as a "womanizer".^[8] Muhammad consummated his marriages with thirteen women and divorced another six. He also used to visit all his wives in one night:

Aisha

Aisha, sometimes spelt as 'Ayesha' or 'Aysha', was the nine year old child-bride of Muhammad. She was engaged to him at the age of six. She was also the daughter of Abu Bakr, a close friend of Muhammad. Historically, she is known as Muhammad's "favorite wife."

The age of Muhammad's child-bride Aisha, has only in recent times become an actively contested issue, with many claiming that she was in fact older than nine when married or when the marriage was consummated. It has also been recorded in authentic Islamic sources that Muhammad struck Aisha^[9] and also allowed Abu Bakr to do the same.^[10] Aisha was not 'offered' to Muhammad by her father, as many lay Muslims believe, rather it was Muhammad who approached Abu Bakr, and Abu Bakr originally protested.^[11] However, Muhammad justified his desire for Aisha with a 'divine' vision from Allah.^[12]

Khadijah

Khadijah bint Khuwailid/Khuwaylid (555 – 619 AD) was the first wife of Muhammad and also a distant cousin. Belonging to the Bani Asad tribe, Khadijah was the daughter of Khuwaylid bin Asad bin. ‘Abd al-‘Uzza bin Qusayy, the Grand son Qusayy. She was a wealthy woman aged forty who ran her own business, and her marriage with Muhammad was a controversial one which almost ended in bloodshed.

Khadija's high social standing is often used as "proof" that women are equal in Islam.^[13] However, she was a "great independent businesswoman" before Islam, during the so-called "Period of Ignorance" (Jahiliyah). Indeed, after Islam, Muhammad prohibited women from taking leadership positions^[14] and this is why in some Islamic countries women "cannot run for president or become judges."^[15][16]

Safiyah

Safiyah bint Huyayy (610 - 670 AD) was the bride of Kinana and the chief mistress of the Jewish tribes of Quraiza and An-Nadir. When the Muslims invaded and conquered Khaibar, the fighting men were killed and Safiya was taken captive (along with the rest of the women and children) and allotted as booty to Dihya Al-Kalbi, a Muslim.^[17] Kinana, Safiyah's suitor or husband, was tortured and executed by the Muslims in order to discover the hiding places of treasure,^[18] and one source relates that he and Safiya had been married only one day.^[19] She was so beautiful, that the Muslims began praising her in the presence of Muhammad^[20], and so the prophet commanded that Dihya be brought before him along with Safiya. Upon seeing her, Muhammad said, "Take any slave girl other than her from the captives"^[21] and he selected her to be his slave rather than the slave of any of his companions.

She was held captive up until the marriage, and when Muhammad decided that she would be a wife rather than a slave-girl, that is when he made known that her manumission was her mahr.

Mariyah

Mariyah the Copt was one of the prophet’s wives’ maids. Muhammad slept with her without any ceremony, which caused uproar among his wives and finally was settled by divine intervention.

Muhammad and the Violation of Qur'anic Sexual Norms

Women and the Farewell Sermon

Main Article: The Farewell Sermon See also: Analysis of Muhammad’s Farewell Sermon

The Farewell Sermon (خطبة الوداع‎, Khuṭbatu l-Wadā') is Muhammad's last sermon before his death in 632 CE. There is a popular redacted and edited version of the sermon, but in the original versions found in Sunan Abu Dawud 1900 (Ahmad Hasan Ref), al-Tabari's History, and ibn Ishaq's Sirat, Muhammad's order to beat women coincides with the Qur'anic order of wife-beating in 4:34. In al-Tabari's version, he also compares women to domestic animals, and in ibn Ishaq's version quoted below, they are compared to prisoners:

• Umm Qirfa
• Cousin Marriage in Islam

• Women in Islam
• Women in Islam: An exegesis
• Sex and sexuality in Islam