(Phone: 410-435-5000)
Address: P.O. Box 356, Kingsville, MD 21087
[$10
for one year. $1 for sample]
Disclaimer: The views expressed are not necessarily shared by the
editors.
Critical responses up to 250 words are accepted.
----------------------
Message to Imams on the occasion of Baitul Salaam's National Conference on
Domestic Violence and Human Rights to be held in Atlanta, October 26,
2002.
For information on program and registration:
haleem1@aol.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Imams Urged to Speak out Against Domestic Violence and Disrespect for
Women
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
"Our Lord! Grant us "coolness of our eyes" (joy) in our spouses and in
our offspring, and put us in the forefront of those who have
God-consciousness."
[The Qur'an 25:74]
"....live with them (women) with kindness and justice even if you dislike
them. It may be that you dislike something and Allah brings about
through it a great deal of good." [4:19]
"Let no Muslim man consider a Muslim woman as his enemy or antagonist.
If you do not like one of her ways, you will like another." (Prophet
Muhammad,
pbuh, Hadith Sahih Muslim, kitab-ur-rida. Narrated by Abu Huraira, r.a)
"The messenger of Allah, pbuh, never hit a woman or even a servant. He
only
raised his hand in jihad in Allah's way." [Hadith. Sahih Muslim, kitab
al-fadail. Narrated by ‘Ayesha, r.a.]
Dear Imams of masajid of Allah: asalamu alaikum
As preachers, teachers and servants of Allah, we have a heavy
responsibility to make sure that in the communities of
Islam,
women are
not mistreated, battered or hurt . We cannot be a united ummah striving
against
oppression if our families are not safe from dominance-orientation, ego
drives and physical bullying of the weak by the strong.
Hazrat ‘Umar (r.a.) has warned us against the vestiges of jahiliyya
(ignorance) which sometimes good Muslims retain even after outwardly
accepting Islam. He said:
"In the era of jahiliyya, we gave no importance to women. When Islam
emerged and Allah Almighty Hiself spoke of them (women), we realized
that they have rights over us." [Hadith, Sahih Bukhari, kitab il-libas]
The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) changed the ways of men through his
personal example and his teachings. We all know that he taught us that
paradise is at the feet of mothers (Baihaqi's collection) but we often
forget that he taught:
"The best among you is the one who is best to his wife."
[Hadith,
Jami
Tirmidhi. Narrated by Abu Huraira.]
The relationship between the wife and the husband is often strained by
insecure men who want to dominate their wives. This drive can lead to
physical intimidation. The very idea that physical strength, instead of
taqwa, can make one person superior to another is alien to Islam but is
popular among some of our communities. The Prophet (pbuh) did not teach
the superiority of the male. Instead he taught that:
"Women are the twins of men." [Sunan of Abu Dawud.]
This equality was explained by hazrat ‘Umar r.a.: "She has her own likes
and dislikes just like you men have yours." (Reported in Ibn Jawzi's
biography of ‘Umar, r.a.)
Male irritation and misunderstanding of women, leading to
intolerance, is often connected to menstruation. A hadith in Imam Ahmed's
Musnad points out (narrated by Anas, r.a.), that the Jews made
menstruation
into a cause for mistreating women. "When a woman started menstruating,
they would not eat with her, nor sit with her nor allow her anywhere near
them."
It was in that context that verse 222 of sura 2 was revealed to the
Prophet
(pbuh). Anas, r.a., reports that the Prophet, pbuh, said "do everything
with women (during menses) except actual intercourse." When the Jews heard
this, they said: This person (meaning the Prophet, pbuh) wants to go against
us in everything.
Dear Imams: Warn the Muslims not to behave like the Jews.
The Prophet, pbuh, took extraordinary steps to teach Muslims that women
must be loved and respected during menses. There are numerous hadith on
these teachings. For instance, hazrat ‘Ayesha narrates that when she was
menstruating, the Prophet, pbuh, would put his head in her lap and
recite the
Qur'an. Or when she was menstruating and was eating a piece of meat, he
would eat from the place where she had put her mouth, and when she would
drink, he
would put his mouth at that place on the glass from where she had drunk
and share the drink with her.
Thus, if we are followers of the Sunnah, we too must show love, care and
respect to women.
No Muslim man, worth the name of "man", should ever raise his hand
against a woman. If a man thinks he is ever so tough, let him go and
stand against the
Zionist
Jews
who are oppressing our people in
Palestine
or the
Hindus who are looting and killing in Kashmir or the Russians running
amuck in
Chechnia
or the
Americans
preparing to bomb the defenseless state of
Iraq.
Your brother-in-faith
Kaukab Siddique
Ameer,
Jamaat al-Muslimeen
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2002-10-19 Sat 13:12ct