About Islam.
We all have been asked several times about Islam by our clients and the
tourists. Specially these days when Islam has been under attack all over the
world. Here are some of those questions and their answers.
Misconception # 1: It is not civilized to have more than one wife at a time.
Reply: Well all the religions of the world has allowed this and Islam is only
religion
whose religious book that says: "... then marry only once" (Surah
Nissah (women)
A 4).. This injunction is not found in the Christian Bible in the Hindu Geeta,
or in the
Jewish holy book etc. In the Bible there are so many references to
various
prophets and kings who had numerous wives. Abraham had three wives, while
King
Solomon had seven hundred wives, etc. In the Hindu literature the various
gods have
hundreds of wives. Krishna had one thousand women and concubines.
Similarly,
the Jews used to marry more than once, till as late as the 1950s. None of
these
faiths regulated the number of wives a man could have at a time. Only
Islam limits
the wives to four.
The monogamy (Keeping one wife ) that the Christians, the Hindus, and Jews
practice today, is not from their religion, but from their government. So
the issue
of monogamy has no religious significance; it is a man-made rule.
Monogamy was the
result of an act of parliament, not their faith. Example: The Indian
Parliament in 1954 passed the Hindu Marriage Act prohibiting the Hindu male
from taking up
more than one wife. The Jewish Rabbis in the 10th Century AD made
monogamy a rule,
although it was not enforced till as late as the 1950s. Similarly, the
European
countries and the American government passed laws to make monogamy the rule in
their lands
some time ago. Mormons still marry more than once.
In Surah Nissah God allows a Muslim to marry, one, two, three or four women as
long as
he can do justice between them. If the man can't do justice, the
exhortation for him
is: "... then marry only once".
Marrying more than once is not compulsory, but only an option to tide over
unique
circumstances that societies face from time to time. You will find in
many societies
today that the ratio between females and males is not 50:50. There are
more females
than males in Europe, USA and elsewhere. On the other hand, in India,
because of the
rampant female fetus abortions, the number of females is dropping, and a crisis
is in the
making, as not enough number of females will be available for Hindu men to
marry a few
years from now.
The option for women in countries with a bigger female ratio than male is to
share a
husband with another women, to remain single, or to become public property.
"Become public property" is a decent phrase I'm using for what it
really
means. Ask any woman who cannot find an unmarried man to marry, if it is
a better
choice to share a husband with another woman, to remain single, or to become a
mere
mistress. As a lawfully wedded wife she will get the same right as the
first wife,
get legal status for herself and her children, get inheritance rights for
herself and her
children, and most importantly, get respect and dignity. Becoming a
mistress is no
choice. In the West becoming a mistress or a girlfriend is no problem,
but becoming
a second wife is totally unacceptable. The government will come after
you, the
society will come after you...
Misconception # 2: There is no equality between genders in Islam, as Islam
gives men
the right to have more than one wife, but does it not give the same right to
women to have
more than one husband.
Reply: Islam does not approve of polyandry, i.e., a woman taking up more than
one
husband. It is the male whose children the women bear. If a woman
had multiple
husbands, it would not be easy to know who is the biological father of the
child.
When a child is conceived, God puts love and affection in the hearts of the
parents so
that they can bring up the child. Without this love, life cannot be
sustained.
But if there was dispute about who really has fathered the child, there
would be no
love in the heart of the fathers. Psychologists say that children who
grow up
without knowing who their father is, are lacking in stability and
maturity. These
days because of scientific progress in DNA testing, one can say who the father
is; but
these tests were not available for mankind till now. Islam has
historically provided
for peace and stability in the family, not discord.
Misconception # 3: Islam subjugates women in a veil.
Reply: If you look at history, to ancient civilizations, you will find that
women were
the oppressed people. They had no individual merit. The Babylonians
used to
punish the woman for her husband's mistakes. The ancient Egyptians did the
same. Ancient Arabs buried their newly born daughters.
It was Islam that uplifted the status of women. It gave women rights they
never
had before. Surah Nissah exhorts believing men to lower their gaze if a
lady is
passing by. Similarly, there are exhortations for women to lower their
gaze if
strange men are around. The Quran also speaks about the hijab for men and
women to
protect the modesty. The hijab for men is to cover their bodies minimally
from their
navel to the knees. The hijab for women is to cover their whole bodies
except for
their faces and hands below their wrists. There are descriptions for a
female
hijab, that it should cover the endowments including head, not be tight, not be
transparent, not be like the clothes of non-believers, and not be like the
clothes of the
other gender, etc. Women got the right to own, inherit property, and to dispose
it of at
will.
One concept of dressing so modestly for women is to keep them selves away from
the dust
& sun of Arab region at that time to protect her beauty which she herself
wants more
then any one else.
Secondly modest woen gets lesser attention of appraisers in the society. Even
today in
the most modern society women are subject of rape and crimes. Let me ask you a
question:
Suppose two identical twin sisters are walking down a street, and one of them
is dressed
in revealing clothing, while the other one is wearing a hijab. Who will
be boys in
the street whistle at or tease: the one who is scantily dressed in a
mini-skirt, or the
one who is modestly attired? The answer is obvious. The hijab is
designed to
prevent women from being molested. It brings peace to society and
prevents mischief.
Misconception # 4: Capital punishment is barbaric.
Reply: There are crimes for which Islam prescribes capital punishment,
e.g. for
rape, murder etc. This is to protect society from criminals and
anti-social
elements. In USA there are 2713 rapes taking place every day. In
Islam, the
penalty is to award the death penalty so that the criminal is not around to
repeat this
crime, and to teach others a lesson. Americans say that this is a severe
punishment. They say that the rapist must be put in jail for the first
rape.
If after his release he rapes again, then it is ok to put him to death.
Friends,
statistics in USA show that 95 percent of the rapists, after release from jail,
rape
again. Islam prevents this second rape. Following the Hijab dress
code
prevents the rapist from temptation to rape.
Misconception # 5: Islam was spread by the sword.
Reply: Nothing is far from the truth. It was the Islamic traders who
served as
excellent role models in the spread of Islam. In the book: "Islam at
crossroads", the author, on page 8, says that this belief is a myth.
Look at
the number of Coptic Christians in Egypt. They number 14 million.
Couldn't
the Arabs have wiped them out or forcefully converted them to Islam? Look
at
India. In the 1,000 years that the Muslims ruled over this subcontinent,
every one
could have been forcefully converted to Islam. How can you explain that
there are
800 million Hindus and others still in India? Which Muslim army went to
Indonesia
and Malaysia to convert them? These people converted by seeing the good
behaviors of
the Muslim/Arab traders. Readers' Digest says that between 1944 and 1984,
a period
of 50 years, saw more conversion to Islam in Europe and USA than to any
faith. I am
asking you, who went with a sword to convert these people to Islam? It is
the sword
of the intellect that converts people. In fact Christianity Jewish Hinduism and
Buddhism
used sword more to spread themselves.
Misconception # 6: Muslims are fundamentalists.
Reply: What is the definition of the word fundamentalist? The dictionary
says anyone
who understands the basics of a discipline is a fundamentalist. Can you
call
yourself a mathematician if you can't understand the fundamentals of
mathematics?
No! Similarly, to be called a scientist, you must understand the
fundamentals of
science. There can be a positive fundamentalist and a negative
fundamentalist.
A thief/robber who is an expert at the fundamentals of robbing is bad; but a
doctor who
knows the fundamentals of healing is good. I submit that no fundamentals
of Islam
are against humanity. How can you be a good Muslim if you do not
understand the
fundamentals of Islam? How can you practice Islam? According to the
Webster's
dictionary, the word fundamentalist was first used on Christians; however, the
new Oxford
dictionary lists Muslims as fundamentalists.
Every Muslim should understand the fundamentals of Islam, and should be a
fundamentalist. All Muslims are followers of the
last Messenger and are ordained to follow and spread Allah's message with
responsibility.!
The word fundamentalist is open to wide interpretation, just like the word
freedom fighter. In olden days, the British would label those Indians
fighting for
India's freedom as terrorists; while for the Indians, these were freedom
fighters.
Misconception # 7: Muslims are ruthless non-vegetarian people.
Reply: God has granted Muslims the choice to be vegetarians as well as
non-vegetarians. He has ordained in the holy book that everything that He
Has
created in this world is for the enjoyment/pleasure of man (with certain
restrictions and
limits). It is ok for a Muslim to be a vegetarian by choice; it is also
ok for him
to be a non-vegetarian by choice.
Science tells us that animal flesh is a complete protein food. It is
easier to digest than the vegetarian food. If you look at the teeth of
carnivorous
animals like a tiger or a lion they are sharp and pointed, designed to tear
flesh.
The tiger and lion can eat only flesh; they cannot digest leaves and grass.
On the
other hand, the teeth of herbivorous animals like the cow and camel are
flat.
Designed to chew grass and leaves. These herbivorous animals can't digest
flesh. But if you examine the teeth of human beings, they are both canine
i.e. sharp
and pointed, as well as flat. Therefore human beings can chew both
vegetarian foods
as well as non-vegetarian foods. Humans can digest plant foods as well as
flesh. This ability to enjoy and digest both vegetarian as well as
non-vegetarian
food is a gift of God to humans.
Hindu scriptures permit the eating of flesh. In fact, their
books are replete with incidents showing festivals and ceremonies where meat
was served.
When Jainism and Buddhism started to become popular with their
philosophies of
ahimsa, i.e., non-violence towards animals, and started to win converts from
Hindus, the
Hindus priests adapted the same philosophy of ahimsa to win back those who had
left the
Hindu fold. This is how Hinduism changed over to vegetarianism.
If no one eats meat the number of cattle will be uncontrollable. It
will be a big problem about how to dispose of them.
Misconception # 8: Muslims eat animals and behave like animals.
Reply: There is a saying that you are what you eat. Muslims eat only
herbivorous animals
(animals that eat only plants, grass, leaves etc). These animals are peaceful
animals,
like goat, lamb etc. Therefore, we are peaceful people. Muslims are
prevented from
eating carnivorous animals, i.e. animals that eat other animals. The holy
prophet
has prohibited us from eating snakes, lizards, cats, dogs, birds of prey etc.
Some non-Muslims say that allowing slaughtered animals to bleed to death
is torturing the animals. It is better to behead them in one quick shot
on the neck.
Some Muslims' response to this is that the non-Muslims attach the
animals from
behind, like cowards; while Muslims confront the animal in a manly manner,
face-to-face,
from the front. Of course this is not a good reason; it is only a joke.
Scientific tests have proven that when the animal's throat is slit along
with the windpipe and the vein (without damage to the spinal cord), the animal
dies a
painless death. The animal twitches its legs, it is not because of pain
but because
the heart has pumped out all the blood from the legs. It is this twitching of
the lags,
this thrashing about of the dying animal that leads the non-Muslim to believe
that the
animal is in pain. Blood carries toxins and impurities that are harmful for
humans.
Islam prohibits the eating/drinking of blood. Meat without blood lasts
longer than
meat with blood in it.
There had been several tests performed on animals and it was found that
the during machine slaughter animal`s brain shows a great deal of activity
hence feeling
pain, Where as with muslim (Halal) Slaughter animal dies in a very cool state
and does not
emit any activity from the brain
Misconception # 9: Going around the Kabah is idol worship.
Reply: No religion is more vocal in condemning idol worship than Islam.
The Muslims
do not worship Kabah, only God, or Allah. While circumambulating the
Kabah they
chant: La Illa Ha Ill-lal-lah. (There is no object worthy of worship but
Allah).
The Kabah is for unifying Muslims at prayer. It would be chaotic if
Muslims prayed in any direction they chose. The Kabah provides a chance
to unify in
prayer as all Muslims face one spot, the Kabah. Throughout the globe
people from
various countries face North, South, East and West only to face the
Kabah. When the
Arabs drew the map of the globe, they put Makkah in the center; but when the
Western
people gained power, they put Greenwich in the center. But if you look at
the map,
Makkah continues to be in the center of the globe even today.
Alhamdulillah!
Some accuse Muslims to be idol worshippers because they kiss the black
rock (Hijr-e-Aswad) at Kabah. This they do only because they saw the
prophet do it.
The black stone has no power to benefit or harm you. In olden
times, the call
to prayer was given by standing on the top of Kabah. If Muslims were idol
worshippers, would they stand on top of their 'idol' and call people to
pray. Does a
Hindu or a Christian stand on top of their idols and call others to join in the
worship?
Misconception # 10: Muslims are wrong in preventing non-Muslims from
visiting Makkah.
Reply:
All countries have their own rules to allow visitors in. There are
many places in the world which are prohibited not only for the tourists but
sometimes for
the locals too. Applicants must meet certain conditions insisted on by the host
country.
one has conditions of the US Government to visit USA. Similarly, there are
conditions to visit Makkah. The condition is: You must recite from your
heart
"La illa-ha-ill-lal-lah, Mohammed-ur rasul Allah" (I bear witness
that there is
no object worthy of worship except Allah, and that Mohammed is the messenger of
Allah).
Allah has prohibited this. Makkah is not a place of tourism, but a place
of reverence and worship. A non-Muslim has no reverence for Makkah, and
therefore should not be there as a mere spectator.
Misconception # 11: Muslims wrongly don't eat pork
Reply: God has prohibited pork. There are several references
even in the Bible where swine meat is prohibited. Science has
associated 70 diseases with swine meat, the most dangerous being tapeworm, for
which there is no cure. It causes irreparable damage to the insides of
human beings. Even if a pig has been raised on a farm and its flesh is
cooked very well at high temperatures, certain germs never die. The pig is
a filthy animal; it eats human excreta.
Taken from lecture delivered by Dr. Zakir Naik Edited and updated by Jamal Panhwar
Also read and watch the
Interview answering the question
"Does Islam have two faces?"
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