Topic: An Essay on Marriage
Contents:
MARRIAGE IS ONE OF THE GOALS
OF NATURE
The basic reality of sexual
relation between man and woman is most clearly established by human—nay,
even animal—nature; Islam being the religion of nature, confirms it
without any doubt. Procreation—the goal nature wants to achieve with
this union— is the basic factor and the only reason, which has
transformed cohabitation into marriage, and raised it from mere carnal
relation to a durable union. That is why we see that the species of
animals in which both parents jointly bring up their offspring - like
the birds in their guarding the eggs and feeding and bringing up the
chicks, and those animals who need a den or lair for giving birth to and
bringing up their offspring and for preparation and protection of which
the female needs cooperation of the male - have opted for a constant
attachment and exclusive relationship between the male and the female.
In this manner they come together, and share the tasks of guarding and
hatching the eggs, and this cooperation continues till the chicks grow
up and go their own way; then the parents separate (if they separate at
all), then a new cycle begins. It shows that the real cause of marriage
and the rationale for matrimony is the instinct of procreation and
bringing up the children. As for the satisfaction of sexual urge or
joining hands in struggle of life, like earning and saving money
preparation of food and drink, obtaining household effects and, in
short, managing the domestic life—these things are not a part of the
goal of nature; they are mere preliminaries of, or benefits accruing
from, marriage.
It is clear from the above
that:
Freedom and licentiousness
shown by the couples—husband or wife cohabiting with other than his or
her spouse without any restraint whenever and wherever he/she desires,
like animals world where male mounts female wherever he gets the chance
- as is the norm of the day in " civilized" countries, likewise
fornication and particularly adultery;
Treating the marriage as a
permanent union, and prohibition of divorce and separation, not allowing
either party to dissolve the marriage and marrying another spouse - as
long as the couple is alive;
Elimination of procreation
and refusal to rear children; laying the foundation of marriage - tie on
sharing the domestic life, as is prevalent in "advanced" countries; and
consequently sending the newborn children to public nurseries
established for their nursing and bringing up;
All this goes against the
laws of nature. The nature has equipped human being with instincts and
organs, which totally oppose these "modern" habits, as we have mentioned
above.
Of course, there are animals
in whose birth and rearing male's continued presence is not needed. Once
the female becomes pregnant, she takes on herself all the duties of
pregnancy, and of nursing and rearing the offspring. In such cases there
is no natural need of durable union between male and female. Such
animals are free to cohabit as and when they feel the urge, to the
extent that does not disturb the nature's aim of preserving the species.
It would be a folly to think
that it won't harm man to disturb the system ordained by creation, to go
against the dictates of nature, provided one compensated for the
resulting defects with thought and deliberation; and that in this way he
would freely enjoy the life and its blessings.
But such thought is nothing
short of madness. These natural structures — including the human
personality - are composites made of innumerable parts. When each part
is kept in its proper place, following the laid down conditions, it
creates an overall effect agreeable to the goal of nature, the aim of
creation. This effect leads the species to its perfection. It is not
unlike the medical mixtures and compounds, which require particular
ingredients with especial qualities and prescribed measure and weights,
and are dispensed with laid down process; and if changes are made even
slightly in its weight or quality it will lose its effects.
Man is a being, naturally
created of various parts compounded in a particular way; this especial
process results in some inner qualities and psychological
characteristics, which in their turn produce various actions and
activities. If some of these actions are changed from their natural
position, it will badly disturb the alignment of those qualities and
characteristics, which in its turn will dislocate all the intrinsic
characteristics and qualities from their natural position, will deviate
the whole being from the path of nature; this would severe man's link
with his natural perfection, and turn him from the destination the
nature was urging him to reach.
If we look at the general
calamities mankind is submerged in nowadays, which render people's
endeavors to achieve comfortable and happy life null and void, and which
are threatening the humanity with downfall and ruination, we shall find
that it has been caused, in the main part, by the total absence of
piety, and by the mastery that stupidity and cruelty, violence and
greed, have got over human psyche; and the biggest factor in this
mastery is this licentiousness and permissiveness, this discarding of
natural laws concerning marital responsibilities and rearing of
children. The system adopted nowadays for domestic life and for bringing
up the children, kills the instincts of mercy and kindness and erases
the traits of chastity, modesty and humility from man's psyche, from the
first moment of his awareness to his last breath.
Can't we compensate for
these deficiencies through our reason and contemplation? Forget it.
Reason and understanding, like other faculties of life, is a tool
acquired by nature as a means to bring the deviating factors back to the
natural path. It is not meant to negate the endeavors of creation and
dictates of nature; otherwise it would be tantamount to killing the
nature by the very sword it had given in man's hand to defend himself.
Moreover, if the reason (a tool of nature) is used to support the
depravity and decay of other natural faculties, this tool also would be
damaged and misaligned like those others.
We are witnessing today that
whenever man tries to remove, through his thinking, one of the
catastrophes threatening the society, he opens the gate of a greater and
more disastrous calamity; and sufferings and travails extend their
tentacles some more.
Someone among these people
might say: The psychological traits like chastity, generosity, modesty,
kindness and truthful - ness, which are called spiritual virtues, are
relics of the era of superstition and barbarity; they are not good for
the modern advanced man. Chastity puts fetters on man's many desires.
Generosity negates man's endeavors for gathering money, and disregards
all the troubles he had undergone in earning it; more- over, it
encourages the poor to remain idle and degrade himself by begging here
and there. Modesty is a bridle that prevents man from freely expressing
his ideas or demanding his rights. Kindness weakens the heart; and truth
does not agree with demands of today's life.
COMMENT:
This talk in itself is an example of the deviated thinking, which we
have mentioned above. This man is oblivious of the fact that these
virtues are essential for a human society; if they are removed, the
society cannot remain alive as society even for an hour.
What will happen if these
characteristics were removed from the society? Everyone will exceed his
limits to snatch others' rights, properties and honor; nobody will offer
any help to meet dire needs of society; nobody will feel any shame in
breaking the laws of the land; no one will show any mercy to weaker
groups — who cannot be held responsible for their weakness—like children
and others; everyone will lie to everyone else, giving him wrong
information and false promises. The society will disintegrate at once.
This man should understand
that these virtues have not gone, nor will they ever go, away from this
world. Human nature adheres to them and it will keep them alive as long
as it is calling the mankind to live in society. The most important
thing is to arrange and moderate these traits, so that they conform with
the goal of nature, which invites man to a happy life. If the attitudes
reigning nowadays over the advanced societies were really virtuous or
truly well balanced, they would not have pushed the society to such
depravity and disaster; instead they would have led mankind to safety
and peace, comfort and happiness.
To come back to our original
topic: Islam has put the institution of matrimony in its natural
place—as we have mentioned earlier. It has allowed marriage and
forbidden fornication and illicit sexual relations. It has established
the marriage tie, putting up with possibility of its dissolution, that
is, divorce; and made this bond exclusive to a certain extent, as we
shall explain below. The foundation of this bond was laid on procreation
and bringing up the children; there is a well-known saying of the
Prophet (s.a.w.a.): "Marry, procreate, increase your number. . ."
DOMINATION OF MALES OVER FEMALES
Observation of animals'
sexual behavior shows that the males have a sort of domination and
authority over the females in this matter. It is as though the male
considers himself to be the master of the female, possessing the right
to mount her. That is why we see the males fighting each other for the
females, but not vice versa; the fema1e does not stand up to fight
another female if the male goes to the latter. Likewise, love-rites, the
equivalent of proposals in our society, are initiated in animal kingdom
by the males, not the females. It only means that the female is by
nature aware that in this respect the male is the active and dominant
agent, while she is only a passive receiver. Do not be mislead by
occasional ingratiating behavior of the male with the female when he
fawns on her by doing whatever would please her; it is but a part of
love-play, which he does to heighten the desire and increase the
pleasure. But as far as the domination and mastery is concerned, it
springs from his virility and its natural function.
The idea that strength and
power are inseparable concomitants of the males, and softness and
submissiveness, the characteristics of the females, is found more or
less in all nations, and has filtered into various linguistic idioms and
expressions. They call a tough unbendable thing as "male", and a tender
pliable item as "female"; e.g., [in Arabic] they say: Male iron, male
sword, male grass, male place, and so on.
This idea is generally
common to the whole human species, prevalent in different societies and
various nations —although there might be some difference in degrees.
Islam has kept this reality
in view in its legislation. Allah says: Men are the maintainers of
women, because of that with which Allah has made some of them to excel
the other. . . (4:34). Islam has made it obligatory for a
wife to submit to her husband if he wants to cohabit with her—whenever
possible.
POLYGAMY
As far as we have observed,
the question of "monogamy or polygamy" in the animal world is not
definitely settled. In cases where the male and the female have to live
together (because the male remains busy whole time in helping his mate
in "domestic" affairs, raising the children and looking after them)
"monogamy " is the rule, i.e.; the female remains exclusively attached
to the male. Yet sometimes the system may be changed through skill,
planning and guarantee of security, i.e., by domestication and training,
as is seen between cock and hens and even pigeons, etc.
Coming to our own species,
polygamy was a custom prevalent in most of the ancient nations like
Egypt, India, China and Persia; and even Rome and Greece, who
supplemented the wife with concubines who lived with her in the same
house. Some nations, like the Jews and the Arabs, observed no limit;
some married ten, twenty or even more wives; reportedly the king Solomon
had married hundred of women.
Mostly, polygamy was
prevalent in tribal and other similar communities, like villagers and
highlanders. A head of family in such societies always felt a pressing
need for a large coterie of followers Polygamy was his way of achieving
this goal; increased births gave him a large number of sons, who in some
years became a force for defending his interests—a necessary part of
life in those communities — and raising him to the leadership of the
community. Also, the increased number of marriages increased the circle
of relatives through affinity.
Some scholars have said that
the main factor leading tribesmen or villagers to polygamy was their
preoccupation with a lot of back-breaking jobs, like carrying and
transporting loads; shepherding and cattle grazing; farming and
irrigation; hunting, cooking and weaving; and things like that.
This theory is correct to a
certain extent; but contemplation of their psychological traits proves
that these factors had a secondary importance in their eyes. What we
have mentioned earlier was the primary and basic concern or a nomad.
Also it was this factor which led them to gather adopted sons around
themselves.
There was one more basic
reason which increased the number of wives in those societies, and that
was the presence of women in much greater number than men. In those
tribal societies battle and war was a never-ending phenomenon, as was
assassination and murder. Such killings continued to decrease the male
population, and women's number increased to a level where the only way
to fulfill their natural needs was through polygamy. Think over it.
Islam has ordained marriage with one wife,
and allowed marrying up to four, provided the man is able to treat them
equitably; it has at the same time taken steps to remove the
difficulties and shortcomings found in polygamy, as we shall mention
later. Allah says: and they (women) have rights similar to
those upon them in a just manner (2:228).
OBJECTIONS AGAINST POLYGAMY:
First Objection: It
creates evil effects in society. It hurts the feelings of women,
frustrates their hopes and stops the fountainhead of love in their
hearts. The love is transformed into a desire for revenge. They neglect
the household, do not look after children's welfare, and pay their men
in their own coin. Thus they indulge in adultery, embezzle their
property, and tarnish their honor. The society immediately sinks to the
lowest level possible.
Second Objection:
Polygamy goes against the system, which the nature has obviously
established. Census figures, obtained from various communities
generation after generation, show that the male and female populations
are almost equal. It means that nature provides only one woman for one
man. To disturb this balance goes against the nature's programmed.
Third Objection:
Allowing polygamy encourages men to lust and avidity, and gives boost to
such tendencies in society.
Fourth Objection:
Polygamy degrades women in society, as it counts four women as equal to
one man; and it is an unjust assessment, even from Islamic point of view
which treats two women as equal to one man, e.g., in inheritance and
evidence, etc. On that basis too, marriage with only two women should
have been allowed—not with four. Marriage with four is deviation from
justice, however we look at it.
These objections have been
written by Christians or by those sociologists who advocate equal rights
for both sexes in society.
Reply to the First Objection:
We have repeatedly explained that Islam has laid the foundation of human
society on rational, not emotional, life. In sociological field, it
follows what is good for the society in reason, not what is desired by
emotions or feelings.
It does not mean that Islam
kills the emotions and feelings, or negates the divine gift of natural
instincts. It is accepted in the Psychology that difference in education
and training creates difference quantitatively and qualitatively in
psychological traits and inner feelings and emotions. For example, many
rites and customs that are highly appreciated by the Orientals are
looked down upon by the Occidentals, and vice versa. Every community
differs from the others in one way or the other.
Religious education and
training in Islam raises the woman to a level where her feelings are not
injured with such things. Of course, the Western woman has become
accustomed since many centuries to being the only wife, and has been
taught this idea generation after generation. This has created in her a
psychological aversion against polygamy. Proof of this may be found in
the shocking licentiousness and promiscuity of men and women prevalent
in the "advanced" nations nowadays.
Do not their men satisfy
their lust with anyone they like and who responds favorably to their
advances —no matter whether she is within prohibited degree or outside,
is virgin or deflowered, is married or unmarried. It has reached a stage
where one cannot find among them a single man or woman in a thousand who
has not indulged in illicit sexual relations. Not only that; now they
have plunged into sodomy to the extent that no one seems clean of it.
The debauchery has become a norm of the day, so much so that just last
year it was proposed in the British parliament to legalize the sodomy -
after it had spread among them "illegally". As for the women, and
especially virgins and spinsters, their affairs are even more amazing
and more shocking.
Would that I knew why the
women in those countries are not sorry for this state of affairs? Why
are they not embarrassed by it? Why are their hearts not broken by it?
Why are their feelings not injured when they see all this debauchery
from their men? Also, why is the man not annoyed when he marries a girl
and finds her deflowered and comes to know that she had already been
bedded not only by one or two men? Why does he start boasting in the
morning that her bride had been so popular with men that tens, rather
hundreds, had vied with each other to win her favors? Why this
insensitivity? Is there any reason except that this wantonness and
immorality has been going on for so long, and this licentiousness and
lasciviousness has so captured their minds, that now it has become a
second nature to them; now it neither hurts their feelings nor looks
strange or objectionable to them. It is as we had mentioned earlier that
the prevalent customs mould the feelings and emotions in their own
mould, and do not let them take any other shape.
As for the claim that
polygamy makes the women neglect their house, ignore the children's
education and incline towards illicit sexual relations and embezzlement,
experience shows hollowness of such talks. This law was ordained and
enforced in the early days of Islam, and no scholar of history can claim
that it had caused any disturbance in the social order. The reality was
poles apart from such claims.
Moreover, the women who
marry a man as his second, third or fourth wife—in Islamic or other
polygamous societies—enter into marriage contract willingly, with their
open eyes. They belong to the same society, they are not captured from
other countries, nor have they been brought here for this purpose from
outer space. Yet they willingly agree to such marriage for one or the
other sociological reason. It follows that woman by nature is not
against polygamous marriage; nor are her feelings injured by it. If
there is any resentment it should be shown by the first wife; when a
woman has remained alone with her husband, she would not like intrusion
of another woman in her house, lest her husband show more attachment to
the new wife, or the new wife acquire more authority, or differences
raise their heads between the two wives' children, or things like that.
It shows that unhappiness and resentment, if there be any, springs not
from natural disposition, but from an incidental situation, that is,
remaining for sometime alone with the husband.
Reply to the Second Objection:
The argument by the equality that nature supposedly maintains between
numbers of males and females are untenable for many reasons:
1. Marriage does not depend
on equa1 rates of birth alone; there are many other factors and
conditions that control it. First of all, maturity of mind and
capability of marriage appears sooner in girls than in boys. Girls, and
especially in hot climates, are ready for marriage as soon as they reach
the age of nine; while boys do not attain puberty before the age of
sixteen (and this is what Islam has kept in view for deciding the age of
marriage).
Its evidence may be found in
the behavior prevalent among the girls in the "civilized" countries:
Rarely does a girl remain virgin up to the age of the "legal adulthood";
and the only reason is that nature makes her ready for marriage long
before bestowing that ability on boys.
Now, let us look at a group
of boys and girls born during the last sixteen years—and supposedly both
sexes are equal in number. How many marriageable boys will be there in
the group? Only those who are sixteen years old, that is, those born in
the first year of the period under study. But how many girls of
marriageable age will be there in the group? All those who were born
from the first to the seventh year of this period [i.e., the
marriageable girls will be seven times more than the marriageable boys].
Increase the period under study to twenty-five years (the age when men
usually reach their full maturity and strength). How many men and women
of marriageable age you get in this group? The men who were born during
the first ten years, and the women who were born during the first
fifteen years. It gives us an average of two women for each man, by
natural law.
2. Census reportedly shows
that expectancy of life is greater in woman than in man. In other words,
men die earlier, leaving some women who would remain alone, with no man
to marry them if monogamy is to be the rule.*
3. The ability to procreate
continues longer in men than in women. Usually women reach menopause at
the age of fifty, while men's virility continues for years and years
after that. Sometimes his ability to procreate continues to the end of
his natural age, i.e., a hundred years. Accordingly a man's reproductive
period, about 80 years, would be double of that of a woman (which is
about 40 years). This premises in conjunction with the preceding one
proves that the creative nature allows the man to marry more than one
wife. How can nature bestows the ability to reproduce and then prohibit
the use of receptacles suitable for that reproduction? Such contrariness
is not the way natural causality works.
4. The carnages like battles
and wars liquidate mainly the male population, compared to which women
remain almost unaffected. As mentioned above, it was a strong factor in
the spread of polygamy in the tribal societies. If those widows and
spinsters are not cared for through polygamous marriages, then what are
the alternative available to them? Either fornication or negation and
nullification of their natural faculties!
This problem had raised its
head in West Germany a few months before writing these lines. There the
spinster women spoke about the hardships and difficulties they were
facing because they could not find any man free to marry them; they
demanded from the government to allow them to contract polygamous
marriage—in Islamic manner. The idea was to permit the men to marry more
than one wife in order that those spinsters should not be deprived of
their natural rights. But the government rejected the demand, and the
Church refused to agree—although tacitly they agreed to the spreading of
adultery and fornication and to the ruining of would-be generation.
5. Even if we close our eyes
from all the above factors, the argument of equality of the numbers of
both sexes would stand only if we suppose that every man in the society
marries polygamous - up to four wives. But nature has not prepared every
man for it; only a few, and not all, can marry more than one wife. Islam
has not made it compulsory for every man to enter into many marriages;
it has only made it lawful—for him who is able to treat all wives
equitably. This permission does not create any difficulty or
disturbance; and its clearest proof may be found in the Muslim and other
polygamous societies where it has not created any shortage of women and
no man fails to find a wife for him. In contrast with that, we find in
the monogamous societies thousands of women who are left in the lurch,
as they cannot find anyone to marry them and provide them a chance to
settle in life; their only outlet is fornication.
6. Apart from that, this
objection could only be advanced if Islam had not had provided this rule
with checks and balances for keeping it safe from those imaginary
defects. Islam has made it compulsory for a man who wants to marry more
than one wife to behave with them with justice and equity, to live with
them in fairness, and divide the nights between them; it has obliged him
to maintain them and their children equitably. Obviously, not every man
can easily spend on, let us say, four wives and their offspring, keeping
within the circle of justice and fairness in his dealings with them; it
may be done only by some of the well-to-do people.
Moreover, there are some
lawful Islamic ways which may be used by a woman to encourage and oblige
her man not to marry another wife after her.
Reply to the Third Objection:
This objection springs from not looking attentively at the Islamic way
of education and training or at the goals of this shari'ah. The
education given to women in an Islamic society—as approved by
religion—trains them to keep themselves covered, makes chastity and
modesty their second nature, and protects them from breach of decency.
Consequently, a Muslim woman grows up with far less sexual desire than
is found in a man. This is in spite of common belief that sexual desire
in a woman is stronger and greater. Why has this idea spread? Just
because by nature a woman seems more concerned with her adornment and
beauty. But the fact is otherwise; and no Muslim man (who has married
women grown up in Islamic atmosphere) can have an iota of doubt about
it. In reality, an average man's sexual desire far exceeds that of a
single woman —even of two or three of them.
Let us look at it from
another angle. Islam is very concerned that none should be deprived of
necessary natural desires or essential biological demands. From
religious point of view, it is not good for a man to dam up his sexual
desire and remain frustrated, as it would lead him to indecency and
immorality. But a woman remains justifiably incapable of sexual
relations for about a third of her married life, e.g., during monthly
periods, advanced stages of pregnancy, delivery, breast-feeding and for
similar other reasons. But it is necessary to provide for prompt
satisfaction of the husband's desire. It is the necessary conclusion of
the repeatedly mentioned principle that Islam has laid the society's
foundation on rational, not emotional, basis. It is therefore a great
danger from Islam's point of view to leave the man unmarried or in his
above-mentioned sexual frustration, as it would lead him to lustful
thoughts and immoral activities.
Apart from that, the
Law-giver of Islam considers it very important that the Muslims should
have lots of offspring, in order that the Earth should flourish with
goodly prosperity at the hands of a Muslim society, erasing polytheism
and mischief from the World.
It is these and similar
other considerations which have led the Islam to legalize the
institution of polygamy; it was not for spreading lustful ways or
encouraging lecherous behavior. Had our detractors followed the dictates
of justice, their own social customs—popular among them who have built
their society on the foundation of material enjoyment — more deserving
to be accused of spreading immorality and encouraging licentiousness,
than the Islam which has based its social order on the foundation of
religious bliss and felicity.
Furthermore, just the fact,
that man has the permission to marry other wives, pacifies and calms
down the avidity, which a sense of deprivation could have agitated.
Every deprived one is greedy; when one is forbidden a thing, his mind
remains continually busy in devising plans to get that thing. Every
Muslim — even if he has only one wife —is satisfied and contended that
he is not prevented from satisfying his sexual desires if a need; arose
in future to do so. This in a way calms down his such desires, and
protects him from inclining towards indecency and tarnishing other's
honors.
A Western scholar has
rightly said that the strongest factor that has contributed in spreading
adultery and immorality in the Christian nations is the Church's
prohibition of polygamy.**
Reply to the Fourth Objection:
This allegation is totally unacceptable. We have described in a previous
discourse, when writing on the rights of women in Islam***, that no
social system whatsoever —be it religious or secular, ancient or
modern—has ever honored the women as much, and cared for their rights so
comprehensively and perfectly, as the Islam has done; and we shall
further explain it somewhere else. As for allowing a man to marry more
than one woman, it is not intended to be a negation of women's social
prestige, nullification of their rights or degradation of their status
in life; it is founded on several underlying benefits, some of which
have been mentioned above.
A lot of the Western
scholars—both men and women—have admitted the goodness and perfectness
of this Islamic law, and the social disorder and dangers inherent in
prohibition of polygamy. Interested readers should look for their
comments in their books.
The strongest argument used
by the Western detractors of polygamy, which they offer before their
audience with much embellishment, is the condition found in those Muslim
families where there are two or more wives. Such houses are devoid of
happy life and good living. No sooner do the two rival wives enter the
house than they start envying each other. (People call envy, the disease
of rival wives.) Thereafter all the kind of feelings and noble
characteristics which are ingrained in woman's nature— love and
tender-heartedness, kindness and gentleness, compassion and affection,
good advice and looking after husband's honor in his absence,
faithfulness and devotion, mercy and sincerity for husband and his
children from other women, and care for the house and household — are
changed to their opposites.
The home — the place
intended for man's comfort, where he expects to rest and relax after his
daily toils and troubles, when he is dead tired in body and mind after
the drudgery of earning his livelihood—is transformed into a battlefield
where life and honor, wealth and prestige are freely attacked and
violated; nothing is safe from any side; horizon of life becomes cloudy,
pleasant existence, a thing of the past. In place of bliss and
happiness, appear hitting and slapping, abuse, invective and curse,
backbiting and tale bearing, spying, intrigue and trickery. Children
quarrel and dispute with one another. Things sometimes reach a stage
where the wife plans to kill the husband, and some children kill the
others or even their father. Kinship is metamorphosed into a
never-ending feud that for generations causes bloodshed, genocide and
downfall of the house. Add to it the effects it brings to the society:
unhappiness, moral corruption, cruelty, injustice, transgression,
indecency and lack of security and trust. (There is also another
dimension to this problem) when you add legality of divorce to the
permission of polygamy. These two factors, combined together, create in
the society connoisseurs, who live luxurious lives and whose interest is
centered on satisfaction of their lust and avidity; their passion
revolves around getting this woman and discarding that one, raising
one's status and lowering the other's. It is nothing less than thwarting
and frustrating a half of the mankind, i.e., the females, and submerging
them into sorrow and grief. Their degradation results in depravity of
the other half (and the whole society is demoralized).
COMMENT:
This was the gist of what they have said, and the objection is true—but
its targets are the Muslims, not the Islam or its teachings. When have
the Muslims truly followed the Islamic teachings, that Islam could be
held responsible for the consequences of their misdeeds? Centuries have
passed that there is no good government, which could train them with
noble teachings of the shari'ah. On the contrary, the first
people to rip apart the curtain put up by the religion, to break the
laws of the shari'ah and to violate its limits were the very
Muslim rulers and people in power—and people follow the customs of their
rulers. It is not possible to narrate here even a small portion of the
life style in the "Muslims " Kings' palaces, or the scandals indulged
into by the sultans and governors, since the days the religious
government fumed into monarchy and sultanate; otherwise we will have to
write a complete book on this subject. In short, the objection, if
valid, can be laid against the Muslims: that they adopted a way of life,
which could not bring any happiness in their homes, and followed a
policy, which they could not prevent from deviating from the straight
path. The whole blame lies on the men, not on their women or
children—although every soul is responsible for what it has earned of
sin. Why? Because it was these men's behavior—they thought nothing of
sacrificing their own happiness, and that of their families and children
together with the clean environment of the society, on the altar of
their greed, lust and ignorance — that was the root cause of all these
disasters and fountain-head of all these destructive troubles.
As for the Islam, it has not
legislated polygamy as a compulsory and obligatory duty of every man. It
looked at the people's nature and at the difficulties some of them faced
now and again, and so it concluded that polygamy contained definite
goodness [for solving those problems], as was described above in detail.
Then it looked minutely at the negative effects of polygamy and its
dangers. Consequently, it allowed polygamy for the underlying benefit of
humanity, but at the same time imposed such a restriction on it as to
remove the chances of all those disgraceful depravities—that the man
should be confident that he would live with them in equity and treat
them justly and fairly. Islam allows plurality of wives only to him who
is sure of himself in this respect. As for those who do not care for
their own or their families' and children's happiness and felicity,
whose only mark of honor is satisfaction of their stomachs and genitals,
and in whose eyes woman is only a means to satisfy man's lust and to
give pleasure to him, Islam is not concerned with them, nor does it
allow them to marry more than one—if we say that they are allowed to
marry even the one, with that mentality of theirs!
Moreover, there is a mix-up
in this objection between two completely separate aspects of religion,
i.e., the legislation and the governmental authority. It may be
explained as follows:
According to modern scholars
the criterion to judge about a laid down law or prevalent tradition
whether it is a good law and tradition or bad, is to look at the
acceptable or unacceptable effects and results obtained from enforcement
of that law in the societies, and whether or not the societies in the
prevalent condition accept the law faithfully. I do not think they are
oblivious of the fact that society sometimes is fettered by some
customs, traditions or accidents that do not agree with the law under
study; in such a condition, the society should be reformed in a manner
as not to hamper or negate the said law or tradition, in order that it
may be seen how the law works; and what effect it brings in its
wake—whether it is good or bad, beneficial or harmful. The only
difference is that their criterion for a laid down law is the currently
prevailing desire and demand of the society—whatever that demand may be.
Thus what agrees with their current wishes and demands is considered a
good law, and what goes against it, is bad.
That is why when those
Westerners saw the Muslims wandering in the valley of error, steeped in
immorality in this life and wickedness in the next, they attributed to
the Islamic shari'ah (which the Muslims supposedly followed) all
the evils found among the Muslims, e.g., falsehood and embezzlement,
indecency and usurpation of rights, prevalent transgression and ruined
homes, and in short the whole spectrum of corrupted social order. They
thought that the Islamic tradition and system is like other social
systems in its implementation and effects. The other systems conform
with their members' desires and demands. So, those scholars thought that
Islam too has the same quality, and that all these social disorders have
been generated by Islam; that it is this religion that gives rise to
depravity and corruption (and among them are found the most depraved and
the most immoral persons; as they say, there are all kinds of game in
the belly of the wild ass). Had it been a real religion and its laid
down laws really good and containing people's welfare and felicity, it
would have produced good and beautiful effects in the society, instead
of becoming a curse for it.
But these people have
confused the nature of a good and beneficial law with the nature of a
corrupt and harmful people. Islam is a composite unit of spiritual
knowledge, moral teachings and practical laws—all of which are
interrelated. If one part is damaged or tampered with, the whole is
damaged, and its effects are changed. It is not unlike the medical
compounds and mixtures, which require, for their health-restoring
effects, their proper ingredients and a proper place to prepare them. If
some ingredients are spoiled or adulterated, or if the directions for
its use are not properly followed, it will not bring the desired effect;
rather it may produce opposite result (and harm the patient).
At this juncture let us
admit for the sake of argument, that the Islamic system could not reform
the people, and could not erase common social vices and
depravities—because its legislative base was unsound. But why is it that
the democratic system has not succeeded in our eastern countries as it
has in Europe? Why is it that the more we try to go ahead on this path
the farther back we fall? No one has any doubt that the vices and
depravities have taken deeper roots in our society today (when we have
become civilized and enlightened) than it was fifty years ago (when we
were uncivilized barbarians!). Today our society is devoid of social
justice; we trample on human rights; we do not give higher education to
our masses; and we lack all the social benefits and blessings — for us
these are merely names without substance, words without meaning.
Ask them the reason, and
they will say: This good system has not worked among you because you
have not really put it into practice, have not tried to implement it
properly. Well, why this excuse is acceptable in case of democracy, but
not in case of Islam?
Let us suppose that Islam,
because of the weakness of its foundation (God forbid!), could not
capture the people's hearts and could not take deep roots in the
society; and consequently its rule could not continue, it lost its
vitality in the Muslims' social order and was discarded at the first
opportunity. But why did the democratic system—the universally
appreciated system— go away, after the World War I, from Russia? Why
were its trace lost there? Why was it replaced by the communist system?
Again, why did it give way, after the World War II, to the communist
system in China, Lithuania, Estonia, Albania, Rumania, Hungary,
Yugoslavia, etc.? Why does it pose a danger to other countries, after
having established considerable influence in them?
Now let us look at the
communist system. It flourished for about forty years; and spread to,
and ruled over, nearly half of the mankind. Its rulers and champions are
never tired of boasting of its excellence and superiority. According to
them it is the only clean stream that is unpolluted by dictatorial
tendencies and democracy's exploitation; the countries where it has
taken roots have turned into Utopia. If this claim is correct, then why
did the same rulers and champions, some two years back, stand up to
condemn the rule of its matchless leader, Stalin, who had led and
governed Russia for thirty years? Why did they announce that his rule
was despotic and dictatorial, and that it was nothing but enslavement in
the guise of communism? Everyone agrees that Stalin had great influence
in legislation of the laid down laws and their enforcement and all that
follows. In other words, all this was produced by the will of an
enslaving dictator; it was a one man's rule, which revived thousands and
killed thousands; made some people happy and kept others oppressed,
deprived and unhappy. Only Allah knows who will come after these
(present rulers) to condemn them as they had done with their
predecessors. ****
Look into history books and
you will find mention of a lot of systems, civilizations and cultures
that governed the societies for sometime; some were good, others bad;
then they passed away because of various factors—the strongest being the
treachery of the leaders and feeble will of the masses.
Would that I knew what is
the difference between Islam (as a social system) and those other
transformed and changed systems, that the excuse (of leaders' treachery
and followers' weak-wiliness) is accepted in their case and rejected in
the case of Islam? Yes, today the word of truth has fallen between a
formidable western might and an imitative eastern ignorance; neither any
sky shelters over it nor any earth raises it up. However, it should be
clear from what we have mentioned above that whether a system is
effective or not, and whether its hold on the people remains strong or
it loosened, depends not so much on its correctness or incorrectness—so
that this aspect could be used to prove its truth or falsity. It is
rather affected by so many other causes and reasons. There was not a
single system in the long human history but it produced results for
sometimes and then became barren; it ruled over the society for a
stretch of time and then passed away—all this for some factors acting
for or against it; and We bring these days to men by turns, and that
Allah may know those who believe and takes witnesses from among you
(3: 140).
In short, the Islamic
shari'ah and its laws differ in their fundamental philosophy from
all other social orders prevalent in various human societies. These
[man-made] social systems go on changing with change of times and
policies, but not so the Islamic laws. The Islamic laws — consisting of
obligatory, prohibited, like, disliked and permissible—never change. Of
course, those actions which a person has the choice to do or not to do,
and every disposition which he has right to enact or leave, the Islamic
ruler has got authority to order the people to do it or forbid them
doing it; he can dispose such matters as if the society were a single
body and the ruler its thinking mind and soul.
Had there been an Islamic
ruler there, he could have prevented the people from the inequities and
injustices they commit in the name of polygamy or for other pretexts,
without affecting any change in the divinely given permission. It would
have been a general executive order based on an underlying benefit, just
as a man might decide for his personal reasons not to marry more than
one wife—not because the rule had changed but because it was only a
permission which he had full right not to avail himself of.
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* It is supported by a report
published recently in a newspaper (Ittila 'at, Tehran, 11th Day, 1335
A.H. Solar (= 1st January,1957), quoting the Census report of France as
follows: The census shows that in France 105 boys are born for every 100
girls Yet the women have a plurality of 1,765,000 over men in a
population of about 40 million. The reason for this disparity lies in
the fact that the boys have less resistance to diseases than the girls,
and consequently by the age of nineteen boys' number decreases by 5 per
cent. Then their number continues to decrease up to the age of 25 - 30,
and by the time they reach 60 - 65 years of age, only 750,000 males
remain alive vis-à-vis 1,500,000 females. (Author's Note)
** Vide John Davenport, An Apology
for Mohammed and the Koran, which has been translated into Persian by
the scholar, Sa'idi. (Author's Note)
Mr. Sa'idi has translated the title of the
said work of Davenport as: which if retranslated into English would mean
'Offering Apology to Muhammad and the Qur'an'. He seems unaware of the
difference between 'apology for' end 'apology to', and of the fact that
the word 'apology' as used in this title, means, explanation or defense
of belief', etc. The title, therefore, means 'In Defense of Muhammad and
the Qur'an'. ( tr. )
***
Vide al-Mizan (English Translation) vol 4,
pp. 61 - 83. ( tr.) |