The Taliban: Believers or Enemies?

Aisha Harris is a Barrister and Senior Crown Prosecutor at the Norfolk Criminal Courts. She is also the Assistant Secretary of the West Norfolk Islamic Association, King’s Lynn, England.

In September 1996, the Taliban took control of Kabul and a large portion of Afghanistan. They immediately sent women back to their homes, closed all educational establishments for women, banned them from working, ejected them (old, sick and infirm) from hospitals, and forced them to be covered from head to foot when outside the home. At any moment, if not already in place, women will also need the written consent of the nearest male relative to travel anywhere. This revolution has the stamp of those other repressive regimes all over it - Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Algeria. It is what ... the Muslim Brotherhood, and all other organizations of a like nature want - the complete subjugation of women and the complete denial not only of their human rights, but their rights as women of Islam given to them by the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w) 1400 years ago.

From all the usual Human Rights orientated Western Governments has come what? A deafening silence. Where are the modern Islamic writers ready to condemn, the Western (and Muslim) feminist writers banging the drums for women's rights, the United Nations? The total silence merely confirms this thought - that a human right is what the local dictator says it is going to be!

In every upheaval throughout history, women and female children are the first to suffer. In any war, women are seen as fair game by men, there to be raped, tortured and humiliated for male gratification. Has anyone stopped to think how sick and perverted such an attitude is - how it makes the perpetrators "non-men," and tarnishes all decent, loving men?

In Pakistan, women are routinely raped by anyone who has a grudge against their families, and the humiliation of their women-folk strikes at the honor of that family. Women who have been raped are punished, flogged, and imprisoned. Despite the fact that there was a female prime minister, the men got off scot-free. Often the women are then killed by their own families, because of their dishonor.

In Iran, after the Ayatollah Khomeni's revolution, more than 20,000 young virgin girls of the opposition were raped by their prison guards before they were executed, in order to prevent them going to Paradise! What perverted view of the Prophet's teachings was responsible for that decision? This is not Islam, neither is what the Taliban are doing. This is about power, and the misuse of such power to subjugate half of a population.

The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w) said it was the duty of every Muslim, male and female, to be educated. He did not say females could only learn to read the Qur’an, and then stop at the age of eight years. The Qur’an tells women: "Draw your head coverings across your necks and bosoms." There is nothing about covering from head to foot. The chador and veil originate from pre-Islamic Persia, and was a sign of the status of upper class women. Slave girls did not cover themselves in this way, neither did any other female servant. Indeed, in the Hajj, no woman is permitted to wear any sort of veil.

As Islam expanded, the veil / chador was absorbed as part of the culture. However, it is not, and never has been, part of the Islamic teaching. Clothing of both men and women is meant to be modest and loose fitting, so that the detailed outlines of the body are not on show. How often though, do we hear of men being told to dress modestly and Islamically (they have to be covered from waist to knee in loose garments), yet they are seen in very tight jeans and trousers. This is un-Islamic, but they are more concerned that women should dress to the standards men set.

Only the wives of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w) were secluded, and that happened later on in the Prophet’s life to symbolize their special place in Islam. His first wife Khadijah never veiled, and was never secluded. She ran an import and export company sending caravans across the East, employed men including the Prophet, and managed the finances. Seclusion was never intended for any other women, which is made quite clear in the Qur'an and the Hadith - women did work in the Prophet's time. They went into battle and some fought alongside the Prophet, others were battlefield nurses, skilled in the patching up of wounds and the use of herbal remedies. Yet others ran their own businesses, such as leather-making. Contrast this with women under the Taliban’s rule, who are denied vital medical treatment. If they do not want women to be seen by strange men, then the answer is women doctors and surgeons and all female clinics and hospitals, not preventing women from receiving treatment, and thus further denying them a basic human right.

In the Prophet's time and indeed in moderate forward thinking Muslim countries today, women are respected and honored. To turn a sick woman out of her hospital bed is against all the teachings of Islam, which again and again requires believers to show compassion to those who are sick in any way. Mothers particularly are revered In Islam. The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w) said that paradise lies at the feet of mothers, and upon being asked by a new male Muslim to whom he should show respect, the Prophet replied: "First your mother, second your mother, third your mother, and fourth your father." Where is that respect now in Afghanistan and elsewhere?

Female children are looked upon as second best, and Muslim women have been punished for producing girl children; the husband forgetting that it is the male who decides the sex and not the female. Girl children were frequently taken out and abandoned to die at birth, a practice condemned by the Prophet 1400 years ago, although it still goes on in less enlightened countries. Men forget that without women, they would not be here. Every child needs a human womb in which to grow. The Prophet himself had daughters (his male children dying in infancy), and he loved them dearly, particularly his beloved Fatimah, about whom he said: "Whoever hurts her, hurts me."

Do the Taliban and all the other regimes dedicated to the oppression of women put themselves above the teaching of the Prophet, and God's Holy Book, the Qur’an? It would seem so. They are the unbelievers, the un-Islamic, the oppressors, and the blasphemers. The Shari`ah law is also a compassionate law, in that for any offence it prescribes no less than four witnesses, who are unbiased and of good standing, and who have no axe to grind. Offenders are to be given the opportunity to repent their crimes, before any punishment takes place. Only as a last resort is the full penalty exacted. The Taliban and those regimes like them should read what the Shari`ah says and act upon it correctly, not superimpose their own interpretation. The level of ignorance of Islam displayed by these people is overwhelming.

Editorial: "Not everyone keeps silent. We in the UIA and "The Message" have, for decades, been campaigning vigorously for the restoration of females’ Islamic rights. So have others, including Muslim feminists, in many parts of the world. Unfortunately, we are in the minority, and what we have to say does not make the news."

"The statistics on Iran were taken by the writer from the book "Price of Honor," by Jan Goodwin, which quoted from an Amnesty International Report in 1986. Some of the other facts were taken from "Nine Parts of Desire," by Geraldine Brooks – Editor."

[Webmaster's Note: We were unable to independently confirm the statistics cited in this article. However, we feel that the overall essence of the message should be heard.]

Posted November 6, 1998. This article was printed in the April-June 1998 issue of "The Message," a United Islamic Association (UIA) publication, London, England.

by Aisha Harris

Honor Killings in the Name of Religion

A few weeks ago, ABC News magazine, Nightline, televised a documentary, originally produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), titled, A Matter of Honor, on two consecutive nights -- February 15 and 16, 1999. The drama that enfolded on television during these two one-half hour programs was stunning, incredible, and heinous. It dealt with a barbaric custom of murdering Muslim women for immoral activities in rural Pakistan, at the hands of male family members, including fathers, brothers, and even husbands, to maintain the purity of tribal honor.

In my view, this program should have been renamed: "A Matter of Dishonor." Similar documentaries, with different titles, from other geographic regions including Jordan and Lebanon, have been produced and shown before -- all with the same results -- the victims invariably were Muslim women, killed by male relatives to "restore family honor." It seems that blood -- women’s blood -- is the price of men’s honor in some parts of the Muslim world.

This article will briefly discuss issues raised in this documentary, including "consent and marriage, adultery and false accusation," and the "legality of honor killings," on the basis of the Prophetic Tradition and the Sacred Qur’an, the pre-eminent Book of Laws for all of Islam. Honor killings for female sexual misconduct (real or imagined) is a practice that is outside my living experience, and that of millions of Muslims born and bred in the West. Undoubtedly, this type of gender homicide is an aberrant relic of a feudal patriarchy that is alien to Islamic teachings and the Muslim way of life.


Preface to Part I of "A Matter of Honor"



ABC News introduced Part I of this documentary as follows:

Journalists should always think twice before embarking on a report critical of another culture or another religion’s practices. It is simply too easy to judge, too easy to believe that our ways are better ways. But some practices are so disturbing -- and in the case of tonight’s broadcast, so horrific -- that they demand a painful closer look.

Such a practice found in a number of Muslim countries is called "honor killing," women murdered when they are suspected of immoral activities. This might include marrying someone the family disapproves of, being seen with the wrong person, going out alone at night, or just being the subject of gossip. Honor is recovered only when the woman dies. . . .


Preface to Part II of "A Matter of Honor"



Part II of the documentary was introduced by ABC News as follows:

Since our broadcast last night, we have received numerous emails and phone calls from people worried that a report on how brutally women are treated in parts of the Muslim world may be a criticism of the religion of Islam. It is not. Nothing in Islam demands the murder of women suspected of immoral behavior.

But it is true that countless fundamentalist Muslims, and in some parts of the world other religious groups as well, believe that the behavior of their women must be strictly controlled, and they believe even the appearance of a woman’s misbehavior spells death or else the men in the family will be dishonored. . . .

The broadcast portrays a dominant and inelastic patriarchal system, in which male members make life-and-death decisions on the physical well-being of their women. These Muslim women are essentially illiterate and are totally subjugated under the pernicious system of purdah -- seclusion of women from male society and covering from head to toe when in public. The primary reason given for female homicide was "alleged sexual misconduct," ranging on the moral continuum, from "suspicion of adultery" to "rumor of adultery." The program showed that male members of the Pakistani feudal patriarchy have exclusive prerogative over marriage arrangements of their daughters, who are helpless and have absolutely no recourse but to obey the chauvinist dictates of a backward system. This barbarism over Muslim women by a tyrant patriarchy is a travesty that is outside the pale of the Islamic model, as taught by the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w).

Asma Jahangir of Pakistan Human Rights Commission analyzed the women’s dilemma in the program as follows: "You are seeing these people who are ignorant and who are sick and it has nothing to do with Islam, except that these people have been allowed to get away with it by our state machinery. . . . So it is really the state that is allowing them to do it. It has nothing to do with religion. . . ."

Consent and Marriage

In the program, we met a father (together with his son) charged with the killing of his daughter and a man with whom she had allegedly eloped. When questioned about the murders of his daughter and her "man friend," the father responded: "My daughter ran away with someone, so we killed them both. When she eloped, she wasn’t my daughter anymore. I did the right thing. I’m an honorable man. I killed them both. There is no greater honor anywhere. . . ." This is the "life-and-death hold" that fathers have over their daughters in this tribal enclave, a practice that violates all Islamic tenets.

The custom of "arranged marriages" is an ancient, time-tested system, practiced by all societies and by all religious traditions from time immemorial. Even in twenty-first century America today, this practice is alive and well. Islam is not averse to "arranged marriages" provided that the woman’s consent is safeguarded. Islam views marriage as a contract for life, and as such, the man and the woman must reach a mutual understanding as to their compatibility as life partners.

The sacred Qur’an enjoins: "Marry such women as seem good to you." (4:3) The Prophet recommended: "When one of you makes a proposal of marriage to a woman, he, if he can, should look at what attracts him to her." (Abu Dawud) The canonical hadith texts (al sahihain) of Islam’s two most distinguished muhaddithin, Imam al Bukhari and Imam Muslim, contain chapters with headings essentially titled: "To Look at a Woman Before Marriage." According to the Prophet’s teachings, it is recommended that marriage partners see each other. The Messenger of Allah directed a companion, Mughira ibn Shu`ba, to go and see the woman to whom he had proposed marriage because "it was likely to bring about greater love and concord between them." (Ahmad, Tirmidhi, and al Mishkat al Masabih)

Muslim jurists are in general agreement on the principle of approval (istihbab), i.e., looking at the woman one intends to marry and vice versa. Moreover, the marriage contract is a mutually agreeable document requiring the consent of both parties (man and woman). Since the man is allowed to look at the woman, it would seem fair that the woman has the same right to look at the man before giving her consent for marriage. This conclusion is based on Islam’s bedrock principle of equality in rights and obligations, between man and woman.

Thus, according to tradition, the consent of both the man and the woman is an essential element of the Muslim marriage procedures. The noble Qur’an clearly lays down that the two must agree: "Prevent them not from marrying their husbands when they agree among themselves in a lawful manner." (2:232) Ahmad Shukri, in his noted work, The Muhammadan Law of Marriage and Divorce, page 43, (on the authority of `Abd al Qadir, al Nahr, page 218), states: "The time for seeing her should precede the betrothal. . . . The woman is recommended to have a look at the man if she wants to marry him, because anything that would please her with him will please him with her . . . ."

In the Islamic tradition, when a man agrees to marry a woman, he makes a proposal of marriage to the parents or guardians. Some jurists contend that the proposal can be made directly to the woman herself. Once the man makes this proposal, other suitors are forbidden to propose to the same woman until the first suitor withdraws, or until his proposal is rejected. (al Bukhari) A woman may also make a proposal of marriage to a man. (al Bukhari) Generally, it is the man who makes the proposal. It should be noted that it was the Prophet’s wife Khadija (r.a) who proposed to him, and not vice versa.

As shown here, consent is a requirement in Islam’s marriage procedures, a principle that is completely violated by the ironclad practice of "male-controlled marriages" in the Pakistani patriarchal system. Much of the evil of Pakistan’s tribal marriage practices is also compounded by abject ignorance and religious illiteracy, by both the "so-called mullahs" and the "misinformed lay" masses.

Note on Purdah

Purdah was defined earlier in this paper. In my opinion, probably no other individual in the twentieth century had more to do with the degradation and subjugation of Muslim women in the Indian subcontinent and elsewhere than Maulana Sayyid Abul A`la Mawdudi. His work on women, Purdah and the Status of Woman in Islam (1939), is a pernicious book that has set back the Muslim woman’s cause, to a time reminiscent of the jahiliyyah (age of ignorance) that predated Islam. One ironic note is that while the theologians of Saudi Arabia have praised Mawdudi’s Purdah and have been its main distributor, they have totally rejected other fine works of the great Maulana. [A detailed analysis and review of Purdah by the Islamic Study Academy of Maryland is forthcoming soon.]

Adultery and False Accusation

The broadcast showed that women were killed on the "slightest suspicion of adultery" (zina) or on the "mere rumor of sexual misconduct." The mother-in-law of one woman, who was killed along with her "alleged" sweetheart cousin, stated that "the couple was seen alone together and this was enough to tarnish the family’s honor. They had to be killed. . . . If somebody dishonors us, he should be killed. No matter how old, even if they are innocent." One Muslim man in jail for such killing boldly claimed: "We are Muslims. Our Shari`a says if you see them, kill them. We cannot spare them if we see them. It says so in the Shari`a and the Qur’an. Even the Mullahs say it. . . ." What abject ignorance!

Presented here is a layman’s summary of "adultery and false accusation" -- offenses which are punishable under the laws of Islam. As a general proposition, it is nearly impossible to prove a case of adultery under Islamic jurisprudence, simply because the "four required witnesses" have to testify that they actually "witnessed" the sexual offense, i.e. copulation. "Suspicion, rumor, or hearsay" is legally inadmissible.

The Qur’an mandates: "The adulteress and the adulterer, flog each of them (with) a hundred stripes, and let not pity for them detain you from obedience to Allah . . . ." (24:2) The Qur'an also stipulates that the punishment for adultery committed by "slave-girls" is half that imposed on "freed married women" (4:25). These two verses were the last revelation in the Qur’an mandating flogging, and not the practice of stoning to death, for the offense of zina (Click here for a related question and answer). An earlier revelation of two verses (4:15-16), stipulating "house arrest" for women fornicators and "punishment" for homosexuality, was superceded by the two later verses noted herein, according to some commentators.

Another punishable offense is "false accusation of adultery" (al qadhf), essentially slander. The Qur’an commands: "And those who accuse free women and bring not four witnesses, flog them (with) eighty stripes and never accept their evidence, and these are the transgressors -- except those who afterwards repent and act aright; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful" (24:4-5). Thus, false accusation is a serious offense in Islam.

The Qur’an makes it clear that "death," either by "stoning" or by any other means as a punishment for adultery, is unlawful based on divine law. This is in direct contradiction to death by stoning for illicit sexual conduct, practiced in countries such as, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and others.

The Right to Life

Riffat Hassan, professor of religious studies at the University of Louisville, explained the women’s plight in the broadcast as follows: "Unfortunately, most religions of the world developed in patriarchal cultures, which were male centered, male dominated, and gave men a sort of sole authority to interpret the texts and assume proprietary rights in some cases over the lives of women . . . . To these men who are killing their wives and sisters, their honor is something that is priceless, and the lives of these women are worth very little. . . . women are replaceable . . . . but honor is not . . . . but it’s, you know, certainly not reflective of Islamic teachings."

The fact is that Islam has laid down universal fundamental rights for humanity, which are to be observed and respected under all circumstances. For example, human blood is sacred and may not be spilled without strong justification. It is not permissible to oppress women, children, old people, the sick or the wounded; women’s honor and chastity must be respected; the hungry must be fed, the naked clothed, and the wounded or diseased treated medically. All Muslims within an Islamic state must recognize these rights.

The first and foremost basic right in Islam is the right to life. The Sacred Qur’an lays down: Whoever kills a human being, except as punishment for manslaughter or corruption on earth, it is as though he had killed all mankind. And whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved the lives of all mankind. (5:32) The Qur’an also makes clear: Do not kill a soul which Allah has made sacred except through the due process of law. (6:151)

Based on these injunctions, the calculated murder of Muslim women shown in the broadcast cannot be justified under any circumstances.

Responsibility of the Islamic State

The Sacred Qur’an envisions that the aim and purpose of the Islamic State is to promote in humans behavior that is innately good, and to suppress actions that are evidently evil. The demand of Islam is that principles of morality must be observed at all costs and in all walks of life. Hence, it lays down an unalterable policy that the state should base its policies on justice, truth, and honesty. It is not prepared, under any circumstances, to tolerate fraud, falsehood, and injustice for the sake of political or sectarian expediency. Islam also imposes similar obligations on the state and the individual to use power and authority in pursuit of justice, and to regard power as a trust from God to be used equitably, on account of the fact that man is responsible to God for his actions.

Conclusion

On the basis of Islamic practices and regulations noted herein, it is easy to conclude that only a legally constituted state has the right to adjudicate moral offenses committed by citizens. At the same time, not even the state can impose capital punishment for sexual misconduct, since this is strictly prohibited by the sacred law itself, as documented above. Hence, the barbaric practice of "honor killings" prevalent in the Indian subcontinent and elsewhere is an atrocity that is wholly illegal and without scriptural basis. What is more abhorrent and immoral in the eyes of millions of Muslims today, is the abject failure of the government of Pakistan to reign in and extirpate this heinous and criminal tradition. We thus call on Muslims the world over to denounce the gruesome murders of Muslim women on the mere suspicion of sexual misconduct -- wherever in the world such injustice takes place.

For, as the sacred Qur’an commands in this bedrock regulation: You who believe, be upholders of justice, witnesses to Allah, even it be against yourselves, your parents, or your kinsmen -- whether he be rich or poor. . . . And if you distort or turn away from (truth), surely Allah is ever Aware of what you do. (4:135)

Posted March 9, 1999. This article was printed in the February/March 1999 issue of the Voice of Islam newsletter. (This newsletter is published by the Islamic Society of the Washington Area).

Abortion

In principle, the Qur'an condemns the killing of humans (except in the case of defense or as capital punishment), but it does not explicitly mention abortion. This leads Islamic theologians to take up different viewpoints: while the majority of early Islamic theologians permitted abortion up to day 40 of pregnancy or even up to day 120, many countries today interpret these precepts protecting unborn children more conservatively. Although there is no actual approval of abortion in the world of Islam, there is no strict, unanimous ban on it, either. Islam has not given any precise directions with regard to the issue of abortion. Hence it is not a matter, which has been clearly stated in the Shari'ah (Islamic Law) but rather an issue pertaining to the application of our knowledge of the Shari'ah. Such application may vary in conclusion with a difference in the basic premises of one's arguments.

The Qur'an clearly disapproves of killing other humans: “Take not life which Allah has made sacred” (6:151; see also 4:29 “If a man kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell, to abide therein (for ever)” (4:93). Allah (SWT) went even further, making unlawful killing of a single individual human being equal to mass murder of the whole of mankind: "Because of that, We ordained for the children of Israel that if anyone killed a person not in retaliation for murder or for spreading mischief on earth, it would be as if he killed all mankind. And who saved a life, it would be as if he saved all mankind." (Al-Maidah, 5:32)

As to whether abortion is a form of killing a human, the Qur'an does not make any explicit statements. Only Surah 17:31 warns believers in general: “Kill not your children for fear of want. We shall provide sustenance for them as well as for you. Verily the killing of them is a great sin.”



There are those in Islam who oppose all abortions. A favored text to support this is: "Do not kill your children for fear of poverty for it is We who shall provide sustenance for you as well as for them." (Surah, Al-An' am, 6:151). This Qur'anic reference is to killing already born children--usually girls. The text was condemning this custom. The Arabic word for killing used in this text "means not only slaying with a weapon, blow or poison, but also humiliating or degrading or depriving children of proper upbringing and education." The text doesn't explicitly address the abortion and therefore doesn't close the argument on it.

The Qur'an says:



We created man from an essence of clay: then placed him, a living germ,

In a secure enclosure. The germ We made a leech; and the leech a lump of

Flesh; and this We fashioned into bones, then clothed the bones with flesh;

Then We develop it into another creation. (Surah Al-Mu'minoon, 23: 12-14)



This verse reveals how the fetus is formed and transforms into a complete human being.

The elaborate process of the development of the first human being is given in the Qur'an as follows:



He who has made everything which He has created most good. He

began the creation of man with(nothing more than) clay, and made

his progeny from a quintessence of the nature of a fluid despised.

Then He fashioned him in due proportion and breathed into him some-

thing of His Ruh(Life-Energy). And (with this) He gave you (the faculties

of ) hearing and sight and understanding. (Surah Al-Sajadah, 32:7-9).



During the development of fetus, the body received the Divine Ruh (Life-energy) and subsequently the human faculties of hearing, sight and understanding were developed.

There is no agreement among legal scholars – including those of the founders of the four schools of religious law of the early Islamic period – as to the exact point in time this happens, however.



Abortion


Islam's approach to the issue of birth control and abortion is very balanced. It allows women to prevent pregnancy but forbids them to terminate it. In case of rape the woman should use the morning after pill or RU486 immediately after the sexual assault in order to prevent the possible implantation of a fertilized ovum. Modern technology (like ultra sound scan) has made it possible to know whether or not a child has a defect long before he is born. Some people justify the abortion of a defective fetus.

The Shari'ah allows abortion only when doctors declare with reasonable certainty that the continuation of pregnancy will endanger the woman's life. This permission is based on the principle of the lesser of the two evils known in Islamic legal terminology as the principle of al-ahamm wa 'l-muhimm (the more important and the less important). The Prophet said, "When two forbidden things come [upon a person] together, then the lesser will be sacrificed for the greater." In the present case, one is faced with two forbidden things: either abort the unborn child or let a living woman die. Obviously, the latter is greater than the former; therefore, abortion is allowed to save the live person. 1



Permissibility of Abortion 2

"And do not kill your children for fear of poverty: We give them sustenance and yourselves (too): surely to kill them is a great wrong." (17:31)

The abortion of a fetus from the mother's womb is a different issue, since the sperm and egg have already met and fertilized what could become a human being. The scholars all agree that abortion is forbidden after the first four months of pregnancy, since by that time the soul has entered the embryo but it would allow the use of RU486 (the "morning-after pill"), as long as it could be reasonably assumed that the fertilized egg has not become implanted on the wall of the uterus. Most scholars say that abortion is legal under Islamic Shari'ah (law), when done for valid reasons and when completed before the soul enters the embryo. To abort a baby for such vain reasons as wanting to keep a woman’s youthful figure, are not valid.

"...And do not slay your children for (fear of) poverty -- We provide for you and for them --- and do not draw nigh to indecencies, those of them which are apparent and those which are concealed, and do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden except for the requirements of justice: this He has enjoined you with that you may understand." (6:151)



Qur’anic verses misinterpreted 3

There are, however, some Qur'anic verses which prohibit infanticide:



"And do not kill your children for fear of poverty: We give them sustenance and yourselves (too): surely to kill them is a great wrong." (17:31)



These verses in fact were revealed to forbid the pre-Islamic Arab practice of killing or burying alive a newborn child (particularly a girl) on account of the parents' poverty or to refrain from having a female child. Perhaps in those days, people did not know safe methods of contraception and early abortion.



Embryonic development was central to the Muslim arguments on abortion. According to Muslim scholars, it is lawful to have an abortion during the first 120 days, but after the stage of ensoulment (after the soul enters into the fetus), abortion is prohibited completely except where it is imperative to save the mother's life. After ensoulment, however, abortion is prohibited absolutely and is akin to murder.



The Hanafi scholars, who comprised the majority of orthodox Muslims in later centuries, permitted abortion until the end of the four months. According to them, a pregnant woman could have an abortion without her husband's permission, but she should have reasonable grounds for this act. One reason, which was mentioned frequently, was the presence of a nursing infant. A new pregnancy put an upper limit on lactation, and the jurists believed that if the mother could not be replaced by a wet-nurse, the infant would die.



Views of Four Madhhabs (Schools of Thought) 4

There is broad acceptance in the major Islamic schools of law on the permissibility of abortion in the first four months of pregnancy. Most of the schools that permit abortion insist that there must be a serious reason for it such as a threat to the mother's life or the probability of giving birth to a deformed or defective child. However, as the Egyptian booklet."(The Arab Republic of Egypt published a booklet called "Islam's Attitude Towards Family Planning.") says: "Jurists of the Shiite Zaidiva believe in the total permissibility of abortion before life is breathed into the fetus, no matter whether there is a justifiable excuse or not." That would be a pure form of what some call "abortion on demand."

The majority of orthodox Muslims (following the Hanafi school) in later centuries, allowed abortion until the end of the four months. According to them, a pregnant woman could have an abortion without her husband's permission, but she should have reasonable grounds for this act. Most of the Maliki jurists (legal scholars) described abortion as completely forbidden. In their view, when the semen settles in the womb, it is expected to develop into a living baby and it should not be disturbed by anyone. According to Ibn Jawziyyah, when the womb has retained the semen, it is not permitted for the husband and wife, or one of them or the master of the slave-wife, to induce an abortion. After ensoulment, however, abortion is prohibited absolutely and is akin to murder.

The Hanafi school (prevalent in Turkey, the Middle East and Central Asia) allows abortions to take place principally until day 120; some jurists restrict this provision to “good cause”, e.g. if the mother is still nursing an infant and fears that her milk may run out during the new pregnancy. In aborting up to day 120, the woman commits a mere moral transgression, not a crime. The Shafi school (dominant in Southeast Asia, southern Arabia, parts of East Africa) allows abortions to be performed up to day 120. For the Maliki school (prevalent in North and Black Africa) an abortion is permissible with the consent of both parents up to day 40; it is no longer allowed after that. For the Hanbali school (predominant in Saudi Arabia and United Arabic Emirates) abortions are principally prohibited from day 40 onward.



Some Shiite groups, such as the Ismailis, do not permit abortions to take place at all. In case of infringements of this law, abortions before day 40 are penalized with a monetary fee. Other Shiite groups such as the Zaydites allow abortions to be performed up to day 120, equating an abortion up to this point with contraception. Whoever injures a pregnant woman to the extent that she loses her child must pay compensation according to Islamic law. Strictly speaking, this money belongs to the dead child, who is to inherit it. The family of the woman who undergoes an abortion must also pay compensation if the child’s father had not consented to the abortion performed on her.

Several differences become clear, however, between modern legal practices and the statements made by early Islamic jurists. In principle, the protection of unborn lives is today in the forefront, i.e. modern-day legal scholars judge more conservatively than the authors of the early Islamic legal texts. Exceptions are made in some countries if the life of the mother is endangered, based on Surah Baqarah, 2:233: "A mother should not be made to suffer because of her child.” As a result, abortion is possible for health reasons up to day 90 in many countries. In Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan and Turkey abortion is fully prohibited (an exception is made if the mother’s life is endangered); this does not imply, however, that abortions are not at all performed. Tunisia’s liberal abortion practice allows for abortions to be performed up to the end of the third month. There, abortions are principally permissible for single as well as married women in the first three months, provided that a registered doctor performs them. The approval of the husband or of a male guardian is not required in Tunisia.

Some contemporary voices speak out fully against abortion, arguing that Islam is granted strength through multitudes of children. Traditionally, a large family with several sons has always been the ideal situation in the Islamic world. Abortion in this context is compared with murder, with references to the endangered health of the woman. Other voices view abortion as a type of birth control and refer to the fact that the wives of prophets also practiced birth control with the approval of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Muslim women’s rights advocates demand the right to free abortion in connection with the demand for self-determination. The hesitation of many doctors, for fear of legal prosecution, to perform abortions in clinics leads to illegal operations and numerous cases of death. A number of legal assessments (fatwas) have been published on the subject of abortion; this support one viewpoint or the other but do not legally have the character of law and are therefore not binding.

Abortion in Islam 5

Some Muslims argue that abortion is permissible if the fetus is younger than four months (120 days). They quote a statement from the Prophet (s) that refers to a human being starting as a fertilized ovum in the uterus of the mother for forty days, then it grows into a clot for the same period, then into a morsel of flesh for the same period, then an angel is sent to that fetus to blow the Ruh into it and to write down its age, deeds, sustenance, and whether it is destined to be happy or sad.

Assuming the Hadith to be authentic, scholars explain that the error comes from understanding that before the Ruh is blown into the fetus at 120 days, the fetus is not a living entity, and therefore aborting it does not amount to killing it. It therefore becomes clear that aborting a fetus before 120 days is still killing a living entity, let alone abortion after that presumed period.

Some Muslims argue that the only case when aborting a fetus, before or after 120 days, is allowed in Islam, is when a medical situation threatens the life of the mother, leaving only two options, to let either the other or the fetus survive, but not both. Scholars argue that such a case can only be determined by a specialist, trusted and committed Muslim doctor. They argue that the mother can have other children, whereas the child cannot make up for losing the mother.

Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi 6

Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi states in his well-known book, “The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam”:

“While Islam permits preventing pregnancy for valid reasons, it does not allow doing violence to it once it occurs.

Muslim jurists have agreed unanimously that after the fetus is completely formed and has been given a soul, abortion is Haram. It is also a crime, the commission of which is prohibited to the Muslim because it constitutes an offense against a complete, living human being. Jurists insist that the payment of blood money (diya) becomes incumbent if the baby is aborted alive and then died, while a fine of lesser amount is to be paid if it is aborted dead.

However, there is one exceptional situation. If, say the jurists, after the baby is completely formed, it is reliably shown that the continuation of the pregnancy would necessarily result in the death of the mother, then, in accordance with the general principle of the Shari'ah, that of choosing the lesser of two evils, abortion must be performed. The reason for this is that the mother is the origin of the fetus; moreover, her life is well established with duties and responsibilities, and she is also a pillar of the family. It would not be possible to sacrifice her life for the life of a fetus which has not yet acquired a personality and which has no responsibilities or obligations to fulfill.

Allah Almighty knows best.

REFERENCES:

1. Marriage and Morals in Islam. Chapter 4: contraceptives and Abortion. Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi, Pub. By Islamic Education and Information Center, Scarborough, Ont. Canada.

2. www.understanding-Islam.com 1st March 1999

3.Family Planning and Islam: A Review by Khalid Farooq Akbar Hamdard Islamicus Vol. 17, No. 3, 1974.

4. Abortion in Islam. Christine Schirrmacher (Institute for Islamic Studies) Online at www.islaminstitut.de/english/publications/abortion.htm

5. Abortion in Islam. Elsayed Kandil, SALAM Magazine, Sydney, New South Wales http://www.famsy.com/salam/.

6. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi. "Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam" Islamic Book Service, 1982

SMOKING IS HARAM (UNLAWFUL) IN ISLAM

This article was first published in JIMA (Journal of Islamic Medical Association, Volume 15, and No.4, 1983. The author holds the unique distinction and honor to be the first Muslim Scholar in the world to declare Smoking is Haram. He did with full conviction and courage. Twenty years later the Ulama have realized the truth and every Muslim country in the world is following suit by declaring Smoking is Haram.)


SUMMARY

Cigarette smoking is the most widespread example of drug dependence in the United States and in all the Islamic countries as well. The U.S. Surgeon General's Office considers cigarette smoking to America's worst drug addiction problem. Medical investigations show that cigarette smoking is a major factor in the development of many cases of cancer, heart trouble, chronic lung and respiratory disease and other ailments. Smoking causes more illness and death than all other drugs. Cigarette smoking in pregnant women results in deleterious health effects on their newborn children. These Findings and the revelations in the Holy Qur'an clearly prohibit smoking of tobacco by Muslims. Hence smoking is unlawful in Islam.

Smoking and Health Effects

It is very well known that cigarette smoking is the most widespread example of drug dependence in the United States. A pamphlet released by the U.S. Surgeon General's Office entitled "Why People Smoke Cigarettes" calls cigarette smoking America's worst drug addiction problem. It involves addiction to the drug nicotine in tobacco and possible other tobacco substances.

An authoritative British report (1) stated that tobacco smoking is a form of drug dependence different from but no less strong than that of other addictive drugs—the most stable and well-adjusted person will, if he smokes at all, almost inevitably become dependent on the habit.

An Australian government report of 1977 called Drug Problems in Australia - An Intoxicated Society (2), says, "It is important to recognize that smoking is a form of drug dependence, but one with especially insidious characteristics."

Like many other drugs, the chemicals in cigarette affect the chemistry of the brain and nervous system and create dependence and lead to compulsive use.

More than 56 million Americans and multiple scores of millions more in other nations, including Islamic nations (3) are hooked on cigarettes in the same way as caffeine addicts are hooked on caffeine. A major reason why sales continue at high levels despite widespread public knowledge about the health hazards is the addictive nature of cigarettes.

Most people start smoking just to conform to peer or social pressures. They get a feeling of "grown up." They find smoking (nicotine) at first acts as a stimulant. Later they find they need to smoke as a tranquilizer. These smokers develop a level of tolerance and bodily adjustment to nicotine. If this level of nicotine is not maintained in their blood, they will experience uncomfortable physical-psychological dependence problems. These uncomfortable feelings are classic drug withdrawal symptoms. Addictive drugs are psychoactive which create brain and nervous system dependence and lead to compulsive use. Abrupt discontinuation leads to physiological and psychological distress. The withdrawal symptoms are headache, stomach discomfort, nervousness, irritability, sweating, change in heart and blood pressure and lower excretion of some hormones affecting the nervous system (4).

The former U.S. Surgeon General, C. Everett Coop, says, "Cigarette smoking is clearly identified as the chief preventable cause of death (340,000 deaths per year in U.S.A.). In our society it is a major factor in the development of many cases of cancer, heart trouble, chronic lung and respiratory diseases and other ailments. Smoking causes more illnesses and death than all the other drugs."(5)


Smoking and Islam

In Islam cleanliness and hygiene are emphasized to the extent that it has been considered a part of Iman (faith). It is very well known that a smoker's mouth is unclean and foul smelling "like a cigarette ash-tray." Allah (SWT) says:

"And forbids them what is bad." The Qur'an, Surah Al-'Araf, 7: 157

"0 ye who believe! Intoxicants and gambling are an abomination of Satan's handiwork. Eschew such abominations that ye may prosper."

Al Ma'idah, 5: 93

The word intoxicant has three meanings (6):

(1) To induce, especially the effect of ingested alcohol.

(2) To stimulate or excite.

(3) To poison.

Except the first meaning the latter two are very well valid and both applicable to nicotine and caffeine.

Smoking is nothing but a form of slow suicide. The Qur'an says:

"And slay not the life which Allah hath forbidden..."

Surah, Al-Isra, 17: 33

"And make not your own hands contribute to your destruction." Surah, Al-Baqara, 2: 195

"Nor kill or destroy yourselves for verily Allah hath been to you most Merciful." Surah, An-Nisa, 4: 29



The Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him) has said:

"Nor be hurt or injure others." It is scientifically proven that the exhaled smoke of the smoker is hazardous to non-smokers around him.

The amount of money a smoker spends on cigarette smoking in a period of 30 years is calculated to be Two Hundred Thousand Dollars or more. All this money is simply wasted (not including the money spent on smoker's health care).

Allah (SWT) says:

"But squander not your wealth in the manner of a spend thrift, verily spendthrifts are brothers of evils."

Surah, Al-Isra, 17: 26, 27

Body is polluted by smoking. Hence smokers cannot pray until they have cleansed themselves. According to the Qur'an:

"0 ye who believe! Draw not near unto prayer when you are drunken, till ye know that which ye utter, nor when you are polluted save when journeying upon the road, till you have bathed."

Surah, An-Nisa, 4: 43

The Christians consider the human body to be a sacred trust given to man by God because it contains the spirit breathed into it by God. Even the Qur'an says

"So,when I have made him and have breathed unto him of My spirit, do ye fall down, prostrating yourselves unto him " Surah, Al-Hijr, 15: 29.

Hence the physical body should not be polluted or injured or destroyed in any way by smoking or taking of alcohol or any type of habit-forming drugs.

The following is presented as evidence to prove the adverse effects on human body by tobacco smoke; figure 1 shows the chemical structure of Benzo (a) pyrene which is one of the most potent carcinogens known to man to be present in the tobacco smoke. Table I shows a list of tumor-initiating agents present in the particulate phase of tobacco smoke. Tables 2 to 5 present the mortality ratios for coronary artery disease, lung cancer, and other diseases. Table 6 shows the adverse effects of smoking by pregnant women on themselves, their fetuses, and their children.



C 0 N C L U S 1 0 N

For the foregoing reasons and for reasons considered elsewhere smoking is Haram or unlawful in Islam, hence smoking should be discouraged and finally banned in all Islamic countries.

All smoking Muslims should give up this unhealthy and un-Islamic activity. The best way to give it up is to stop all smoking completely. Tapering off on the amount one smokes does not work for most people. It is not easy to quit suddenly, but it is presently the most successful way. There are many ways and techniques available for a serious minded person to give up smoking, which cannot be discussed here. For the Muslims who sincerely practice Islam and who submit themselves to the Will of Allah, this should not be a difficult task.



REFERENCES

1. The Royal College of Physicians, Smoking, or Health, Third Report

1977, p.98.

2. Drug Problems in Australia: An Intoxicated Society? A Report from the Senate Standing Committee on Social Welfare. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, Australia, 1977.

3.Taha A.: Smoking and Muslim Countries: The immediate and serious Threat. J I M A. 14: 50-52, 1982.

4. Jaffee JH, Drug Addiction and Drug Abuse (Ch.16), Clinical Characteristics: Nicotine. In: The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics. Goodman LS and Gilman A (Editors), Macmillan Pub. Co. Inc., New York, 1975. P. 305.

5. The Health Consequences of Smoking. The Changing Cigarette - a Report of the Surgeon General. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, P.H.S., Rockville, Maryland, 1981, DHSS (PBS) 81 - 50156.

6. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1978, P. 686.

7. Yusuf Al Qaradawi, Al Halal Wal Haram. Cairo, 1960.

8. Smoking and health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service. P.H.S. Publication NO.1103 U. S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Washington, D.C. 1965.

STONING FOR ADULTERY: CONTRADICTIONS AND CONFUSIONS GALORE IN THE AHADITH

The Shariah Court in Muslim-dominated Northern Nigeria has sentenced Amina Lawal to death by stoning for corn-mining adultery. This has engendered much discussion and debate among Muslims and non-Muslims throughout the world. I do not wish to assess the merits and demerits of the case itself, but wish to discuss the sources of the alleged

“Shariah” law of stoning to death as punishment for adultery.



Bukhari (Vol.8. Hadith No. 809): “Narrated Ibn Umar (RA): A Jew and a Jewess were brought to Allah’s Apostle (S) on a charge of committing illegal sexual intercourse. The Prophet asked them: ‘What is the legal punishment (for this sin) in your Book (Torah)?’ They replied: ‘Our priests have innovated the blackening of faces with charcoal and Tajbiya’ (being mounted on a donkey, with their faces in opposite directions, then mortified in public). Abdullah bin Salaam said: ‘0 Allah’s Apostle, tell them to bring the Torah.’ The Torah was brought, and then one of the Jews put his hand over the Divine Verse of the Rajm (stoning to death) and started reading what preceded and what followed it. On that, Ibn Salaam said to the Jew: ‘Lift up your hand.’ The Divine Verse of the Rajm was under his hand. So Allah’s Apostle (S) ordered that the two (sinners) be stoned to death, and so they were stoned.”

The Bible confirms the Verses “And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.” (Leviticus. 20d0)

In Deuteronomy 22:23 we read the following: “If a damsel that is a virgin betrothed unto a husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her; then ye shall bring them both into the gate of the city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die.”

Apart from the Bible, the same view can be found in other classical works in Christianity such as Hastings: “A Dictio­nary of the Bible”, and Cheyne and Black: “Encyclopaedia Biblica”.

Abu Hurairah’s (RA) version in Sunan Abu Dawood: The Prophet (S) had already received the Divine Verse on punishment for adultery

“Narrated Abu Hurairah (This is Ma’mar’s version, which is more accurate): A man and a woman of the Jews committed fornication. Some of them said to the others: Let us go to the Prophet, FOR HE HAS BEEN SENT WITH AN EASY LAW. If he gives a judgment lighter than stoning, we shall accept it and argue about it with Allah, saying: IT IS A JUDGMENT OF ONE OF YOUR PROPHETS .. (the story continues). So I decide in accordance with what the Torah says. He then commanded regarding them and they were stoned to death.

“Az-Zuhri said: We have been informed that this verse has been revealed about them. ‘Verily. We did send down the Torah (to Moses), therein was guidance and light, by which the Prophets who submitted themselves to Allah’s Will, judged the Jews’.” (5:44) …. (Hadith 2093)

The above narration confirms that the Surah An-Noor had already been revealed, with an “EASY LAW” as punishment for adultery. Therefore the Jews approached him.

But Bukhari’s narration (8:804) is not sure: “Narrated Ash-Shaibani: I asked Abdullah bin Abi Aufa: ‘Did Allah’s Apostle (S) carry out the Rajm penalty (i.e. stoning to death)?’ He said:

‘Yes’. ‘Was it before the revelation of Surah An-Noor or after it?’ He replied: ‘I don’t know’

Tafseer-e-Usmani has yet another point of view: (Commentary on Surah An-Noor, Verse 2): “.... and his punishment is stoning, as given in Surah Maidah (Verse 43) with the reference of the Taurat: “How do they come to thee (0 Muhammad) for a Judgment while with them is the Taurat - it is the Decision of Allah.”

Moulvi Shabbir Ahmad Usmani states further: “After the execution of the Divine Order of stoning the Jewish culprits. the Holy Prophet (S) said: ‘0 God, I am the first to revive Thy Commandment after they had made it dead.”

Moulvi Usmani argues that the Holy Prophet (S) not only gave the punishment of stoning to the Jewish pair, but even applied it himself as an “Islamic” law. “Not a single member of the Ahle Sunnah wal Jamaa’ah dared to differ from it. In other words, the continued SUNNAT and the consensus of the righteous men has told us that in this case the Mohammadan Shariah HAS RETAINED THE LAW OF THE TAURAT.”

But Umar Ibn Khattab (RA) and Ibn Abbas (R) inform us that there was a DIVINE VERSE ABOUT RAJM. “Allah sent Muhammad (S) with the Truth and revealed the Holy Book to him, and among what Allah revealed was the verse of Rajm. We did RECITE this verse and UNDERSTOOD and MEMORISED it. But that verse got lost ... or abrogated.” (Bukhari 8:817).”

Of course the Jews also knew about this verse, that is why they said in happy anticipation that: “HE (MUHAMMAD) HAS BEEN SENT WITH AN EASIER LAW A JUDGMENT LIGHTER THAN STONING.”

Ibn Katheer, the Classical Commentator. Says that the Prophet (S) had a verse about stoning but refused to write it when asked to do so.

Commenting on Qur’anic verse (24:2), Ibn Katheer states: “A person came to the Holy Prophet ... and mentioned Rajm (stoning to death for adultery), saying: ‘0 Prophet! Write for me the verse on Rajm the Holy Prophet (S) replied: ‘I am not able to do so now’. In these and similar words was the narration, and Nasai (one of the Hadith books of the Sahah Sittah) has also narrated this. Thus all these narrations are proof of the fact that the Divine Verse of Rajm was WRITTEN (Maktoobatun). Although this verse was abrogated in recitation, the order for its implementation was retained.”



Comment: What a contradiction of Shabbeer Ahmad Usmani’s point of view, according to which the Prophet (S) had derived the law of stoning to death from the Taurat! ... and here we have Ibn Katheer contending that there WAS already a Rajm verse in existence but the Holy Prophet (S) REFUSED TO WRITE IT DOWN. WHY did the Nabi (S) refuse to write the verse down? Let the “maulanas” answer this question!



Conclusion:

(1) The Jews came to the Holy Prophet (S) because they were aware that HE HAS BEENSENT WITH AN EASY LAW, that is, 100 lashes for adultery, instead of their own (Jewish) law of stoning to death.

(2) Moulvi Shabbeer Ahmad Usmani contends that the Holy Prophet (S) derived this law of stoning to death from the Taurat, and that he even thanked Allah for the fact that he could revive a dead law.

(3) Ibn Katheer and Nasai tell us that the Prophet (S) REFUSED to write down an existing Divine verse about Rajm.

(4) Umar Ibn Khattaab (RA) and Ibn Abbas (RA) inform us that the Rajm verse was lost ~ abrogated. They are not sure on this point.

(5) Allamah Al-Suyuti, the eminent classical Mufassir, has this to say: “The Book (Qur’an) is before everybody and there is NO reference to Rajm in it whatsoever.”

After a thorough examination of all the Ahadith on the subject of stoning to death, he came to this conclusion: “The assertion that a verse about Rajm was revealed, is based on Ahadith that are AHAAD (isolated), and these CANNOT supersede the Quranic injunction (of 100 lashes) or cast doubt on its purity.” (Al-Suyuti. ITQAAN FEE ULOOM AL-QURAN. Vol. 2,P. 26)



SUMMARY

I have given opinions of the Mufassireen and the Sahaaba that matter. No doubt the reader will be as confused as ever and will wonder what on earth happened to the needle of Truth in the haystack of bewilderingly conflicting, CONTRADICTORY Ahadith! Is stoning to death Quranic law, or is it a Biblical law?

If you, the reader, wish to find peace of mind and certainty of knowledge on this question, then COME BACK TO ALLAH’S PURE UNADULTERATED WORD. Only the Holy Qur’an is absolutely free of vexing, infuriating Contradictions, whereas the Hadith (on which the “maulanas” base ALL their so-called “arguments” in favour of stoning) is full of elisions, evasions and absurdities!

May Allah (SWT) save our souls from being entangled with the asphyxiating incubus of Hadith. The solution to ALL our problems lies ONLY in the Quran. And our ultimate SALVATION as well!

Zina and Rajm

Zina is Arabic word which means immorality and it has two meanings. One Zina carries a punishment and the other Zina does not carry a punishment.

Prophet (pbuh) said: "Allah has decreed for every son of Adam his share of Zina, and there is no way to escape from it. The Zina of the eye is a glance, the Zina of the tongue is speaking, and the Zina of the mind is wishing and hoping; then the private part either acts upon this or it does not" (Bukhari, 11/26; Muslim, 2046).



Zina according to the Qur'an is sexual intercourse outside marriage between consenting adults, whether they are married or not.

Zina is one of the forbidden deeds, one of the most serious major sins (kabaa'ir) after shirk and killing. (Surah, al-Furqan 25:68-70). The Qur'an says, " And come not near to unlawful sexual intercourse (Zina). Verily, it is a faahishah (anything that transgresses its limits-a great sin) and an evil way (that leads one to Hell unless Allah forgives him). Surah, al-Isra', 17: 32. This means not doing any deed that may get close to Zina, or lead to it such as being alone with a member of the opposite sex, touching, looking, going to evil places, speaking a haraam manner to a woman to whom one is not related, thinking about and planning immoral acts, etc.

Raj'm is the punishment of stoning to death for adultery which is a Mosaic Law found in the Old Testament or Torah. Rajm was practiced by Prophet (pbuh) before the revelation of the verse of 100 lashes for adultery or fornication (24: 2). Adultery in the English language is defined as illicit sexual intercourse by married men and women. Fornication in the English language is defined as illicit sexual intercourse by unmarried men and women.

In this article the topics of pedophilia, incest, rape, sodomy, oral sex, homosexuality, lesbianism, bestiality, necrophilia, and other deviations will not be covered.



Punishment for Zina1



Allah (SWT) has prescribed Hadd punishment for adultery. What is the punishment for adultery? According to the Qur'an, the punishment is Flogging with a 100 stripes (both for men and women) [24:2]. The punishment for ‘faahishah’ which means gross indecency (e.g. stripping naked or 'being lewd' in public), according to the Qur'an is "confine them to houses until death do claim them (lifelong house arrest - for the women) [4:15]. For men: "If they repent and amend, leave them alone" [4:16].



Islam prevents crime rather than punish the criminal.



Linguistically, hudud in Arabic means limits or preventions. Legally, they are limits, which prevent the crime from increasing in society, prevent the criminal from going back to similar crimes, and prevent those who think about the same crime from pursuing it. Hudud in this sense are not merely punishments, on the contrary, they are limits and preventive means placed within a larger framework of justice, related directly to the interests of people to serve the ultimate objectives of the Islamic law.

The punishment system in Islam has concerns that Muslims need to be aware of. It concerns that are aimed toward the three dimensions of any crime: the criminal (the one who carried out the act), the society (where the crime took place) and the victim (the one who was subject to the criminal act). These objectives are:

To criminals, punishment is kaffara (purification) and reforming for the re-acceptance into the society.

To society, punishment is a preventive method to save the society from crimes.

To victims, punishment is a mean of retribution.

Also, this system is governed by a few key principles, which are:

Every Muslim is accountable for his/her deeds and for every crime there is a punishment that is enforceable by the Muslim State. This principle makes Muslims believe that it is better for them to get punished in their life than to be punished in the hereafter.

The punishment should be prevented as much as possible. A’isha narrated that the Prophet (pbuh) said:

‘Ward off punishment as much as you can. If you find any way out for a Muslim then set him free. If the Imam makes a mistake in granting forgiveness, it is better for him than that he should commit a mistake in imposing punishment.’

Thus any doubt about the evidence should prevent the punishment.

Punishments were set down to protect and secure the ultimate five elements of people’s interests: al-dharuriyat (necessities). These are: deen (belief), an-Nafis (life), al-‘aqil (intellect), al-mal (wealth) and an-nasil (family and lineage).

In addition, it is important to know that in Islam, punishments applied by the Muslim State should be the last resort in preventing crimes and saving the society. The Muslim State should insure the fulfillments of the citizens’ needs in every aspect of their life. Moreover, practicing al-amru bil ma’ruf wa an-nahiyu ‘an al-munkar (enjoining the good and forbidding the evil) in its proper way comes before the application of punishments.



The Performance of Zina1

According to the majority of scholars, in its legal meaning Zina is ‘the voluntary sexual intercourse outside of marriage when the male sexual organ is inserted inside the female one, regardless of the number of times.’

The act of Zina is committed voluntarily, thus rape is not Zina and any sexual act under constraint is not Zina as well. Also, there should be no doubt that the two partners are not married to one another; any doubt in this sense makes the act not Zina.

Finally, the sexual organ must be inserted inside the female vagina, thus any other intimate act, even if it is haraam (prohibited), does not qualify for any specific fixed physical punishment set out in Islamic law (i.e. hudud). There are about 10 conditions of Zina one can refer to in books of fiqh (Islamic law).

Islam considers Zina a major sin, an indecent act, and an evil path. Therefore, protecting society from Zina is an evident aim of Islam. Since Zina is considered a great sin and a detestable social illness, Islam required doubtless proof for convicting an individual of Zina and severe punishment for those convicted.

There are three clear means of proving Zina:

The person accused of Zina (zaani) makes a confession and does not retracts his/her confession. Once the person retracts his/her confession, they are not punishable because there is no proof of the act.

Four reliable and pious men testify that they witnessed the act and actually saw the male sexual organ inserted into the vagina. (actual penetration)

A woman without a husband found to be pregnant.

Scholars agreed on the first two methods of proving Zina, but disputed the third one; some scholars rejected the third point as proof.

Allah said in the Quran:

"The woman and the man guilty of Zina (adultery or fornication), - flog each of them with a hundred stripes: Let not compassion move you in their case, in a matter prescribed by God, if ye believe in God and the Last Day: and let a party of the Believers witness their punishment." ………. Surah An-Noor, 24 Verse 2

The meaning of the word yankahu in this verse is in fact illegal intercourse (watu'). There are actually two types of watu': 2

1. A watu' between a man and a woman, that satisfies all the Islamic requirements. This would be a legal nikah (i.e. contract of marriage, witnesses etc.).

2. A watu' between a man and a woman without a contract of marriage, and that is illegal nikah i.e. Zina. Nikah can thus sometimes mean Zina, and sometimes marriage. In this verse, it means Zina, and this is demonstrated by three different angles:





Punishment for Adultery in Islam 3
Under Islamic law, the punishment for adultery is 100 lashes (of moderate intensity). This punishment will be carried out only in that state where Islamic laws are promulgated. No individual is authorized to execute the penalty. In addition, the punishment is executed only in case of accused being caught by the law. Even in that case, if it is proved beyond doubt that the accused had truly repented over his sin before being caught, the punishment is to be condoned. Allah accepts the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and repent soon afterwards; to them will Allah turn in mercy; for Allah is full of knowledge and wisdom. (al-Tirmidhi, 3540). It was narrated from Abu Dharr that the Prophet (pbuh) said that Allah says, "… O My slaves, you commit sin night and day, and I forgive all sins, so ask Me for forgiveness…" (Muslim, 2577)

Of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil until death faces one of them and he says ‘Now have I repented indeed’; nor of those who die rejecting faith; for them have we prepared a punishment most grievous”. (4:17-18)



It was asked of Imam Ibne Timiyah if a man was entitled to the punishment of unlawful sex and he atoned for the sin before the imposition of punishment, would the punishment be condoned by his atonement. He replied; “If one resolves to leave unlawful sex, theft or drinking before the case is produced before the Imam, then it is proper that the punishment will be condoned like it is condoned for the Maharibeen (the wagers of war against Allah and the Apostle and the seditionist) if they repent before coming under the grip of law”. (Majmoo’-ul-Fatawa Sheikh-ul-Islam). Says Ibne Qayyim: “If this is true that Allah does not punish anyone who repents, then it is also true that no punishment should be implemented on a repentant. Allah has made clear that even the Maharibeen are forgiven if they repent before coming under grip. It is despite of the fact that their crime is extremely atrocious. Obviously the lesser offences will in the first place be pardoned if there is true repentance already.” (A’alaam-ul-Muqi’een quoted in Haqeeqat-e-Raj’m P.217).



The sinner, if repentant, is not required to voluntarily report his sin to law. Instead, he should ask forgiveness of Allah and resolve to stay away from the sin in future. (Bulughul Maraam; Kitabul Hudood; Ibne Haj’r Asqalani)



“Said Anas Bin Malik, ‘I was present beside the Prophet (Pbuh) when a man came and said; ‘O Prophet of Allah I have committed a punishable sin, so enact the punishment’. The Prophet (Pbuh) did not ask him any question till it was time for Salaat. After he had offered the prayer with the Prophet (Pbuh), he again approached him and said; “O Prophet of Allah I have committed a punishable sin, so judge me by the book of Allah”. The Prophet (Pbuh) asked him, ‘ Have you not offered prayer with me’? He replied, ‘Yes’. Then the Prophet (Pbuh) said, ‘Allah has pardoned your sin and your punishment.” (Bukhari).



The Prophet (Pbuh) did not even ask him what crime or sin he had committed. This is because the purpose of punishment in Islamic system is to punish the consistent and habitual criminal so that others should learn a lesson from this severe punishment and do not dare to follow in his/her footsteps. Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar said: It may be understood from this case-when he confessed to having committed Zina-that it is mustahabb for the one who falls into a similar sin to repent to Allah and conceal his sin and not mention it to anyone, as Abu Bakr (RA) and Umar (RA) said to the confessor. Al-Shaaf'I (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "If a person commits a sin and Allah conceals it for him, I prefer for him to conceal it too and to repent," (Fath al-Baari, 12/1124, 125)
The Punishment for Adultery is 100 Lashes 4

The penalty for adultery is not stoning to death unless the convict is a hardened and habitual sinner who is a perpetual disturber of peace of the society. Qur’an clearly spells out the related law; “The woman and the man guilty of unlawful sex (adultery or fornication), flog each of them with a hundred stripes; let not compassion move you in their case in a matter prescribed by Allah if ye believe in Allah and the Last day; and let a party of the believers witness their punishment”. (24:2)

Few Islamic laws have been so misunderstood as the penalty of illicit sexual intercourse. It is generally believed by a majority including some renowned scholars that the above punishment is only for the unmarried offenders. It is therefore expedient that this issue be discussed in detail.

There are clear indications in Qur’an that punishment of 100 lashes is for all adult and sane persons making illicit sexual intercourse, be they married or unmarried, men or women. Verse 24:8 should not be cut from the context.

When we read ahead of the above verse (24:2), it becomes more manifest, if only the context of consecutive verses is not overlooked. Following is the translation of first eight verses of the Surah;

1. A Surah which we have sent down and which we have ordained; in it have we sent down clear signs in order that ye may receive admonition.

2. The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication flog each of them with a hundred stripes; let not compassion move you in their case in a matter prescribed by Allah if ye believe in Allah and the last day; and let a party of the believers witness their punishment.

3. Let no man guilty of adultery or fornication marry any but a woman similarly guilty or an unbeliever nor let any but such a man or an unbeliever marry such a woman; to the believers such a thing is forbidden.

4. And those who launch a charge against chaste women and produce not four witnesses (to support their allegation) flog them with eighty stripes; and reject their evidence ever after; for such men are wicked transgressors.

5. Save those who afterward repent and make amends. (For such) lo! Allah is forgiving, merciful.

6. As for those who accuse their wives but have no witnesses except themselves; if they bear witness four times (with an oath) by Allah that they are solemnly telling the truth;

7. And the fifth (oath) (should be) that they solemnly invoke the curse of Allah on themselves if they tell a lie.

8. But it would avert the punishment from the wife if she bears witness four times (with an oath) by Allah that (her husband) is telling a lie;

9. And the fifth (oath) should be that she solemnly invokes the wrath of Allah on herself if (her accuser) is telling the truth. (24:1-9)

Now which punishment is being referred to in the verse No.8 above? Reading from the first verse onwards makes it obvious that it is the same, which has been described in verse No.2, i.e. one hundred lashes. Many Fiqh scholars assume that the punishment mentioned in verse 8 is the woman’s confinement or stoning to death. From the context, it is obvious that there is no room for any assumption at all. The renowned scholar Ibne Qayyim, in his famous work ‘Zaadul Ma’ad has stressed upon this. He writes; ‘The punishment condoned for that woman through Li’aan (The procedure of oath described in the verses 24: 6-9 above), is the same which is mentioned in this order of Allah - and let a party of the believers witness their punishment (that is flogging)’. Note that the woman in verse 8 is a married woman accused of adultery by her husband. It further proves that Qur’an prescribes a punishment of flogging for both, adulterer and fornicator irrespective of their marriage status.



Flogging replaced the confinement till death. Let us now come to Surah ‘Nisa’ (Ch. 4) of Qur’an, which also discusses the punishment of lewdness. Verse 15 of this Surah 4, reads; "As for those of your women who are guilty of lewdness, call to witness four of you against them. And if they testify (to the truth of the allegation) then confine them to the houses until death take them or (until) Allah appoint for them a way (through new legislation). " (4:15)

A majority of commentators agree that earlier, when a married woman was guilty of illicit sex, she was to be permanently confined to her house till the revelation of a new ordinance. The new ordinance came in the revelation of 24:2. Up to this point there is near unanimity. The confusion arises when the new legislation (24:2) recommends flogging but they insist that this will apply only to the unmarried. Strangely enough, the order was awaited in respect of married women.

There are indications in the above verse (4:15) itself that the ordeal of the erring married women shall be eased in the new law. There are three subtle points in the above verse that should not be missed.

1. The Arabic text for ‘or (until) Allah appoint for them a way (through new legislation)’ in this verse is auyaj’alalla-hu lahunna sabila. In normally spoken Arabic, this phrase will be taken as a consolation and a future promise for easing their ordeal. Elsewhere also, at a number of places, the word ‘sabil’ (Literal meaning; a way) is used in the sense of ‘a way out’ for example the following verse; “And no protectors have they to help them other than Allah; and for any whom Allah leaves to stray there is no way (out).” (42:46)

It is evident that stoning to death is not the “ way out of confinement in home.”



2. The Arabic equivalent of ‘your women’ in the text of this verse is ‘Nisa’ikum’ which is normally used in Arabic as well as in Qur’an to mean ‘your wives’. In fact in all the verses in Qur’an where the words ‘Nisa’ukum’/Nisa’ikum’ and ‘Nisa’ihim’ (literal meaning; your women and their women) have occurred, they mean ‘your wives’ and ‘their wives’. For example; “Permitted to you on the night of the fasts is the approach to your women”. (2:187)



It is obvious that by women, here it means wives. Similarly in the verse 4:15 above, the style of Qur’anic language indicates that wives or married women are being discussed and a way out was promised for them to end their predicament of confinement. Therefore the promised way out, vide 24:2 (100 lashes) is primarily for married women and hence the punishment of adultery is not stoning to death. Maulana Sagheer Ahsan, the Sheikhul Hadith of Jameatul Falah Bilaria Ganj Azamgarh, quoting his mentor Maulana Aktar Ahsan Islahi, a great scholar, writes; “After a particular order for wives, the Qur’an had said, ‘or (until) Allah appoint for them a way (through new legislation)’. It means a new legislation was promised. In the light of this (assurance), the verse of lashes was revealed. How is it possible that the main promise was for married women and the legislation should come for the unmarried, with no mention altogether of married women”!? (P, 229; Haqeeqat-e-Raj’m by Mohammed. Inayatullah Asad Subhani).

3. Reflect again on the following words of the relevant verse; “confine them to the houses until death taken them or (until) Allah appoint for them a way (through new legislation)”. (4:15)

The new legislation would be meaningless if it comes in the form of death sentence. She was already confined to the house until death.
The death sentence cannot be halved 5

Yet another clear cut proof of the punishment of unlawful sex being 100 lashes irrespective of marital status of the sinner, comes from verse 4:25, which reads; “If any of you have not the means wherewith to wed free believing women they may wed believing girls from among those whom your right hands possess; and Allah hath full knowledge about your faith. Ye are one from another; wed them with the leave of their owners and give them their dowers according to what is reasonable; they should be chaste not lustful nor taking paramours; when they are taken in wedlock, if they fall into shame their punishment is half that for free women...” (4:25)





There is no half punishment of stoning to death. It is clear in the above verse that the punishment of free believing women for adultery or fornication is that which could be halved in case of same sin committed by the war captives after their marriage. Allama Rasheed Raza in his famous Qur’an commentary ‘Almanar’, writes; “As for free women, the apparent words of the verses manifest that she will be inflicted with a hundred lashes, be she married or unmarried. The words of the verse are general. Were there no traditions, one would have a right to say about the verse that by free sinning women here means free married women. It is because in this verse married maid captives are compared with married free women. (P.49, Haqeeqat-e-Raj’m). The Arabic word ‘Muhsanaat’, used in the verse can represent only married status. Unless it is apparent or specifically mentioned the word can not exclusively refer to the unmarried women. Maulana Inayatullah Subhani, in his book Haqeeqat-e- Raj’m, has quoted in detail the scholars of language and dictionary to prove this.

Furthermore, Allah (SWT), says:

"The adulterer marries not but an adulteress or a mushrikah (female polytheist) and the adulteress none marries her except an adulterer or a mushrik (male polytheist). Such a thing is forbidden to the believers." (Qur'an, 24:3)

If the adulterer and adulteress were stoned to death, then how is it possible for an adulterer to marry an adulteress or vice versa?
Bukhari did not record the cases of stoning under ‘Hudood’ 6

Now we observe that no tradition citing stoning to death is put by Imam Bukhari under the section ‘Kitabul-Hudood’ (the book of penal code), in his Sahih Bukahri. He has put the incidents of stoning to death under another section ‘Kitabu Maharibeen Min Ahlil Kufri warraddah’ which means the book about those who wage a war against Allah and the Prophet (Pbuh).
Unmarried were Stoned to death 7

One of the most famous cases was that of Maa’iz Aslami.

“Reported Naeem Bin Huzal: Maa’iz Bin Maalik was an orphan under the guardianship of my father. He had sex with a maid of our neighborhood” (Abu Dawood). “Maa’iz told Huzal, “ I had relations with a woman named Muhairah. I was after her till today and I made sex with her which I intended”. (Tabqat Ibne Sadd)

Another ahadith reports Maa’iz Bin Maalik having sex with another maid. “Naeem Bin Huzal reports that his father, Huzal had employed Maa’iz Bin Maalik. There was a maid in their house who was a divorcee and she used to feed the sheep. Maa’iz had sex with her”. (Musnad Ahmad)

Two facts filter out of the above citations. One, Maa’iz was not a casual sinner but a habitual offender. Two, he was not a married man but a bachelor. The word orphan, in Arabic, is applicable to a person till he or she is married.

Following is another famous incident in which an unmarried woman was stoned to death. “Imam Sha’fi has recorded that a woman of Hamdan tribe was brought before Hazrat Imam Ali (Radhi Allahu Anhu). She was pregnant. Her name was Sharaha and she had committed ‘Zina’. Hazrat Imam Ali (RA) enquired of her, ‘May be the man had raped you’. She said, no. Ali asked, ‘Possibly, you were fast asleep and the man rode over you in your sleep’. She replied, ‘No’. Ali interrogated, ‘Maybe you have a husband who is an accomplice of our enemies and you are hiding him’. She replied in the negative. Hazrat Ali sent her to the prison and after the baby was born she was stoned to death’. (Musnaf Abdur Razaaq quoted in Haqeeqat-e-Raj’m P.191-92).

It is clear from the woman’s answers that she was unmarried. We also know that she would not have been subjected to such a punishment even if she were married, had she been a chance sinner.
Stoning to death for other crimes 8

There also are incidents when the criminals were stoned to death for some other heinous crimes. A Jew murdered a virgin of Ansaar tribe. After stripping her of her jewellery, he threw the body into a well. He had also smashed her head. The man was caught and produced before the Prophet (Pbuh), who ordered that the criminal be stoned to death”. (Muslim)



Following is a typical case to prove that habitual thieves were also eliminated to cleanse the society.



A thief stole four times and he lost both hands and two feet as punishment by the Prophet (pbuh). When he was brought for the fifth time, the Prophet ordered him to be killed. Says Jabir, ‘then we carried him and killed him and threw him into a well and threw stones from above’. (Abu Dawood). Nisai, referring to the same event, corroborates that the man was killed by stoning. “ We killed him by stoning. Then we threw him into a well. Then we threw stones over him”. (Nisai).
Married sexual offenders were flogged 9

We know that not only sexual savages but unreformable thieves and dacoits were also stoned to death. On the other hand, there are many incidents when married sexual offenders were punished with flogging. “Hashsham bin Urvah, quoting his father reports; A woman from Yemen came to Madinah with the Hajj pilgrims. The caravan stayed in Harrah. When they departed they left the woman behind and a man came to Hazrat Umar (RA) and informed him that the woman had committed adultery. Umar (RA) called her and enquired about her. She said that she became an orphan in the childhood. She was a destitute and possessed nothing. There was nobody to take care of her.

Urvah also said that the woman was married. Umar (RA) sent a man to call back the caravan. The people confirmed the statement of the woman. Umar (RA) ordered to inflict her with 100 lashes. He then gave her clothes and conveyance and asked the people of the caravan to take her with them. (Musnaf Abdur Razzaq quoted in Haqeeqat-e-Raj’m P.107)
Speech of Ma’az bin Jabal 10

A Sahabi, Hazrat Ma’az Bin Jabal delivered a speech before the Roman army; “If your king is Hercules, our king is Allah who has created us. Our Emir is from among us. Till such time he will follow the book of our religion and the Sunnah of our Prophet (Pbuh), we will honor him. And if at any time he acted otherwise, we shall dislodge him. If he steals we shall chop his hand and if he commits adultery, we shall flog him..” (P. 106; Haqeeqat-e-Raj’m). The Emir referred to in the above speech was the second caliph Hazrat Umar (RA), who was a married man and a companion of Prophet (Pbuh). Ma’az Bin Jabal mentioned only flogging in respect of punishment for adultery.
Opinion of some renowned scholars 11

Quoting from Haqeeqat-e-Raj’m, written by Maulana Inayatullah Subhani, a Ph.D. in Qur’an studies from Riyadh, following are a few instances:

* “Because the dictum of Allah is that in the case of the woman and the man guilty of Zina (adultery or fornication), ‘flog each of them with a hundred stripes’, it includes all types of Zaanis (adulterers and fornicators)”. (Imam Qurtubi; Al- Jaame’ Li-Ahkaamil Qur’an)

* “The founder of Ikhwan-ul-Muslimun, Imam Hasan Al-Banna had attracted the attention of the ruler of Egypt towards some reforms to fashion the Egyptian society into Islamic mould. Among other very important things, which he mentioned, was; The open and veiled prostitution should be eradicated. Illicit sex must be reckoned an extremely abhorrent crime, whatever the circumstances and whoever commits it should be flogged” (P.194; Majmu’a Rasaail-ul-Imam Al-Shaheed Hasan Al-Banna).

* “The dictum of Allah about the woman or man who makes illicit sex to flog each of them with a hundred stripes, implies with clarity that the punishment of unlawful sex is 100 lashes, no less no more”. (P, 35; Ilm-e-Usool-ul-Fiqh; Sheikh Abdul Wahab Khalaaf)

*”Late Imam Zahra had sent a delegation to Libyan president Col. Gaddafi with this message. If you are sincere in your intention of implementing Islamic Shariah in your country, then our blessings and good wishes are with you. However, remember that the punishment of unlawful sex in Islam is not stoning to death but 100 lashes. Do not implement any such thing in your enthusiasm that the world gets an opportunity to laugh on Islam”. (P.286; Haqeeqat-e-Raj’m)
Misinterpretation and Misunderstanding

The widespread misunderstanding even among scholars is due to misinterpretation of some traditions and the wrong order of our priorities. Our priorities were clearly spelled out by the Qur’an and the Prophet (Pbuh). We should be guided by only Qur’an in the first place. If the order of Qur’an is not very clear, then we should refer to the Sunnah for the exposition. Lastly, if doubts persist, the Tafaqquh or Fiqh should be resorted to. Reversal of this order of priorities has caused the misunderstandings and the differences in a number of problems. It is not that the Sunnah in any case can be contradictory to Qur’an but the possibility of error in reaching the Sunnah to us through the traditions cannot be ruled out while the Qur’an is safe and preserved to every letter. In case of the present problem, there are a number of contradictory traditions. When we try to interpret Qur’an in their light we are bound to be stuck with something that does not appeal to the common sense. Conversely, we have in this case explicit directions of Qur’an, which should be used to verify the authenticity of the traditions.


Conclusion

The above discussion is probably sufficient to prove that

· The punishment for adultery or fornication in Islam is administering 100 lashes.

· Stoning to death is announced only in case of proclaimed offenders or those who are beyond reform, upon whose extinction the society heaves a sigh of relief.

· Other situations may also be quoted from the traditions where an offender does not seem to be a habitual criminal but it is better to assume in those cases that full facts may not have reached us.


There is no option

There are two options before us

* The obvious and unambiguous order of Qur’an is available to us in this case but we must interpret it to accommodate mutually contradictory traditions.

* We should interpret the contradictions in the light of clear order of the Qur’an and leave out those traditions, which do not conform, to it.

Given only these two options, there is no option at all. One has to accept the Qur'an.

Genetic Engineering: 21st Century's Frontier Science

What is Genetic Engineering?

Engineering is the technological manipulation of the objects of the natural world in a way that is perceived to be beneficial to people. Traditionally we used the word in the context of inanimate nature: bridges, railways and machines etc. But the term can be used and is used in the context of biology, namely for bioengineering, i.e. modifying or manipulating living organisms. Another term used in place of the term 'genetic engineering' (GE) is 'biotechnology' (BT). Some people think that 'biotechnology' sounds less emotive, less fearful. How is genetic engineering defined then? As with the term 'gene', it depends upon who is using it and in what context.

Genetic engineering refers to a set of technologies that are being used to change the genetic makeup of cells and move genes across species boundaries to produce novel organisms. The techniques involve highly sophisticated manipulations of genetic material and other biologically important chemicals.

Genes are the chemical blueprints that determine an organism's traits. Moving genes from one organism to another transfers those traits. Through genetic engineering, organisms are given new combinations of genes -- and therefore new combinations of traits -- which do not occur in nature and, indeed, cannot be developed by natural means. Such an artificial technology is radically different from traditional plant and animal breeding. Researchers have discovered ways to change the inherited shape, form and function of living things by altering their Genetic material. This process is known as GENETIC ENGINEERING (GE).

All living cells-plant, animal and human- contain the genetic material DNA (deoxyribo nucleic acid), which determines the attributes of the offspring of all living things. The molecular gene is a definite sequence of bases in the DNA chain which together code for the production of a particular protein. By directly manipulating the DNA, scientists can change inherited characteristics in predetermined ways. Here the term 'genetic engineering' (GE) shall mean 'transgenesis' or 'recombinant DNA technology', -- i.e. the technology of copying pieces of genetic code from one organism of the same or different species to another by means of the techniques of the molecular biology laboratory. It results in a 'genetically modified organism' (GMO). Genetic engineering is sometimes described as 'modern biotechnology', 'gene technology', 'genetic modification' (GM), 'genetic manipulation' or 'genetic mutilation'. Gene replacement is essentially transplantation surgery although at the molecular level. Cloning is a branch of Genetic Engineering.


Novel organisms

Nature can produce organisms with new gene combinations through sexual reproduction. For example cows must breed with other cows (or very near relatives). A breeder who wants a purple cow would be able to breed toward one only if the necessary purple genes were available somewhere in a cow or a near relative to cows. A genetic engineer has no such restriction. If purple genes are available anywhere in nature -- in a sea urchin or an iris -- those genes could be used in attempts to produce purple cows. This unprecedented ability to shuffle genes means that genetic engineers can concoct gene combinations that would never be found in nature.

Genetic Engineering has particularly captivated protracted discussions amongst Ulema (Islamic scholars) because of a phrase in the Quran about "changing God's creation." According to the Quran, after Shaitan tempted Adam (AS) and Hawwa (AS) ( Eve) to sin by eating from the forbidden tree, he was appalled to see them repenting and being forgiven and honored by their mission to planet Earth as Allah (SWT)'s Khalifa (vicegerent). Shaitan asked Allah (SWT) to grant him another occasion to prove that humans are not that trustworthy after all. If allowed to test them on earth, Shaitan disclosed some of his plots to astound them saying: "Verily of Thy servants I shall most certainly take my due share, and shall lead them astray and fill them with vain desires. And I shall ORDER them so that they cut off the ears of cattle (in idolatrous sacrifice), and I shall order them to deface the (fair) nature created by GOD." (4:119). A. Yusuf Ali in his commentary no. 631 says " To deface the (fair) nature created by God: there is both a physical and a spiritual meaning. We see many kinds of defacements practiced on men and animals. Against their true nature as created by God, partly on account of superstition, partly on account of selfishness. Spiritually the case is even worse. How many natures are dwarfed or starved and turned from their original instincts by cruel superstitions or customs? God created man pure: the Evil One faces the image. " The regard for this verse among Islamic scholars and physicians and health practitioners also affects their decisions on such issues as plastic surgery, gender transformation (sexual conversion) operations. Fortunately, however, the consensus is that this Quranic verse cannot be invoked as a total and radical ban on genetic engineering. If carried too far it would conflict with many forms of curative surgery that also entails some change in God's creation.


MAIN CONCERNS

Many previous technologies have proved to have adverse effects unexpected by their developers. DDT, for example, turned out to accumulate in fish and thin the shells of fish-eating birds like eagles and ospreys. And chlorofluorocarbons turned out to float into the upper atmosphere and destroy ozone, a chemical that shields the earth from dangerous radiation. What harmful effects might turn out to be associated with the use or release of genetically engineered organisms?

The answer depends on understanding complex biological and ecological systems. So far, scientists know of no generic harms associated with genetically engineered organisms. For example, it is not true that all genetically engineered foods are toxic or that all released-engineered organisms are likely to proliferate in the environment. But specific engineered organisms may be harmful by virtue of the novel gene combinations they possess. This means that the risks of genetically engineered organisms must be assessed case by case and that these risks can differ greatly from one gene-organism combination to another.

Many ethical issues are raised by scientific development of genetic engineering.

The creation of new virulent bacteria for use in biological warfare was a serious concern of the early seventies when the technology of recombinant DNA was first described. This type of destructive application is clearly wrong and unacceptable from the Islamic perspective. On the other hand applications such as the diagnosis, correction, cure or prevention of genetic disease are acceptable and even commendable.

Potential Harms to Health

Here are the some examples of the potential adverse effects of genetically engineered organisms may have on human health. Most of these examples are associated with the growth and consumption of genetically engineered crops. Different risks would be associated with genetically engineered animals and, like the risks associated with plants, would depend largely on the new traits introduced into the organism.


New Allergens in the Food Supply

Transgenic crops could bring new allergens into foods that sensitive individuals would not know to avoid. An example is transferring the gene for one of the many allergenic proteins found in milk into vegetables like carrots. Mothers who know to avoid giving their sensitive children milk would not know to avoid giving them transgenic carrots containing milk proteins. The problem is unique to genetic engineering because it alone can transfer proteins across species boundaries into completely unrelated organisms.

Genetic engineering routinely moves proteins into the food supply from organisms that have never been consumed as foods. Some of those proteins could be food allergens, since virtually all known food allergens are proteins. Recent research substantiates concerns about genetic engineering rendering previously safe foods allergenic. A study by scientists at the University of Nebraska shows that soybeans genetically engineered to contain Brazil-nut proteins cause reactions in individuals allergic to Brazil nuts.

Scientists have limited ability to predict whether a particular protein will be a food allergen, if consumed by humans. The only sure way to determine whether protein will be an allergen is through experience. Thus importing proteins, particularly from nonfood sources, is a gamble with respect to their allergenicity.


Resistance to Antibiotic

Most genetically engineered plant foods carry fully functioning antibiotic-resistance genes.

The presence of antibiotic-resistance genes in foods could have two harmful effects. First, eating these foods could reduce the effectiveness of antibiotics to fight disease when these antibiotics are taken with meals. Secondly, the resistance genes could be transferred to human or animal pathogens, making them impervious to antibiotics. If transfer were to occur, it could aggravate the already serious health problem of antibiotic-resistant disease organisms. Although unmediated transfers of genetic material from plants to bacteria are highly unlikely, any possibility that they may occur requires careful scrutiny in light of the seriousness of antibiotic resistance.


New Toxins Produced by Plants

Many organisms have the ability to produce toxic substances. For plants, such substances help to defend stationary organisms from the many predators in their environment. In some cases, plants contain inactive pathways leading to toxic substances. Addition of new genetic material through genetic engineering could reactivate these inactive pathways or otherwise increase the levels of toxic substances within the plants. This could happen, for example, if the on/off signals associated with the introduced gene were located on the genome in places where they could turn on the previously inactive genes.

Fungal Toxins

Although for the most part health risks are the result of the genetic material newly added to organisms, it is also possible for the removal of genes and gene products to cause problems. For example, genetic engineering might be used to produce decaffeinated coffee beans by deleting or turning off genes associated with caffeine production. But caffeine helps protect coffee beans against fungi. Beans that are unable to produce caffeine might be coated with fungi, which can produce toxins. Fungal toxins, such as aflatoxin (a fungal toxin usually found in peanuts), are potent human toxins that can remain active through processes of food preparation.

Potential Environmental Harms

Monarch butterfly mortality

One variety of genetically engineered Corn produced pollen that was toxic to monarch butterflies.. Recent studies reported in Science and Oecologia journals suggested that pollen from the transgenic Bt com may be fatal to monarch butterflies, which feed on milkweed coated with Bt com pollen. Scientists have confirmed the mortality of monarch butterflies exposed to Bt com pollen under both laboratory and field conditions. Proponents of the technology claim that under field conditions the concentration of pollen on milkweed may not reach levels that cause lethal effects. Scientists from Iowa State University are examining this more closely, and their findings should be published soon. A study published in Nature (1999) indicated that secretions from remains of Bt com adversely affected certain other soil borne nontarget insect species.

Unnecessary Weeds

One way of thinking generally about the environmental harm that genetically engineered plants might do is to consider that they might become weeds. Here, weeds means all plants in places where humans do not want them. In agriculture, weeds can severely inhibit crop yield. In unmanaged environments, like the Everglades, invading trees can displace natural flora and upset whole ecosystems. Some weeds result from the accidental introduction of alien plants, but many were the result of purposeful introductions for agricultural and horticultural purposes. Some of the plants intentionally introduced into the United States that have become serious weeds are Johnson grass, multiflora rose, and kudzu.. Another example would be a rice plant engineered to be salt-tolerant that escaped cultivation and invaded nearby marine estuaries.

Genes Susceptible to Pesticides

Many insects contain genes that render them susceptible to pesticides. Often these susceptibility genes predominate in natural populations of insects. These genes are a valuable natural resource because they allow pesticides to remain as effective pest-control tools. The more benign the pesticide, the more valuable the genes that make pests susceptible to it.


Wildlife Poisoning

Engineering crop plants, such as tobacco or rice, to produce plastics or pharmaceuticals could endanger mice or deer who consume crop debris left in the fields after harvesting. Fish that have been engineered to contain metal-sequestering proteins (such fish have been suggested as living pollution clean-up devices) could be harmful if consumed by other fish or raccoons.


Unknown Harms

As with human health risks, it is unlikely that all potential harms to the environment have been identified. Each of the potential harms above is an answer to the question, "Well, what might go wrong?" The answer to that question depends on how well scientists understand the organism and the environment into which it is released. At this point, biology and ecology are too poorly understood to be certain that question has been answered comprehensively.

The main concerns about genetic engineering lie in the area of the unknown and unsuspected future. The possibility of grafting new genes not only in somatic cells but also into germ cells thus affecting coming generations, could later be associated with tragic self perpetuating mutations

As with any new technology, the full set of risks associated with genetic engineering have almost certainly not been identified. The ability to imagine what might go wrong with a technology is limited by the currently incomplete understanding of physiology, genetics, and nutrition If pursued with man's inclination for seeking the unknown until it is known and the unachievable until it becomes achievable then mankind may be confronted by patterns of life yet to appear on the biological stage. Science might think that everything is under control while the case is not really so. Moral concerns have been voiced that bear on equity, justice and the common good. Perhaps it is time for a comprehensive public debate and the prospective formulation of an ethical code for genetic engineering. A long story is in the waiting, and it is just beginning to unfold!

The hazards of nuclear radiation were not apparent for some time, nor could the damage be repaired, and the winnings with genetic engineering are far more serious. The introduction of genetic material from one species into another, in practicality means the creation of a new species with mixed features.

Like Adolf Hitler those who support Eugenics (ancestry through inherited characteristics) and elitism could result in discrimination against normal individuals. Thus, manipulating the human progeny might be extended beyond combating disease to the cultivation of certain physical characteristics considered desirable leading to elitism and discrimination against (normal) individuals who lack those characteristics

People will be inclined to the abortion of defective fetuses (cystic fibrosis). Tampering with human personality and the manipulation of behavior is possible if genes determining behavior are isolated . . Islam would certainly condemn the principle of tampering with the human personality and its capacity for individual responsibility and accountability. One need to look into sin and abuse of our bodies. The health costs are staggering from alcohol abuse, illegal-drug use, smoking, sexually transmitted diseases and improper diet, not to mention crime and violence as a means to solving problems,

"The severing of procreation from sex, love And intimacy is inherently dehumanizing, No matter how good the product" (Ethics of Cloning Humans, Gregory E. Pence, Editor, 1998, p.26). Manufacturing children by cloning could prove to be another step in the further disintegration of the family. In the wrong hands, biotechnology can be a grave danger. At one time nuclear-power plants seemed Like a brilliant idea, but a string of Nuclear-power-plant disasters has dimmed their luster.

Worse still is US experiment in which pigs were given human Growth-hormone gene so that the pigs can put on weight faster. They put on weight, but were also partially blind and arthritic and developed Ulcers.

BENEFITS:

· Animals have been bred to be stronger, more hardy, to produce more wool, milk or meat. On the livestock side, a drug has been produced for dairy cows -- Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH) or Bovine Somatotropin (BST) -- by engineering a bacterium to contain the gene for the hormone. The drug is administered to cows to increase milk production, despite the chronic oversupply of milk in the United States. A highly controversial product when it was first introduced, BGH is currently used on about 10 percent of the US dairy herd.

Animals Engineered for Leaner Meat. Animals Engineered as Drug-Production Facilities

· Goats and sheep have been engineered to secrete bioactive molecules into their blood, urine, or milk. Companies are in the process developing commercial enterprises based on these animals. So far, none of the drugs is on the market. It is likely that producers will want to slaughter the animals for food after they are no longer useful for drug production.

The possibility exists of using animals Engineered as Sources of Transplant Organs

Animals Engineered for Disease Resistance. Chickens and turkeys have been engineered to resist avian diseases. None have been commercialized.

Genetically Engineered Fish and Shellfish : Fish and shellfish have been engineered to cause changes in hormones that accelerate growth in several laboratories. So far, none have been commercialized in the United States.

An engineered predatory mite has been field tested in Florida. Researchers have produced honeybees and other beneficial insects engineered to tolerate pesticides.

Bacteria have been genetically engineered to produce rennet, an enzyme important in making cheese. Genetically engineered rennet (chymosin) is approved for commercial use and widely used by US cheese processors.

· Strains of wheat, corn and rice have been created that produce more food while needing less fertilizer and water. Genetically engineered crops that were aimed at feeding the hungry, would be developing seeds with certain predictable characteristics:

· (a) ability to grow on substandard or marginal soils;

· (b) plants able to produce more high-quality protein, with increased per-acre yield, without increasing the need for expensive machinery, chemicals, fertilizers, or water;

· (c) they would aim to favour small farms over larger farms;

· (d)the seeds would be cheap and freely available without restrictive licensing; and

· (e) they would be for crops that feed people, not meat animals.



· Fast-growing trees provide more lumber, Pulp, fuel and shade. Genetically engineered cotton has been approved for commercial use.

· Flowers are bigger, more colorful, more beautiful than they would be otherwise.

· Several tomatoes engineered to delay ripening have been approved for commercial use. In some cases, delayed ripening just prolongs shelf life that is tomatoes have a longer shelf life.

· Rice strains are disease-resistant. Many plants have been commercialized, including tomatoes and squash and commodity crops like corn and soybeans. Most have been engineered for one of three traits: herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, or virus tolerance.

· Genes of fish have been placed into potatoes and strawberries to make these plants more resistant to cold weather.

· Sheep with skin that will provide immunity to insect parasites.



Plants that produce toxic chemicals that ward off their natural pests. Engineered Microorganisms Used as Pesticides. Several bacteria engineered to enhance their ability to kill or repel pests have been approved for commercial use. These products are used as pesticides in agricultural fields and gardens.

· Heal diseases(cancers, diabetes, and Alzheimer's)

· Fashion "designer children" and reverse the aging process. Design a customized child who is Genetically disposed to be physically attractive, of superior intelligence or athletically talented.

· Eliminating genetic diseases. For example, geneticists think it may be possible to eliminate genetic diseases such as Tay-Sachs through careful and methodical screening programs.

· Screening unborn babies. This refers to screening for genetic disorders either before a pregnancy takes place or in the early months of a pregnancy. More information would give prospective parents more options in dealing with their infants’ problems.

· Treating diseases. For example, scientists are working on ways to insert cells from embryos into cancerous cells as a way to stop the growth of cancer.

· The ultimate beneficiaries of technological innovation have always been consumers, both in the United States and abroad. In developing countries, biotechnological advances will provide means to overcome vitamin deficiencies, to supply vaccines for killer diseases like cholera and malaria, to increase production and protect fragile natural resources, and to grow crops under normally unfavorable conditions.

· The pharmaceutical possibilities of genetic engineering will open tremendous vistas in treatment of many illnesses and the possibilities in agriculture and animal husbandry might be the clue to solving the problem of famine the world over.



Conclusion

Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States wrote an OP-ED in New York Times of August 26, 1998 titled "Who's Afraid of Genetic Engineering? "….Anti-biotechnology activists argue that genetic engineering is so new that its effects on the environment can't be predicted. This is misleading. In fact, for hundreds of years virtually all food has been improved genetically by plant breeders. Genetically altered antibiotics, vaccines and vitamins have improved our health, while enzyme-containing detergents and oil-eating bacteria have helped to protect the environment. In the past 40 years, farmers worldwide have genetically modified crops to be more nutritious as well as resistant to insects, diseases and herbicides. Scientific techniques developed in the 1980's and commonly referred to as genetic engineering allow us to give plants additional useful genes. Genetically engineered cotton, corn and soybean seeds became available in the United States in 1996, including those planted on my family farm. This growing season, more than one-third of American soybeans and one-fourth of our corn will be genetically modified. The number of acres devoted to genetically engineered crops in Argentina, Canada, Mexico and Australia increased tenfold from 1996 to 1997.

The risks of modern genetic engineering have been studied by technical experts at the National Academy of Sciences and World Bank. They concluded that we can predict the environmental effects by reviewing past experiences with those plants and animals produced through selective breeding. None of these products of selective breeding have harmed either the environment or biodiversity.

Carter says that by increasing crop yields, genetically modified organisms reduce the constant need to clear more land for growing food. Seeds designed to resist drought and pests are especially useful in tropical countries, where crop losses are often severe. Already, scientists in industrialized nations are working with individuals in developing countries to increase yields of staple crops, to improve the quality of current exports and to diversify economies by creating exports like genetically improved palm oil, which may someday replace gasoline. Other genetically modified organisms covered by the proposed regulations are essential research tools in medical, agricultural and environmental science.

If imports like these are regulated unnecessarily, the real losers will be the developing nations. Instead of reaping the benefits of decades of discovery and research, people from Africa and Southeast Asia will remain prisoners of outdated technology. Their countries could suffer greatly for years to come. It is crucial that they reject the propaganda of extremist groups before it is too late. "