Thought of the Day

The Israeli version of the Samir Quntar affair is that he crushed the head of a four-year old girl. The Israeli version seems to be universally accepted but it is not Gospel. Quntar says the child was killed in a crossfire by the sea. I don't believe him and I don't defend him, but neither do I believe the version of the Israeli army; it has always killed children and lied. Just juxtapose institutional terrorism and the actions of a 16-year old and then point your accusing fingers. I am 100 per cent Arab and I have nothing but sympathy for the mother of the dead girls (in addition to Einat, two- year old Yael was accidentally suffocated by her mother Smadar who tried to stop the child crying and thus revealing their hideout inside the house).
I sympathize with all bereaved families not just Arab families. And I am still waiting for Israelis to come forth and admit the murderous ways of their own Defence Force. Between 29/9/2000 and the end of June, 2008, 951 underage Palelstinian children were killed against 123 Israeli children. Against every bereavement in an Israeli home there have been seven or eight in Palestinian homes.

Islam and The West-9

- One of the strangest examples of how religions, or traditions of various peoples, meet is to be found in references to a man’s robe or skirt. Ezekiel (16-8) says: Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.

The same reference to and meaning of skirt is to be found in Ruth (3-9). Deuteronomy (22-30) adds: A man shall not take his father’s wife. This is similar to the Koranic words: And marry not women whom your fathers married…(Surah 4, Al Nisa, verse 22).
(وَلَا تَنكِحُواْ مَا نَكَحَ ءَابَآؤُڪُم مِّنَ ٱلنِّسَآء...)ِ

Islamic history tells us the story of Kubaishah, a woman from Madinah whose rich Ansari husband died. A son by another woman spread his robe, or skirt, on Kubaishah, indicating that she was his. He did not live with her as wife but was rather after her money. She complained to the Prophet and on hearing her story other Muslim women complained saying: We are all Kubaishah. Subsequently, the Prophet received the revelation: O ye who believe! Ye are forbidden to inherit women against their will. Nor should ye treat them with harshness, that ye may take away part of the dower ye have given them - except where they have been guilty of open lewdness; on the contrary live with them on a footing of kindness and equity. If ye take a dislike to them it may be that ye dislike a thing, and Allah brings about through it a great deal of good. …(Surah 4, Al Nisa, verse 19)

(يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لَا يَحِلُّ لَكُمۡ أَن تَرِثُواْ ٱلنِّسَآءَ كَرۡهً۬ا‌ۖ وَلَا تَعۡضُلُوهُنَّ لِتَذۡهَبُواْ بِبَعۡضِ مَآ ءَاتَيۡتُمُوهُنَّ إِلَّآ أَن يَأۡتِينَ بِفَـٰحِشَةٍ۬ مُّبَيِّنَةٍ۬‌ۚ وَعَاشِرُوهُنَّ بِٱلۡمَعۡرُوفِ‌ۚ فَإِن كَرِهۡتُمُوهُنَّ فَعَسَىٰٓ أَن تَكۡرَهُواْ شَيۡـًٔ۬ا وَيَجۡعَلَ ٱللَّهُ فِيهِ خَيۡرً۬ا ڪَثِيرً۬ا ...)
One thousand years apart, and spreading the skirt means the same thing to two different peoples.

-Under the headline: 'I don't hate Muslims. I hate Islam,' says Holland's rising political star, The Observer 17/02/08 wrote about Geert Wilders, the popular MP whose film on Islam has fuelled the debate on race in Holland. The article said in part:

A TV addict with bleached hair who adores Maggie Thatcher and prefers kebabs to hamburgers, Geert Wilders has got nothing against Muslims. He just hates Islam. Or so he says. 'Islam is not a religion, it's an ideology,' says Wilders, a lanky Roman Catholic right-winger, 'the ideology of a retarded culture.

The Dutch politician, who sees himself as heir to a recent string of assassinated or hounded mavericks who have turned Holland upside down, has been doing a crash course in Koranic study. Likening the Islamic sacred text to Hitler's Mein Kampf, he wants the 'fascist Koran' outlawed in Holland, the constitution rewritten to make that possible, all immigration from Muslim countries halted, Muslim immigrants paid to leave and all Muslim 'criminals' stripped of Dutch citizenship and deported 'back where they came from'. But he has nothing against Muslims. 'I have a problem with Islamic tradition, culture, ideology. Not with Muslim people.

Wilders has been immersing himself in the suras and verse of seventh-century Arabia. The outcome of his scholarship, a short film, has Holland in a panic. He is just putting the finishing touches to the 10-minute film, he says, and talking to four TV channels about screening it.

'It's like a walk through the Koran,' he explains in a sterile conference room in the Dutch parliament in The Hague, security chaps hovering outside. 'My intention is to show the real face of Islam. I see it as a threat. I'm trying to use images to show that what's written in the Koran is giving incentives to people all over the world. On a daily basis Moroccan youths are beating up homosexuals on the streets of Amsterdam.

Wilders is lucid and shrewd and the provactive soundbites trip easily off his tongue. He was recently voted Holland's most effective politician. If 18 months ago he sat alone in the second chamber or lower house in The Hague, his People's Party now has nine of 150 seats and is running at about 15 per cent in the polls. His Islam-bashing seems to be paying off. And not only in Holland. All across Europe, the new breed of right-wing populists are trying to revive their political fortunes by appealing to anti-Muslim prejudice.

A few months ago the Swiss People's Party of the pugnacious billionaire Christoph Blocher won a general election while simultaneously running a campaign to change the Swiss constitution to ban the building of minarets on mosques. Last month in Antwerp, far-right leaders from 15 European cities and from political parties in Belgium, Germany and Austria got together to launch a charter 'against the Islamisation of western European cities', reiterating the call for a mosque-building moratorium.

Such insolence against Islam and Muslims was unknown before the wave of terrorism in the name of Islam. But we must keep things in prespective. The West is witnessing a surge in atheism and books denying the existance of God are among the top best sellers. This month the BBC produced a four-part series doubting that Jesus died on the cross as believed by Christians for two thousand years. And the series was timed to coincide with Easter.

The film Fitna was a huge disappointment. Its quotes from the Koran were basic:
And fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression… (Surah 8, Al Anfal, verse 39)

وَقَـٰتِلُوهُمۡ حَتَّىٰ لَا تَكُونَ فِتۡنَةٌ۬...))

And: Against them make ready your strength to utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into (the hearts of) the enemies…(Surah 8, Al Anfal, verse 60)

(وَأَعِدُّواْ لَهُم مَّا ٱسۡتَطَعۡتُم مِّن قُوَّةٍ۬ وَمِن رِّبَاطِ ٱلۡخَيۡلِ تُرۡهِبُونَ بِهِۦ عَدُوَّ ٱللَّهِ وَعَدُوَّڪُمۡ...)

And: Therefore, when ye meet the Unbelievers (in fight), smite at their necks; at length, when ye have thoroughly subdued them, bind a bond firmly (on them): thereafter (is the time for) either Generosity or ransom: until the war lays down its burdens….(Surah 47, Muhammad, verse 4)

(فَإِذَا لَقِيتُمُ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ فَضَرۡبَ ٱلرِّقَابِ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَآ أَثۡخَنتُمُوهُمۡ فَشُدُّواْ ٱلۡوَثَاقَ فَإِمَّا مَنَّۢا بَعۡدُ وَإِمَّا فِدَآءً حَتَّىٰ تَضَعَ ٱلۡحَرۡبُ أَوۡزَارَهَا...)

I have already quoted from the Old Testament verses that are far more strict.

- The February 4, 2008, issue of The New Yorker published a review by Joan Acocella of David Levering Lewis’s “God’s Crucible: Islam and the making of Europe, 570 to 1215” (Norton). I choose few lines: Lewis’s book is part of that revision:

The Muslims came to Europe, he writes, as “the forward wave of civilization that was, by comparison with that of its enemies, an organic marvel of coordinated kingdoms, cultures, and technologies in service of a politico-cultural agenda incomparably superior” to that of the primitive people they encountered there. They did Europe a favor by invading. This is not a new idea, but Lewis takes it further: he clearly regrets that the Arabs did not go on to conquer the rest of Europe. The halting of their advance was instrumental, he writes, in creating “an economically retarded, balkanized, and fratricidal Europe that . . . made virtues out of hereditary aristocracy, persecutory religious intolerance, cultural particularism, and perpetual war.” It was “one of the most significant losses in world history and certainly the most consequential since the fall of the Roman Empire.” This is a bold hypothesis.

- There are serious efforts to heal the rift between Islam and the West. I have just attended a conference in London on “Islamic Communities in Europe.”

In early March at the Vatican plans were set for a Catholic-Muslim Forum in November.

Muslims and Anglicans plan a conference in Britain in October.

Yale University will host a global conference in July to include Christians, Muslims and Jews.

Georgetown University will host a similar conference in March 2009.

Jordan is planning to host a conference in April, 2009, at the traditional site where Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River.
- Many Muslim countries hold annual competitions for learning the Koran by heart, mostly among pre-teen or teenage children. I would rather see competitions for understanding the Koran. Children can learn less but must understand more so that when they grow up they don’t fall victim to extremist.

Finally, King Abdullah Ben Abdul Aziz has announced plans for an interfaith dialogue of the three monotheistic religions Judaism, Christianity and Islam. He said he would be willing to address the U.N. on the subject. There would be many obstacles along the way. I expect Israel to try to gate-crash any meeting and to shout “foul” if denied.


(A note from the writer: any reader of this study is free to quote from it, in part or in full, and to send it to friends or print it and distribute it).



To be continued...

Islam and The West-8

Some of the stories in the old Testament defy logic and belief. I will only include three and offer no comments so as not to insult the feelings of believers.

On Abraham

Muslims mention Abraham, along with Mohammed, in their five daily prayers: Oh God, send your blessings on Mohammed and his posterity as you sent your mercy on Abraham and his posterity. The Bible tells a very unflattering story of the father of Ismail and Isaac.

Genesis - 12

10: And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.
11: And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon: 12: Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.
13: Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee. 14: And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair. 15: The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
16: And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.
17: And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife.
18: And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?
19: Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.
20: And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.


Genesis - 20

1: And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.
2: And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.
3: But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife.
4: But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?
5: Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.
6: And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.
7: Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.






On David

2 Samuel - 11

2: And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.
3: And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?
4: And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house. 5: And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child.
6: And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David.
7: And when Uriah was come unto him, David demanded of him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered.
8: And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king's house, and there followed him a mess of meat from the king. 9: But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house.
10: And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Camest thou not from thy journey? why then didst thou not go down unto thine house?
11: And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing. 12: And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to day also, and to morrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the morrow.
13: And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made him drunk: and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but went not down to his house.
14: And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15: And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die.
16: And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant men were.
17: And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab: and there fell some of the people of the servants of David; and Uriah the Hittite died also.
18: Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war;





On Genocide/Ethnic Cleansing

1 Samuel -15

1: Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD.
2: Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.
3: Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

Numbers - 31

1: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2: Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.
3: And Moses spake unto the people, saying, Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the LORD of Midian.
4: Of every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war.
5: So there were delivered out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 6: And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments, and the trumpets to blow in his hand.
7: And they warred against the Midianites, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew all the males.
8: And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.


To be continued...

Islam and The West-7

All the following quotes are from Deuteronomy, unless otherwise stated.
1-Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh. (12-23)
2- (Also banned) And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase. (14-8)
3- Ye shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself: thou shalt give it unto the stranger that is in thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto an alien: for thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk. (14-21)
4-Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water. (15-23)
This is like the ban in the Koran:
He hath only forbidden you dead meat, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and that on which any other name hath been invoked besides that of Allah. But if one is forced by necessity, without willful disobedience, nor transgressing due limits-then is he guiltless…(Surah 2, Al Baqarah, verse 173)
(إِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ عَلَيۡڪُمُ ٱلۡمَيۡتَةَ وَٱلدَّمَ وَلَحۡمَ ٱلۡخِنزِيرِ وَمَآ أُهِلَّ بِهِۦ لِغَيۡرِ ٱللَّهِ‌ۖ فَمَنِ ٱضۡطُرَّ غَيۡرَ بَاغٍ۬ وَلَا عَادٍ۬ فَلَآ إِثۡمَ عَلَيۡه...)
5- Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year. (14-22)
6-If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant, (17-2)
7- And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded; (17-3)
8- And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and enquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel: (17-4)
9- Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die. (17-5)
10-And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the LORD thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel. (17-12)
All the above are more strict than anything in the Koran.
11- And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. (19-21)
This is like the Koranic:
…The free for the free, the slave for the slave, the woman for the woman… (Surah 2, Al Baqarah, verse 178)
(...ٱلۡحُرُّ بِٱلۡحُرِّ وَٱلۡعَبۡدُ بِٱلۡعَبۡدِ وَٱلۡأُنثَىٰ بِٱلۡأُنثَىٰ‌ۚ...)
12- When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. (20-10)
13- And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee. (20-11)
14- And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it: (20-12)
15- And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword: (20-13)
16- But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the LORD thy God hath given thee. (20-14)
17- If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: (21-18)
18- Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; (21-19)
19- And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. (21-20)
20- And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear. (21-21)
Again, nothing even close, is to be found in the Koran about a prodigal son.
21- And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: (21-22)
22- But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel: (22-20)
23- Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father’s house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you. (22- 21)
24- If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel. (22-22)
25- If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her; (22-23)
26- Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour’s wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you.(22-24)
27- But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her: then the man only that lay with her shall die: (22-25)
28- For he found her in the field, and the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her. (22-27)
29- When the host goeth forth against thine enemies, then keep thee from every wicked thing. (23-9)
30- When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. (24-1)
31- And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife. (24-2)
32- And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife; (24-3)
33- Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance. (24-4)
There is something similar in the Koran and Sharia; a divorced woman can go back to the first husband but only after marrying and divorcing a second man. He is popularly known as Muhallel.
34- Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates: (24-14)
35- At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto the LORD, and it be sin unto thee. (24-15)
According to the Prophet’s tradition, a labourer must be paid before his sweat dries out.
36- When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draweth near for to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets: (25-11)
37- Then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall not pity her. (25-12)
38- And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father. She shall be burned with fire. (Leviticus 21:9)
39- And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,
"Speak unto Aaron and to his sons and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them: `Whosoever he be of the house of Israel or of the strangers in Israel, who will offer his oblation for all his vows and for all his freewill offerings, which they will offer unto the LORD for a burnt offering"
ye shall offer at your own will a male without blemish of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats.
But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer; for it shall not be acceptable for you. . (Leviticus 22:17-19)
40- And the mixed multitude that was among them fell to lusting. And the children of Israel also wept again and said, "Who shall give us flesh to eat?
We remember the fish which we ate in Egypt freely, the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic;
but our soul is dried away. There is nothing at all besides this manna before our eyes."
And the manna was as coriander seed, and the color thereof as the color of bdellium.
And the people went about and gathered it, and ground it in mills or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans and made cakes of it; and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil. (Numbers 11:4-8)


To be continued...

Thought of the Day

The Canadian Foreign Minister, Maxime Bernier, has resigned under pressure after leaving a sensitive government document at the house of a former girlfriend. This is one problem we don't have in the Arab World. Half of our leaders can't do it and the few who can would rather do it to their own people.

Islam and The West-6

- Women in the time of the prophet were treated as property. They were inherited along with the sword, the tent and the horse. Islam gave them unprecedented rights. Recently converted men objected against the so-called inheritance verse, which gave to women and children and parents the right to inherit. Their view was that only fighting men should inherit as they defend their clan and tribe. My understanding of the history of that early period of Islam is that women in Mecca inherited , which explains Khadijah’s wealth, while women in Medina did not, possibly under Jewish influence there. The Koran says: Allah (thus) directs you as regards your children’s (inheritance): to the male, a portion equal to that of two females: if only one, her share is a half. For parents, a sixth share of the inheritance to each, if the deceased left children; if no children, and the parents are the (only) heirs, the mother has a third; if the deceased left brothers (or sisters) the mother has a sixth…(Surah 4, Al Nisa, verse 11)

)يُوصِيكُمُ ٱللَّهُ فِىٓ أَوۡلَـٰدِڪُمۡ‌ۖ لِلذَّكَرِ مِثۡلُ حَظِّ ٱلۡأُنثَيَيۡنِ‌ۚ فَإِن كُنَّ نِسَآءً۬ فَوۡقَ ٱثۡنَتَيۡنِ فَلَهُنَّ ثُلُثَا مَا تَرَكَ‌ۖ وَإِن كَانَتۡ وَٲحِدَةً۬ فَلَهَا ٱلنِّصۡفُ‌ۚ وَلِأَبَوَيۡهِ لِكُلِّ وَٲحِدٍ۬ مِّنۡہُمَا ٱلسُّدُسُ مِمَّا تَرَكَ إِن كَانَ لَهُ ۥ وَلَدٌ۬‌ۚ فَإِن لَّمۡ يَكُن لَّهُ ۥ وَلَدٌ۬ وَوَرِثَهُ ۥۤ أَبَوَاهُ فَلِأُمِّهِ ٱلثُّلُثُ‌ۚ فَإِن كَانَ لَهُ ۥۤ إِخۡوَةٌ۬ فَلِأُمِّهِ ٱلسُّدُسُ(…

(also verses 12 and 176). And she gets half a man’s right of blood money and is half a witness.

In other verses:

…And women shall have rights similar to the rights against them, according to what is equitable; but men have a degree (of advantage) over them…(Surah 2, Al Baqarah, verse 228)
(…(وَلَهُنَّ مِثۡلُ ٱلَّذِى عَلَيۡہِنَّ بِٱلۡمَعۡرُوفِ‌ۚ وَلِلرِّجَالِ عَلَيۡہِنَّ دَرَجَةٌ۬‌ۗ

… Never will I suffer to be lost the work of any of you, be he a male or female…
(أَنِّى لَآ أُضِيعُ عَمَلَ عَـٰمِلٍ۬ مِّنكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ أَوۡ أُنثَىٰ...)

And in nowise covet those things in which Allah hath bestowed His gifts more freely on some of you than others: to men is allotted what they earn, and to women what they earn ...(Surah 4, Al Nisa, verse 32)
(وَلَا تَتَمَنَّوۡاْ مَا فَضَّلَ ٱللَّهُ بِهِۦ بَعۡضَكُمۡ عَلَىٰ بَعۡضٍ۬‌ۚ لِّلرِّجَالِ نَصِيبٌ۬ مِّمَّا ٱڪۡتَسَبُواْ‌ۖ وَلِلنِّسَآءِ نَصِيبٌ۬ مِّمَّا ٱكۡتَسَبۡنَ...)‌ۚ

The believers, men and women, are protectors, on of another ...(Surah 9, Al Tawbah, verse 71)
(وَٱلۡمُؤۡمِنُونَ وَٱلۡمُؤۡمِنَـٰتُ بَعۡضُهُمۡ أَوۡلِيَآءُ بَعۡضٍ۬‌ۚ...)

…He that works a righteous deed - weather man or woman - and is a believer - such will enter The Garden (of bliss) ...(Surah 40, Ghafir, verse 40)
(...وَمَنۡ عَمِلَ صَـٰلِحً۬ا مِّن ذَڪَرٍ أَوۡ أُنثَىٰ وَهُوَ مُؤۡمِنٌ۬ فَأُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ يَدۡخُلُونَ ٱلۡجَنَّةَ...)

Still, Islam did not make women equal to men. That paper in Georgetown produced an unexpected result, something new to me and Professor Sharabi who was very secular. In the New Testament, the role of the Virgin Mary is very limited. After delivering Jesus she all but disappears. As she was married to Joseph, the Gospel according to Mark tells us that she gave Jesus half brothers: “Is not this the carpenter, son of Mary, the brother of James and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” (6:3) Mathew simply refers to “Jesus and his brothers.” In the Koran Mary has a whole sura, or chapter, named after her, and she is mentioned in other suras, by name or as in Issa (Jesus) and his mother. The Koran has her speaking to Archangel Gabriel who in Islamic traditions speaks only to prophets. As a result, Andalusian ulema, like Ibn Hazm, considered her a prophet, a position never accorded her in the Holy Book.
- The laws of Islam and Judaism are similar and at times identical, both in the Koran and the Old Testament, and also in Sharia and Talmud. Tithe is like Zakat. Kosher is the equivalent of Halal. Minyan is a quorum of ten men required for a Jewish prayer and is similar to the prayer of “Jama’a” for Muslims. While Muslims are required to pray five times a day Orthodox Jews pray three to four times a day, a practice called Shema Yisrael. Their women cover their hair after marriage, and a few are seen in a veil, or even niqab. When the laws of the two religions differ it is almost always far more strict in the Old Testament. Some of the punishments are not found in the Koran. In the five Books of Moses, Leviticus presents the laws in detail and Deuteronomy is a late edition of the law, probably written about 500 BC. I will now include laws from Deuteronomy chapters 12-26 and a Muslim will immediately realize that many of them are almost identical to material throughout the Koran which does not include the punishment of stoning as in the Bible.


To be continued...

Islam and The West-5

Miscellany من كل واد عصا

The following joke is relevant:

Abe went to see his rabbi. "Rabbi," he said, "I would be grateful if you could explain the Talmud to me.”
"Very well, Abe," said the rabbi, "First, I need to ask you a simple question. If two men climb inside a chimney and one comes out dirty and the other comes out clean, which one washes himself?"
"The dirty one," replied Abe.
"No, Abe. They look at each other. The dirty man thinks he is clean but the clean man thinks he is dirty and washes.
"Now another question," said the rabbi. "If two men climb inside a chimney and one comes out dirty and the other comes out clean, which one washes himself?"
Abe smiled, "You just told me that one, Rabbi. The clean man, because he thinks he is dirty."
"No, Abe," said the rabbi.. "They each look at themselves.. The clean man knows he doesn't have to wash and the dirty man washes himself.
"Now one final question," said the rabbi. "If two men climb inside a chimney and one comes out dirty and the other one comes out clean, which one washes himself?"
This time Abe frowned, "I don't know, Rabbi. It could be either one, depending on your point of view."
"No, Abe," said the rabbi. "If two men climb inside a chimney, how could either of them come out clean? They are obviously both dirty and so they both wash."
Abe was now thoroughly confused, "Rabbi, you asked me exactly the same question three times, yet you gave me three different answers. Are you playing games with me?"
"No, Abe, I would never joke with you. This is Talmud."

(From: OY! The Ultimate Book Of Jewish Jokes by David Minkoff)


So the problem of a verse allowing for several interpretations is not limited to the Holy Koran, but to be found as well in the Talmud which is a massive compilation of writing that forms the basic body of Jewish laws and traditions, the equivalent of Sharia, or Islamic Jurisprudence.

- A Muslim does not have to be paranoid to think that people are out to get him. There are many enemies of Islam and Muslims, the most dangerous, and by far the worst, being Islamic terrorists. Al Qaeda and all such organizations are the real threat to Islam. They kill Muslims and at the same time justify actions by enemies of Islam that punish all Muslims, while scaring away people of good intentions who seek coexistence among peoples of all faith, or no faith. More than the U.S. or any international alliance, Muslims need to defeat the so-called Islamic terrorists. Anti-Islamic, or anti-Muslim, feelings are such that when the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams asked in a lecture if the British Legal System should allow non-Christian courts to decide some matters of family law, he faced a firestorm of protest concentrating on Sharia, and ignoring the fact that he also mentioned Orthodox Jewish law. The archbishop spent days later trying to explain himself.

- Of all the atrocities that have come out of Iraq, I have chosen two examples:
1- Two unveiled women are standing in a room, while an armed man is reading something possibly from the Koran. The next scene is of the two women kneeling with their hands tied behind their backs, and dying in a ferocious burst of gunfire.
There is absolutely no Koranic text or practice that justifies killing an unveiled woman.
2- An Al Qaeda terrorist is seized and is being questioned by Kurdish security men. He had forced a husband and wife out of their car then beheaded them. He admitted his crime saying that Al Qaeda gave him the job of beheading people and told him to learn his trade. When an interrogator told him that the slaughtered couple were innocent, the terrorist said it would still be okay as they would go to heaven. In his warped mind he was doing them a favor.

- Nowhere in the Koran is there a stipulation of stoning as a punishment. The word is mentioned two or three times, but in reference to old, Biblical, times. In the Bible I found stoning mentioned as punishment once in chapter 17 of Deuteronomy and twice in chapter 22. Chapters 12-26 of the fifth book of Moses are seen as the law chapters of the Jewish faith. There is also burning to death: And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire. Leviticus (21-9) and this: And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the coasts of Israel. Judges (19-29). There is nothing comparable in the Koran.

- When I was at Georgetown University, my teacher and friend Hisham Sharabi suggested that I write a paper on women in the Koran and Islamic tradition, to show that Islam gave women their rights. I tried but in the end had to conclude that women were not made equal to men in the Koran. It says: Men are protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in (the husband’s) absence what Allah would have them guard. As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them (first), (next), refuse to share their beds, (and last) beat them (lightly); but if they return to obedience, seek not against them means (of annoyance): for Allah is Most High, Great (above you all). (Surah 4, Al Nisa, verse 34)

)ٱلرِّجَالُ قَوَّٲمُونَ عَلَى ٱلنِّسَآءِ بِمَا فَضَّلَ ٱللَّهُ بَعۡضَهُمۡ عَلَىٰ بَعۡضٍ۬ وَبِمَآ أَنفَقُواْ مِنۡ أَمۡوَٲلِهِمۡ‌ۚ فَٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتُ قَـٰنِتَـٰتٌ حَـٰفِظَـٰتٌ۬ لِّلۡغَيۡبِ بِمَا حَفِظَ ٱللَّهُ‌ۚ وَٱلَّـٰتِى تَخَافُونَ نُشُوزَهُنَّ فَعِظُوهُنَّ وَٱهۡجُرُوهُنَّ فِى ٱلۡمَضَاجِعِ وَٱضۡرِبُوهُنَّ‌ۖ فَإِنۡ أَطَعۡنَڪُمۡ فَلَا تَبۡغُواْ عَلَيۡہِنَّ سَبِيلاً‌ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ عَلِيًّ۬ا ڪَبِيرً۬ا(.

To be continued...

Islam and The West-4

Relevant Koranic text

We ordained for the Children of Israel that if anyone slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people. Then although there came to them Our Messengers with Clear Signs, yet, even after that, many of them continued to commit excesses in the land (Surah 5, Al Ma’idah, verse 32).

)مِنۡ أَجۡلِ ذَٲلِكَ ڪَتَبۡنَا عَلَىٰ بَنِىٓ إِسۡرَٲٓءِيلَ أَنَّهُ ۥ مَن قَتَلَ نَفۡسَۢا بِغَيۡرِ نَفۡسٍ أَوۡ فَسَادٍ۬ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ فَڪَأَنَّمَا قَتَلَ ٱلنَّاسَ جَمِيعً۬ا وَمَنۡ أَحۡيَاهَا فَڪَأَنَّمَآ أَحۡيَا ٱلنَّاسَ جَمِيعً۬ا‌ۚ وَلَقَدۡ جَآءَتۡهُمۡ رُسُلُنَا بِٱلۡبَيِّنَـٰتِ ثُمَّ إِنَّ كَثِيرً۬ا مِّنۡهُم بَعۡدَ ذَٲلِكَ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ لَمُسۡرِفُونَ(.

Also: Those of you who die and leave widows should bequeath for their widows a year’s maintenance and residence; but if they leave (the residence), there is no blame on you for what they do with themselves, provided it is reasonable. And Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise (Surah 2, Al Baqarah, verse 240).

)وَٱلَّذِينَ يُتَوَفَّوۡنَ مِنڪُمۡ وَيَذَرُونَ أَزۡوَٲجً۬ا وَصِيَّةً۬ لِّأَزۡوَٲجِهِم مَّتَـٰعًا إِلَى ٱلۡحَوۡلِ غَيۡرَ إِخۡرَاجٍ۬‌ۚ فَإِنۡ خَرَجۡنَ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيۡڪُمۡ فِى مَا فَعَلۡنَ فِىٓ أَنفُسِهِنَّ مِن مَّعۡرُوفٍ۬‌ۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَڪِيمٌ۬(.

And: For those who take an oath for abstention from their wives, a waiting for four months is ordained; if then they return, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful (Surah 2, Al Baqarah, verse 226).

)لِّلَّذِينَ يُؤۡلُونَ مِن نِّسَآٮِٕهِمۡ تَرَبُّصُ أَرۡبَعَةِ أَشۡہُرٍ۬‌ۖ فَإِن فَآءُو فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌ۬ رَّحِيمٌ۬(.

Al Baqarah two verses show how the time for a widow was cut down from a year to four months.

Also: Allah forgiveth not that partners should be set up with Him; but He forgiveth anything else, to whom He pleaseth… (Surah 4, Al Nisa, verse 48).

)إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يَغۡفِرُ أَن يُشۡرَكَ بِهِۦ وَيَغۡفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَٲلِكَ لِمَن يَشَآءُ‌ۚ(…

So it is only “Shirk”, believing in more than one God, that cannot be forgiven.

There are many verses on the Jews and they move from the positive or neutral to negative as Jews in Medina confront Mohammed and his followers, and the two sides fight.

(In this study all translations from the Koran are taken from The Meaning of the Holy Qur’an, by ‘Abdullah Yusuf ‘Ali, published by Amana corporation. It is used in Islamic studies at Oxford University. Quotes from the Bible are from The Authorized King James Version, published by the Oxford University Press).

To be continued...