Ladies! Establish Your Course of Struggle!

Loose translation of ‘Wanita! Pastikan Arah Perjuanganmu?’ written by Dr. Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin (http://drmaza.com)

My guess that the polygamy article I wrote last week would be objected by many women was slightly wide of the mark. Instead, Alhamdulillah, many of them sent emails to me to show their support. They were just confused about a number of the rationalizations brought up by some extreme feminists who pounce on polygamy in Islam. I would like to clarify that, Alhamdulillah, whoever has been following my writings and opinions all this while would know how much I have been defending women’s rights specifically in Malaysia.

We must be clear that the criticisms should not be targeted to the rulings of Islam but instead, it should be aimed at the management or bureaucracy that has been entrusted with the duty of managing the Muslims’ affair specifically the so-called Syariah Court that has been making women’s life difficult, postponing divorce cases for years, is narrow-minded in making judgment, making the arrangement to carry out halal marriage difficult and other red tapes causing much difficulty to accomplish the halal compared with the haram.

It is the mismanagement of these matters that violates the Muslims’ rights on marital issues. It causes people to be dubious of Islam and causes women to have prejudice against the rulings of Islam. So many women have sent me emails and letters describing their frustration over the so-called syariah management. Some of them are new Muslims.

Be that as it may, we can still see in Malaysia that many unneeded new positions are being created to be given to the retired ‘religious authority’. One who is observant will be able to see it. This happens a lot in important religious bodies including in the judicial system. When the religion is treated as just another business deal for the cronies and associates, the people’s rights will be deserted. Because of that, I feel that Tun Mahathir deserves to be praised in that he did not create a big position for him to occupy after his retirement.

O women! If you wish to struggle against something, then fight to eradicate this kind of bureaucratic mess. Fight against the narrow-mindedness of comprehending the teachings of mazhab or the women related jurisprudence being held on to by the orthodox and conservative religious cluster that causes the rights of women to be marginalized without having strong evidences to justify it. In short, women must be clear of what it is they should be fighting for. I have touched on this matter many times and some can be found in my book ‘Mengemudi Bahtera Perubahan Minda’. Do not question or change the definite rulings of Islam. The law of Allah is always equal and just. Do not misinterpret the nas (authoritative texts) of al-Quran and sunnah only to meet a vague struggle or a misguided demand.

Uphold the blessedness and vastness of Islamic rulings that the Prophet s.a.w allocated for women. In my previous articles, I mentioned many hadith that demonstrated how he liberalized women from improper restraints. Women were given the chance to dissolve their marriage if they felt that it was too torturous for them.

The wife of Thabit bin Qais came to the Prophet and said, "O Allah's Apostle! I do not blame Thabit for defects in his character or his religion, but I, being a Muslim, dislike behaving in un-Islamic manner (if I remain with him)." On that Allah's Apostle said (to her), "Will you give back the garden which your husband has given you (as Mahr)?" She said, "Yes." Then the Prophet said to Thabit, "O Thabit! Accept your garden, and divorce her once." (Reported by al-Bukhari)

Also reported by al-Bukhari from ‘Abdullah bin 'Abbas:

Barira's husband was a slave called Mughith, as if I am seeing him now, going behind Barira and weeping with his tears flowing down his beard. The Prophet said to 'Abbas, "O 'Abbas! Are you not astonished at the love of Mughith for Barira and the hatred of Barira for Mughith?" The Prophet then said to Barira, "Why don't you return to him?" She said, "O Allah's Apostle! Do you order me to do so?" He said, "No, I only intercede for him." She said, "I am not in need of him."

In the narration reported by Abu Daud, the advice given by the Prophet s.a.w to Barira was clearer where he said:

“O Barira, fear Allah, he is your husband and the father of your children.” Barira said, “Do you order me to do so?” The Prophet s.a.w said, “I am only suggesting it.”

In this narration, it was demonstrated that the Prophet s.a.w did not force Barira to return to her husband whose status was still a slave whereas she had gain the title of a free woman. The Prophet s.a.w felt sorry for Mughith and suggested that Barira accept him back as her husband. But when Barira declined his suggestion, the Prophet s.a.w did not scold her. Observe the extent of blessedness that the Prophet s.a.w demonstrated towards women.

The scholars have different opinions on whether the option to either stay or leave the husband is only given to free women whose husbands are still slaves or if it is given to all women who believe that their husbands have lost their quality. The more important point to highlight is that the Prophet s.a.w was not like the counselors of some religious departments that commonly ask women to go back to their husbands because ‘asking for a divorce will shake the Arasy of the Lord’ whereas in truth, they are too lazy to open a new divorce case.

The problems faced by women these days are not caused by the teachings of the Prophet s.a.w including in cases of polygamy. Al-Imam `Izz al-Din `Abd al-Salam (deceased in 660H) in Qawa`id al-Ahkam fi Masalih al-Anam wrote:

“We know from sources of syarak that the objective of Islamic rulings is to safeguard the wellbeing of His servants which includes their religion and their Afterlife. Masaqqah (difficulty in applying the rulings of Islam) is not the objective but rather it is the outcome that is yielded by the masaqqah. This is similar to a doctor who asks his patient to consume a very bitter medication. The objective is merely to cure.” (1/29, Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-`Ilmiyyah).

For instance, during the Second World War (1935-45), nearly 60 million people died of which mostly were men. During the Iran-Iraq war, 82,000 women in Iran and 100,000 women in Iraq became widows. It is even more when we include Palestine, Bosnia, Southern Thai and others. And war still occurs around the world. Therefore, due to various factors, there is an imbalanced ratio of women and men in this world. On top of that, some men are involved in crime and many more are involved in drug abuse. Many also have died while executing their daily task.

If polygamy is not a solution, do we then want to ask these million of women to confine their ‘womanly need’? Or do we want to tell them that it is better to marry a drug addict than to marry someone’s husband? Dr Yusuf al-Qaradawi wrote:

“This is what has been acknowledged by the Islamic rulings in issues related to polygamy. It weighs all of its badness and goodness, benefits and harms, and consequently allows it to whoever has the need for it and is guarded with conditions that the one practicing it believes that he is capable to uphold justice and is not worried of committing any malice and partiality. Allah says in Surah al-Nisa verse 3 (translated as): “… but if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then (marry) only one..”

I see that there is a non-Muslim in Malaysia who also condemns polygamy stating that it is unfair to women. Has she forgotten that the religion she is embracing commands that a widow is burnt along with the corpse of her husband? That practice is called ‘Sati’. That is the solution recommended by her religion to save the widow from loneliness. She should be thankful of the British that has been opposing that practice in India for so long. In truth, Muslims in India has long been opposing that tradition. Point the finger to that ancient heritage first before talking about polygamy.

I wish to tell all the advocators of women’s rights that I am with you and your struggle to uphold women’s right but we have to ascertain first the direction of the struggle!