Die ersten 10 von Dhul-Hidsch

As Salamu ´aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh,
liebe Geschwister im Islam.

Nur noch wenige Stunden, und die zehn besten Tage im Diesseits (Die ersten 10 von Dhul-Hidschah) treffen ein.

Diesbezüglich sagte der Gesandte ALLAHs (sallaALLAHu ´aleihi wa sallam): "Es gibt keine Tage, an denen die gute Tat ALLAH lieber ist, als an diesen zehn Tagen (...)" [Bukhary] Und: "Die besten Tage im Diesseits sind die (ersten) zehn Tage (von Dhul-Hidschah).“ Und: "Es gibt keine Tat, die bei ALLAH reiner (besser) ist, noch für die man größeren Lohn bekommt, als Gutes, das man in den zehn Opfertagen verrichtet (…).“

Damit haben gute Taten, die an diesen Tagen verrichtet werden, einen besonderen Stellenwert und werden mehr belohnt, als dass sie zu einer anderen Zeit verrichtet werden.

Aus diesem Grunde sollten wir in diesen Tage unsere Pflichten sorgfältiger ausführen, vermehrt von den Sünden Abstand nehmen (da die Sünden in den heiligen Monaten mehr bestraft werden) und vermehrt freiwillige Taten verrichten, um unser Hassanat-Konto reichlich zu füllen.

Diese 10 Tage sind eine hervorragende Gelegenheit, viel Belohnung zu erreichen und großen Nachteil erfährt gewiss jener, der diese Tage einfach an sich vorbei ziehen lässt und bzgl. ihrer Wichtigkeit unachtsam ist.

Unter diesen Tagen ist der Tag ´Arafah. Wer an diesem Tag fastet, dem werden die Sünden von 2 Jahren vergeben.

Und am 10. Tag ist unser Festtag.

Eine ausführliche Lektüre (Beweise zur Besonderheit und welche Gottesdienste sollte man verrichten) zu diesem äußerst wichtigen Thema findet Ihr auf:

www.islamlernen.com

Und vergesst nicht: Die Tage beginnen bereits diese Woche (womöglich am 18. oder 19.11, je nach Mondsichtung.)

Und wenn ihr eure Geschwister über diese Tage in Kenntnis setzt und sie zum Guten anregt, dann werdet ihr jedes Mal mitbelohnt, wenn diese Person eine gute Tat verrichtet, ohne dass ihr Lohn verringert wird.

Die Gnade ALLAHs ist wirklich unermesslich, Alhamdulillah.

---------------------------
The sources are :
*A facebook group named:Was ist der Islam wirklich?What's Islam really about?Qu'est-ce que l'islam?

*The site:
http://www.islamlernen.com/

Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land: Media & the Israel-Palestine Conflict

السلام و الدعاية و أرض الميعاد:

الإعلام الأمريكي و الصراع الفلسطيني الإسرائيلي

Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land:

Media & the Israel-Palestine Conflict

  

A film introduced by: Media education Foundation

Written and directed by:

Sut Jhally & Bathsheba Ratzkoff

*********

I've seen a part of this documentary dubbed into Arabic on Aljazeera documentary channel and I liked what I've heard and seen in it. 

Not to mention that I didn't really need to watch the whole film to judge it, I'm quite impatient so watching an 80 minute long documentary is more than I can take especially when it comes to the Arab-Israeli conflict for many reasons.

In addition, I'm not yet to decide about this issue since I've already had my point of view regarding it that I'll never change. Now I'm just enhancing it's validity even more.

Speaking from a standpoint of an average person living in any country allover the Middle East who has some interest in politics, the film doesn't offer something brand new.

However, it could be used as a very good argument in several occasions due to the nature and background of the interviewees and the speakers in it who are respectful scholars and journalists, former Israeli soldiers and also bright individuals such as the linguist Noam Chomsky, a worldwide reputed Jewish thinker that I appreciate myself.

*******************

Taken directly from the official website:

Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land provides a striking comparison of U.S. and international media coverage of the crisis in the Middle East, zeroing in on how structural distortions in U.S. coverage have reinforced false perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

This pivotal documentary exposes how the foreign policy interests of American political elites--oil, and a need to have a secure military base in the region, among others--work in combination with Israeli public relations strategies to exercise a powerful influence over how news from the region is reported.

Through the voices of scholars, media critics, peace activists, religious figures, and Middle East experts, Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land carefully analyzes and explains how--through the use of language, framing and context--the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza remains hidden in the news media, and Israeli colonization of the occupied terrorities appears to be a defensive move rather than an offensive one.

The documentary also explores the ways that U.S. journalists, for reasons ranging from intimidation to a lack of thorough investigation, have become complicit in carrying out Israel's PR campaign. At its core, the documentary raises questions about the ethics and role of journalism, and the relationship between media and politics.
 

****************
 

Interviewees include Seth Ackerman, Mjr. Stav Adivi, Rabbi Arik Ascherman, Hanan Ashrawi, Noam Chomsky, Robert Fisk, Neve Gordon, Toufic Haddad, Sam Husseini, Hussein Ibish, Robert Jensen, Rabbi Michael Lerner, Karen Pfeifer, Alisa Solomon, and Gila Svirsky.

Sections:

Intro | American Media: Occupied Territory | Hidden Occupation | Invisible Colonization | Violence in a Vacuum | Defining Who Is Newsworthy | Myth of U.S. Neutrality | Myth of the Generous Offer | Marginalized Voices | Is Peace Possible? 

 

 

Terms of camp david proposal and how it was covered in American media are one of the most interesting
parts of the documentary

You could watch the full version in English on google videos via this link:

Click here

Enjoy!

Muslims offered to pray in churches of the US and Italy

So, I'm actually writing this post just for record. Nothing more really.

Since things like that give me some hope it might turn to be better in the future and also make me feel a little optimistic about our world no matter how bad it looks like in my eyes now.

*********

I was not going to comment about "Burn Koran Day 11th of September" that's held by a church in Florida this month but I changed my mind now in order to compare opposite reactions and interactions with Islam and Muslims by different types of Christians.

Since 9/11, when the majority of people in non Islamic mainly western cultures first  heard about something called "Islam" everyone speaks about "Radical Muslims", "Extremist Muslims" and the like due to the active brainwash process carried out by the media promoting this ideas.

I have no idea how they used to perceive Islam and Muslims before this incident but I think it might be just ignorance rather than hatred.

And the question is:
Why doesn't anyone point out to Radical Christians and Radical Hindus and Radical anything else although they do exist in history? No answer.

N.B 
Pastor Terry Jones, the Radical Christian, is the leader of the event, for more details google his name or the name of the event.

**************

*First of all, when someone from an English background writes "Koran" instead of "Qur'an"  it tells me clearly what type of person they are, only someone who has never read about the Qur'an at first place rather than reading the book itself would write it this way.

*Second, as a Muslim I believe that a true Christian who knows well the real essence of Christianity and all other religions would never support hatred spreading events amongst different groups of people.

I believe Christianity is far more than a group of haters who probably know absolutely nothing about Islam, prophet Muhammad and may be Christianity as well.  

So the acts of some Christians don't necessarily represent Christianity and wouldn't change our perspectives regarding it.

Humans make mistakes and misrepresent their beliefs most of the time. 
(I know I've said this statement like 100 times before)
 

So, why isn't it the case when it comes to dealing with Muslims?!
No answer.

****************

Ok, let's check out the good news..

Christians are offering Muslims in emergency cases to pray in their churches all around the world, how tolerant and peaceful :)!

Reminds me of a verse in Qur'an:

((And were it not that Allah checks the people, some by means of others, there would have been demolished monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques in which the name of Allah is much mentioned. And Allah will surely support those who support Him. Indeed, Allah is Powerful and Exalted in Might.)) 22:40 Al Hajj

I'm sure there are many other cases but I only got a couple:

1- Memphis Area Muslims who are coming from 30 different nationalities are worshiping at a Christian Church this Ramadan because their mosque is under construction..

For more details see the link below:

http://www.myeyewitnessnews.com/news/local/story/Memphis-Area-Muslims-Worshiping-At-Christian/F5CZgzul4EegYgk_L9evNg.cspx

2- In the town of Gallarate, north of Milan, Muslims have no mosque in which to celebrate Ramadan.

Instead, for the past three years, they have prayed in a plot of land belonging to the local church.

For the rest of photos and more details check the link below:

http://observers.france24.com/en/content/20100830-italy-gallarate-muslims-no-mosque-pray-church-northern-league

I'm inspired by Muhammad

This article is about "Inspired by Muhammad", a project leaded by:

Exploring Islam Foundation.

I came across the site of the campaign while trying to promote a group I'm an admin of, it's really such a helpful site for a non-Muslim reading about Islam for any purpose and also for a Muslim wanting to know more about how to make the best of your life and other lives around you being a Muslim

So, this site gives a glance about basic modern concepts of  life from an Islamic point of view, in other words, If the teachings of  Muhammad, the last prophet of  Islam were to be applied and followed properly, what would they be like? and how are they related to universal ethical concepts of nowadays?

The main goal of the campaign I guess is to simply introduce Islam, reveal some of the unpopular facts and correct misconceptions about it to non-Muslims specifically in the western world where they are mostly not living with Muslims or worse, meeting bad examples.

There are live examples of Muslims who are inspired by Muhammad and videos can be found on the web site. 

So, basically you will find a man or a woman talking about some of their personal experiences in their lives, professions and relations with people around and the environment as Muslims abiding by the real teachings of  Islam and taking Muhammad as an ideal and a role model.

Topics covered are as follows:

Human Rights

Animal Welfare

Women Rights

Education

Coexistence

Social Justice

Environment

Charity

Health Care

In addition, there are also sections for basic definitions and facts about Islam, Muslims, worship in Islam, terrorism and violence...etc

Take a look here :-)!

***********************

Selected topic from the site:

Surveying public perceptions of  Islam, Muslims and the Prophet Muhammad in the UK.

The Exploring Islam Foundation recently commissioned YouGov to survey public perceptions of Islam, Muslims and the Prophet Muhammad.

some insights of the results:

The details and results of the survey

You wear Hijab ie:You are an Alien

I found this picture on a facebook group which reminded me of similar situations I experienced when I was in England.

It's funny because within the same day I was going back to Egypt I was sitting beside a couple of old women looking like this lady in the picture.

The first time was in the train from London to Newcastle and the other was on the flight from Newcastle to Amsterdam.

These terrified scared looks on the girl wearing Hijab remind me of the type of looks at me by people there.

 I was being stared at just like this way and worse by all kind of people of all ages. Muslim females living in western countries definitely know what I'm talking about.

So, this cartoon is not overexposing it, seriously you would feel like an alien when everyone around looks at you "SCARED" while you are not holding a shotgun or throwing a bomb. I think the presence of an alien would not even give such an impression.

Of course I've always been aware of Hijab issues in the west but I didn't excpect it to be the way I found it in reality and I was really surprised people are really that intolerant.

I mean It's not just about me or other Muslim women wearing Hijab, it's more about the fact "Acceptance" to those who are not of your "type" is absent in there.

They somehow expect everyone to dress, believe, speak and act the same exact way.

So, you are either with us or you are with "them", "them" are mostly bad ones, hate them and feel scared when your eyes fall on them even if these stares would hurt a lot.

My story with Arabic Language

Well, I've never thought about writing anything related to the whole "Me, Arabic and Languages" thing before. However, I made a trial recently thanks to Multilingual Mania page I found randomly on Facebook and of course to Melanie, the admin of the page and the site who encouraged me to do it. http://multilingualmania.com/

This article can be helpful for Arabic teachers to non-natives and for non- native Arabic speakers who are learning or thinking of learning it. The multilingual mania blog has a lot of useful articles related to learning and teaching languages in general. Waiting for your comments on it :-)!
-------------

To be a teacher, you need to first become a good student”

I was taught to read and write way too young compared to fellow kids, having an aunt who is an Arabic language major student who used to teach me the classical basics of it since I was 5 to 6 years old. I have a special kind of relationship with Arabic language.

“Discover the beauty and richness of the language you teach”

I become passionate about Arabic language, its history, literature, grammar and all arts. It has a very rich content and a precious heritage being spoken and understood the same way it has always been spoken since more than 1,000 years ago. This means that what was written in the old ages is still the same, with the same grammar and vocabulary, unlike most languages where you find great variations between classical and modern versions of the same language.

Since the time I started using the internet (2003), I have been doing language exchange with non-Arabic native speakers interested in learning Arabic-that was how I improved my English as well as Italian ( I focused on them as I studied both academically) and learned the basics of other languages such as Spanish.

Later on, I decided to teach Modern Standard Arabic as Egyptian dialect to non-natives, especially English speakers.

“Learn about other languages and never stop”

I still do language exchange with people of different nationalities, as I think learning more about different languages is the best way to know about common mistakes non-natives tend to make due to interference with their mother tongue.

I believe that the more teachers learn about other languages, the more efficient and better they become while teaching their mother languages to foreigners. You can always find something similar in other languages to the language you teach that would make it easier for both you and your student while teaching.

“Hey, did someone here say Arabic is hard?”

Moreover, Arabic language tends to have some specifications and characteristics that may be absent in other languagse, which is why it’s commonly known to be harder to learn when compared to other languages. Well, this is not very accurate. Based on what I’ve read and experienced with non-natives, I can say that Arabic is not really that hard, it just requires more patience, commitment and determination.

You may sometimes feel disappointed and feel that you have not learned anything at all, and it may sometimes seem as if there is just too much to learn. This doesn’t necessarily mean Arabic is hard-it’s a rich old language, so think about it that way! When facing some challenging matter in life, we should never give up on it-we only need to believe that we will always lack knowledge and need to learn more about it. No one will ever know everything about something… but still, there are those few bright hard-workers who believed in their abilities and therefore managed to learn a lot about something. Try to be one of those people then!

About the Author:  A university student majoring in Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering while teaching Arabic part-time as a foreign language in Cairo, Egypt. She has deep interests about foreign languages and cultures around the world. You can frequently find her writing on her blog, In All Languages.

Check it out here


Thanks a lot Melanie, the author of Multilingual mania blog for giving me the opportunity to share my experience with learning languages and teaching Arabic.

We will never forget

A massacre!

Yeah, this is actually something worthwhile writing about after a quite long break.

Yet another massacre, it wasn't the first and surely won't be the last as long as the international community remains silent like always used to be.

Next Tuesday, 8th of April 2010 will be the 40th anniversary of the Israeli attack on a small village primary school in Egypt.

I've tried searching for more details about the massacre online in English but seems like there is nothing more than what was mentioned in Wikipedia as follows:

Bahr el-Baqar incident

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bahr el-Baqar incident happened during the War of Attrition, where the Israeli air force carried out a raid on the Egyptian village of Bahr el-Baqar, south of Port Said, in the eastern province of Sharqiyya, the raid resulted in the destruction of a primary school full of school children.

The Attack

The attack was carried out by Israeli air force F4 Phantom II fighter bombers, at 9:20 am on Wednesday 8 April, 1970. Five bombs and 2 air-to-ground missiles struck the single-floor school, which consisted of 3 classrooms.

The Israelis claimed that they believed the target was a military installation. Casualties Of the 130 school children who attended the school, 46 were killed, and over 50 wounded, many of them maimed for life. The school itself was completely demolished.

Well, I'm amazed by the huge amount of useful information I've found on Wiki!Thank you so much, Wiki.

Apart form the fact they insist on calling it an "incident", the funny thing is that the page is only available in Arabic and in a weak English version without details. Anyhow, I shouldn't have been any surprised.

I mean, why should anyone even care for a bunch of murdered  kids in an Egyptian primary school in a tiny small village?

--------------------

Ok, let's see what was written about the massacre on other sites:

From "Encyclopedia of the Palestine Problem" by a Palestinian author named Issa Nakhla.
 Someone won't be easily accused of being biased according to what you might kindly read here in his biography:

http://www.palestine-encyclopedia.com/EPP/TheAuthor.htm

"How superior the Israeli pilots were was amply shown on April 8, 1970 when they hit an elementary school at Bahr al Baqr, fifteen miles west of the Suez Canal, killing forty-six Egyptian school children."

In the Citations: (8) "April 8, 1970: Israeli jets struck Bahr El-Baqr, Egypt, killing 46 children in their school."

http://www.palestine-encyclopedia.com/EPP/Chapter31.htm 

2- From Holocaust Facts:

http://therealholocaust.org/en/holocaust-facts 

Egypt - Bahr el-Baqar School “April 1970”:

Bahr el-Baqar is an Egyptian village located in south of Port Said. The attack was carried out by Israeli air force F4 Phantom II fighter bombers, at 9.20 am on Wednesday 8th April, 1970.

Five bombs and 2 air-to-ground missiles struck the single-floor school, which consisted of 3 classrooms.

46 students were killed and over 50 were wounded, many of them maimed for life.

--------------

Like I always say, neither being a Muslim nor an Egyptian is the reason why I feel really bad about things like that.

I'm merely a human being and any normal human being with a minimum set of human emotions and values would feel the very same way about it.

Regardless of what those kids belonged to, any sane human being would never find a reasonable reason behind attacking a school full of kids assuming that it was a fake military installation.

Especially when the same reason is mentioned every time, last one was about some school in Gaza in 2008.

( One of the very few clear photos I managed to find for the kids)

Those kids in their first school years had dreams, just like how yours do but apparently they were not supposed to dream since they were "others".

Now, honestly just forget about the whole "Palestinians gotta stop fling rocks" thing and tell me: what do you personally think of this?

Forgotten Muslim Scientists and Scholars

‎"The medieval Islamic world, from Central Asia to the shores of the Atlantic, was a world where scholars and men of learning flourished. 

But because we have tended to see Islam as the enemy of the West, as an alien culture, society and system of belief, we have tended to ignore or erase its great relevance to our own history."

 Prince Charles, Islam and the West.

********************

I'm a Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering major and I think I have always loved science growing up although Egypt is not an encouraging environment.
 My reasons for wanting to become a scientist one day Inshallah originated from my religious upbringing and the stories I read about my ancestors. This is something many people find contradictory especially the western areligious people who put science on top of everything else and think that religion and science don't come together or encourage each other.
Muslim scientists and scholars have contributed immensely to human knowledge especially in the period between 6th and 16th century CE. 

However, their contributions have been largely ignored, forgotten or have gone un-acknowledged.

The islamophobic western world especially outside of the world of academia intentionally neglects the contributions of the Muslim world to modern days science. "Science and no religion" advocates overlook the fact that the founding fathers of Algebra, Geography, Medicine and many other disciplines were devout Muslim scholars who also wrote books on Quran interpretation, prophetic tradition and explained the Islamic Sharia, all together. 

One instance is the fact Al Khawarizmi (The father of Algebra and Algorithms) initially wrote his famous book on Algebra to easily calculate the overwhelming amount of inheritance issues Muslims were getting confused over back then. Solving the inheritance problems based on the Quranic guidance was one of the reasons why Algebra was founded might not appeal to many secular folks nowadays but this is a historical fact.

 Unfortunately, the current scientific environment of the majority of Muslim countries is shameful or doesn't even exist at all which encourages these negative stereotypes on Muslims. 

So I thought it would be good to remind people of this especially now for two reasons:

1- Educate those in the west who're attacking Islam and Muslims left and right and make an argument for those who pretend they don't know that the foundation of modern days sciences were put by devout religious people.

2- Encourage the intellectually colonized young Muslims of nowadays who're admiring the western world and looking for a role model there to learn about the contributions of their fathers and think about reviving this spirit.

An example of a great Muslim Scientist and Thinker

Muhammad Ibn al-Idrisi

http://muslimmedianetwork.com/mmn/?p=3648

One example for a talented Muslim scientist of Andalusia (Spain and Portugal nowadays) is Mohammad al-Idrisi who was a  geographer, cartographer, botanist, traveler and poet.

He has given the names of the herbs in many languages like Greek, Persian, Hindi, Latin, Berber and Arabic.

In the West he is best known as a geographer, who made a globe using a silver sphere for King Roger of Sicily.

(The map Idrisi drew for the old world as we know it before the discovery of the Americas/Australia)

Al-Idrisi was a great geographer and traveler who produced original work in the field of geography and botany.

Some historians consider him the greatest geographer and cartographer of the Middle Ages. His books were translated into Latin and became the standard books on geography for centuries, both in the east and west.

From the following links you can find his story and many others like him:

Muhammad ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi

Muhammad ibn Sinan al- Battani

Nasir al-Din al-Tusi

Maulana Jalaluddin Mohammad Rumi

Omar Khayyam

Jamshid al-Kashi

Abu Waleed Ibn Rushd

Abu Ali al Hasan ibn al-Haytham

Muhammad bin Zakaria Razi

Ala’al-Din Ibn al-Nafis

-----------------

(2)

Muslim Heritage

http://www.muslimheritage.com/


This Website MuslimHeritage.com is owned, operated and published by The Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation (FSTC), a British organisation based in Manchester, UK.
Some recognition from the Western World and a great job in documenting and bringing all the missing stories about the scientific Muslim heritage.

http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=1408

http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=1288
***************************************

"If the leading scientific research in the world was being conducted by Muslims, and the most advanced laboratories were in Islamic lands; and the Islamic industrial sector was the most developed and sophisticated establishment in the world, it would never come to the mind of anyone, no matter how ardently they hated religion, that Science and Religion are incompatible, or that religion is backward.

 For 1200 years this was never argued, until the centers of science and learning in the world came under Secular political authority - then suddenly, history was changed to fit the new Secular narrative. And all the while, people forgot the plain truth, namely that the vast majority of scientists (and geniuses) throughout the entire history of mankind, believed in God and followed a religion. "

Brother Abdullah Al Andalusi in a speech at St George's, University of London.

Does Islam allow Wife Beating?(3) final

Even here, that maximum measure is limited by the following:

a. It must be seen as a rare exception to the repeated exhortation of mutual respect, kindness and good treatment.

Based on the Qur'an and Hadith, this measure may be used in the cases of lewdness on the part of the wife or extreme refraction and rejection of the husband's reasonable requests on a consistent basis (nushuz ). Even then, other measures, such as exhortation, should be tried first.

b. As defined by Hadith, it is not permissible to strike anyone's face, cause any bodily harm or even be harsh. What the Hadith qualifies as "dharban ghayra mubarrih ", or light striking, was interpreted by early jurists as a (symbolic) use of siwak !

They further qualified permissible "striking" as that which leaves no mark on the body.

It is interesting that this latter fourteen-centuries-old qualifier is the criterion used in contemporary American law to separate a light and harmless tap or strike from "abuse" in the legal sense.

This makes it clear that even this extreme, last resort, and "lesser of the two evils" measure that may save a marriage does not meet the definitions of "physical abuse," "family violence, " or "wife battering" in the 20th century law in liberal democracies, where such extremes are so commonplace that they are seen as national concerns.

c. The permissibility of such symbolic expression of the seriousness of continued refraction does not imply its desirability. In several hadiths, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) discouraged this measure. Here are some of his sayings in this regard:

*"Do not beat the female servants of Allah" ;

*"Some (women) visited my family complaining about their husbands (beating them). These (husbands) are not the best of you."

*In another hadith the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said: “How does anyone of you beat his wife as he beats the stallion camel and then he may embrace (sleep with) her?”

d. True following of the Sunnah is to follow the example of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) who never resorted to that measure, regardless of the circumstances.

e. Islamic teachings are universal in nature. They respond to the needs and circumstances of diverse times, cultures and circumstances. Some measures may work in some cases and cultures or with certain persons but may not be effective in others.

By definition, a "permissible" act is neither required, encouraged or forbidden. In fact it may be to spell out the extent of permissibility, such as in the issue at hand, rather than leaving it unrestricted or unqualified, or ignoring it all together.

In the absence of strict qualifiers, persons may interpret the matter in their own way, which can lead to excesses and real abuse.

f. Any excess, cruelty, family violence, or abuse committed by any "Muslim" can never be traced, honestly, to any revelatory text (Qur'an or Hadith).

Such excesses and violations are to be blamed on the person(s) himself, as it shows that they are paying lip service to Islamic teachings and injunctions and failing to follow the true Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)."

The source:

http://www.islam-network.net/Vb/t24099.html

Does Islam allow Wife beating?(2)

The Qur'an is very clear on this issue. Almighty Allah says:

"Men are the 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 to guard. As to those women on whose part you 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 and Great (above you all).

If you fear a breach between them twain, appoint (two) arbiters, one from his family and the other from hers. If they wish for peace, Allah will cause their reconciliation; for Allah has full knowledge and is acquainted with all things." (An-Nisa': 34-35)"

It is important to read the section fully. One should not take part of the verse and use it to justify one's own misconduct. This verse neither permits violence nor condones it but guides us to ways to handle delicate family situation with care and wisdom.

The word "beating" is used in the verse, but it does not mean "physical abuse". The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) explained it "dharban ghayra mubarrih " which means "a light tap that leaves no mark". He further said that face must be avoided. Some other scholars are of the view that it is no more than a light touch by siwak , or toothbrush.

Generally, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to discourage his followers from taking even this measure. He never hit any female, and he used to say that the best of men are those who do not hit their wives.

In one hadith he expressed his extreme repulsion from this behavior and said, "How does anyone of you beat his wife as he beats the stallion camel and then embrace (sleep with) her?” (Al-Bukhari, English Translation, vol. 8, Hadith 68, pp. 42-43)

It is also important to note that even this "light strike" mentioned in the verse is not to be used to correct some minor problem, but it is permissible to resort to only in a situation of some serious moral misconduct when admonishing the wife fails, and avoiding from sleeping with her would not help. If this disciplinary action can correct a situation and save the marriage, then one should use it."


*********************************

Dr. Jamal Badawi , professor at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and a cross-appointed faculty member in the Departments of Religious Studies and Management, adds:

"If the problem relates to the wife's behavior, the husband may exhort her and appeal for reason. In most cases, this measure is likely to be sufficient.

In cases where the problem persists, the husband may express his displeasure in another peaceful manner, by sleeping in a separate bed from hers.

There are cases, however, in which a wife persists in bad habits and showing contempt of her husband and disregard for her marital obligations.

Instead of divorce, the husband may resort to another measure that may save the marriage, at least in some cases. Such a measure is more accurately described as a gentle tap on the body, but never on the face, making it more of a symbolic measure than a punitive one.

To be continued in last part by Allah will........

Does Islam allow Wife Beating?(1)

"Woman was made from the rib of man, She wasn't created from his head to top him, Nor from his feet to be stepped upon, She was made from his side to be closer to him, From beneath his arm to be protected by him, Near his heart to be loved by him"

There is a common misconception about Islam allowing the men to have more control on their wives and beat them although this is not really the truth about it...

I found a great article explaining the reality about that issue from both Quran (The holly book of Islam) and Sunnah (Sayings and teachings of Muhammad PBUH the prophet of Islam)...
And I divided it into 3 parts to make it easy for you to read...

So, these are the real original teachings of Islam no matter some Muslims don't act according to it and are treating their women in such a bad way.

This doesn't change the fact Islam gave Women all her rights...

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Commenting on this issue, Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi , former President of the Islamic Society of North America, states:
1-(How a Muslim husband must treat his wife)

According to the Qur'an the relationship between the husband and wife should be based on mutual love and kindness.

Allah says: "And among His Signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that ye may dwell in tranquility with them, and He has put love and mercy between your (hearts): verily in that are Signs for those who reflect." (Ar-Rum: 21)
The Qur'an urges husbands to treat their wives with kindness.[In the event of a family dispute, the Qur'an exhorts the husband to treat his wife kindly and not to overlook her positive aspects].

Allah Almighty says: “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.” (An-Nisa’: 19)

It is important that a wife recognizes the authority of her husband in the house. He is the head of the household, and she is supposed to listen to him.

But the husband should also use his authority with respect and kindness towards his wife. If there arises any disagreement or dispute among them, then it should be resolved in a peaceful manner.
Spouses should seek the counsel of their elders and other respectable family members and friends to batch up the rift and solve the differences.

2-(Men and responsibility of family leading by wisdom in case of conflicts)

However, in some cases a husband may use some light disciplinary action in order to correct the moral infraction of his wife, but this is only applicable in extreme cases and it should be resorted to if one is sure it would improve the situation.

However, if there is a fear that it might worsen the relationship or may wreak havoc on him or the family, then he should avoid it completely.

To be continued........