veiled4allah

various notes about honor killings

The BBC reports that honor killings may be increasing among Palestinians. Al-Jazeera reports on a rally by Palestinian women demanding stricter laws against honor killings. Honor killings are forbidden in Islam. And it's not just a "Muslim" issue:

Last week, a Palestinian Christian confessed to murdering his 20-year-old daughter in Ramallah after she married a Muslim without his consent.

do not let hatred drive you to injustice

Hesham Hassaballa writes about The Most Profound Statement In The Qur'an. According to him (and I agree), this is probably:

Believers, stand out firmly for God, as witnesses to fair dealing, and let not the hatred of others toward you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just: that is next to piety: and fear God. For God is well-acquainted with all that you do

He writes:

No matter what has been done to you, God says, you are not allowed to commit injustice. The ends do not justify the means. There can never be a "free for all" against those who hurt us... ...The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) embodied this Divine principle with his actions toward the Meccans after the conquest of the Holy City. He asked the Meccans, "What do you think I am going to do with you?" They replied, "You are a noble brother, son of a noble brother." They were terrified, of course. The Prophet - being the Prophet - told them, "Go about your way in peace." When he heard his companion tell the Meccans, "Today is a day of slaughter! Today, God will abase Quraysh," he became very angry and said, "Today is a day of mercy! Today, God will honor Quraysh!" Never let the hatred of a people toward you move you to commit injustice. Even before the conquest of Mecca, when the Muslims accidentally killed Amr ibn Al Hadrami during one of the Sacred Months, God did not condone injustice. After Amr was killed, Quraysh spread the rumor that the Prophet no longer held the Sacred Months as sacred. God sent down His reply: "They will ask thee about fighting in the sacred month. Say: 'Fighting in it is a big sin..." (2:217). God did not condone the slaying of Amr in the sacred month, despite the fact that the Muslims were unjustly expelled from Mecca, and the property of the Muslims left behind in Mecca was unjustly seized by the Meccans. Just because the Meccans declared all out war against the Muslims, that did not give them the right to kill them during the sacred months. Never let the hatred of a people toward you move you to commit injustice. This principle also needs to be understood by we Americans. Despite what they did to us on September 11, it does not give us the right to kill innocent people in Iraq and Afghanistan in revenge. It does not give us the right to torture detainees in Iraq or Afghanistan. It does not give our government the right to trample on the civil liberties of its citizens in the name of "fighting terrorism." Whenever I read about allegations of U.S. soldiers beating or killing Iraqi detainees - or even raping Iraqi women - in the back of my mind, I worry that these actions are being committed in revenge for 9/11. It must never be so. Never let the hatred of a people toward you move you to commit injustice. This is not condoning the injustice committed against Muslims or the acts of terror inflicted upon Americans across the world. But, we can never let those ugly facts lead us to do wrong. As the Qur'an says, "Help ye one another in righteousness and piety, but help ye not one another in sin and rancour." If they kill our women and children, it does not give us the right to kill their women and children. This applies whether the "they" are Muslim terrorists or American soldiers. An "eye for an eye," is not appropriate here. We must always remember the words of 5:8: "never let the hatred of a people toward you move you to commit injustice." It is perhaps the most profound statement in all of the Qur'an.

This is a point that I've made before myself:

It makes me depressed and angry when I see Muslims who commit wrongs to further their causes. They should remember that any victory they might gain in the world that was not by means that God has allowed will be made void by God on Judgment Day, and that is no victory at all but the ultimate loss. The only way to gain true victory is to obey the limits that God has set. Even if a people have been wronged, they need to seek restitution in the right way and not commit further wrongs themselves.

I wish that more Muslims and also non-Muslims (see here) would remember this.

clarifying Muslim abritration in Canada

Via email, Ikram Saeed let me know about Family Arbitration Using Sharia Law: Examining Ontario's Arbitration Act and its Impact on Women (PDF). This article does a lot to clear up some of the misunderstandings and misrepresentations that surround this issue. Ontario has an Arbitration Act that allows the parties in a civil dispute to use arbitration as a form of alternative dispute resolution rather than taking their case to court. The parties can select anybody they want as an arbitrator and the abitrator can use any method to arrive at a decision on the settlement, as long as the decision is not contrary to law or public policy. The parties may pick an arbitrator who is known to both of them and trust the arbitrator to use their best judgment. Or they can select as an arbitrator someone who promises to make their decision according to certain principles. It is this that makes it possible for the parties to choose as an arbitrator someone who promises to make their decision according to Islamic principles. It is also possible to choose an arbitrator who promises to make their decision according to the principles of Jewish law, and in fact the Jewish Beis Din or religious tribunal has been doing this since 1982. So the problem can hardly be Muslims wanting to resolve their disputes according to religious principles, when Jews have been doing so for more than 20 years (I should also point out that arbitration is a voluntary process and it is completely up to the parties to choose what form the arbitration will take; this is not an attempt to force Canadian courts to use Shari'a law or for non-Muslims to be subject to it, or any such ridiculous claim as I've seen made in some places). Or rather, that would only be a problem if some religions are more equal than others. A more genuine concern is whether some parties, particularly women, may be victimized by Muslim arbitration. Again, a lot of the commentary on this is distorted, assuming that there is one single interpretation of Islam or that all interpretations of Islam are hostile to women. As the article points out, neither of these facts is true. In fact, the real problem is that the Arbitration Act itself does not provide enough safeguards against injustice. It would be equally easy for an unjust decision to be made by a secular arbitrator, or during arbitration according to Jewish or other religious law. The article provides some examples of unjust non-Muslim cases. The solution is not to say that Muslims shouldn't be able to use religious-based arbitration if they want to (or, if religious-based arbitration should be forbidden, it should be forbidden for all religions), but rather to put safeguards in place so that no arbitration, including a Muslim one, can lead to an unjust decision.

some Islamic views on removing life support

Although most Muslim scholars believe that euthanasia in the form of actively helping a person to die is religiously forbidden in Islam, many of them distinguish between that and removing an artificial means of sustaining life. Here are some views on this issue that I found. Muzammil Siddiqui of the Fiqh Council of North America:

If, however, a number of medical experts determine that a patient is in a terminal condition, there is no hope for his/her recovery and all medication has become useless, then it could be permissible for them, through a collective decision, to stop the medication. If the patient is on life support, it may be permissible, with due consultation and care, to decide to switch off the life support machine and let nature take its own time. Under no condition it is permissible to induce death. As long as a person is alive, it is his/her right to be fed. Medical experts and relatives should not withhold nutrition from a living person. They should do their best to provide him/her with necessary nutrition by whatever method is possible.

Also:

Life support is a method for the treatment of a patient. If a patient is in a condition where the artificial life support can help improve his/her condition, then it should be used. However, if a group of doctors determine that there was no hope of any improvement in the condition of the patient or if the patient became brain-dead. In that case, if the doctors and the family members agree to take the patient off of the life support, then it can be removed. We should let nature take its own course and allow the person to expire according to their determined time by Allah.

European Council for Fatwa and Research:

As for facilitating death by withdrawing artificial resuscitating apparatus from the patient who is clinically regarded as "dead" or "practically dead" because of the damage to the brainstem or brain, with which human beings live and feel; if the action of the physician is merely stopping the treatment instruments, it will be no more than giving up the treatment, in which case his action is legal and permissible, bearing in mind that these instruments can preserve the apparent life of the patient - represented by breathing and circulation - though the patient is actually dead, for he cannot conceive, feel or be sensitive to anything because of the damage of the source of all that, namely the brain. Keeping the patient in that state would waste vital resources and would prevent other maybe curable patients from benefiting from the instruments being occupied for the practically dead patient.

Yusuf Qaradawi:

As for the suspension of medical treatment via preventing the patient from his due medication which is, from a medical perspective, thought to be useless, this is permissible and sometimes it is even recommended. Thus, the physician can do this for the sake of the patient's comfort and the relief of his family. Nothing is wrong in this, Insha' Allah (Allah willing)... ...But in cases when sickness gets out of hand, and recovery happens to be tied to miracle, in addition to ever-increasing pain, no one can say treatment then is obligatory or even recommended. Thus, the physician's act of stopping medication, which happens to be of no use, in this case may be justified, as it helps in mitigating some negative effects of medications, and it enhances death. But it's different from the controversial "Mercy Killing" as it does not imply a positive action on the part of the physician; rather, it is some sort of leaving what is not obligatory or recommended, and thus entails no responsibility. To conclude, the physician can practice this for the sake of the patient's comfort and the relief of his family. Nothing is wrong in this, Insha' Allah. If a patient is medically presumed dead through what is known as brain death, in the sense that he no longer has any feelings, switching off the life support may be permissible, with due consultation and care, especially when it's clear that the life support machine becomes of no use for the already-dead patient.

Pakistani scholar Moiz Amjad:

If a person can live only with the aid of artificial means, removing these artificial means, at the risk of the death of the individual, is not taking life - it is simply not sustaining it. Thus, if euthanasia means to stop sustaining life that can only be sustained through artificial means, then there is nothing wrong with it.

Abdul-Aziz Sachedina:

Similarly, in relation to withdrawing treatment, whether pursuant to a refusal of a death-delaying treatment or through a mutual and informed decision-making by patient, physician and other parties involved in providing care for the patient, although there is an intention to allow the person to die when it is certain that death will result from its omission, Islamic law regards it a non-culpable act. The reason is that delaying the inevitable death of the patient through life-sustaining treatment is regarded as being against the benefit of the patient. Moreover, the principle of `juristic preference' (istihsan=`to deem something preferable') protects the physician by authorizing departure from the already established ruling about the prohibition of allowing death to occur in order to avoid any rigidity and unfairness in recognizing the incurable preexisting conditions of the patient. Furthermore, by authorizing the removal of life-sustaining treatment in cases where it results merely in death-delaying procedure, the `juristic preference' serves the ideals of justice and public interest in a better way. In other words, enforcing the existing prohibition against allowing the patient to die could prove to be detrimental in certain situations, and a departure from it may be the only way of attaining a fair solution to a particular problem. Withdrawal of life-sustaining treatments in such cases is regarded as allowing inevitable death to take its natural course. Notwithstanding a fine line between having and not having an intention to cause the death in such omissions, Islamic law does not forbid withdrawal of the futile and disproportional treatment on the basis of the consent of the immediate family members who act upon the professional advice of the physician in charge of the case. Some Muslim jurists have recognized the validity of a competent patient's informed refusal of treatment or "advance directives" which allow the person to die under circumstances when there is no medical reason to continue treatment. However, even in such rare recognition of the patient's autonomy in Muslim culture, the law actually takes into consideration the patient's long term treatment relationship with a physician whose opinion, in the final analysis, serves as the grounds for turning off the respirator, for example. In this case, the death is regarded to have been caused by the person's underlying disease rather than the intentional act of turning off the respirator. The underlying principle in this ruling is that intention alone does not make an act culpable. The person's death is actually caused by the preexisting disease when the withdrawal of the treatment is justified through the expert opinion. In other words, the law does not regard withdrawal of the treatment as the cause of the person's death. This can be compared with giving a person a lethal injection. The injection is the sole cause of the person's death and is clearly regarded as the cause of this in fact and in law by Muslim jurists.

To the best of my understanding, this is the situation that Terri Schiavo is in; she has no higher brain function because the part of her brain that controls it has turned to fluid, and she is unable even to swallow food or water on her own so that artificial means of feeding her must be used. According to these scholars, to cease artificially sustaining life when there is no hope of recovery is permissible and may indeed be better for the patient and their family. And Allah SWT knows best. Added: I've added an additional quote above, from Sachedina. I found this via a post at alt.muslim, which notes that spokesmen for Muslim groups are failing to accurately convey the views of actual scholars on the issue but may be speaking from their own opinions.

the J-word

Mohamed from Cairo is only the latest Muslim to attempt to explain the meaning of the word jihad. Hellme takes it further. The word jihad means "struggle" in Arabic. One of the uses of the word (and there are certain Muslims who treat it like this is the only usage) is "armed struggle", i.e., war. However, there are other uses of the word as well to refer to other struggles in life. In Islamic religious discourse one of the major jihads or struggles that is discussed is jihad an-nafs, the struggle against one's inner self. This refers to the struggle against selfishness, caprice, and other shortcomings in order to become a better person. Just because you've only heard of one meaning for a word in a foreign language doesn't mean that's the only meaning it has to the people who speak that language. The concept is really not that difficult to understand when you think about it. :)

using Islam to help preserve the environment

Following up on previous posts Islamic environmentalism and Islam and the environment, here's an interesting story from the BBC: Eco-Islam hits Zanzibar fishermen.

The Koran is not widely known as a source of guidance on environmental and conservation issues, but that has not stopped one development organisation in Tanzania from using it to help conserve an island marine park. Fishing methods were destroying marine wildlife on the coral reef Religious leaders have been asked to promote conservation messages using the texts of the Koran - an approach which has proved a great deal more successful than government regulations... ...Once they realised that catches were falling dramatically, the non-governmental organisation Care International stepped in to persuade them to take better care of their environment - through a scheme based on Islamic principles. "People didn't experience environmental destruction in their areas until very recently," says Ali Thani, Care's project director. "And after what they are experiencing, they feel that Islamic environmental ethics might be better to create awareness in the community to protect their environment." These fishermen have learned the benefits of fishing in a sustainable manner without harming the island's bio-diversity... ...It is thought this is the first time the teachings of the Koran have been used in Tanzania to promote conservation. Local religious leaders like Shehe Mlekwa Lissani Bambi are now highlighting Islamic teachings about conservation in their sermons, though a certain amount of interpretation has been necessary, he says. "Everything we see in the world is in the Koran," he says. "We have not changed what is in it as this cannot be changed, but we are reading it with more knowledge. "We are the guardians of God's creation. He asks us to protect what he created and we can do this by looking after the environment."

An example of how Islamic teachings can help make the world a better place.

when bad things happen to good people

Here's an interesting article that looks at the ways that different religions respond to great natural disasters and tragedies like the tsunami. I think that all of the responses quoted are saying pretty much the same thing. For those who are curious, here's the Muslim response:

Hasem Bazian, a lecturer on Islam at UC Berkeley, quoted the prophet Hadith to me. "If God loves a servant, he sends tribulation upon him," echoing the story of Job from the Old Testament and similar parables from other religions. "In Islam, all those who die in a natural catastrophe die in a state of martyrdom," Bazian said. They are not held accountable for their sins in life; they are given passage directly into paradise. For those left behind, he said, a tragedy of this scope is a reminder of God's power and our own mortality. "It's a recognition of the need to walk lightly upon this Earth with a sense of humility and respect for the divine," Bazian said. "And to be thankful for the blessings you have." Baslim Elkarra of Sacramento, a Muslim with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said a colleague at CAIR in Maryland lost 30 family members in the tsunami. Elkarra has reminded himself of a passage in the Quran in which one line is repeated twice: "Verily with difficulty comes ease." "Life is not supposed to be easy," he said. "How we respond is the test of our faith. Here in the West people ask, 'How could God do this?' Over there, they turn to God even more, asking for his mercy."

The article also quotes responses from Sikhs, Roman Catholics, Hindus, and Baptists.

the Messiah Jesus son of Mary, peace be upon him

Jesus of Nazareth is the most widely revered religious figure in the World. Many in the West do not know that he is not only central to Christianity, World's largest religion; he is also revered throughout Islam, the world's second largest faith. Islam places Jesus Christ as one of the greatest messengers of God and Qur'an addresses him as The Messiah. Many Christians may be surprised to learn that Muslims believe in the Virgin Birth of Jesus and in his miracles. But this shared interest in his message goes much further. Jesus is the only prophet addressed by God in Qur'an as Ruhullah, meaning a spirit from God. Muslims believe that he was a symbol of austerity and humbleness and was extremely pious. He prayed to God in complete humility with his forehead touching the ground, asking His help and forgiveness. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) has described in great details the second coming of Jesus, prior to the destruction of the World. At that time, he will save the World from the excesses of Dajjal, commonly known in the west as Anti-Christ. Muslims in the World today are waiting anxiously for the coming back of the Messiah as several of Prophet Muhammad's (pbuh) prophecies about the end of the World (and Jesus' return) have already been fulfilled. Among the miracles of Jesus, according to Qur'an, is the curing of those born blind, healing the lepers and even bringing the dead back to life. Muslims believe in the chastity of Mary who as virgin gave birth to Jesus. Qur'an describes the miracle of Jesus who, as a newly born infant in the cradle, spoke out for the glory of his Lord and in defense of his mother to the people accusing her. And at another place in Qur'an, God addresses him: "O Jesus! I will take you and raise you to Myself and clear you of blaspheme. I will make your followers superior to those who reject faith until the Day of Resurrection, then you will all return to Me & I will judge in matters you differed" (Qur'an 3:55) Muslims revere Jesus as can be seen by the name Issa (Jesus) common among the Muslims. When the name of Jesus or of any other Prophet is mentioned in a conversation, you will see that many devout Muslims would quietly say, "Peace and blessings of God be upon him". When a film "Jesus Christ Superstar" was shown in a theatre in Karachi (Pakistan), the show had to be stopped due to protest by the Muslim audience, who in reverence to the great Prophet did not want that film to run in a Muslim country. It is not permitted in Islam to make pictures and statues of Jesus, as it is not permitted of any other prophets and saintly figures. A companion of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), Abu Dharr, once an extremely rich man who had given up all his wealth to poor after embracing Islam and totally devoted his life in pursuit of God, was compared by the Prophet to the likeness of Jesus. The Prophet said to other companions, "If you want to see the image of Jesus, look at Abu Dharr." Mary is considered the purest woman in all creation. The Quran describes the Annunciation as follows: 'Behold!' the Angel said, 'God has chosen you, and purified you, and chosen you above the women of all nations. O Mary, God gives you good news of a word from Him, whose name shall be the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, honored in this world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near to God. He shall speak to the people from his cradle and in maturity, and shall be of the righteous.' She said: 'O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man has touched me?' He said: 'Even so; God creates what He will. When He decrees a thing, He says to it, "Be!" and it is.' (Quran, 3:42-7) Qur'an describes the birth of Jesus in the following words: Surah (Chapter): Maryam 19:16. "And mention in the Book (The Qur'an, O Muhammad) about Mary when withdrew in seclusion from her family to a place in the East (Bethlehem). She placed a screen to hide herself from them; then We sent to her Our Ruh (Angel Gabriel), and he appeared before her in the form of a man in all respects. She said," I seek refuge with the Most Beneficent (Allah) from you if you do fear Allah". (The Angel) said," I am only a messenger from your Lord (to announce) to you the gift of a righteous son." She said," How can I have a son, when no man has touched me, nor am I unchaste?" He said," So it will be. Your Lord said: That is easy for Me: and We wish to appoint him as a sign unto men and a mercy from Us. It is a matter so decreed". So she conceived him, and she retired with him to a remote place. And the pains of childbirth drove her to a trunk of a palm tree: She cried in her anguish " Ah! Would that I had died before this! Would that I had been a thing forgotten and out of sight!" But a voice cried to her from beneath the Palm Tree," Grieve not! For your Lord has provided a rivulet beneath you. And shake towards yourself the trunk of the palm tree; it will let fall Fresh ripe dates upon you. So eat and drink and cool your eye. And if you do see any man, say " I have vowed a fast to Allah Most Gracious, and this day will I enter into no talk with any human being". At length she brought the babe to her people, carrying him in her arms. They said: " O Maryam, truly an amazing thing have you brought! O sister of Aaron! Your father was not a man of evil, nor your mother is a woman unchaste!" But she pointed to the Babe. They said," How can we talk to someone who is a child in the cradle?" He (Jesus) said," I am indeed a servant of Allah(the God): He has given me revelation and made me a Prophet; and He has made me blessed wheresoever I be, and has enjoined upon me prayer and charity as long as I live. He has made me kind to my mother, and not overbearing and miserable. So Peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I will die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life again!" SUCH WAS JESUS, the son of Mary. It is a statement of truth about which they vainly dispute. It is not befitting to the Majesty of Allah (The God) that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! When he determines a matter, He only says to it, "Be" -- and it is. Jesus said" Verily Allah (The God) is my Lord and your Lord. So worship Him alone. That is the straight path". --God has spoken the Truth. During his prophetic mission Jesus performed many miracles. The Qur'an tells us that he said: "I have come to you with a sign from your Lord: I make for you out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, and breathe into it and it becomes a bird by God's leave. And I heal the blind, and the lepers and I raise the dead by God's leave." (Qur'an, 3:49) The miraculous side of Jesus' story has greatly obscured his role as a prophet and a messenger of God, although there are more important questions for Muslims and Christians to ponder from the life of Jesus than whether he walked on water or raised the dead. In the Muslim view, Jesus' essential work was not to replicate magic bread or to test our credulity, but to complement the legalism of the Torah with a leavening compassion rarely expressed in the older testament. His actions and words introduce something new to monotheism: They develop the merciful spirit of God's nature. Jesus confirmed the Torah, stressing the continuity of his lineage, but he also developed the importance of compassion and self-purification as crucial links between learning the words of God's message and possessing the wisdom to carry it out. Qur'an says Jesus came... "To attest the law which was before me (Torah), And to make lawful to you part of what was forbidden you; I have come to you with a sign from your Lord, so fear God and obey me." (Qur'an, 3:50) (by Owais Bayunus, source)

Islamic rulings on warfare

The U.S. Army War College's Strategic Studies Institute has published a monograph called Islamic Rulings on Warfare (PDF), by Lieutenant Commander Youssef Aboul-Enein, a serving naval officer, and Professor Sherifa Zuhur, who is a visiting professor at the Army War College. The monograph provides an overview of Islamic rules relating to war and refutes the interpretations of militant groups, showing that in fact Islam condemns the terrorism that these groups advocate. Check it out! Added: This even got a little news coverage.

Islamic teachings on justice

I thought it would be good to post this as a reminder of what Islam actually teaches. Some highlights from What Does Islam Teach About Justice? by Khalid Baig:

Under normal circumstances many people can be just. But Islam commands its followers to be just even in the face of strong conflicting emotions. In dealing with other human beings, two major impediments to justice are love and hatred. See how the Qur'an teaches us to overcome the first impediment when we are dealing with our closest relatives or even ourselves. "O ye who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor: for Allah can best protect both. Follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest ye swerve, and if ye distort (justice) or decline to do justice, verily Allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do." [An-Nisa 4:35] Here is the resolution from the Qur'an of the perennial conflict between self-interest and justice. Be just, even if it is against your narrowly defined self-interest or of those very close to you. Ignorant people think they are protecting their self-interest by being unjust to others. Their decision to be just or unjust may be based on a cold calculation of self-interest. But real faith in Allah elevates one beyond that narrow-mindedness. These verses remind us that the real protector of interests of all people is also Allah and He will protect us when we follow His command to be just. The justice demanded by Islam permits no favoritism. The other equally potent impediment is hatred. Here again Qur'an commands: "O ye who believe! Stand out firmly for Allah, as witnesses to fair dealing, and let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just: that is next to Piety: and fear Allah. For Allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do." [Al-Maidah 5:8] In other words you cannot do injustice even when you are dealing with the enemy. The natural, uneducated, and uncivilized tendency is to treat the enemy as less than a human being; one who has no rights and deserves no justice or fairness. It was as true in the pre-Islamic tribal jahilya (based on ignorance) society as it is today. See how Islam directly curbs it. It is a command to the believers, with a reminder that Allah is watching you, that enmity of others cannot be used as an excuse for committing injustices against them.

O Muslims, stand up for justice!