ACCORDING
TO
THE
STANDARDS OF QUR’AN
OLD AND
NEW TESTAMENT
ABOUT LIFE, HUMAN BEINGS
AND WOMEN
·
All is vanity
“Vanity
of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What do
people gain from all the toil at which they toil under the sun? ...
All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full … there is nothing new
under the sun … I … applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom
all that is done under heaven; it is an unhappy business that God has given to
human beings to be busy with. [1]
I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun; and see, all is vanity and a
chasing after wind… For in much wisdom is much vexation, and those who increase
knowledge increase sorrow.”[2]
·
Pleasure is also vanity
“I said
to myself, ‘Come now, I will make a test of pleasure; enjoy yourself.’ But
again, this also was vanity. … I searched with my mind how to cheer my body
with wine—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly,
until I might see what was good for mortals to do under heaven during the few
days of their life. … This also is vanity … Then I said to myself, ‘What
happens to the fool will happen to me also; why then have I been so very wise?
And I said to myself that this also is vanity … How can the wise die just like
fools? So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me;
for all is vanity and a chasing after wind.”[3]
·
There is no difference between human beings and
animals
“What
gain have the workers from their toil? I have seen the business that God has
given to everyone to be busy with … I know that whatever God does endures for
ever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done
this, so that all should stand in awe before him. That which is, already has
been; that which is to be, already is; and God seeks out what has gone by …
said in my heart with regard to human beings that God is testing them to show
that they are but animals. For the fate of humans and the fate of animals is
the same … humans have no advantage over the animals[4]…
Who knows whether the human spirit goes upwards and the spirit of animals goes
downwards to the earth?[5]
·
“Drink your wine... for God has
long ago approved what you do.”
“...the
same fate comes to all, to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the
evil. As are the good, so are the sinners … Go, eat your bread with enjoyment,
and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has long ago approved what you
do.”[6]
·
“Handicapped people ruin holiness.”
“Speak to
Aaron and say: No one of your offspring throughout their generations who has a
blemish may approach to offer the food of his God. For no one who has a blemish
shall draw near, one who is blind[7]
or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long, or one who has a
broken foot or a broken hand, or a hunchback, or a dwarf, or a man with a
blemish in his eyes or an itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles. … he has a blemish, that he may not profane
my sanctuaries …”[8]
·
The lame and the blind, those whom
David hates
“David
had said on that day, ‘Whoever wishes to strike down the Jebusites, let him get
up the water shaft to attack the lame and the blind, those whom David hates.’
Therefore it is said, ‘The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.”[9]
·
“Much study is a weariness of the flesh”
“... Of making many books there is no end and
much study is a weariness of the flesh. [10]
·
“Woman was made from the rib of man” [11]
“And the
rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought
her to the man.”[12]
·
“Women
pervert men”
“But the
Lord God called to the man, and said to him, ‘Where are you? … Have you eaten
from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?’ The man said, ‘The woman
whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.’ [13]
Then the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this that you have done? [14]
… Among his wives were seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines;[15]
and his wives turned away his heart.”[16]
·
“Motherhood is a punishment for women” [17]
“To the
woman he said, ‘I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing; in
pain you shall bring forth children...”[18]
·
“Whoever or whatever
touches a woman who is having menstrual period shall be unclean “[19]
“When a
woman has a discharge of blood that is her regular discharge from her body, she
shall be in her impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be
unclean until the evening.”[20]
·
Being virgin[21]
“He shall marry only a woman who is a virgin.
A widow, or a divorced woman … he shall not marry. [22]
He shall marry a virgin of his own kin.”[23]
·
If she is not virgin…
“If, however, this charge is true, that
evidence of the young woman’s virginity was not found, then they shall bring
the young woman out to the entrance of her father’s house and the men of her
town shall stone her to death…”[24]
·
The situation of a engaged
virgin who is raped
“If there is a young woman, a
virgin already engaged to be married, and a man meets her in the town and lies
with her, you shall bring both of them to the gate of that town and stone them
to death, the young woman because she did not cry for help in the town and the
man because he violated his neighbour’s wife. So you shall purge the evil from
your midst. But if the man meets the engaged woman in the open country and
the man seizes her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall
die. You shall do nothing to the young woman; the young woman has not committed
an offence punishable by death, because this case is like that of someone who
attacks and murders a neighbour. Since he found her in the open country, the
engaged woman may have cried for help, but there was no one to rescue her.”[25]
·
If a virgin who isn’t engaged is raped
“If a man meets a virgin who is
not engaged, and seizes her and lies with her, and they are caught in the act,
the man who lay with her shall give fifty shekels of silver to the young
woman’s father, and she shall become his wife. Because he violated her he shall
not be permitted to divorce her as long as he lives.”[26]
·
The women whose husband dies will marry her
brother-in-law
“When brothers reside together, and one of
them dies and has no son, the wife of the deceased shall not be married outside
the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her, taking her
in marriage, and performing the duty of a husband’s brother to her, and the
firstborn whom she bears shall succeed to the name of the deceased brother, so
that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. But if the man has no
desire to marry his brother’s widow, then his brother’s widow shall go up to
the elders at the gate and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to perpetuate his
brother’s name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband’s brother
to me.’ Then the elders of his town shall summon him and speak to him. If he
persists, saying, ‘I have no desire to marry her’, then his brother’s wife
shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, pull his sandal off his foot,
spit in his face, and declare, ‘This is what is done to the man who does not
build up his brother’s house.’ Throughout Israel his family shall be known as
‘the house of him whose sandal was pulled off.” [27]
“Anyone
who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery[29],
and whoever marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.”[30]
·
“Woman’s heart is
snares and nets and hands are fetters”
“I found
more bitter than death the woman who is a trap, whose heart is snares and nets,
whose hands are fetters; one who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is
taken by her.” [31]
·
“How can one born of
woman be pure?”[32]
“What are
mortals, that they can be clean? Or those born of woman, that they can be
righteous?” [33]
·
“Women cannot wear men’s clothing” [34]
“A woman shall not wear a man’s apparel, nor
shall a man put on a woman’s garment; for whoever does such things is abhorrent
to the Lord your God.”[35]
·
“If a woman prays with her head unveiled his
head should be shaved”
… any
woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled disgraces her head—it is
one and the same thing as having her head shaved. For if a woman will not veil
herself, then she should cut off her hair[36]…
is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head unveiled? … Does not
nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair, it is degrading to him,
but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for
a covering. [37]
·
Woman was created for the sake of
man
“… Woman is the reflection of man.[38]
Indeed, man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man
created for the sake of woman, but woman for the sake of man.” [39]
·
A woman should be informative
“Let a woman learn in silence with full
submission. I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she is
to keep silent” [40]
·
Women are not permitted to speak in the church [41]
“… women should be silent in the churches. For
they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate, as the law also
says. If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husbands at
home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.” [42]
·
Younger widows like gadding about
from house to house and saying what they should not say
“Therefore
encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing. Final
Exhortations, Greetings, and Benediction But we appeal to you,
brothers and sisters, to respect those who labour among you, and have charge of
you in the Lord and admonish you; esteem them very highly in love because of
their work. Be at peace among yourselves.” [43]
Yusuf Ulucan
Translation: H. Neslihan Demiriz
[1] “Get wisdom and
enlightenment” are encouraged in Qur’an and hadith. Human beings’ thinking
about how they created and what is happening around them is not vanity, it is
rather considered as “a missing belonging”.
[2] Ecclesiastes: 1 / 1 – 18
[3] Ecclesiastes: 2 / 1 – 26
(abridged).
[4] According to Islam “human”
is the most esteemed and the most prominent of all the created.”
[5] Ecclesiastes: 3 / 1 – 22
(abridged)
[6] Ecclesiastes: 9 / 2, 7
[7] In Qur’an despisement of
handicapped people is strictly censured. Even Muhammad’s (PBUH) being
indifferent to a blind for a short while is criticized. [Look: Abese (80): 1 – 6]
[8] Leviticus: 21 /16 – 24
(abridged)
[9] 2 Samuel : 5 / 8
[10] Ecclesiastes: 12 /12
[11] In Qur’an there isn’t an
open expression about the fact that woman is created from the rib of the man.
When some of the glossators interpret the first ayah of surah of Nisa (4), “O
mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its
mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women”, they use same
expressions in The Bible and show the Summary of Tajrid al-Sarih Translation of
Sahih al-Bukhari as reference (Turkish Religious Foundation Press Hadith number
1816). The meaning of this hadith is “O you believers! I want yo to be
beneficial to women. Women were created from the rib of the men. The most
crooked part of this bone is the top. If you try to straighten it, you will
break it. If let it alone, it will be always crooked. Therefore, I will you to
be beneficial to them.” Maududi
who interprets the ayah of Nisa thinks that how the woman was created is
indefinite and the above-mentioned hadith has a different meaning Tafheem-al-Qur’an, Therefore, there
isn’t an open expression in Qur’an about the creation of woman from the rib of
man; the hadith implies that women have a more fragile temperament.
[12]Genesis: 2/22
[13]According to Qur’an Adam
and Eve are deceived by Satan. (Baqarah (2):36)
[14] Genesis: 3 / 9 – 13
[15]It is wondered what people
who disagree with the rare and personal polygamy cases say about this
exaggerated number of wives.
[16] 1 Kings:11 /3
[17]In the next part of the
sentence Adam is reprehended for listening to what her wife told him. On the
other hand, in Qur’an the punishment for eating the fruit of the prohibited
tree is declared as “being enemies to one another and sending down to Earth”
(Baqarah (2): 35 – 36) and then the fact that after having regretted what they
had done their repentance was accepted. In The Bible besides their repentance
is not mentioned and Qur’an doesn’t include any expression like “motherhood is
a punishment for women”.
[18] Genesis: 3 /16
[19] According to Islamic
Taharat Law a woman who is having her menstrual period cannot pray, fast,
circumambulate the Kaaba, read or recite Qur’an, have a sexual relationship
with her husband (Baqarah (2):222). The fact that anyone who touches her or
anything she touches is dirty cannot be questioned.
[20] Leviticus: 15 /19
[21] It isn’t mandatory for a
Muslim man to marry someone from his race. Actually some of the Muslim scholars
say that an Arabic man cannot be the equal to a non- Arabic woman when
discussing the subjects of equivalence in marriage. However, this thesis does
not reflect the facts of Qur’an and sunnah. The 13th ayah of Hujurat
(49) [ Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most
righteous of you.] was sent after the question of “Can we let our daughters marry slaves?”
posed to Muhammad.
[22] Muhammad (PBUH) states
that the first thing a man should seek in a woman is piousness (being religious
and ethical) (Look: Sahih al-Bukhari Tajrid al-Sarih Translation Hadith No:
1793). According to this a Muslim man can marry a religious widow. Thus,
Muhammad married an elderly widow in his first marriage. However, a man may
want to marry a virgin.
[23] Leviticus: 21 / 13 – 14
[24]Deuteronomy: 22 /20 – 21
[25] Deuteronomy: 22 /23 – 27
[26] Deuteronomy: 22 /28 – 29
[27]Deuteronomy: 25 / 5 – 10
[28] These expressions are like
the sentences from Matthew (19/9): “And I say to you, whoever divorces his
wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery.”
[29] Divorce of married couples
is described as “the most hated thing by Allah is divorce” by Muhammad (PBUH).
However, divorce is regarded as a solution for a problematic marriage in
Islamic Marriage Law. Marrying someone else after a divorce is not adultery
according to Islam.
[30] Luke: 16 / 18
[31] Ecclesiastes: 7 /26
[32]Similar expressions take
place in The Book of Psalms as well. (144/3) According to Islamic sources
“human being is the most esteemed and honoured of all created.”
[33] Job: 15/14, 25/4
[34] “The attempt of a woman to
look like a man and vice versa” is strictly forbidden in some of the Islamic
sources.
[35] Deuteronomy: 22 / 5
[36] Women’s covering their
heads and being careful about themselves is an order in Qur’an. [Nur (24): 31]. But if a woman doesn’t do
this “his hair won’t be cut”.
[37] Corinthians: 11/3 – 15
(abridged).
[38]The fact that “Men are in
charge of women” is also emphasised in Qur’an. [al-Nisa (4): 34] Besides, “spouses are
defined as clothing for each other” [al-Baqarah (2): 187].
[39] Corinthians: 11/7 – 9
[40] 1 Timothy: 2/11 – 12
[41]The bans except the one for
preach in the church for women were abolished by the Catholics in the Second
Ecumenical Council of the Vatican
of 1962 – 1965. Bans like these were not applied by the Protestants. And
according to the Islamic sources except the fact that “women cannot be an imam
(Muslim religious leader or priest in a mosque) to men” women can enter
mosques, can preach, and can teach.
[42] Corinthians: 14/34 – 35
[43]1 Timothy: 5 / 11 – 13
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