SHIA + SUNNI = MUSLIMS=ISLAMIC UNITY=LIGHT OF THE WORLD
The centuries-old Shia-Sunni differences are the major obstacle to Muslim unity. The enemies of Islam to their benefit have always fanned these differences. Unfortunately, some so-called Muslim scholars on their payroll have also played a key role in keeping these differences alive.
Although I was born into a Sayyid Sunni family, I did not know of many differences while growing up as a child. Our families always respected Imam Hussain (peace be upon him) and his parents and participated in ceremonies marking the anniversary of his martyrdom (the 10th day of the month of Muharram which is called Ashura) by reciting the first chapter of the Quran (al-Fatihah) and other chapters and verses of the Quran and fasted on the ninth and tenth days of that month.
Now when I give lectures on Islam to non-Muslims, one of the questions they always ask me is if I am Shia or Sunni. I ask them if they know the difference. They have no knowledge, other than what has been given to them by the media. So they say Shias are the ones who are the bad guys, the militant version of Islam, and cause all the trouble in the Middle East these days.
These non-Muslim American audiences of mine are surprised to learn that some of the known tyrants like Saddam Hussain and troublemakers like the PLO and Hamas are all Sunnis, just as they are surprised to learn that Tariq Aziz (Iraq’s Foreign Minister) was Christian and not a Muslim.
This is what I say to them about Shi’ites.”If Ali Ibn Talib (cousin of Prophet Muhammad) was a Shia, then I am a Shia. If he was a Sunni, then I am a Sunni [i.e., a follower of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)]. In Islam there are five recognized schools of Divine Law: 1) Hanafi; 2) Shafi; 3) Maliki; 4) Hambali and 5) Jafari.
The first four are called Sunni, and the fifth one, who in addition to following sayings and actions of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), also follows those of Ali and consider him as the rightful successor of the Prophet, are called Shia. The first four have many major theological differences among themselves and according to a Christian friend of mine, “The only time Sunnis are united is when they are fighting Shias.” Shi’ism started as a political movement (Shia means follower or partisan) to help Ali become successor of Muhammad (PBUH).
Around every successful popular figure, there are some admirers whose own future interests rest with the rise of their leader. Thus in Indiana, we have “Friends of Lugar Club”, who are hoping that some day Senator Richard Lugar will become a US President. Nationally, we now have a “Hillary Rodham Clinton Fan Club” with 4,000 members! Thus, there were the Followers of Ali Club, which later on became a political movement. During the initial battles with unbelievers, Ali, the Sword of Islam, was in the forefront and defeated and killed many of their leaders whose children and grandchildren, even when they became Muslims, always remembered who killed their father (animosity).
Ali was raised by Prophet Muhammad as a child so he knew Islam very well. Thus, when he became a judge, his judgments were based on strict Islamic principles, much to the disappointment of many who expected him to be lenient to the rich and powerful. He was so well respected and trusted by both Caliph Abu Bakr and Umar, that in difficult cases they asked his opinion.
End Bigotry: First Muslim, then Shia or Sunni
Nevertheless, I tell my non-Muslim audience that both Shia and Sunni have many things in common. They both believe in One God (Allah), follow the same Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as the last Prophet, offer five daily-prescribed prayers, perform the prescribed fast in the month of Ramadan, go to Mecca for the pilgrimage (hajj), read the same Quran, and pay the poor-due.
However, my answers can only satisfy my uninformed non-Muslim audience. The Sunni brothers, misguided by western propaganda, who are ready to embrace non-Muslims (especially the white ones), in the pretext of invitation to Islam, will not do so for Shia. They are ignorant Sunnis. Our job as a missionary should be to invite both groups to the true Islam and not chase them out. There is a movement in the Sunni world to have Shias labeled as disbelievers. I have been told that Shaykh Bin Baz of Saudi Arabia has declared an edict that the meat of the People of Book (Jews and Christians) is permissible for Sunni Muslims to eat but not the meat slaughtered by Shias.
There are scholars on both sides, like Imam Khomeini and Shaykh Shaltut of al-Azhar who have done their best to minimize these differences and bring unity, but it is not working due to the misinformation prevailing in the common masses of Sunnis about Shi’ism. Thus I am listing their misconceptions of Shia belief and practices. For answers, I have consulted two Shia scholars in America. Dr. A. S. Hashim of Washington and Imam Muhammad Ali Elahi of Detroit.
Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr wrote to me “to ignore and not waste time in responding to such wrong allegations.” He also mentioned that “a great deal of money and effort is being spent in the last few years to fan the fire of hatred between Shia and Sunni in the Persian Gulf region with obvious political and economical fruits for powers to-be.” However, in the interest of Islamic unity, I must deal with the questions rather than shun them. Please note that Imam Jafar (peace be upon him), founder of the Shia school of law, was the teacher of Imam Abu-Hanifa (peace be upon him).
Misconception #1: Shias have a different Quran. They add another 10 chapters to the original Quran.
Response: Not true. I have checked many times Quran kept in Shia homes and mosques. I still find it the same as the original Quran. More recently, I took care of an Iranian lady patient hospitalized here. I saw a copy of the Quran by her side. I borrowed it from her and browsed through cover-to-cover. In Arabic it was the same as our Quran. Of course, since I did not know the Persian language, I can’t say much about the translation. It is a sin to even say that the Quran can be changed or added to by Shia when God protects it. Misconception #2: Some Shia considers Ali as God.
Response: Not true. It is disbelief to even think of such a thing. During the time of Ali, some pagan groups called Gholat did consider Ali as Lord. When he found out, they were burned to death. Misconception #3: Shias have different declarations of faith and they add to the call to prescribed prayer.
Response: The declaration to become a Muslim, as administered to non-Muslims, is the same. Some Shia add to themselves, “Ali is a friend of God (PBUH) or Ali is a spiritual leader of God,” after the call to prescribed prayer, but not as part of the call to prescribed prayer. Misconception #4: Shias do not perform Sunnah prayers. Sunnah prayers are non-obligatory prayers performed by Prophet Muhammad.
Response: Shias do perform non-obligatory prayers, 36 cycles per day in total, but call it Nawafil and not Sunnah. Misconception #5: Some Shia believes the Angel Gabriel made a mistake and prophet hood was meant for Ali and not Muhammad (PBUH).
Response: Not true. No Shia thinks of such false claims. “Only demented minds think of such questions.” Misconception #6: Shias slander and ridicule the first three caliphs (Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman) and Prophet Muhammad’s wife, Ayisha.
Response: Shia considers the first three caliphs as companions and administrators, but not spiritual leaders (Imams). Imam Jafar Sadiq, whose mother and grandmother came from the line of Abu Bakr, said of Abu Bakr, “He gave me birth twice.” Ayisha is respected by Shias as the”Mother of Believers,” as Ali respected her when he sent her back from Basra to Madinah after the Battle of the Camel. If some Shia do slander the three caliphs and Ayisha, they do it out of ignorance and should ask God’s forgiveness. (As we have witnessed how Imam Khomeini The Shia bravely declared death of Salman Rushdie -The author of Satanic Verses who abused the wife of Prophet Ayesha and Shia Leader declared blasphemy, just for his Fatwa the whole western countries became against Iran. See how much price did Shia pay to defend Ayesha – while Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE etc. etc. as the Sunni government were silent they did not defend Ayesha. Now who loves Ayesha?) Misconception # 7: Shias combine all five prayers into one prayer in the evening.
Response: Not true. In Shia mosques, whether in Iran or the USA, all five daily prayers are performed. Shia do combine noon and afternoon and evening and night, but Shia scholars recommend performing them separately. Such combinations may not be ideal, but better than not praying at all. How can a Sunni who does not pray at all be better than a Shia who combines prayers? Misconception # 8: Shias do not pay zakat (poor-due).
Response: Not true. They not only pay 2.5% left over from savings as zakat, but also an additional 20% as Khums or general charity. However, they prefer to pay directly to the needy rather than corrupt Sunni government. Misconception #9: Shias practice temporary marriages (Mutah).
Response: Mutah (temporary marriages) was allowed during the time of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and he himself practiced it. Ibn Zubayr was born out of the temporary marriage. Later on Caliph Umar prohibited it due to social reasons as the Islamic world was rapidly expanding. Shias discourage Mutah but do not consider it prohibited. Some do abuse this. As a temporary privilege during travel, it is better than adultery. Misconception #10: They consider Imams infallible and above the Prophets.
Response: Not true. All prophets are born Prophet but as mentioned in Quran about Abraham that after passing the test, a prophet becomes a leader (Imam). Muhammad (PBUH) is the Prophet (Nabi), Messenger (Rasul) and leader (Imam). Imams are carriers of the message of Islam. Shias consider Ali only as an Imam and not prophet.
With the little knowledge I have, I have tried to do my best as a Sunni in defending my Shia brothers in Islam with the hope and prayer to God Almighty that He will “instill love in the heart of the believers” and bring us closer to each other so that we jointly can fight our common enemy, Satan and his followers.
May God forgive my mistakes in this article and this book (Amin).
“Knowledge is better than wealth because it protects you while you have to guard wealth. It decreases if you keep on spending it but the more you make use of knowledge, the more it increases. What you get through wealth disappears as soon as wealth disappears but what you achieve through knowledge will remain even after you.”
Dr. Shahid Athar M.D. is Clinical Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Endocrinology, Indiana University School of Medicine Indianapolis, Indiana, and a writer on Islam.
Q. Why is a man allowed to marry more than one wife in Islam? Or why is polygamy allowed in Islam?
Answer:
1. Definition of Polygamy : Polygamy means a system of marriage whereby one person has more than one spouse. Polygamy can be of two types. One is polygyny where a man marries more than one woman, and the other is polyandry, where a woman marries more than one man. In Islam, limited polygyny is permitted and polyandry is completely prohibited. Now coming to the original question, why is a man allowed to have more than one wife?
2. Qur’an is the only religious scripture in the world that says ‘marry only one’ Qur’an is the only religious book, on the face of this earth, that contains the phrase ‘marry only one’. There is no other religious book that instructs men to have only one wife. In none of the religious scriptures like the Vedas, the Ramayan, the Mahabharat, the Geeta or the Bible does one find a restriction on the number of wives. According to these scriptures one can marry as many as one wishes. It was only later, that the Hindu priests and the Christian Church restricted the number of wives to one.
Many Hindu religious personalities, according to their scriptures, had multiple wives. King Dashrat, the father of Rama, had more than one wife. Krishna had several wives. In earlier times, Christian men were permitted as many wives as they wished, since the Bible puts no restriction on the number of wives. It was only a couple of centuries ago that the Church restricted the number of wives to one.
Polygyny is permitted in Judaism. According to Talmudic law, Abraham had 2 wives, and Solomon had hundreds of wives. The practice of polygyny continued till Rabbi Gershom ben Yehudah. (960 A.D to 1030 A.D) issued an edict against it. The Jewish Sephardic communities living in Muslim countries continued the practice till as late as 1950, when an Act of the chief Rabbinate of Israel extended the ban on marrying more than one wife.
3. Hindus are more polygamous than Muslims The report of the ‘Committee of The Status of Woman in Islam’, published in 1975 mentions on page numbers 66,67 that the percentage of polygamous marriages between the year 1951 -1961 was 5.06 among the Hindus and only 4.31 among the Muslims. According to Indian law only Muslim men are permitted to have more than one wife. It is illegal for any non-Muslim in India to have more than one wife. Despite it being illegal, Hindus have more multiple wives as compared to the Muslim. One can imagine what would have been the percentage of polygamous marriages among the Hindus if the Indian government had made it legal for them. Earlier, there was no restriction even on Hindu men with respect to the number of wives allowed. It was only in 1954, when the Hindu Marriage Act was passed that it became illegal for a Hindu to have more than one wife. At present it is the Indian Law that restricts a Hindu man from having more than one wife and not the Hindu scriptures. Let us now analyse why Islam allows a man to have more than one wife.
4. Qur’an permits limited polygyny As I mentioned earlier, Qur’an is the only religious book on the face of the earth that says ‘marry only one’. The context of this phrase is the following verse from Surah Nisa of the Glorious Qur’an: ‘Marry woman of your choice in twos’ threes’ or fours’ but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly, (with them), then only one’ [Al-Qur’an 4:3]
Before the Qur’an was revealed, there was no upper limit for polygyny and many men had scores of wives, some even hundreds. Islam put an upper limit of four wives. Islam gives a man permission to marry two, three or four women, only on the condition that he deals with them justly. In the same chapter i.e. Surah Nisa verse 129 says: ‘It is very difficult to be just and fair between women’. [Al-Qur’an (4:129)]
Therefore polygyny is not a rule but an exception. Many people are under the misconception that it is compulsory for a Muslim man to marry more than one wife.
Broadly, Islam has five categories of Do’s and Dont’s.
(i) ‘Farz’ i.e compulsory
(ii) ‘Mustahab’ i.e recommended or encouraged
(iii) ‘Mubah’ i.e permissible
(iv) ‘Makruh’ i.e ‘not recommended’ or discouraged
(v) ‘Haram’ i.e prohibited or forbidden
Polygyny falls in the middle category of things that are permissible. It cannot be said that a Muslim who has two, three or four wives is a better Muslim as compared to a Muslim who has only one wife.
5. Average life span of females is more than that of males By nature males and females are born in approximately the same ratio. During paediatric age however, in childhood itself a female child has more immunity than a male child. A female child can fight the germs and diseases better than the male child. For this reason, there are more deaths among males as compared to the females during paediatric age.
During wars, there are more men killed as compared to women. More men die due to accidents and diseases than women. The average life span of females is more than that of males, and at any given time one finds more widows in the world than widowers.
6. India has more male population than female due to female foeticide and infanticide. India is one of the few countries, along with the other neighbouring countries, in which the female population is less than the male population. The reason lies in the high rate of female infanticide in India, and the fact that more than one million female foetuses are aborted every year in this country, after they are identified as females. If this evil practice is stopped, then India too will have more females as compared to males.
7. World female population is more than male population In the USA, women outnumber men by 7.8 million. New York alone has one million more females as compared to the number of males, and of the male population of New York one-third are gays i.e sodomites. The USA as a whole has more than twenty-five million gays. This means that these people do not wish to marry women. Great Britain has four million more females as compared to males. Germany has five million more females as compared to males. Russia has nine million more females than males. God alone knows how many million more females there are in the whole world as compared to males.
8. Restricting each and every man to have only one wife is not practical Even if every man got married to one woman, there would still be more than thirty million more females in USA who would not be able to get husbands (considering that America has twenty five million gays). There would be more than four million females in Great Britain 5 million females in Germany and nine million females in Russia alone who would not be able to find a husband.
Suppose my sister happens to be one of the unmarried women living in USA, or suppose your sister happens to be one of the unmarried women in USA. The only two options remaining for her are that she either marries a man who already has a wife or becomes public property. There is no other option. I have posed this question to hundreds of non-Muslims and all opted for the first. However a few smart people before accepting, said they would prefer their sisters to remain virgins. Biologically, it is not possible for an average man or a woman to remain celibate throughout life. It may be possible in exceptional cases of one in ten thousand. In the vast majority, the person either gets married or performs illicit sex or indulges in other sexual perversions. Sex hormones are released in the adult body every day. That is the reason why Islam has prohibited monasticism.
In Western society it is common for a man to have mistresses and/or multiple extra-marital affairs, in which case, the woman leads a disgraceful, unprotected life. The same society, however, cannot accept a man having more than one wife, in which women retain their honourable, dignified position in society and lead a protected life.
Thus the only two options before a woman who cannot find a husband is to marry a married man or to become public property. Islam prefers giving women the honourable position by permitting the first option and disallowing the second. There are several other reasons, why Islam has permitted limited polygyny, but it is mainly to protect the modesty of women.
Hats Off to Judge Kamini Lau of India for Beating Muslim “Mullas,” in Correct Interpretation of Islamic Jurisprudence
Quran does not encourage polygamy: Court
Judge Kamini Lau of India, as Muslims, we salute you for correctly interpreting Al-Quran.
The court said that the practice of polygamy has been regulated or abolished in many Muslim states/nations and it cannot be encouraged in a liberal democracy like India.
NEW DELHI: The Holy Quran permits a Muslim man to marry more than one woman at a time but does not encourage such behaviour, a trial court has observed.
The court made these comments while denying anticipatory bail to a maulvi, who is accused of performing a girl’s marriage forcibly with a married man, and added that the Sharia law allows polygamy but only under special circumstances.
“I may observe that even in countries governed by Sharia (Islamic) law, the second marriage is permitted under special circumstances such as an illness of the first wife or her inability to bear children. In these cases, with the first wife’s consent, a man may marry again and this is referred to as polygamy, a subset of polygamous marriages. The Holy Quran permits a Muslim man to marry more than one woman at a time (up to a maximum of four), but does not encourage such behaviour,” additional sessions judge Kamini Lau said while dismissing the arguments of Maulvi Mustafa Raja of Delhi, who said that as per Sharia law, a man is allowed to keep four wives at a time.
In its order, the court said that the practice of polygamy has been regulated or abolished in many Muslim states/nations and it cannot be encouraged in a liberal democracy like India. “In the secular states of the Muslim world such asTurkey and Tunisia, polygamy is illegal in any form. Even in the nations where it is permitted, polygamy is only practised by a small minority.”
The judge also observed that polygamy is permissible in Sharia law “as a part of social duty and charitable motives or when it seeks to prevent destitution.”
It said polygamy is only permitted in certain circumstances, including when the husband’s death has left his wife with no other means of support.
According to the police, Raja had forcibly got the girl married with accused Nadeem Khan last year without her consent and also in her parents’ absence and that the victim was raped by her alleged husband.
Islam lived on in Brunei till today and with the Constitution in 1959, Islam became Brunei’s Official Religion.
The golden history of Islam in Brunei
A man with his son heading to Jame Asr’ Hassanil Bolkiah to attend the Friday prayers. Muslim men are obligated to participate in Friday prayers, also known as Jumu’ah. Pictures: BT/Rudolf Portillo and Raul Padernal
IT has been debated when Islam actually first arrived in Brunei. A number of relics showed that Islam could actually be practised in Brunei by the 12th century.
Amongst these were tombstones found in the various Islamic graveyards in Brunei particularly the one at Rangas which showed one with a Chinese Muslim by the name of Pu Kung Chih-mu. He was buried there in 1264. This is more than a hundred years earlier before the conversion of Awang Alak Betatas as the Islamic Sultan Muhammad Shah, the first Sultan of Brunei.
Pu is the common surname which according to Chinese historians identified them as someone who is a Muslim. The tombstone also identified Pu Kung Chih-mu as one who had originated from Chuan-chou City in China. During the Sung Dynasty, Arab and Persian Traders flocked to the Kwang Chow (Canton) in Kwangtung Province and Chuan-chou in Fukien Province.
It was not the only Chinese Muslim grave there. In another grave nearby belonged to another Chinese Muslim by the name of Li Chia-tzu from Yung Chun (Fukian) who died in 1876. Yung Chun is also another city in China where Muslim travellers frequently trade.
According to Chinese records, stated in the “Notes on the Malay Archipelago and Malacca Compiled From Chinese Sources” written by WP Groeneveldt in 1880, one Chinese Islamic trader arrived in Brunei in the 10th century. His name was P’u-lu-shieh. He was both a trader and a diplomat. SQ Fatimi writing in the Sociological Research Institute in Singapore in 1963 under an article entitled “Islam Comes to Malaysia”, P’u-lu-shieh name is akin to Abu al-Layth.
The Brunei King at that time was named Hiang-ta. The arrival of the diplomat-trader from China was greeted with great ceremony. If this is so, Islam has actually arrived in Brunei in the year of 977.
One may discount the fact that the Muslim diplomat-trader did not do anything in Brunei but merely brought greetings and therefore one should not read too much into this. However the interesting thing was that the Brunei King’s delegation to China to return the Emperor’s greetings was headed by another Muslim by the name of P’u A-li (Abu Ali).
Based on this fact alone, Abu Ali must have held an important position in the Brunei Government if he was tasked to be Brunei’s Ambassador in those days and even if the King of Brunei then was not himself a Muslim, some members of his royal court were Muslims.
A number of European historians claimed that Brunei was still not a Muslim nation until the 15th century. However, the Ming Shih, Book 325, a Chinese reference book noted that the King of Brunei in 1370 was Ma-ho-mo-sa. Some say that this should be read as Mahmud Shah. But local Brunei historians take this to refer to “Muhammad Shah” the first Islamic Sultan of Brunei.
Robert Nicholl, a former Brunei Museum Curator argued in another paper entitled “Notes on Some Controversial Issues in Brunei History” in 1980 that the name Ma-ho-mo-sa could be pronounced as Maha Moksha which means Great Eternity. Maha Mokhsa would make it a Buddhist name. Nicholl goes on to argue that even the Brunei Sultan who died in Nanjing in 1408 was not a Muslim. Another European Historian, Pelliot, Ma-na-jo-kia-nai-nai was reconstituted as Majarajah Gyana (nai). But the closest title would have been Maharaja Karna. However Brunei historians have stated that the King was Sultan Abdul Majid Hassan who would have been the second Sultan of Brunei.
Nicholl further argued that Sultan Muhammad Shah converted to Islam as late as the 16th century and not during the 14th century as is widely known. However according to Brunei historians, Sultan Muhammad Shah converted to Islam in 1376 and that he ruled until 1402. After which time, it was Sultan Abdul Majid Hassan, who died in China who ascended the throne. That was when Sultan Ahmad reigned in Brunei beginning 1406.
Most likely there were two waves of Islamic teachings that came to Brunei. The first was brought by traders from Arabia, Persia, India and China. The second wave was brought about by the conversion of Sultan Muhammad Shah. With the coming of the second wave, Brunei’s Islamisation hastened.
!The propogation of Islam in Brunei was led by a Syarif with the name of Syarif Ali who was a descendant from Rasulullah S.A.W. through his grandsons Sayydinia Hassan or Sayydinia Hussin.
Syarif Ali arrived from Taif. Not long after he arrived in Brunei, he was married to a daughter of Sultan Ahmad. Syarif Ali built a mosque in Brunei. Syarif Ali was closely connected to a few other well known Islam propogationist in the region such as Malik Ibrahim who went to Java, Syarif Zainal Abidin in Malacca, Syarif Abu Bakar or Syariful Hashim in Sulu and Syarif Kebungsuan in Mindanoa.
Syarif Ali ascended the throne as the third Sultan of Brunei when he took over from his father-in-law. Because of his piousness, he was known as Sultan Berkat (Berkat means ‘blessed’).
The mosque especially the pulpit was used by Sultan Syarif Ali himself. Sultan Syarif Ali himself conducted the sermons during Friday prayers. So he was not only the Sultan but he was also the Imam and brought the religion directly to the Brunei people.
According to Thomas Stamford Raffles in his book “The History of Java”, the Islamic activities of Sultan Syarif Ali was not limited to Brunei. He was also known to have gone over to Java to propagate Islam where he was known as Raja Chermin. He tried hard to convert the Majapahit King named Prabu Angka Wijaya.
The efforts of the Brunei Sultans in spreading Islam helped to spread Islam not only in Borneo but also as far north as to the southern Philippines islands. When Malacca fell to the Portuguese in 1511, it was Brunei which played a major role in the spread of Islam in the region.
By the 16th century, Brunei had built one of her biggest mosques. In 1578, Alonso Beltran, a Spanish traveller described it as one of five storeys tall built on the water. Most likely it had five layers of roofs to represent the five pillars of Islam.
Islam was firmly rooted in Brunei by the 16th century. This mosque was unfortunately destroyed by the Spanish in June that same year.
By the time of Sultan Hassan, Brunei’s ninth Sultan, Brunei had the Islamic laws incorporated into the Brunei canons. Pengiran Dato Dr Hj Mohammad writing a Malay article entitled “Kemasukan Islam ke Brunei Darussalam dan Undang-Undangnya” (Arrival of Islam in Brunei Darussalam and the Laws) noted that out of the 47 chapters of the Brunei canons, 27 of those chapters had Islamic elements.
Islam lived on in Brunei till today and with the Constitution in 1959, Islam became Brunei’s Offical Religion.
The writer runs a website on Brunei at bruneiresources.com.
The Brunei Times
Brunei royal a prince among perverts
By DAREH GREGORIAN, ADA CALHOUN and DAN MANGAN
It’s good to be the prince.
Prince Jefri Bolkiah of Brunei has dropped billions of dollars on call girls, hundreds of cars, hotels, paintings and a yacht named T-ts — and has billions more still in the bank — as he leads a decadent life that would make Caligula blush.
Over the years, the perv prince has been sued — along with his brother, the Sultan of Brunei — by an ex-Miss USA accusing them of running a white-slavery ring out of their 1,788-room place. He’s also been sued by his own brother for swindling nearly $15 billion from their tiny, oil-rich country.
Paul Grover
CHISELER: Prince Jefri Bolkiah (above) of Brunei laid down $1 million to have six lurid statues made of him having sex with one of his conquests. The statuary is now an issue in a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit.
Now, Prince Jefri, 56, is set to take a Manhattan courtroom by storm next week at a trial that could feature six life-size statues that he commissioned depicting him having sex with his latest fiancée — a narcissistic set of kitsch for his Long Island mansion that set him back $1 million.
If that isn’t odd enough, Jefri’s lawsuit against two financial advisers he claims screwed him out of $7 million has been effectively bankrolled by the same brother who accused him of corruption.
A Manhattan judge issued a gag order in the case yesterday after Jefri’s lawyer griped over news stories detailing the statues.
“I’m always amazed at Prince Jefri’s capacity to take decadence to its absolute extreme manifestation and to be a colorful character,” said Jillian Lauren, 37, a former NYU student whose book “Some Girls: My Life in a Harem” details her past life as one of his dozens of paid paramours.
“The statues don’t surprise me a bit,” Lauren told The Post. “The palace had giant gold tigers that served as the base of a coffee table. They held precious stones in their mouths.
“I had never seen anything like that in my life.”
Although he has four current wives and has been divorced twice, Jefri has never let the bonds of matrimony keep him from bedding other women.
The prince, who has 17 children by seven women, at one point was spending upward of $250 million per year just to keep pricey calls girls, centerfolds and runaway teens on payrolls of companies linked to his family’s sultanate.
On at least one occasion, Jefri was entertained by up to 40 hookers at once at London’s Dorchester Hotel, which his family owned.
Former Miss USA Shannon Marketic, now 38, sued the prince and the sultan in 1997 for holding her against her will as a sex slave in Brunei.
Her suit claimed she and other young women were lured into traveling there under false pretenses. It said that their passports were confiscated on arrival and that they were checked for sexually transmitted diseases.
Marketic said she and the other women were routinely groped, fondled and otherwise sexually assaulted in the palace, where they were forced to show up for late-night disco parties to entertain Jefri’s pals.
“You are whores, and I do not know why Boss paid so much money for you,” one employee of Brunei’s royal family allegedly told the women. “You are the worst group of whores we have ever had over here.”
Jefri and the sultan got the suit tossed after claiming diplomatic immunity.
Marketic told The Post yesterday that news of Jefri’s Kama Sutra-inspired statues of himself and a lover were not surprising, except for the fact that they show “willing participants, and not anyone being held against their will, duped or doped. I’d say that’s an improvement.”
The statues are just one example of how Prince Jefri is often thinking about sex when he doesn’t happen to be having it.
Jefri had to sell off or surrender many of his possessions — including “over 600 properties, over 2,000 cars, over 100 paintings, five boats and nine aircraft” — to settle his brother’s $15 billion fraud claim but luckily “still retained billions of dollars in other holdings,” a Delaware judge noted in a 2008 court ruling.
Those holdings are rumored to include a cache of diamonds valued at more than $1 billion, which lawyers defending his former financial advisers reportedly intend to grill him about when he takes the witness stand in Manhattan Supreme Court next week.
Jillian Lauren was frightened out of a deep sleep by a banging at her door.
“You must get ready. Five minutes,” a voice barked. She dressed and timidly entered a Merce des-Benz with tinted windows, more than 9,000 miles from her New Jersey home.
Lauren, who grew up in Livingston and studied acting at New York University, was in the last place a Jewish American princess belongs: in Brunei — a Muslim monarchy on the north coast of Borneo in Southeast Asia — and in a harem.
She waited four hours in a gold-encrusted room for the man she came to see as her “savior,” the royal around whom the harem revolved: Prince Jefri Bolkiah, the former finance minister of the oil-rich nation and the brother of one of the world’s richest people, the Sultan of Brunei.
Tiffany Rose/WireImage.com
INSATIABLE: Prince Jefri of Brunei (above) bedded but later tired of Jillian Lauren, one of 40 women in his harem.
When he arrived, reeking of Calvin Klein’s Egoiste, she breathed a sigh of relief. As he led her into the Hugh Hefner-inspired bed room, she lifted off her sun dress and had sex with him for the first time.
“I fell victim to Stockholm Syndrome,” Lauren writes in her book “Some Girls: My Life in a Harem” (Plume), out in April. “I knew I was a hooker, but somehow I felt like Cinderella.”
Lauren lifts the veil off her secret harem life, sharing vivid and explosive details of her 18 months as a hired party girl, her bizarre affair with the prince, the outrageous shopping sprees and the fighting within the international clique of 40 women who fought for the prince’s affections.
Lauren, the adopted daughter of a Jewish stockbroker and a housewife, never thought she’d end up in a Muslim’s brothel. She grew up in a town where “orthodonture was mandatory and getting a nose job as a gift for your sweet 16 was highly recommended.”
By the time she was 16, she had enrolled in NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Six months later, she dropped out and started stripping in Times Square. Eventually she became an elite call girl.
One job required her to “amuse” a Singaporean businessman, with the promise of $20,000 in return. To land the gig, Lauren auditioned with seven other women while a photographer shot pictures of them in lingerie.
She won the gig — but then learned that it wasn’t a Singaporean businessman hiring. It was a Brunei prince.
Shortly after, Lauren told her parents she had an acting gig and hopped on a plane to Brunei. A woman met her at the airport and taught her how to deal with the prince and his friends at parties.
Lauren was escorted to her new home — an opulent palace with football field-sized Italian marble floors, plush gold-spun carpets, gilded everything (including tissue boxes).
That night, Lauren attended a party for the prince — with 40 other girls, some younger than 16. At that moment, Lauren realized she was part of a harem.
She quickly worked out the hierarchy. Tables were arranged by country, with Filipino girls at the top — because, she heard, the prince’s favorite girl was a Filipino ex-television star named Fiona. There were six Americans, including a Marilyn Monroe look-alike.
Rumor had it that the prince was looking to crown his fourth wife, so there was constant, subtle infighting.
Whenever he walked into a party, the girls preened and posed. Each night, he would pick one and disappear with her for a half-hour.
Lauren caught his attention when she sang his favorite Malay song. Soon after, she was sitting to his left, the second-most prized seat in the house, next to Fiona’s first-place seat.
Once, Lauren was plucked to join Fiona — a high honor — on a shopping spree in Singapore, where her driver held a Louis Vuitton sack full of cash. She hit Chanel, Hermes, Versace, Dior, Armani and Gucci.
She began to fall for the prince, accompanying him to Malaysia. But on that same trip, he rented her out to his brother, the sultan, for sex.
His fancies were fleeting. She soon fell out of favor, and her rank in the harem declined. Rather than battle it out, she returned to the Big Apple. Her pay? A fat sack of Singaporean dollars and a Tiffany choker, bracelet and earring set.
More than a decade later, Lauren has cleaned up her life. She met her husband, Weezer bassist Scott Shriner, and adopted a child named Tariku. They now live in LA.
Things didn’t work out as well for the prince.
Prince Jefri Bolkaih was alleged to have embezzled nearly $15 billion during his time as finance minister — and has reportedly not spoken to his brother since 2004.
Although recent reports suggest the prince has returned to Brunei, his international reputation as an over-the-top playboy has marred his image for good.
Prince Jefri Bolkiah, the playboy brother of the Sultan of Brunei, led an exorbitantly lavish lifestyle until his assets were frozen and many of his positions sold off.
In fact, he “has probably gone through more cash than any other human being on earth,” according to an extensive story chronicling the prince and his ongoing $23 million legal battle with his former lawyers in the July issue of Vanity Fair.
At one point, he was reportedly spending $50 million a month.
Prince Jefri’s fairy tale life came crashing down after authorities discovered that Jefri had personally blown through $14.8 billion from a government oil investment fund he was purportedly overseeing.
And he remains embroiled in a legal battle with his former attorneys.
The Hypocrites, men and women, (have an understanding) with each other: They enjoin evil, and forbid what is just, and are close with their hands. They have forgotten Allah; so He hath forgotten them. Verily the Hypocrites are rebellious and perverse.
The Western World wonders, why Osama Bin Ladin and his ilk found fertile ground to recruit terrorists from the Muslim World?
The Muslim youth is disillusioned and has begun the question the vast gulf between “Kaul (belief),” and “Fail(act);” in many so called Muslim countries. Some of them have been turning to bizarre and extreme sects instead of following the tenets of Qu’ran and sunnah. Islamic Renaissance needs to occur at this juncture. It has been too long, Muslim societies have been wandering aimlessly, like ships without a rudder. The current spate of Islamic thought leaders are straddling too extreme. Islam is a Deen of Moderation. It is the Middle Path, between extremes. It is a magnet which attracts the human spirit,. It has simple set of core values, underlying which is the Glory of One Creator, a Respect for All Creatures Great and Small, and a responsibility towards all Creation, from trees to mountains to rivers, in short the whole environment. The gulf between the teachings of Islam and its followers has widened into a chasm. The Muslim world has to do a reality check, on what it believes, and how it puts those beliefs to practice. Hypocrisy or Munafiqat is a bigger sin, than not following Beliefs at all. Muslims need to do an introverted examination of their own lives. They need to look at the mirror and say if they are being truthful to the teachings of the Greatest Man, the Deserts of Arabia ever produced? Is Islam of today living up to its name? Or is it followed in name only? Can the Muftis, Shaikhs and Alims of today, hold a candle to Imam Ghazali? Are the covenants with Allah Almighty, as embodied in the Glorious Qu’raan, being observed or are of they of the munafiqeen (hypocrites); whom the Prophet (PBUH) vehemently despised and eventually defeated. The Arab society, where Islam had its genesis are wallowing in depravity, due to influx unimaginable wealth, generated by the Oil Industry. Those who rode camels, a few decades ago, now ride Ferraris and Lmborghinis, even though Almighty Allah has warned Muslims, not to be mesmerized by the GLITTER, of this World. But, treat your fellow man with kindness and generosity to inherit the Rewards of the Hereafter.
Here is a Muslim answer to the West, unknowingly or deliberately, the West is creating islands of enormous wealth among Arab nations, while the rest of the Muslim world from Morocco to Indonesia is drowning in a sea of poverty. Poverty and Wealth Disparity breeds Terrorism. A hungry populace responds violently against an obnoxiously rich minority amongst them. Islamic countries are ruled by hypocrites, despots, and obnoxiously corrupt individuals, such as Asif Zardari, the Sheikhs of UAE, the Princes of Saudi Arabia, Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, and Prince Jefri Bolkiah of Brunei. If the US wants to win the hearts of minds of Muslims, it has to force these Kingdoms and Potentates like Brunei to use their wealth not only among the poor in Muslim lands, but, against the scourges of hunger, illiteracy, sex trafficking, narcotics consumption, and obnoxious display of il-lgotten wealth, around the globe. Otherwise, the next domino to fall in a Tahrir Square like event would be Saudi Arabia or UAE, but this may not happen as peacefully as Tahrir Square. It may end up like a French or Russian Revolution. It is a natural crucible for the genesis of terrorism. The nurturing of Kings, Emirs, and Sheikhs by the Western nations have provided the seeds for a backlash from the 1.2 billion Muslims living mostly in abject poverty, illiteracy, disease, hunger, and total economic disparity. The people of the Western nations must raise their voices against the pedophilia,sex trafficking and smuggling of women from Pakistan, India, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Phillipinnes, Thailand, Burma, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhistan, Hungary, Sweden, Austria, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mexico, Brazil, and a host of other nations. and the sex slavery practiced in the arc of Arab and Islamic nations from Dubai to Lebanon. It is a powder keg where movements like Tahrir Square can emerge by the hundred and drown these Dens of Iniquities like the Kingdoms of Saudi Arabia and the UAE Potentates.
DUBAI // Five men ran a brothel where runaway maids were forced to work as prostitutes, the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance heard yesterday. The men, all Indians, identified as MN, 23; SA, 26; MB, 35; MA, 24; and SZ, 36, were all charged with human trafficking, operating a brothel, illegal confinement and aiding and abetting a crime. The group encouraged house-maids to abscond from their employers and work in prostitution, prosecutors say. An informant led police to the group and MB was brought in for questioning, the court heard. He told investigators that his job was to run and operate the brothel for MN and SA while MA and SZ supplied the girls and clientele.
Police raided the brothel on January 8 and a 20-year-old Bangladeshi girl was found in the building. The girl told police that she was brought to the country through an employment company but when she arrived was told by two men that she would be working in prostitution. The men then sold her for Dh14,000 to MN and SA, prosecutors said. The girl said she refused to work as a prostitute but MN and SA beat her, locked her up then raped her. The girl said that she was forced to cater to between 10 and 15 clients every day.
Jul 1, 2010 DUBAI // Five men ran a brothel where runaway maids were forced to work as prostitutes, the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance heard yesterday. The men, all Indians, identified as MN, 23; SA, 26; MB, 35; MA, 24; and SZ, 36, were all charged with human trafficking, operating a brothel, illegal confinement and aiding and abetting a crime. The group encouraged house-maids to abscond from their employers and work in prostitution, prosecutors say. An informant led police to the group and MB was brought in for questioning, the court heard. He told investigators that his job was to run and operate the brothel for MN and SA while MA and SZ supplied the girls and clientele.
Police raided the brothel on January 8 and a 20-year-old Bangladeshi girl was found in the building. The girl told police that she was brought to the country through an employment company but when she arrived was told by two men that she would be working in prostitution. The men then sold her for Dh14,000 to MN and SA, prosecutors said. The girl said she refused to work as a prostitute but MN and SA beat her, locked her up then raped her. The girl said that she was forced to cater to between 10 and 15 clients every day.
Dubai: 18-year-old Ethiopian Maid says she was Raped, Forced into Prostitution
Four charged with forcing maids into prostitution
Marie Nammour / 2 October 2012
Three Bangladeshi men and an Indonesian woman faced the charge of human trafficking in the Court of First Instance on Sunday for allegedly forcing four runaway maids into prostitution. The three men have been identified as D.H., F.A. and J.H. and the Indonesian woman as M.B.
According to prosecution records, D.H. (28) and M.B. (23) lured the maids by promising them better jobs with Dh1,500 salary and coaxed them to run away from their sponsors’ houses.
J.H. took two of them from Al Ain to D.H.’s place in Al Muraqqabat where the latter beat them with an iron rod, threatened them and forced them into prostitution. F.A. was in charge of receiving and keeping an eye on the men who came to have sex with the victims.
The four defendants are accused of running a brothel from a room in Hamdan area in Muraqqabat.
D.H. is accused of raping three of the victims after undressing and beating them up.
He raped one of them twice and breached her modesty by clicking her nude pictures against her will.
One of the victims, a 33-year-old Indonesian maid, told the prosecutor how she was deceived to runaway from her sponsor’s house in Al Ain and was brought to D.H.’s room in Muraqqabat where she saw many prostitutes, of Ethiopian, Bangladeshi and Indonesian nationalities.
She was locked up for three days and beaten with an iron rod to let D.H. have sex with her against her will. The maid managed to call her sponsor’s wife and cook, seeking their help to call the police and was released after the police raided the room.
Another Indonesia maid (26) recounted a similar story of how she was lured from her sponsor’s place and then forced into prostitution. She also said that D.H. raped her twice and filmed her after forcing her to undress.
Another maid, an 18-year-old Ethiopian, said that D.H. stripped her of her cash and mobile phone and raped her.
According to a police sergeant, in April an Emirati woman had informed them that her absconding maid was being forcefully held in a room by a Bangladeshi man who had forced her into flesh trade.
The police located the room, which was in a shared house in Al Muraqqabat and was divided into partitions made by pieces of fabrics.
D.H. admitted that he had made Dh35,000 by exploiting women in prostitution.
Prostitution ring plotted to sell ‘virginities’ of young girls to wealthy Arabs.
A prostitution ring sent a photograph of a 14 years old girl to potential customers as a bait ahead of an illicit meeting at a central London hotel in England.The gang had actually plotted to make upto $100,000 by selling the Virginities of young girls to wealthy Arabs.
The trafficking ring transported six women aged between 17 and 22 from north west to the capital last september to provide sexual exploitation.But they were trapped in a sting operation involving Scottland Yard detectives who exchanged messages with memebers under the guise of potential punters.
Four people Mahrookh Jamali,41,Sara Bordbar,43,Fatima Haghengal,24 and Rasoul Ghalampour,30,were pleaded guilty to traffic six women,They also have admitted conspiracy infront of court.However,Prosecutor Bill McGiven said the young girls were not forced into sexual services,they were asked to travel to London to dance for the clients,but were the offered the chance to sell their bodies too.
Four who have been in custody since last year,will be sentenced tomorrow.
Prostitution ring plotted to sell ‘virginities’ of young girls to wealthy Arabs.
The Corrupt Lifestyles of Brotherly Wealthy Arabs:
Gang tried to sell girls’ virginity to wealthy Arabs for £150,000
A sex trafficking gang offered to sell the virginity of underage girls to wealthy businessmen for up to £150,000 each.
The three women and a man were offering girls as young as 13 but were arrested in an undercover Scotland Yard operation after staff at a luxury hotel tipped off police.
One of the women had arrived at the Jumeirah Carlton Hotel in Knightsbridge, central London, in a silver BMW to offer the gang’s services in a handwritten letter to the owner in August last year.
Gang: Fatima Hagnegat and Mahrookh Jamali face jail after they attempted to sell the virginity of young girls to wealthy Arab businessmen for up to £150,000
It read: ‘I have 12 girls ready from the age 14-20 years, who are living all over the UK, I have spent money on the preparation of this event such as a rented house for the girls and also all expenses needed.’
Worried staff immediately alerted police who traced the car and telephone number given in the letter to an address in Wigan where Fatima Hagnegat, 24, lived with her husband, Rassoul Gholampour.
Inquires revealed that another similar letter had been delivered to the hotel on an earlier date.
Detectives then exchanged messages with the gang under the guise of potential clients. One undercover officer, known as ‘Cameron’, telephoned the mobile number provided in the letter to ask about hiring girls on behalf of a client.
Rasoul Gholampour was part of the gang
He spoke to Hagnegat’s aunt, Marohkh Jamali, 41, who told him that she could arrange a party for four to five people that night if required. She stated that she could provide girls from Iran, England and Eastern Europe aged 14 and 20.
The officer arranged to meet Jamali who told him some of her girls were virgins and could be ‘broken’ by his client. She emailed him photographs of a number of girls and said she would bring up to five girls to London, including two 13-year-olds, and would expect £50,000 to £150,000 for each.
The next day Jamali went to a different London hotel, in Bayswater, accompanied by Hagnegat and six girls, two of whom were aged 14 and 17.
The other four were 18 or older. Off icers swooped and arrested Jamali and Hagnegat.
The six victims, who had all been brought to London from the North-West of England and cannot be identified for legal reasons, were taken to a victims’ centre.
They later described how they had travelled from Wigan with the defendants on the understanding that they would be able to earn some money ‘dancing’ for a party of rich men.
It was only later, on their arrival in London, that they were told they may be asked to have sex with the men.
The gang members, all jobless and Iranian, pleaded guilty to trafficking and prostitution offences at Harrow Crown Court yesterday.
Hagnegat and Jamali, who is from North-West London, each admitted conspiracy to traffic persons within the UK for sexual exploitation and a second charge of control of prostitution for gain.
A 43-year-old woman, who owned the London flat where the victims were taken the night before they were introduced to ‘Cameron’, admitted the same two charges. She cannot be named for legal reasons.
Gholampour, 30, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic persons within the UK for sexual exploitation.
A third charge of conspiracy to arrange the prostitution of children will lie on the file of all four defendants.
Prosecutor Bill McGivern said the young women were not forced into sexual services, but were ‘coerced’ into offering them after dancing for clients.
The court heard the 14-year-old girl present when police swooped was used as ‘bait’ and there was no evidence she was to be used as a prostitute.
The four gang members, who have been in custody since their arrest last year, will be sentenced today.
Last night Detective Chief Superintendent Richard Martin, head of the Metropolitan Police Service’s Human Exploitation and Organised Crime Command, said: ‘This is a sad and harrowing case.’
A recent report in The Sun entitled “ Parents sell virgins aged 12 for sex” highlights something that many may not be aware. Crime Reporter Anthony France pointed out in his article that usually foreign kids from Eastern Europe, the Far East and Africa are bought into the UK to work as sex slaves. Very seldom do you see young British girls in the sex trade.
But this is now changing. It seems that some British parents are forcing their schoolgirl daughters into prostitution and then sell them to millionaire paedophiles. A spokesman for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) said: “Unscrupulous traffickers are controlling and terrorising vulnerable children within the UK, forcing some into the sex industry and abusing and exploiting many others.”
What makes British parents willing to sell their virgin daughters for sex? The answer is obvious – MONEY! And it is really big money. A 12-year old British virgin girl can fetch up to £50,000 for having sex with the super rich Arabs.
Organized crime is of course behind this sex trade. With the amount of money involved, the gangs are prepared to peddle even younger, prepubescent girls.
Think about it. When 43-year old Indonesia Muslim cleric Syech Puji took 12-year old Lutfiana Ulfa as his second wife, and declared his intention to take another 2 young girls – 7 and 9 year old as third and fourth wives, there was an uproar throughout Indonesia and beyond. Now for the sake of big money, British parents are selling their 12-year old virgin daughters to rich arab men for sex. Who is worse? The British parents? Or Syech Puji
Dubai Prostitutes’ Earnings Soar
“Las Vegas is a sputtering 20-watt bulb compared with this fire in the desert,” wrote Vanity Fair’s Nick Tosches. Dubai is “Capitalism on Steroids” & that includes Xmas.
on Dec 15, 2007
The sex trade is alive and Ladies of the Night are flourishing in the Emirate of Dubai. Much has been written on sex trafficking around the world and Prostitution in Dubai specifically; however, little has been written from the view and attitude of a large majority of the “Business Ladies” in Dubai. A view many will find disturbing.
Willing Prostitutes
As with so much in Dubai, the world’s oldest profession has taken a turn divergent from the rest of the planet. Renowned photo-journalist Mimi Chakarova has examined the world of sex slaves, forced prostitutes and captive women for the last 4 years. She was shocked to discover what so many already knew: mostprostitutes in Dubai voluntarily perform their trade.
“When I arrived to report…I was prepared to confront…human degradation…but I was surprised to find something else. I met women working as prostitutes who told me that they were doing so because they had chosen to…. She [a prostitute] said she could earn more in one night as a prostitute than working a whole month in sales….[and] the money she sends home to Siberia has allowed her family to build a house.”
Christmas Season
The holidays are especially ripe for the business ladies in a nation that is built upon the very dichotomy that is prostitution: necessary but unwanted; illegal but desired! The “Dubai Model” brings success to an “Arab city by shearing away the qualities that have long defined it as Arab.” Legally sanctioned, illegal prostitution; morally reprehensible yet socially acceptable; completely taboo but an openly practiced profession; prostitution is the essence of the “Dubai Model.”
The wealth of Dubai seems to explode during the holidays as it does in so many other wealthy cities this time of the year. Just as merchants at Filene’s Basement and Macy’s department stores rush to sell their wares to jovial and willing customers, so too do the Business Ladies of Dubai. With 80% of the residents coming from other nations, the Ladies have a glut of celebrating customers waiting to purchase their commodities. And as with any shrewd business person, the supply demand curve is strictly adhered to.
Holiday Inflation
A survey by a local expatriate underground newspaper has determined that prices have “risen by 20-50%” the last few weeks. Research conducted by the American Center for International Policy Studies (AMCIPS) found that Eastern European (Russian) and Ethiopian women are the most common “free agent” prostitutes. Ethiopians, who in the past received 300 AED, now garner 400 for an hour’s work; a Russian’s 500 AED per hour fees a month ago now garner 700+ dirham per hour.
However individuals feel about the holidays, whether Arabic Eid or Western Christmas; Dubai is an avenue for most to increase earnings. As the Minister of Finance said in a resent interview: “You gave us capitalism: we are new to it; but we will not do anything that will jeopardize that which we have attained!” Prostitution has been an integral part of that expansion and in the view of one local Emiratee: “when the prostitutes profit, Dubai profits:” but at whose expense?
All Muslims need to do a reality check on the gap between professing Islam and practicing it in their daily lives. We point our finger at the depravity of Western societies and cultures, but we do not realize that three fingers of the same hand are pointing at us. Western societies are NOT hypocritical about the decadence and malaise among them. the shout to the tree tops at every incidence, which harms their society. But, then they do an analysis of the problem at hand, and resolve to implement laws and practices which lead to a solution. In Islamic societies, problems exists in broad daylight, but we are not willing to accept their existence. So, they wallow in decadence and indecision. They claim to follow the Final Message of the Creator of the Universe, but, there is chasm, between their beliefs and their acts. The Islamic storm centers like Indonesia Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran, and Pakistan have a dichotomy between their faith and their practices. Muslim world is steeped in hypocrisy or munafiqat. It is true that there cannot be 100 percent compliance between the tenets and its practice. But, in the Islamic world there is least bit of adherence to basic rules of society and life enunciated in the Holy Qu’ran and Sunnah. The fallout of this disaster is manifested in the backwardness of Muslim societies in science, technology, space and oceanic exploration, medicine, biology, mathematics, social, economic, and cultural spheres. This has also resulted in a revolt of the masses and a gravitation towards wrong and extreme interpretations of the Deen of Peace, Al-Islam has been gifted to all humanity by their Creator. It is the ONLY faith which in its holy book devotes its longest chapter to a woman, Hazrat Maryam (PBUH) and puts the status of women equal to men. Not only that, in some cases, the women occupy a higher pedestal. But, in Muslim societies, one finds, the worst degradation of women in practice. Muslims need a reality check on their own souls as well as those of their societies. Otherwise, Islamic societies will be left behind by rest of the world.
Islamic Concept of Education and the Real Purpose of Knowledge
Islam represents a comprehensive code of civilization encompassing all the dimensions of human thought and life. The Holy Quran is Allah’s last revelation to the mankind, meant to guide man in his esoteric and exoteric domains of life.
As Islam considers education a very essential tool to mould human thought and life so its educational system has the potential to lead civilization to the pinnacle. Islam seeks to setup its own civilization on the earth. Therefore, the mission of all prophets was to establish al-Din (i.e. religion, faith, mode of life, path etc.)- Islam. So, in order to understand what Islam is one has to see what Prophet Muhammad (SAW) achieved in his life. He established a full fledged Islamic society in Arabian peninsula which continued flourishing for several centuries. It was not merely religious society but represented Islamic principles in all walks of life, i.e. social, political, economic, moral, cultural, military, international relations and education.
Islamic system of education is composed of a clear objective of human recognition of Allah- the Ultimate Reality. The ultimate aim, real purpose, and goal of seeking knowledge is to know the Ultimate Reality, i.e. Almighty Allah- the Sustainer, the Maintainer, the Creator, the Provider, and the Keeper of the entire universe.
As the mission of all prophets was to establish Islam, so for that matter the holy Quran serves as its comprehensive constitution (4:105, 6:38) which is based on ‘Ilm (knowledge). Holy Quran says, “Verily, we have sent unto them a book (i.e. holy Quran), based on knowledge, which is explained in detail, a mercy and a guidance to a people who believe” (7:56). It does not allow man to act without knowledge (17:36) and there is no room in its philosophy for illiteracy, which according to holy Quran is the source of all kinds of fallacies, superstitions and irrational approaches. In other words, “illiteracy is the root cause of all evils including false beliefs, superstitions,etc.” The Holy Quran, infact, stimulates Muslim scholarship to study the Universe in its various factes. “About 750 verses of the holy Quran exhort the believers to study nature, to make best use of ‘Aql (Reason/ intellect) in their search and to make acquisition of knowledge and scientific comprehension… as there are signs of Allah’s power for mankind”. Holy Quran says “Verily in the creation of the Heavens and the Earth, and in the alternation of night and the day, there are indeed signs (revelations and proofs) for men of understanding”. (3:190)
In many Qura`nic verses Allah has highlighted the importance of knowledge for success in life. Islam seeks to help man to recognize Allah as knowledge is to know the reality and the greatest reality is the existence of Allah. This is the ‘Ilm by which we can distinguish between true and false, right and wrong, virtue and vice, Haqq and Batil etc. The very first Revelation (96:1-5) to the last Prophet (SAW) serves as an invitation to man to know the Lord of the entire creation.
As ‘Ilm (knowledge) is basis of Quran (7:56) and Quran is furqan ( distinguishing between Haqq and Batil) so ‘Ilm is the power and blessing or criteria for distinguishing between true and false and between right and wrong. Knowledge brings light to life, increases power of mind and without it one’s life is aimless and purposeless.
To conclude, ‘Ilm is one of the blessings bestowed by Allah to the Supreme creature- the human being. The real purpose, ultimate aim and goal of acquiring or seeking knowledge is to know the Ultimate Reality- who is the Creator, the Sustainer and the Maintainer and the Provider of the entire creation- Almighty Allah.
Reference
We present to you excerpt from the writings of Prof. Anwar Syed highlighting the conundrum and offers some solutions:
Decadence of the Muslim World
By Anwar Syed
Muslims seem to have been content with their existing station in life. Possessed of passivity, they have been wanting in ambition and drive to attain higher levels of productivity and prosperity. Advancement in the pursuit of knowledge requires hard work, which they have not been willing to undertake
There was a time when the ordinary individual’s right to know was not acknowledged. It is said of Naushirwan the Just that he was once out on a military campaign, the end of the month approached and the soldiers had to be paid their salaries, but the treasurer with bags of money had not yet arrived from the capital. He sent one of his ministers to a nearby town to see if someone would lend the king the money he needed for a few days. The minister found a wealthy blacksmith who manufactured weapons and made a lot of money. He was willing to lend the king the money in return for a consideration, which was that his son should be allowed to enrol in a school to get education. The king declined this condition, saying that learning had to remain the preserve of the ruling classes. That was a long time ago. Earlier this year a landlord’s employee in Multan beseeched a friend of mine to enrol his son in a school in Lahore because his employer did not want the children of his servants to get education. He would rather that they stayed ignorant and, like their fathers and grandfathers, worked on his farm as serfs. This landlord was not the only one of his kind. Countless large landowners in Pakistan think the same way. The great majority of the people of Pakistan are at best semi-literate.
It is true that during the medieval ages Muslims made great advances in the study of medicine, physical and biological sciences, history and sociology. Their works reached the Europeans through translations. They advanced the frontiers of knowledge that existed at that time. They questioned conventional wisdom, made new discoveries and got new answers. Then came the theologians, notably Imam Ghazali, who taught that no further questions needed to be raised because enough had been asked and answered. Knowledge in the Muslim lands froze rigid. Conformity (taqleed), instead of innovation, became the rule. This remained the case for several hundred years and became a habit of the Muslim mind and it continues to be the same way even today.
Dr Attaur Rehman, a renowned scientist and founder of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) in Pakistan, stated recently in a television interview that there were some 500 universities in the Muslim world whereas India alone had more than 7,000 of them. He added that Muslim scholars published about 500 research-based articles in professional journals in a year while Japan produced more than 10 times as many. Only seven Muslims have received the Nobel Prize in their respective fields of specialisation. There are less than 10 million Jews in the entire world and more than 100 of them have been awarded the same prize. Pakistan, he pointed out, allocated 4 percent of its GDP but actually spent less than 2 percent of it on education. Turkey is an exception to this general trend. It has made enormous progress in the areas of manufacturing and commerce. It operates a knowledge-based economy. It should be noted that while an Islamic party has been in power in this country for several years, its military, bureaucratic, and commercial elite have been secular-minded for the most part since Kemal Ataturk’s revolution in the 1920s. Malaysia is another exception whose government has been allocating 25 percent of its budget to education.
How may we then explain the Muslim people’s disinclination to pursue knowledge? Imam Ghazali’s halt to further investigation related only to scriptural knowledge. It is however possible that subsequent scholarship extended his scepticism to other disciplines, and knowledge in the Muslim world became stagnant. Another influence may be noted. The Ulema (Islamic scholars) have traditionally taught that all that is worth knowing has already been stated in the Quran and Sunnah, and whatever has not been covered in these sources is not worth knowing. Furthermore, Muslims seem to have been content with their existing station in life. Possessed of passivity, they have been wanting in ambition and drive to attain higher levels of productivity and prosperity. Advancement in the pursuit of knowledge requires hard work, which they have not been willing to undertake. Moreover, the mullah has been preaching that the existing state of affairs is what it is because God has so willed.
In Pakistan, absolutism in governance has declined to a degree but it has not disappeared entirely. A reasonably fair election was held in February 2008 and a parliament and a government of elected representatives are in place. That this government is not honest and competent enough to be relied upon is a different matter. The media is free and vocal as are the other organs of civil society. The higher judiciary is both honest and competent. Public order and tranquillity have broken down and terrorism has become pervasive. Beyond all these adversities there is the fact that education in Pakistan, as in the rest of the Muslim world, is in a very bad state. Standards of attainment in higher education have fallen precipitously, and the situation is not any better at the lower levels. Teacher salaries are low and dedication to duty is hard to find. The infrastructure is in ruins. It is not uncommon to find teachers and students sitting under trees or the open sky because they do not have a school building. Strangely enough, one may find places where there is a school building but no students because the local landed aristocrats are using the structure as a warehouse and as a barn for their cattle. The elected representatives of the people in parliament and the executive branch are not making any visible effort to clean up this mess.
I see no signs of a movement in the Muslim world, apart from the couple of exceptions already noted, to spread knowledge to the generality of its people, encourage them to be inquisitive and appropriately sceptical of conventional wisdom, take hold of modern science and technology, become innovative and inventive, and join the ranks of the developed world.
The writer, professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, is a visiting professor at the Lahore School of Economics.
Source: The Daily Times, Lahore
Reference
COMMENTS
“Imam Ghazali’s halt to further investigation related only to scriptural knowledge. It is however possible that subsequent scholarship extended his scepticism to other disciplines, and knowledge in the Muslim world became stagnant. Another influence may be noted. The Ulema (Islamic scholars) have traditionally taught that all that is worth knowing has already been stated in the Quran and Sunnah, and whatever has not been covered in these sources is not worth knowing.”
Prof. Syed’s reflections on Muslim backwardness are worth noting. We need to combat the unhealthy attitudes of many Muslims regarding learning.
By Ghulam Mohiyuddin – 8/10/2011 11:29:26 AM
Prohibition against prostitution from the Qur’an:
Allāh says in Sūrat An Nur:
A painful punishment waits in this world and the next for those who like indecency to spread among the believers. God knows and you do not. [Qur’an, Sura An Nur, 24:19].
[…] Nor shall you compel your handmaidens to whoredom–for they too ardently desire to be chaste–in order for yourselves, thereby, to seek the fleeting things of the life of this world. Bus should one so compel them–then the compeller is guilty, while after their having been so compelled, God is All-forgiving of such handmaidens, and mercy giving towards them [Qu’ran, Sura 24, An-Nur Ayah 33]
Prohibition against Prostitution from the Hadiths of the Prophet (s):
Narrated Abu Juhaifa: The Prophet cursed the lady who practices tattooing and the one who gets herself tattooed, and one who eats (takes) Riba’ (usury) and the one who gives it. And he prohibited taking the price of a dog, and the money earned by prostitution, and cursed the makers of pictures. [Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith (Hadith 7.259)]
Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah: Musaykah, a slave-girl of some Ansari, came and said: My master forces me to commit fornication. Thereupon the following verse was revealed: “But force not your maids to prostitution (when they desire chastity).” [Sunan of Abu-Dawood – 954]
Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah: Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul used to say to his slave girl: Go and fetch something for us by committing prostitution. It was in this connection that Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, revealed this verse: “And compel not your slave-girls to prostitution when they desire to keep chaste in order to seek the frail goods of this world’s life, and whoever compels them, then surely after their compulsion Allah is Forgiving, Merciful” (xxiv.33). [Sahih Muslim Hadith – 1415]
Fatwa Against Temporary Marriage or Mutah by Islam’s Global Leading Scholar, Sheikh Yusuf Al Qardawi
Marriage in Islam is a strong binding contract based on the intention of both partners to live together permanently in order to attain, as individuals, the benefit of repose, affection, and mercy mentioned in the Quran, as well as to attain the social goal of the reproduction and perpetuation of the human species. Almighty Allah says: “And Allah has made for you spouses of your own nature, and from your spouses has made for you sons and grandsons….” (An-Nahl: 72)
Now, mutah marriage is a marriage that is contracted by the two parties for a specified period of time in exchange for a specified sum of money. While the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) permitted mutah marriage during journeys and military campaigns before the Islamic legislative process was made complete, he later forbade it and made it haram on a permanent basis.
It was initially permitted because the Muslims were passing through what might be called a period of transition from jahiliyyah (the pre-Islamic period) to Islam. Fornication was widespread among the Arabs before the advent of Islam. After Islam, when Muslims were required to go on military expeditions, they were under great pressure as a result of being away from their wives for long periods of time. Some of the believers were strong in faith, but others were weak. The weak in faith feared that they would be tempted to commit adultery, which is a major sin, while the staunch in faith, on the contrary, were ready to castrate themselves. Ibn Masud narrates: “We were on an expedition with the Messenger of Allah and did not have our wives with us, so we asked Allah’s Messenger “Should we not castrate ourselves?”(The reason for this request was the desire to preserve their chastity, which was in danger of being affected by their unmet needs.) He forbade us from doing so but permitted us to contract marriage with a woman up to a specified date, giving her a garment as a dowry (Mahr).” (Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
Thus, mutah marriage provided a solution to the dilemma in which both the weak and the strong found themselves. It was also a step toward the final legalization of the complete marital life in which the objectives of permanence, chastity, reproduction, love, and mercy as well as the widening of the circle of relationships through marriage ties were to be realized.
We may recall that the Quran adopted a gradual course in prohibiting wine and usury, as these two evils were widespread and deeply rooted in the pre-Islamic society. In the same manner, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) adopted a gradual course in the matter of sex. First, he permitted mutah marriage as an alternative to zina (fornication and adultery), and at the same time coming closer to the permanent marriage relationship. He then prohibited it absolutely, as all and many other Companions reported. Muslim reports this in his Sahih (Authentic Collection of Hadiths), mentioning that Al-Juhani was with the Prophet at the conquest of Makkah and that the Prophet gave some Muslims permission to contract mutah marriages. Al-Juhani said: “Before leaving Mecca, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited it.” In another version: “Allah has made it Haram until the Day of Resurrection.”
The question arises: Is mutah marriage absolutely haram, like marriage to one’s own mother or daughter, or is it like the prohibition concerning the eating of pork or dead meat, which becomes permissible in case of dire necessity, the necessity in this case being the fear of committing zina?
The majority of the Companions hold the view that after the completion of the Islamic legislation, mutah marriage was made absolutely haram. However, Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) holds a different opinion, permitting it in case of dire necessity. A person asked him about marrying women on a haram basis, and he permitted him to do so. A servant of his then asked, “Is this not under hard conditions, when women are few and the like?” and he replied, “Yes.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari) Later, when Ibn Abbas saw that people had become lax and were engaging in haram marriages without necessity, he withdrew his ruling and retracted his previous opinion. (Zad Al-Ma`ad, vol. 4, p. 7
Fatwa of Sheikh Ibn Baz Against Temporary Marriage (Mutah or Sighe)
It means marrying a woman for a fixed period of time, after which their marriage comes to an end, such as a month or two. This form of marriage was allowed at one time, and then was abrogated and prohibited for the Islamic Ummah (nation based on one creed). It was reported in the Sahih (authentic) Hadith that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: I permitted you to contract Mut`ah marriage (temporary marriage for a stipulated period), but Allah has forbidden it (now) until the Day of Resurrection. He who has any (woman with this type of marriage contract) he should let her go, and not take back anything you have given to them as Mahr (mandatory gift to a bride from her groom). It was authentically reported on the authority of `Aly (may Allah be pleased with him), Salamah ibn Al-Akwa`, Ibn Mas`ud and others that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) prohibited Mut`ah marriage (temporary marriage for a stipulated period), so it was settled in Shari`ah (Islamic law) that it is prohibited and that Shar`y (Islamically lawful) marriage is one in which a man and a woman want to live with each other forever, for the purpose of achieving chastity, procreation and cooperation in goodness. This is the Shar`y marriage permitted by Allah, whose conditions were previously mentioned. Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) made it goodness for the Muslim Ummah; it entails cooperation, increase of the progeny, chastity of men and women and their favor towards each other. The man does a favor to the woman by keeping her chaste, providing for her, maintaining her, protecting her from immoral men and so on. A woman, on the other hand, helps her husband in his worldly and spiritual affairs, keeps him chaste, and helps him during calamities. Mut`ah marriage (temporary marriage for a stipulated period) was abrogated in Islam forever. `Umar ibn Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) used to threaten those who did it with stoning to death like an adulterer, because Allah prohibited it in Shari`ah (Islamic law) forever. However, Al-Rafidah (a Shiitic group) still consider this form of marriage lawful and practice it, as reported in their books. This is one of the matters that were used against them and one of their deviations from the straight path. Thus, no reasonable person should believe them;we should beware of their falsehood. A Mu’min (believer) should unmistakably acknowledge that this form of marriage is invalid and prohibited by Allah (Exalted be He). It was already mentioned the Hadith of Samrah ibn Ma`bad Al-Jahni, on the authority of the Prophet (peace be upon him) that he said:
I permitted you to contract Mut`ah marriage, but Allah has forbidden it (now) until the Day of Resurrection. He who has any (woman with this type of marriage contract) he should let her go, and do not take back anything you have given to them as Mahr.(Related by Muslim in his Sahih)This Nas (Islamic text from the Qur’an or the Sunnah) and others that carry the same meaning indicate that Naskh (abrogation) remains in effect until the Day of Resurrection; there is no way that it is still Halal (lawful). Rather, it was abrogated and will remain so until the Day of Resurrection. Temporary marriage is in which a man and a woman agree to marry for a fixed period of time. When this period comes to an end, they separate without the need for Talaq (divorce pronounced by a husband). They might stipulate divorce, but it is Mut`ah Talaq (temporary divorce) as well; they might agree upon marrying for two or three months, then he divorces her and she observes `Iddah (woman’s prescribed waiting period after divorce or widowhood). Temporary marriage is Mut`ah marriage (temporary marriage for a stipulated period) in all cases, whether there is divorce or just separation at the end of its fixed time. It is Haram (prohibited) according to the legal textand Ijma` (consensus of scholars) among Ahl-ul-Sunnah wal-Jama`ah (adherents to the Sunnah and the Muslim mainstream).
Slavery and Prostitution in Pakistan
Muslim prostitute speaks about prostitution in Lahore, Pakistan
Saudis traveling for “Halal Sex” To Indonesia
Prostitution behind the Veil: Iran
Minna and Fariba are neighbours and good friends. They support one another. Both have to live under the pervasive curtailment of women’s rights and the double standards of today’s Iranian society. They make a living walking the streets looking for men. They have a choice between leaving their small children at home alone or bringing them along when they have sex with men.
The film is a sympathetic portrait of the two women, exploring their day-to-day life and the workings of prostitution in a country that bans it and prosecutes adulterers, sometimes with the penalty of capital punishment.
Many of the clients find a way to buy sex and still comply with Muslim law: they marry the women in what is called ‘Sighe’, a temporary marriage sanctioned in Shia Islam. Sighe can last from two hours up to 99 years. Both Minna and Fariba enter into Sighe with clients, and Fariba is in a Sighe marriage with a neighbour, Habib, that lasts six months. Giving his perspective on temporary marriage, Habib says that Sighe is a way to help poor women, it is an act of mercy in the name of Allah.
The film follows the two women for more than a year. It describes their middle-class backgrounds and their submission to treacherous men and drugs. We see how Fariba manages to quit drugs and prostitution, only
Please note that that the Shi’ite continuation of Mut’ah or Sighe (temporary marriage) is against what the Prophet (s) himself and Caliph Omar (r) allowed. Please see Fatwa above by Sheikh Yusuf Al Qardawi, one of the foremost global Islamic scholar.
Sex in Bangladesh
Sex Trade in Malaysia
Child Labor and Prostitution in Egypt
The Fate of Prostitutes in the Muslim World
By Aishah Mohd. Nasarruddin, trainee lecturer in women’s health development unit, Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Drifted and Forgotten
The flourishing of prostitution in Muslim countries is a paradox that we often overlook as a problem of our ummah. As prostitution is condemned and forbidden in Islam, and these women, to an extent, are marginalized and invisible in our community, many of us are not aware of the magnitude and realities of this problem. We do not consider them as a cause worth fighting for as we do for the betterment of the poor, abused, homeless, oppressed and ailing. To make matters worse, misinformation is widespread and the voices of former prostitution victims are systematically silenced.
Among the factors contributing to the widespread practice of prostitution among Muslim countries include:
The denial of the existence of such problems in our community
Spreading of the truth impedes men’s comfort and pleasure in using women
Hindrance of profitability of the industry, especially for those players who are politically connected
Prostitution is too horrible of a practice, a highly stigmatized taboo subject, that people would rather not hear details about
Majority of us may have the idea that prostitution is a choice and the women enjoy what they do. The reality is quite the contrary for many of them. On many occasions, deprivations, conflicts, and difficult circumstances often lead to desperation, and desperation forces these women into the practice of prostitution. Many are uneducated women who live in poverty and possess few marketable skills. My research finds that prostitutes are many times:
single mothers making ends meet for their children.
victims of incest and sexual abuse.
manipulated homeless teenagers.
displaced sufferers of human trafficking.
They are distraught girls with failed early marriages.
They are refugees who fled from their war-torn countries.
While we criminalize them for living in adultery, spreading diseases, disrupting family institutions, and giving birth to innocent, illegitimate children who suffer for having dishonorable mothers, we fail to see the other spectrum of the consequences of prostitution. The consequences are not only devastating to the society, but also to the prostitute herself as a person. It completely destroys her already shattered life, being reduced down to a depersonalized, sexual object. She develops a personality where she is unable to develop trust in relationships and slowly numbs herself, to the point where she loses the ability to feign attachments to anyone or anything. In order to survive this overwhelming, daily ordeal, she dissociates from her real self, originally as a defense mechanism; sadly, it reaches to the point of complete shut down, where she is stripped of her identity, and over time, she disappears. […]
What can we do to help?
1. Reach out wherever possible to our sisters who are prostitutes: In regions where prostitution remains legal, it may be easier to reach out to them because they are registered under the profession and therefore can be identified. For example, in Turkey, sociologists and psychologists interviewed 3,000 registered prostitutes working at brothels to determine whether they had been forced into the job and if they would prefer another line of employment.
On the other hand, where prostitution is generally illegal, it is difficult and rather unsafe to reach them. Many things can happen if you are at the wrong place at the wrong time. They fear that ‘outsiders’ would turn them in to the authorities to be penalized, especially the prostitutes who are linked to pimps, traffickers, and corrupt officials. […]
2. Put prostitutes in touch with reputable and experienced, relevant NGOS. What we can do to reach out is put them in contact with experienced volunteers from reputable organizations such as NGOs working on reproductive and health education, or NGOs that conduct programs to keep children from red-light districts in school. […]
3. Include prostitutes in legitimate and Islamic income-generating programs. We should include them in income-generating programs so that they can have a regular income, which hopefully would decrease the chance of them resorting back to prostitution. […]
4. Criminalize the trafficking and buying of sex. On a larger scale, there should be a focus shift to criminalize the buying rather than the selling of sex. The burden of punishment should be on the clients who perpetuate the sex trade rather than the women who are trapped in the situation. For example, in Sweden, prostitution is officially acknowledged as a form of male sexual violence against women and children. Swedish policy addresses the issue of prostitution and trafficking by focusing on the root cause […].
The Prohibition of Temporary Marriage or Mutah in Islam
Caliph Umar’s (r) Control Of Sexuality Laxity
In the days of ignorance sexual laxity was the order of the day. Islam stood for reform in the moral and social fields, and condemned sexual laxity in all forms. Under Islam a limitation was placed on the number of wives one could marry. Such number was not to exceed four, and it was enjoined that all the wives should be treated alike with due justice. Lapidation was provided as the punishment for those found guilty of adultery.
When Umar became the Caliph he took further steps to rid the society of sexual laxity.
In the days of ignorance poetry was pressed into service as an instrument of moral laxity. The poets indulged in ribald poems. They named their sweethearts in their poems and by indulging in poetic licence compromised the honour and integrity of ladies. Then where ladies were no party to love the poets in their imagination made their beloveds return their love in passionate terms. Such poetry did considerable social harm, and disturbed domestic peace in many a home. Umar took cognisance of this unsocial practice. He commanded the poets not to mention the names of ladies in their poems. He also issued directions that the poets should not indulge in any versification calculated to encourage moral depravity. Where some poets inadvertently or otherwise contravened these instructions they were flogged or punished.
Mutah in some form or the other was permissible or at least not expressly forbidden before the time of Umar. Umar felt that Mutah “hereunder a man married a woman for a specified number of days amounted to disguised prostitution and this led to moral laxity. Umar accordingly passed an order prohibiting Mutah. He declared that it was open to a person to divorce a woman after regular marriage for any valid reason, but a marriage which was stipulated to be dissolved after a specified number of days was repugnant to the spirit of Islam which stood for stability of domestic homes. Umar elaborated that the purpose of marriage was to set up homes with a view to getting children and Mutah negated such objects. Moreover in the case of Mutah the children born of such union were to be subject to social disability which was detrimental to social order.
Under the Islamic law divorce was permissible. The Holy Prophet however took pains to explain that divorces which disrupted family life were distasteful to God. People were enjoined not to be hasty in the matter of divorce. Divorce could be effective only when three divorces were given. The idea was to provide some opportunity for reconciliation. When under Umar more countries were conquered and women from other countries became available for the Muslims, some Muslims resorted to the practice of announcing three divorces simultaneously. In order to put a stop to this unsocial practice Umar laid down that if a person gave three talaqs simultaneously such divorce would be irrevocable.
With the conquest of Iraq and Syria, Iraqi and Syrian women became available to the Muslims. Attracted by the beauty of these women, the Muslims divorced their Arab wives. That created a social crisis which led to sexual laxity. Umar accordingly ordered that marriages with foreign ladies should be permitted under exceptional circumstances. Hudhaifa was the administrator of al Madina and he married a Christian beauty of Iraq. When this was brought to the notice of Umar he required Hudhaifa to divorce the Christian beauty, Hudhaifa said that he would not comply with the order unless he was told whether his marriage was unlawful or else; the Caliph referred to the authority under which he wanted him (Hudhaifa) to divorce his legally wedded wife. Umar wrote to say that the marriage he had contracted was not unlawful, but he had been advised to divorce the Christian beauty as it was bound to adversely affect the interests of Arab ladies. Moreover if the Muslims married non-Muslim ladies merely for tbeir beauty that would encourage sexual laxity. Thereupon Hudhaifa divorced his Christian wife.
Besides four lawful wives Islam permitted any man to take over any number of slave girls to bed. These slave girls were to be the property of the Master and he could sell them any time. With the extension in conquests the number of available slave girls increased and Umar felt that this would promote sexual laxity. He ordered that Umm ul Walad that is such slave girls who bore children to their masters would stand emancipated. This had the effect that such women could no longer be treated as concubines and were to be given the status of regular wives or divorced when they could, as free women, marry other persons.
“Mutah was an ancient practice with the Arabs. The Holy Prophet did not like the practice though he tolerated it on some occasions due to special circumstances. Even then on at least two occasions he prohibited the practice. God has spoken of the sanctity of the marriage ties, and if the marriage is held sacred on one side and Mutah is allowed on the other that would be inconsistent. If Mutah is allowed that would be a sort of sanctioned prostitution. That is repugnant to Islam. If any person marries the idea is to establish a home. If a person marries for a few specified days that is foreign to the establishment of a home. Mutah is thus repugnant to Islam. If any person wants to dissolve the marriage after a few days it is open to him to give the divorce in the usual way. I have prohibited Mutah in the interests of the sanctity and integrity of Muslim homes. That is a social reform. There is no express injunction allowing Mutah and by disallowing it I have not contravened any provisions of Islamic law.”
Why Islam Prohibits Fornication and Adultery
This video explains the beautiful wisdom of Islam prohibiting having girlfriends, fornication and adultery. It also explains a little bit on the relationship between husband and wives.http://www.TheDeenShow.com, speaker: Abdur-Raheem Green
It was authentically reported on the authority of `Aly (may Allah be pleased with him), Salamah ibn Al-Akwa`, Ibn Mas`ud and others that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) prohibited Mut`ah marriage (temporary marriage for a stipulated period), so it was settled in Shari`ah (Islamic law) that it is prohibited and that Shar`y (Islamically lawful) marriage is one in which a man and a woman want to live with each other forever, for the purpose of achieving chastity, procreation and cooperation in goodness. This is the Shar`y marriage permitted by Allah, whose conditions were previously mentioned. Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) made it goodness for the Muslim Ummah; it entails cooperation, increase of the progeny, chastity of men and women and their favor towards each other. The man does a favor to the woman by keeping her chaste, providing for her, maintaining her, protecting her from immoral men and so on. A woman, on the other hand, helps her husband in his worldly and spiritual affairs, keeps him chaste, and helps him during calamities. Mut`ah marriage (temporary marriage for a stipulated period) was abrogated in Islam forever. `Umar ibn Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) used to threaten those who did it with stoning to death like an adulterer, because Allah prohibited it in Shari`ah (Islamic law) forever. However, Al-Rafidah (a Shiitic group) still consider this form of marriage lawful and practice it, as reported in their books. This is one of the matters that were used against them and one of their deviations from the straight path. Thus, no reasonable person should believe them;we should beware of their falsehood. A Mu’min (believer) should unmistakably acknowledge that this form of marriage is invalid and prohibited by Allah (Exalted be He). It was already mentioned the Hadith of Samrah ibn Ma`bad Al-Jahni, on the authority of the Prophet (peace be upon him) that he said: 
