Evolution of Religion

Al Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatu Allahi Wa Barakatuh,

Dear Sister Anne,

   I haven't gone through the 10 pages of this debate but I have gone through a good deal of what has been said. So I don't know if what I'm about to say has been covered or not. Nevertheless, I thought it is worth discussing.

   In your first post, you mentioned that some of the Islamic laws need to be evolved to conform with human right laws. But you have to bare in mind that human right laws have been put down by humans, who are always prone to err. How can anyone prove that these laws are the ultimate perfect laws for mankind?

   There are two kinds of events in life: there are those events that we don't have control over (e.g the sun rising everyday on time) and those events that we can control to some extent (e.g waking up in the morning and going to work). Now the events we can't control take place with perfect percision. The sun always rises on time without fail because God is the only being in control of that. But events we are in control of, often go wrong, and they usually go wrong because we do them our way. If we follow God's instructions to the letter, things would always turn to the best. And when God states that a thief has to have his hand chopped off, then it is because God knows that it is for the best. It might seem harsh for us, but if the punishment wasn't harsh, people would all easily fall into sin. Added to that, if a person carries out a sin after s/he has been warned about the consequences, then s/he asked for the punishment. It is like a pre-made agreement, and this person made his/her choice.

   This brings me to the next point. Even though some laws in Islam seem harsh, there are good reasons behind them. For instance lets look at the penalty for theft. Reasons behind chopping the hand off are:

   1- Repercussions behind theft can be large. Stealing a wallet off someone can cause this person not to be able to buy vital medicine to an ill person for instance causing this ill person to die. This example might be extreme but if it happens once, then no number of thefts that would benefit any number of people in the world can suffice for the death of a person. Thus the punishment has to be extreme to prevent the crime from being done.

   2- As absurd as it may sound, chopping off the hand of a person can be better for him/her than throwing them away in prison, where not only are they a burden on the community that has to provide for them through tax money to feed them, but also they enter as thieves and come out as drug dealers and murderers after what they learn in prison from worse convicts. Thus prison 'graduates' impose a larger threat to society than they did before getting jailed.

   3- By chopping the hand off and sending the thief home, this person is able to provide for his/her family and still carry out his/her duties without fail; even is they miss a hand. They also get to be an active part in the community instead of being a burden.

   4- Because the repercussions of theft can be dire, people with missing hands are a reminder to others who feel the temptation of unnecessary theft. This doesn't mean that any person has the right to disrespect any thief who has been punished, as this thief has paid his dues.

   These reasons are only some of the many reasons behind cutting off a thief's hand. There are many reasons behind every Islamic law. We might not know many of these reasons but as Muslims we have to learn to put our trust in God, the only supreme all-knowing being. When Mohammed declared 'Al yawmo atmamto alaykom deenakom' he meant that he gave us a perfect religion that can be applied to all times without fail. 'Atmamto' means completed, or in other words perfect. Thus we need not add or take away from what we have been given. Allah has sent a religion that would save mankind a lot of trouble of is was followed. If this religion wouldn't have fulfilled man's needs at all times, Allah woud have sent other prophets after Mohammed to suit every era.

Allah also says 'Wa ma arslnak ela rahmatan lel alameen', indicating that Mohammed was sent to all mankind after him; unlike all the other prophets who were sent to their people only. Thus all the laws put by Allah through Islam are binding laws that can't be change. Islam is a package. If we change one part of this package, then we would end up having something that is close to Islam, but definitely isn't Islam. Again every law has its reasons and they are good reasons. Us not recognising all these reasons doesn't deny their existance. Who is endowed with enough wisdom to rectify Allah's laws? Especially that Allah's laws need no rectifying.

   Islam means 'submitting'. But what or who do we submit to? The answer is simple: not love, not what seems as being in the best interest of mankind. It is submitting to Allah, who will give us all the love we need and more and knows what is in the best interest of mankind at all times.

   I don't know if this sheds new light on the issue, but I hope it does help with understanding some aspects of Islam.

   Al Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatu Allahi Wa Barakatuh.

Ahmed Nagi

Al Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahamtu Allahi Wa Barakatuh

   How long does it take to remedy a person through conseling? How many crimes can they commit during counseling? How many counseling cases have actually produced 100% success results? A crime cannot go unpunished. How would the victims of a crime feel when the criminal that has harmed them goes without punishment? How is that fair to them?

   It would be very unfair to give any punishment without prior warning to a certain action, but if a person has been warned and still goes ahead and commits the crime, then it was his/her choice. The simplest example of the effectiveness of this method can be clearly seen in the rates of crime in Saudi Arabia for instance in comaparison with the United States. The USA is known to be a leader in the application of human right laws, and yet has the highest crime rates, divorce rates and broken homes.

   Also keep in mind that God created man. He created every limb that every man owns and He owns every person let alone every limb belonging to every person, and if it is His will or reason that deems this be the treatment of every criminal then who is endowed with enough wisdom to see otherwise? Who has the right to decide otherwise to be whats right? If we doubt Allah's will, then we would be negating his perfection; which would be a huge contradition with the main premise of Islam. And if we refute any of His laws then we are not totally submitting to Him, which again is against one of the main premises of Islam.

   Things are not always what they seem. An action that may seem as being an extreme one can be what is best for mankind overall throughout history. We need to love God, trust him blindly and follow his will, for He is the only perfect being and thus has the right to blind trust.

Salam

I would say that the death rate of women in the middle east is higher than elsewhere in relation to domestic violence and death by self distructive behavior due to experiencing violence from their spouse, relatives or honour killings a practice is against Allah because there is no honour in killing anyone! 

Allah created us to live a long productive life and become educated, trained, counseled and counsulted towards being the best person we can be and care for ourselves, others and the world in a caring, kind and considerated manner anything less than this effort wastes prescious lives, resources and wastes time and energy.

This practice is used to silence women from the bad behavior of their relatives or partners and the men who do this should be imprisoned for life with no visitations or contact from any family, friends or relatives and should be kept in isolation for ten years until he fully repents and accepts he did wrong.

Anne Marie Habibi