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From: rached@kaa.eng.ohio-state.edu (Rached Zantout)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam
Subject: Re: One Man = Two Women <===> Equality  ??? How come!
Message-ID: <1991Jun24.160952.8483@wpi.WPI.EDU>
Date: 24 Jun 91 16:09:52 GMT
References: <1991Jun23.234331.28116@wpi.WPI.EDU>
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Dear A.Coras

You mentioned in your last article that women are not equal to men in
Islam because the testimony of one woman is not accepted in the islamic
courts (?) and that the testimony of two women is equal to one man's
(?).
First let me clarify something to you and other fellownetters:
Men and Women will never be absolutely equal, they are different men are
men and women are women. Women give birth to children men (even if they
want) don't give birth to children. So in Engineering terms Men and
Women are different BY DESIGN.
This does not mean that one gendre should be superior to the other, they
should have equal GLOBAL rights.
As muslims we beleive that Allah (The only God that exists) has created
the whole universe including humans. Allah created Men and Women, and
Allah knows best what are the rights that should be given to both. So
from this argument every muslim once provided with an evidence from the
Quran (the Holy book revealed by Allah through his Angel (Gabriel) on
the prophet Muhammad Peace Be Upon Him) or from the sayings of the
prophet Peace be upon him, about a right for either men or women must
obey that without any discussion.
This is the general rule, now a muslim is not prohibited to think about
what Allah has ordered and try to conclude the wisdom behind it, if he
can find some then it is good otherwise that does not mean that the
wisdom does not exist but it means that the human level is not yet
developped to recognize or identify that wisdom.
Finally, let me clarify some of the misconceptions you have (maybe due
to some non-clarity in our articles that were posted on the net).
In Islam and in Islamic courts a one woman witness can be accepted and I
refer you to the Quran (I do not have the exact numbers of verse and
chapter) where Allah says what could be translated to:
If someone beleives his wife has betrayed him then they should go to
court and he should sware (sp ?) three times by god that he is truthfull
and the fourth time that the curse of allah be on him if he were lying.
And the punishment will be lifted fro the woman (wife) if she swares (sp
?) by Allah three times that he is lying and a fourth time that the
curse of Allah be on her if he was truthfull. This shows us that in some
cases the tetimony of both men and women is equal.
In matters that need the special skills of a person, the testimony of a
woman may be more strong than that of a man like in things that are
related to women issues. It is narrated that when Khalif Omar (May Allah
be Pleased with him) wanted to know for how many months a man could be
away from his wife (to go for battle) he resorted to his daughter to ask
her and based on her opinion ALONE made his decision about the length of
stay (maximum) of a soldier away from his family.
As for that the testimony of two women equals that of one man, this has
been mentioned in the Quran only in reference to the monetary dealings
(as I remember for witnesses on debts between muslims), some of the
Ulama (Knowlegeable people in matters of Religion) generalized this to
all matters of testimony, others restricted it to that situation only
and said that in other matters the testimony of a man is equal to that
of a woman. So depending on the Ulama you follow you have different
opinions. This is not a contradiction in Islam since some of the matters
were left for the people to extract so as to give some flexibility and
that's what makes Islam a religion for ALL mankind at ALL times. Of
course there are basic things that there is no doubt about them like the
onesse of God and the beleif in the hereafter and the Paradise and the
Hell fire etc...
In conclusion, I am not that skilled in the matters of Women's rights in
Islam but if anybody on the net needs more information I can direct you
to some references which may proof useful in:
1. Clarifying some misconceptions abouyt Women in Islam.
2. Giving you a right idea about the role, rights and Obligations of
women in Islam.
3. Show you that Islam Liberated the woman, not disorderly but in a way
that fits her design; and did the same thing for man.

rached

-- 
"I bear witness that there is only one god, and that Muhammad is his
messenger"