The Method of Islam (4/5)
Abdul Rahman Bin Hammad Al-Omar
D. Islam protects man's privacy. It not only prohibits the Muslim from entering into other people's houses without permission, it also interdicts strictly glancing furtively at others inside their dwellings as well as prohibiting all deeds which encroach upon someone's security and right of privacy.
E.Allah has conferred on man the freedom of work. Man has the right to earn and expend within the limits explained by the laws of Allah. Work is a duty on man. He should work to support himself and his family. But, at the same time, Allah forbids strictly illicit gains which are the outcome of illegal deeds such as usury, gambling, corruption, theft, sorcery, fornication, and sodomy. Money gained by selling wine, pork, or practicing forbidden kinds of entertainment such as singing and dancing is also illicit and prohibited. The Muslim should avoid earning money from illicit sources and should also avoid spending it for ill deeds.
By this method which regulates means of earning and ways of spending, Islam offers to man the most useful guidance to a prosperous and a very happy life.
9- Islam and Family Status:
Allah organized family status by the Islamic law. This perfect divine Organization ensures happiness for those who adopt it. The Qur’an and prophetic traditions call upon and encourage people to marry for many noble reasons:
Marriage is the best means to chastity and protection against indecency. It creates feelings of love and mercy between the couples and ensures security and tranquility for them. Marriage secures also for the society the way to proper growth through chastity and honest legitimate means.
According to Islam, each couple helps his mate by fulfilling the duties which suit his own nature. The man performs out door work to earn money and support his wife and children. The wife undertakes indoor- work such as bringing up children well, household-management, and doing her best for the happiness of her husband and children.
It is permissible for the wife to work outside home if her husband allows her to co-operate with him to increase their earnings and support their family. But, there is an important reservation on woman's work outside her home. A female should abstain from performing any work in company with men. Women can perform profitable and productive work in homes, their own farms, or their husbands or parents' farms. Neither the husband nor the wife's relatives have the right to oblige her to work in company with men in factories, offices, or commercial stores because such co-work will expose her to corruption.
A woman secured in her house is protected against all kinds of temptation, but if she leaves her safe shelter to associate with men in works, markets, and other fields of life, she may harm herself and expose her honour and dignity to danger.
Islam And Polygamy
Polygamy is permissible in Islam.
Allah authorized man to marry up to four wives, provided that he should treat them all as equals and should not discriminate among them. Islam considers man responsible for observing equality among his wives in all kinds of material treatment such as equality among them in habitation, clothing and all means of adequate support. But strict equality in emotions and feeling is beyond the ******* of a man, therefore he is not obliged to treat his wives on the same footing in emotional matters.
Allah states in the Qur’an:
“You will never be able to do perfect justice between wives...” (Surah An-Nisa’, 4:129)
The commentators of the Qur’an are in agreement that this verse refers to equality between wives in emotions and feelings of love. Such equality which is beyond man's ability should not be a reason to justify abolition of polygamy.
Allah authorized His messengers in all ages to marry more than a wife, because He knows better what is more favorable for His bondsmen. It is a fact that a healthy man can satisfy the sexual desires of four women. Should he restrict himself to only one wife, as Christians and others do, as pretenders of Islam assert, this will result in many different kinds of corruption: -
1. If the husband is a good believer and obedient to His Lord's commandments, restricting himself to one wife only will not satisfy his desires, especially in the periods of his wife's menses, childbirth, sickness and during the last months of pregnancy. Certainly he will feel deprivation during these periods.
2. If the husband is a disobedient sinner and does not act according to the commandment of Allah, monogamy may incite him to commit adultery and abandon his wife. The majority of those who oppose polygamy are sinful adulterers who commit fornication and indecency shamelessly with unlimited number of women. A man committing lewdness and fornication while declaring himself to be an open antagonist to polygamy is condemned to be an unbeliever.
3. Monogamy deprives a great number of women of their legitimate right of marriage and having children. In times of wars and disasters, the death rate among men is proportionally high. In these cases, polygamy is the best means to extend the circle of marriage to combine a great number of widows and unmarried women and give them shelter and an honourable life. It is a clear fact that Islam, by regulating polygamy, has treated women with justice and mercy. Islam preferred the interests of women as a whole to the individual feeling of jealousy or grief which a wife suffers in case of polygamy. Those who oppose polygamy are the real enemies of women, virtue, and prophets of Allah. Who practiced polygamy according to the laws of Allah. Individual feelings of jealousy or grief should never be taken as a basis to impede laws and systems regulated by divine laws.
However, Islam authorizes the wife to stipulate a condition in her marriage contract that she will have the right to be divorced by her own will if her husband marries a second wife. According to Islamic law, the husband has no right in this case to reclaim from his divorced wife the possessions, cash or gifts that he had given her.
Divorce is permissible in Islam to enable couples to terminate their disputes and unhappy life, so that each one of them may start a new, happier life with a new mate. Divorce in Islam puts an end to unhappy matrimonial life and removes all deadlock that can prevent people from a happy, honourable life.
10- Islam and Hygienic Problems:
Many verses of the Qur’an and prophetic traditions contain spiritual and material methods for treating many psychological and physical diseases. Allah stated in the Qur’an:
“And We send down of the Qur’an that which is a healing and a mercy to those who believe (in Islamic Monotheism and act on it)”. (Surah Al-Isra’, 17:82)
The Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be on him said:
“Whatever the disease, Allah has created a medication for it, regardless of the fact that some men may come to know what this medication is and others may not.”
The Prophet permitted Muslims to use all kinds of medicines except which contain unlawful elements such as wine, swine flesh or any other forbidden matter. Ibn Al Qayyim treated this subject thoroughly in his book “Zad - Al-Maa'd” so, the reader can refer to this book if he wishes to acquire more knowledge about this subject.
11. In addition to hygienic problems:
Islam also organizes commerce, the economy, industry and agriculture in details. The Islamic methods in these fields satisfy properly the needs of people in nutrition and housing, organize public utilities, and secure public health in urban and rural societies and maintain the public amenities apparatuses on a proper basis to guarantee the settlement of all social troubles.
(Continued)