Friday, November 07, 2003
RELIGIOUS WISDOM
Clicking links in one of my perambulations through various Islamic sites, I came across this searchable index of a fairly complete collection of the "authoratative" hadiths, or "traditions of the Prophet." These are considered holy texts by all Muslims and are given value just beneath that of the Koran. They relate incidents in the life of Mohammed and describe the sunnah, his sayings and way of life. They are considered revealed truth from Allah.
So, having come across this great resource, I thought I'd give it a spin. I entered the search term, "women" and found a lot of things to warm the hearts of the feminists among the multiculturalists who tell us that Islam is a religion of tolerance and peace. Like this one:
Volume 1, Book 6, Number 301:
Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri:
Once Allah's Apostle went out to the Musalla (to offer the prayer) o 'Id-al-Adha or Al-Fitr prayer. Then he passed by the women and said, "O women! Give alms, as I have seen that the majority of the dwellers of Hell-fire were you (women)." They asked, "Why is it so, O Allah's Apostle ?" He replied, "You curse frequently and are ungrateful to your husbands. I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religion than you. A cautious sensible man could be led astray by some of you." The women asked, "O Allah's Apostle! What is deficient in our intelligence and religion?" He said, "Is not the evidence of two women equal to the witness of one man?" They replied in the affirmative. He said, "This is the deficiency in her intelligence. Isn't it true that a woman can neither pray nor fast during her menses?" The women replied in the affirmative. He said, "This is the deficiency in her religion."
This is the hadith often quoted by Islamic scholars as the religious foundation for treating women as second-class citizens: Mohammed did it, good Muslims copy the life of Mohammed as much as possible, so we do it."
I encourage those curious about Islam to peruse this database. Regardless of what search terms you put in, you'll find a whole lot of material about menstruation and going to the bathroom, something Mohammed seemed to be very concerned with.
GB, THHotA
posted by Greg 7:36 PM
