Translation Vs. Meaning
I have been storing a few things in my head up to this moment which have come up in the past week, mostly due to converstations I've had with a certain *person...* My aim in this post is not to be confrontational, but rather it is to further explore the meanings behind some of the issues mentioned to me on a few occassions.
I shall begin today by addressing the latest issue which raised my eyebrows, bringing them to two archs floating above my forehead: Men are not prohibited to have sex with slave women in the Quran. I heard this statement for the first time the other night and to my grave disappointment I was unable to respond - as is the case with me in most situations these days, when speaking to this particular person... This statement is derived not from an argument or a discussion concerning women's rights or what have you. Rather it was just a statement driven from a general perspective on the role of religion in general, be it Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, etc.
Now, although I stayed quiet, it may well be known that my head was spinning... And my ignorant defense and denial theories surreptitiously kicked in... and thus I began my search. Mind you, this is not going to be a 4,000 word college essay but rather, will be just a brief attempt to either "prove" or "disprove" the statement, using readily provided sources with which I came up addressing this comment. I googled it. I got this and this among other sites which did not serve in easing my discomfort... (As a secular humanist, a catagory in which I so like to define myself, the reason for my discomfomt is vague and I have decided that we shall speculate upon it in a different post, perhaps).
*ahem*
Anyway, then I saw this and also this which unfortunately also did little to ease my discomfort, despite the optimism they provide.
So I tackled the Quran. Surah 23:1-6 The Believers says:
Successful indeed are the believers
Who are humble in their prayers
And who shun vain conversation
And who are prayers of the poor-due
And who guard their modesty
Save from their wives or the slaves that their right hands possess, for then they are not blameworthy
The last few lines of that excerpt are innocent enough, yet I suppose can be easily misinterpreted by he who so chooses to give a certain definition to the meaning behind "guarding modesty." Could not it merely mean "treat as one of the family?" Or perhaps does it readily imply "fuck the servant..."
I thought I was done there. But I continued to read the Holy Book Of Allah and I remembered that there is a Surah on women where the meaning is more limpid. Surah 4:23-25...
Basically, it talks about who men cannot marry (brother, sister, aunt, etc) and then goes on to say:
All married women are forbidden to you save those captives (slaves) whom your right hands possess.
Basically, if you stop there.. and if that was the end of that, then yes, this would be saying that you can fuck your slavegirl.
But... it then goes on to say:
Lawful unto you are all beyond those mentioned, so that ye seek them with your wealth in honest wedlock, NOT DEBAUCHERY. And those of whom ye seek content (by marrying them), give unto them their portions as a duty. AND THERE IS NO SIN FOR YOU IN WHAT YE DO BY MUTUAL AGREEMENT AFTER THE DUTY HATH BEEN DONE.
The aformentioned websites insisting that the Quran condones the rape of slave women seem to take passages out of context or simplify them or even fail to remark the religiously historical meaning behind them: in that: a slave woman brought to a home was more or less treated like a wife and not so much a slave. She was bought as a slave to be freed as a woman and to elevate her status.
....
If anyone can find a passage (not a line or two) besides these which more clearly state that slave women should be raped, then please... reply and I suppose it will make it all the more easier for me to determine the kind of wisdom and respect Islam has for women, especially when compared to other religions.
Is heaven not under the feet of a mother?
I shall begin today by addressing the latest issue which raised my eyebrows, bringing them to two archs floating above my forehead: Men are not prohibited to have sex with slave women in the Quran. I heard this statement for the first time the other night and to my grave disappointment I was unable to respond - as is the case with me in most situations these days, when speaking to this particular person... This statement is derived not from an argument or a discussion concerning women's rights or what have you. Rather it was just a statement driven from a general perspective on the role of religion in general, be it Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, etc.
Now, although I stayed quiet, it may well be known that my head was spinning... And my ignorant defense and denial theories surreptitiously kicked in... and thus I began my search. Mind you, this is not going to be a 4,000 word college essay but rather, will be just a brief attempt to either "prove" or "disprove" the statement, using readily provided sources with which I came up addressing this comment. I googled it. I got this and this among other sites which did not serve in easing my discomfort... (As a secular humanist, a catagory in which I so like to define myself, the reason for my discomfomt is vague and I have decided that we shall speculate upon it in a different post, perhaps).
*ahem*
Anyway, then I saw this and also this which unfortunately also did little to ease my discomfort, despite the optimism they provide.
So I tackled the Quran. Surah 23:1-6 The Believers says:
Successful indeed are the believers
Who are humble in their prayers
And who shun vain conversation
And who are prayers of the poor-due
And who guard their modesty
Save from their wives or the slaves that their right hands possess, for then they are not blameworthy
The last few lines of that excerpt are innocent enough, yet I suppose can be easily misinterpreted by he who so chooses to give a certain definition to the meaning behind "guarding modesty." Could not it merely mean "treat as one of the family?" Or perhaps does it readily imply "fuck the servant..."
I thought I was done there. But I continued to read the Holy Book Of Allah and I remembered that there is a Surah on women where the meaning is more limpid. Surah 4:23-25...
Basically, it talks about who men cannot marry (brother, sister, aunt, etc) and then goes on to say:
All married women are forbidden to you save those captives (slaves) whom your right hands possess.
Basically, if you stop there.. and if that was the end of that, then yes, this would be saying that you can fuck your slavegirl.
But... it then goes on to say:
Lawful unto you are all beyond those mentioned, so that ye seek them with your wealth in honest wedlock, NOT DEBAUCHERY. And those of whom ye seek content (by marrying them), give unto them their portions as a duty. AND THERE IS NO SIN FOR YOU IN WHAT YE DO BY MUTUAL AGREEMENT AFTER THE DUTY HATH BEEN DONE.
The aformentioned websites insisting that the Quran condones the rape of slave women seem to take passages out of context or simplify them or even fail to remark the religiously historical meaning behind them: in that: a slave woman brought to a home was more or less treated like a wife and not so much a slave. She was bought as a slave to be freed as a woman and to elevate her status.
....
If anyone can find a passage (not a line or two) besides these which more clearly state that slave women should be raped, then please... reply and I suppose it will make it all the more easier for me to determine the kind of wisdom and respect Islam has for women, especially when compared to other religions.
Is heaven not under the feet of a mother?