Rape in Islamic Law: Difference between revisions

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(New intro, and new sections on punishments for rape of free women and slaves owned by others)
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{{cite web quotebox|url= http://islamqa.info/en/10382|title= Ruling on having intercourse with a slave woman when one has a wife|publisher= Islam Q&A, Fatwa No. 10382|author= |date= November  24, 2005|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.islamqa.com/en/ref/10382&date=2012-01-17|deadurl=no}}|2=Islam allows a man to have intercourse with his slave woman, whether he has a wife or wives or he is not married...Whoever regards that as haraam is a sinner who is going against the consensus of the scholars. }}
{{cite web quotebox|url= http://islamqa.info/en/10382|title= Ruling on having intercourse with a slave woman when one has a wife|publisher= Islam Q&A, Fatwa No. 10382|author= |date= November  24, 2005|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.islamqa.com/en/ref/10382&date=2012-01-17|deadurl=no}}|2=Islam allows a man to have intercourse with his slave woman, whether he has a wife or wives or he is not married...Whoever regards that as haraam is a sinner who is going against the consensus of the scholars. }}


==Introduction==
Rape, known in Islam as zina bi al-ikrah, is generally defined by Muslim jurists as forced intercourse by a man with a woman who is not his wife and without her consent. It is a crime punishable against the rapist with a hadd penalty - stoning (if he is a married person) or lashings (if he is unmarried) - just as he would receive for ordinary zina (unlawful intercourse). There is disagreement on whether he must also pay a dowry. A controversial position of some modern jurists is that the hadd penalty for outlaws should apply to rapists (hadd [[w:Hirabah|Hirabah]]), described in {{Quran|5|33}}. This avoids the four witnesses requirement for the zina hadd penalty to apply when there is no confession.<ref>Dr Azman Mohd Noor, [http://irep.iium.edu.my/16877/1/PUNISHMENT_FOR_RAPE_IN_ISLAMIC_LAW.pdf Punishment for rape in Islamic Law], Malayan Law Journal Articles [2009] 5 MLJ cxiv</ref>
Rape, known in Islam as zina bi al-ikrah, is generally defined by Muslim jurists as forced intercourse by a man with a woman who is not his wife and without her consent. It is a crime punishable against the rapist with a hadd penalty - stoning (if he is a married person) or lashings (if he is unmarried) - just as he would receive for ordinary zina (unlawful intercourse). There is disagreement on whether he must also pay a dowry. A controversial position of some modern jurists is that the hadd penalty for outlaws should apply to rapists (hadd [[w:Hirabah|Hirabah]]), described in {{Quran|5|33}}. This avoids the four witnesses requirement for the zina hadd penalty to apply when there is no confession.<ref>Dr Azman Mohd Noor, [http://irep.iium.edu.my/16877/1/PUNISHMENT_FOR_RAPE_IN_ISLAMIC_LAW.pdf Punishment for rape in Islamic Law], Malayan Law Journal Articles [2009] 5 MLJ cxiv</ref>


A small number of hadiths are cited to support the Islamic punishments for rape, discussed below. These narrations relate to the rape of free women and of female slaves who are not owned by the man. However, we will see that the Qur'an permits Muslim men to have sexual relations with their female slaves. Kecia Ali, Associate professor of religion, Boston University says regarding sex with slaves:
A small number of hadiths are cited to support the Islamic punishments for rape, discussed below. These narrations relate to the rape of free women and of female slaves who are not owned by the man. However, we will see that the Qur'an permits Muslim men to have sexual relations with their female slaves. Kecia Ali, Associate professor of religion, Boston University says regarding sex with slaves:


{{Quote|Kecia Ali, [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kecia-ali/islam-sex-slavery_b_8004824.html The Truth About Islam and Sex Slavery History Is More Complicated Than You Think], Huffington Post, 2015|2=For premodern Muslim jurists, as well as for those marginal figures who believe that the permission [for slavery] still holds, the category “rape” doesn’t apply: ownership makes sex lawful; consent is irrelevant.}}
{{Quote|1=Kecia Ali, [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kecia-ali/islam-sex-slavery_b_8004824.html The Truth About Islam and Sex Slavery History Is More Complicated Than You Think]<ref>Kecia Ali, [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kecia-ali/islam-sex-slavery_b_8004824.html The Truth About Islam and Sex Slavery History Is More Complicated Than You Think], Huffington Post, 2015</ref>|2=For premodern Muslim jurists, as well as for those marginal figures who believe that the permission [for slavery] still holds, the category “rape” doesn’t apply: ownership makes sex lawful; consent is irrelevant.}}


Dr. Jonathan Brown, Associate Professor and Chair of Islamic Civilization at Georgetown University (who is a Muslim convert) has made similar comments.<ref>"'slave rape' is a tough term to decipher from a Shariah perspective. A male owner of a female slave has the right to sexual access to her. Though he could not physically harm her without potentially being held legally accountable if she complained, her 'consent' would be meaningless since she is his slave." [https://np.reddit.com/r/islam/comments/3h1abm/this_is_dr_jonathan_brown_professor_at_georgetown/cu3dkhd/ Reddit AMA with Dr. Jonathan AC Brown, 2016</ref> Furthermore, there are narrations in which female captives were raped prior to being ransomed back to their tribe.
Dr. Jonathan Brown, Associate Professor and Chair of Islamic Civilization at Georgetown University (who is a Muslim convert) has made similar comments.<ref>"'slave rape' is a tough term to decipher from a Shariah perspective. A male owner of a female slave has the right to sexual access to her. Though he could not physically harm her without potentially being held legally accountable if she complained, her 'consent' would be meaningless since she is his slave." [https://np.reddit.com/r/islam/comments/3h1abm/this_is_dr_jonathan_brown_professor_at_georgetown/cu3dkhd/ Comment by Dr. Jonathan AC Brown on his Reddit AMA session], 2016</ref> Furthermore, there are narrations in which female captives were raped prior to being ransomed back to their tribe.


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