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Rape in Islamic Law: Difference between revisions
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More apologetics debunked and structure improvements
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What we see in the beginning of this verse as “forbidden” refers to sexual intercourse. The Qur'an dictates, women already married are forbidden for Muslims except those whom their right hands possess (sex [[Slavery|slaves]]). | What we see in the beginning of this verse as “forbidden” refers to sexual intercourse. The Qur'an dictates, women already married are forbidden for Muslims except those whom their right hands possess (sex [[Slavery|slaves]]). | ||
====Context==== | ====Context in Hadiths - Rape of Married Female Captives==== | ||
It is important to know the context of this verse, as it sheds light onto the nature of allowance. If we go through a Sahih Hadith in Sunan Abu Dawud: | It is important to know the context of this verse, as it sheds light onto the nature of allowance. If we go through a Sahih Hadith in Sunan Abu Dawud: | ||
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{{Quote|{{Muslim|8|3432}}|Abu Sa'id al-Khudri reported that at the Battle of Hunain Allah's Messenger sent an army to Autas and encountered the enemy and fought with them. Having overcome them and taken them captives, the Companions of Allah's Messenger seemed to refrain from having intercourse with captive women because of their husbands being polytheists. Then Allah, Most High, sent down regarding that:" And women already married, except those whom your right hands possess (Quran 4:. 24)" (i. e. they were lawful for them when their 'Idda period came to an end).}} | {{Quote|{{Muslim|8|3432}}|Abu Sa'id al-Khudri reported that at the Battle of Hunain Allah's Messenger sent an army to Autas and encountered the enemy and fought with them. Having overcome them and taken them captives, the Companions of Allah's Messenger seemed to refrain from having intercourse with captive women because of their husbands being polytheists. Then Allah, Most High, sent down regarding that:" And women already married, except those whom your right hands possess (Quran 4:. 24)" (i. e. they were lawful for them when their 'Idda period came to an end).}} | ||
There is an entire chapter devoted to this in the Sahih Muslim collection. The title of the chapter speaks in volumes as we read: | |||
:'''Sahih Muslim - The Book of Suckling - Chapter: It is permissible to have intercourse with a female captive after it is established that she is not pregnant, and if she has a husband, then her marriage is annulled when she is captured'''<ref>https://sunnah.com/muslim/17</ref> | |||
====Hadiths - Rape of Female Captives Before Ransoming Them==== | |||
On another occasion the only issue of concern for Muhammad's companions was whether the practice of coitus interruptus was permissable while raping captive women. | On another occasion the only issue of concern for Muhammad's companions was whether the practice of coitus interruptus was permissable while raping captive women. | ||
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{{Quote|{{Bukhari|5|59|459}}|Narrated Ibn Muhairiz: I entered the Mosque and saw Abu Said Al-Khudri and sat beside him and asked him about Al-Azl (i.e. coitus interruptus). Abu Said said, "We went out with Allah's Apostle for the Ghazwa of Banu Al-Mustaliq and we received captives from among the Arab captives and we desired women and celibacy became hard on us and we loved to do coitus interruptus. So when we intended to do coitus interrupt us, we said, 'How can we do coitus interruptus before asking Allah's Apostle who is present among us?" We asked (him) about it and he said, 'It is better for you not to do so, for if any soul (till the Day of Resurrection) is predestined to exist, it will exist."}} | {{Quote|{{Bukhari|5|59|459}}|Narrated Ibn Muhairiz: I entered the Mosque and saw Abu Said Al-Khudri and sat beside him and asked him about Al-Azl (i.e. coitus interruptus). Abu Said said, "We went out with Allah's Apostle for the Ghazwa of Banu Al-Mustaliq and we received captives from among the Arab captives and we desired women and celibacy became hard on us and we loved to do coitus interruptus. So when we intended to do coitus interrupt us, we said, 'How can we do coitus interruptus before asking Allah's Apostle who is present among us?" We asked (him) about it and he said, 'It is better for you not to do so, for if any soul (till the Day of Resurrection) is predestined to exist, it will exist."}} | ||
A significant additional detail is found in the same hadith in Sahih Muslim. The raped women were to be ransomed back to their tribes later. This undermines the occasional, not to mention grotesque apologetic for such behaviour, which argues that the Muslims, by enslaving women whose husbands they had killed, were saving them from destitution. | A significant additional detail is found in the same hadith in Sahih Muslim. The raped women were planned to be ransomed back to their tribes later. This undermines the occasional, not to mention grotesque apologetic for such behaviour, which argues that the Muslims, by enslaving women whose husbands, fathers and brothers they had killed, were saving them from destitution. | ||
{{Quote|{{Muslim|8|3371}}|Abu Sirma said to Abu Sa'id al Khadri (Allah he pleased with him): | {{Quote|{{Muslim|8|3371}}|Abu Sirma said to Abu Sa'id al Khadri (Allah he pleased with him): | ||
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O Abu Sa'id, did you hear Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) mentioning al-'azl? He said: Yes, and added: We went out with Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) on the expedition to the Bi'l-Mustaliq and took captive some excellent Arab women; and we desired them, for we were suffering from the absence of our wives, (but at the same time) '''we also desired ransom for them.''' So we decided to have sexual intercourse with them but by observing 'azl (Withdrawing the male sexual organ before emission of semen to avoid-conception). But we said: We are doing an act whereas Allah's Messenger is amongst us; why not ask him? So we asked Allah's Mes- senger (ﷺ), and he said: It does not matter if you do not do it, for every soul that is to be born up to the Day of Resurrection will be born.}} | O Abu Sa'id, did you hear Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) mentioning al-'azl? He said: Yes, and added: We went out with Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) on the expedition to the Bi'l-Mustaliq and took captive some excellent Arab women; and we desired them, for we were suffering from the absence of our wives, (but at the same time) '''we also desired ransom for them.''' So we decided to have sexual intercourse with them but by observing 'azl (Withdrawing the male sexual organ before emission of semen to avoid-conception). But we said: We are doing an act whereas Allah's Messenger is amongst us; why not ask him? So we asked Allah's Mes- senger (ﷺ), and he said: It does not matter if you do not do it, for every soul that is to be born up to the Day of Resurrection will be born.}} | ||
The same hadith including the ransom comment appears also in {{Abu Dawud||2167|Hasan}} (graded sahih). | |||
====Tafsirs==== | |||
Ibn Kathir, the most prominent of all Qur'an interpreters, had this to say in regards to verse 4:24: | Ibn Kathir, the most prominent of all Qur'an interpreters, had this to say in regards to verse 4:24: | ||
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==Muhammad== | ==Muhammad's Slave Women and Qur'an 30:50== | ||
This practice of raping war captives was practiced by Islam’s very own prophet Muhammad, in his life. On two occasions, he married (for the sake of sexual gratification only) war captives and raped them. Those victims were namely [[Safiyah]] and [[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Muhammads Wives and Concubines#Juwairiya|Juwairiyah]]. | This practice of raping war captives was practiced by Islam’s very own prophet Muhammad, in his life. On two occasions, he married (for the sake of sexual gratification only) war captives and raped them. Those victims were namely [[Safiyah]] and [[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Muhammads Wives and Concubines#Juwairiya|Juwairiyah]]. | ||
In Qur'an verse 30:50, Muhammad has the green light to have sexual relations with those captive women who Allah has given him (as war booty, according to the tafsirs): | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|30|50}}|O Prophet! Lo! We have made lawful unto thee thy wives unto whom thou hast paid their dowries, '''and those whom thy right hand possesseth of those whom Allah hath given thee''' as spoils of war, and the daughters of thine uncle on the father's side and the daughters of thine aunts on the father's side, and the daughters of thine uncle on the mother's side and the daughters of thine aunts on the mother's side who emigrated with thee, and a believing woman if she give herself unto the Prophet and the Prophet desire to ask her in marriage - a privilege for thee only, not for the (rest of) believers - We are Aware of that which We enjoined upon them concerning their wives and those whom their right hands possess - that thou mayst be free from blame, for Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful.}} | |||
After this verse giving him Allah's blessing for the wide range of women he had married or had sex with, a couple of verses later Muhammad's remaining wives are given some relief that he will not marry again. However, sleeping with more slave women will carry on indefinitely: | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|30|52}}|It is not allowed thee to take (other) women henceforth, nor that thou shouldst change them for other wives even though their beauty pleased thee, save those whom thy right hand possesseth. And Allah is ever Watcher over all things.}} | |||
===Safiyah=== | ===Safiyah=== | ||
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==Muslim Apologetics== | ==Muslim Apologetics== | ||
===Quotes from Shafi'i and Malik=== | |||
The following quote from a book by Imam al Shafi'i, the founder of the Shafi'i school of Islamic jurisprudence is claimed by some Islamic apologists to forbid slave owners from raping their female slaves: | |||
{{Quote|1=Imam Al Shaafi'i, Kitaabul Umm, Volume 3, page 253<ref name="call_to_monotheism">As quoted and translated on [http://www.call-to-monotheism.com/does_islam_permit_muslim_men_to_rape_their_slave_girls_ www.call_to_monotheism.com]</ref>|2="If a man acquires by force a slave-girl, then has sexual intercourse with her after he acquires her by force, and if he is not excused by ignorance, then the slave-girl will be taken from him, he is required to pay the fine, and he will receive the punishment for illegal sexual intercourse."}} | |||
Yet it is quite obvious that "acquires by force" refers to the manner in which the man gained possession of the slave girl, not a description of the sexual act later. There is a defined process in Islam called [[w:Khums|Khums]] for distributing booty (including captives) from wars and raids. Slaves could also later be bought and sold. So whether the man cheated on the Khums system, or simply took by force a slave from another Muslim, this did not make her lawful for him. | |||
Imam Malik, who founded the Maliki school of jurisprudence is also quoted by apologists regarding punishments for raping slaves. | |||
{{Quote|1=Imam Maalik, Al-Muwatta', Volume 2, page 734<ref name="call_to_monotheism"></ref>|2=In our view the man who rapes a woman, regardless of whether she is a virgin or not, if she is a free woman he must pay a "dowry" like that of her peers, and if she is a slave he must pay whatever has been detracted from her value. The punishment is to be carried out on the rapist and there is no punishment for the woman who has been raped, whatever the case.}} | |||
However, as demonstrated in the section above about punishments for raping slaves owned by someone else, the comment about payment shows that Malik is not refering to slaves owned by the perpetrator. | |||
===Hadith in which Umar punishes Dharah=== | |||
The following hadith (whose authenticity is in question due to the status of the narrator Harun bin al-Asam<ref name="call_to_monotheism"></ref>) is also claimed to show the Caliph Umar punishing Dharar for raping a captive woman. | |||
{{Quote|1=Sunan Al Bayhaqi, Volume 2, page 363, Hadith no. 18685<ref name="call_to_monotheism"></ref>|2= | |||
Abu al-Hussain bin al-Fadhl al-Qatan narrated from Abdullah bin Jaffar bin Darestweh from Yaqub bin Sufyan from al-Hassab bin Rabee from Abdullah bin al-Mubarak from Kahmas from Harun bin Al-Asam who said: Umar bin al-Khatab may Allah be pleased with him sent Khalid bin al-Walid in an army, hence Khalid sent Dharar bin al-Auwzwar in a squadron and they invaded a district belonging to the tribe of Bani Asad. They then captured a pretty bride, Dharar liked her hence he asked his companions to grant her to him and they did so. He then had sexual intercourse with her, when he completed his mission he felt guilty, and went to Khalid and told him about what he did. Khalid said: 'I permit you and made it lawful to you.' He said: 'No not until you write a message to Umar'. (Then they sent a message to Umar) and Umar answered that he (Dharar) should be stoned. By the time Umar's message was delivered, Dharar was dead. (Khalid) said: 'Allah didn't want to disgrace Dharar'}} | |||
As above, this is actually very likely referring to violation of the Khums system for distributing war booty, which is for the Imam or commander to distribute, including a fifth share for the Prophet (and after his death, for the Caliph). Clearly from the verses and hadiths in the rest of this article, captives owned in lawful ways were permissable for Muslim slave owners to sleep with in Islam. | |||
===Claims about verse 24:33=== | ===Claims about verse 24:33=== | ||