In case of Pakistan, "Of the 7,000 women in jail around the country awaiting trial, 88 percent are accused of crimes under Hudood, according to the Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid. Ninety percent of these women have no lawyer, and 50 percent do not know they are entitled to contact one. Most women accused of Hudood violations are acquitted, but lose an average of five years to confinement, and lose their reputations as well." Under the new Hudood law, the incentive for any woman to report any rape is gone. "Hudood has also unwittingly become a major factor in rape cases. Many rape victims refuse to file charges, because under Islamic law, four male Muslim witnesses are required to prove charges of rape. Women who cannot produce this many witnesses often end up in jail themselves for adultery, a crime against the state punishable by stoning to death." Under such a system, rape victims have less reason to accuse anyone as a rapist.
In Islam, the penalty for adultery is one hundred stripes if the person is not married and stoning until death if he or she is married. God says in The Holy Quran
"Each of the women and the man guilty of adultery or fornication must be flogged with a hundred stripes. Let not compassion move you in their case, in a matter prescribed by God, if ye believe in God and the Last day . And let a party of believers witness their punishment" (Al-Noor: 2)Under Islamic law, rape can only be proven if the rapist confesses or if there are four male witnesses. Women who allege rape, without the benefit of the act having been witnessed by four men who subsequently develop a conscience, are actually confessing to having sex. If they or the accused happens to be married, then it is considered to be adultery. Rape is virtually impossible to prove under Islamic law (Sharia) and even in more moderate countries. If the man claims that the act was consensual sex, there is very little that the woman can do to refute this. Islam places the burden of avoiding sexual encounters of any sort on the woman.
"Why did they not bring four witnesses of it? But as they have not brought witnesses they are liars before Allah." Sura (24:13)Because of the evidence requirements of Islamic law: the victim's testimony is disallowed, and she must produce four male Muslim witnesses who saw the act. Anyone accused of rape is considered to have been involved in zina (adultery/fornication). The accuser (victim) must then produce four credible male witnesses to give testimony against the accused that he has raped the accuser. If the accuser fails to meet the witness requirement, then the accuser, usually a female, is by default charged of zina and, if convicted, given the punishment prescribed under the Hudood law. If the female does not bring up the accusation of rape, then the woman is by default charged with zina.
Many women who, once accused of zina, have claimed to have been rape victims, were charged and imprisoned under this Hudood law, as they failed to produce the supporting witnesses. Thousands of women have been languishing in prisons of Pakistan under this Hudood law. A society that presumably wants to implement such laws for protection of morality and decency seems to be oblivious to the fact that these raped victims are further sexually victimized in prisons by police.
Also, pregnancy without marriage (or a counter-charge of rape) is recognized as a basis for prosecution for zina. It is not difficult to contemplate that a woman can become pregnant due to rape, and even so, it may not be easy in a male-dominated society to bring the charge of rape against the rapist.
A major problem with the orthodox Islamic law, is approaching rape as zina bil Jabr. Because zina is legally prohibited and regarded as morally one of the most reprehensible acts, the very charge of zina bil Jabr casts a negative spotlight on the accused. A rape victim, already a victim, is further traumatized and stigmatized by such label that is regarded by the society as reprehensible. This label is an obstacle to seeing and treating a raped victim, as a victim, and victim only. Instead, the very charge is under a presumption that the victim along with the rapist have been involved in a morally reprehensible act.
Zina relates to adultery or fornication - any extramarital sex - and is prohibited in Islam. However, an essential aspect of zina is that it is consensual. Rape, thus, can't be classified under zina. The term zina bil Jabr is oxymoronic, because literally translated, it means "consensual extramarital sex by force". Had it been only a matter of oxymoronic expression or semantic, it wouldn't have been of great significance. However, because it has serious legal implications and has impacted the lives of many women, this matter can't be taken lightly.
Thousands of women, who have claimed to be rape-victims, are now languishing in jail or have their lives ruined even after being acquitted, due to trying them under zina bil Jabr of Hudood Laws. "No distinction has been made between Zina and Zina Bil Jabr (rape), resulting in it becoming an instrument of exploitation and oppression." [Niaz, 2001]
While Islam places very high value on morality and decency, and thus there is harsh punishment for promiscuity, the entire issue is also subject to Islam's essential commitment to justice, with a special focus on protecting the weak and the vulnerable. When this commitment is undermined, Islam itself is undermined, contrary to the examples from the Prophet Muhammad.
News Archives:1. Report: Saudi gang rape victim punished (usatoday.com)
2. Saudi: Why we punished rape victim (cnn.com)
3. Saudi King Abdullah spares rape victim from lashes (timesonline.co.uk)
4. Exclusive: Saudi Rape Victim Tells Her Story (abcnews.go.com)
5. Abused Afghan women end up in jail - Afghanistan (msnbc.com)
6. Majority Afghan women jailed for being rape victims (independent.co.uk)
7. Afghanistan woman stoned to death (bbc news)
8. Living on Nigeria's death row (bbc news)
23 comments:
The 4 witness requirement is for proving adultery only. Not rape.
I'm sorry, but your information regarding Sharia' law is completely incorrect.
For reference:
Four witnesses in rape?
Wow, sounds like a pretty barbaric part of the world doesnt it. They are clearly stuck in the dark ages.
JIff
www.Privacy-Center.Net
This article is total bullshit. Please, know you information before posting such a negative article about a religion that you apparently know nothing about. It's like me posting something about Buddhists, who I have not so much information about. I am just scared to put information that I cannot back up. So, truly, as a writer, you are an embarassment for disinforming people like josh, who think this is true.
Shame on you, thats all i have to say.
Narrated Abu Huraira and Zaid bin Khalid Al-Juhani:
A bedouin came and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Judge between us according to Allah's Laws." His opponent got up and said, "He is right. Judge between us according to Allah's Laws." The bedouin said, "My son was a laborer working for this man, and he committed illegal sexual intercourse with his wife. The people told me that my son should be stoned to death; so, in lieu of that, I paid a ransom of one hundred sheep and a slave girl to save my son. Then I asked the learned scholars who said, "Your son has to be lashed one-hundred lashes and has to be exiled for one year." The Prophet said, "No doubt I will judge between you according to Allah's Laws. The slave-girl and the sheep are to go back to you, and your son will get a hundred lashes and one year exile." He then addressed somebody, "O Unais! go to the wife of this (man) and stone her to death" So, Unais went and stoned her to death.
NO BULLSHIT.. it is you (nurlan) who should learn more about your own religion..
I understand that you're calling for reform in how some regions of the world interpret Sharia, but it really hurts your argument when you get your facts totally wrong.
The "burden of proof" isn't specific for women and as mentioned already isn't meant to be applied for rape victims. It's meant as a safeguard against false accusations. You can not accuse someone of zina unless you have 4 eyewitnesses. Otherwise you face punishment yourself.
Muslim 682
The Prophet said: "Do not stone the adulteress who is pregnant until she has had her child." After the birth she was put into a ditch up to her chest and the Prophet commanded them to stone her. Khalid came forward with a stone which he threw at her head, and there spurted blood on the face of Khalid and he cursed her. The gentle Prophet prayed over her and she was buried.
The Prophet said, “The onus to provide evidence falls on the one who makes a claim, and the one who denies (the same) can absolve himself or herself by making a solemn oath to the contrary.”
the victim is the one who make a claim.. so she should provide the evidence (witnesses etc.)
If a person makes an allegation of adultery against another person (male or female) he or she must produce four witnesses to support such an allegation; otherwise, he or she is guilty of slandering, which is a grave offense in Islam, for we are not to tarnish the honor of anyone.
Shame on any human that believes in a religion that takes death so lightly.
It makes me sad to think that so many humans hide behind religion to commit horrendous crimes against each other, all the while believing that they are right to do it and the other is wrong.
I find solace in knowing this will eventually be bred out of this race.
Totally agree with Shareef:
4 witnesses to prove adultery, so that you are innocent until proven guilty.
Rape: is condemned severely in Islam, but the application of the rule of law may be really lacking in some countries, but this is not because of Islam but rather poverty and under-development.
stoning a person or whipping them for any kind of sex is backwards and retarded.Religion is a method for some people who deem themselves superior to have control over others. What I choose to do with my body is my business and screw your holy book. You have no proof that there is anything special about it.
No wonder they are terrorists
Narrated Wa'il ibn Hujr:
"When a woman went out in the time of the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) for prayer, a man attacked her and overpowered (raped) her. She shouted and he went off, and when a man came by, she said: That (man) did such and such to me. And when a company of the Emigrants came by, she said: That man did such and such to me. They went and seized the man whom they thought had had intercourse with her and brought him to her.
She said: Yes, this is he. Then they brought him to the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him). When he (the Prophet) was about to pass sentence, the man who (actually) had assaulted her stood up and said: Apostle of Allah, I am the man who did it to her.
He (the Prophet) said to the woman: Go away, for Allah has forgiven you. And about the man who had intercourse with her, he said: Stone him to death.
He also said: He has repented to such an extent that if the people of Medina had repented similarly, it would have been accepted from them. (Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 38, Number 4366)"
'The 4 witness requirement is for proving adultery only. Not rape.'
If you read the stories of these women, not just on this blog but anywhere, you will find that although they have been accused of ADULTERY, what has actually occurred, most often, is RAPE. Rape meaning 'forced sex.'
If a woman has to first endure the trauma and agony of being raped, and then be accused and punished by the law for it just because she cannot comply with its twisted rules, then that is just plain wrong. Obviously a rape victim is not going to be able to produce 4 MALE witnesses.
How retarded. And how retarded that people can defend this. I don't know anything about real Islam, but with religions all over the world, people in power just twist it to suit their needs. It happens with Christianity, with Islam; with nearly any organized religion. People can do horrendous things and just justify it through religion; religion is just another way for those in power to control people.
The writer is absolutely right. This is not about Islam but about its application in real life. Hudood ordinances have been denounced by even Pervez Musharraff, and a lot of sensible Pakistanis - just not the ones jumping to the defence of Islam when the question is one of logic.
there is no need for witness of 4 ppl when the whole issue is on rape.
as for adultery, if its done in closed door on mutual basis, no one knows and it just goes unheard, unless they committed adultery and was witnessed by 4 ppl, then the stoning/whipping is executed.
alot of ppl have totally misunderstood the sharia and they tend to come up with their very own version of what suits them. the chauvinist muslim men of course!
In Shari'ah, 4 Witnesses are not required to substantiate the charge of rape. What most people are seeing as "shariah" is really bass ackwards ignorant village or tribal customs, or the result of uneducated people being put in positions of power due to politics or nepotism, not ability.
The thing that must be frustrating as hell for the residents of these countries, muslims, and the people who trace their lineage back to these nations is the fact that one yokel or village mullah can, out of ignorance, favoritism, or ill will, render punishment on the helpless or oppressed and its instantly all over the media.
Yet scholars and jurists all over the Islamic world work hard every day to protect the helpless and oppressed, and its ignored.
The whole point of Shariah is to provide a framework to ensure that people get the rights that are owed to them, and that oppression and vice are curtailed and justice and good prevail. If you are in a situation where there is injustice, corruption, and oppression you are not under shariah.
Its really quite simple. Is whipping a rape victim just? No. Does Shariah enjoin the whipping of rape victims? No.
The recent example of a woman who was "caught" having sex with another man in a car and raped by three others in Saudi Arabia is a uniqe example. She was, evidently, engaging in zinna and she was then raped by some other people. The judge in question deemed it necessary to punish her for her zinna dn the other men for rape, or zinna, I forget which. This was deemed inappropriate by the King, who pardoned her after it came to her attention.
Did the pardon get as much attention as the initial ruling? Nope.
Its easy to take a dismissive approach to things when you see things as black and white; we in the west should be more careful about what we proclaim regarding others; because its the same overly simplistic and dismissive thought process that gets rape victims whipped 1/3 of the way around the globe.
jcw
Suffering of others was always treated with indifference in earlier ages, since misery was so common. Most religions were created under such circumstances and preach many inhuman tenets. In other cases, twisted people will use religion to sate their sadism.
For e.g.
Buddha always preached kindness and could not stand even a lamb being killed. However, followers under his name in Tibet, many centuries later, would find such ingenious ways of killing foreigners like tying them in yak skins in the hot sun till they were crushed and suffocated, or dumping them into the "Cave of Scorpions".
Hinduism, one of the most tolerant faiths, under which several faiths grew ( Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism ) had its own examples of cruelty at some period to Buddhists, like putting nose rings on them and leading them on the streets like cattle.
Moghuls ruling in India did their own share of cruelty towards Sikhs and Hindus ( boiling, roasting, flaying etc. )
I don't even want to start with the sadism and evil perpretrated by followers of the crescent and the cross on every continent.
The best we can hope for is that man's commercial instinct and materialism will make religion irrelevant by the next 2 or 3 decades.
But whatever anyone did in the past, today one faith has earned its reputation as something evil.
I used to be friends with a Pakistani online ( i'm Indian and Atheist BTW). He was intelligent and semed a nice guy, but soon I found that this chaps moral sense was quite warped. He wouldn't accept any view that claimed that men and women were equal, He wouldn't question the relevancy of anything that was quoted in the Koran ( even stuff about killing unbelievers or stoning people to death). I stopped talking to him. A combination of intelligence and fanatic faith seemed too much for me to stomach.
If someone educated and smart like him could be so brainwashed about his faith, I see no hope for a tolerant or benign Islam.
Step on that woman's shoes while getting raped and talk all these bullshits irrespective of the so called man-made "religion". Shame on human race and those who make such decisions. You guys are in darkness and always talk about doing what others paved path (wrongfully). Would you consider the same thing happen to your daughter, mother, wife or sister if you have one?? What if you are an outcome of a rape????? Come out and see what it is to live in freedom and peaceful world. May God have mercy and open the door of knowledge.
You gotta love how now a days you have non-muslim interpreting Muslim Texts…
It’s like taking advice on medicine from a lawyer having no medical background……
First I like to clarify what Giridara said...
The hadith you stated is correct however you did not fully understand it. Read it about a few time to soak all of it before making any claims. It was clear that the son had sexual intercourse with the WIFE of another man. The son was not married so he did not commit adultery but committed Zina (sexual intercourse). THE WIFE… Was married and she CHEATED on her husband…. That is why she faced a harsher punishment…. It is because she destroyed the sanctity of marriage that her punishment was severe… If the roles were reversed then the men would have the same punishment….
About 4 witnesses are for the PROTECTION from false accusation …
024.004 And those who launch a charge against chaste women, and produce not four witnesses (to support their allegations),- flog them with eighty stripes; and reject their evidence ever after: for such men are wicked transgressors;-
(Notice the protection FOR THE WOMEN)
IN THE CASE OF NO WITNESSES..
024.006 And for those who launch a charge against their spouses, and have (in support) no evidence but their own,- their solitary evidence (can be received) if they bear witness four times (with an oath) by God that they are solemnly telling the truth;
024.007 And the fifth (oath) (should be) that they solemnly invoke the curse of God on themselves if they tell a lie
Please Read This from the Quran
http://www.jannah.org/qurantrans/quran24.html
My last request is that all of you who try to interpret Islamic Text please review it with what majority of scholars gave verdict on... for they have studied far more then you have about such topics....
Thank you and Peace be upon you all
"He then addressed somebody, "O Unais! go to the wife of this (man) and stone her to death" So, Unais went and stoned her to death."
The women did not even ask for question.. the women stoned to death, base on what?? a claim from the male that they committed illegal sexual intercourse?
why the prophet did not ask for the women's side of the story..
and rumann... I am a Muslim..
Your question is valid one and I hope I am able to answer it. First I apologize for calling you a non muslim but if your argument is that the Prophet (SAW) did not ask the women you cannot simply just read that hadith and assume he didn’t ask. First you have to look at where in the Bukari was this Hadith found. It was placed under “Peacemaking”, so the purpose of this hadith was to show peacemaking between the Husband of the Wife and the boy’s father. ….That is why the details of everything else that went on is not present…. In that whole volume by Bukari it contains many other hadiths that gives examples of Peacemaking… so you’d have to see it for its context … Here is a hadith from the Book of Divorce by Muslim ….
Sa'id b Jubair reported: I was asked about the invokers of curses during the reign of Mus'ab (b. Zubair) whether they could separate (themselves by this process). He said: I did not understand what to say. So I went to the house of Ibn 'Umar (Allah be pleased with them) in Mecca. I said to his servant: Seek permission for Me. He said that he (Ibn 'Umar) had been taking rest. He (Ibn 'Umar) heard my voice. and said: Are you Ibn Jubair? I said: Yes. He'said: Come in. By Allah, it must be some (great) need which has brought you here at this Hour. So I got in and found him lying on a blanket reclining against a pillow stuffed with fibres of date-palm. I said: O Abu'Abd al-Rahman, should there be separation between the invokers of curses? He said: Hallowed be Allah, yes, The first one who asked about it was so and so. he said: Messenger of Allah, tell me If one of us finds his wife committing adultery: what should he do? If he talks, that is something great, and if he keeps quiet that is also (something great) (which he cannot afford to do). Allah's Prophet (may peace be upon him) kept quiet (or some time). After some time he (that very person) came to him (Allah's Messenger) and said: I have been involved in that very cage about which I had asked you Allah the Exalted and Majestic then revealed (these) verses of Surah Nur:" Those who accuse their wives" (verse 6), and he (the Holy Prophet) recited them to him and admonished him, and exhorted him and informed him that the torment of the world is less painful than the torment of the Hereafter. He said: No, by Him Who sent you with Truth, I did not tell a lie against her. He (the Holy Prophet) then called her (the wife of that person who had accused her) and admonished her, and exhorted her, and informed her that the torment of this world is less painful than the torment of the Hereafter. She said: No, by Him Who sent thee with Truth, he is a liar. (it was) the man who started the swearing of oath and he swore in the name of Allah four times that he was among the truthful. and at the fifth turn he said: Let there be curse of Allah upon him if he were among the liars. Then the woman was called and she swore four times in the name of Allah that he (her husband) was among the liars, and at the fifth time (she said): Let there be curse upon her if he were among the truthful. He (the Holy Prophet) then effected separation between the two.” Sahih Muslim, Book 9
I hope I was able to shed some understanding for you…… … PEACE
Is there a cure for the mentally retarded?
Please wash away...
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