Apostasy and Segregation of man and women in Islam
Somebody posted an issue about Apostasy in Iran and that prompted me to ask this question and I would appreciate answers from the learned persons with firm grounding in Islamic Studies:Non muslims, PLEASE, abstain. Just read if you want to learn more. Your funny, sarcastic or arrogant comments won't help.
Surah Baqarah in the 1st part, Allah Says, there is no compulsion in Religion. In another surah, Allah says He Created Man with freewill. In Surah Taubah, Allah Says to Kill the Apostate. I am very much confused. Why should we kill the apostate? Is he not free to choose what he wants to believe in? Anyway, isn't it Allah who Guides and Lead astray whom He Will?
I was told that to avoid an apostate going and making false claims and throw accusations at Islam, it is better that he should be killed. But how about the various non-muslims who embraced Islam, like myself, we are not threatened with death when we denounce our previous religions? If Apostasy is such a crime in Islam, why then it is not seen anywhere in the Pentateuch, the first 5 books of the Ancient Testament. Why is it not in the Gospel? And yet Allah sent various prophets before and yet none of them has mentioned directly or indirectly the apostasy issue.
On the issue of segregation of man and women, The Quran does not mention the segregation of man and women at all. When Allah Says in Surah Noor: "Women lower thy gaze and cover your heads....", this verse impliedly indicates that women were mingling with the opposite sexes, otherwise why would Allah Ask women to cover their heads when they are with other women?
Neither do any of the previous Revelations mention segregation. At the times of the Prophet, women were praying behind men. Why this is an issue now in the Muslim Community that man and women should be segregated?
Man and women are an integral part of society. How could we segregate them? Is not the segregation of the sexes a bad thing? A lot of girls in Islamic school in the UK are espousing traits of lesbians. They spend years together without the interaction of any male. Likewise, ay boys school, traits of homosexuality are showing among some boys. At their age of puberty, they are discovering themselves and try things.
What is the rationale behind segregation of man and women? For example, a wedding is a place where you go and meet people and those relatives you don't know. It is an opportunity for man to spot their future spouse or vice versa. With segregation, this is hindered. You don't get a chance to see far distant relatives. I don't understand the logic. Is this segregation thing a cultural issue rather than a religious one?
Man and women were mingling at the time of the Prophet, according to stories in the Hadiths. I am lost.
Please,learned muslims QLers, enlighten my inquisitive mind.
Thank you.
Dear i-moody
Even though I am not a scholar of Islam myself, still I feel obliged to help you out in the way I can since you describes yourselves as "lost".
I don’t want to lecture on Islam’s verdict on apostasy, as it is better you look up scholarly references, say
"http://www.islamonline.net/English/contemporary/2006/04/article01.shtml"
However you have to get some fundamental approaches right, else it will veer you into chaos.
For once you should understand that it is not possible to justify or make compatible between themselves all the interpretations available in religion. That is because religion is religion, and not science.
As Muslims, we are bound to comprehensively justify only the Quran, as it is considered the verbatim word of God, and not the fatwas of all the scholars and half-scholars around, and not even all the “sahih” Hadiths. It has been widely acknowledged that there are questionable inclusions even in the Hadith collections of Bukhari and Muslim.
However this is not to underplay the importance of hadiths. Hadiths can be compared to history, which is inevitably contaminated with a bit of spurious narrations and unfair interpretations, but the importance of which cannot be overestimated. Moreover Hadiths stand out in the unparalleled way they have been preserved and compiled, considering that moral teaching are highly susceptible to adulteration.
So it is only possible to deduce general principles and make general observations, supported by Quran and the life examples of prophet Muhammad, rather than try to justify every interpretation and reports that you come across.
For example in the case of approving free will for human beings, you will find very sublime concepts in Quran (There is no single verse in the Qur'an that prescribes an earthly punishment for apostasy - I don’t know which verse in Taubah you are referring to). However you may find it difficult to make all the Hadiths and their scholarly interpretations compatible with this approach. So your only option is to follow the Quran and related interpretations.
This is not just the case of apostasy, but applies to almost everything – including segregation of Men and woman. You may note that Men and women pray together intermingled, without any segregation, at Kaaba during Hajj. Moreover women used to take part even in war during Prophet’s time. So you should learn to avoid any interpretation that appeals contrary to them.
If you want more discussions you can mail me at anonyalkult-at- yahoo.com.
if u r in Qatar just visit the Manara Islamic Center (for islamic education) (in Cornish).
and thay will answer all this.
Dear Brother,
Apart from the resources suggested by other freinds, u can also get the answer from Dr. Zakir Naik (Islamic Scholar and President of Islamic Research Foundation.
U can either refer to his video casssetes or can put your question to him on the IRF website:
http://www.irf.net/irf/main.htm
Inshallah he will answer you and clarify your querries.
Best Wishes
thank u PM
Educator where can i access huda tv..i dont have huda tv.
To get a comprehensive answer based on evidence from Quran and tradition, ask a scholar on Huda TV. They answer questions in English and provide citations from Quran and tradition.
Good luck.