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Violence Against Women
Author : Dr. Hassan Abu_Arqoub
Date Added : 16-01-2017

Violence Against Women

 

 

From 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to 10 December, Human Rights Day, 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign is a time to galvanize action to end violence against women and girls around the world.

The connection between these two occasions is that we can`t preserve human rights if we fail to preserve women`s rights and protect them against oppression and violence. This is because women constitute half of society and are most exposed to violation, where 70% of them have been subjected to violence during their life, according to a survey by the United Nations.

Those who may think that the afore survey is overstated and that holding a sixteen-day campaign to prevent and end violence against women is an act of luxury, are very much mistaken because this is a global phenomenon that has different forms, but people may have become so accustomed to that they don`t see as violation of women`s rights and an act of violence against them. I will briefly review some these forms:

First: Physical Violence

Many women are physically abused by men, be they husbands, fathers or brothers.

Studies conducted by Harvard University showed that 20-60% of the women in developing countries are beaten by their own family members, or husbands. This percentage shouldn`t be taken lightly since it is a serious indicator of the physical abuse women are experiencing at the hands of the aforementioned persons.

This phenomenon also applies to developed countries, where the study showed that 30% of the American women and 95% of the French women were physically abused by their husbands. This is very shameful, the very persons who are supposed to protect women are the ones abusing them. 

Undoubtedly, physical abuse creates pains and emotional problems because it humiliates the victim and denies him/her the sense of dignity, which Allah has created them with. Moreover, it could cause permanent disability and even death.

The question that arises here is that: is it acceptable that the man uses his strength and authority to degrade the woman? This is definitely turning norms upside down and manipulating power improperly, and the outcome is: a weak-degraded woman raising generations or functioning as a school?

Second: Verbal Abuse

Verbal abuse includes swearing, degrading and describing women with words that undermine human dignity. A questionnaire conducted in one of the neighboring countries showed that 52% of the women there were verbally abused. Moreover, a study in one of the Afro-Arab countries showed that 34% of the women there, from a sample of 2850 households, were verbally abused. This indicates that this kind of abuse poses a serious problem that should be solved.

 

Verbal abuse reflects disrespect to the abused and so it undermines his/her character and self-confidence. It also makes them in a constant state of fear and insecurity, and consequently they suffer from depression.

 

Some people may not be aware of the fact that verbal abuse could be more severer than physical abuse. Yakoob Al-Hamdooni, a poet, said: 

 "wounds inflicted by a lance like a head might heal easily, but words inflicted by tonge have no remedy.

Third: Emotional/Psychological Violence

Emotional violence crystallizes as a repercussion for the acts of oppression practiced against the woman, such as: preventing her from education, marriage, assuming high offices although she is qualified, or favoring males over her with respect to food, clothes and treatment. As a result, she suffers from a severe emotional damage that drives her into a state of depression. 

 

Moreover, her emotional state could deteriorate to a level where she starts hating herself and her femininity, and wishes that she wasn`t born as such; therefore, she loses self-confidence, and fails to perform her role. In addition, her community is at loss as well because it will miss the contributions of an active member. 

 

Fourth: Economic Violence

This type has many forms: deprivation from inheritance or giving her a small portion of it, or taking possession of her salary, or denying her maintenance or alimony. Definitely, these forms constitute a flagrant discrimination against women because they are simply women, but laws and sound minds reject this.

 

Since Islamic Law (Sharia) has given the woman the right to inherit and to be financially independent from her husband to enjoy her possessions, why do some deny her that right, equating her with a slave who can neither be free nor has any possessions? Undoubtedly, she will suffer from persecution and inferiority complexes as a repercussion for this unjustified violence. As a result, she becomes poor emotionally and economically at an era described as the era of economic enablement for women. This will also deprive her from participating in the growth of economy and increasing local production.

 

After this brief revision of the forms of violence against women, it is imperative that we ponder upon the following:

 

First: From the view point of Sharia, violence is condemned and unjustified; therefore, pinning it on religion is mere fabrication, and totally rejected. There are countless texts from the Quran and the Sunna encouraging people to protect women and be kind to them, be they mothers, sisters, daughters or wives.

 

Second: A woman must be dealt with as a competent person, not as inferior, not as slave or property because doing so undermines her dignity as a human being although Allah has created her with that dignity. Moreover, nothing is worse for a person than being humiliated and degraded.

 

Third: We should trust a woman`s potentials since she is a human being that has mind and emotions, and can be creative just like men. Accordingly, we should give her a window of opportunity to demonstrate her creativity, serve her community and help advance it.

 

Fourth: Showing respect to a woman and considering her feelings help improve her psychological condition; consequently, this helps her accomplish the difficult task that she has been entrusted with, namely bringing up future generations and leaders. Indeed, a strong and balanced mother will produce a strong and sound generation; whereas, a weak and unbalanced mother will produce an unstable and incompetent generation.

 

The aforementioned aren`t a gift that a man bestows upon a woman; rather, they are her natural right, and it is our duty, as humans, to help her claim them because she is our mother, sister, daughter, wife, and, most importantly, half of community.

The published article reflects the opinion of its author

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Summarized Fatawaa

The Jurisprudential Significance of the Ḥadīth: "Whoever says, at the conclusion of the Fajr Prayer, while crossing his legs, before speaking..."
"Whoever says, at the conclusion of the Fajr prayer, while crossing his legs, before speaking: 'Lā ilāha illā Allāh, waḥdahu lā sharīka lah, lahu al-mulku wa lahu al-ḥamdu yuḥyī wa yumītu wa huwa ʿalā kulli shayʾin qadīr' ten times — ten good deeds will be recorded for him, ten bad deeds will be erased from him, he will be raised ten levels, he will spend that day in protection from everything disliked and guarded from the devil, and no sin will be able to befall him on that day except associating partners with Allah" — does this noble ḥadīth apply to the imam, and what is meant by "extraneous speech"?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
It is recommended for both the imam and those praying behind him to recite, immediately after the final salām, the specific remembrance reported in the sunnah to be said before turning away from one's place of prayer. The imam then leaves his praying spot, and the act of "turning" is fulfilled when the imam faces the congregation — even without physically leaving his spot — by positioning his right side toward them and his left side toward the qiblah, and this applies even while he is engaged in supplication.
Al-ʿAllāmah Ibn Qāsim al-ʿAbbādī states in his Ḥāshiyah ʿalā al-Tuḥfah (Vol.2/P.105): "It is most virtuous for the imam, once he has given the salām, to rise from his place of prayer immediately afterward." He adds that an exception must be made for the remembrances that are specifically required to be recited before he turns away. He then notes, citing Sharḥ al-ʿUbāb: "Yes, an exception to this rising immediately after the salām applies to the Fajr prayer, due to the authentic report that the Prophet ﷺ, when he prayed Fajr, would remain seated until the sun rose." He further cites, from al-Khādim, the ḥadīth concerning one who recites, at the conclusion of the Fajr prayer while still in the position of crossing his leg to rise: "Lā ilāha illā Allāh, waḥdahu lā sharīka lah..." and the rest of the well-known ḥadīth. He comments that this makes explicit that this particular remembrance is to be recited before the worshipper turns his legs to leave, and the same applies to Maghrib and ʿAṣr, as reported in those contexts as well.
What is meant by "speech" in the relevant ḥadīth is extraneous worldly speech that is not called for after the prayer and for which there is no legitimate excuse. The remembrances reported to be recited upon concluding the prayer, however, do not fall under this category of extraneous speech, since they are themselves required by the sharīʿah.
Al-ʿAllāmah ʿAlī al-Shabrāmalsī states in his Ḥāshiyah ʿalā al-Nihāyah (Vol.1/P.551): "If someone greets a person with salām while he is occupied with reciting this remembrance [i.e., 'Lā ilāha illā Allāh...'], should he return the greeting — without this causing him to forfeit the promised reward, since he is engaged in an obligatory matter — or should he delay returning the greeting until he finishes, this being a legitimate excuse for the delay?" He continues: "I say: the more likely view is the former, and the prohibition on speech is to be understood as applying to extraneous speech for which there is no legitimate excuse. Based on this, should the worshipper give precedence to this remembrance ('Lā ilāha illā Allāh...') or to reciting Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ ('Qul huwa Allāhu aḥad')? This requires consideration, though it is not unlikely that the remembrance takes precedence, given that the Lawgiver urged hastening to it through his words 'while crossing his leg.' This is not considered ordinary speech, since it is not extraneous to what is required after the prayer."
Accordingly, it is recommended for both the imam and those praying behind him to recite this remembrance and to give it precedence over the other remembrances of the prayer, ensuring it is said before they move from their place. And Allah the Almighty knows best.

Does using a respiratory device (oxygen) affect the validity of fasting?

Using an oxygen device does not affect the validity of fasting because oxygen is a gas with no physical substance.
However, if medicinal substances with physical particles are added to the oxygen, its use would break the fast, as it enters the body cavity through a natural passage.

What is the ruling on public street water if it gets on a person's clothes or body?

The default ruling is that public street water is pure (tahir). If one is certain of its impurity (najasa), then a small amount that gets on the lower part of a person's clothes or body is overlooked (excused). And Allah the Almighty knows best.

What is the ruling on performing the night prayer (*qiyām al-layl*) between the first and second adhān of Fajr? And which is better: delaying the prayer until shortly before the Fajr adhān, or performing it earlier than that?

 

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
The time for night prayer (qiyām al-layl) begins after the Maghrib prayer and lasts until the second adhān of Fajr. The best time for it is the last third of the night, and best of all are the fourth and fifth sixths of the night. If the night is divided into two halves, the latter half is better.
Whoever intends to pray at night is encouraged to delay the Witr until he has prayed the night prayer. If he knows that he will not wake up, it is better for him to pray and perform Witr before sleeping, so that he does not miss both the night prayer and the Witr.
It is stated in Mughnī al-Muḥtāj (Vpl.1/p.462): “I say: The voluntary prayer of the night, that is, the absolute voluntary prayer (al-nafl al-muṭlaq), is better than the absolute voluntary prayer of the day, because of the report in Muslim: ‘The best prayer after the obligatory prayer is the night prayer.’ In another narration of his: ‘In the night there is an hour that no Muslim man meets while asking Allah for any good of this world and the next except that He gives it to him, and that is every night.’ It is also because the night is a time of heedlessness. I restricted the voluntary prayer to the absolute kind following the commentator, although what the ḥadīth and the underlying meaning require is that the night rawātib be preferred over the day rawātib, since the jurists preferred the two rakʿahs of Fajr over everything except Witr. The middle of the night is better than its two ends if it is divided into thirds, because heedlessness is greatest then and worship is hardest. If he wishes to pray during some third, the best is the fourth and fifth sixths, based on the ḥadīth in the two Ṣaḥīḥs: ‘The most beloved prayer to Allah the Exalted is the prayer of Dāwūd: he would sleep half the night, stand for a third of it, and sleep for a sixth.’ Then the latter part is better than the first if he divides it into two halves, because of the saying of Allah the Exalted: ‘And in the hours before dawn they would ask forgiveness’ [al-Dhāriyāt: 18], and the report of the two Shaykhs: ‘Our Lord, Blessed and Exalted, descends,’ meaning His command descends, ‘to the lowest heaven when the last third of the night remains, and says: Who calls upon Me, that I may answer him? Who asks of Me, that I may give him? Who seeks My forgiveness, that I may forgive him?’”
It is also stated in ʿUmdat al-Sālik (p. 60): “It is better to perform it [the Witr] immediately after the sunnah of ʿIshāʾ, unless he has tahajjud, in which case it is better to delay it so that he performs Witr after it. If he performs Witr and then wishes to pray tahajjud, he prays two rakʿahs at a time and does not repeat the Witr, nor does he need to cancel it with a single rakʿah before the tahajjud. It is recommended that he not deliberately pray after it.”
Qiyām al-layl is a term applied to any prayer performed at night. Tahajjud, on the other hand, refers to the night prayer that follows sleep, whether it is prayed after Maghrib or after ʿIshāʾ, or the prayer performed after ʿIshāʾ without sleep. On this basis, the Witr is also called tahajjud, since it is only prayed after ʿIshāʾ.
It is stated in al-Majmūʿ (Vol.4/p.84): “The sound position, as stated in al-Umm and al-Mukhtaṣar, is that the Witr is called tahajjud.”
It is stated in Nihāyat al-Zayn (Vol.1/p.114): “Among the absolute voluntary prayers is qiyām al-layl. If it is performed after sleep, even during the time of Maghrib and after having prayed ʿIshāʾ early (taqdīman), it is called tahajjud.”
And it is stated in Ḥāshiyat al-Bujayrimī ʿalā al-Khaṭīb (Vol.1/p.418): “His statement: ‘(the night prayer)’: the genitive construction (iḍāfah) carries the sense of fī, meaning a prayer in the night. His statement: ‘(it would be more fitting)’: the reason it is more fitting is that the night prayer includes both tahajjud and other prayers.” And Allah Almighty knows best.

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