You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘islam’ tag.
Teenager Siti Maryam Mahmod married 23-year-old Abdul Manan Othman, a family friend in July. They were one of 250 couples at the 1Malaysia mass wedding held at the Federal Territory mosque on Saturday. She is 14 years old. He is 23 years old.
under the law, currently Muslim girls below the age of 16 can marry with the Syariah Court’s consent while non-Muslim girls between 16 and 18 years old can marry with the authorisation of the Mentri Besar or Chief Minister.
As far as i’m concerned, she is still a child. Children below 16 years are still in need of guidance, protection and the chance to form their own character.
I am disappointed with the religious authorities for allowing this to happen. What would a 14 year old child understand about what it takes to make a marriage tick at that age? the girl should be allowed to focus on her studies, to find out about herself better. under the law even, a person below the age of 18 is assumed not to possess the level of maturity needed to make proper informed choices on their own hence their guardians are given the powers to do so on their behalf.
What were the parents thinking when they allowed it? they are depriving their child of not only learning and living her teenage years but also subjecting their child to a life meant for someone who is ready to lead a life filled with numerous responsibilities. is she ready? what are the yardsticks used?
they may argue that in Islam, as long as you have reached puberty, you may get married and used the example of the Prophet Muhammad who got married to Aisyah when she was a child. but they have missed the point. The Prophet did indeed married her when she was 12 BUT the marriage was only carried out and solemnized when she was 18. When she was able to be educated and form her own character. he was only promised her. even then when she turned 18, she had the choice to decide whether she wants to go to the Prophet. if only people choose to read more. they would understand that she made an informed choice to do so.
i still feel that the syariah court should maintain at least 18 years old as a minimum. let the girl have her basic education and formative years to enable her to make a proper informed choice later on.
recently i have been receiving a lot of calls from friends asking legal advice and/or recourse for their friends or relatives suffering at the hands of their husbands ( a domestic violence victim ) / abandoned by their husbands whilst they are pregnant / other miscellaneous cases related to it.
since i’m not a practising lawyer what more a family dispute lawyer or even took the elective courses for it; the best i could help is refer them to centres or materials that could assist them to find the proper recourse to be taken. Ergo, i’m putting it here for the benefit of those of you interested:
1. Taken from the Women’s Aid Organisation website
Women’s Aid Organisation: 03 – 7956 3488 (3 lines)
WAO Sexual Assault helpline: 03 – 7960 3030
Women’s Centre for Change, Penang: 04 – 228 0342
All Women Action Society of Malaysia: 03 – 7877 0224
TELEDERA: 1 – 800 – 883040
Befrienders: 03 – 7956 8144
2. Taken from Sisters In Islam website:
write an email to telenisa@sistersinislam.org.my
write a letter and mail it to this address –
No. 7, Jalan 6/10,
46000 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor, Malaysia.
fax to: 03-7785 8737 / call at: 03-7784 3733 (Talian TeleNisa)
*one-on-one counselling (by appointment only) for legal advice*
3. The Malaysian Bar Council Legal Aid Centre
| Tingkat 6, Wisma Kraftangan Tingkat 9, Jalan Tun Perak 50050 Kuala Lumpur |
Tel Fax |
: 03-26913005 / 26932072 : 03-26930527 : lacklb@klbar.org.my |
much has been spoken about an elected member of parliament being sentenced to a month’s jail for his failure to seek the Syariah Court’s permission as stipulated under the provisions of the Islamic Family Law Act (IFLA) and enactments (which had been passed by Parliament and the state legislatures) before he engaged in a polygamous marriage.
a lot of women are happy that someone has been made an example of. as a Muslim man, i am happy as well as there have been a lot of people who has abused this QUALIFIED PRIVILEGE and cause undue hardship upon their present wives and children. Yes, i intentionally highlighted the word ‘qualified privilege’ as a lot of man do not understand the huge responsibility that a polygamous marriage brings upon them but merely to satisfy their lust which is not the primary reason why a person should be married in the first place.
Surah al-Nisa 4: 3 provides that: “If you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, marry women of your choice, two or three or four, but if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly (with them) then only one … that will be more suitable to prevent you from doing injustice.”
The immediate occasion of the promulgation of Surah al-Nisa’ (4: 3) was after the battle of Uhud, when the Muslim community was left with many orphans and widows. Some jurists have commented that at that point in time, as the Muslim community was the minority and the lack of men to take care of the women to a certain extent left the women vulnerable, men are allowed to marry more than 1 to enable them to take care of the widowers and their children.
The Prophet (SAW) himself was monogamous throughout the lifetime of his first wife; Khadijah and only after her death married others who were widowers of war or divorced for political or tribal reasons with the exception of Aishah. The Prophet himself had mentioned that being married to more than 1 was a very big responsibility and a man would have to be just to the his other wives and children.
But the problem with most Muslim men is the lack of understanding of the word “justice”. it is not merely being fair in terms of rotating on whose bed you sleep at nights but also fairness in terms of providing emotional, financial, time, and physical support amongst other things. If one were to read properly the verse, the Qur’an does not mention the sexual nature of a marriage but to ensure social justice in protecting the women and the orphans at a time where women who was not married was open to all kinds of social and tribal abuse.
what one needs to understand is that to enable a transition from a society that practises polygamy at that point in time, the Qur’an did not drastically alter the practise by forbidding it but merely impose a condition that is almost impossible to fulfill. a lot of people could scream that they can be ‘just’ but to carry out ‘justice’ or fairness is something utopian to an average man.
the condition imposed under IFLA is to ensure that the wife is not forced to be in a ‘forced polygamy’. The first wife deserves a right to say whether or not her husband should be able to get married to another woman. If the wife disagrees with the husband’s decision, she then would be able seek divorce or attain compensation of the mental harm inflicted upon her by the husband. after all, the fact that the husband chooses to marry another implies that there are faults on her side which he feels does not deserve a thorough discussion. no women should be forced to endure a polygamous marriage.
my dad discussed with me this matter before and he told me the question that one should ponder before he even thinks about getting married to another is if having 1 wife is already a headache (the courtship/ balancing family vs. work/feeding your family) then why do you want to add to that headache?
that’s why i emphasized it as a qualified privilege. the conditions imposed on it implies that it is not a right to begin with, the stringent conditions makes it hard to fulfill. i still believe that the one month’s imprisonment and 1k fine is too little. a much more stricter enforcement should be made. For any average reasonable Muslim man, trying to be just and fair to a certain extent is a hopeful dream.
I remember this Indonesian movie called ‘Berbagi Suami’ where the problems a woman faced in a polygamous marriage was highlighted. People should go watch it. the case of neglected and/or abused wife and children of a polygamous marriage is nothing new.
I have a lot of sisters and female cousins. so before i do anything to a woman, i have to think about there’s a question that i have to answer ; “what if someone does this to any of my sisters or cousins? would i be okay with it?”
i don’t think so. one would be enough. whenever that may be.
I could not understand what’s the big fuss about France and Belgium wanting to ban the face veil. They would want to ban it for security reasons. I support the ban even if I myself am a muslim as i believe that wearing it does have links towards radicalization of Islam. The face veil ladies and gentlemen, could be interpreted as either (a) the purdah or (b) the burqa ; of which both covers the face of the person wearing it with just their eyes seen. Let’s define the terms i would be using:
1. Purdah is defined as the piece of cloth covering the person’s face of which the eyes could be seen and can be taken off without taking off the hijab. it can be detached from the hijab.
Purdah + Hijab
2. Hijab is the piece of cloth covering the head, neck and chest of the wearer. It does not cover a person’s face.
Hijab Only
3. Burqa is defined as an enveloping outer garment that covers every part of the body except the eyes.Hijab may or may not be worn underneath.
Burqa
Right. since we have now differentiated it, let’s get to the crux.
In Islam, it’s teachings only stated that the HIJAB is a religious obligation whilst the purdah and burqa is merely a cultural / societal addition to the obligation i.e. Not a religious obligation. So get over it you radical, ultra-conservative bastards.
Thus, for Muslims to argue that if France or Belgium were to ban the Burqa & Purdah it is an infringement of religious practice, then my reply to them would be absolutely bollocks! They still allow the wearing of the Hijab and within a judeo-christian society even, the practice of wearing the hijab is akin to what the nuns wear i.e. the bandieu + coif + guimpe + veil thus it is not an issue. the problem with most muslims in european countries is their refusal to assimilate into a society that is not inherently muslim. Even if they argue that the authorities should respect their culture, why should a culture that is obsolete within the context of the country or region that they are currently in right now be respected such as honor killing / honor rape / etc… ?
Even in Malaysia, wearing of the purdah in public offices is not allowed. the case of Halimatussadiah proves my point.
Same issue as the banning of mosque minarets in Switzerland. why the fuss? it is not an integral part of Islam. It doesn’t shake the faith. It’s merely a cultural addition to a religious practice. It’s not like you could not announce the azan without it.
The problem with being a Muslim sometimes is seeing fellow Muslims arguing about non-essential matters. what’s worse is that they argue it wrongly. sigh.
he loves his karipap sardin 