Husband and Wife in the Quran

Husband and Wife in the Quran

quran

Husband and Wife in the Quran

The Islamic world has not distinguished itself over the centuries in its respect for and kind treatment of women (Austen, 2012; Thompson, 2011; Kotz, 2009; “Melbourne Islamic…,” 2009; “Missouri Couple…,” 1991; “Father of…,” 2008; Schoetz, 2008; “Raped…,” 2007). This observation is unprejudiced and hardly novel. Around the world for centuries, Islamic women have endured a subpar status with Islamic men. As General George S. Patton observed, having witnessed the impact of Islam on the countries of North Africa during World War II:

One cannot but ponder the question: What if the Arabs had been Christians? To me it seems certain that the fatalistic teachings of Mohammed and the utter degradation of women is the outstanding cause for the arrested development of the Arab. He is exactly as he was around the year 700, while we have kept on developing. Here, I think, is a text for some eloquent sermon on the virtues of Christianity (1947, p. 43, emp. added).

No doubt 7th and 8th century Arabian culture contributed to Muhammad’s view of women. However, the Quran stands on its own for its advocacy of female inferiority. For example, in Mohammed Pickthall’s translation of the Quran, Surah 4:34 reads:

Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah hath guarded. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them. Then if they obey you, seek not a way against them. Lo! Allah is ever High, Exalted, Great (emp. added).

A host of Islamic translations confirm this translation. The words in bold in Abdullah Yusuf Ali’s translation are rendered: “refuse to share their beds, (And last) beat them (lightly).” Ahmed Raza Khan’s translation reads: “do not cohabit with them, and (lastly) beat them.” Maududi has “remain apart from them in beds, and beat them.” Wahiduddin Khan “refuse to share their beds, and finally hit them.” Shakir has “leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them.” Sarwar reads: “do not sleep with them and beat them.” Saheeh International reads: “forsake them in bed; and [finally], strike them.” Qaribullah and Darwish have: “desert them in the bed and smack them (without harshness).” Qarai reads: “keep away from them in the bed, and [as the last resort] beat them” (Tanzil Project, 2007-2014).

Observe two startling realizations from this passage:

(1) The Quran explicitly gives sanction to Muslim men to beat their wives. Some translators try to soften the directive by inserting qualifiers like “lightly” (Ali) and “without harshness” (Qaribullah and Darwish), but the Arabic text is unqualified. In stark contrast, the Bible, while assigning differing roles and responsibilities based on gender, nowhere suggests that men have a right to inflict physical punishment on women. The intimidating, overbearing role of men in Islam is proof that the religion was invented by a male.

(2) The command to banish a wife to a separate bed implies at least three concepts that cast Islam and the Quran in an unfavorable light.

First, the Bible and the Quran contradict each other on this point. Paul instructed the Corinthian Christians:

Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control (1 Corinthians 7:2-5, emp. added).

The Quran says a man may sexually banish his wife, without her consent, as punishment for displeasing him. Yet Paul said a married couple is not to refrain from sexual relations except by mutual consent, and then only for a brief period. One cannot take the position that the Quran and the Bible are both from God. They contradict each other on many matters. Insisting that these differences are due to the Bible having being corrupted is an untenable and unsubstantiated explanation (Miller, 2005, p. 89; Miller, 2013).

Second, when one weighs both the Bible and the Quran’s portraits of deity, it quickly becomes self-evident to the unbiased observer which of the two books portrays the inspired view of women. The Bible contains the fair, compassionate, majestic perspective in taking into account both marriage partners as equals. As Peter stated so eloquently: “Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered” (1 Peter 3:7). Both male and female were made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27).

Third, observe further how the Quran exposes its human origin, demonstrating that it came from man, not God. Women are “wired” differently from men. They have one-tenth the testosterone of men (“Testosterone,” 2011). To suggest that a man could punish his wife by the cessation of sexual relations with her is undoubtedly written from the perspective of a man, and not from the vantage point of most women.

Comparing the Bible with the Quran is a useful exercise. The process calls the inspiration of the Quran into question. At the same time, the Bible’s superiority is reinforced.

Dave Miller – http://www.apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?article=4993

REFERENCES

Austen, Ian (2012), “Afghan Family, Led by Father Who Called Girls a Disgrace, Is Guilty of Murder,” The New York Times, January 29, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/30/world/americas/afghan-family-members-convicted-in-honor-killings.html?_r=0.

“Father of Slain Teen Girls Upset That Daughter Dated Non-Muslim, Police Records Show” (2008), Associated Press, January 9, http://www.foxnews.com/story/2008/01/09/father-slain-teen-girls-upset-that-daughter-dated-non-muslim-police-records/.

Kotz, Pete (2009), “Faleh Almaleki Runs Over Daughter in Attempted ‘Honor Killing,’” True Crime Report, October 30, http://www.truecrimereport.com/2009/10/faleh_almaleki_runs_over_daugh.php.

“Melbourne Islamic Cleric Says its OK to Rape Your Wife,” (2009), Herald Sun, January 21, http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/rudd-condemns-rape-in-marriage-cleric/story-e6freol3-1111118630585.

Miller, Dave (2005), “Is Mark 16:9-20 Inspired?” Reason & Revelation, 25[12]:89-95, http://www.apologeticspress.org/apPubPage.aspx?pub=1&issue=572&article=433.

Miller, Dave (2013), “Has the Bible Been Corrupted?” Apologetics Press, https://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=13&article=4649.

“Missouri Couple Sentenced to Die In Murder of Their Daughter, 16” (1991), The New York Times, December 20, http://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/20/us/missouri-couple-sentenced-to-die-in-murder-of-their-daughter-16.html.

Patton, George S. (1947), War As I Knew It (New York: The Great Commanders, 1994 edition).

“Raped ‘for reading Holy Bible’” (2007), News.com.au, April 17, http://www.news.com.au/national/raped-for-reading-holy-bible/story-e6frfkp9-1111113353497.

Schoetz, David (2008), “Daughter Rejects Marriage, Ends Up Dead,” ABC News, July 7, http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=5322587&page=1.

Tanzil Project (2007-2014), http://tanzil.net/#4:34.

“Testosterone” (2011), Lab Tests Online, American Association for Clinical Chemistry, http://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/testosterone/tab/faq.

Thompson, Carolyn (2011), “Jury Convicts Muslim TV Exec of Beheading Wife,” Associated Press, February 9, http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/02/07/closing-arguments-begin-new-york-beheading-murder-trial/.

Posted in Guest Authors | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Husband and Wife in the Quran

The Blood

The Blood of Lambs or the Blood of THE LAMB?

A profound truth found throughout the Bible is stated so clearly in Hebrews 9:22.  “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no remission” These words follow the description of what happened at Mt. Sinai. “Moses took . . .the blood of calves and goats and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people . . . he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry.”

blood

The Blood of the Lamb or lambs?

Blood was part of the Passover doorposts (Exo. 12:21-23); the sanctification of Aaron and his sons for priestly service (Lev. 8:23-24, 30); the sanctification of the altar for burnt sacrifices (Lev. 8:19); the altar for incense (Lev. 4:7, 25); the book containing the words God spoke at Mt. Sinai tabernacle (Heb. 9:21) and all the people (Exo. 24:8). It is so important to notice the words of Moses, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you” (Heb. 9:20).

The Hebrew writer shows the significance of the events where Moses used the blood of animals. These Old Testament items were only a copy of the heavenly things in the New Testament (Heb. 10:1). They were purified with the blood of animals, but God had a greater sacrifice for the better covenant His son would reveal. These heavenly things themselves should be purified “with better sacrifices than these” (Heb. 9:23). They were so much better than animal sacrifices.

We must not overlook what Jesus said in the upper room. While Moses presented the words of God given at Mt. Sinai to the people and used the blood of animals, he said that the blood of animals was the blood of that old covenant. At the last supper Jesus spoke of blood and a new covenant. Taking the cup, He said, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matt. 26:28).

What significance does this have for us? There was that old covenant, the Ten Commandments (Deut. 4:13). These ten commandments were not given to Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac or Jacob (Deut. 5:2-3). These commands were sprinkled with the blood of animals (Exo. 24:4-7; Heb. 9:21). But God had something far better in mind. The Sabbath was given to Jews who had been slaves (Deut. 5:15). They were to rest on the seventh day just like God did. They were to remember that day by resting.

The new covenant remembers something far more important than slavery in Egypt, it remembers the death of Jesus on the first day of the week. To choose to remember deliverance from slavery is to choose the blood of the animals which purified that day, over the precious blood of Jesus!

Posted in Dan Jenkins | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on The Blood

Cheating

Cheaters Never Win

Recently, New York Yankees pitcher Michael Pineda was caught in the second inning against the Boston Red Sox with pine tar on his neck that he was using to help control the ball. However, pine tar is a banned substance within the game of baseball; quite frankly, while many try to use it without being caught and most managers and players look the other way as if it were an unwritten rule of conduct, it does not change the fact that it is a violation of rules. It is simply cheating.

Cheating

Cheating? Do Cheaters Win?

He is the latest in a long line of cheaters before him. Joel Peralta was the last Major League Baseball player to get caught in 2012. Yet, according to an article by Mike Oz for Yahoo Sports, other famous baseball pitchers to try to cheat include Joe Niekro, Gaylord Perry, Kevin Gross, Brian Moehler and Kenny Rogers; yet, these are just pitchers. Need we introduce the names of Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire, Rafael Palmeiro, Jason Giambi, Sammy Sosa or Ryan Braun? Should we mention Clint Boyer cheating in NASCAR? Should even introduce Olympic athletes who have been caught cheating, like Marion Jones and Ben Johnson for testing positive for steroids? Do we remember Danny Almonte in the Little League World Series lying about his age (or Chinese gymnasts)? In 1980, Rosie Ruiz was infamous for cheating in the Boston Marathon. Certainly, those of us who live in Texas know the name Lance Armstrong real well (but we could add Floyd Landis as well)! Players are not immune; what about coaches? As a Memphis Tiger fan, I am ashamed of the cheating with which John Calipari almost got away, and Bill Belichick (and his staff) has been caught spying/recording other teams. As one writer wrote, they went from being champions to cheaters, from the hall of fame to the hall of shame!

I remember the old axiom: “Cheaters never win, and winners never cheat!” One may say, “Yes, but look at these athletes before they were caught cheating—they were successful!” Sure, they may have won then, but as we look at them today, most of them are unfortunately not winners any longer—many of them were disgraced. Oftentimes, we see the powers that be (whether MLB, NFL, NHL, IOC, or sometimes, even the US government itself) strip them of any recognition, as well as all awards won. Thus, cheaters never win.

One might add, “Well, what about those who get away with it and are never caught?” It is certainly true that many cheaters get by with their cheating ways, but I assure us all that there is one who is mightier than we are who sees all! He will judge in the last day (John 12:48; Rev. 20:12), and in that judgment, He will bring retribution upon all who acted honestly and fairly among those who cheat (cf. Matt. 12:41-42). I assure all readers that “God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Ecc. 12:14).

The Bible is clear: “…be sure your sin will find you out” (Num. 32:23). It may not be in this life, but it will in the Judgment Day yet to come (2 Cor. 5:10)! May we all seek the forgiveness of God by repenting of our sins and responding appropriately to His grace!

Posted in Sam Willcut | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Cheating

Miracles and Tongues

The Miraculous Mirage

“What a different bunch these church of Christ folks are,” Joe thought as he and his family filed silently out after the funeral service. A distant neighbor of theirs had died somewhat suddenly and the funeral service had been held at the church of Christ building because of the deceased’s family request. Unfortunately, this funeral marked the first time that Joe and his family had been in the church of Christ building, and he wasn’t all that comfortable with it. Oh, he liked the members there well enough; they all seemed very loving and sincere.  He particularly liked his church of Christ co-worker, Chuck Churchman and his family; they never seemed to be at a loss for a simple and straightforward biblical answer to any question he had. 1 Thanks to them, he now even understood the biblical reasons why these folks didn’t use instruments in their worship to God, 2 and he was even beginning to understand the biblical reasons they insisted that baptism was essential to salvation. 3 These weren’t a matter of opinion, personal preference, or even interpretation, but of simply and faithfully following the New Testament biblical pattern. 4 How could that possibly be wrong?

tongues

Why aren’t you speaking in tongues?

No, what troubled him today was that he had attended a funeral there, and no one had even spoken in tongues! Wasn’t tongue-speaking a sign of Holy-Spirit anointing and of one’s eternal salvation? That’s what the T.V. preacher he used to listen to so often said. He would have to ask Chuck about that and soon…

The next morning as he entered the parking lot, he saw Chuck arriving at the same time. Chuck waved Joe into the empty parking space nearest the building and parked his own car further away, down near the back end of the lot. Joe waited for Chuck to walk up. “Good morning Joe; glad to see you at Burt’s funeral yesterday,” Chuck said. “Everything okay? You seem a little down.”

“Not down, just a little confused,” Joe countered.

“About what?” Chuck inquired.

“Well… yesterday to be honest, at the service. Where it was a funeral and everything, I expected that surely someone there – the preacher, one of the song leaders or someone – would surely speak in tongues! I mean, after all, shouldn’t a group of people claiming to be Christ’s be publicly able to prove the power of the Holy Ghost’s acceptance of them by their speaking in tongues?”

Chuck grinned knowingly, and politely said, “That’ll teach you to watch and take to heart everything those T.V. preachers and teachers want to tickle people’s ears with so they can steal ‘em blind, won’t it?” 5 Joe shrugged.

“You see Joe, the Bible explains in Mark 16:17-20, that the possession of the “miraculous gifts” was given to confirm that the word the apostles brought was indeed from God; these gifts were given to get people’s attention just as they did in Acts 2, so people would then listen to the apostles’ preaching. That chapter also shows us that only the apostles – and those whom they then laid their hands on as we see in Acts 8 – possessed these gifts. Later on, Cornelius and his household also received them in Acts 10, but that was a one of a kind thing as Peter later explained in Acts 11. The Bible is clear in 1 Corinthians though, that when the entire New Testament was revealed and written down, by around 100 A.D., that the miraculous gifts would cease because they would have fulfilled their original purpose and would no longer be needed to confirm the word. And, you might also notice as you read Acts 2, that these ‘tongues’ were not the unknown, gibberish-typed gobbledygook that you hear some claim as speaking in tongues today. They were instead very recognizable, instantaneously-spoken, and perfectly dialected and known languages!”

“But here’s the simpler, common-sense bottom line if you’d prefer,” Chuck continued. “There are many so-called ‘charismatic’ denominations around today, which claim that the ‘miraculous gifts’ of speaking in tongues, healing the sick, casting out demons, and raising the dead are still in effect, correct?”

“Well, I don’t know about raising the dead,” Joe replied.

“Oh yes; you can’t pick and choose,” Chuck replied. “With God, it’s all or nothing. Jesus and His first-century apostles possessed the power to raise the dead just as surely as they did to heal the sick – just as several scriptures verify for us 6 – and just as these churches claim they can today.”

“Actually,” Joe responded a bit sheepishly, “I know they do. My wife grew up in one; her parents were strong members.

“Where are they now?” Chuck humbly asked.

“Her dad is dead, and her mom is in a nursing home suffering from Alzh——–.” Suddenly, the scathing and all-illuminating truth struck him like a bolt of lightning!         

“Exactly,” Chuck sadly said, noting the light of understanding now piercing his friend’s understanding. “I realize that there are many sincere and well-intentioned people in most of these churches. But if some of them possessed half of the miraculous gifts they professed, then why do their own members still get sick and die? Why do they and their preachers still have health insurance? Where’s their faith to practice what they preach? Why do they ever have to have funeral services held in their buildings? How come they haven’t raised their leaders like Oral Roberts from the dead if they can truly do what they claim they can? Why don’t they go out onto the front lines of our armed forces and raise the fallen as soon as they’re killed so they can fight on? Why don’t they go to Tulsa daily and heal the sick and dying little children in those cancer wards – if they really can? How can they claim to love, and to have those gifts, and then not exercise them to the glory of God in this sick and pain-filled existence? I’m not judging, I’m simply asking. And please don’t insult us both by giving me that, ‘the afflicted didn’t have enough faith’ stuff. I doubt that any of those that Jesus, Peter, or Paul raised from the dead had much faith at that point either.” 7

Joe, now stunned and stupefied by the sheer simplicity of that which he had never even considered before, just stood there in silent disbelief that he could have possibly been so blind for so long. “Is there any way you can biblically prove, ‘book, chapter, and verse,’ as you say, what you’ve just said?” Joe humbly and awkwardly asked.

“Sure,” Chuck replied, sensing and seeking to help heal the hurt and helplessness his uninformed friend was now struggling with. “Go and download http://www.clevelandcoc.com/?page_id=154 from our church’s website, and then let’s get together over an open bible and talk about it, okay Joe?” 

Posted in Doug Dingley | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Miracles and Tongues

DNA Robots – Intelligently Designed? Or Just Happened?

If you have ever seen a factory, you know what an assembly line is.  A product moves along a conveyer system while workers add different parts and pieces.  As a result, they produce a widget of some kind like a car or a Rubik’s Cube.  I would wager that anyone who has ever seen a factory would not suggest that a tornado, earthquake, and volcano passed through an iron mountain and as a result of their forces produced a toy-car factory.  Everyone knows that for every effect there must be an adequate cause and tornados, earthquakes, and volcanoes simply are not adequate to account for the existence of a toy-car factory.  Toy-car factories are the product of intelligent design.  In fact, one could convincingly argue that a factory of any kind, complete with workers, conveyer systems, and output, is the product of intelligent design.

In a May 12, 2010 article of the Wall Street Journal Online by Robert Lee Hotz (“They Walk. They Work. New DNA Robots Strut Their Tiny Stuff”), it is reported that a group of scientists based at New York University built a molecular level factory, complete with workers, conveyer systems, and output, with DNA as their basic materials.  These Nanotechnologies (so named because of their incredibly small size, approximately 100,000 times smaller than a human hair) include DNA robots that receive and respond to chemical instructions given at the DNA level.  They are able to assemble microscopic boxes, open and close them, move along a conveyer system, and carry and release cargo.  With nine billion dollars invested worldwide to develop these technologies, these DNA robots are obviously products of human design.  When asked to comment on these developments, California Institute of Technology bioengineer Paul Rothemund said, “This is the kind of thing that happens in living cells all the time.”

Wait just one minute!  “This is the kind of thing that happens in living cells all the time”?!  We are told by the evolutionists, atheists, skeptics, agnostics, and others that such natural happenings in the cells are simply the product of random chance and evolution – no intelligent design involved.  Yet, when scientists mimic the exact same systems, systems which happen in living cells “all the time” we are told that these are significant scientific breakthroughs.  The inconsistency is maddening.  Consider for a moment what might happen in 10,000 years if these molecular robots were turned loose and all evidence of human involvement with these devices is wiped out.  There would be some who would simply attribute the activity to random chance and evolution!  It would be horribly wrong to do so because these DNA robots were intelligently designed and they demonstrate, by their existence, evidence of intelligent design.  How wrong is it, then, to fail to attribute intelligent design to the prototype from which these DNA robots were made – living cells!

Why can atheists, skeptics, agnostics, and unbelievers not realize that just as these DNA robots are designed, so also is the living cell.  It contains evidence of the involvement of Mind, a Mind who is also a Designer, a Creator!  The evidence of design in living cells must return to an Ultimate Source/Mind that can explain in perpetuity the time-bound existence of designed things.

The Bible ascribes the source of all life to God, our Intelligent Designer.  The apostle Paul wrote, “He giveth to all life” (Acts 17:25).  May each one have the wisdom to discern and come to know that the God of the Bible is the Ultimate Mind behind which all intelligently designed things in the Universe come to exist.

Works Cited

Hotz, Robert Lee. “They Walk. They Work. New DNA Robots Strut Their Tiny Stuff.” 12 May 2010. Wall Street Journal Online. <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704247904575240380352719428.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLTopStories> Accessed 12 May 2010.

Posted in Kevin Cauley | Tagged , , | Comments Off on DNA Robots – Intelligently Designed? Or Just Happened?