[ihr_list] Re: Sharia council and true Islam

From: Omer Abid <omerabid70@xxxxxxxxx>
To: ihr_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2017 21:14:05 +0300

Salam,

I just received an article and I read the full article.

I found this interesting article that deals with this issue and want to
share with you all....

Halala: The Most Vile Custom among Muslims

*By Sohail Arshad, New Age Islam*

14 Dec., 2012

If a man divorces his loving wife in a fit of rage someday and then after
coming to his senses he realises his mistake and wants to take her back in
his life, the mullah of his town tells him of the only option that is
Halala that can make her ex-wife lawful for him. He explains to the young
man that to remarry his wife, first he will have to allow her to get
married to another man who will consummate the marriage as her lawful
husband. If the man divorces her only then he can remarry her after she
spends the three-month *iddat* period.

And this has become a widely accepted practice across Muslim societies. In
many towns, the Maulvis (priests) arrange for a man for the marriage of
such a divorced woman by paying him a specific fee. He divorces her after
consummating the marriage within a stipulated period of time making the
woman lawful for her first husband. In most of the cases all the expenses
of the marriage and the fee are paid by the former husband.

In recent years, the practice of administering Halala has taken an ugly
turn as corruption has crept in the clergy and in the society at large in
the religious affairs that have become both means of earning money and
getting the opportunity to legally keep a mistress for a short period of
time without having to worry about any social and legal hassles. Therefore,
in many towns and cities, these muftis themselves have taken up the lofty
task of serving the Muslim Ummah by offering the service of Halala by
marrying such hapless women to make them lawful for their former husbands.
According to reports, one mufti has even established a ‘Halala centre’ to
cater to the needs of such bad-tempered husbands and the filthy rich with
uncontrollable lust of keeping concubines for short periods of time.

According to the editor of Newageislam.com, Mr Sultan Shahin, such ‘Halala
services’ are also offered by the managing committee members of some
mosques in Western countries (in Brussels, for example) where the managing
committee consists of rich people who are ready to offer Halala services.
The richest of them all gets to perform Halala on the most beautiful woman
that comes for this purpose. A fatwa of divorce is given most easily,
sometimes on the flimsiest grounds and sometimes without any ground
altogether. This is accepted by the husband’s family largely as the fatwa
and offer of Halala is also accompanied by a threat of ex-communication by
the priests.

This custom has been questioned by non-Muslim as they say that it subjects
a faithful and modest woman to go through this painful orgy due to the
mistakes of her irresponsible husband. In their opinion, it is a bizarre
custom devoid of any logic as the wife has to suffer humiliation and stigma
for the folly of her husband.

The custom of Halala has itself become a problem because of its sheer
misinterpretation and misapplication. The verses of the Quran have been
misinterpreted to misuse the practice of Halala. The Quran says:

*“So if a husband divorces his wife (for a third time), he cannot, after
that remarry her until after she has married another husband and he has
divorced her. In that case, there is no blame on either of them if they
re-unite, provided they can keep the limits ordained by Allah. Such are the
limits ordained by Allah which He makes plain to those who know”. (2:230).*

Actually, Halala is not a means of remarrying a wife after uttering
divorce. When a man permanently divorces his wife by uttering three Talaqs
(divorce) he cannot remarry her at any cost. If only the woman decides to
have a second marriage to spend the rest of her life peacefully and for the
sake of the future of her children (if any) and at any point of time if the
second husband also divorces her on his own accord as a matter of
coincidence and if, in case the woman also wants to get back to her first
husband, she can remarry her first husband. And this process will be called
Halala.

So, the whole episode will be based on a number of coincidences and on the
willingness of the woman to get back. Halala is not an option to get her
back by stage-managing a *mutah* (temporary marriage) where everything is
planned or agreed upon, that is, a man agrees to marry the divorced woman
by charging an amount of money only to divorce her after having physical
relationship with her for a stipulated or mutually agreed period of time,
say, one day or one week and then divorces her according to the agreement
in order to make the woman lawful for her first husband.

Or the man only wants to keep a mistress for temporary enjoyment and money
with the purpose of divorcing her after a mutually agreed period of time
like in mutah (temporary marriage) without having any commitment towards
her. This kind of Halala is Haram and prohibited in Islam and a bid’at
(religious innovation). The Quran and hadith both prohibit such a marriage
and accursed are all those who are involved in such marriages. Such
practice of Halala is Haram as it is in clear contravention of Hadith and
the Quranic ordainments.

Nowadays, the Halalas are arranged marriages and paid-for-affairs in order
to fulfil the minimum criteria to reunite with the spouse. But the holy
Prophet (PBUH) has strictly prohibited such practices in the name of
Halala. The holy prophet (PBUH) admonishes those who misinterpret the
verses of the Quran regarding Halala to serve their own petty interests and
removes the confusion. According to a Hadith, the holy Prophet (PBUH) said:

*“'The Curse of Allah be upon the one who marries a divorced woman with the
intention of making her lawful for her former husband, and upon the one for
whom she is made lawful!'.*

This Hadith was reported by Hadhrat Ali ibn Talib (R.A.) (Sunan of
Abu-Dawood Hadith 2071).

This Hadith not only invalidates arranged Halalas but also replies to the
criticism of the detractors of Islam who say that by giving sanctions to
Halala, Islam has done great injustice to the divorced women. The holy
Prophet (PBUH) cursed both the men who make the wronged woman go through
humiliation and severe mental and psychological torture and cause her a
permanent stigma. Clearly, the Prophet (PBUH) does not blame her and
absolves her of all responsibility in the entire episode because he too
believes that the woman has been meted out grave injustice by the one who
has ruined her life and the other who has married her only to use her as a
sexual object.

Halala is itself an un-Islamic custom, with no Islamic validity.The current
practice is based on wrong interpretation of the Quran, and, therefore, it
has only created other social problems. Most of the time, the second
husband refuses to divorce the ‘Halala’ wife or delays the divorce
violating the agreement. In some cases, the wife herself decides to settle
down with the second husband to teach her first husband a lesson or because
she likes or falls in love with him or feels more secure with him.

Halala is an offshoot of another un-Islamic custom, triple Talaq. Quran
clearly gives the method for divorce in three months; if that is followed
and made mandatory there would be no Halala issue altogether.

Muslims should not accept divorce as legal until a divorce has been
pronounced on three separate occasions. If this were made clear to couple
that no matter how many times the husband pronounced divorce the first time
it will be considered one divorce, after which coming together is just a
matter of sleeping together and so on, this evil custom will come to an end.

So this evil is basically a result of a craftily devised Mullah conspiracy
to fulfill their own vile desires. That is why they have made triple Talaq
acceptable and Halala prevalent.

The most worrying aspect of this practice is that the corrupt muftis and
mullahs have promoted this un-Islamic practice to satisfy their lust for
having sex with multiple women without fear of condemnation or opposition
either from their wives or from the society. Such un-Islamic practices of
irresponsible sections of the Muslim society should be exposed and stopped
to save the lives and honour of women in distress. Muslims should be
educated to behave responsibly with their wives as there is no way of
remarrying a woman after divorcing her. Halala comes only as a coincidence.
And remember, coincidences are rare, very rare.

URL:
http://newageislam.com/islamic-sharia-laws/halala--the-most-vile-custom-in-islam/d/9674

- See more at:
http://www.newageislam.com/islamic-sharia-laws/halala--the-most-vile-custom-in-islam/d/9674#sthash.c7keKpCe.dpuf

On Sat, Apr 15, 2017 at 8:13 PM, Javed Chaudry <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

I am reproducing below an article from Gatestone Institute, an
organization that exists only to malign Islam and Muslims. The message of
this articles is something that those who consider themselves responsible
Muslims should pay heed to. The problem discussed is not limited to Britain
it is practiced in many countries where Muslims live. It is not (Quranic)
Islam that is at fault, it is the man-made (I call it the cultural Islam)
that is at fault which is a factor in maligning the true (Quranic) Islam.
The enemies of Islam or those Muslims who do not understand (or care for)
true Islam often fail to distinguish the difference between the two.

Javed Chaudry

………………………………………………………………………………………….

*Sharia Councils and Sexual Abuse in Britain*

*by **Khadija Khan*
<https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/author/Khadija+Khan>
*April 14, 2017 at 5:00 am*

*https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10191/sharia-councils-sexual-abuse*
<https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10191/sharia-councils-sexual-abuse>

§  As bad as this is, there is an even darker side to the story: Under
sharia law, the second husband is under no obligation to give his wife a
quick divorce – allowing him to keep her as his virtual sex slave for as
long as he wishes.

§  If one asks how all of this jibes with British law, the answer is that
it does not.

§  The UK-based NGO, Muslim Women's Network, penned an open letter --
with 100 signatories -- to the British government and Home Affairs Select
Committee demanding that the Sharia Council be investigated to determine
whether its practices adhere to British law. In response, the Sharia
Council declared the letter to be "Islamophobic" and accused the Muslim
Women's Network of being an anti-Muslim organization.

§  It is British law, not sharia, law that protects Muslim individuals
and couples, as it does any other citizen. Contrary to what apologists for
this travesty say, the plight of Muslim women should be treated as an issue
of human rights.

The most recent scandal surrounding the sexual exploitation of Muslim
women by Islamic religious leaders in the UK is yet further proof of the
way in which Britain is turning a blind eye to horrific practices going on
right under its nose.

A BBC investigation <http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-39480846> into "*halala*"
-- a ritual enabling a divorced Muslim woman to remarry her husband by
first wedding someone else, consummating the union, and then being divorced
by him -- revealed that imams in Britain are not only encouraging this, but
profiting financially from it. This depravity has led to many such women
being held hostage, literally and figuratively, to men paid to become their
second husbands.

This ritual, which is considered a misinterpretation of Islamic sharia law
even by extremist Shi'ites and Saudi-style Salafists, is practiced by
certain Islamic sects, such as Hanafis, Barelvis and Deobandis. When a
husband repeats the Arabic word for divorce -- *talaq* -- three times to
his wife, these sects consider a Muslim marriage null and void. For such a
woman to be allowed to return to the husband who banished her, she must
first marry someone else -- and have sex with him -- before the second
husband divorces her.

These divorce rites, despite the laws of the land, are common in India
<http://scroll.in/article/806299/if-pakistan-and-21-other-counties-have-abolished-triple-talaq-why-shouldnt-india>,
Bangladesh, Pakistan and other Asian countries, where a majority of the
people belong to the Hanafi, Barelvi or Deobandi sects. Nevertheless, local
seminaries, mosques and online services openly advertise and promote
*halala* with impunity; it is accepted by society and rarely monitored by
state authorities.

In Britain, *halala* has emerged as a booming business, with websites and
social media sites offering to provide women with second husbands for
exorbitant sums of money. As bad as this is, there is an even darker side
to the story: Under sharia law, the second husband is under no obligation
to give his wife a quick divorce -- allowing him to keep her as his virtual
sex slave for as long as he wishes.

One Muslim woman, who changed her mind about going through with *halala*
after looking into the process, told the BBC that she knew others who did
undergo the process, and ended up being sexually abused for months by the
second husbands paid to marry them. According to a report in *The
Guardian*
<https://www.theguardian.com/law/2017/mar/01/inside-britains-sharia-councils-hardline-and-anti-women-or-a-dignified-way-to-divorce>,
the Sharia Council of Britain says it deals with hundreds of divorce cases
annually.

This infamous council
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3358625/Inside-Britain-s-Sharia-courts-EIGHTY-FIVE-Islamic-courts-dispensing-justice-UK-special-investigation-really-goes-doors-shock-core.html>
is indirectly responsible for what essentially has become a rape pandemic,
since it does nothing to stop or refute *halala*. In fact, it declares
that the practice is completely legal under sharia law. The only caveat,
the council states, is that the imams presiding over it are not following
the proper guidelines, according to which the second marriage and divorce
should not be premeditated, but rather happen naturally.

If one asks how all of this jibes with British law, the answer is that it
does not. But young Muslims in the UK are discouraged by their communities
from marrying through the British system, and are told to have imams
perform their weddings and sharia councils register their marriages.
Couples who comply end up being at the mercy of Islamic authorities in
family matters, including divorce.

Due to its often unethical practices conducted in the name of religious
law, the Sharia Council has come under scrutiny a number of times. Last
November, for instance, the UK-based NGO, Muslim Women's Network, penned
an open letter <http://www.mwnuk.co.uk/mediaStatmentDetail.php?id=172> --
with 100 signatories -- to the British government and Home Affairs Select
Committee demanding that the Sharia Council be investigated to determine
whether its practices adhere to British law.

In response, the Sharia Council declared the letter to be "Islamophobic"
and accused the Muslim Women's Network of being an anti-Muslim
organization. In addition, Labour MP Naz Shah jumped to the defense
<http://www.mwnuk.co.uk/mediaStatmentDetail.php?id=172> of the Sharia
Council, rejecting the idea of an inquiry, on the grounds that shutting
down such councils could mean that more women would be stuck in abusive
marriages.

While acknowledging that these councils could be used as a tool to deny
women their rights, Shah said that they also serve as valuable arbitrators
in marital disputes.

Her claims are totally baseless. It is British law, not sharia, law that
protects Muslim individuals and couples, as it does any other citizen.

[image: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/pics/1013.jpg]

Haitham al-Haddad is a British shari'a council judge, and sits on the
board of advisors for the Islamic Sharia Council. Regarding the handling of
domestic violence cases, he stated in an interview, "A man should not be
questioned why he hit his wife, because this is something between them.
Leave them alone. They can sort their matters among themselves." (Image
source: Channel 4 News video screenshot)

Had the British government addressed Sharia Council malpractice when it
was first revealed, we would not be facing this pandemic today. Contrary to
what apologists for this travesty say, the plight of Muslim women should be
treated as an issue of human rights.

It is time for the British government to wake up and take a tough stand on
such unethical, and probably illegal, system. And the sooner the better,
lest the whole sharia council system go "underground" and out of reach to
protect thousands of women from abuse.

*Khadija Khan is a Pakistan-based journalist and commentator.*

*© 2017 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved.* The articles printed
here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone
Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be
reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of
Gatestone Institute.

References:
- [ihr_list] Sharia council and true Islam
  - From: Javed Chaudry

[ihr_list] Re: Sharia council and true Islam

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