Serve God and do not
associate with Him anything; and be good to parents and to kindred , orphans , needy,
neighbor who is of kin, neighbour who is a stranger, companion by the side, traveller, and
those whom your right hands own. (4:36)
In his social life, man deals with his parents, wife, children,
relatives, neighbours, travellers, friends, orphans, servants, strangers etc. His
first problem, therefore, will be how to live amicably with other men. These are daily
problems, more common and more important than economic or political issues which are the
subjects for the specialists. The Quran , therefore, deals with them in detail, so that
people may easily know them and live in peace.
Thy Lord has
decreed that you shall not serve any but Him, and be good to parents. When one or both of
them attain old age with thee, say not to them fie, nor scold them, but speak
to them respectful words. And lower to them the wings of humbleness out of mercy and say,
my Lord, have mercy on them as they brought me up in childhood. Your Lord very
well knows what is in your souls; if you are righteous, then He is surely forgiving to
those who turn to Him.
And give the
kinsman his due, and also to the needy and the traveller, and never squander. The
squanderers are surely the brothers of the Devil, and the Devil is unthankful to his Lord.
And if thou hast to turn from them seeking mercy of thy Lord, speak to them gentle words.
And keep not thy hand chained to thy neck, nor outspread it to the utmost, or thou wilt
sit reproached and denuded. It is thy Lord who outspends and straitens the provision for
whom He will; He is surely aware of and sees His servants.
And kill not your
children for fear of poverty; it is We Who provide for them and also for you; their
killing is surely a great sin.
And approach not
fornication; it is surely an indecency; and it is an evil way.
And kill not the
soul God has forbidden except by right; and whoso is killed unjustly, We have given
authority to his next-of-kin; but let him not exceed limits in killing; he is helped.
And approach not
the property of the orphan except in a manner that is most handsome, till he attains his
maturity.
And fulfil the
covenant; the covenant shall surely be questioned of.
And fill up the
measure when you measure and weigh with the straight balance; that is beneficent and best
in result.
And pursue not that
thou hast no knowledge of; the ears, the eyes and the hearts, all these shall be
questioned of about it.
And walk not on
earth exultantly; for thou wilt never tear the earth open, nor attain the mountains in
height.
The evil of all
these is hateful in the sight of thy Lord.
This is of the
wisdom that thy Lord has revealed to thee, so take not with God another god, or thou wilt
be cast in Hell, reproached and rejected. (17:23-39)
Family
Family, linked by the force of love, makes the basic unit of society,
created by nature itself. A mans happiness depends more on the well-being of his
family than anything else. Preference of blood relations over others is, therefore,
accepted by the Quran as an established fact. The rights of inheritance of property are
held by them alone.
Those bound by
blood are closer to one another in the Book of God than Believers and Emigrants, except
that you act towards your friends in a desirable way. (33:6)
However, this basic unit, like the units of any organism or machinery,
has no right to be hostile to other units of human society. Instead, it should live in
harmony with them so that humanity at large not only becomes a well-knit political and
economic whole, but a brotherhood in the real sense also.
Marriage
The family starts with marriage. It gives comfort to man and protection
and food to the wife and children. It brings nearer the families to which the man and the
woman belong, and thus on a broader front the whole world. Without marriage, there would
have been no families and no love in the world; children would have perished and women
would have been miserable and compelled to earn living for them and their children---a
task beyond their capacity. The world would then be a real hell Islam, therefore,
encourages to marriage. Slaves, divorcees and widows all are encouraged to marry.
Prostitution is banned. The poor are asked to abstain till they can afford to marry.
Marry the
spouseless among you and also your righteous slaves and hand-maidens; if they are poor,
God will enrich them out of His bounty; God is Resourceful, Knowing. And let those who do
not find the means to marry, live in continence till God enriches them out of His bounty.
(24:32-33)
Constrain not your
slave girls to prostitution, if they desire to live chaste, that you may seek the chance
goods of the worldly life. (24:33)
When you divorce
women, and they have reached their term, do not prevent them form marrying their husbands,
when they agree together desirably. (2:232)
Those of you who
die and leave wives, they shall wait for four months and ten days; then, when they have
reached their term, there is no blame on you in what they do with themselves in a
desirable way. (2:234)
No Fornication, No Indecency
Islam makes the marriage a compulsory and a sacred institution and bans
all sexual intercourse outside the marriage. The offenders are to be punished with 100
stripes in public.
The fornicatress
and the fornicator, flog each one of them a hundred stripes, and let pity for them not
hold you in (implementing) the religion of God, if you believe in God and the Last Day,
and let a group of the Believers witness their punishment. (24:2)
The fornicator does
not marry but a fornicatress or an idolatress; and the fornicatress, none marries her but
a fornicator or and idolater; this is forbidden to the Believers (24:3)
Those of your women
who commit indecency, call to witness four of you against them, and if they bear witness
confine them in the houses till death takes them or God opens for them a way. And the two
of you who commit it, give hurt to them; then if they repent and reform, turn aside from
them; God is surely All-Returning, Merciful. (4:15-16)
Those women whose
aversion you fear, admonish them, and leave them alone in their beds, and beat them; then
if they obey you, seek not a way against them; God is surely High, Great. (4:34)
Those who love that
indecency should spread among the Believers shall have a painful punishment in this world
and in the Hereafter; and God knows but you don not know. (24:19)
Whom to Marry
Marriage is the biggest uniting factor among human beings. The Quran,
therefore, permits marriage between any man and woman, with a few essential exceptions,
like near blood relations and idolaters.
Forbidden to you
are your mothers, your daughters, your aunts paternal, your aunts maternal, brothers
daughters, sisters daughters, your mothers who have given suck to you, your suckling
sisters, your wives mothers, your step-daughters who are in your care being born of
your wives you have gone in to, but if you have not gone into, then there is no blame on
you, and the spouses of your sons who are of your loins, and that you take to you two
sisters together unless it be a thing of the past --- and wedded women save what your
right hands own; it is a duty from God upon you; lawful to you are all beyond that, if you
seek with your wealth in wedlock, not for lust. (4:23-24)
Do not marry women
that your fathers married, unless it be a thing of the past. (4:22)
Those of you who
have not the affluence to marry Believing free women, let them marry Believing hand- maids
that your hands own; and God knows very well your faith; you are from one another, so
marry them with their peoples leave. (4:25)
This day, all good
things are permitted to you, and the food of those who were given the Book is permitted to
you and your food is permitted to them, and free women out of Believers and free women out
of those who were given the Book before you. (5:5)
O Believers, when
Believing women come to you as emigrants, test them; God knows very well their belief.
Then, if you know them to be Believers, do not return them to the unbelievers; they are
not lawful to them, nor are the unbelievers lawful to them; and give them what they have
expended. And there is no blame on you if you marry them when you pay them their dowries.
And do not hold the ties of unbelieving women and ask for what you have expended and let
them ask what they have expended. (60:10)
Do not marry
idolatresses until they believe; a Believing slave girl is better than an idolatress, how
marvelous she may appear to you; and do not give in marriage to idolaters until they
believe; a Believing slave is better than an idolater, how marvelous he may appear to you.
They call to the Fire, and God calls to Paradise and forgiveness by His leave. (2:221)
Dowries to be Given
Give the
women their dowries as free gift; then if they, of their own, offer you a part of it,
consume it with wholesome appetite. (4:4)
If you divorce them
before you have touched them, but you have prescribed (dowry) for them, then half of what
you have prescribed, except that they forgo or he in whose hand is the knot of the
marriage forgoes; and if you forgo, it is nearer to piety. (2:237)
Sexes Separated
There is no bigger attraction in the world than between the sexes. None
can claim to remain unaffected from its influences. To save man from falling prey to its
temptations, to safeguard the seed and family, and to limit sexual relations to marriage
effectively, Islam gave orders that sexes shall be separated as far as it was compatible
with work. Women might join in war and other calamities, but routine mixing is forbidden.
Distance must be kept in all cases.
Say to the
Believers to lower their eyes and guard their private parts; and say to the Believing
women to lower their eyes, to guard their private parts and not to show their adornment,
except what is apparent, and let them draw their scarves over their bosoms and not show
their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands fathers,
their sons, their husbands sons, their brothers, their brothers sons, their
sisters sons, their women, what their right hands own, attendants without desire, or
the boys who do not appreciate the privacies of women and not to take out the step
in a way that their hidden adornment becomes known; and turn to God, all of you, O
Believers, that you may prosper. (24:30-31)
Such women of past
age who have no hope of marriage, there is no blame on them if they put off their gowns
without displaying adornment; but if they abstain, it is better for them. (24:60)
O Believers, do not
enter houses other than your own until you first ask permission and salute the people
thereof; that is better for you; may be you pay heed. And if you find none there do not
enter them till you are permitted. And if it is said to you, return, then
return; that is purer for you; and God knows what you do. There is no blame on you if you
enter uninhabited houses wherein is you baggage; and God knows what you show and what you
hide. (24:27-29)
O Believers, let
those whom your right hands own and those of you who have not reached puberty ask your
permission three times - before the Morning-Prayer, and when you put off your garments at
midday and after the Evening - Prayer; they are three times of privacy for you. (24:58)
O Prophet, tell thy
wives and thy daughters and women of the Believers that they draw their veil close to
them; this way it is likelier that they may be identified and not hurt. (33:59)
PLOYGAMY
To protect the naturally weak and dependent women and children, Islam
permits PLOYGAMY with strict orders of justice to all wives. It is essentially meant to
rehabilitate women who become surplus in war or by over-production. No student of nature
can deny the usefulness of this provision. A woman has no asylum except mans home.
By her nature, she does not mind marrying an already married man. Moreover, human species
is polygamous by nature. A society which believes in chastity, nay, integrity of family,
must permit polygamy to protect women and to save them from being let loose on the streets
or hiding places, selling their bodies to the dirtiest men on earth, only to fill their
bellies.
If you fear that
you will not act justly towards the orphans, marry such women as seem pleasing to you,
two, three, four; but if you fear that you will not be equitable to them, then only one or
what your right hands own. (4:3)
You will not be
able to be equitable between your wives, how eager you may be, yet do not incline
altogether that you leave her as suspended. (4:129)
Divorce
When, after making all efforts, a husband and a wife are unable to love
and live together and, if not rescued, are likely to fall prey to a sinful and miserable
life, Islam permits separation as a last resort. Its intentions to keep the family intact
may be seen from the checks it provides to stop separation. The Quranic instructions on
the subject are as under:
For those who
forswear their women is a waiting time of four months; then if they revert, God is
Forgiving, Merciful. And if they resolve on divorce, then God is Hearing, Knowing.
(2:226-227)
Divorced women
shall wait themselves for three periods. (2:228)
Their husbands have
better right to take them back during this time, if they desire to reform. (2:228)
But if they
separate, God will suffice each from His resources; God is Resourceful, Wise. (4:130)
If you fear a break
between the two, then appoint a judge from his people and a judge from her people if
they desire reformation, God will affect harmony between them; God is Knowing, Aware.
(4:35)
O Prophet, when you
people divorce women, divorce them for their period and count the period, and fear God,
your Lord. Do not expel them from their homes, nor should they go forth, except when they
commit a flagrant indecency. (65:1)
The divorce is
twice; then retain her desirably or let her off with kindness. (2:229)
If he divorce her
(finally), she shall not be lawful to him after that, until she marries a husband other
than he; if he also divorces her, there is no blame on them if they return to each other.
(2:230)
Those of your women
who have despaired of menstruation, their period, if you are in doubt, shall be three
months, and same is for those who have not yet menstruated; and the pregnant, their term
is that they lay down their burden. (65:4)
O Believers, when
you marry Believing women and divorce them before you have touched them, you have no
period to reckon against them. (33:49)
Suckling and Weaning
Mothers shall suckle
their children for two complete years, for him as desires to complete the suckling; upon
his father shall be their feeding and clothing according to good usage; no soul shall be
charged but to its capacity; a mother shall not be made to suffer for her child, nor his
father for his child, and the heir shall have a duty similar to that. But if the two
desire to wean by mutual consent and consultation, there is no blame on them. But if you
desire to seek nursing for your children, there is no blame on you, provided you hand over
what you give according to good usage; and fear God, and know that God sees what you do.
(2:233)
Man versus Woman
Islam gives the same rights to woman as to man except that it accepts
mans status a rank above. Woman is physically weak and needs protection. She has no
time to earn her living. Her main purpose in life is to continue the human race by not
only producing it but by rearing it under her tender care.
The Quran recognizes this natural fact and is not led away by foolish
talks of equality, which has only brought the woman on the stage as an instrument of
pleasure for the animal hidden in the male partner.
Women have (rights)
similar to what (obligations) are upon them according to good usage, but men have a rank
above them. (2:228)
Men stand above
women, as God has exalted one above the other, and as they expend of their wealth. (4:34)
Your women are a tillage for you. (2:223)
They ask thee about
monthly course. Say, it is a hurt, so go apart from women during monthly course, and
do not approach them until they are clean. (2:222)
O Believers, it is
not lawful for you that you inherit women against will; and do not debar them that you may
go off with some of what you have given them, except when they commit a flagrant
indecency; and consort with them desirably. And if you desire to change a wife in place of
another, and you have given to one of them a heap of gold, take of it nothing. Will you
take it by calumny and manifest sin. (4:19-20)
Parents
Parents gave you birth and looked after you in your helpless age. You
must respect them and obey them except when they try to take you away from God.
Be thankful to Me
and to thy parents_ and if they strive with thee to make thee assign associates with Me
whereof thou hast no knowledge, do not obey them, but keep company with them desirably.
(31:14-15)
Orphans
The orphans may be rich or poor but, being young, helpless and
unattended, they need special attention. Their property is theirs and is to be guarded by
elders.
They ask thee
concerning the orphans. Say, their reform is good; and if you mix with them, they
are your brothers. (2:220)
Give the orphans
their property and exchange not the defective with the good, and consume not their
property along with your property; which God has assigned to you to manage; and feed them
with it and clothe them, and talk to them desirable words. And test the orphans till they
reach the marriage age; then if you perceive in them right understanding, deliver their
property to them. And consume it not wastefully and hastily, lest they should grow. And
whoso is rich should abstain, and whoso is poor should consume desirably. Then, when you
deliver them their property, take witnesses over it and God suffices for a
reckoner
Those who devour orphans property wrongly, they devour only Fire in
their belies; and they will soon enter a Blaze. (4:2,5,6,10)
Widows
Those of
you who die and leave behind wives should make for their wives a testament
provision for a year without expulsion ; and if they go forth, there is no blame on you in
what they do for themselves in some desirable way. (2:240)
Speech
Tell My
servants to speaks to speak what is handsome, for the Devil provokes discord between them.
(17:53)
Do not confound the
truth with falsehood, and do not conceal the truth. (2:42)
When you speak, be
just, even if it should be a near kinsman. (6:152)
O Believers, fear
God and speak firm and to the point, He will reform your actions for you, and forgive you
your sins. (33:70-71)
O Believers, why do
you say what you do not do. (61:2)
O Believers, let
not any people scoff at another people; maybe that they are better than they. (49:11)
Do not find fault
with one another, nor call one another by nicknames. (49:11)
O Believers, avoid
many of the guesses, for some guesses are sins. And do not spy, nor backbite one another;
does anyone of you wish to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate it. (49:12)
God does not like
speaking aloud of evil words, except by him who has been wronged; and God is Hearing,
Knowing. If you do good openly or in secret, or pardon evil, God is Pardoning and
Powerful. (4:148-149)
O Believers, if a
transgressor brings you a news, make it clear lest you afflict a people in ignorance, and
feel ashamed on what you have done. (49:6)
O Believers, do not
raise your voices above the Prophets voice, and do not be loud in your speech to him
as you are loud with each other, lest your deeds are wasted and you do not appreciate.
(49:2)
Those who call thee
from outside the apartments, most of them understand not. Had they been patient, till thou
comest out to them, it would have been better for them; and God is Forgiving, Merciful.
(49:4-5)
He has sent down to
you in the Book that when you hear Signs of God being disbelieved and ridiculed, do not
sit with them till they are involved in some other talk, for in that case, you shall be
like them. (4:140)
Recommend Good Things
Whoso
makes a good intercession, he will have a share in it, and whoso makes an evil
intercession, he will have the like of it. (4:85)
Greetings
When you
are greeted with a greeting, greet with one better than it, or return it; God surely keeps
account of everything. (4:86)
Calumny
Whoso
earns a fault or a sin, then casts it upon one innocent, he carries on him a calumny and a
clear sin. (4:112)
Irresponsible Talk Punishable
Words have great influence on making or marring human relations.
Irresponsible persons are to be punished to keep them under control.
Those of you who
declare their wives as their mothers, they are not their mothers; their mothers are only
those who gave them birth; they surely speak dejected and false words; yet God is
Pardoning and Forgiving. Those who declare their wives as their mothers, then retract from
what they said, shall set free a slave before they touch each other; by this you are
admonished, and God is aware of what you do. And whoso finds not this, let him fast for
two successive months before they touch each other; and whoso is unable to do it, let him
feed sixty poor persons that is so that you believe in God and His Messenger. These
are Gods bounds, and the unbelievers will have a painful punishment. (58:2-4)
Oaths
Seriously made bonds on oaths are answerable. However, they cannot be
used for evil purposes.
Do not make God a
hindrance through your oaths, that you be virtuous, godfearing or put things right between
men, for God is Hearing, Knowing. God will not take you to task for vain in your oaths,
but He will take you to task for what your hearts earn; and God is Forgiving, Forbearing.
(2:224-225)
God will not take
you to task for vain in your oaths, but He will take you to task for bonds you make on
oaths; its expiation is to feed ten needy with the average of what you feed your family or
their clothes or the freeing of a neck; and whoso does not find it, shall fast for three
days; that is the expiation of your oaths when you swear guard your oaths. (5:89)
Manners
Turn not
thy cheek away from men, nor walk on earth exultantly; God loves not any man proud and
boastful. And be modest in thy walk and keep thy voice low; the most hideous of voices is
the voice of the ass. (31:18-19)
The servants of the
All-Merciful are those who walk on the earth modestly and who, when the ignorant address
them, say peace. (25:63)
Enmity
The
recompense of evil, is a like evil; but if any forgives and reforms, his wage falls upon
God. (42:40)
Dress
O
mankind, We have sent down to you clothing to cover your shame and for adornment ; and the
clothing of piety is the best; take your adornment at every place of worship, and eat and
drink but be not prodigal. (7:26,31)
All Clean Food Permissible
O
mankind, eat of what is in the earth lawful and clean and follow not the steps of the
Devil; he is an open enemy to you. (2:168)
Forbidden to you
are carrion, blood, flesh of swine, that over which name of other than God is invoked, the
strangled, the beaten down, that fallen to death, the gored, and that devoured by beasts
of prey --- except what you have duly slaughtered---that sacrificed on altars, and that
you draw lots by divining arrows. (5:3)
Eat not of that on
which Gods name has not been mentioned for it is a transgression. (6:121)
O Believers, make
not unlawful the good things that God has made lawful for you. (5:87)
This day, all good
things are made lawful to you. (5:5)
Where to Eat
Normally one must live at his own, but one is permitted to eat at his
relatives and friends. The blind, the lame and the sick may ask for food from anybody.
There is no blame
on the blind, nor on the lame, nor on the sick, nor on yourself, that you eat at your
houses, or your fathers houses, or your mothers houses, or your brothers
houses, or your sisters houses, or your paternal uncles houses, or your
paternal aunts houses, or your maternal uncles houses, or your maternal
aunts houses, or (at houses) whose keys you hold, or at your friends; there is no
blame on you if eat together or separately. (24:61)
Alcohol and Gambling
O
Believers, wine, gambling, altars and divining arrows are only an abomination of the
Devils work; avoid them that you may prosper. The Devil only desires to precipitate
enmity and hatred between you through wine and gambling, and hinder you from Gods
remembrance and from the Prayer. Will you now desist? (5:90-91)
Decorations
Say,
who has made unlawful the adornments of God and good provisions that He has brought
forth for His servants? Say, they are for the Believers in the life of this
world and (will be theirs) exclusively on the Day of Resurrection. Thus do We
explain Our Signs to a people who have knowledge. Say, my Lord has made unlawful
only indecencies, open or hidden, and sin and rebellion without right, and that you
associate with God that for which God has not sent down authority, and that you say
concerning God what you do not know. (7:32-33)
Idle Non-sense
When
they hear idle talk, they turn away from it and say, for us are our deeds and for
you your deeds; peace be upon you; we do not seek for the ignorant. (28:55)
Thankfulness
We gave Lokman wisdom---give
thanks to God, for whoso gives thanks, gives thanks only for himself. (31:12)
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