Khalwat, Misyar and Mutaah: The many ways Ulema misinterpret Islam to satisfy male sexual cravings

Ijtihad, Rethinking Islam

30 May 2009, NewAgeIslam.Com

Khalwat, Misyar and Mutaah: The many ways Ulema misinterpret Islam to satisfy male sexual cravings

Nowhere in the Quran does it say that a marriage can be contracted for a specific time period or with specific conditions attached which can terminate the marriage after the passage of some time.  Strange non-Quranic as well as un-Quranic ideas like misyar and mutaah marriages only destroy families, which form the basic unit of all communities.  And asinine ideas like asking men to suckle from the breasts of any woman, especially young women of marriageable age, so that they can both be alone together after that are quite insane.   But the scholars never fail to come up with these wild ideas.  Let's wait and see what they will come up with next. There seems to be a preoccupation with looking at everything from a sexual point of view. It does not indicate a healthy state of mind.  But despite all these notions the religious people still cannot explain the very high incidence of rape, including incest, among the majority Muslims in Malaysia. Using the logic of the religious folks the non Muslims who are less concerned with girls' school uniforms and who are prone to wearing lipstick and high heeled shoes should suffer even higher rates of sexual crimes. But this does not seem to be the case. In non Muslim Singapore for example, the incidence of rape and incest is below the Malaysian average. -- Syed Akbar Ali, a Malaysian intellectual URL of this page: http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1435 ---------------------     Misinterpreting Islam to Oppress Women On Khalwat, Misyar & Mutaah   By Syed Akbar Ali    In Malaysia we frequently read reports of Muslim couples being arrested for the offense of committing 'khalwat' or being in 'close proximity<[1]' to each other. For the benefit of all thinking humans it is best that we explain a little what is meant by 'Muslim couples' and what is meant by 'khalwat' or close proximity.    For the purposes of khalwat a 'couple' refers to a man and a woman who can lawfully get married to each other. The word used to describe such a couple is 'not muhreem'.  'Muhreem' is derived from the Arabic word 'raheem' which means womb.    Not muhreem means not of the same womb – meaning there is no blood relationship so the couple can marry each other.  An unrelated couple who has breastfed  from the same wet nurse as babies is considered a blood relation like brother and sister and can therefore be alone together without raising any suspicions.    The offense of khalwat or being in 'close proximity' means that a Muslim couple who is 'not muhreem' cannot be close together alone in a closed environment like a room, a house, an office or a car.  In Malaysia Muslim couples have been caught for khalwat in parks, hotel rooms and houses.  In two glaring cases even a married couple staying in a hotel room was once arrested for khalwat because they could not produce documentary proof that they were already married.    In another major embarrassment for Malaysia a couple of elderly American tourists who were husband and wife were questioned by overzealous moral squads for sharing the same hotel room.   There is this constant pre occupation with keeping men and women apart.    Throughout the modern world students study, conduct research, share notes, exchange ideas and solve problems with their fellow students, regardless of sex, race, nationality, politics or religious inclinations. It is part of the greater task of being a student seeking new knowledge.   However the 'powers that be' at Malaysian campuses do allow group discussions where groups of male and female students can discuss their work together. But often they must sit on opposite sides of the table.  If you cannot find a group, then you can only discuss with members of the same sex.    Not just in Malaysia but in other Islamic countries too this matter of couples being alone together has become a big issue. This raises many problems in the modern world because men and women who are strangers to each other often end up working together in offices, travelling together in vehicles and even renting separate rooms but inside the same houses and apartments.  Technically they may be in breach of 'khalwat'.  If that were to happen the jails could soon be full of unsuspecting couples who may have inadvertently committed 'khalwat'.    The Quran does have a detailed list of people one may or may not marry. Here it is:   "And marry not women whom your fathers married, - except what is past: It was shameful and odious, - an abominable custom indeed. Prohibited to you (For marriage) are:- Your mothers, daughters, sisters; father's sisters, Mother's sisters; brother's daughters, sister's daughters; foster-mothers (Who gave you suck), foster-sisters; your wives' mothers; your step-daughters under your guardianship, born of your wives to whom ye have gone in,- no prohibition if ye have not gone in;- (Those who have been) wives of your sons proceeding from your loins; and two sisters in wedlock at one and the same time, except for what is past; for God is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful." Surah 4:22-23.    The list above is quite comprehensive. Of course there is no such word as 'khalwat' mentioned anywhere in the Quran. But little did we know that perhaps a very old and forgotten solution existed in the dusty old books of the scholars to overcome this situation. In Egypt a well known religious scholar called Ezzat Attiya  made a 'fatwa' that to overcome the restrictions of khalwat, a man could breastfeed from a woman – by which action he will become her 'muhrim' or blood relation. The two can then happily carry on being alone together with no more fear of breaching 'khalwat'.  Here is a news report from the Associated Press in Cairo about this:    The Associated Press Published: May 21, 2007   Theology centre to discipline cleric who allows adult breast-feeding   CAIRO, Egypt: Al-Azhar University, one of Egypt's most prestigious institutions, ordered one of its clerics Monday to face a disciplinary panel after he issued a controversial decree allowing adults to breast-feed.   Ezzat Attiya had issued a fatwa, or religious edict, saying adult men could breast-feed from female work colleagues as a way to avoid breaking religious rules that forbid men and women from being alone together.   In Islamic tradition, breast-feeding establishes a degree of maternal relation, even if a woman nurses a child who is not biologically hers. It means the child could not marry the nursing woman's biological children.   Attiya insisted the same would apply with adults. He argued that if a man nursed from a co-worker, it would establish a family bond between them and allow the two to work side-by-side without raising suspicion of an illicit sexual relation.   His fatwa raised a widespread outcry in Egypt, with religious authorities rejecting the edit and several newspapers deriding Attiya for issuing it. Several lawmakers called for Attiya to be punished.   The president of the Al Azhar University, Ahmed al-Tayeb, ordered Attiya on Monday to stand before a disciplinary tribunal and denounced the fatwa as defamatory to Islam.   Attiya had initially stood by his fatwa, but on Sunday he backtracked and apologized for the controversy. He said his fatwa was "only an opinion based on one incident."   Attiya based his fatwa on "hadith." In the hadith, the prophet reportedly told a woman to nurse a teenage boy who was not her own but whom she had raised in order to establish a family bond. But many scholars deny the hadith, saying it is not verified and should not be used.   Egyptian Religious Affairs Minister Mahmoud Zaqzouq said Monday that fatwas "should be compatible with logic and human nature."   Strict religious interpretations forbid an unmarried man and woman to be alone together. But with women in the workplace, the situation is generally accepted in Egypt and much of the Muslim world.    It is not surprising that (according to the media) the Al Azhar University dragged this religious scholar onto the rug and disciplined him for making such a fatwa.     But Izzat Attiya is not alone in promoting this idea. This idea is also written down in the book Al Muwatta which I have mentioned earlier. The book Al Muwatta is believed to have been written by Imam Malik. This book is considered by some to be the first formulation of Islamic jurisprudence.  The 'Suckling of Adults' has indeed been addressed in the book 'Al Muwattta' of Imam Malik ibn Anas.    I have heard arguments by some people on the Internet that this issue of adult suckling was an exception granted in one instance only.  It is not meant to be a general dispensation for all Muslims – as proposed by Attiya. But I find such a view hard to believe because the Quran says : 'O ye who believe! Why say ye that which ye do not? Grievously odious is it in the sight of God that ye say that which ye do not' Surah 61: 2-3.   This would mean that once a rule is established there cannot be exceptions granted in the Quran. And it is also disliked by everyone if we say one thing and then do something else. In Malay there is a phrase for it: 'cakap tak serupa bikin'.  But in this matter of adult suckling the Quran is clear of such questions because the Quran does not mention the subject at all.    But I notice that from time to time the religious scholars never fail to come out with even stranger fatwas.   In my previous book 'Malaysia And The Club of Doom – The Collapse of the Islamic Countries' I have spoken about another strange thing called the 'misyar union' or 'misyar marriage' which came into the limelight in 2006. Some religious folks in Saudi Arabia announced on April 12, 2006 that 'misyar' marriage was permitted.  By this marriage a man need not permanently live with or even provide support to the woman. He can cohabit with her or leave her with no obligations.   In actual practise this type of 'misyar' union will promote licentious<[2] behaviour where the man stops by at will and the woman will entertain him – usually for a consideration.   Just like this breastfeeding of adults, the misyar marriage has also been roundly criticized.  Another strange edict of some of the religious scholars is the 'mutaah' marriage, practiced sometimes by the Shiah sect.  A mutaah marriage is a marriage that is contracted for a fixed period of time. Technically this can be for an hour, a day, a year or any other time frame. And all three – suckling or breastfeeding of adults, misyar marriages and mutaah marriages are not found mentioned anywhere in the Quran.  This is not in the Quran.   Marriage is a solemn institution that is fully recognized in the Quran.  Nowhere in the Quran does it say that marriage can be contracted for a fixed period of time only or with 'strings attached'.  The termination of marriage is an involved process in the Quran.  You cannot just terminate a marriage contractually or after a certain amount of consideration.  Here are some references about divorce from the Quran :    'O Prophet! When ye do divorce women, divorce them at their prescribed periods, and count (accurately), their prescribed periods: And fear God your Lord: and turn them not out of their houses, nor shall they (themselves) leave, except in case they are guilty of some open lewdness, those are limits set by God: and any who transgresses the limits of God, does verily wrong his (own) soul: thou knowest not if perchance God will bring about thereafter some new situation' Surah 65 : 1.   'Thus when they fulfil their term appointed, either take them back on equitable terms or part with them on equitable terms; and take for witness two persons from among you, endued with justice, and establish the evidence (as) before God. Such is the admonition given to him who believes in God and the Last Day. And for those who fear God, He (ever) prepares a way out'  Surah 65 : 2.   'Such of your women as have passed the age of monthly courses, for them the prescribed period, if ye have any doubts, is three months, and for those who have no courses (it is the same): for those who carry (life within their wombs), their period is until they deliver their burdens: and for those who fear God, He will make their path easy' Surah 65: 4.   So terminating a marriage through divorce takes time. Even the involvement of family is encouraged to help the couple reconcile. Please see the following:   'If ye fear a breach between them twain, appoint (two) arbiters, one from his family, and the other from hers; if they wish for peace, God will cause their reconciliation: For God hath full knowledge, and is acquainted with all things.' Surah 4:35   Nowhere in the Quran does it say that a marriage can be contracted for a specific time period or with specific conditions attached which can terminate the marriage after the passage of some time.  Strange non-Quranic as well as un-Quranic ideas like misyar and mutaah marriages only destroy families, which form the basic unit of all communities.  And asinine ideas like asking men to suckle from the breasts of any woman, especially young women of marriageable age, so that they can both be alone together after that are quite insane.   But the scholars never fail to come up with these wild ideas.  Let's wait and see what they will come up with next.   There seems to be a preoccupation with looking at everything from a sexual point of view. It does not indicate a healthy state of mind.    But despite all these notions the religious people still cannot explain the very high incidence of rape, including incest, among the majority Muslims in Malaysia. Using the logic of the religious folks the non Muslims who are less concerned with girls' school uniforms and who are prone to wearing lipstick and high heeled shoes should suffer even higher rates of sexual crimes. But this does not seem to be the case. In non Muslim Singapore for example, the incidence of rape and incest is below the Malaysian average.   Syed Akbar Ali is a Malaysian intellectual who writes mainly on Islamic and Malaysian-related issues. He can be contacted on <ali.syedakbar@gmail.com   URL of this page: http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1435