• Home
  • Contact Me
Monday, March 20, 2023
Rana Safvi
  • Home
  • About
  • Book & Publication
  • Culture & Heritage
    • Our Cultural Heritage
    • Sufi saints
  • Food
  • Hazrat-E-Dilli
  • Rana’s Space
    • Walks & Talks
    • Rana’s Space
    • Sher o Sukhan
  • Travel

    My favorite artworks from European Museums

    My favorite artworks from European Museums

    Gandhara Art in Humboldt Forum: Life of Lord Buddha

    Gandhara Art in Humboldt Forum: Life of Lord Buddha

    Jewish Heroes Square in Krakow, Poland

    Jewish Heroes Square in Krakow, Poland

    Block no. 4 in Auschwitz concentration camp

    Block no. 4 in Auschwitz concentration camp

    Ottoman tent in Princess Czartoryski Museum in Krakow, Poland

    Ottoman tent in Princess Czartoryski Museum in Krakow, Poland

    The Steam Engine Building, Potsdam, Germany

    The Steam Engine Building, Potsdam, Germany

    Assyrian human-headed winged bull from Nimrud; 9th cent. BCE; Pergamon Museum, Berlin

    Assyrian human-headed winged bull from Nimrud; 9th cent. BCE; Pergamon Museum, Berlin

    Catacombs in St Peter’s Abbey Salzburg, Austria

    Catacombs in St Peter’s Abbey Salzburg, Austria

    St Nicholas Church in #Leipzeg, #Germany

    St Nicholas Church in #Leipzeg, #Germany

    Gloriette, Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna,Austria

    Gloriette, Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna,Austria

    Matthias Church on Buda Castle Hill, Budapest

    Matthias Church on Buda Castle Hill, Budapest

    The Neptune fountain in Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria

    The Neptune fountain in Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria

    The Dohany Street synagogue in Budapest

    St Peter’s Abbey Church in Salzburg, Austria

    St Peter’s Abbey Church in Salzburg, Austria

    The Residence Fountain in Salzburg: Oundof Music

    The Residence Fountain in Salzburg: Oundof Music

    Sultana Daku and Raj Bhawan of Nainital

    Sultana Daku and Raj Bhawan of Nainital

    Sultana Daku and Raj Bhawan of Nainital

    Sultana Daku and Raj Bhawan of Nainital

    Trending Tags

    • Contact Me
    No Result
    View All Result
    • Home
    • About
    • Book & Publication
    • Culture & Heritage
      • Our Cultural Heritage
      • Sufi saints
    • Food
    • Hazrat-E-Dilli
    • Rana’s Space
      • Walks & Talks
      • Rana’s Space
      • Sher o Sukhan
    • Travel

      My favorite artworks from European Museums

      My favorite artworks from European Museums

      Gandhara Art in Humboldt Forum: Life of Lord Buddha

      Gandhara Art in Humboldt Forum: Life of Lord Buddha

      Jewish Heroes Square in Krakow, Poland

      Jewish Heroes Square in Krakow, Poland

      Block no. 4 in Auschwitz concentration camp

      Block no. 4 in Auschwitz concentration camp

      Ottoman tent in Princess Czartoryski Museum in Krakow, Poland

      Ottoman tent in Princess Czartoryski Museum in Krakow, Poland

      The Steam Engine Building, Potsdam, Germany

      The Steam Engine Building, Potsdam, Germany

      Assyrian human-headed winged bull from Nimrud; 9th cent. BCE; Pergamon Museum, Berlin

      Assyrian human-headed winged bull from Nimrud; 9th cent. BCE; Pergamon Museum, Berlin

      Catacombs in St Peter’s Abbey Salzburg, Austria

      Catacombs in St Peter’s Abbey Salzburg, Austria

      St Nicholas Church in #Leipzeg, #Germany

      St Nicholas Church in #Leipzeg, #Germany

      Gloriette, Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna,Austria

      Gloriette, Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna,Austria

      Matthias Church on Buda Castle Hill, Budapest

      Matthias Church on Buda Castle Hill, Budapest

      The Neptune fountain in Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria

      The Neptune fountain in Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria

      The Dohany Street synagogue in Budapest

      St Peter’s Abbey Church in Salzburg, Austria

      St Peter’s Abbey Church in Salzburg, Austria

      The Residence Fountain in Salzburg: Oundof Music

      The Residence Fountain in Salzburg: Oundof Music

      Sultana Daku and Raj Bhawan of Nainital

      Sultana Daku and Raj Bhawan of Nainital

      Sultana Daku and Raj Bhawan of Nainital

      Sultana Daku and Raj Bhawan of Nainital

      Trending Tags

      • Contact Me
      No Result
      View All Result
      Rana Safvi
      No Result
      View All Result

      For God’s Sake Stop Atrocities In The Name of God

      inRana's Space
      0

      I know this is not the normal genre in which I write my articles. But anyone who sees an oppressive act happening is considered an oppressor himself/herself.

      I was asked about this matter by my good friend Rohini Bakshi who has joined the campaign against FGM ( Female Genital Mutilation) in UK.

      Since I am not there to physically join the campaign this is my very small and humble contribution to it.

      I am not a scholar of Islam but I am a practicing and a questioning Muslim. I question blind faith which so many of us seem to be putting in our what we are hearing, whether its from the clergy, the clergy’s spokespersons or just ordinary people who keep propounding on religion. I feel that this tradition of playing Chinese Whisper with the Holy Book, The Quran has gone on for far too long.

      Most of us can’t/ don/t or haven’t read the Quran with translation for ourselves and so believe whatever we are fed by various agencies.

      Till some years back I too believed everything I was told as long as I trusted the person telling me. But as I grew Internet friendly and started reading the various translations of The Quran and then got a physical copy with translation I realized how much I had missed and misinterpreted. Many scholars be they Muslim or otherwise pick one random surah /verse from the Quran and interpret it as per their understanding of it. What they forget is that that the Quran was revealed over a period of time and many verses dealt with a specific situation and the issue as a whole has been dealt again later in a corresponding verse/verses. To understand it well we must first take all the verses on the subject and then interpret them in their totality. Only then can we say that we have a correct interpretation.

      In fact the reward for reading the Quran with translation and understanding it is far greater and recommended than just simply reading it without understanding.

      It was narrated that Anas bin Mâlik said: The Messenger of Allah said “Seeking knowledge is a duty upon every Muslim”. ”

      (Sunan Ibn e Majah, Book of Sunnah, Hadith no 224, Classified as Sahih By Allama Albani)

      And true knowledge does not come passively. You have to question, to probe in depth to get answers.

      There are some things in islam which are prescribed in the Quran and there are some which are traditions based on hadith which are the sayings of the Prophet.

      The word ‘Sunnat/ Sunnah’ means that which the Prophet practiced/followed but something, which is not written about or prescribed in the Quran. The acts, which are obligatory, are called ‘fard/farz’.

      In India the male circumcision is called ‘sunnat’ which clearly shows that it’s not compulsory but something which should be emulated.

      So that gives rise to the question that since male circumcision is not a ‘fard’ but a ‘sunnat ‘ act how can possibly Female circumcision be compulsory?

      We keep confusing the patriarchal society that practiced female infanticide, believed in suppression and repression of women with Islam.

      Islam was a religion that gave rights and respect to women.

      Verse 2:228 of the Quran says

      “And women shall have rights similar to the rights against them, according to what is equitable; but men have a degree (of responsibility) over them. And Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise”

      For the medieval society of Arabia this was a revolutionary concept. The Prophet himself practiced what he preached and there are umpteen traditions, which talk of how he always got up when his daughter Fatima Zehra entered the room as a mark of respect.

      The First Lady of Islam Khadija was a prosperous businesswoman whose money funded the initial expansion of Islam. She was not only successful but emancipated enough to send a proposal to Mohammed who was her employee and younger than herself, because she recognized his noble qualities. Isn’t it truly ironical that the women of the religion to which she was the first female convert are so suppressed and repressed in the name of Islam ?

      The fact is that in Islam we have the concept of haram (forbidden) and halal (allowed).

      Many customs/traditions, which were a part of everyday Bedouin life because they were not specifically forbidden, were continued and gradually found acceptance in the religion. That does not mean they were encouraged or permitted by the religion itself, just that they were not frowned upon by the Muslims of the area .

      We confuse Islam for Muslims. There is a huge difference between the two. Islam is a religion but Muslim just a follower of it. The follower can be good, bad, and indifferent but that does not make the religion he follows good, bad or indifferent. The followers maybe at fault because of his interpretation of the command not the religion.

      To come back to FGM ( Female Genital Mutilation) there can be no religious sanction for it in light of the Quran.

      Verse 2:187 of the Quran says “They are a garment for you and you are a garment for them…”

      This has been interpreted by Abdullah Yusuf Ali , in one of the most widely accepted translation and interpretation of the Quran as,” ’Men and women are each other’s garments i.e. they are for mutual support, mutual comfort, and mutual protection, fitting into each other as a garment fits the body. A garment also is both for show and concealment.”

      This clearly shows that the argument put forward by the practioners of FGM that this is done to limit female sexual pleasure is totally wrong. Islam nowhere puts restriction on that and in fact

      Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi, former President of the Islamic Society of North America, says:

      “It is also emphasized in Islam that a husband should not deny his wife’s physical needs. Both of them are related to each other, as Allah says in the Qur’an, (Al-Baqarah: 187)

      Thre are many hadith which refer to the wife’s rights. The Prophet advised Abdullah bin Amr bin Al-As (who spent all day fasting and all night in prayer) to fast sometimes and not at other times; to pray at night and to sleep at night.

      “Your body has a right over you, your eyes have a right over you and your wife has a right over you.” (Sahih Bukhari, Vol.7, No. 127)

      How can such a religion advise the mutilation of a female body to deprive it of sexual pleasure?

      The one hadith, which is oft quoted, in which the Prophet is supposed to have advised a woman who performed the female circumcision to not cut severely is very weak and not considered authentic.

      We must also keep in mind that many hadith were written quite a number of years after The Prophet’s passing away on hearsay and so once again fact and fiction got intertwined. In fact the most reliable Hadith by Bukhari called Sahih e Bukhari was written approximately 200 years after the Prophet.

      As for reasons of health and hygiene while there are many benefits of circumcision for men there have been none found so far for women.

      As I stated earlier many local customs found acceptance since they were not specifically forbidden. FGM is one of them. It is practiced mainly in Equatorial Africa, where it was followed for thousands of years. It is also found to be practiced in Yemen, Egypt and south of Saudi Arabia. Globally 130 m girls or women are supposed to have been circumcised.

      This is a barbaric custom and should be stopped.

      Its time we stopped committing atrocities in the name of God.

      Recommended Reading

      http://www.dawn.com/news/694420/understanding-the-quran Understanding the Quran by Asghar Ali Engineer

      Share this:

      • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
      • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

      Related Posts

      Memories of Muharram
      Our Cultural Heritage

      Memories of Muharram

      by ranasafvi
      August 31, 2020
      A Water-colour sketch of the Taj Mahal at Agra in Uttar Pradesh by Charles J. Cramer-Roberts (1834-1895)
      Rana's Space

      A Water-colour sketch of the Taj Mahal at Agra in Uttar Pradesh by Charles J. Cramer-Roberts (1834-1895)

      by ranasafvi
      July 21, 2020
      Rana's Space

      The Seen and Unseen – episode 172

      by ranasafvi
      June 26, 2020
      Leave Comment
      Twitter Facebook Instagram Youtube
      Rana Safvi

      Come, explore and fall in love the Beauties of Delhi (Dilli ki Ranaiya’n) and the World with me, Rana Safvi

      I have a masters in medieval history from the prestigious Centre for Advanced Studies, Dept. of History, AMU. A firm believer in our Ganga Jamuni Tehzeeb, I am passionate about gaining and sharing knowledge and these days I am doing it via the social media platform.

      Browse by Category

      Currently Playing

      © 2018 Rana Safvi - A blog Exploring Ganga Jamuni Tehzeeb of India, website handcrafted by Abu Sufiyan.

      No Result
      View All Result
      • Home
      • About
      • Book & Publication
      • Culture & Heritage
        • Our Cultural Heritage
        • Sufi saints
      • Food
      • Hazrat-E-Dilli
      • Rana’s Space
        • Walks & Talks
        • Rana’s Space
        • Sher o Sukhan
      • Travel
      • Contact Me

      © 2018 Rana Safvi - A blog Exploring Ganga Jamuni Tehzeeb of India, website handcrafted by Abu Sufiyan.