Islam's Reformers .pdf

month. A man who owns (the amount of) nisâb [1] and has to payzakât must give the nafaqa of the (wife even if she is) rich. If thewoman proves with two witnesses that her husband has fledand has not left nafaqa, the Shâfi’î judge abolishes the nikâh.After the ’idda (length of time within which a woman may notremarry), she may marry another man according to the Hanafîmadhhab. If, later, the husband turns up and proves that he hasleft nafaqa, it will be overruled. Nafaqa is not given to thewoman who is obstinately disobedient or who is told that shehas been divorced.” Yet, it is not easy to divorce the wife and todemolish her home and happiness.He wrote in the subject of “Nikâh”: “If a father has given hisadolescent daughter in marriage to a man without taking herpermission, and if she does not accept it when she learns it, thenikâh is not sahîh. She is to be believed if she says, ‘I refusedwhen I heard.’ ” The passages above show that the Muslimwoman is not a toy in the hands of the man and that women’srights are under the guarantee of the state.41 - The reformer says:“Woman is not a creature whom man will use as he wishesor dismiss whenever he wants. According to the will of Allâhuta’âlâ, who wishes people to be happy in this world and in thenext, we should set rules for matrimony. Though Europeanshave prohibited having more than one wife, many of them havea few illegitimate wives or mistresses.”Polygamy is one of the reasons why European progressivesor imitators attack Muslims. The fact, however, is that whereasMuslims marry up to four women, Europeans cohabit withseveral women. Islam has laid conditions for marrying up tofour. Not everybody can fulfill these conditions. For this reasonit is limited for Muslim men to marry more than one and it is thelot of very few people. Besides, it is not a command but aconditional permission. It is seen that in places where it isforbidden to marry more than one woman, prostitution andadultery increase.Its unpleasant effect on women is the main reason whichreligion reformers put forth why they speak ill of marrying more[1] Border of richness dictated by Islam. Please see Endless Bliss, V,1.- 118 -