Aswers to Johns's Questions

Submitted by The Scholar (United States), Nov 23, 2005 at 02:35

John,

You asked direct questions, and I guess you deserve direct answers. I could not answer your previous questions because I did not have the time or the energy to answer all questions, so I chose the more challenging ones :)

I will just add a few lines of comment on each question:

1.Is it true that a Muslim man can marry more than one but a muslimah cannot? Yes or No?

Yes, but in a more controlled manner (compared to David and Solomon in the bible). Please read what the Quranic verse says (and notice that it starts with an "if"):
(Quran 2-3). If ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, Marry women of your choice, Two or three or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one, or (a captive) that your right hands possess, that will be more suitable, to prevent you from doing injustice.

Women are not permitted to marry multiple men because it is against their nature, and also because one would not then know who the father of the offspring is.


2. Is it true that in an inheritance exercise, a Muslim husband will stand to inherit more than a muslimah? Yes or No?

Yes.

A muslim man is responsible for all the financial needs of his family and the wife is not (she can volunteer to contribute if she likes). In a broader sense, if a father for example is sick and needs money for an operation, the sons have to pay for the operations and not the daughters, that's why they inherit more.

3. Is it true that your prophet claimed that when he saw hell, the place he chose first to see, he saw that it was filled with women. Yes or No?

I am not sure about this one, but I think I heard this one before.
But of course most of the references in the Quran that gave examples of hell were examples of men: ex: "The pharaoh, Abu Lahab, the hypocrites of Meina, etc).
There is another hadith that says "heaven lies beneath the feet of mothers".

4. Is it true that the Black Stone that Muslims prostrated to 5 times a day was once white? It was turned black because it was touched by menstruating women? Yes or No.

No, that is not true.
Correction, Muslims do not prostrate to a stone and not even the black stone. We prostrate in the direction of the Kaaba. The black stone is attached to one corner of the Kaaba. Omar Ibn Elkhattab (second Khalifa after Mohamed) said that if he did not see the prophet kiss the stone, he would not have done it. There are no idols in Islam. With reference to the Kaaba, the Prophet (PBUH) even said that the sanctity of a Muslim to god is more than that of the Kaaba.


5. Is it true that the penalty for adultery is death for a Muslim woman and 100 lashes for the Muslim man, with a 1-year exile? Yes or No?

No, this is not true. The punishment is the same for both sexes. As a matter of fact, in the Quran the punishment is flogging for men and women, but in the Sira, men and women who are/were married are stoned. In Islam there are no punishments reserved for one sex and not for the other.

(Quran 24-2). The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication,- flog each of them with a hundred stripes: Let not compassion move you in their case, in a matter prescribed by Allah, if ye believe in Allah and the Last Day: and let a party of the Believers witness their punishment.

6. Is it true that when a Muslim woman dies, she shall spend paradise, if she earned enough points, with her husband? Yes or No?

I do not know, but I assume that God will reward a woman with what she desires and deserves. One of the few examples (if not the only that I know of) that talks about this in the Quran is about the wife of the Pharaoh of Moses: God built a palace for her in heaven. It is highly unlikely that god would bring the pharaoh out of hell so she can live with him. Also, what if the woman deserves a better place in heaven? But still, I think that in heaven a man or a woman would probably stay with his/her family as long as that gives him/her happiness.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".