by In what seems to be a far off place with strange rules and customs, another woman has fallen victim of an Islamic law that says that if a man says that he divorces his wife three times in repetition, they are divorced. The twist comes in how the couple can get back together:
Under the rules, the woman, who is a mother of three, must marry another man and obtain a divorce from him before she can be reunited with Ershad, the clerics in the local mosque said.
The clerics have said the man the woman marries temporarily must be 70 years of age, Parida said.
If it was absurd to say that a verbal statement said when drunk or asleep can render a couple with children divorced, it is even more absurd to say that marriage to a 70 year old for a day will rectify the measure. In Mosaic law, a woman that divorced and then married another was not to go back to the first husband. She could if she just divorced and had not married another.
I don’t understand why, in terms of marriage, anyone woman would want to be a Muslim.
- You’re property
- You have to wear a burqa
- You may be one of four
- You can be divorced by your husband saying the same thing three times, and even if he didn’t mean it, you’re still divorced
- To get back with the father of your children and your kids you have to marry a 70 year old…
It’s just absurd.
Toooo weeird.
A whole new meaning to not “joking” around about divorce.
The problem is that Islam, like Christianity, has sects and denominations and all kinds of variations. As a Lutheran, I find the Baptist belief that baptism doesn’t count unless the believer is fully immersed in water absurd. As a Western Christian visiting a “Christian” (and I use that term very loosely) church in the Middle East, I was appalled at their belief that I could only repent and have faith if I picked up one of their gigantic snakes. But they believed it, and even believed it was supported by Scripture!
Islam is different depending on what country, what faction, what popular leader, and what individual beliefs the Muslims subscribe to. Just like Christianity. We can therefore argue that “true” Christianity and Islam exists, and these other strange variances are deviations from the pure religion.
Many Muslims do not wear a burqa, nor even an abaya or hijab. (For clarification, a burqa is a full length covering, such as is demanded by the Taliban, and an abaya is the long black gown-like covering many other Muslim women wear. A hijab is the head scarf, and a naqab is the small veil that covers the face below the eyes). It is, contrary to popular belief held by both Muslims and non-Muslims, not actually commanded by the Quran. Here’s a good reference page for more information: http://www.understanding-islam.com/rs/s-084.htm Just like dancing is not forbidden in the Bible, but the Baptists forbid it in many rural U.S. areas!
As for women being property, again, this depends where and what faction of Islam you subscribe to. Where I lived and worked, Doha, Qatar, women were most definitely not property. Most of them took great pride in wearing abayas and hijabs, but were also independently wealthy and amazingly secure in their personalities and lives. Multiple wives are not very common in Doha, but the ones I met said they enjoyed not being so “lonely”, since we all know how men like their newspapers and nights out with the boys!
The divorce thing – seriously, have you ever been to India? I’m not surprised they’re being so ridiculous. In many Muslim areas, the utterance has to be meant, from the bottom of the heart. Also, clerics, neighbours, family and friends all get involved… they urge whoever is wanting the divorce (women have the ability to say divorce as well) to stop, consider, maybe take a break. I have heard stories of men covering their friend’s mouth with their hands to prevent the words, urging him to pray, pray! He cannot be sure! It depends… like every very large religion, there are major inconsistencies depending where you are.
The marrying a 70 year old is just utterly laughable. I asked some of my friends what that could be about, and one of them wrote back and said it was no shock to her, coming from India. The only other people who would be so obscene would be the Taliban, perhaps.
Am I defending Islam? No. I recognize it to be a false teaching. But the danger is to misunderstand the religion and be tempted to dismiss it as absurd. Once we do that, we fail to see the attraction for other people, and we lose the ability to help speak the truth to such people.
Muslims remind me of Jewish people… seemingly stuck in an Old Testament world full of rules and harsh edicts, and completely without the saving grace of our loving Saviour God. Neither are ridiculous or absurd… but without our Saviour God, all are lost. Like Fr. Antonio says in his recent blog post, it’s beautiful, these Old Testament beliefs, but tragic.
Oh, my goodness… how do I change my gravatar? I’m not THAT old! LOL
You should have a link below the reply box that should let you change your comvatar. If you like any of those (or if you have another one) since the e-mail notification doesn’t seem to be working at the moment, let me know which one you like (or the URL to it) and I’ll hack it in.
Thanks for your response, Shari. You’re right– we need to realize the sects and that there are different degrees of people following their sacred texts. The question is what does the Quran say and what does that mean about the actual religion. Certainly you could say that this is just the fundamental view, but doesn’t the religion’s sacred texts make what the true religion is? In any case, thanks for the point of view– it was very enlightening.