116. The liquor addiction that was gradually brought down.

Verse 16:67 says liquor was not prohibited in the initial days when people were addicted to it.

Later people were prohibited in a gradual manner from drinking.

Verse 4:43 says initially people were prohibited from drinking while worshipping.

To remain a teetotaler while worshipping, one must stop drinking at least an hour before he starts worshipping. This brought down considerably the habit of drinking in people when they stopped drinking five times a day.

Later verse 2:219 was revealed advising people to hate staying away from liquor is good for them.

Later verses 5:90-91 were revealed, totally banning liquor. 

115. Punishment for whoring.

Verse 24:2 says men and women who indulge in prostitution should be punished with one hundred whip lashes. But Prophet Muhammad segregated the punishment for prostitution into two. 

 He awarded death sentence, when those charged with prostitution happen to be married, and one hundred whiplashes when unmarried.

Hadith book Bukhari- 2315, 2725, 2649, 2696, 5270, 5272, 6812, 6815, 6820, 6824, 6826, 6828, 6829, 6633, 6836, 6843, 6860, 7195, 7260.

Some argue the Quran prescribes a punishment of one hundred whiplashes only, and there should be no death sentence as punishment for the same.

 Their argument is ‘Allah has clearly said in the Quran, one hundred whiplashes as punishment for prostitution, and had not differentiated between married and unmarried accused, hence the punishment stops with one hundred whiplashes, with no death sentence’. 

 They also put forth evidence to support their argument there are no two types of punishments for prostitution, citing verse 4:25 where in it is said female slaves receive half the punishment of what is awarded to free women for the same crime. 

 They raise a question: if half of 100 lashes amount to fifty lashes, what does half of a death sentence amount to? 

It is a right stance not to accept hadiths that go against the edicts of the Quran, but we cannot accept the concept, death sentence for prostitution is against the Quran.

Did Prophet Muhammad say and implement things that went against the Quran, in the matter of prostitution? Do their questions carry any conviction, we find their argument completely mistaken. 

A part of the verse 4:25 saying ‘only half of the punishment meted out to a married free woman is applicable to those female slaves who indulged in prostitution’ remains the mainstay for these people against death sentence for prostitution.

No one can deny it if it is thus mentioned in the Quran. But this very question is raised based on the translation done wrongly to the above phrase.

The word ‘almuhsanaat’ is found in the phrase of the verse 4:25. This word can be translated to mean different things, and one meaning cannot be applied to in all cases.

By not paying much attention to the different meanings of this word, and without proper understanding, the word is translated as married women. Based on such translation questions are raised. If we analyze the verses containing the word ‘almuhsanaat’ in the whole Quran, we can arrive at what it means in this phrase.

 The same word can be found in the previous verse 4:24. 

Verse 4:24 begins with the word ‘walmuhsanaat’ after listing out those prohibited from being married to in the previous verse, continues to add in the list the ‘muhsanaat’. 

It must be taken to mean the one living with her husband, or somebody’s wife. We understand we are not allowed to marry someone else’s wife. 

 Now look at verse 5:5 where the same word ‘almuhsanaat’ is found. 

 When mentioning the list of those permitted to be married to, the verse adds ‘muhsanaats’ to it.

In verse 4:24 Allah forbids getting married to ‘muhsanaats’ while verse 5:5 says ‘muhsanaats’ can be married to.

We cannot apply the same meaning to the word muhsanaat in 5:5 as we did in 4:24, because it would mean marrying another’s wife is allowed. In verse 5:5 the word ‘muhsanaat’ refers to women without husbands, and in verse 4:24 it means women who live with their husbands.

 When a word is given a meaning at one place and a different meaning at another place, then interchanging the places and not expecting differences and confusions is ignorance.

We differentiate as permitted and prohibited as per the word structure in the sentence and take to mean accordingly. Though both the meanings apply to the same word, we take the meaning as required to the context.

 The word ‘almuhsanaat’ has yet another meaning other than ones already mentioned. 

Verses 24:4, 24:23 mentions as ‘whoever slanders the muhsanaat women’, 

 Here it cannot be taken to mean ‘whoever slanders a married woman’ wherein a question would arise whether an unmarried woman can be slandered.

And cannot be taken to mean as whosoever slanders unmarried women, giving chance to question whether married women can be slandered. The correct meaning here is ‘those who maintain chastity’. This word also has such a meaning, and the verse warns those who slander women leading a chaste life. 

Here the question is whether to take the meaning of the word ‘muhsanaat women’ in verse 4:25 as those with husband or without husband, to punish them half the quantum. 

The word structure here offers both the options to be used. But is imperative it is taken as meaning the accused receives half the punishment of a woman without a husband. There is a proper reason for it. We have already pointed out from the previous verse the word ‘almuhsanaat’ is used to mean ‘women with husband’.

Not only from the previous verse, but the word ‘muhsanaat’ can also be found in the beginning of this verse, appearing twice in this verse (4:25).

The two places are as follows: 

1)‘Those of you who cannot afford to marry muhsanaats’

And, 

2)‘Half of the punishment awarded to muhsanaat women’. 

In the first instance it cannot be taken to mean “those who cannot afford to marry women with husbands” because marrying a woman with husband is totally forbidden. Hence it needs to be taken as to mean ‘those who cannot afford to marry women without husband,’ 

Here the conclusion is, though the word ‘muhsanaat’ is used in the previous verse as meaning ‘those women with husbands’ the same word used in the beginning of this verse to mean- those women without husbands. Hence, we need to render the same meaning of the word ‘almuhsanaat’ used in the latter part to the same word used in the beginning of the verse.

It is important to take note of the kind of meaning with which the word ‘muhsanaat’ used in the previous verse and in this. 

Hence replacing the meaning ‘half of the punishment awarded to married women’ with ‘half of the punishment awarded to unmarried women’ is appropriate, while deciding on the award of punishment to ‘muhsanaats’.

If the correct meaning of the word is arrived at, it leads to their argument being destroyed. And the punishment remains as 100 whiplashes for the unmarried women indulging in prostitution, half of which is 50 lashes.

There is yet another reason for rendering the second meaning to this word, used to denote both women with and without husbands. 

Allah, instead of saying the punishment for prostitution says ‘half of the punishment awarded to muhsanaats’.

This is possible only when there are two types of punishments, one for muhsanaats and another for those other than muhsanaats. 

If there happened to be just one punishment, the verse would have mentioned as ‘half the punishment for prostitution’ instead of ‘half the punishments of muhsanaats.’ 

We come to know through this verse about the existence of two types of punishments for prostitution. 

In such situations when it is said ‘half of the punishment of muhsanaats’ we need to implement things that can be halved and not consider things that cannot be halved.

Hence the meaning of the word ‘muhsanaat’ needs to be taken as meaning ‘half of the punishment awarded to unmarried women’ indicating the existence of a different punishment for married women. 

Prophet Muhammad has identified that different punishment as the ‘death sentence’. Hence the declaration by Prophet Muhammad the two types of punishments for prostitution is an explanation of verse 4:25 and not a contravention to it.

114. When having already been married to inappropriate persons. 

It has been said in this verse (4:23) ‘marrying of two sisters is prohibited except when already’

Some misconstrue this as meaning, they can continue living with both sisters if they have already been married to them.

It should be understood that the phrase in this verse (4:23) ‘if already has taken place’ does not refer only to marriage of two sisters, but to 13 matters altogether.

 Having got married to two sisters is one such. 

If for example, a person had married his own sister before accepting Islam, can he continue living with her, the answer is an emphatic no. Nobody argues by citing the phrase ‘if already’ in the verse.

The sin of having committed an act will be forgiven, but not continuing it.

In the same way a person who has married two sisters before accepting Islam cannot continue living with only one of them, for the crime to be forgiven. The phrase ‘if already had taken place’ in this verse means, that people who had committed this obnoxious act will not be punished, and not mean continuing with the same way of life. Similarly verse 4:22 the one previous to this verse of the Quran says, ‘do not marry the wives of your father’ except ‘already taken place’.

This should not be misconstrued as a permission to continue to lead the same life before accepting Islam as a way of life. This should be understood as Allah will not punish for the act that has been committed before coming into the fold of Islam

 Verse 4:23 says marrying the sister's daughter is prohibited. Another fact here should not be forgotten, the condition that one can come into the fold of Islam only by severing the relationship entered by inappropriate marriage is not there. 

One gets to be punished with permanent hell for not coming into the fold of Islam and escapes the punishment by coming into its fold. 

If Allah desires to forgive the person who continues to live a life by inappropriate marriage, he escapes the punishment. And in case the crime is not forgiven by the Almighty, he gets punished for that crime alone, and not permanent hell. He will be treated as a traditional Muslim who commits mistakes.

Hence, we need to remind these laws to such people and not tell them that one can come into the fold of Islam only on breaking inappropriate marriage relationships.

113. The change in the award of punishment for prostitution. 

Verse 4:15 of the Quran says, to keep under house arrest the women who indulged in prostitution, till Allah’s guidance arrives.

Later the Almighty provided an alternate way to deal with them in verse 24:2. 

‘Not only the women, but even men also who indulge in prostitution need to punish, and chastity is common to both sexes, and punishable equally’ (24:2) was revealed, changing the previous law of (4:15)

112. Requirement of four witnesses to substantiate accusation of prostitution.

 Verses (4:15, 24:4, 24:13) of the Quran say, a person should not be punished on charges of committing adultery, fornication, prostitution, until proven guilty with the help of four witnesses. 

 People listen with interest and believe in accusations and rumors about the chastity of women connected with other men.

And by saying ‘May be true’ they attempt to approve such accusations making the future of the girl concerned a big question mark. They are not bothered about the future of these girls; would their attitude be the same towards the womenfolk of their own household? 

 The news media also spread such information with excitement. 

 Only Islam treats chastity of women with great concern and terms wild accusations about it a grave crime. Islam says an accusation about immoral acts of a woman should carry four witnesses. When an accusation of immoral act is made against a woman without being substantiated by four witnesses, and even if it happens to be true, Islam lays out a punishment of 80 whiplashes for those who made the accusations.

 When, even if three people have witnessed the wrongful act, their spreading of it would amount to slander punishable with eighty lashes. 

 These kinds of stringent laws against people indulging in canards about the chastity of women cannot be found in any country of the world. The extent of seriousness Islam accords to chastity of women, their self-respect can be gauged by these laws.

111. Invulnerable apportionment of property under Islamic law of inheritance. 

Islamic law of Inheritance apportions, 1/6 to some (relations), to some 1/3, some 1/4, some ½, and some with 2/3 of the property left behind. Mostly this kind of apportioning is done while sharing the property of the deceased without any hassles.it can be divided in this manner but situations arise where dividing the property in this manner is not possible. 

If the share to be apportioned is greater than the property available, then everyone is set to get a meagre part from it. If the volume of property is more than the proportion, then each gets a voluminous share. We can try to understand this with some examples. 

Let’s imagine this with a piece of bread that must be divided in the following manner, 1/4 to Yousuf, 1/8 to Omar, 3/8 to Khalid and 1/2 to Abbas. Is it possible to give to all of them as we said? Now going into the practical dividing, we find:

The bread must be cut to eight pieces if it is to be partitioned as one eighth or two eighths. 

 ¼ of the eight is two pieces of bread. 

 And 1/8 of the share works out as one piece of the bread.

and 3/8 of the share counts as three pieces. 

1/2 of eight are four bread pieces. 

When all the pieces are to be added up, the count is 10, whereas the available number of bread pieces is only 8 as per the Islamic methodology. 

 A practical inability is encountered in dividing the shares of the said property. 

As a solution if the bread is divided into ten pieces instead of eight, all of them get affected equally in receiving the quantum of the property. If the piece of bread is divided into 10, it can be shared among all the members with Yusuf getting 2, Omar getting 1, Khalid getting 3, and Abbas getting 4 pieces. 

 But with this kind of sharing, Yusuf instead of getting 2 pieces out of 8 gets 2 pieces out of 10, losing 20% in the bargain and everyone gets 20% less evenly 

whereby none gets affected individually.

 When this happens, Islamic law of inheritance is criticized as an impractical one, and there are chances of a question being raised to do the sharing as per Allah’s word.

 The creator being the All-Knower has added the words ‘the sharing should not be vulnerable’ as a condition in this verse. Since this method of sharing sometimes is impossible, the Almighty adds the solution to it in his verses. 

When a woman departs this world leaving behind a husband, two female children, her mother, and her father, the husband gets ¼ the share of the property left behind, the daughters get 2/3, the mother of the deceased gets 1/6 of the share and the father gets the same share of 1/6 of the left behind property. 

The Quranic law says the father of the deceased woman gets 1/6 share of the property.

If the condition 1/3 and ¼ of the property needs to be shared among the members of the family to be met while dividing the property, it is imperative the property be divided into 12 shares. 

Out of the 12 shares the husband gets ¼ (i.e.)3. 

The two daughters get 3/12 (i.e.) 8. 

The father gets 1/6 of the 12 shares (i.e.) 2. The mother of the deceased woman gets 1/6 of the 12 shares (i.e.) 2. 

If the property is to be shared on these fundamentals, then the total number of shares adds up as follows: 8+3+2+2=15 shares, ending up with a deficit of 3 shares. Hence the entire property needs to be divided into 15 shares instead of 12, to fulfill the obligations due to each of the shareholders. 

 Each member of the family of the shareholders will get their due precise share only when the property is divided into 12 shares. But the situation has risen, the shares need to be divided into 15 parts and distributed.

When the property is thus divided into 12 parts no one gets his due share as decreed by the Almighty. 1/4 of 12 works out as 3 shares and not ¼ of 15. And if everyone is adamant and bent upon getting their share based on the words of the Almighty, others get affected.

 In a situation like this when a distribution is done with allotting 3 shares of the 12 to the husband others get a bad deal.

But when the property is divided into 15 shares the situation where one gets affected to a bigger extent can be avoided, while the loss is even to all. 

This is the reason the words ‘invulnerable way of apportionment’ is used. 

Hence when the loss is evenly distributed, no one gets affected. To counter such situations Allah uses the words ‘in a way no one is vulnerable’. 

The usage of such precise words is yet another evidence that the Quran is the word of Almighty Allah. 

110. The amended law on Kalala. 

 Those without descendants are known as Kalala, in Arabic. Verse 4:12 explains ways to share properties of such people among siblings after their demise.

When the deceased is bereft of a descendant and has left behind a sister and a brother, each inherits 1/6 of the property left behind, and when the number of siblings is more, they inherit 1/3 ^{of the property.} 

 But in verse 176 of the same chapter, we find a change in the share apportioned to siblings as ½ of the property left to be inherited by a sister if she is the only one left behind, and in case the sisters happen to be two in number they inherit 2/3^rd of the property left behind. And if there are siblings of both genders the property inherited works out as 1:2 Female: Male. ‘Allah makes it clear to you’ so that you are not led astray’. ‘Allah is omniscient’. (4.176) 

Verse 4:12 specifies the share to be 1/6^th to the available female sibling. 

Verse 4.176 says if there is one sister then she would get half the share of the entire property. 

Since these verses are contradictory to each other many have given various explanations. 

Some have explained the word Kalala of this verse in one way and have given a different meaning to it in the 176^th verse. This is wrong. As Allah Himself had explained in the 176^th verse the meaning of the word Kalala, as one who is without progeny and leaves brothers and sisters behind, there is no need to accept the explanation of others.

These two verses speak about the one who leaves behind only brothers and sisters and no progeny on his demise. 

The contradiction in the two verses needs to be addressed. The hadith featured in Buhari provides an answer to this. 

Bara Bin Azib (Rali) announces that the last blessed verse of the Quran is 4.176. (Bukhari 4605) 

Hence it needs to be deemed, the law proclaimed in 4:12 has been amended in 4:176 of the Quran. 

109. Variation (between men and women) in Islamic laws on Inheritance.

The verses (4:11, 4:176) of the Quran say women inherit half of men as per Islamic law of inheritance. 

Some opine this kind discrimination does not render justice to women. They should understand this discrimination is made with proper reasons. 

1. Islamic social structure lays more of the economical responsibilities and burdens on men than on women. This is almost the same with other communities. 

2. By and large, parents are looked after by their sons in their old days, and their daughters shoulder the responsibility of looking after the parents of their husband. Hence awarding two thirds of the inheritance to the sons is justified. 

3. When a daughter faces a situation where she is unable to continue with her husband, she is bound to take refuge with her brother who might deny her help had she been allotted the same amount of inheritance.

4. Had the women been awarded equal inheritance, the in-laws would try to get hold of it by all crooked means. And after losing all that had been inherited from her parents she would be treated very shabbily at her home on return. 

5. Though she gets half of that has been inherited by her brothers, in some situations she gets an indirect reimbursement from the male members (brothers) of her family. 

6. All wish the family property remains within the family circle. But when there is equal inheritance by women it goes to the other family.

7. The male members of the family put more effort than their women counterparts in developing the family property. The properties left back by their fathers get developed mostly by the work of the sons, then daughters. The womenfolk do not play a major part in the development of family property.

8. Other than this the father buys all kinds of jewelry and ornaments for the girls, which remain not only as ornaments but as great assets. The male members of the family are not as lucky as the females in such cases. This needs to be taken note of. 

9. And the question why only males should look after the parents would arise in them, when there is equal inheritance by men and women of the family. And the women would not have the chance to look after their parents once they are married. 

As a result, the parents would be left unattended and admitted to old age homes. Islam has taken into consideration all these aspects and hence the disparity.

 While going through the article in the Tamil daily Dinamani dated 2.08.2001, we can find the Islamic Inheritance Laws more sensible than all others.

The important feature of the article is follows: 

…. Hence demand for the right to equal inheritance is not surprising, anyhow it needs to be seen while equal rights are demanded whether the duties of women are taken into consideration. The girls are brought up in the same way as the boys in the family and in addition to educating them, the family finds a suitable groom spending a fortune on their wedding. Over and above, when they call home their daughters, who are on their family way, they treat them lovingly with a big feast on vacations, and in addition if they are given equal rights like their male counterparts in the family, would render their parents' last days doubtful with their daughters. 

The burden of looking after their parents only on the shoulders of boys should change, while the women are scot-free after receiving their due share from the inheritance.

 The son-in-law who enjoys all the benefits from the in-laws should come forward to look after them in their last days. When the rights are enjoyed by the daughters, and the duty is on the shoulders of the sons, there is no surprise the son and the daughters-in-law getting frustrated. The daughters should also take up the responsibilities of maintaining the parents. It is natural for the sons to expect the daughters to play their part in maintaining the parents in their last days since they also receive equal share in the inheritance. The thinking, the duty of looking after the female siblings and the parents solely lies on the shoulders of the sons should change. The days are not far, when the daughters will be forced to take the responsibility of maintaining the parents, when the inheritance is equally shared. 

 It also makes us wonder whether the proliferation of old age homes is the result of women being awarded equal rights without shouldering the responsibilities. 

Thus reads the article in that newspaper. 

 If the Islamic law of inheritance is implemented all the evil consequences cited above can be avoided.

 Hence it could be understood, the award of 2/3 for men and 1/3 for women for inheritance, is the most sensible solution for the parents and their daughters.

When viewed on these fundamentals, the discrimination in inheritance between men and women in the Islamic law of inheritance seem to be just and sensible.