CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN ISLAM

INTRODUCTION

'Contemporary' is an adjective that refers to events, issues, etc that are ongoing presently.

Contemporary issues therefore is synonymous with 'current affairs' "1.It could also mean "a topic

of interest or discussion"2in Islam. Questions that normally arise in relation to Islam are; "If

Islam is a religion of peace why is it that the Islamic world is in such turmoil and is dogged with

jihadi movements? If Quran gives equal status to men and women, why is it that Muslim women

in most of the Islamic countries are most suppressed lot and the whole world thinks Islam

deprives women of their rights?"3All this questions will be dealt with below.

A) ISLAM AND TERRORISM:

It is unfortunate that Islam, the religion of peace, hope, harmony, goodwill and brotherhood had

been badly tarnished by the perpetrators of various terrorist acts and barbarism as seen in recent

years.4 The latest attacks and bombings in Kuwait, Syria and Kenya are vivid examples of how

terrorism is spreading throughout the world. In Kenya and throughout the world, leading Muslim

scholars have vehemently condemned these attacks stressing that attempts to spoil religious

harmony would be foiled and that these acts are completely in contravention with the Islamic

jurisprudence and ethical laws.

Islamic law sources, which include Quran and Hadith clearly states the position of Islam in jihad

and provides for the diplomatic immunity and ethics of war. Freedom is one of the greatest gifts

that God has ever presented to human beings and depriving one of such freedom is a great

1 https://answers.yahoo.com//2 www.freedictionary.com3 www.theamericanmuslim.org-Islam &contemporary issues4Islam and Terrorism www.alislam.org/library/links/00000104.html

misery.5 The holy Quran declares that, “when engaged in a regular battle, it should be fought

bravely and relentlessly. War can be continued until peace and freedom of conscious are

established. Prisoners are to be taken judicially. Freemen cannot be deprived of their liberty

without a just and reasonable cause. When war is over, prisoners should be released as an act of

favor or on taking ransom or by negotiating a mutual exchange.”6

“Islamic scriptural commandments and the precepts of the Prophet of Islam concerning

diplomatic immunity are free from ambiguities. In a nutshell, taking hostages and maltreating

envoys and private citizens in any shape and form is totally foreign to the teachings and doctrines

of Islam.”7

The concept of jihad in Islam constitutes the making of an effort to endeavor and striving in a

noble way. It occurs in two forms; jihad-e-Akbar (the greater jihad) and jihad-e asghar (the lesser

jihad). The former is where by one fights with his/her own person or soul to curb any sinful acts.

It is a purification of one’s self and is viewed as the most difficult jihad and that which attracts

the most rewards and blessings from God.8 The latter is what is regarded as jihad of the sword

and it presupposes certain specific conditions. “The Quran speaks of fighting only against those

who first attack Muslims and this is the very condition laid down in other verses of the Holy

Quran as well.”9

The Quran states, “…on that account: we ordained for the children of Israel that if anyone slew a

person-unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land-it would be as if he slew the

whole people; and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.

5 Ibid6 The Holy Quran 5:477 Supra No.18 Ibid9 Ibid

Then, although there came to them our apostles with clear signs, yet, even after that, many of

them continued to commit excesses in the land.”10

“Centuries before the Geneva Convention was drawn up, Muslims were bound by a code of

conduct which the prophet set. He forbade the killing of women, children and elderly in war.

Justice should not only be shown to humans but also to animals and all living things.”11

B) ISLAM AND NON MUSLIMS

This sub topic is closely related with Islam and terrorism. Recently in Kenya the Mandera attacks

that were carried out by terrorists where the victims were Non Muslims. A topic for discussion

that then arose was "Does Islam not respect the rights of Non Muslims?","Why did the terrorists

only kill Non-Muslims? To clarify the issue the attacks is not a representation of Islam since

Islam highly regards the rights of Non Muslims. The Quran states that there is no compulsion in

religion ... (Quran 2:256). Not only does islam demand their freedom to practice religion ,but

also that they be treated justly as any other fellow humans .Islam warns against any abuse of non

muslims in an Islamic society.

The Prophet stated;

Beware! Whoever is cruel and hard on a non muslim minority ,curtails their rights ,burdens them

against their free will; I (prophet Muhammad) will complain against the person on the day of

judgement.

Rights they posses

Right to preservation of dignity as human beings

Right to freedom of belief.

Right to follow their religious laws,justice and good treatment.10 The Holy Quran 5:3211 What Does Islam Say About Terrorism discover.islamway.net/articles.php?articles_id=47

Right to security of life ,property and honour".12

C) HUMAN RIGHTS IN ISLAM:

Human rights in Islam have been granted by God and since they have been conferred by Him

alone, no legislative or government in the world has any right or authority to make any

amendment to those rights.13

Islam provides for the basic human rights. Some of these rights include;

a) The right to life: the Quran states that, “whosoever kills a human being without any

reason, it is as though he had killed all mankind…”14 In another instance, the Quran

states, “do not kill a soul which Allah has made sacred except through the due process of

law…”15

b) The right of safety of life: the Quran encourages human beings to help one another in

cases of protecting each other’s lives. It is stated that, “…whosoever saves a life, it is as

though he had saved the lives of all mankind…”16

c) Respect for the chastity of women: a woman’s chastity has to be respected at all times.17

In Islam, polygamy is allowed but not extra-marital affairs. This provision respects the

rights of women and the scholars agree that irrespective of the position of the woman

(whether sick or barren), a man is forbidden to have a promiscuous relationship outside

that marriage. The Quran provides that, “do not approach (the bounds of) adultery…”18

12 islamreligion.com13 Human Rights In Islam: www.islam101.com/rights14 The Holy Quran 5:3215 The Holy Quran 6:15116 Supra No. 1917 Supra No. 1818 The Holy Quran 17:32

d) Individual right to freedom: Islam does not permit slavery. During the old times or the

time of the Prophet Muhammad, the practice of slavery was common in the Arab world.

However, with his prophecy, Muhammad preached against it and even forbade the

mistreatment of slaves. The exception was given for the prisoners of war during legal

battles and these too, were not to be mistreated by the Muslims. Some of these slaves

during the Prophets era even had higher ranks in Gods eyes than others. A good example

was Bilal Bin Rabah, an Abyssinian slave during that time and is among the few

mentioned by the Prophet that will enter paradise without record. That is the status of

slavery in Islam!

‘Islam secures the human rights even for those who may violate the human rights of others,

since two wrongs do not make one right.19

D) WOMEN IN ISLAM:

In many ancient traditions, women were viewed as mere objects and their position was nothing

outside their families’ territory. This misconception is still believed by a number of people today.

What they fail to realize is that Islam gives women rights and uplifts then to a high rank in the

existence of mankind. Aside from the Quran’s significance as the core of Islam, the Quran has

been of perennial interest to the women’s world at large since its philosophy touches on the

widest spectrum of a woman’s life.

Islam gives women rights both as a child/adolescent and as a wife, whether single or married. To

begin with, ‘her consent in marriage was not generally thought to be necessary and she was

obliged to submit to the wishes of her parents and receive from them, her husband, even though

19 Human Rights In Islam: By Dr. Fathi Osman: www.hrusa.org/advocacy/community-faith/islam1.shtm

he were stranger to her.’20 Islam does not force a woman to get married without her consent. The

Quran in criticizing the attitude of the parents who reject and set aside their female children,

states that, “when news is brought to one of them, of (the birth of) a female (child), his face

darkens and he is filled with inward grief! With shame does he hide his face from his people

because of the bad news he has had! Shall he retain her on (sufferance) and contempt, or bury

her in the dust? Ah! What an evil choice they decide on.”21

‘It was specifically decreed that a woman has the full right to her mahr, a marriage gift, which is

resented to her by her husband and is included in the nuptial contract, and that such ownership

does not transfer to her father or husband.’22

‘When it comes to financial matters, the rule of Islam abolished the conventions prevalent among

nations which deprived the woman of the right of ownership, inheritance and those which

created obstacles against her exercise of free and full control of her holdings. As a rule, Islam

acknowledges the woman’s rights to all kinds of ownership, spending and channeling her money.

It gives her the rights of inheritance, selling, buying, renting, donating, allocating property for

religious and charitable purposes, giving alms, legal transfer and mortgages, as well as many

other forms of contracts and actions.’23

Women during the times of the Prophet used to attend teaching sessions by the prophet and they

would ask questions to the prophet regarding their day to day activities. The would even go to

the extent of asking Aisha, prophet’s wife in case they found some questions too bold to ask the

Prophet.

20 Islam’s Women, Jewels of Islam: www.islamswomen.com/articles/status-of-women-in-islam.php21 The Holy Quran 16:58-5922 Supra No. 2523 The Status of Women In Islam: By Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi: www.iupui.edu/msaiupui/qaradawistatus.html

Women were also on the front line during battles where they would serve in the Muslim army in

suitable ways such as attending the wounded, giving medical aid, nursing the injured fighters, in

addition to cooking, procuring water and the like.24 Similarly, a mother in Islam is given a rank

three times more than a father. This just shows how Islam treasures women and puts into

practice, the principles of enhancing a woman’s right.

D) AUTOPSY IN ISLAM:

Autopsy is the examining and investigating of the body of a deceased person so as to know the

cause of death, or it can be the medical examination of dead bodies by scientists and medicine

students. It is a modern issue which can therefore be addressed by fatwas and religious scholars

who are well versed with the Islamic jurisprudence. Many contemporary fatwa councils and

Islamic law conferences have issued rulings and for permitting autopsies for medical and

scientific purposes.

These scholars have deemed autopsies to be permissible for the main reason that ‘examining the

dead body to know the cause of death is carried out for reasons that outweigh the consideration

of showing respect for the body of the deceased, especially since those considerations are of a

forensic or medical nature.’25 Autopsies can also ‘uncover cases of murder and lead to the

apprehension of the murderer. They can also identify diseases and harmful environmental factors

and also, to enhance education among others.’26 In clear terms, it helps to save human life.

Islamic medical scholars have introduced ‘Maslaha’ as an Islamic principle of public benefit

which states that ‘when the benefits outweigh the damages, the beneficial approach should be

24 Supra No. 2825 Islam Today: Question And Answer en.islamtoday.net/node/77526 Ibid

taken.’27 The world is subject to changes and hence, the Islamic stand on such changes varies.

When contemporary situations came up, it is upon religious scholars to issue fatwas and publish

legal opinions since the two major sources of Islamic law28 are deemed to be silent on these

upcoming matters. However, these fatwas are not binding.

According to Rispler Claim. V ‘it is clear why autopsies are not encouraged in Islam tradition.

They would inevitably delay the burial. The Book of Islamic law states that the importance is in

order to bring a dead person closer to what God has prepared for him/her and to bring God’s

servant closer to Him’29. Other scholars also argue that Islam encourages retaining of the dead

body in its original form. Conducting autopsies would violate this principle.30

Among the famous fatwas and legal opinions that were issued by scholars and committees in

relation to autopsies include:

a) Egyptian Rashid Rida’s Fatwa of 1910 entitled ‘Postmortem Examinations and the

Postponement of Burial’ which permitted autopsy if it is for beneficial purposes.31

b) ‘H. M. Makhluf’s Landmark Fatwa was published in 1952 and represents the Sunni

school of thought regarding postmortem examinations. He explained that a doctor is only

fully educated when he understands the body inside and out, thereby making human

dissection necessary for thorough medical education.’32

27 Religions And The Autopsies: emedicine.medscape.com/article/1705993-overview-a228 Quran and Sunnah/Hadith29The Ethics of Postmortem Examinations in Contemporary Islam. J Med Ethics. 19(3): 164-830 Supra No. 1131 Ibid 32 Atighetchi D. Islamic Bioethics: Problems and Perspectives. The Netherlands: Springer ;2007

c) The Fatwa Committee at Al-Azhar of 1982 also based their allowances on Maslaha:

autopsies should be permitted if medical students will learn from them, if justice prevails,

and if contagious diseases will be controlled.33

d) In 1972, the Arab Republic of Syria allowed postmortem in certain situation:-if doctors

believe that an examination will be socially useful and the deceased was not opposed

when he was alive, or if three degrees of relatives do not oppose it.

E) ISLAM AND MODERN SCIENCE

CONTRACEPTION

Many Muslims are confused on the issue of contraceptives on whether it is permissible in Islam

or not.

"Contraception can be divided into two categories:-

1. Irreversible (or permanent) Contraception.

2. Reversible (or temporary) Contraception.

Irreversible contraception is carried out by means of sterilization operation;

-Male sterilization(Vasectomy)

-Female Sterilization (Tubectomy or Tubal ligation)

Sterilization blocks the path of the sperm through the tube .Eggs are still released by the ovaries,

but are broken down and safely reabsorbed by the body. The operation usually involves cutting

or blocking the fallopian tube which carry eggs from the ovaries to the womb. This prevents the

eggs from reaching the sperm and becoming fertilized .Tubal occlusion does not cause

menopause or affect a woman's sexual desire or pleasure"

33 Supra No. 11

"However there is an exception where permanent contraception is allowed .It is permissible if

there is risk of serious illness or death if it is not performed"34.

"Reversible Contraception does not contradict the shariah .It is permissible as long as both

partners agree. It was a common practice of the companions of the Prophet to perform 'Coitus

Interruptus'9also known as'azl) meaning to withdraw from their partner just before ejaculation.

Therefore this was a form of temporary contraception.

Other Types of Temporary Contraception Allowed:

1. Condoms-These are permissible and can be used without any problems.

2. Pill/Injection-The use of the contraceptive pill for the purpose of contraception is also

permissible. Scholars have advised that it should not be used just to 'delay; the period

because of Ramadhan or Hajj etc.

3. Coil-This should be avoided as it involves the insertion of the coil into the female private

parts"35.

SURROGACY

"Surrogate motherhood is often euphemistically referred to as hiring womb.The procedure

involves using the service of another woman to serve as a carrier for the fertilized ovum of a

couple.The woman makes herself available to inject the fertilized ovum into her own womb and

then carries the child to its full term on behalf of the other couple.Its often done in lieu of

renumeneration or free of charge .People resort to this procedure either because a married

woman who desires to have a child has problems in carrying her child to its full term or because

of her desire to simply forgo the trouble of conception and labour"36

Islamic Verdict

34 www.therevival.co.uk Contraception ;Halal or Haram?35 www.therevival.co.uk Contraception ;Halal or Haram?36 http.www.onislam.net

"Scholars of islam have pronounced the following fatwa (Islamic verdict) regarding surrogacy:

It is illegal and immoral to introduce into a woman the sperm of any man other then her

husband.The formation of the embryo outside the human body will only be permissible subject

to certain strict conditions .It will be haram (forbiden) to form the embryo by the fusion of a

womans ovum with the sperm of a man other than her husband.Its also not lawful to implant into

a woman an embryo developed in a haram way.37"

Arguments Against Surrogacy

"Besides condeming surrogacy as a form of adultery.Sunni scholars have raised several other

objections to the practice.Under their interpratation of Islamic Law pertaining to lineage and

inheritance ,the child born by the surrogate is either illegitimate or if the surrogate is

married ,legally the child of her own husband ,not the childs biological father .Sunni religious

scholars have also contend that surrogacy fro hire violates islamic ethics by reducing the sacred

acts of marriage and childbirth to a commercial contract"38.

Arguments For Surrogacy

"In contrast even surrogacy for hire tends not ot raise the same ethical isssues in a shiite country

such as Iran .Shiite scholars argue that in context Quran 58:2 that states Their mothers are none

but those who gave birth to them means simply that in an adulterous sexual relation the child

belongs to the mistress bearing the child , not the wayward father . Accordingly its permitted for

a surrogate to carry another womans fertilized egg ,so long as it came from a married

couple.Moreover a number of shiite scholars conclude that its lawful fro a surrogates own ova to

be fertilized by the husbands sperm, although most allow this only if the husband and the

surrogate enter into a temporary polygamous marriage"39

37 38 people.opposingviews.com39 people.opposingviews.com

CLONING:

Cloning simply means producing or more living beings by transferring the nucleus of a body to

an egg whose nucleus has been removed, or splitting a fertilized egg at the stage before the

tissues and organs become distinct.40 The first cloned life-form in 1996 sent waves all over

Islamic nations as to whether it should be acceptable as a modern developing technology in

Islam. It is mainly known as reproductive cloning. Majority of the Sunnite jurists viewed it as

impermissible according to the Islamic shariah although they accepted the cloning of plants and

animals.41

Most of these Islamic scholars have regarded human cloning as ‘creation of human beings by

human beings’ and that life is not created, it can only be done by God.42 Allah says, “I have

created all my slaves as pure monotheists, but the devils come to them and try to divert them

from their religion…and they commanded them to alter my creation.”43

The most important reasons for criticism of human cloning are: ‘the violation to human dignity,

the instrumentalisation of mankind and the weakening of the role of the family.’44

The ban on human cloning has been expressed in several declarations, fatwas and resolutions.

They include;

40 Islamqa.info/en/2158241 Reproductive Cloning in Islam: www.stemcells.nrw.de/en/latest-news-press/latest-news/reproductive-cloning-in-islam-the-debate-and-the-arguments.html42 Ibid43 Hadith Qudsi narrated by Al-Qurtubi from the report of Al-Qaadi Isma’el44 Human Cloning from the Viewpoint of Islamic Fiqh and Ethics: By; S.M. Mohaghegh Damad: muse.jhu.edu/journals/asb/summary/v003/3.4.damad.html

a) ‘The Magma Al-Bohus Al-Islamyya (conference of Islamic discussions) of the Al-Azhar

University in Egypt, has issued a fatwa in defiance of human cloning, asking the

governments of the worlds to prevent it in whatever form it may be practiced.’45

b) A seminar held in Morrocco in 1997 ended with several recmmendations, one of them

calling for the ‘prohibition of human cloning by the transfer of stem cell of body to the

nucleus-free ovule.’46

c) ‘The Health Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council have declared their total objection

to human cloning, calling it the biggest crime that is irreconcilable with medical ethics.’47

TEST TUBE BABIES:

Artificial insemination is divided into two:-

a) Homogeneous-forming a baby out of a sperm of a husband and the ova of a wife. This is

mainly when the husband or the wife is incapable of giving birth to a child due to medical

reasons. It is considered to be permissible.48

b) Heterogeneous-is the artificial insemination in which a sperm is gotten from a sperm

bank in the formation of the child. This is not allowed in Islam since it is as good as

adultery49 which is punishable by stoning to death according to the Islamic principles of

criminal law.

INVITROFERTILISATION

45 Ibid46 Ibid47 Ibid 48 Dr. Zakir Naik: https://zakirnaikqa.wordpress.com/tag/test-tube-baby/49 Ibid

"Invitrofertlization is a process by which a sperm and egg can be combined in a laboratory.The

resulting embryos can then be transferred to the womans uterus for further growth and

development.

Opinion Of Scholars

Scholars agree that there is nothing in Islamic Law which forbids many types of fertility

treatment ,as long as the treatment do not go outside the bounds of marriage relationship.If

chosen invitrofertilisation must be done with sperm and egg from a husband and wife and the

embryos transplanted into the wifes uterus"50.

Thanks to the revolutionary and licensing influence of Islam that the basewas also set for modern

scientific thinking and one might add,the resurrection of the long lost greatness of ancient Greece

philosophhy and sciences.

CONCLUSION

The fundamental truths of the Quran have stayed in bloom because of their relevance to every

age and their unique assimilating capability to the dynamics of changing existence. Islamic

verdict( fatwa) is an example of a way in which Muslims can deal with contemporary issues

which are neither in the Quran nor Hadith.

50 www.islam.about.com