Re: slavery, polygamy

salaam all,

A topic close to my heart, an analysis of which I hope
I don't overshadow with my own ignorance and passion. 
To me it is clear that the Qur'an permitted slavery,
and considered it a fact of life.  With that said the
slavery of the Quran is a kin to prison more than a
plantation.  It is also clear that the Qur'an asserts
that one can maintain their human dignity as a slave -
as this is something that should be regarded by the
slave holder.  The Quran also in very clear terms as
well as through analogies doesn't proclaim the notion
that "all men (persons) are created equal".   We have
our own modern beliefs and thoughts...and sense we are
Muslim we want to think that our faith is on the same
page as our "progressive" ideas...after all this the
progressivemuslimsnetwork - lol.  I happen to think we
are right...but I do not think the standards can be
identified by the directives of the Quran.  I do
believe that our modern beliefs about slavery are
better than those of the Quran.  I think those truths
are as "self-evident" of Allah's will as are the
"signs" in creation are of his will; that the Quran
exalts us to look at.   

The directives and standards of Islamic law laid down
in the Quran represent a better "way" than those
standards that existed among the people of Mecca (and
even Medina) during its 23 year revelation.  As the
writers of the U.S.'s declaration put it..."a more
perfect union."  Perfect is absolute, "more perfect"
is relative.  What Allah revealed was perfect to suit
the needs of those people at that time.  The Quran has
whole sections that speak only to them, in fact
slavery is not really addressed as a universal
concept.  It is addressed in the context of a practice
that those people had at that time in that place. 
Allah was telling the sahabba how to navigate in the
context of the time and place they inhabited.  To
infer anything more or less is inappropriate in my
view.    

My belief is simple in this regard, The Quran is
Allah's "fingerprint", but it cannot represent the
totality of his wisdom and will.  Why?  Because it has
a beginning and an end.  Its a book, that contains the
wisdom of God, but it cannot exhaust it.  Islam must
be bigger than even the Quran (Sunnah and Hadiths
too).  Consider this, Do you think that Allah was
unaware that the earth revolved around the sun,
although the Quran and the lunar based Muslim calender
show no sign of this understanding?  What Allah
reveals to us of himself, creation and even of
ourselves is tempered by our innate and
circumstantial(time,space)limitations.

With that said on this issue, I do believe that we as
Muslims must be honest and strive to be free of bias. 
We must analyze our religion as dispassionately as we
analyze others.  Allah's hadith - Quran pioneered
greater understanding of human relations relative to
the time and place it was revealed - it was a tool for
development.  But Allah has sent better understanding
of life to man since the Quran through the experiences
and circumstances that he has permitted. 

We can't pretend that the Quran has a patent on
freedom, justice and equality.
   
--- [email protected] wrote:
> Salaams folks,
> 
> Is there anyone else here who feels like this
> discussion about slavery and 
> polygamy (polygyny, not to be confused w/polyandry)
> is laden with an 
> apologist tenor/tone?
> 
> Maybe I don't understand what that means,
> "apologist", so hopefully someone 
> can clarify for me?
> 
> I just remember in an Arabic culture class, when the
> subject came up that 
> people really didn't want to touch it. My teacher's
> assistant didn't even 
> accept the assignment I'd written about it (pasted
> below an early reading 
> response on the same issue).
> 
> That was a disorienting experience in our academic
> community considering 
> that most other things were on the table if memory
> serves me plus I had 
> personal experience, two moms when I was very young
> (the laws haven't 
> changed . . . I assume folks knew I'd meant with a
> dad as well, LOL!)
> 
> Anywho, if someone can provide clarity on that tone
> I'm percieveing, I'm 
> sure it would be pleasing to Allah.
> 
> Mudhillun
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Title:  01. Stereotyping of Arabs
> Updated:  Sunday, 1/14/2001 6:22 PM
> Due:   01/15/2001
> 
> REACTION ESSAY (approx. 250 words)
> 
> QUESTION: Before consulting the resources offered on
> this site for week 1, 
> picture an Arab today. Try to be unbiased by your
> own heritage. Think of 
> people from different classes, women, men, children,
> old, young, etc. After 
> having done the readings think about what was your
> most striking 
> misconception, or what was most surprising about
> what you learned from the 
> material?
> 
> I would say that I don't have a STRIKING
> misconception! Growing up black in 
> America [. . .]
> 
> Side Bar: Something that I also found interesting
> was the judgmental 
> references to polgamy. Again, it was portrayed as a
> taboo practiced only by 
> the fringe, the (Western) assumption being that it
> is inherintly wrong. 
> Coming from a home where polygamy was practiced, I
> take issue with this. I 
> thought that America had religious freedoms written
> into its constitution! 
> Now, I understand that even religion can not be a
> justification for actions 
> that cause harm. However, I don't see the harm
> caused when consenting 
> adults form such bonds. I enjoy my family with its
> ups, downs, and 
> complications and I feel that the reaction against
> many practices are 
> merely toward non-western and non-traditional
> thinking as opposed to real 
> threats.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Mudhillun MuQaribu
> Arabic 331, MW 3-5
> January 22, 2001
> 
> Paper #1
> 
> Polygamy, Polygyny, Polyandry, Bigamy, Adultery?
> What do these terms mean? 
> Is there are distinctions? What is their status in
> the United States? The 
> answers depend on whom you ask; but they reveal much
> of our notions of 
> marriage within a larger cultural context. Overall,
> the prevailing United 
> States view is biased against groups that even
> entertain or condone such 
> practices.
> 
> First of all, we must define marriage. In the United
> States, marriage is a 
> contract between a man and a woman for special kind
> of social and legal 
> dependence for the purpose of founding and
> maintaining a family. This 
> definition has recently come under fire because of
> its exclusion of 
> homosexual forms of relationships but for better or
> worse, it is what the 
> law and religions sanction as worthy of the benefits
> of the state and by 
> extension other entities in our society.
> 
> Of the terms, each has a different meaning and while
> linked by the idea of 
> having more than one partner, they have greatly
> varying shades of meaning. 
> First off is Polygamy, which just refers to having
> more than one mate at 
> the same time. It is used as a scientific
> classification for humans and 
> other animals and is neutral in connotation. Related
> terms include 
> Polyandry (where a female has more than one mate at
> a time) and Polygyny 
> (where the male has more than one mate).
> 
> The remaining terms, Bigamy and Adultery are legal
> terms.  They refer to 
> relations that transgress the statute of marriage,
> bigamy being the 
> entrance into a marriage contact while still bound
> in a previous one and 
> adultery being sexual relations between two people
> who are not married to 
> each other, one or both being married to others.
> 
> The American notion of marriage comes from Christian
> theological teaching. 
> Its sanctity was further codified when Martin Luther
> split with the 
> Catholic Church; but curiously he was amenable to
> polygyny. Throughout 
> history in Western society, polygamy has had an
> association with the 
> practices of “barbarians” and “savages”. It is often
> regarded as sexist and 
> degrading. However, many religions (including some
> forms of Christianity) 
> recognized it as a legitimate social unit. Two
> examples include Mormonism 
> and Islam.
> 
> Mormons are a group of Christians that find their
> grounding in scriptures 
> revealed to their leader, Joseph Smith during a
> period of intense 
> revivalism in the US around 1827. Basic tenets of
> the religion are the 
> preexistence of souls waiting to be realized, belief
> that God evolved from 
> man, that human actions determine their future, and
> that the Trinity are 
> distinct beings. Amongst their characteristic
> practices is polygyny. It 
> currently is outlawed but this practice as well as
> the economic influence 
> that the Mormon movement garnered before the turn of
> the century threatened 
> to undue the group as the larger society considered
> them a threat to norms 
> of family. In fact, the federal government and the
> church outlawed the 
> practice before Utah (where the Mormons settled
> after several persecutions) 
> was recognized as a state in 1896.
> 
> In their earlier conception of marriage, it was
> considered lawful for a man 
> to marry more than one wife. Some found function in
> its raising numbers of 
> the faithful, others saw it as a way of providing
> resources that all women 
> may fulfill the natural function of motherhood. And
> some even induced it as 
> a way to salvation. When the practice was finally
> outlawed, not even the 
> argument of religious freedom could withstand our
> stringent concept of 
> marriage and by inference, the family.
> 
> Islam is the other example where polygyny is
> practiced. The faith sprang 
> from Arabian Desert sands when Muhammad was revealed
> the Qur’an in around 
> 622 CE. The five basic ideals are that of professed
> faith, regular prayer 
> 
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