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Description:
A study in the understanding of authority and the abuse of power in Muslim marriages
Shaykh Seraj Hendricks
"And among His signs is that He created for you mates from among your yourselves so that you may dwell in peace and tranquility with them. And He has ordained between you love and mercy. Indeed in that are signs for those who reflect." (Q. 30 : 21).
"None honours women except he who is honourable, and none despises them except he who is despicable." (Hadith).
The above verse and prophetic saying – and many others in addition to these - form an almost natural part of our repertoire of Islamic knowledge. Why and how did these sublime and divine imperatives become buried in contemporary Muslim society? This paper will attempt to explore the more fundamental causes that underlie the appalling status of women in our society. I will also in the process attempt to show that it is almost impossible to de-link what occurs in a society at large from the specifics of particular areas of interest. The macro, in other words, is intrinsically linked to the micro. Symptomatic treatments are no longer good enough. Another primary objective would be to examine, from a Muslim’s perspective, the present state of the house of Islam itself – rather than non-Muslim and orientalist perceptions and prejudices of Islam which are for the most part legend. We shall look at the manner in which they have constructed that house and the way in which they perceive themselves within the broader parameters of that terrain.
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