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Society, Women and Behashti Zewar

The book is so popular my relatives could not find it for me for my wedding -
Result is i have a women out of control -
I will burn in hell-
All sarcasm of course -
the molana should have a second janam and release a special edition-

So by that definition, collections of ahadith were created by men, and therefore should be subject to critical analysis too.
Yeah right- critical analysis by islamophobes - thats gona solve alot of problems -
 
Yeah right- critical analysis by islamophobes - thats gona solve alot of problems -

It doesn't matter who does it, but at least some form of critical thought and analysis must be performed on all sources of ahadith too, because they are just as much written by fallible men as Behishti Zevar.
 
So by that definition, collections of ahadith were created by men, and therefore should be subject to critical analysis too.

I remember you quoting some Ahadess in one of the threads, mostly carrying negative image and wrong message. Those were my very early days when I had joined this forum and thread was about "Darood Sharif recitation".

Keeping that in mind yes anything that has input from a human other than Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and his companions needs to be scrutinized and read and researched carefully. Especially Islamic sites on internet.
 
It doesn't matter who does it, but at least some form of critical thought and analysis must be performed on all sources of ahadith too, because they are just as much written by fallible men as Behishti Zevar.

Fallible or not, more importantly they were men of THEIR times.
 
His hatred and repulsion to a clergy telling his mother, wife and sister how much to educate themselves, what and how much to read, what and when to do, how to behave, what to say where e.t.c is far too clear though. Let's talk about it.


Okay let us talk about this then.

Educate women............... yes by all means educate them, but both in modern and religious studies. I have no problem with Mubarik Ali here, and I guess none of any sane person should have.

What and when to do ..................................... so tell me, enlighten me, if Ali sahab does not want us telling our daughters what to do and when to do, then does he have any guideline in this regard? A standard guideline that all female should follow................. funny how he is trying to be invasive in a strictly family matter, how he is trying to question a parent daughter relationship.

How to behave ............................ define behavior then? What is Mubarik's or your's definition of women behavior. What are the role models to follow? Clergy quotes Hazrat Fatima and Hazrat Ayesha as role models to follow, so what liberals have to offer as role models?

What to say where .......................... my definition of expression is express your problems, your concerns, your wishes, your plans openly with your family, ask questions, report every incident, don't think asking questions or telling your problems would bring shame, if you have any problem let your family know, if somebody is making your work life, school life miserable be open about it let your family know, report it. But I won't expect and encourage my family females to ask me where to find "Marlboro" cigarettes. So what is your definition of what to say and where to say?

A case study for you and others. It so happened, yesterday I received a call from a bank, as many people daily do, a lady (most probably a new internee) offering me credit card. Normally I listen to their offer first and when they have finished explaining every benefit which they think a credit card would bring me, I in utmost professional way refuse it, reason I don't believe in credit (I prefer debit cards and current accounts). So I refused this young enthusiastic sales woman too. But the response shocked me, Sir mayri khatir lay lain please, kuch mayra khyal rakh lain please. Is this a suitable request to a stranger to whom you are selling a credit card for the first time? What impression this should have on me? And what should be my response? How should I have interpreted this?
 
It doesn't matter who does it, but at least some form of critical thought and analysis must be performed on all sources of ahadith too, because they are just as much written by fallible men as Behishti Zevar.
Who do you think is qualified enough to do critical analysis on the ahadiths? Any name?
The more important question is whose critical analysis you will agree to?
 
The book is so popular my relatives could not find it for me for my wedding -

There's a simple explanation, the book belongs to the Deobandi school of thought and most of the people discussing things (I assume) belong to the same school. Most of the people don't want any guidance from a book of another sect owing to the conflicts, historical rivalries and differences in interpretation.
 
I remember you quoting some Ahadess in one of the threads, mostly carrying negative image and wrong message. Those were my very early days when I had joined this forum and thread was about "Darood Sharif recitation".

Keeping that in mind yes anything that has input from a human other than Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and his companions needs to be scrutinized and read and researched carefully. Especially Islamic sites on internet.

There are all kinds of ahadith, good ones and bad ones. The point is that none of them should be followed blindly without critical evaluation.

Fallible or not, more importantly they were men of THEIR times.

And hence their writings should not be transplanted across centuries without an evaluation of what remains applicable and what does not.

Who do you think is qualified enough to do critical analysis on the ahadiths? Any name?
The more important question is whose critical analysis you will agree to?

That is up to the individual believer himself/herself. It is the exercise that is important.
 
I don't understand. How can such a book with visible tones of severe narrow mindedness, suppression of free thought and functioning be considered relevant for its own time too? It is my opinion that the questions of women education, her movement and basic functioning aren't bounded by an era or a time period regardless of what the society was or is practicing at that time, meaning it cant be declared wrong or false because of the perspective back then, now or again at some point in time. You can argue about the level of obedience, freedom, duties and general perception in society, by all means. Yes, it would be absurd to even remotely suggest that people go through it today and act as told in the book, this is something even Mr. Mubarak Ali acknowledges not happening (completely) in the said time period. The simple point was that a Mullah was even then trying to discourage the opposite gender from using their free critical thinking faculties and exploiting the mind numbing optiatic effects of religion in the God's name to create authority, get people to believe in what he believes in (not what the religion wants), breeding the slave mentality (those who follow without questioning) and promotion of self-interests.

Well then, explain me the typical Indian muslim household in the feudal system. Because what you are referring to, from a good life for the upper class or downright rich people (the author notes this exception) wouldn't have been so rosy for the middle classes and rich garden varieties. What you refer to constitutes a very small part of the population, maybe 2-5 percent of the society. Of course, the army of servants wouldn't have serving those, where they usually came from. And no, you might have taken the "women were slaves" a little bit more literally, what Maulana wanted in the name of religion was mere suggestion and order like advice, that to what level it was being followed by the women of his era is an interesting but difficult question to answer, it wasn't however enforcement by any chance.

I have read a few pages of the book on question out of boredom, a long time ago. It seemed similar to what the author is alleging now, plus the references from the same book are solid. Since you have read both the book and article, tell us if he's wrong or mistaken somewhere, specially in the parts about religion and literary guidelines.
Please take some time to read it. I am giving you a link here that can be used to download all 11 parts of Bahishti Zewar. It is manual that covers almost every aspect of life. Please go through it, and then if you do not like it, sack it. I wonder if you have read books from Deputy Nazeer Ahmed? Again, you have to read it before commenting on it. The books is huge and commenting on its select portions wont do justice with it.

Bahishti Zewar (Complete 11 Parts) By Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi | Free Pdf Books

@Indus Falcon
 
That is up to the individual believer himself/herself. It is the exercise that is important.
Fallible individual believer? -
thats like critical analysis of a professors research done by an illiterate dehati person?-
Whats that sort of analysis worth anyways?-
 
There's a simple explanation, the book belongs to the Deobandi school of thought and most of the people discussing things (I assume) belong to the same school. Most of the people don't want any guidance from a book of another sect owing to the conflicts, historical rivalries and differences in interpretation.
Ahaaan deobandi school of thought thingy-
I assume you also dont belong to deobandi school of thought class thats why the thread?- and the writer of the article must be the same thats why such a long article-
If i try to find a something common between the writer and you i assume it would not be that much hard- isn't it? -
let me make a wild guess 'different school of thought?-
Do you know where i am getting at now?-

What does behashti zewar mean?
:angel:
The unearthly jewellery !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Mate, you wouldn't mind if I quote the starting few pages? @syedali73

Be that as it may, the real cause and reason for this complacency in all religious matters is a paucity of knowledge of the Deen. So where there is no knowledge at all, and added to this where the intellect is naturally deficient (because women are naturally deficient intellectually, meaning that where there is no intellect and no knowledge) then there will be no limit to the shortcomings mentioned in the above matters. (Pg 23, English translation)

The rule, "when hayaa' goes away from you, then do whatever you wish", is general. But in my opinion, the generality in "whatever you wish" is applicable more to women than men. This is so because men still have aql (intellect) as a deterrent, while women have a shortfall of this as well. (Pg 27, English translation)

The fault of the first group, which is the greatest and severest fault, is that it does not regard any need whatsoever to educate women. This total disregard is both in their men and women. The proof of these people which has actually put them into confusion is the question whether women have to seek employment, because of which arrangements have to be made for their education? From this we can deduce that these people have not understood the object of education, they have not pondered over those verses and Ahaadith which have made the acquisition of knowledge compulsory on both male and female, nor have they understood the type of education which is fardh. So it should be understood that the object of knowledge is not to get employment because knowledge which is compulsory to acquire is not knowledge for a livelihood but knowledge of the Deen, knowledge with which man's beliefs, actions, dealings, society, and character are put in order, and the fruit of which in this world is that he is blessed with the wealth of "they are the ones who are on guidance from their Lord", and in the hereafter he gets the glad tidings of "they are the one's who are successful". So the necessity of acquiring Deeni knowledge is obvious, both textually and logically. (Pg 21-22, English translation)

We will now deal with the second group which is opposed to the education of women and which regards it as extremely harmful. It is their claim that most educated women are liberal, fearless, shameless, cunning and immoral. Especially if she knows how to write, she becomes even more daring. She writes to whoever she wants and sends messages and greetings to whoever she wishes. Similarly, others also get the urge to express their desires by sending letters to her. When these messages reach her, she gets affected by them and also sends compassionate replies. This bond grows until whatever was bound to happen, happens. At times she does not reply, but keeps silent. Those who are ill at heart take this as a sign of acceptance and try to fill this void in the future by sending messages, greetings and letters. It is a general principle that, that which is written affects the ears.

Furthermore, the ways of expression of some people are very enchanting and women are soft-hearted by nature. So for the web of shaytaan to spread is not surprising. If a woman to whom a letter was written was displeased, and she even expressed her displeasure, but fearing the consequences of what her husband or family members would say or do, she did not inform them about this. In this way, those who wrote the letter will be safe from any harm. They will get more bold and at the next opportunity, they will write again. All this happened because the women were educated. If they were uneducated, they would not have been able to write anything, nor would anyone come to know of them, and this whole chapter would have been closed. This evil becomes even more conceivable when a particular woman's articles begin to appear in the newspapers. By reading these articles, those shayateen who are conversant with the language are able to gauge the complexion, nature, feelings and thoughts of the writer. The sparks of such a fire spread even wider, especially if what she has written is in the form of a poem. These days, the outrage is even greater, because out of boastfulness, the name and even address of the writer is clearly stated, that she is the wife of so and so, or the daughter of so and so, residing in a particular place. All these evils came about because of their being able to read and write. If all these secret liaisons were discovered by the husband or family members, then because educated people are quick-witted and good at making-up stories, she will come up with such explanations and excuses that no word will come against her. She will make excuses and pretentions and begin crying and say that she had said this and not that, etc.

She might even threaten to kill or drown herself until that poor person who had enquired about it will have to flatter her and he will not even dare uttering a word about it again. Another evil prevalent in these educated women is that they read all sorts of books: love-stories, suspense, sexually explicit novels and poems that arouse one's desire. Due to this, one's nature becomes corrupted. At times, they read these poems aloud and their voices are heard by the neighbours and on the street. Someone becomes enchanted with her voice and falls onto her heels. Even if he is unsuccessful in his pursuits, she is bound to become a cause of disgrace and distress. This is the crux of the beliefs of these people. I do not deny nor reject these incidents, but I will definitely say that these people have worked with short-sightedness.They have not pondered over the reality of these incidents. The reality is that education is not responsible for all these evils. The responsibility either lies on the system of education, or the syllabus, or the methodology, or poor planning. In other words, it could have happened that those books were not taught with which one could learn the rules of halaal and haraam, details of reward and punishment, the method of moulding one's character, and with which one could attain fear, reverence, understanding and respect for haqq(truth). They have just been taught to read the alphabets and left at that. Out of their own choice, they studied different booklets in Urdu and increased their mastery over reading and writing. By getting the title of "educated person", they have given education a bad name. So it is obvious that merely learning the alphabets cannot be called education, nor can it take the responsibility of reforming their actions and conditions.(Pg 24-25, English translation)

Now, just the third group is left. These people support and defend the education of women but have erred in determining or laying down a system for it. Some of their mistakes have already been incorporated when discussing the second group above. For example, teaching the women to read the alphabets only and thereafter leaving them to read the different booklets and magazines of their choice. Or, for example, not ensuring that they put into practice what they learn - different examples in this respect were also mentioned. We will now mention some other mistakes of theirs. For example, instead of teaching them Deeni knowledge, some of the women are taught History, Geography and English. Worse than this, they also teach them the Bible. This is due to just blind following of the Europeans. In other words, they feel that the worth and credibility of their syllabus is dependent on this. But they do not think that even if there was no difference between the two of us in regard to customs, habits, natural inclinations and peculiarities, the greatest distinction of religion still exists. That we follow the religion of Islam and they either follow no religion (which is the case with a majority of them), or they follow a religion opposed to our religion. Therefore,they will either have no religious education, or if they do have, it will be superficial, or it will be worldly education, or education of some other religion. In any case, this system of education of theirs has a specific basis.

But if we had to choose their system of education,on what basis is it going to be? If the purpose of their education is different, as has just been mentioned, and our goal is different, as had been briefly explained when rectifying the mistakes of the first group, i.e. rectifying the beliefs, actions, transactions, social dealings, and morals; and this goal is dependent on Deeni knowledge - then it is obvious that for us to adopt their system of education is unsuitable or incompatible. However, if one also feels the need to earn a livelihood as well, then there will be no harm if one learns those sciences after having acquired Deeni knowledge. Those sciences refer to those things upon which one's livelihood is dependent, such as English, History, Geography, etc. Apart from these things, such a person will have no need to study the Bible.

It is obvious that the need to earn a livelihood is only experienced by men and not women, the reason being that the responsibility for supporting and providing for them is on the men. Secondly, Islam has emphasized purdah for women, and those specific ways whereby a livelihood could be earned are dependent on specific branches of knowledge. And these branches cannot be learnt while in purdah. Therefore, to teach them these things is fruitless and a waste of time. In fact, apart from being fruitless, it will also be harmful,as will be explained later. In any case, these sciences which are known as "modern education" are in no way proper for women. However, it would be good to have sufficient knowledge of certain worldly aspects such as writing, Mathematics, some sort of handicrafts, etc., so that if at any time there is no one to see to their needs, they could earn a living. (Pg 26, English translation)

After this discussion, the condition of two evils, which are presently widespread, may also have come to the fore. One is the construction of girl's schools, and like normal madrasahs, to allow girls of different communities, classes, and thoughts, to come there daily. Even if the teacher is a Muslim, even if they come in cars, and even if they come here and stay in secluded places; incidents have shown and experience has proven that here such causes are combined, that they have a detrimental effect on their morals. This company has proven to be destructive to their chastity. And if the teacher is also like this, then it is like having a double dose of a bitter pill. (Pg 27, English translation)

The second evil is that if a girl mixes with a teacher of a mission school by going to her daily or weekly for tuition in something or some craft, then both her chastity and Iman will be in danger. It is extremely distressing that some people regard these evils as a means of honour and call these teachers into their very homes. In my opinion, let alone these great evils which a girl gets trapped in on account of being a child and blindly following someone; even if an elderly Muslim woman follows this teacher and gets into a conversation with her even once, then too it will be dangerous. Some of those harms which we had promised to enumerate are these which have just been mentioned. And some of them have been mentioned when discussing the opinions of the second group. The best method for girls is the one that came down to us from generation to generation. That two or three girls get together according to their relations and then study. As far as possible, they should try and get a female teacher who does not charge any fees because experience has shown that this type of education is more blessed and more effective. But if there is no alternative, there is no harm in paying. Where no female teacher is available, then the menfolk of the house should undertake to teach them. This is in regard to the system of education. As for the syllabus, then as far as possible, they should be taught to read the Quran correctly. Thereafter, Deeni books which have been written in simple language and in which all aspects of the Deen have been dealt with completely (in my opinion, the ten parts of Bahishti Zewar are sufficient to fulfill this need). (Pg 27-28, English translation)

After completing their necessary syllabus, if it is found that they have the potential, they should be directed towards learning Arabic so that they are able to understand the Quran, Hadith, and Fiqh (jurisprudence) in the original language. In my opinion, those girls who read the translation of the Quran only, make many errors in understanding it. Therefore, for most of them this is not good. All this was in regard to reading. As for writing, if there are indications that there is no shamelessness or boldness in her nature, there will be no harm in learning to write. In order to carry out household necessities, there is also a need to know how to write. But if one foresees harm, then instead of trying to learn unnecessary (not wajib) things, it would be better to save one's self from evils. In such circumstances, she should not be taught to write, nor should she learn by herself. This is the verdict of the wise on the issue of women learning to write. (Pg 28, English translation)

Ahaaan deobandi school of thought thingy-
I assume you also dont belong to deobandi school of thought class thats why the thread?- and the writer of the article must be the same thats why such a long article-
If i try to find a something common between the writer and you i assume it would not be that much hard- isn't it? -
let me make a wild guess 'different school of thought?-
Do you know where i am getting at now?-

Who criticizes anything in the first place? So how would that make the criticism invalid? I guess not, my family follows the Deobandi school of thought, me not anymore.

Its neither oppressive nor all the crap and lie you said. Problem with our liberals is that they want to see women naked and disgraced just like done in showbiz they are the real oppressors.

Of course, what better debunking of arguments than saying "crap and lie" repeatedly and shifting blame? I am quoting directly from the book now, apparently Maulana Thanvi said all those things which Mubarak Ali alleges in his article. Keep shouting on top of your lungs, the reality won't change just because you do so.

It is not permissible to play dice games, cards, etc. If these are played for money, they will be
regarded as gambling and will therefore be absolutely haraam. (Pg 181, English translation)

It is not permissible to read short stories, novels, novels based on love and beauty which are of a fictitious nature. It is also not permissible to look at books and magazines that have pictures of men and women in shameless clothing or no clothing at all. Books containing love poems should also be abstained from. Books and magazines of this sort should not even be purchased. If they are found in the possession of one's children, they should be burnt. (Pg 182, English translation)
 
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Provision of hitting your wife if she doesn't do makeup despite repeated asking. Order to consider "day as night" and "night as day" if your husband asks. To not ask their husbands for anything as long as they can avoid it. Even if you are distressed by his behavior or actions, to keep well quiet and be patient over it and strangely not tell him about it.

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Even if it is his own mistake and he's angry with you, even then you shouldn't be angry and beg for forgiveness by imploring. Don't think yourself equal to him and don't ask to do any work ever. You aren't allowed to ask him for any accountancy for his salary and if your husband's parents are alive, give all that money to them (even if he gives it to you first)

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The most important part is where he orders the women to keep quiet (don't tell anyone about it, don't get angry and don't pester him) after "politely" explaining their husband's mistake to them if he sleeps around with other women or engages in any other perversion, since it can result in his displeasure and since you obviously can't do anything in that regard except what you have already done. And since somehow God's pleasure is acquired by having patience over it. He further adds that since the creator has made man "a lion" and thus his will cant be bend by any compulsion or force. Then presents with an example from Lucknow, India of a women who's husband was like that and praises her for her silent acceptance and sucking up of the whole situation.

@Zarvan
@Color_Less_Sky

Apparently, the book is really very similar to what was told in the article.
 

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