Common Questions by Non-Muslims

Common Questions by Non-Muslims

Dr. Bilal Philips

Opening

We have the pleasure of having Dr. Bilal Philips with us. Dr. Bilal, (أَسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ - As-salamu alaykum) wa rahmatullah.

Wa (عَلَيْكُمْ أَسَّلَامُ - alaykum as-salam) wa rahmatullah.

It's my pleasure to be with you. JazakAllah. Today we'll be talking about some of the common questions that non-Muslims ask us in our da'wah experiences.

---

Jihad and Terrorism

Question: Are Jihad and Terrorism the Same?

Some of the questions that they come across in these times when jihad and conflicts are happening—terrorism is a buzz word. Do you think these two concepts or these two ideas are one and the same?

Answer

Of course they're not. Terrorism, of course, even terrorism itself has its own complexities. You know, as we say, one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. And if we use the definitions of terrorism which were put out by certain governments, it would include the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and all the major revolts that ended up in establishing democracy and things like this in other countries. So the whole issue of terrorism is something quite relative anyway.

And jihad, again, is something else. Though people who may be involved in what we could agree on as acts of terrorism may use the term jihad to justify it, that doesn't make it jihad in and of itself either. You know, whereas jihad is in fact a struggle—a struggle against evil—whether it is within an individual or within his family, his community, or it could be a state struggling against evil, the evil of another state.

And it may involve arms, it may involve writing, it may involve speaking, etc. So jihad has many, many facets to it. So it's really unfair and incorrect for the media to mix these two terms together and create a kind of a hodgepodge idea of terrorist-jihadist kind of mix.

How to Identify Jihad vs. Terrorism

How can a person clearly identify what is jihad and what is a clear act of terrorism? How do you know that in a particular area, what is going on?

Well, sometimes it may not be possible, you know, because from a distance, if you are not in control of the media, others are creating the news, then you are subject to whatever image that they portray. But if a person does have access to actual information about what is going on, then we can say that some acts of terrorism which involve killing of innocents—people who are not involved in any kind of military struggle, children, women, etc.—blowing them up, murdering them as a means of terrorizing a society, these are acts which Islam doesn't condone under any label.

Jihad is something that Muslims are enjoined to undertake where the need arises. It is not the title for any struggle. We have no holy wars. We have just and unjust struggles.

A just struggle which may involve military means, etc., where the struggle is for the sake of God, for the sake of Allah, that can be defined as jihad or an aspect of jihad. Whereas fights, struggles, etc., which are for nationalist, tribalist, political interests, which have nothing to do with Islam—though they may be labeled as jihad struggles or jihadist struggles, the people involved are called jihadists—this is not from the Islamic perspective jihad.

---

Media and Islamic Channels

The Media War

Now the media creates images and it seems Muslims are losing this war against the media. What do you think is the solution to this problem that we are in?

Well, the only way around this is for Muslims to develop independent media. You know, channels like Al Jazeera and others that are coming up now where the other side of the picture is being presented to certain degrees—I mean, this is what needs to be done. Muslims should have had satellite stations decades ago, which would express and would explain what their positions are, what their struggles are involved in, etc.

But as long as the media doesn't remain in our hands or doesn't get into our hands, we don't take an active part in utilizing the media to portray our own causes, then we will always be subject to the whims of Western or Eastern or non-Muslim media.

Supporting Islamic Media

As you are aware, Sheikh, that a lot of our programs are telecast on the satellite channels and we know the cost involved in setting up a channel. We have been trying to do that. Now it's a huge cost. What message would you

like to give to the Muslim brothers and sisters around the world as far as their responsibility towards setting up a good Islamic channel?

Well, as I said, it is something which should have been done decades ago. And really there should be positive support for all such efforts, whether it's with the IRF efforts. There are other efforts being done elsewhere. In the U.K. there is Islam Channel and in the U.S. and Canada and other parts of the Muslim world. Now people are becoming more and more aware of the need to develop our own expressions, channels of expression through the media.

And it is our duty really to be actively involved in such efforts because of the fact that our future and our cause and our existence to a large degree depends on being able to accurately present the picture of Islam, its teachings, its aspirations. So people will understand that Islam is not a threat. Actually Islam has the solution, the solution that people are looking for all over the world to many of the problems that they currently face.

It is not a threat as the media tends to portray it. This has now replaced communism as communism was a threat back in the 50s and 60s. Now this has now been replaced by Islam. This is the next threat. And even surveys done in places like the U.S. show that the majority of the population feel that yes, Muslim rights should be curtailed. Things like this which is shocking—we think of in a democracy where people are considering curtailing the rights of some of its citizens simply because of their religion.

So we do need, we have a great need for our own media to express the truth about Islam to the world.

---

Access to Mecca and Medina

Question: Why Only Muslims Are Allowed in Mecca?

Talking about satellite channels and so on, a lot of non-Muslims have now access to visuals of the Kaaba, the Hajj, Tawaf, Taraweeh and so on. And they are thrilled to see the numbers worshipping Allah in the holy city of Mecca. But they come back and ask us that why are only Muslims privileged to visit Mecca? Why are we not allowed to enter this holy city? How do we respond to that?

Answer

Well, we clarify for them that it is not a place of tourism. Naturally tourist spots, everybody wants to go and visit the tourist spots. You know the temples and the pyramids and these are parts of tourism.

Whereas Mecca represents a sanctuary for Islam and the worship of the one God. So those who are coming there should be coming for that same purpose. If people are coming for tourism that is going to interfere with the religious activities and the rights etc. People will not be able to perform their rites properly with people coming in and snapping shots as tourists do.

And we know what happens to places when tourism comes there, it corrupts it also. So to keep the place clean and pure for worship, then it has been restricted only to Muslims.

And as every society and every organization has its own sanctuaries, where only members who carry special identification or whatever are allowed in, we can look at it in a similar light. Whereas mosques around the world are open, people can come and see mosques anywhere in the Muslim world. But at least we have two sanctuaries, Mecca and Medina, which are restricted just to Muslims to keep it free of a lot of the crass materialism that tends to come into places that have been designated as tourist sites.

---

Forced Conversion

Question: Islam Spread by the Sword?

Another question right on top of the minds of non-Muslims is that Islam promotes forcible conversions. It was spread at the point of the sword and so on. How do you respond to that?

Answer

Well, I think history proves otherwise. Where we find that the largest Muslim country in the world today, Indonesia, with some 200 plus million Muslims, never saw any Muslim soldiers. I say that speaks for itself.

With the fact that Muslims ruled India for a thousand years, if it was conversion by the sword, there would not have remained a single Hindu in India. Muslims ruled Spain for 700 years. Were it conversion by the sword, there would not have remained a single Christian in Spain.

And Christians have lived, and Jews and others have lived, side by side with Muslims in many places, in Yemen, in Palestine, in North Africa, in many, many countries. They have lived side by side without any problems, without being forcibly converted.

And if we consider that today in America between 300 and 400 people are accepting Islam daily, according to University of Chicago, Michigan, calculations of Dr. Yvonne Haddad and Dr. Sam Bagby, they concluded that it was approximately between 300 and 400 convert daily to Islam. Where are the swords? Where are the guns?

It is Christianity, actually, that where the Pope, about three, four years ago, made a public apology to humankind for the forcible conversions done back in the 15th century, 16th century, et cetera, when the conquistadors left Spain and Portugal and these areas and went out and were forcing people into the religion. They have that history, but Islam doesn't have that history.

---

Women's Rights in Islam

The Veil (Hijab)

From human rights, let's move on to women rights in Islam. And a lot of questions are posed in terms of limited or no rights for women and so on. They say that you subjugate a woman by putting them behind the veil. How do you answer to that, or how do we justify the veil and the subjugation and so on?

Well, I would say briefly that the veiling of women is not subjugation at all. The nuns, you know, who are practicing traditional Catholicism, who wear the veil, nobody is forcing them to wear these veils. They have chosen to wear these veils. And they will tell you that it liberates them in the same way that for the Muslim world in general, the veil liberates the woman.

She is not as caught up in the fashion and the need to beautify herself to a T every time she steps out of her house. She's free. She can get up in the morning and just cover herself and step out without having to go through all of these changes that the fashion industry has enslaved her with. So she actually frees herself from that enslavement with the veil.

The Quranic Command

And in any case, Allah has explained in the Quran the purpose of the veil. And it's not something which Muslims have culturally pushed on the women, but it's something which God has ordained, God has prescribed. When He said:

"O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to bring down over themselves [part] of their outer garments. That is more suitable that they will be known and not be abused."

Put their outer garments over themselves, drape it over themselves, in order to be known and not harmed.

To be known, known in the sense of a chaste woman, a woman who is modest, who is not interested in the advances, flirtation, etc., which may come from males. You know that she is a woman who only functions in an honorable manner. If a person is interested in marriage, they must go to her father or her brother. They don't try to approach her directly.

Just as a nun wearing her habit is known in the society that this is a person you don't approach amorously, you don't try to hit on her, as we say in the West, right? She's not going to marry you, forget it. Similarly, when a woman wears the veil, she's making that fashion statement.

The Purpose of Modest Dress

Everybody who wears some kind of a dress is making a statement. The policeman wears his uniform, so you know who he is. The engineer on the construction site, he has a particular uniform, you know who he is. The

Gender Separation for Protection

And even societies, you know, some people raise objections, look, Muslims, they want to separate the men from the women, for example. You know, in a Muslim society, you have a different bus for men or bus for women, or in the bus, it's divided, a section for women, section for men, separating them. One could say, okay, look, Muslims, they're not giving women a chance to sit freely.

But in both Bangkok and Tokyo, where people are jammed on buses, jammed into the bullet trains in Tokyo, the women complain so much that the government was forced to provide separate carriages for women and separate ones for men, in order to protect the women.

So this idea of veiling and separation, this is to protect women. It is for their interest. It is not to oppress them. Because within, behind the veil, the woman is free to express herself, her own interests, etc. You know, as we can see in developed Muslim countries, where women are involved on the highest of levels within the society.

Addressing the Rape Issue

You mentioned about the veil helping protect the women from rape and molestation and so on. But the psychologists say that essentially the problem in a rape is with the men rather than the women, because it's the sickness in the mind of the man which leads him to a rape. And if that sickness is there, he could even rape someone who is veiled. So how do we respond to these questions?

Well, this is a theoretical point. Theoretical point. That, yes, the person who has that desire, regardless of the circumstance, he may still commit the act. But practically speaking, if a woman is virtually naked in front of him, his desire is now raised up far higher than a woman who is completely covered.

So to say that, yes, it's a problem with the man, and we say, okay, let's just punish the men, that's not taking into account the reality that women also, depending on how they dress, encourage and increase that desire. So Islam

says we must have a balanced situation here.

Yes, the problem is with the men, and that's why the punishment for rape is so severe in Islam. If a person commits rape and uses a weapon, they're executed. That's a very severe punishment. Very severe. Your life is lost.

But on the other hand, it says, okay, so women, you should cover yourself, so as not to incite this individual, so that when this person's life is taken, it's because he has no excuse. He has no excuse. So it is finding the balance.

Polygyny (Polygamy)

Question: Why Can Men Have Multiple Wives?

Another question that we normally face is that why is, first of all, polygyny allowed in Islam? If a man can have more than one wife, why cannot then a woman have more than one husband? So how do you explain the whole situation?

Answer

Well, that point is usually raised by feminists. Anthropologists clearly understand why this is not the case, because anthropologists who always compare human behavior with animal behavior, we just don't find, you know, polyandry amongst in the animal kingdom, because the ruling figure is the male figure, and women and the females attach themselves to the male. So there is a natural tendency that polygamy is only found in the male, single male, multiple female format. As to single female, multiple male, this is something rare, abnormal.

I mean, if we go around the world, through history, go back in ancient times, in ancient civilizations, you know, in primitive civilizations, wherever you go in the world, all you find is polygyny, men having more than one woman. Why is that? Is it that, you know, there is this unfairness everywhere, or is it a natural consequence of the natural way that human beings are created, that males have these tendencies, they have the strength, they have the authority, that that's the format it falls under. The reality is that it's natural.

The Practical Reasons

It's a natural tendency which God has created human beings with, because of the fact that he has put in women certain emotions, etc. He has created a situation where their numbers outnumber the men, you know, whether it's because women live longer, men are killed in the wars, and all these other different factors, you know, the norm is that there is a surplus of women in society.

So for a woman now to marry four men, she is not solving any problems. She's increasing the problem, because she's taken four men out of circulation, right? You know, besides, you have the other problems of a child naturally wanting to know who the father is, and no child would be comfortable with the idea of the mother, you

know, telling him or her that your father is one of these men. I'm not sure which one. This just doesn't work, you know.

And besides, you know, there are a number of other factors where a woman is pregnant, and, you know, even from a procreational perspective, that societies that become strong are the ones that are able to procreate, increase its numbers of, you know, new members, right?

So if you have a woman with four men, four men can only impregnate one woman, right? But if you have a man with four women, that one man can impregnate four women. So in that one pregnancy, in the polyandry format, only one child is produced. In the other, four children are produced.

So even from a natural selection perspective, and if we want to go from a Darwinian outlook, you know, the polygamy is going to be favored over polyandry, the female with more than one male.

The Prophet's Marriages

Question: Why Did the Prophet ﷺ Have 11 Wives?

Sheikh, the discussion is taking a very interesting turn, but we have very limited time. In shaa Allah, we'll take this discussion forward in the next episode, in shaa Allah.

Dear viewers, assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. We have the pleasure of having Dr. Abu Amina Bilal Phillips again with us. Assalamu alaikum, Brother Bilal.

Wa alaikumussalam wa rahmatullah. In the previous episode, we had discussed a few questions normally asked by non-Muslims about Islam, and we got the answers from Brother Bilal. We'll continue that, and we were discussing about the role and the rights of women in Islam.

We talked about polygyny, polyandry. Can you throw some light on the fact that why the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, had 11 wives, when Muslims generally are allowed to have up to 4 wives?

Answer

Well, first, you should know that he had 9 wives at one time. This was the maximum number that he had at the same time. Though the number of wives, he married others, some died.

But why the number is greater for the Prophet, peace be upon him, than others, is due to the fact that the Prophet was given certain special dispensation due to the special role that his wives would have in conveying the life, the home life, his home life, as a guide for the generations to come.

One could say, well, 4 may do it also. Well, it's possible 4 may do it, but 5 would do it better. 6 would do it even better. They would record a variety of different circumstances.

Demonstrating Permissibility

He demonstrated in his marriages that it is permissible to marry your cousin, to marry somebody who was divorced, somebody who was the former wife of your adopted son, to marry somebody who was a former Jewess, somebody who was a former Christian, people from a variety. So his marriages demonstrated what was permissible in terms of marriage, in terms of who you may marry.

And also, as I said, those numbers served to preserve the story of his family life with such detail that it would become a guide for human beings until the last day of the world.

So this is the basic reason. And for the average human being, 4 seems to be the ideal number for a man to be able to handle, based on God's knowledge, Allah's knowledge of human beings, their needs and their abilities.

The Logic Behind Polygamy

Question: What Is the Underlying Wisdom?

Generally speaking about polygamy, can you throw some more light on what is the logic or the reason behind this permission, besides you mentioning that man can handle 4, that's his capacity. But generally, what is the logic behind this? And it's understood under today's circumstances, and we know from the Sira as well, that there was jealousy amongst the wives of the prophets. So no woman would like to share the husband. So how do you factor this emotion of the woman as well when Islam permits polygamy?

Answer

Well, the permission is a general permission based on the need of human society. God created this society in a way that there would be a surplus of females in that society due to women living longer than men, men dying in wars, homicides being focused mainly among men, men killing other men, and even the spread of homosexuality, which would reduce the number of available men in any given society.

These factors, Allah knew, God knew before he created human society, so he created a nature for males that they would be attracted to more than one female, and nature for females that they would tend to be more attracted to a single male. Because these are complementary natures which are necessary for this to work.

Historical Context

And this is something which has been in practice throughout the various eras of human beings on the earth. All of our archaeological evidence, research, etc., indicate that people practice polygamy wherever you were. Whatever corner of the earth you go to, whether you're in the North Pole, or you're in South Africa, or amongst the aborigines of Australia, wherever you go, this was in practice. This was the norm for human society.

Islam regulated it. It came and set certain limits for, Max, rights of people involved. It organized it. That's what Islam did. It didn't introduce it.

It's a common misconception that people have that Islam has legislated polygamy, whereas the rest of the world didn't know about this sort of thing. But this is not the case at all. So, Islam regulated polygamy to maximize the benefit and minimize the harm.

The Greater Good

As you said, the jealousy which comes, why would God prescribe or permit something which is harmful to a woman's emotions? Well, because of the greater good. That there was greater good in permitting polygamy than in restricting it, and restricting meaning prohibiting it.

The harm which comes from its prohibition, as we find in modern societies today, which claim monogamy, this has just led to a rise of mistresses, girlfriends, prostitution, and all the other evils. Whereas a society which permits it, then that is minimized.

Statistics on Polygamy

So, the realities of human society is that even in the cases of countries where they claim to be monogamous, and statistics here in India have shown that polygamy amongst Hindus to whom it is prohibited is higher than amongst Muslims for whom it is permitted.

And it's not surprising to find that in North America, in America, in Canada, in France, in the UK, the greater percentage, well over 50% of married males are involved in extramarital relations, have had them or are currently having them, etc.

So, polygamy is really something which is happening throughout the world, around the world. And even in the societies which claim to be monogamous, they're not really monogamous.

Historical Reality of Monogamy

And even the places where it originated, in Greece and Rome, where the law for the Greek citizen was that you could only have one wife. But yes, you could only have one wife from the free women of the society, but more than 50% of the population were slaves and you could have as many concubines as you wished. So, where was the monogamy?

So, monogamy is really a dream. It is something which never really existed. In fact, monogamy is more strictly practiced amongst Muslims than amongst non-Muslims.

Slavery in Islam

Question: What Are the Conditions for Slavery?

We learn from the Quran and other Hadiths and so on that slavery, for example, you just mentioned about the Greeks and the Romans. In Islam as well, slavery is allowed. What are the conditions in which this permission has been given?

Answer

Well, it is given in the case of Jihad, really, where there is a struggle, a military struggle, and a population has been taken captive, etc., or numbers have been taken captive of the enemy.

The ruler of the Muslim state has the choice to either hold them as prisoners and ransom them, etc., or he may take them as slaves, slaves meaning that they would be integrated into the Muslim society.

Slavery vs. Indentured Labor

Because slavery in Islam, what may be called slavery, is really more akin to indentured labor than it is to slavery, as known typically in Western civilization, where the slave master was free to do anything he wished with his slave. He could maim them, cut off their ears, do anything he wanted. They were his property. That is why slaves were given the name of the master, just as the chariot and the wife was given the name of the master. He was free to do anything he wished.

Whereas in Islamic law, this is not the case. A slave has the right to seek personal freedom by what they call mukataba. He will pay for himself and can liberate himself. If a slave woman bears a child to her master, that child is born free, and she cannot be sold. The slaves, the same thing.

Remember, they cannot be killed. If they're killed, then the person who has killed them will be taken into account. They can't be forced to do crimes for the master, for example.

Proper Treatment of Slaves

And even in the case of how they're referred, the Prophet ﷺ had forbidden that slaves be referred to as, "my slave, my slave girl, my slave boy," no. "My young man, my young woman." This is what the Prophet ﷺ said, because the idea of slave, anyway, is limited, really, to God.

Abdullah, we are slaves of Allah. You know what slaves are, other human beings? Ultimately, no. We are put in a position of authority over others.

And Islam found that system already in practice in the world, and it corrected the ills and the evils of it. And at the same time, it put in force a variety of principles to eradicate it, practically in the society, whether it is from the heads of zakah, people could be freed from the zakah, the essential treasury, where money is collected from

the rich of the society and redistributed amongst the poor. Part of that distribution is in freeing slaves in the society.

Also, where people break oaths and a variety of different sins that a person may commit, the atonement for the sin involves freeing a slave, where the slaves are in existence. So, slavery was on the way out, really, in Muslim society. It was being eradicated, but gradually, as people were integrated into the society.

Examples from Islamic History

And we should note that the majority of Abbasid rulers in the Abbasid era, after the time of the prophet, we had the four righteous caliphs, and you had the Umayyad era, which ran for about 100 years. Following that, you had the Abbasid era, which ran for many hundreds of years. Many of those rulers, the caliphs of the Abbasid era, were the children of slave girls.

And that is something inconceivable in a slave society, of other slave societies, Rome, Greece, etc. It was inconceivable that the child of a slave could ever become the ruler of the society.

Many of the leading scholars of hadith and tafsir of the Quran, etc., from the early generation, were freed slaves. From the time of the prophet, may God's peace and blessings be upon him, he had freed a slave that had been given to him, Zayd ibn Harithan had adopted him. And that tradition spread amongst Muslims, that they would free their slaves, whoever came into a position of slavery.

Modern Slavery

Today, in the world, of course, there's a lot of slavery going on. Going on right here in India, going on in Pakistan, going on even in Western countries, across Europe. People are sold into slavery in Brazil, in North America. So it is an ongoing phenomenon, though the finger tends to be pointed at Muslims, but really, it's going on, till today.

And Muslims' duty is to eradicate those forms, because the way in which it's being done is illegal. It's people being taken advantage of, people who are seeking jobs in different areas, and being sold into slavery. This is a whole other kind of circumstance. And a Muslim could not buy one of these, quote-unquote, so-called slaves, and say, OK, now I have a slave. No. I mean, those avenues today are closed.

Inheritance Laws

Question: Why Do Women Get Half the Inheritance?

Moving on to some other issues related to women, about the equality of women as compared to men. The question always comes up, why is it that a woman always gets half the inheritance as compared to that of the men?

Answer

Well, first and foremost, we should point out that it's not always. You know, where somebody dies, they haven't left any father, mother, or children. They only left brothers and sisters. The brothers and sisters get equal shares. This is mentioned in the Quran itself.

The Reason for the 2:1 Ratio

But, yes, in a general sense, the son and daughter, mother and father, will get with the ratio of two to one for the male, you know, one for the female. But this is because of the fact that women in Muslim society are looked after. There is a male responsible for each and every woman.

So when a daughter inherits, the son inherits a similar amount, the son also is responsible to look after his sister. He's responsible for his mother. He's responsible for his daughters.

So an additional amount is given to him for the additional responsibility he has of looking after the close relatives who are females in his family. So it's not the issue of unfairness, but one considering the structure of the Muslim family and the Muslim society and its responsibilities.

A society where men and women are responsible for themselves, then it might appear unfair. Why give a man twice that of a female, when the female has the same responsibilities as the male? But we have to look at it within the context of the Muslim family and the Muslim society.

Witness Testimony

Question: Why Are Two Female Witnesses Equal to One Male?

There's another issue about witnesses, that two female witnesses are equal to one male witness. How do you justify that?

Answer

Well, the Quran specifically states that this is in the case of business contracts. That you're forming, you're having a business contract, then choose two males or one male and two females. And it explains:

"And bring to witness two witnesses from among your men. And if there are not two men [available], then a man and two women from those whom you accept as witnesses - so that if one of the women errs, then the other can remind her." (Quran 2:282)

This is in order that one of the females may remind the other in case she forgets. So Allah has identified, God has identified, it is an issue of forgetfulness here, why a second female has been commanded.

The Social Context

And this goes back to the nature of society and family. That the norm for human society is that the female looks after the family, she takes care of the children and looks after the home. Whereas the man goes outside the home, he works, he is involved in business, etc., etc. That's the norm.

So since he is the one involved in business, he most likely will remember numbers and how much was owed and how much this was and those type of mathematical related type issues. Whereas the woman being more familiar with the family circumstance, then it would be easier for her to forget really what was actually there.

So having another woman witness the same thing would help her in case she forgot.

Addressing Modern Objections

Now somebody may raise the issue, well, in modern society women are out working like men. But really this is an abnormal circumstance. In the West in particular, in America and in Europe, this was a product of World War I and World War II.

World War I, women were forced to come out of the homes and go into the workplaces because millions of men were sent over to fight. So they needed people to work the factories to keep the factories going. After the war, most of them went back, some stayed. Then World War II came, even more women came out again. And after the war, many of them stayed out.

They were enticed by having their own monies, etc., as well as the industrialists encouraged them to stay working. Why? Because they became a means of lowering the wages of the males. Before when there were sufficient males for the jobs, males through unions could demand higher and higher wages.

But now when you flooded the market with workers, males didn't want to work, okay, we have females to take their place. Males will be unemployed, out of work. So you could now demand, the industrialists could demand that the wages be lower.

So they became a tool of the industrialists. So this abnormal circumstance developed where many, many women were now out and working in the workforce. But again, this is mainly in the big cities, etc.

If you go into the countryside in the U.S. and Canada and U.K. and France, etc., it's still the norm that the man is out working and the woman takes care of the home. And that's the norm for the world as a whole. So we shouldn't look at these abnormal circumstances and make them the criterion for what's right and wrong with regards to witnessing, etc.

Women's Testimony in Their Area of Expertise

The other point that's important to note is that in the area of a woman's specialty, for example, in the case of breastfeeding, where if a woman has breastfed yourself and your wife, she knows. If she, according to Islamic

law, gives witness by herself that she breastfed both you and your wife as children, that is sufficient to annul your marriage. That is sufficient. Her single witness is enough to annul your marriage.

So it's not across the board that it's only two men, because that's her area. Who best knows who breastfed you? So in that area, her single witness is sufficient.

---

Economic Justice

Question: Outsourcing Jobs - Is It Exploitation?

You raised a very good issue about how the men were unemployed by women coming in the market and so on. And that was exploitation in a manner. Just sidestepping from the issue of women rights, you know, India is in a peculiar position now where a lot of jobs are outsourced cheap to India, and people in Europe and America are rendered unemployed. Is that exploitation in any manner? Is there a problem with that as far as Islamic opinion is concerned?

Answer

Well, in general, for a businessman to try to find the cheapest sources of labor for his product he's producing, this is his right to do so. Islam doesn't say you can't do that.

But if it ultimately is harming his own society, you know, Islam does interfere to some degree in the business and economic functions of the society where harm takes place. You know, so it would step in if it saw, for example, that people were now, many were made unemployed, they weren't able to take care of their families, et cetera, et cetera. You know, then it would put some restrictions on the companies in order to protect the interests of the society as a whole, just as it prevents them from hoarding in order to artificially raise prices.

It prevents them from doing that. It prevents them from selling products, you know, in a deceptive way. You know, you're deceiving your customers.

Islamic Business Ethics

Just the whole approach to trade would be different in that you're trying to give the best product to people as opposed to give them the worst product at the best price. You know, this is a kind of, I mean, how to be a successful businessman. You buy the cheapest product, fool the people into thinking it's best for them, and you get the maximum price.

Then you will be the top. You know, and this is really what had an impact in places like Indonesia and West Africa with the spread of Islam in that the people were used to a certain form of trade, which is the normal deceptive mode, right? This is the nature of the businessman. To make his maximum profits, he has to fool you.

He's not going to tell you if there are defects in his product. He's going to hide those defects. So he got a cheap product because it was defective, and he will sell it to you as if it was a normal product so he can get his maximum profits.

The Impact of Islamic Trade Ethics

So what happened is that people from Hadramaut, et cetera, who were going to Indonesia and selling their products using these techniques, once they became Muslims, they changed. So Indonesians came across these same traders who were coming. They were now pointing out defects in their products.

They would tell them, well, no, this is really not the best, and so on, so on. This is really only valued at this. They were shocked. Why would you want to do this? You are losing profits to tell us the truth about these things. But they said, well, this is what Islam, this is what our religion tells us.

So of course, naturally, the people were curious to know, what kind of religion is this that tells you this? And this had a big impact, whether in West Africa or in Indonesia, which led to a lot of conversions of people to Islam because they could see a different approach to trade, et cetera.

There was trust here. The trader became a trustworthy individual instead of somebody you were looking for to deceive you.

JazakAllahu khairan for your time and these clarifications, Dr. Bilal Philips. May Allah reward you for explaining these important issues.

Ameen. Wa akhiru da'wana an alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen.