From: babak@athena.mit.edu (Babak Ayazifar)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam
Subject: Please keep the discussions civilized and brotherly (was RE: Mut`ah)
Date: 25 Jul 92 12:02:00 GMT
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology


In article <23JUL199201051398@iago.caltech.edu>, 
"slc89@io.ee.usu.edu"@CC.USU.EDU writes:

|> 
|> [Postmarked: 22 Jul '92 ]
|> 
|> Assalamu Alamanittaba'alhuda:
|> 
|>    I wonder if you poeple ,advocating this shameful act, would
|> allow your sisters or daughters to be involved in such an act
|> with men for specific periods of time !!!!!  Please I want to 
|> see you saying yes we would be glad to do it, so say it !!!!
|> 
|>    I really look at Mut'ah as a form of prostitution, no more
|> no less.
|> 
|>                                      Mohammad Omar
|> 


Salaam Aleikom,

I would like to ask the moderators of this newsgroup to kindly begin
to display better judgment by NOT allowing articles which contain
little more than a heapful of abuse and sharp rhetoric to find
their way to the public domain.

	[Moderator's note: The comment/rhetoric did not attack any
	individual, and hence it was approved for posting by a
	moderator. Nevertheless, your Mr. Ayazifar's comments are
	appreciated. ] 

Personally, I can say that I have greatly benefitted from the recent
discussions on this subject, and would like to see more civilized
discussions take place, not only on this, but also on other issues, in
the future. The fact that there are brothers on the net who are
capable of carrying on respectful discussions is quite promising,
and this style of dialogue should be pursued and encouraged.

Brother Mohammad, with all due respect, the question which you have
raised is quite irrelevant to the discussion. The discussion,
according to my humble understanding, revolves around evidence [or
lack thereof] in the Qur'an, as interpreted by scholars of the main 
schools of thought, and Sunnah, as conveyed to us through ahadith
via different paths of transmission, some of which are acceptable as
authentic by one group and not by another, on the issue of Mut'a.

Saying that you view "Mut'ah as a form of prostitution," and given the
fact that it is unanimously agreed upon that the Prophet (SAWA) *did*
allow the practice, at least at some point in time, leaves you
indirectly implying that the Prophet (SAWA) explicitly allowed
"prostitution" at some point in his life (astaghfiruLLAh)!

One point that we should *ALL* bear in mind when it comes to Islam is
that *our* personal opinions do not matter on issues which are
permitted or forbidden by Allah (SWT) and his Messenger (SAWA). Islam
was not revealed for just one type of human. It was revealed for all
of mankind with all his diverse needs and conditions. If you and I
find something personally not-so-preferable, it has no bearing on
whether it is permitted or prohibitted by Islam. As a case in point,
let me bring the example of polygamy. It is a practice that is
permitted by Islam; all agree on that. Now suppose I turn around the
rhetorical question that you asked above by posing the following:

	I wonder if you ... would allow your sister or daughter 
	to become one, among the four wives of another man, by 
	marrying someone who already has three wives (or even 
	just has one other wife). 

I don't really expect you to answer that question; in fact, I don't
wish to know the answer. That is something between you and Allah, and
I mainly posed it to make ponder about what you ahve said.

The only difference between polygamy and Mut'a is that in one case
everyone agrees as to its permissibility, whereas on the other issue,
because of the fact that the different schools of thought have
different criteria for verifying authenticity of the chain of
transmission of hadith, and interpretation of the Qur'an, and sequence
of events in Islamic history, there is disagreement.

Surely Mut'ah cannot be what you described it to be, for the Prophet
(SAWA) would never have advocated an evil, not even for practical
concerns (which is the reason some contend that he explicitly allowed
the practice for a while, and hence compare this with the Islamic
position on alcohol). I have yet to see a document contending that the
Prophet (SAWA) was specifically asked about alcohol, and explicitly
permitted it. The most he did, from my limited knowledge, was to keep silent
about the issue until the time was ripe to prohibit it (as Allah (SWT)
made him do); he never explicitly allow anyone to consume alcohol. 
This clearly is *NOT* the case with Mut'a. It should prompt 
you to ponder the validity of your statement when even according to 
sources that you consider reliable, the practice was allowed and banned
more than once, as some brothers have shown in the recently posted articles.
If my ignorance is clouding my judgment on this issue, I would appreciate it
if someone would post a reference to the contrary.

So I would like to ask you, Br. Mohammad, to maintain your calm and
composure and to allow the brotherly discussions (they haven't always
been that way, but they are improving) to continue. We all will
benefit from frank academic exchanges of views; exchanges which are
based on sources and not on personal opinion. Remember that it is
haram to prohibit that which Allah (SWT) has allowed. For example, if
I prefer to stay married to one woman and I see many abusing polygamy
for vile intentions, it should not mean that I have the right to
accuse those who do have pure intentions , whose specific circumstances 
may necessitate polygamy, of being promiscuous, even though abuse of the 
practice by some may tempt one to do so. 

If it is the truth that we seek, then we must be patient, not only
with each other, but also with our own selves, and we must question
that to which we have not yielded due consideration. Challenge of our
most sacred beliefs often strengthen our faith, as they prompt us to
look deeper for answers, and undoubtedly, a faith which is nourished by
knowledge is far more unshakeable than that which is rooted in
blindness.

I close with a phrase which a very good Egyptian friend and brother of
mine always uses in our conversations:

	 "May Allah give you taufiq,"

and may He give us Guidance.

Wassalaam.

Babak Ayazifar.