From: dogar@rtsg.mot.com (Haroon H. Dogar)
Subject: Re: Contradictions in Quaran
Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1992 15:25:57 GMT

mghayalo@uceng.UC.EDU (Manoj Ghayalod) writes:

>1. A man having more than one wife.

I don't believe that this is a defunct allowance.
I believe that it is an allowance for certain conditions.
I don't believe that western man is any more monagomous in his
relationships than the worst Arab Sheikh.
Still, I would say again that this is only an allowance and not a
commandment and it addresses conditions which may occur in society
[numerical superiority of women at times, different tendencies of the
genders, financial security of orphans, female infanticide, etc.].
Of course, I don't think that I'd ever practice it :-) 

>2. Burkha, to prevent a crime(rape), I don't think its logical any longer to 
>punish the victim.

Personally, I don't accept the interpretation that demands Burqa or Pardah.
Yes, there is a command for Hijab and the Sattar is different for men and
women, but I don't see this as any different from the enforced morality of
any other society. First, I don't see it as a punishment, but as a standard.
The dress requirement is no different from a dress requirement in any
western society except that it is set by Allah and cannot be changed by
the whims of the people. Note that there are also minimum standards of
dress in the United States which are different for men and women (except in
New York). If you believe that there should be no legislated minimum
dress requirements or idecent exposure arrests, then I will agree with
you that according to your measure, the concept of Hijab is defunct.
I will not, however, share that same measure.

>3. No interest. How many muslims really follow this? Not the sheikhs
>and also not most of the students here(they have credit cards).

Two notes: First, the sheiks do a lot of things that they aren't suposed to :-)
Second, you only pay interest on credit cards if you don't pay them off within
the alloted time.

Now to the main point of interest. Is it possible to live without interest?
Certainly. One could always set his or her material goals a little lower.
I can pay cash to buy my Subaru instead of taking out a loan to buy a Lexus.
Still, if one were to ask an Aalim, he wouldn't give you a blanket statement.
He would say "tell me about YOUR situation," because while it's wrong to
pay interest, it is not good to have your family live on the street. Also,
in some situations, a small sin [not that interest is a small sin] may be
allowed to avoid a greater sin. Are there people who survive in this society
without interest? Absolutely! People find alternate ways of accomplishing
their goals. They may set their material goals lower. They may choose to
invest in interest free stocks or businesses. Or, they may choose to join the
growing number of interest free Islam-oriented investment groups for 
help in purchasing their homes or businesses.

>4. No birth control.

I believe the injunction, if any, is against permanent methods.
I don't believe that there is any restriction on other everyday methods,
but I don't know too much about this subject.  :-)

>5. Islamic punishments, cutting of hands, flogging, etc.

I don't know that these are defunct. In fact, I think that they are
much more effective than the "accepted" forms of punishment today.
They are, of course, only permissible if there is actually justice.
[Eg. maybe someone can help me out here, but I believe that the
 cutting of hands was suspended during times of hunger, etc.]
If there is a punishment which should be defunct it is the caging
of humans like animals where they are subjected to gang rapes
and continuing violence which makes them much worse than when they
entered into their "rehabilitation."

>6. No socialising between men and women before marriage.

If by socialising you mean pre-marital relations, then I believe that
we again disagree. This moral standard is one that exists in some form
in most societies. Like the dress code, it may change with the whims of
society, but there is always some minimum limit to "decency" that precludes
some sexual activity. 


>Basically what I am trying to say is that like most non muslims, I have 
>wanted to know the anwsers of the above. I have not asked any muslim because,
>I have presumed it to be touchy issue, but since you have brought it up....

>Manoj

I don't think that its touchy at all. In fact, I think that it's THIS type
of an exchange that can add to [create an?] understanding between our peoples.

-hd