Are there any members of the Islamic faith that can defend this protest?

Question

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061210/india_nm/india279771

Syed, I'm not Christian, and you didn't answer the question. Explain to me why Muslim women should have to have 4 male witnesses to accuse a man of rape? Explain it to me in a logical way

Answer 1

I am a Muslim and I tell you it simply un-defendable, but it is also un-Islamic. No one has the right to defend this rule because it's simply ridiculous. for a woman to have 4 witnesses to a rape, she must have been raped publicly! and the coward rapists would never expose themselves to this. Nowadays we have DNA tests and other methods to prove a rape and that's more than enough. Rapists should not be given the slightest ray out of punishment.
Farhan...he's talking about RAPE and not sex outside marriage!

Answer 2

Of course there are Muslims to defend it, Muslims will defend almost anything practiced by Islam...But the real question is whether there are Muslims who can defend it using strong logic and accurate information, which is unlikely because they are more likely to use defenses like "I suppose it's better to treat women like whores like you do in the West" or "This isn't REAL Islam." Rinat is wrong; the law of four witnesses is an accepted part of the Islamic Sharee'ah, and Pervez Musharraf's decision to override this law is seen by Pakistan's fundamentalist Muslims as a defiance of Islam to tend to America's demands, hence the opposition. Hence this is indeed part of Islamic law, and however you can rationalize removing it, protests can only be expected. Keep in mind that this a country whose Blasphemy Laws could have your head chopped off if you say anything that could be perceived as an insult to religion. The law was secular before the so-called Hudud Ordinances were started by General Zia-Al Huqq.

Answer 3

the protests missunderstanding the law of Islam.

if a man or a woman did adultery then four trusted witness have to be avilable. and one male witness is equal to two women witness. however this law is applied on those who done sex with their own choice (not with force). this is a mercy from Allah, as it's very hard to bring four witnesses.

but for rape, the woman here is a victim of a crime. and i don't think they need four witnesses and should not be punished. however, there must be evidences otherwise any woman can accues you of rape.

[33] ...... And force not your maids to prostitution, if they desire chastity, in order that you may make a gain in the (perishable) goods of this worldly life. But if anyone compels them (to prostitution), then after such compulsion, Allâh is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful (to those women, i.e. He will forgive them because they have been forced to do this evil action unwillingly).
Quran 24:33

Answer 4

I also do not understand that how it is possible for a raped women to get 4 male witnesses

Answer 5

Here are the best arguments:

"We reject this law because it is unIslamic and also against women rights," Fazal-ur-Rehman

Against women's "lack" of rights?

Rehman said the law is a conspiracy to make Pakistan a "free sex zone".

Sex free if you can not rape women?

The protesters were all Men I assume as most were bearded.

Answer 6

If you research this issue via the Holy text which are the Hadith and Quran you will come to realise that not only do the women get punished but the man should too.

Because these Islamic countries are moving away from these Holy text the tend to change the rules. Boy, girl man women who ever does sex outside marriage should be punished. If not then Allah will punish them on the day of judgment.


The media has influenced our lives people in the Muslim countries want to be 'bady boys'. The more they move away from the Holy text the more the countries are getting worse.

Although the women were not being treated equaly with the previous law, they should have tried another stragedy instead of making it a 'free sex zone'. If every man and women obeyed the Quran and Hadith we wouldnt have this problem

member Imran Waheed on www.yanabi.com
http://www.yanabi.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=18&threadid=25044&highlight_key=y&keyword1=4%20male%20witness%20

These are the 5 things that the Ulema have objected to in the new Bill.

1) Rape (zina bil jabar) has been excluded from hadd, giving powers to the provincial government to reduce punishment in cases of adultery. Section 5 of the clause 20 of the Hudood Ordinance has been abolished in this case.

2) Amendment has been made to qazaf ordinance which exempts male accused from taking part in proceedings of false accusation (liaan).

3) Under another amendment to qazaf, a woman stands absolved of punishment even if she admits her offence voluntarily.

4) Under the new act, powers of the court to take up zina cases have been clipped unless complainant produces four witnesses.

5) An accused absolved in a Hadd case is also exempted from punishment under Taazir.

Taken from The muslim times.


From member Nasar Ahmed on www.yanabi.com
http://www.yanabi.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=18&threadid=25044&highlight_key=y&keyword1=4%20male%20witness%20

Aslam u alaikum,

Researching a little more in relation to this subject..I believe I and many others maybe confused by the Pakistani 'version' of Islamic law.

The Qur'an does not include any direct mention of rape under the general crime of zina' (Quraishi 2000:128). Islamic law in Pakistan requires four adult-male Muslims of good repute as witnesses of the rape or the rapist to confess. Under the Hudood Ordinance law in Pakistan 'if a rape victim cannot prove rape she can be charged with and sentenced for adultery' (ADB:2004:19)

In Shariah law which is based on the consensus [ijma] of the leaders of Islamic scholarship, rape is a separate crime to adultery. The punishment in Islamic law is not what is prescribed in Pakistan under the so called Islamic Hudood ordinance laws in which the victim is punished.


Rape is a hadd crime and warrants public execution in Islamic Law. It based on the following verse in the Qur'an:'the punishment for those who wage war [yuharibuna] against God and his prophet, and perpetuate disorders in the land is: kill or hang them or have a hand on one side and a foot on the other cut off or banish them from the land' [5:33] (Quraishi 2000:129). In the Qur'an there is a clear distinction between the two types of taking something illegally.

A) 'Forcible taking' translated as hiraba

B) 'Stealth taking' translated as sariqa [this is concerned with ordinary theft] (Quraishi 2000:129).

Rape falls under the concept of Hiraba in Islam. Scholars in Islam have held this to mean any crime which involves a 'forcible assault on the people' (Quraishi 2000:129). Therefore rape has nothing to do with Zina.

Hiraba does not require four witnesses in Islamic law to have witnessed the act. Therefore a woman's testimony is enough for a rape case to be investigated. Modern technology also allows medical testing to take place for the victim and the accused. Pakistan has acknowledged hiraba in the law because it is a part of its ordinance. The section about rape is ignored.


If you want to read further use the below link..about half way down the page:-

http://www.islamawareness.net/Asia/Pakistan/position.html

Also have a read in the below link. I cannot believe this home-made Pakistani law was described as 'Islamic law' how unjust and lame :-

http://www.crescentlife.com/articles/social%20issues/rape_laws.htm

A small little quote from the above link:-

A few cases will disturbingly illustrate the concern. In 1982, fifteen-year-old Jehan Mina became pregnant as a result of a reported rape. Lacking the testimony of four eye-witnesses that the intercourse was in fact rape, Jehan was convicted of zina on the evidence of her illegitimate pregnancy (Mina v. State, 1983 P.L.D. Fed. Shariat Ct 183). Her child was born in prison (Mehdi 1990, 25). Later, a similar case caused public outcry and drew public attention to the new law. In 1985, Safia Bibi, a sixteen-year-old nearly blind domestic servant reported that she was repeatedly raped by her landlord/employer and his son, and became pregnant as a result. When she charged the men with rape, the case was dismissed for lack of evidence, as she was the only witness against them. Safia, however, being unmarried and pregnant, was charged with zina and convicted on this evidence (Bibi v. State, 1985 P.L.D. Fed. Shariat Ct. 120).5

Answer 7

BABY forget about ISLAMIC faith

You will have to live in your society, so be christian first. Dont worry about ISLAM it is being taken care of by ALLAH.

Your worry about ISLAM made you choose *** to represent YOU NICHOLAS.

FIRST OF ALL ITS NOT THE WOMAN WHO WILL BRING WITNESS, IT IS THE DUTY OF THE STATE AND COMMUNITY, SECOND OF ALL, DO YOU KNOW THE PENALTY FOR GIVING WRONG WITNESS.

You have obviously not heard the ruling about CURSE. Moreover I am not a ISLAMIC Lawyer, I am sure he will give you LOGICAL answer, I am worried you have chosen DONKEY image as your representative. I am so sorry.