My respond to the so called "Houses of Death" to women in Islam:
Every time the topic of punishment in Islam is raised, the Anti-Islamic debaters always try to prove that Islam is not a fair religion to women in punishment. They bring the Noble Verses 4:15- 16 as a proof. The following verses are about Gays and Lesbians:
Let us look at Ayat (verses) 4:15-18 "(15). If any of your women are guilty of lewdness, Take the evidence of four (Reliable) witnesses from amongst you against them; and if they testify, confine them to houses until death do claim them, or Allah ordain for them some (other) way.
(16). If two men among you are guilty of lewdness, punish them both. If they repent and mend, Leave them alone; for Allah is Oft-returning, Most Merciful.
(17). Allah accept the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and repent soon afterwards; to them will Allah turn in mercy: For Allah is full of knowledge and wisdom.
(18). Of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil, until death faces one of them, and he says, "Now have I repented indeed;" nor of those who die rejecting Faith: for them have We prepared a punishment most grievous."
The above Noble Verses (4:15-18) that are used by the Anti-Islamics who try to prove that Islam is a harsh religion on women actually prove that they are working hard to make up lies about Islam that hold no truth.
Few points to notice:
In 4:15 above, we see the Noble Quran makes it almost impossible to prove a woman guilty of lewdness, because the court needs at least four reliable witnesses to prove that she actually committed a sin by having illegal sex. The reason for that is because Islam recognizes the woman’s honor as something very serious and holy, and it must not be tampered with or joked with. The woman is innocent until 4 witnesses are presented to prove that she is guilty of sin. Islam takes any charge against women very seriously and doesn't forgive those who lie about it or even don't look 100% truthful about it; "And those who launch a charge against chaste women, and produce not four witnesses (to support their allegations),- flog them with eighty stripes; and reject their evidence ever after: for such men are wicked transgressors. (The Noble Quran, 24:4)"
In 4:16 above, we see that the Noble Quran orders the punishment of those men who are guilty of lewdness and orders the Muslims to not harass them after the punishment if they repent. If the two men are witnessed by one man only or had been caught, then they get punished. Back then 1400 years ago, they would get flogged 40 to 100 stripes depending on what they had been caught on.
Let us look at the following Saying from Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him:
Narrated 'Abdur-Rahman bin Jabir: "On the authority of others, that the Prophet said, 'No Punishment exceeds the flogging of the ten stripes, except if one is guilty of a crime necessitating a legal punishment prescribed by Allah.' (Translation of Sahih Bukhari, Punishment of Disbelievers at War with Allah and His Apostle, Volume 8, Book 82, Number 832)"
As I said, in the laws of Islam, the flogging would be between 40 to 100 stripes depending on what type or degree of sexual crime the two gay men have committed. The punishment of 100 stripes law is agreed upon to be applied to the gay men in the case of "sexual intercourse". Allah Almighty said:
"The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication,- flog each of them with a hundred stripes: Let not compassion move you in their case, in a matter prescribed by God, if ye believe in God and the Last Day: and let a party of the Believers witness their punishment. (The Noble Quran, Noble Verse 24:2)"
Now in case of Noble Verse 4:15, when the woman is proven guilty in 4:15, then her punishment is to stay at her husband’s house. Her husband must not divorce her at first and must work it out with her "confine them to houses until death do claim them, or Allah ordain for them some (other) way. (4:15)" Anti-Islamics claim that "confine them to houses until death do claim them" means that husbands must imprison the wives in the houses until they die. Well this is a false and bogus claim, because (1) In Arabic, the word which was wrongly translated as "Confine" is "Fa-Amsikuhunna" which means keep them does not mean at all to imprison them. The word "Confine them" in Arabic is "Fa-Asjinohunna" or "Fa-Ahbisohunna". The word "Fa-Amsikuhunna" which was used in the Noble Verse 4:15 only means "keep them" and not imprison them.
(2) The second part of the sentence "…or Allah ordain for them some (other) way. (4:15)" Means in Arabic "Aou yaj-aala Allah lahunna sabeela" which means that if they repent then Allah Almighty will let them go on their ways by allowing the men to either divorce them or keep them as their wives. This is something that both spouses have to workout and decide on. If the woman was not married, then this verse applies to the parents or the guardians.
Finally, (3) In (4:17) above we see that Allah Almighty accepts the repentance of those who do evil "Allah accept the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance…(4:17)", which totally disproves the Anti-Islamic point about imprisoning the women in their houses until they die, because Allah Almighty forgives those (men and women) who repent and He accepts their repentance.
It is very unfortunate that the Anti-Islamics especially from among the Arab Christians who speak Arabic fluently to try and twist the Arabic Expression that mean something in Arabic but totally mean something else in other languages to support their lies. Did you know that in Arabic the word "no" could mean "yes" in some sentences, and speaking of the past could actually mean that you are speaking of the present?
The complexity of the Arabic language and its literature makes it easy to make up a lie about the Noble Quran and to try to confuse the non Arabic Muslims. It is also unfortunate that Sheik (Minister) Abdallah Yusuf Ali who translated the Noble Quran from his national language in Pakistan (Urdu) to English does not know how to speak proper Arabic and had missed out on these types of expressions in the Noble Quran.
Conclusion:
Islam is a merciful religion on both the men and the women. Islam sees the high value of the woman’s honor and respects it by ordering the court to bring at least 4 reliable witness against the her or else the case would be dropped. Allah Almighty loves us so much that he accepts our repentance and forgives us.
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