Continues from Part III
[A word of caution: This article contains sexually explicit terms and coarse language that may offend many readers. The author will not take any responsibility in the event any reader may become upset reading this essay. My request to them: please do refrain from reading this essay if you are likely to be offended. You have been forewarned.]
Riza or fosterage by suckling
Have you ever thought of an adult Muslim man marrying an infant (less than two years old) as well as an adult woman who has a suckling baby? What happens if the baby that is married has no one to suckle her (say, she is an orphan) except the adult lactating wife? Of course, the solution in today’s world is to bottle-feed the infant wife with formula milk. However, this may not be the true Islamic solution. Here is the Islamic answer:
Hedaya (ref. 11, p.71) Case of one of two wives suckling the other—IF a man marry an infant and an adult and the latter should give milk to the former, both wives become prohibited with respect to that man [their husband], because if they were to continue united in marriage to him, it would imply the propriety of joint cohabitation with the foster-mother and her foster-daughter, which is prohibited, in the same manner as joint cohabitation with a natural mother and daughter.—IT is to be observed on this occasion , that if the husband should not have had carnal connexion with the adult wife, she is not entitled to any dower—whatever because the separation has proceeded from her, before consummation:-- but the infant has a claim to her half dower, the separation not having proceeded from her.
So far, what I mentioned above relates to an adult man marrying an infant girl. How about an infant boy marrying a grown up girl (nine years and above)? As per Islamic Sharia, there is, of course, no restriction on this practise. The only means by which a child can be prevented from marrying a grown up girl (that is to make him halal to visit her and be with her in privacy) is through a peculiar system in Islam known as RIZA or Rid’a.
The Dictionary of Islam (ref. 6, p.546) defines RIZA thus:
RIZA. A legal term, which means sucking milk from the breast of a woman for a certain time.
The legal definition of RIZA is given in HEDAYA (ref. 11 ) as follows:
RIZA, or fosterage (Ibid, p.67)
Definition of the term—Riza, in its legal sense, means a child suckling milk from the breast of a woman for a certain time, which is termed the period of fosterage.
This is the Islamic name for suckling through fosterage. It is the practice by which a newly born baby is handed over to another woman who is able to suckle the infant. It was (and still is) a practice by the rich Arabs by which they hand over their newly born infants to be suckled by Beduin women. Even Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was suckled, initially, by Thueiba, a slave woman of his uncle Abu Lahab for a very brief period, and then by his foster mother, Halima.
Here is a hadith proclaiming the restrictions by fosterage:
What is haram by birth is also haram by suckling…30.3.15
Malik’s Muwatta: Book 30, Number 30.3.15: Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn Dinar from Sulayman ibn Yasar and from Urwa ibn az-Zubayr from A'isha umm al-muminin, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, " What is haram by birth is haram by suckling
This practice will make the child being suckled to be haram to the foster mother. That is, the child, when he grows up, has unhindered access to his foster mother. It is, as if, the foster mother is the ‘real mother’ of the child. There is no problem with this noble provision, of course. So, where is the trouble? Let us examine the situation up close.
In Islam, a woman can be married at any age even when she is a newly born baby. A foster mother can be any woman, nine years or older, other than her own biological mother. Imagine, a six-month old infant boy is suckled by a foster mother who is slightly above nine years of age. Now, when the infant boy becomes an adult of eighteen years (which is the age of Islamic puberty for male) the foster mother is slightly above twenty-seven years old, still a very youthful age for marriage, love, sex and childbearing. According to the Islamic law, the foster mother is completely forbidden to marry this newly turned adult male. He cannot even marry his foster sister.
Here are a few rules on Islamic suckling or fosterage from the ‘Reliance of the Traveller’, the most authentic Sha’ria book (ref. 8, pp. 575-576)
n12.0 BECOMING UNMARRIAGEABLE KIN BY SUCKLING (RIDA’)
n12.1 An infant becomes the “child” of the female who breast-feeds him (A: in respect to being unable to marry her, to the permissibility of looking at her and being alone with her, and in his ablution (wudu) not being nullified by touching her) when:
(a) the milk comes from a female at least nine years old whether it is occasioned by sexual or something else;
(b) and she breast-feeds a child who is less than two full years old;
(c) in at least five separate breast-feedings (O: a restriction that excludes anything less than five; which is of no consequence. Separate breast-feedings means whatever is commonly acknowledged (def: f4.5) to be separate)
n12.2 In such a case:
(1) It is unlawful for the wet nurse to marry the child and its subsequent descendants (O: by familial relation or by suckling) exclusively (O: exclusively meaning that only the child’s descendants become unlawful for her to marry, not the child’s ancestors (N: or brothers)):
(2) She becomes the child’s “mother,” and it is unlawful for the child to marry her, her ancestors (O: by familial relation or by suckling), her descendants (O: who become as if they were brothers and sisters (O: though the child is not forbidden to marry the latter’s children).
In ahadith we read a few interesting stories about RIZA. Here are some samples.
Aisha’s sister Umm Kulthum suckled Salim ibn Abdullah ibn Umar only three times; that is why it was haram for him to visit Aisha; if suckled ten times by Kulthum then he would be halal for her…30.1.7
Malik’s Muwatta: Book 30, Number 30.1.7: Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Salim ibn Abdullah ibn Umar informed him that A'isha umm al-muminin sent him away while he was being nursed to her sister Umm Kulthum bint Abi Bakr as-Siddiq and said, "Suckle him ten times so that he can come in to see me."
Salim said, "Umm Kulthum nursed me three times and then fell ill, so that she only nursed me three times. I could not go in to see A'isha because Umm Kulthum did not finish for me the ten times."
Ten suckle is required for a boy to be halal to visit a woman…30.1.8
Malik’s Muwatta :Book 30, Number 30.1.8: Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Safiyya bint Abi Ubayd told him that Hafsa, umm al-muminin, sent Asim ibn Abdullah ibn Sad to her sister Fatima bint Umar ibn al-Khattab for her to suckle him ten times so that he could come in to see her. She did it, so he used to come in to see her. (Please note that ten suckling was later abrogated by five suckles)
Malik’s Muwatta: Book 30, Number 30.3.17: Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr ibn Hazm from Amra bint Abd ar-Rahman that A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Amongst what was sent down of the Qur'an was 'ten known sucklings make haram' - then it was abrogated by 'five known sucklings'. When the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, died, it was what is now recited of the Qur'an." Yahya said that Malik said, "One does not act on this."
Needless to say, that in an Islamic paradise, RIZA will be a perfectly rightful method to solve the problem of milk supply for the babies. Now, imagine what will happen to the marriage market if most women give up their infants to their foster mothers for a limited period of time! The marriage market will come to a halt, no joke. Most potential suitors will be forbidden for each other due to RIZA or suckling by fosterage, isn’t it?
Of course, I cited an extreme scenario of Islamic fosterage. Modern world is not at all dependent on RIZA or suckling by fosterage. We have formula milk for those infants whose mothers are unable to breast-feed them for one reason or other. However, I could not find any Sha’ria rule where bottle-feeding can be used as an alternative to RIZA. See, in the seventh century medieval period, there was no baby formula milk, nor was there any concept of bottle-feeding as an alternative to suckling. Therefore, those Bedouin Arabs resorted to RIZA to solve the mother’s milk supply problem.
An interesting argument will be to know if a lactating woman can suckle an adult man or not? Tauba! Tauba! What a preposterous idea! Islam can never allow such a thing. It is a thought only provoked by Satan, the Islamists will declare. It is true that we find no mention of legitimacy of suckling an adult man or an adult woman in Sha’ria. Neither there is any mention of its illegality. In a few ahdith, we find mind-boggling episodes on RIZA. Let us review a few of them.
A woman can suckle a young boy so that he becomes haram for her…8.3426
Sahih Muslim: Book 008, Number 3426: Ibn Abu Mulaika reported that al-Qasim b. Muhammad b. Abu Bakr had narrated to him that 'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported that Sahla bint Suhail b. 'Amr came to Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) and said: Messenger of Allah, Salim (the freed slave of Abu Hudhaifa) is living with us in our house, and he has attained (puberty) as men attain it and has acquired knowledge (of the sex problems) as men acquire, whereupon he said: Suckle him so that he may become unlawful (in regard to marriage) for you He (Ibn Abu Mulaika) said: I refrained from (narrating this hadith) for a year or so on account of fear. I then met al-Qasim and said to him: You narrated to me a hadith which I did not narrate (to anyone) afterwards. He said: What is that? I informed him, whereupon he said: Narrate it on my authority that 'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) had narrated that to me.
Sex with slave-girls/captive women is a perfectly valid Islamic way for a Muslim man to satisfy his sexual appetite. How about his wife? No, his wife can never indulge in such sex orgies. Therefore, it is quite natural for the unfortunate wife to be jealous (read mad) to prevent her husband from indulging in such vulgarity. Can RIZA be successfully applied here? Well, an extremely jealous woman did just that. She went to the young adult slave-girl and suckled her with her breast. This made the slave-girl haram to her husband. What a novel idea it was to prevent her amorous husband from having further intercourse with the slave-girl! Alas! It did not work out well for her. Who received the punishment? Yes, it was the lactating wife of the Muslim man! Hazrat Umar asked her to be flogged, thus protecting the right of her husband to have unhindered sex orgy with his slave-girl. It sounds mind boggling, isn’t it? Here is the story from Malik’s Muwatta, the founder of
Umar told a man to beat his wife for suckling a slave-girl with whom he used to have sex; kinship by suckling is only by the suckling of the young…30.2.13
Malik’s Muwatta: Book 30, Number 30.2.13: Yahya related to me from Malik that Abdullah ibn Dinar said, "A man came to Abdullah ibn Umar when I was with him at the place where judgments were given and asked him about the suckling of an older person. Abdullah ibn Umar replied, 'A man came to Umar ibn al-Khattab and said, 'I have a slave-girl and I used to have intercourse with her. My wife went to her and suckled her. When I went to the girl, my wife told me to watch out, because she had suckled her!' Umar told him to beat his wife and to go to his slave-girl because kinship by suckling was only by the suckling of the young.' "
Is it possible to extend the concept of RIZA to a husband and his wife/s?
Wastagferullah! Wastagferullah! Naujubillah! No sane Muslim can even think of committing this despicable act, Islamists will say. However, what we find in the Holy Scripture is quite upsetting, to say the least.
If you drink your wife’s milk than that does not make the relationship haram, there is only kinship by suckling in the first two years…30.2.14
Malik’s Muwatta:Book 30, Number 30.2.14: Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that a man said to Abu Musa al-Ashari, "I drank some milk from my wife's breasts and it went into my stomach." Abu Musa said, "I can only but think that she is haram for you." Abdullah ibn Masud said, "Look at what opinion you are giving the man." Abu Musa said, "Then what do you say?" Abdullah ibn Masud said, "There is only kinship by suckling in the first two years." Abu Musa said, "Do not ask me about anything while this learned man is among you."
Who was Abdullah ibn Masud? He was among the closest ten companions of Muhammad who was promised paradise by him. Every word uttered by ibn Masud is considered to be completely authentic. In fact, his position could be easily considered next to Muhammad. Now, what did ibn Masud say in the above hadith? Readers, please think about its implication. Yes, a husband can drink his wife’s milk and still can remain her sex partner. Strange Islamic rules! Here is another silly hadith:
It is permissible to have intercourse with a suckling lady…8.3391
Shahih Muslim:Book 008, Number 3391: Judaima daughter of Wahb al-Asadiyya (Allah be pleased with her) reported that she heard Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: I intended to prohibit cohabitation with a suckling woman until I considered that the Romans and the Persians do it without any injury being caused to their children thereby. (Imam Muslim said: Khalaf reported it from Judamat al-'Asadiyya, but the correct wording is what has been stated by Yahya.)
The reason why suckling the milk of a woman by her adult husband is quite all right is explained in the following lines by Malik. When the adult drinks the milk of his wife, the milk is treated as a food and not as foster milk! This is indeed the bizarre Islamic rule, to say the least.
Suckling is for the first two years, even if it is only a drop; whatever is after two years is only food that is eaten…30.1.10, 11
Malik’s Muwatta: Book 30, Number 30.1.11: Yahya related to me from Malik that Yahya ibn Said said that he heard Said ibn al-Musayyab say, "Suckling is only while the child is in the cradle. If not, it does not cause flesh and blood relations." Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that he said, "Suckling however little or much, makes haram. Kinship by suckling makes men mahram." Yahya said that he had heard Malik say, "Suckling, however little or much when it is in the first two years, makes haram. As for what is after the first two years, little or much, it does not make anything haram. It is like food."
And finally, we have this gem of all ahadith. Please read the following hadith and decide whom shall you bash first before you call me an Islam basher.
Mohammad disliked withdrawing the penis before semen was discharged; he also disliked having intercourse with a woman suckling a baby; but these were not forbidden…34.4210
Sunaan Abu Dawud: Book 34, Number 4210: Narrated Abdullah ibn Mas'ud: The Prophet of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) disliked ten things: Yellow colouring, meaning khaluq, dyeing grey hair, trailing the lower garment, wearing a gold signet-ring, a woman decking herself before people who are not within the prohibited degrees, throwing dice, using spells except with the Mu'awwidhatan, wearing amulets, withdrawing the penis before the semen is discharged, in the case of a woman who is wife or not a wife, and having intercourse with a woman who is suckling a child; but he did not declare them to be prohibited.
Sex with captives
Women taken as captives in a war
Islam permits unlimited and boundless sex with women taken as prisoners in a war. This was (or is) the practice of the Muslims, including Muhammad during the ‘golden’ days of early Islam. The Qur’an permits a Muslim man to have this kind of coerced sex in the following verses:
004.024 Also (prohibited are) women already married, except those whom your right hands possess: Thus hath Allah ordained (Prohibitions) against you: Except for these, all others are lawful, provided ye seek (them in marriage) with gifts from your property,- desiring chastity, not lust, seeing that ye derive benefit from them, give them their dowers (at least) as prescribed; but if, after a dower is prescribed, agree Mutually (to vary it), there is no blame on you, and Allah is All-knowing, All-wise.
Sex with captive women and slave women is permitted…23:1-6
023.001 The believers must (eventually) win through,- 023.002 Those who humble themselves in their prayers; 023.003 Who avoid vain talk; 023.004 Who are active in deeds of charity; 023.005 Who abstain from sex, 023.006 Except with those joined to them in the marriage bond, or (the captives) whom their right hands possess,- for (in their case) they are free from blame,
Sex with wives, captives, slaves O.K....70:25-34
070.025 For the (needy) who asks and him who is prevented (for some reason from asking); 070.026 And those who hold to the truth of the Day of Judgment; 070.027 And those who fear the displeasure of their Lord,- 070.028 For their Lord's displeasure is the opposite of Peace and Tranquillity;- 070.029 And those who guard their chastity, 070.030 Except with their wives and the (captives) whom their right hands possess,- for (then) they are not to be blamed, 070.031 But those who trespass beyond this are transgressors;- 070.032 And those who respect their trusts and covenants; 070.033 And those who stand firm in their testimonies; 070.034 And those who guard (the sacredness) of their worship;- 070.035 Such will be the honoured ones in the Gardens (of Bliss).
The above verses make it absolutely obvious that a Muslim man, whether married or not, can have unhindered and limitless sex with captive women. In those verses the meaning of ‘right hand’s possession is either slaves (female) or female captives, that is prisoners (women) taken in a war.
Who are the captives of war in the present days? One does not need to go too far to find this out. Since Islam is at perpetual war with all the infidels, all the women living in infidel countries are, in fact, fall under this category, at least in theory. This means that a Muslim man (whether married or not), while living in an infidel country, can sleep (that is, have sex) with any number of infidel women without even having the slightest fear of committing Zina (fornication) or adultery. Many Islamists will even boastfully acknowledge that these infidel women should consider themselves to be lucky enough to taste the sweetness of intercourse with a Muslim man! This is the reason why when I found some Pucca Mussulmans in a massage parlour in Thailand, and then I asked them about what they did with those Thai sex kittens, they told me unhesitatingly that it is permissible to have sex with Thai women as they are not Muslims (they were sex slaves, because in a world, where Muslims are oppressed everywhere, they are at war with infidels wherever they are)! It is a case of Ganimatter maal – a Bengali-Arabic term often used by rustic mullahs in
No punishment for Zina or adultery committed in a foreign country—(ref. 11, p185)
Punishment is not incurred by committing whoredom in foreign country.—If a Mussulman be guilty of whoredom in a foreign country, or in the territory of the rebels, and afterwards return into a Mussulman state, punishment is not to be meted out on him, on the plea that a man, in embracing the Mussulman faith, binds himself to all the obligations thereof, wherever he may be. The arguments of our doctors on this occasion are twofold; --FIRST, the Prophet has said, “punishment is not to be inflicted in a foreign land; “—SECONDLY, the design of the institution of punishment is that it may operate as a prevention or warning; now the Mussulman magistrate has no authority in a foreign country, wherefore if punishment were instituted upon a person committing whoredom in a foreign country, yet the institution would be useless; for the use of the institution is that punishment may be executed; and as the magistrate has no authority in a foreign country, the execution is impossible; whence it appears that the commission of whoredom in a foreign country does not occasion punishment there; and if this person should afterwards come from the foreign territory into a Mussulman state, punishment cannot be executed upon him; because as his whoredom did not occasion punishment at the time of its being committed, it will not afterwards occasion.
In page 59 of Dictionary of Islam (ref.6) it is written:
CONCUBINE. Arabic Surriyah, pl. sarari. The Muhammadan religion appears to give almost unlimited license to concubinage, provided the woman be a slave, and not a free Muslim woman.
These female slaves must be either (1) taken captive in war, (2) or purchased by money, (3) or the descendants of slaves. Even married women, if taken in war, are according to an injunction of the Qur’an, Surah 4:28, entirely at the disposal of the Muslim conqueror. “(Unlawful to you are married women, except as such as your right hand possess (i.e. taken in war, or purchased slaves).” This institution of concubinage is founded upon the example of Muhammad himself, who took Rihanah, the Jewess as his concubine after the battle with the Banu Quraizah (A.H. 5), and also Maria the Copt, who was sent him as a slave by the Governor of
Quoting Jalalan, one of the foremost interpreter of the Qur’an, the dictionary of Islam writes further (ref.6, pp.595-600)
(1) They are allowed to take possession of married women if they are slaves. Surah iv.28: “Unlawful for you are…..married women; save such as your right hands possess.”
(On this verse al-Jalalan the commentators say: “that is, it is lawful for them to cohabit with those women whom you have made captive, even though their husbands be alive in the Daru’l-Harb.”) (Readers, please note the verse iv.28 in the Dictionary of Islam is verse
The Islamists often give us the impression that many Jihadith joined the Ghazawa (raid for women and plunder) of Muhammad by falling in love with the divinity and spiritual attraction of early Islam. When we read the biography of Muhammad, we find completely different reasons for these Jihadith to join in the jihad. The greatest attraction of Muhammad’s hordes of marauders was actually sex and plunder! It is as simple as that. You see, whenever the Muslims waged war on the infidels, the Muslim soldiers would round up the enemy women as captives. The old and infirm women were mostly killed to rid them of their burden. The Jihadith kept alive only the young and sexy infidels women to gratify their limitless sex urge or drive, and, afterwards to sell them as slaves or to raise money by ransoming them to their relatives if were lucky to be alive. Here is an interesting reading from Ibn Ishak’s biography of Muhammad. This episode is from Tabuk expedition (ref. 10, pp.602-603).
After the Hunayn and Taif battle, Muhammad stayed in
009.049 Among them is (many) a man who says: "Grant me exemption and draw me not into trial." Have they not fallen into trial already? and indeed Hell surrounds the Unbelievers (on all sides).
In many Ghazwas, Muhammad himself took captive women as his wives/concubines. Besides reserving the prettiest and the sexiest amongst the captive women for himself, he even distributed some women to his sons in laws, Hazrat Ali and Hazrat Uthman. Here is a hadith that unmistakably shows how hungry Hazrat Ali was to have sex with captive/slave women, while his father-in-law, Muhammad, himself encouraged him to indulge in such act knowing full well that his (Muhammad’s) own daughter, Fatima was the wife of Ali. In one sense, Muhammad was a very liberal person in that day and age. In this day of sexual glasnost, I would like to know how many fathers-in-law would allow their sons-in-law to have extra-marital relationship. Not a fat chance!
Ali had sex with booty captive women 5.59.637
Sahih Bukhari: Volume 5, Book 59, Number 637 Narrated Buraida: The Prophet sent 'Ali to Khalid to bring the Khumus (of the booty) and I hated Ali, and 'Ali had taken a bath (after a sexual act with a slave-girl from the Khumus). I said to Khalid, "Don't you see this (i.e. Ali)?" When we reached the Prophet I mentioned that to him. He said, "O Buraida! Do you hate Ali?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Do you hate him, for he deserves more than that from the Khumus."
That the capture of sexy and beautiful women were one of the main motivating factors for joining in the Jihad by the early followers of Muhammad, is clearly depicted in the Sirat Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishak. The old, ugly and not so sexy captive women were burdensome to the Muslim invaders and as such they were not desirable. In this most authentic biographical record of Muhammad, we read that during the Hunayn battle, an old lady was let off because her mouth was cold and her breast flat, she could not give birth and her milk was not rich. So, the Jihadi took six camels in exchange for this old lady (ref.10, p593).
This was not an isolated case. It was the common practice amongst the Jihadith then; that is, to exchange the ugly ducklings and the old women for camels. Further proof of this greed for sexy female flesh can be had from the episodes on the siege of Taif. The Thaqif people inhabited Taif. Their women were famous for their beauty and vivaciousness. Many Jihadith joined in this siege simply to have plunder and to have sex with these women. One Jihadi admitted that he did not come to fight the Thaqif but to get a girl to trade (or to make her pregnant) because the Thaqif people produced intelligent children (ibid, p.590). Muhammad himself took Raihana, a pretty young thing, who happened to be a married Jewish woman captive (after the slaughter male captives of Bani Quraiza) as his concubine when she refused to marry him. As written before, he even presented many of his friends as well as his own sons-in-law (Ali and Othman) with pretty young captive women to be used as sex slaves.
We learn from Ibn Ishak’s biography of Muhammad that when the Muslim soldiers defeated the B.Hawazin, they captured 6 000 (yes, you heard me right -- six thousand) women and children. It was one of the biggest and the best catch of female flesh for the Islami Jihadith. Most of the beautiful and sexy captives were distributed to the Jihadith. Muhammad gave Rayta, a beautiful girl to his son in law (and cousin brother), Hazrat Ali and gave Zaynab, another beautiful catch to his other sons in law, Hazrat Uthman. Hazrat Umor also received a share of such female flesh. But he preferred to give it to his favourite son, Abdulllah to enjoy her at his will (ibid, p.592-593).
You talk about morality and good judgment! This was the respect and kindness that the Prophet of “mercy” had for the helpless captive women! Besides Raihana, Muhammad also took Jurawyirah (from the raid on Bani al Mustaliq) and Saffiya (a Bani Nadir Jewess from the raid on Khaibar) as his mistresses. Please note that most of Muhammad’s mistresses or concubines were either Jews (like Raihana, Juwayriya and Saffiya) or Christians like Mariya, the Coptic sex slave. Islamic apologists can’t wait to announce that Muhammad was so merciful that he married those helpless women to free them from being sold as slaves. They will even let us believe that those hapless women, whose relatives were killed, were actually very happy to marry Muhammad as they fell in love head over heels with him after the slaughter!
Continues on Part V
Source: http://www.islam-watch.org/AbulKasem/SexInIslam/sex_and_sexuality_in_islam.htm
Do you have the right content for Quran 4:28?
ReplyDeleteYou are right, it is Q 4:24
ReplyDeletemany thanks