The Sura I have chosen to analyse for my assignment is the ‘Light Sura’. The reason I chose this Sura is that it deals with many social issues that are still very evident in Islamic life today. It gives a very detailed view of what God expected of its followers throughout the Sura and what punishment would be handed to them if they did something unwilling to Gods orders.
Throughout the Sura a strong message is sent to the believers of Islam. A woman is used as an example of someone who has sinned in a terrible and unlawful way and this is described throughout the text. In my analysis of the Sura I am going to use key verses that give a clear indication of what the passage is about and what clear messages is sent down from god. This is a medinan Sura that relates to the social values in the Islamic world. One of the main themes of this Sura is evolved around many regulations and laws of the Muslim community such as, marriage, obedience, modesty and the main on which is highlighted throughout this passage adultery.
Muhammad’s wife Aisha was falsely accused of adultery which was associated as a huge crime in the Islamic world. Punishment was very harsh on anyone found guilty of these crimes, however these strict ways also sent a message to the Islamic community that believers should never step out of line. This is clearly highlighted in verse 24:2, “The adulterer and the adulteress scourge ye each one of them (with) a hundred stripes. And let not pity for the twain withhold you from obedience to Allah, if ye believe in Allah and the Last Day. And let a party of believers witness their punishment1”. I think this punishment suggests that everyone is equal in the eyes of Allah and although Aisha is an honourable woman and Muhammad’s wife, she is still punished the same. It is important in the eyes of Allah and the prophets that women are honourable and they are making an example of it in this Sura.
It’s very clear that this Sura focuses on the social values in the community and another example of this is shown in verse 24:32, “Marry off the single among you and those of your male and female slaves who are (fit for marriage). If they are poor god, God will provide for them from his bounty: Gods bounty is infinite and he is all knowing2”. It is Muhammad’s job to preach these messages to the Islamic community in the hope that followers will listen to Gods message. Through that verse the message is clear that god wants men and woman to marry, but through marriage comes stability and maturity. It is evident that he wants people to marry so they aren’t idle all the time and so they won’t cause trouble in the community. Simarily in verse 24:33, “those who are unable to marry should keep chaste until God gives them enough out of his bounty. If any of your slaves wish to pay for their freedom, make a contract with them, and give them some of the wealth that God has given you. Do not force your slave girls into prostitution, when they themselves wish to remain honourable, in your quest for short term gains of this world, although, if they are forced, God will be forgiving and merciful to them3”. This verse relates a lot to the career of Muhammad from when he grew up in Mecca. During this time, tribes had a lot of slaves working for them and they were usually mistreated. Prostitution was a way for young woman getting through life as they could not get married. Muhammad sends a strong message in this text as he tries to preach to the owners of the slaves that it is against Gods teachings that this sort of behaviour should happen in this religion.
This is a very smart message from Allah as it encourages people to marry and decreases the chances of trouble and violence by the Islamic followers.
Muhammad is Allah’s messenger and it is shown throughout the passage that he wants to keep the community together by reinforcing the values from the place (Mecca) they came from. Muhammad was born and raised in Mecca but moved to Medina. This sura relates a lot to the career of Muhammad as he brought followers to Medina when he moved. These were the people who emigrated in God’s way.
At that time there were a lot of tribal wars happening due to divisions imposed by leaders. Muhammad was part of the Banu Hashim tribe and according to (Cook, 2000) “the rival tribe Banu Abd Shams imposed a boycott which the pagans for some two or three years refused intermarriage or commercial dealings with the Banu Hashim’s until such time as they came to their senses in the matter of Muhammad4”. However many members of these groups converted to Muhammad’s religion. It is important to note that in this sura, the message is very clear to Muhammad’s converts that there are laws to follow if you want to be part of the religion. I think it shows that Muhammad’s past is evident in this passage by his teaching.
Another important piece of information highlighted throughout the Sura is to do with the one God phenomenon. It is repeated time and time throughout the Sura that “God is of all knowing and doing”. This is important to the career of Muhammad as he had to preach this to his followers on a daily basis that there is one God and he is all knowing of your good and wrong doings. This small but clever piece of writing made sure that the message of this Sura was clearly shown, as Muhammad’s followers would realise that God can see all your wrong doings which would permit them from thinking of committing a wrong deed as writing at the end of the Sura, verse 24: 64, “God has full knowledge of everything5”.
It is very clear from above that the career of Muhammad is evident throughout the Sura by the teachings relating back to the prophets past. In this Sura, Muhammad is preaching about how to become a good Islamic follower and the punishments that will happen if followers lean away from the laws.
Bibliography:
Cook, Michael. Muhammad (Oxford 1996) Chapters 2 - 6.
Fouracre, Paul. The New Cambridge Medieval History, volume 1.
Light Sura, P. 220-226. http://www.alim.org/library/quran/surah/english/24/PIK accessed 21st of October 2013.
Bibliography: Cook, Michael. Muhammad (Oxford 1996) Chapters 2 - 6. Fouracre, Paul. The New Cambridge Medieval History, volume 1. Light Sura, P. 220-226. http://www.alim.org/library/quran/surah/english/24/PIK accessed 21st of October 2013.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
This book elaborately discusses numerous inaccurate depictions of Muslim society. However, the central stereotype, which is being challenged throughout the text, relates to Islamic women and how they are seen as limited by their religious beliefs. It is important that Wilson…
- 305 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
This entry is in responses to Lila Abu-Lughod’s Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?I find this essay to be incredibly important. It challenges the Western notion that women of the Muslim fate are inherently subjugated and oppressed.…
- 125 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
In the East and Western European societies the principle of the treatment of women was that women were less than their male counterparts and that they were suppose to act as they are just the background and have no voice. In documents 2 and 3 there are negative views on how women should be treated in their society. In document 2 Jewish Commentary on women was that they would try and recite the words of Grace, which is typically the men’s job in the family. They are trying to determine weather women should have the right to say Grace because it says that they do not understand what the words of Grace are and that their obligation to god is fulfilled. In document 3 from the legal code from Byzantine Empire where they though that women should no be accounted as witnesses and that they could not be dishonorable in front of a man. Also, they should be dressed modestly and virtuously and they think that women being able to be witnesses give them the privilege to speak more that they should. As a witness they believe that it is talking offense to a male’s role in their society. In part of the Muslim religion they believe that young children and slaves appear before their leaders and people naked exposing their entire body, and that leaders get their food served by more than 20 slave girls naked in front of everyone. This implies that…
- 1089 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
Many of the verses of the Qur’an suggest good values that people would have wanted in their life. According to Document B, “...on these, both men and women, God will bestow forgiveness and rich recompense.” Every idea and aspect of the Qur’an refers to not only men but women as well. The verse also states that there is a reward for those who submit to God and have faith. The reward is Paradise. The laws of the Qur’an state that followers of Islam must be devout, charitable, chaste, non-violent, and forgiving (Doc B). The Qur’an also states that all human life is important and…
- 495 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
45)! Women were not allowed to hold any governmental or social positions, nor were they allowed much freedom. Their only purposes in life were to bear children and keep up the home. If a Mesopotamian lady was found guilty of adultery, the punishment could be as severe as death! However, if a man was found guilty, there was no punishment at all. In East Asia, patriarchal society was extremely dominant, and increased as time went by and with the development of the large independent states (p. 125). As time does however, some changed and some remained the same. During the later postclassical and early middle ages, women had gained more strength and influence. In Islamic society, the Koran gave them more rights and security, but not complete equality with men. Muhammad gave an example for…
- 735 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Chapter four of Veiled Sentiments showed why sexual modesty is essential to a women’s honor. The Bedouins are much more enthusiastic with the birth of a boy over a birth of a girl. These people would rejoice for a boy and mourn for a girl. I understand this is their way of life and this is within their culture but if girls were never born, then who would give birth to any boys later on in life? Men are very important to a tribe because its strength measured by its number of men. As a whole, women and men share this preference for the birth of a son, but women are very much so emotionally connected with their daughters and rely on them to help with housework. There are various symbols for both women and men. Women are linked with modesty, dependency, rain, life, etc. Men are linked to honor, strength, and even death. They are linked to death because males are the only ones allowed to slaughter an animal. If a woman finds an animal she wishes to have slaughtered, she must hold it and run to find a man.…
- 800 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
There is also a rule on which women are to be veiled and which are not, and the punishment for those who where a veil when not allowed is harsh ( I.40). So, married women and daughters were seen as something to be covered from other men when out. Meanwhile, the rest of the code from the excerpt are more specific to a woman’s behavior when a man is involved, some more so in cases of sexual encounters. There is a rule against women damaging a man’s testicle or faced harsh punishment, while one also for men if they hit a woman to a point she miscarries which shows some women suffered from miscarriages at the hands of men (I.8, I. 21). As far as sex life, it is understood that women were not allowed to have sex outside of marriage or faced being put to death by their husbands while if raped they were protected by law (I.12, I.15). Based of the Code, it is also known that widows and divorcees may not be left anything by their husbands, and as far as…
- 441 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
The belief, common among non-Arab Americans, that Arabic families are oppressive and dominated by violent fathers who mistreat their wives and children, has been documented in numerous sources (e.g. Suleiman, 1988, Al-Mughni, 1993). This is probably not unexpected given the struggle to fit traditional Islam with expanding women’s rights throughout the Muslim world (Al-Mughni, 1993). Despite theological interpretations of the Qu’ran that argue for equality between the sexes (e.g. Engineer, 2004) the issue of sexual equality remains contentious. Accounts of honor killings and other acts of violent oppression against women (Goodwin, 2002) in Muslim countries fuel the image of Muslim and Arabic men as hostile and violent toward women (although other women assist in many of these incidents).…
- 3406 Words
- 14 Pages
Powerful Essays -
We can observe the differences in marriage bonds between different religions such as a Christian marriage and a Muslim marriage in the passage “The Battle of the Sexes in Christianity and Islam”. In the Christian faith their religion considers women to be the origin of obedience. It is quoted in the text “Wives, be subject to your husbands because when harmony prevails, the children are raised well, the household is kept in order… and great benefits, both for families and for states results…” (180). It is shown in this passage wives are the main cause for having their family kept in order although they could not do this independently without their husbands. When it is said “husband and wife are one flesh” this refers to a Christian…
- 436 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Learning Team A will use several research methods including text, internet and other methods to explore the humanities and the effects and developments that the humanities of the Early, High and Late Middle ages had on society. We have made some very interesting findings and come up with some intriguing conclusions. The findings are most definitely in condensed form for the simplicity of our assignment, although if given an unbridled word count, surely we would demonstrate volumes of text form such interesting periods.…
- 2238 Words
- 9 Pages
Powerful Essays -
By reading, it can be hard to tell if someone is actually implying verses trying to teach the reader a moral or story. Personally, I believe that the author may have implied that women were to be submissive because of a previous story he had heard regarding Adam and Eve. In this essay, I want to reflect the various authors, scholars, and history that may go in the favor of my thoughts on the matter.…
- 624 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Hollister, C. Warren, Joe W. Leedom, Marc A. Meyer, David S. Spear. "Medieval Europe: A Short Sourcebook". The McGraw-Hill Companies. 1997.…
- 985 Words
- 4 Pages
Powerful Essays -
In this essay, we will use the Bible to understand the role of women in the…
- 1959 Words
- 8 Pages
Powerful Essays -
The purpose of this essay is to analyse S. Rushdie's Good Advice Is Rarer Than Rubies from feminist perspective. To fully understand the views that Rushdie exhibited, with respect to feminist approach , it's important to notice the contrast between men's expectations about women in Islamic culture and the unforeseen behaviour of Miss Rehana, claiming her freedom.…
- 737 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Women are one of the most precious creations of God. When this word comes up in mind, several images start playing in our imagination. It can be an image of a loving and caring mother, or it can be a mysterious face behind which there may be a hidden love, care or devotion. From the very beginning of the history and till now, in every religious book and in stories and novels we have seen many different roles of women. In every religion, women are awarded the position of supreme dignity. It is said, “Heaven for a child lies under the feet of the mother.” But in reality we can see a very opposite picture.…
- 1311 Words
- 6 Pages
Better Essays