On 10/27/05, Susan Maneck <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > "If Banu Qurayzah was under Muhammad's (saaws) "watch" and you believe > Muhamad was a Manifestation of God, then even if the religion of Islam > never existed, Bahais should have to come to terms with explaining the > ethics and morality of such an action. But that's not the route Bahais > take. Instead Bahais tend to argue that it was under a different law > and a different situation, as if the moral value of a human life was > different now and then."
Susan: > The ethics and morality of the situation *were* different then. How did they change? (I don't mean, "what was the change?", I mean "What was the process by which they changed?") Both as a > Baha'i and as a historian I realize I can't project my own values back on > the far past. I don't think Muhammad was guilty of any sin because He > married a young girl. But if that was done today I would condemn it. The problem with what you are saying is that "it" is different in both cases. The circumstances were different in both cases. The society was different. The expectations were different. The consequences were different. In fact the act itself is different. Muhammad marrying Aishah was a unique event. > I > realize that Muslims take the opposite position. Where do you get that from? We've already had this discussion before. Our society is different now. I don't think a Muslim needs to convert to the Bahai faith to be able to say that today maybe people should get married at an older age than they did 1000 years ago. > If Muhammad treated a > nine-year old girl as an adult, then this should be the age of > majority for > women for all time. I think you have a really crude idea about Islamic law. Scholars who arrive at legal rulings ideally take into account many different considerations before evaluating an action. It is not just about whipping out a single hadith or a single verse of the Quran and slapping it over every situation like wallpaper. Even in the time of the companions they didn't interpret the laws that way. Rulings are also based on considering the specific factors related to the specific case including public interest, and the customs of the day. For example, in Maliki fiqh scholars look at: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Abewley/usul.html 1.The Book of Allah 2. The Sunna 3. Fatwas of the Companions 4. Fatwas of the Followers (Tabi'un) 5. Consensus (Ijma') 6. The Practice of the People of Madina 7. Analogy (Qiyas) 8. Istihsan (Discretion) 9. Istishab (Presumption of Continuity) 10. al-Masalih al-Mursala (Public Interest) 11. adh-Dhara'i' (Means) 12. 'Adat (Customs) and 'Urf (Customary Usage) -Gilberto The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments thereto ("e-mail") is sent by the Johnson County Community College ("JCCC") and is intended to be confidential and for the use of only the individual or entity named above. The information may be protected by federal and state privacy and disclosures acts or other legal rules. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are notified that retention, dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error please immediately notify JCCC by email reply and immediately and permanently delete this e-mail message and any attachments thereto. Thank you. __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:archive@mail-archive.com Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Public - http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.net New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu
