Annotated Bibliography 5 sources/paragraphs

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Summary

In order to ascertain some of the facts concerning the relationship of early childhood supervision to mental illness, all first admissions to Ohio state mental hospitals for the 1952 fiscal year were analyzed in terms of menal dis- order and type of early supervision. The following persons or agents were con- sidered as representing particular types of early supervision during the forma- tive years in the personality development of the individual: parents, mother alone, father alone, mother remarried, father remarried, relatives, foster par- ents, and institution. Besides parents (together), only mother alone, mother remarried, and relatives were found to be type of early supervision statistically significant with reference to rates of mental illness and particular kinds of mental illness. Such findings seem to be of special significance with reference to schizophrenia.

Because this study is actuarial in character rather than individual, the next step should concern itself with a clinical investigation of the relationship be- tween early childhood supervision and mental illness on the case study level.

In conclusion, our study seems to indicate that there is some validity in the contention that every child should be reared by both parents together in order for him to grow up into a happy, healthy, and useful citizen.

MARRIAGE AND THE STATUS OF WOMAN In the Light of Islam

By ABDUL MAJEED KHAN Faridpur, East Bengal, Pa\istan

The Institution of Marriage

The purpose of this article is to present an Islamic view of marriage and the status of woman as they existed before, during and after the advent of Islam. A discussion of religious principles is not the objective here. These are discussed only where certain of them are understood to have influenced social behavior in pre-Islamic and non-Islamic societies.

"One who marries perfects half his religion," so said the prophet Moham- med.-"̂ Marriage is a sacred contract into which every muslim must enter. Matrimony in Islam may be regarded as a religious imperative. Islam main- tains that human sex behavior is promiscuous by nature and views marriage as the most practical method to combat vice. It also maintains that man will drop to the status of animals and civilization will collapse if human sex rela- ions are not regulated by some legalized form. Marriage is believed to be the only acceptable and highly meritorious pattern thus far discovered through which these sex relations can be regulated.

We find a contrast between the teachings of two great religions — Judaism and Christianity and the principles of Islam with respect to marriage. In Islam marriage is part of ones religious obligation. No such obligation is placed upon the Christian or the Jew. With these groups marriage may be considered a prerogative. Various kinds of sexual unions have been permissible in Hebrew culture at various periods. In the annuals of Hebrew history little is said about marriage and its importance as a prerequisite to a healthy society. The entire matter appears to be left more or less with the individual.

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Sexual union between a master or his son and the female slaves was not uncommon among the ancient Hebrews. In fact, explicit permission for such relations is found in the "Book of Covenant." Cross states that while the family, traceable in Hebrew history, was of a monogamous pattern it was not considered a serious violation of the social order if one were to form an irreg- ular union.^ Marriage, however, was never considered a religious obligation.

Procreation, considered by many to be an instinctive desire, is fundamental to the purpose of marriage among most peoples. "We marry a woman in order to obtain legitimate children," said Demosthenes."^ The early Christian saints, however, did not concur in this belief since to them sexual relations, as such, were considered sinful. St. Paul brought into Christianity Plato's concept of "celestial love" as a substitute for human sex relations. Because of these attitudes, woman already shorn of much of her ancient status and influence, weak since the development of patriarchal forms of society, now lost much of her utility and purpose of life. The famous ascetic Tertullian ordered women to be dressed in mourning and in rags. St. Bernard called her "The organ of the devils." St. John Damascene labelled her "The daughter of falsehood, senti- nel of hell, the enemy of peace."

Modern family institutions and marriage customs owe little to those early ecclesiastical preachings. History bears evidences that during nearly nineteen hundred years of the Christian era the institution of niarriage and the relation between the sexes suffered repeated malignment from priests and temporal rulers alike.

Classification of Marriage: Many European Orientalists and Social Scien- tists have maintained that the Kor'an, in respect to marriage, divides women into three classes: wife, concubine, and slave. This idea has been prevalent since the beginning of the European Renaissance of culture and has gained currancy in educated circles throughout the world. This statement, however, is not in accordance with the spirit of Islamic law. Unregulated sexual rela- tions between the master and his female slave and the practice of having con- cubines antedates Islamic law and probably represents a picture of sexual behavior at that time. A momin (believer) according to Islamic law can have no sexual relations with a woman who is not his wife. "And marry those among you who are single and those who are fit among your male slaves and your female slaves," is a Kor'anic injunction.^ After this injunction it was highly illegal for any matser to keep his female slave in a status other than that of his or his male slave's wife. A master marrying his female slave auto- matically changed her status and she betame his wife without reservation. Lady associates in noble houses and in royal courts is one of the oldest cus-

toms traceable in history. King Solomon had three hundred concubines. There were concubines in the royal houses of Greece, Rome and Persia and the cus- tom is still prevalent among the noble houses in the Middle East.

Islam with all the zeal and enthusiasm of a new faith trying to give new meaning to human life ordained that all the age-old human institutions not serving any high ideals be abandoned and at the same time conferred the highest merit on the institution of marriage and the family. Both marriaj^e and procreation became a sacred duty for every believer. Merely being poor was not a sufficient excuse for non-marriage as indicated in the Holy Kor'an: " . ^ . if they are needy Allah will make them free from want out of His Grace."^ In encouraging marriage the prophet Mohammed is reported to have

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said, "Matrimonial alliances increase friendship."^ Again the Kor'an says, "Allah has made wife for you from yourselves and has given you sons and daughters from your wives."^

There is no reference anywhere either in the Holy Kor'an or in the tradi- tion of the prophet Mohammed to the classifications of marriage indicated by the European Orientlists referred to before. In the light of Islam a believer can enter into a marriage contract only in one way, and the woman by virtue of such a contract assumes but one legal status, that of a wife, notwithstanding her social classification prior to marriage.

Types of Marriage: Here we meet with another fallacy, that of Islamic Polygyny. This fallacy has continued to the present day the Kor'anic decrees to the contrary nowithstanding. The reason for the persistance of this fallacy may be that man by nature prefers to have sexual relations with more than one woman and hesitates to correct any misunderstanding that might grant him such a privilege. This misunderstanding of Islamic marriage arises largely from the writings of European Orientalists who have only a meager knowl- edge of Islamic institutions and take sentences from muslim writings out of their proper context in order to prove a point. A wrong emphasis on a part of a sentence can alter the meaning of the entire sentence. This appears to be what has happened in the matter under discussion. They quote from the Kor'an, "And if you feel you cannot act equitably toward orphans, then marry such women as seem good to you, two and three and four; and if you fear you will not do justice (between them), then marry only one."^ This sentence does not provide an open license to the practice of polygyny since this provi- sion obtains only for those who are to undertake the care of orphans.

The core fact still remains that Muslim marriage is essentially monoga- mous. The specific reason for which a second marriage could be contracted, namely, a provision for the care of orphans has ceased to exist in modern Muslim societies where orphans and helpless widows are taken care of either by states or by local communities. Such marriages, therefore, no longer have any occasion to exist. Moreover polygyny is further restricted by the first mar- riage contract where invariably a Muslim husband makes a pledge to his wife that he will not marry a second time while his first wife still lives. Under most circumstances and in keeping with the spirit of Islam it is a great improba- bility that a Momin (believer) will have in his house more than one wife at a given time.

Legality of Marriage: Islam is exceptionally liberal in respect to marriage. The sanction for a muslim man to marry a non-muslim woman is given in Holy Kor*an thus, "This day all good things allowed to you, and the food of those who have been given the 'Book' is lawful for you and your food is law- ful for them: and chaste from among the believing women and the chaste from among those who have been given the 'Book' before you (are lawful for you) when you have given them their dowries, taking them in marriage, not fornicating nor taking them for paramours in secret."^ (The "Book" men- tioned here refers to the New and Old Testament.) The permissibility of mar- riage is not confined to Christians and Jews alone since as the Kor'an puts it, " . . . revelation was granted to all nations of the world."^® According to this, the legality of marriage is extended throughout the globe. Marriage between a muslim man and a pagan woman, according to the interpretation of Sir Amir Ali is irregular but not void as the latter during her life alvyays stands

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a chance of accepting one of the revealed religions. If she continues to profess paganism even after the death of her husband, she loses her legal claim on the property of her deceased husband but children of such a marriage are always held legitimate and possess all legal rights over their father's property.-*^^

Validity of Marriage: The essence of marriage, according to Islam, is the consent of two parties after they have satisfied themselves about each other, to live together as husband and wife and accept their responsibilities and obliga- tions in the married state.^^ The prerequisites for the validity of a contract of marriage are 'aql (understanding), 'bulughad (puberty), and hurriyyah (free- dom) of the contracting parties.^^ Proposal for marriage can be brought for- ward by either of the contracting parties. A period of time should lapse be- tween assent given to the proposal and the performance of actual Ni}{ah (mar- riage). During this period the consented parties should frequent each other as "this is likely to bring greater love and concord between them."^* Only a small proportion of Muslims following native customs of Hindu India and in other parts of the world know or at least attach any importance to this injunc- tion. Fathers are more likely to keep their customary prerogative than to heed religious injunctions in matters which concern the marriage of their wards.

Islam does not set any particular age for marriage as puberty or maturity of understanding arrives at different ages in different geographical parts of the world. Child marriage is wholly inconsistent with cannonic decrees. Mar- riage of a minor daughter performed by her father can be annuled if such marriage is not consumated later and the girl after attaining puberty declines to accept her married status. But where this marriage is already consumated, it stands as legal and can be dissolved only through the legal procedure of seeking a divorce. This, however, is no longer a current problem in India or in Pakistan. Parents' right of performing child marriage is already prohibited by national legislation. "Whoever performs, conducts or directs any child mar- riage shall be punishable with simple imprisonment which may extend to one month, or with a fine which may extend to one thousand rupees or with

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Islam provides for certain degrees of prohibition in marriage relations: "Forbidden to you are your mothers and your sisters, your paternal aunt and your maternal aunts, and brother's daughters and sister's daughters, and your mothers that have suckled you and your foster-sisters, and mothers of your wives, and your step-daughters who are in your guardianship, born of your wife to whom you have gone, and the wives of your sons . . . and that you should have two sisters together, except what has already passed."^^ Marriage contracted within these prohibitions are considered void and the offspring thereof illegitimate.

Status of Women

While (385) A.D.) celibacy was made compulsory during life for the Christian priests, woman was considered as the supposed instrument of Satan for the tempting of priestly virtue. '̂'̂ The great controversy over woman's pos- sessing a soul was prevalent in different intensities in all parts of the world for seventeen hundred years of Christian history. During this period in one place or another woman did not constitute a part of human society. St. Paul forbade woman to enter the church and decreed that "it is good for a man not to

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touch a woman."^^ The Greek Orthodox Church in Russia did not classify woman as a human being until the time of Peter the Great.^^

The status of a married woman in later Hindu civilization was similar to any other chattel belonging to her husband. She was to be burned alive with her husbands' corpse. The popular belief still prevalent in Indian societies is that woman's heaven lies at the feet of her husband. For a devoted wife to drink her husband's feet-washed water in some parts of India is still considered highly meritorious. "Divorce is not known to general Hindu Law;^^ change of religion or loss of caste does not operate as a dissolution of marriage, nor does the adultery of either party, not even the fact that the wife has deserted her husband and becomes a prostitute,"^^ nor does the gross immoral conduct of husband of the fact that husband deserted his wife and lives with concu- bine. It is only after 1946^^ that a Hindu wife under very limited circum- stances can claim a separation from her husband and can demand a separate maintenance.

Going further back into antiquity, in Hebrew history we meet with the custom of wife purchase. Indeed, in the early periods the daughter was esteemed as first merchandise.^"^ In Hebrew society marriage was only an act of sale by the father of his daughter. There is no trace of any religious cere- mony attached to such a marriage nor of even the simplest ritual of a wed- d i 2 4

Prophet Mohammed was only fourteen years of age when fifty-nine bishops convened the council of Macron (A.D. 585) to discuss whether or not woman had a soul. This extreme madness of western bishopry was perhaps, never known to the prophet of the desert. Nevertheless he soon became a rebel against the existing social condition in which he was brought up, and before long started receiving revelations from God. "I will not waste the work of a worker among you, whether male or female, the one of you being from the other."^^ "And whoever does good deeds whether male or female, and he or she is a believer, I will make him or her to live a happy life."^^ Revelation was granted to both men and women. "And when the angel said, Oh Mary! Allah has chosen thee and purified thee."^^ Thus under Islam, as early as in the seventh century of the Christian era, woman attained a status on a par with man. A momina (believing woman) even after her marriage does not forfeit her rights to possess property or to transact or conduct independent business or trade. "Man shall have the benefit of what he earns and woman shall have the benefit of what she earns."^^ It might be well to note here that even today, in some jurisdictions in western societies a wife cannot hold her sepa- rate property interest, and until recently she did not have the right to execute a legal document without her husband's signature bearing on it. In Islam wife's individuality does not merge with that of her husband. This can be observed in Muslim wife's equal right of divorce. Muslim woman was granted the right of divorce against her husband under the protection of cannonic law at a time when woman in the rest of the world was considered as a chattel by ecclesiastical authorities.

The traditions of prophet Mohammed describe the status of woman at home as that of a ri'yah (ruler).^^ The conjugal relationship between a hus- band and a wife is described as " . . . and one of his signs that He created mates for you frorh yourselves that you may find quiet of mind in them, and He puts between you love and compassion."^^

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Equalitarianism was far too remote a conception in early days of Islam. It gives commission to an essentially democratic pattern of family institution but, there still remains the influence of Hebrew male dominance. According to Islam, man is still allowed to have his last say in external matters of his family. Mohammed Ali^^ explains this feature as logical where male excels woman in construction and physique. He also said that woman excels man in qualities of love and affection. Woman is endowed with the quality of love to a much higher degree than man.

However, woman always assumed great responsibilities and helped man in war, in carrying provisions, in taking care of sick and wounded, helped man in his field labor, discharged heavy administrative duty and in extreme circum- stances even led armies in battle. Chalip Omar appointed a woman as superin- tendent of the market of Medina.

Islam maintains a puritan outlook as far as woman's dresses are concerned and especially when she would go out on business. Corruption or sexual mis- behavior was a great danger for woman in nomadic Arabia. So ordained God: "And say to the believing woman that they lower their gaze and restrain their sexual passions and not display their 'ornaments' except what appears there- of."*̂ ^ And display not your finery.""^^ "And let them wear head covering over their bosoms.""^* This has a sf>ecial significance with the then prevalent pre- Islamis Arab customs where woman would keep her bosom uncovered for display of beauty.

The kind of Pwdda (veil) system which now appears common in almost all parts of the muslim world like concubineage, bears almost no relation with religious customs and practices of Islam.

Bibliographical Notes

1. Al-Hadith as quoted in Al-Mishak al-Masahih: Wali al-I^in. 2. Hebrew Family: Earl Bennct Cross. 3. Domesthenes' oration to Neara. 4. and 5. Al-Kor'an. 6. The Religion of Islam: Mohammed Ali. 7. Al-Kor'an. 8. Al-Kor'an: Ch. 4. Verse 3. 9. Al-Kor'an: Ch. 5 Verse 5.

10. Al-Kor'an: Ch. 35. Verse 24. 11. Mohammedan Law: Sir. Amir Ali. 12. The Religion of Islam: Mohammed Ali. 13. Fatawai Alamgiri. 14. Al-Hadith as quoted in Al-Mishak al-Masabih: Wali al-Din. 15. Indian Child Marriage Restraint Act. XIX of 1929, Section 5. 16. Al-Kor'an. 17. to 19. Family: Reuter and Runners; Article: Conception of Marriage Idea: Theodore Schroeder. 20. and 21. Hindu Law: Sir. D. F. Mullah; Section 441, Subsection 1 and 2. 22. The Hindu Woman's Right to Separate Residence and Maintenance Act of 1946. 23. The Evolution of Marriage: C. H. Letourneau. 24. The Hebrew Family: Earl Bennet Cross. 25. to 28. Al-Kor'an. 29. The Religion of Islam: Mohammed Ali. 30. Al-Kor'an; Ch. 30. Verse 21. 31. The Religion of Islam: Mohammed Ali. 32. to 34. Al-Kor'an.