Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries
The difference between the rights of Christian women and the women of Islam.
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
GEN 12:10-14 “Now there was a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. And it came about when he came near to Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman; and it will come about when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, This is his wife; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may live on account of you.”
The closer you get to Egypt, a type of the cosmic system, the more confused you become in your thinking.
Irrationality characterizes the believer in reversionism, and the more irrational you become, the more divisive you become in your thinking.
James 1:5-8 “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.”
MAT 22:32 “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
ROM 4:18 “In hope against hope he believed, in order that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken,”
ROM 4:19 – he was not weak in faith. ROM 4:20 yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God,
Abram vowed to always take care of Sarai, and now he wants her to lie and protect him instead of him protecting her.
He’s coming to Egypt, and this beauty that he has enjoyed and treasured and has been a pleasure to him, suddenly becomes a great danger.
Abram the man is disappearing, and Abram the wimp is coming on the scene. Satan’s religion produces cowards.
Cowards who are told to lie in wait and fight and slay anyone who doesn’t believe in Allah, Sura 9:5. Cowards who are told that they should beat their disobedient wives, Surah 4:34. Cowards who are told to make war on unbelievers and hypocrites, and deal harshly with them. Sura 9:73.
Abram’s appreciation for Sarah is gone.
See now = hinneh-na = listen to me please.
A pre-occupied man loses the attention of his woman.
“Yadha-atti ki ishshah yephath-mar-eh att” = “I know that you are a woman of great beauty.”
Sarah made God’s hall of fame, HEB 11:11.
Abram is giving her a compliment, but it’s a front for his cowardice.
Sarai was extremely beautiful; her problem was a very bad disposition, she was a horsy and bossy female at times, and too aggressive.
Abram is now setting this beautiful woman up for a proposal which reveals his cowardice, his weakness, and his lack of manliness.
In the gaps where doctrine had departed from his soul, he has imagination, and anticipates all the problems and difficulties = the way cowards live.
In a Christian marriage, the husband is given the role as head of the household, and the wife is expected to submit to the husband’s leadership, EPH 5:22-33, COL 3:18-19.
She is his equal in terms of social and religious status; she is not inferior to him, 1CO 11:11.
In Islam, the husband is the custodian of his wife. She is considered to be in between a slave and free.
Muhammad’s viewpoint of women = they lack self-control, and for their own good, and societies’ good, they must be subordinate to their husbands. He did not want to see them beaten without cause.
Surah 4:34. Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the man more strength than the woman, and because they support them from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in the husbands absence what Allah would have them guard. As to those women on whose part you men fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them first, next, refuse to share their beds, And last beat them; but if they return to obedience, seek not against them means of annoyance: For Allah is Most High, great above you all.
The Quran, Hadith, Al-Sira, and other Islamic writings teach that this “Islamic” wife beating is physical and painful.
Turn to GAL 3:26
The woman should be less in age than the man, so that she should not age quickly and be unable to conceive. She should be less in esteem, power, honor, and money since men are to support women (Sura al-NISA 4:34) and protect them. Narrated traditions of Muhammad – “A woman is married for four things, i.e. her wealth, her family status, her beauty, and her religion.”
The woman should not be tall or gaunt, short or ugly, or have bad manners. She should not be old or have a child from a previous marriage. A younger wife is the tradition of Muhammad. “The Messenger of God married me when I was seven years old” `Aisha said, (others say six), “and consummated the marriage with me when I was nine years old.” Concerning the issue of consummating the marriage with a girl under age, it was said that she should not be slept with before she attains puberty.
The majority of Imams are of the opinion that the issue of age plays no role in this respect, and that the criterion is that the woman should be physically fit and big enough to accommodate men, and consequently there would be no fear that she would get sick if she is copulated with, even if she has not reached the age of nine.
al-Furu` – “The best state for a woman is between the age of fourteen and twenty. Her maturity is made perfect at thirty, and she stops at forty, and declines after that.” Besides youth, she should preferably be a virgin. Muhammad said, “Seek virgins; they are sweeter of mouth, have more productive wombs and can be contented with the least.”
The Hadith = divorce is permitted if the woman’s defects are enumerated and accounted for in detail. The main defects of a woman are seven: madness, elephantiasis, leprosy, cornu, breathing difficulties, and lameness.