I am going to court soon with a case against my ex husband for domestic abuse and detaining me against my will. I didn't bring the case, I never would have but it was proceeded with on my behalf. So with the case being close, I've been thinking about what happened a lot recently.
I best not go into directly what's going on but I can say in a general way what concerns me.
If there was a situation where a husband grievously injured his wife, in the knowledge and presence of another man and the wife complained to a Sharia Council, it would appear to me that she wouldn't be believed if the two men lied and backed up each others' story. I need to know what happens in that situation. I don't know much about Sharia Law at all so I am going to ask a mufti this Thursday (ia).
I like to feel that I am more protected under Sharia than UK law but I am nervous to think that the witness statements from two *respectable* men in the community would have been accepted without question over and above my words.
You see, in Islam, your sins are hidden by Allah (swt) which is a good thing because some of them might be so bad you would want Him (swt) to hide them away. That is the reason you don't speak about your sins at all to anyone. If Allah (swt) hides them then you would be uncovering them if you spoke about them to another person, thus undoing the grace and mercy of Allah (swt). I totally get why but it's problematic when you come to character and iman of a person, because to the community, a person could seem very upstanding going to Jummah, saying prayers every day, helping with charity, no smoking, drinking or swearing, no backbiting, all the external things that are seen and yet be a complete scumbag to your wife, your kids, your parents, in your financial integrity, your sexual integrity even and no one would be aware of it at all.
This leads to the other problem for me to understand in this situation which is that you do not think badly or speak badly of another Muslim brother/sister so... even if you know they did something bad or wrong, you don't speak of it. Not to other Muslims and certainly not to outsiders. You protect them, you forgive them and stay faithful to them, preferring to refer to them as being weak rather than cane them for being sinful and a bad Muslim.
All this seems to produce a negative outcome for the woman not getting justice and protection against two men who behave disgustingly and lie about their disgusting selves.
I asked a sister about this and she replied that none of us get justice in this world and that justice for all of us will only come when Allah (swt) finally judges us. She said we should be more concerned with our own sins than pointing out the sins of our brothers and sisters.
She is correct of course, however I would like to see how Sharia Law would work for me in this situation. It would be a hard ask to just suck it up and leave it to Allah (swt) but if this is the answer then I would accept it.
I will update in a Part Two, when I know more from the scholar.
You will get justice and if you do not then they have lied under oath and that is a harsh punishment.
ReplyDeletePoppy, there's always justice in a Sharee`ah court.
ReplyDeleteHowever it is also important to remember that Islaam protects the rights of all people, to ensure that no one is slighted.
I touched on this topic in class a few weeks back, when we dealt with the issue of 'the onus of proof being upon the claimant', in both Sharee`ah law and western law, if someone has stolen an item of yours, and it is in his possession, and you have no proof or witnesses that it belongs to you, then both courts will rule in favour of that person, because "possession is nine tenths of the law", and the possibility does exist that you may be laying false claim to their property.
The difference, is that in Islaam we know that no hrm will go unpunished, so that thief may get away in this world, but he will face the consequences in the hereafter.
Anyhow, regarding your specific scenario, if you do not have proof or a witness for your version of the story, then there is stuff like DNA evidence etc that will be able to be used in the case, and through that he will be found guilty and punished accordingly.
And Allaah Knows Best.
Asalam 3leikum oh wow... I didnt know it worked similarly in a way that searched for evidence and thanks for your time to answer. Barakallahu feel akhi
DeleteWa `alaykumus salaam.
ReplyDeleteThese methods of circumstancial were just not available back then, hence why you wont find it written about in the books of fiqh, but that doesn't mean that the Sharee`ah overlooks it.
Think on the story of Yusuf `Alayhis Salaam, when the minister's wife tried to seduce Yusuf `Alayhis Salaam but he ran away and she caught his shirt from behind and it tore, so when the minister happened to turn up at that very moment and his wife tried to put the blame on Yusuf `alayhis Salaam, Allaah made a baby speak to tell them to use the circumstantial evidence available, which was: "If his shirt is torn from the front, then she is telling the truth and he is of the liars. But if his shirt is torn from the back then she is a liar and he is of the truthful ones."
And when they checked, they found that his shirt was torn from behind, hence he was innocent.
So therefore don't worry, the Sharee`ah will not abandon you to the wolves in this world.
Wa iyyaaki.