A most revealing prophetic characteristic is found nestled in Daniel 11:37 (NASB):
“He will show no regard … for the desire of women, …”
And although the correct interpretation of this characteristic is only one “piece” in the prophetic puzzle, it is an important piece. The entire 11th chapter of Daniel is important, particularly because this chapter is one of the key chapters that provides several of the characteristics of the Antichrist. The person in history that most scholars point to as the “antichrist-type” is Antiochus IV Epiphanies, the Syrian Greek ruler (175 B.C. – 164 B.C.) who was one of four generals to succeed Alexander the Great.1 Most of the first 35 verses of Daniel 11 detail the prophecy of events historically fulfilled from the reign of Cyrus of Persia (576B.C. – 530 B.C.) through Antiochus IV.2 However, verses 36-41 refer, not to events already fulfilled, but to events yet to be fulfilled, i.e., the end-time (Daniel 11:40 states its application, “At the time of the end …”). How might this revealing prophetic characteristic be relevant to the modern day? If we can identify this characteristic in the modern day, we will have found one of the bible’s “identifiers” of the empire through which the Antichrist will build his end-time kingdom; sort of like knowing the “profile” that helps us to find the guilty.
In a recent article, Raymond Ibrahim described the actions of the “Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah Al Sheikh, who recently called for replacing the personal photos of female university students that appear on their ID cards with their fingerprints, as that “would be best.”3
http://www.raymondibrahim.com/2012/10/saudi-grand-mufti-replace-female-id-pictures-with
Why would it “be best”? To quote from an earlier report by Ibrahim on this topic:
Saudi Arabia’s Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has confirmed that it will begin “interfering with” and “ordering” women to cover their eyes, “if they provoke fitna [temptation, sedition, etc].” The spokesman added, “Our men have every right to do so.”4
Why do the men have “every right” to order Saudi Muslim women to cover every part of their anatomy, even their eyes? Under Sharia law, a woman’s right to “uncover” was limited to a very small area of her anatomy. The Qur’an 24:31 (Haleem translation) states:
And tell believing women that they should lower their glances, guard their private parts, and not display their charms beyond what [it is acceptable] to reveal … they should not let their head-scarves fail to cover their necklines and not reveal their charms except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands’ fathers, their sons, their husbands’ sons, their brothers, their brothers’ sons, their sisters’ sons, their womenfolk, their slaves, such men as attend them who have no sexual desire, or children who are not yet aware of women’s nakedness; they should not stamp their feet so as to draw attention to any hidden charms. Believers, all of you, turn to God so that you may prosper.
Of course, the recent fatwa given to university women by the Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah Al Sheikh was that they replace their ID photos with their fingerprints. Apparently, the Grand Mufti felt this was “in the spirit” of the Qur’an 24:31 (although not in the literal rendering of the Surah), and that the ID photos of the women revealed to much of their female anatomy. The Grand Mufti was simply changing the modern-day “normative” to comply with the Qur’an. Any woman who refused to comply was, of course, subject to whatever “behavior modification” techniques of the Saudi religious police.
What do the Saudi religious police have to do with Daniel 11:37 (NASB) and our “revealing phrase”?
According to biblical scholar Stephen Miller in his commentary on Daniel, the phrase has never had consensus in its interpretation even as early as Montgomery in his 2nd century commentary on Daniel.5 Miller states that the phrase could be interpreted in either of four ways:
- “the one desired by women”
- “the desire of women”
- “that desired by women”
- “the desire for women”6
If we consult a Hebrew lexicon, the word that is translated “desire” in 11:37 is “hemdah” (transliterated). Of course, as with many words in Hebrew, the interpretation is made difficult because the same Hebrew word can have varied meanings, and often context is the primary determining factor for the translator. In none of its varied meanings, however, does “hemdah” refer to sexual desire. The Expository Dictionary of Bible Words states:
hemdah is a noun found twenty-five times, with the primary sense of “that which is pleasant, or valuable.”7
The Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew-English Lexicon states the following about the word (in part):
desire of Israel – 1 Sam 9:20 (NASB) — and for whom is all that is desirable on in Israel; … Haggai 2:7 (NIV) — … what is desired by all the nations; Dn 11:37 (NASB), apparently reference to some object of idolatrous worship, perhaps Adonis=Tammuz.8
Another Hebrew lexicon, states,
hemed, hemdâ. Desirable, pleasant (marg., things of desire). More frequently feminine ḥemdâ (seventeen as opposed to five occurrences of ḥemed) “desire”; also adjective, “pleasant,” “precious.”9
If we apply the different translation alternatives offered by Miller, combined with the lexicons above, and then, if we include what we know about Islam and its treatment of women, here is what this writer concludes Daniel 11:37 (NASB) is saying:
1) The “king” will show no regard … for “all the things which women desire” (based on the use of the word in 1 Samuel 9:20 (NASB), “… And for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father’s household?”).
2) The “king” will show no regard … for the “all the things which are desired” by women (based on the use of the word in Haggai 2:7 (NIV), “I will shake all nations, and the desired of all the nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the LORD Almighty.”)
You might be wondering why I have included the teachings of Islam as a factor in translating the meaning of Daniel 11:37 (NASB)? Think about it: the context of the original writer of the text is always critical to a proper interpretation of Hebrew (as well as scripture in general). If context is important when prophecy is written why would future context (when a prophecy is fulfilled) not be just as important? In other words, to correctly interpret prophecy we must consider the context not only in the time the text was written, but also the context in the time the text will be fulfilled (and interpreted), i.e., the context of the interpreter of the prophecy.
Did you notice the picture of the Muslim woman in the blue burqa in the beginning of this post? Her eyes, her face, her entire body was covered with fabric. What was your first impression? What do you think would be the first impression of a non-Muslim woman upon viewing the picture and considering whether or not she might choose such attire at her next visit to Nordstrom’s? Oh, if you are wondering why I chose a non-Muslim woman rather than a Muslim woman, the answer is rather logical. For many Muslim women, “beauty, desire, pleasantness, and preciousness,” have been redefined by Muslim men through “behavior modification” techniques over the last 1400 years! In fact, that is what Saudi Arabia’s “Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice” is all about. They are the “religious police” of Islam, the behavior modification group (by whatever title you want to call them) that has taught Muslim women how they will define “beauty” ever since the time of Muhammad. Amazing thing is that apparently Muslim women have not always gone with the program. Why do I say that? There are several hadiths that quote Mohammed as saying,
I was shown the Hell-fire and that the majority of its dwellers are women.10
Somehow the women must have revealed too much of their “eyes.” Otherwise, why would the majority of Hell dwellers by women?
One more thought. God is the creator of the universe, and biblically, man and woman are created in His image (Genesis 1:27). It was God that created woman as beauty. When God brought Eve to Adam that very first morning (Genesis 2:22), I can only imagine Adam’s delight when he first viewed his beauty. It was sin that both opened their eyes to their nakedness and hid them from the God that created them (Genesis 3:10). Yet, when sin cast them out of the Garden, God covered them with “garments,” not burqas (Genesis 3:21). If it was God’s intent to so hide the beauty of woman, He would have given Eve her “eye covering” burqa on her way out the door. It seems that Islam has found a way to veil what God never intended to cover.
Islam fits the profile. It has no regard for the desires, the precious things, of woman.
- Stephen R. Miller, Daniel, The New American Commentary, p. 298-304. [↩]
- Ibid. [↩]
- http://www.raymondibrahim.com/2012/10/saudi-grand-mufti-replace-female-id-pictures-with [↩]
- http://www.raymondibrahim.com/2011/11/saudi-arabia-women-must-cover-provocative-eyes [↩]
- Ibid., p. 307, and footnote 91 [↩]
- Ibid. [↩]
- Renn, Stephen D. Expository Dictionary of Bible Words: Word Studies for Key English Bible Words Based on the Hebrew and Greek Texts Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Pub., 2005. WORDsearch CROSS e-book. [↩]
- Francis Brown. The New Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew-English Lexicon, Henrickson Publishers, 1979, p. 326 [↩]
- Harris, R. Laird, Gleason L. Archer, Bruce K. Waltke, ed. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Chicago: Moody Press, 1980. WORDsearch CROSS e-book. [↩]
- Sahih Bukhari: Vol. 1:28, 301; Vol. 2:161; Vol. 7:124-126. [↩]
Muhammad’s own words are quite revealing.
“The worst sin and distraction from virtue that I have left for man is woman”
SOURCE: Sahih AlBukhari, 5096
Muhammad declared the “majority of the inhabitants of Hell are women”. When asked why, he said it was because “women are deficient in intelligence and religion and because they are ungrateful to their husbands.”
SOURCE: SaHeeH Bukhari: 29, 304 and Sahih Bukhari 2:24:541
Bukhari (72:715) – A woman came to Muhammad and begged her to stop her husband from beating her. Her skin was bruised so badly that she it is described as being “greener” than the green veil she was wearing. Muhammad did not admonish her husband, but instead ordered her to return to him and submit to his sexual desires.
Bukhari (72:715) – “Aisha said, ‘I have not seen any woman suffering as much as the believing women'”
This is Muhammad’s own wife complaining of the abuse that the women of her religions suffer relative to other women.
Muhammad struck his favorite wife, Aisha, in the chest one evening when she left the house without his permission. Muslim (4:2127). Aisha narrates, “He struck me on the chest which caused me pain.” Sahih Muslim 4:2127)
Muslim (9:3506) – Muhammad’s father-in-laws (Abu Bakr and Umar) amused him by slapping his wives (Aisha and Hafsa) for annoying him. According to the Hadith, the prophet of Islam laughed upon hearing this.
Abu Dawud (2142) – “The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: A man will not be asked as to why he beat his wife.”
Muslim men have a basis for beating their wives without being accountable to anyone else.
Kash-shaf (the revealer) of al-Zamkhshari (Vol. 1, p. 525) – [Muhammad said] “Hang up your scourge where your wife can see it”
In other words, Muhammad meant for women to be kept in a state of fear of their husbands.
Contrary to Christianity where women who out of obedience to God are to have a deferential respect for the leadership of their husband (who is himself supposed to be submitted to Christ), women in Islam are evidently meant to be kept in submission by fear of being beaten.
Pertaining to matters of inheritance, “The male shall have the equal of the portion of two females” Qur’an 4:11, also verse 4:176.
In Islam, sexism is mathematically established. Contrary to what Muslim apologists and evangelists will tell the public, women are considered second rate compared to men.
In matters of court testimony, “And call to witness, from among your men, two witnesses. And if two men be not found then a man and two women.” Qur’an 2:282
Muslim apologists offer creative explanations to explain why Allah felt that a man’s testimony in court should be valued twice as highly as a woman’s, but studies consistently show that women are actually less likely to tell lies than men, meaning that they would make more reliable witnesses.
Qur’an (2:228) – “and the men are a degree above them [women]”
Female Genital Mutilation or Cutting
“A’isha narrated another authentic hadith that the prophet Muhammad said: When a man sits between the four parts (arms and legs of his wife) and the two circumcised parts meet, then ghusl is obligatory” (Sahih Muslim, hadith no. 349).
“The prophet Muhammad said, Circumcision is a sunna for men and a preservation of honour for women” (Hadith of Abu al-Malik and Abu Dawud).
Right now, thousands of girls in Muslim countries endure agonizing pain and are forcibly violated as their clitoris is partially or fully severed off of her body.
This is not to minimize the horror and physical and emotional pain that many Muslim women endure even to this day, by having their faces severely disfigured by Muslim men who douse them with acid for not being “Muslim enough” or for failing to wear the hijab (head or head and face covering) or burqa (full body covering).
Predictably, Wikipedia’s entry on “Acid Throwing” doesn’t say the word “Muslim” once, though it apparently occurs in countries populated by Muslims.
Pre-pubescent marriage
The tragedy of pre-pubescent, child marriage endures to this day in many Muslim countries.
“The prophet wrote the (marriage contract) with A’isha while she was six years old and consummated his marriage with her while she was nine years old and she remained with him for nine years (i.e., till his death)” (Sahih al-Bukhari, book 62, hadith no. 89).
Muhammad was betrothed (engaged) to Aisha when she was six years old. He violated her sexually with intercourse when she was a mere nine years old. According to authoritative Islamic sources, Aisha was still playing with dolls at that time.
Narrated ‘Aisha: “I used to play with the dolls in the presence of the Prophet, and my girl friends also used to play with me. When Allah’s Apostle used to enter they used to hide themselves, but the Prophet would call them to join and play with me. “ (The playing with the dolls and similar images is forbidden, but it was allowed for ‘Aisha at that time, as she was a little girl, not yet reached the age of puberty.) (Fateh-al-Bari page 143, Vol.13) Sahih Bukhari 8:73:151
Although child marriage is against the law in many countries today, and international treaties forbid the practice, it is estimates that about 51 million girls below age 18 are currently married, often under the cover of darkness and in secret. In Afghanistan alone, it is believed that approximately 57 per cent of girls wed before the legal age of 16. That’s 51 million boys and men who know what they are doing is wrong. By their own attempts to cover their act from the outside world, they themselves have given implicit permission for others to call their act what it should be called, a immoral, criminal act.
God’s model for marriage makes it clear that Eve was not a prepubescent little girl when she and Adam were made “one flesh”, made one through a marriage sanctioned by God, but a “woman”.
(Gen 2:23) The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.”
(Gen 2:24) For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.
Ezek 16:7,8 clearly shows that a girl has to have fully transformed physically and mentally into a woman before she is eligible for marriage. And of course, marrying a girl off without her consent is wrong. Gen 24:58 is as close to an “arranged” marriage as is found in the Bible, yet Rebekah was asked, “Wilt thou go with this man?”
Muslim women are considered unclean
Qur’an (5:6) – “And if ye are unclean, purify yourselves. And if ye are sick or on a journey, or one of you cometh from the closet, or ye have had contact with women, and ye find not water, then go to clean, high ground and rub your faces and your hands with some of it”
Evidently, even dirt is cleaner than a woman, since Muslim men are to rub dirt on their hands if there is no water to purify them following casual contact with a woman (such as shaking hands).
“Women used to room about without Cloaks (Jilbaabs) and men used to see their faces and hands, but when the verse stating ‘O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks over themselves.’ (Surah Al-Ahzaab, verse no. 59) was revealed, then this was prohibited and women were ordered to wear the Jilbaab. The word Jilbaab means a sheet which Ibn Mas’ud explained as a cloak covering the entire body including the head, face, and hands. Therefore, it is not permissible for the women to reveal the face and hands in public”
SOURCE: (Ibn Taymiyyah’s book on fatwaas p, 110 Vol, 2 also in the book Hijaab p. 15).
Muhammad also identified the entire body of the woman as a vagina,
‘The woman is ‘awrah. When she goes outside (the house), the devil takes charge of her (i.e. possessed her)’
SOURE: Tirmizi,Volume II, hadith, No. 65
This hadith stated that whenever the woman went out of her house she would be possessed by demons. So she is dangerous to society and hence she should be confined inside her house. There is no definition so widely used and accepted among Muslims for defining the woman than ‘Woman is ‘Awarah.’
The term ‘Awarah is defined in the Encyclopedia of Islam as ‘the external genitals, especially of the female’ (Haqq & Newton 1996: 5). The word is derived from the noun ‘nakedness or nudity.’ So to put it in a simple meaning ‘woman is bare-naked or her whole body is a vagina.’ The prophet Muhammad said, “Even the woman’s voice is awarah (or vagina).”
From this it is understood why the Muslim woman was forced to cover her body from head to foot and not supposed to step out of her house.
Obviously, the view of women Muhammad had and has left as a legacy for future Muslims, is in stark contrast to the Biblical view that upholds the value of women, praising them for their virtue, chaste character and high regard for their role in the family and home and in the church community. For examples, Miriam, Deborah, Huldah in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, Tabitha/Dorcas, Phillip’ two unmarried daughters, Paul’s helpers Euodia & Synteche, Phoebe, Priscilla and Andronicus and Junia were known for being “outstanding among the apostles”. What a testament of praise for Christian women!
Where Muhammad had paranoid fear of women being demons, God in the Bible used them mightily for the kingdom of God as prophets and apostles. When Muhammad says women have half the testimony of a man, the God of the Bible calls women a “helpmate”, an equal partner in the blessing and promise of God. Where Muhammad taught to keep women in submission by through fear of being beaten, the Jesus demonstrated kindness and well-being for women, and the God of the Bible says to..
(1Pe 3:7) You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.
Where Muhammad refers to women pejoratively as a vagina (implied to be unclean), God values women so highly that He calls men to…
“love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:25-27)
We have seen that from within an end times context, one of the distinguishing characteristics of the anti-Christ is that he will have “no regard” for women. This could mean any number of dead beat husbands, manipulative, charming Casanovas throughout history or generally abusive men. But when other passages are considered that support an Islamic origin for the anti-Christ, this passage suggests the typical Islamic view of women under Islamic sharia law and the end times anti-christ himself being the embodiment of lack of care and actual hostility toward women.
Muhammad’s own words are very revealing.
“The worst sin and distraction from virtue that I have left for man is woman”
SOURCE: Sahih AlBukhari, 5096
Muhammad declared the “majority of the inhabitants of Hell are women”. When asked why, he said it was because “women are deficient in intelligence and religion and because they are ungrateful to their husbands.”
SOURCE: SaHeeH Bukhari: 29, 304 and Sahih Bukhari 2:24:541
Bukhari (72:715) – A woman came to Muhammad and begged her to stop her husband from beating her. Her skin was bruised so badly that she it is described as being “greener” than the green veil she was wearing. Muhammad did not admonish her husband, but instead ordered her to return to him and submit to his sexual desires.
Bukhari (72:715) – “Aisha said, ‘I have not seen any woman suffering as much as the believing women'”
This is Muhammad’s own wife complaining of the abuse that the women of her religions suffer relative to other women.
Muhammad struck his favorite wife, Aisha, in the chest one evening when she left the house without his permission. Muslim (4:2127). Aisha narrates, “He struck me on the chest which caused me pain.” Sahih Muslim 4:2127)
Muslim (9:3506) – Muhammad’s father-in-laws (Abu Bakr and Umar) amused him by slapping his wives (Aisha and Hafsa) for annoying him. According to the Hadith, the prophet of Islam laughed upon hearing this.
Abu Dawud (2142) – “The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: A man will not be asked as to why he beat his wife.”
Muslim men have a basis for beating their wives without being accountable to anyone else.
Kash-shaf (the revealer) of al-Zamkhshari (Vol. 1, p. 525) – [Muhammad said] “Hang up your scourge where your wife can see it”
In other words, Muhammad meant for women to be kept in a state of fear of their husbands.
Contrary to Christianity where women who out of obedience to God are to have a deferential respect for the leadership of their husband (who is himself supposed to be submitted to Christ), women in Islam are evidently meant to be kept in submission by fear of being beaten.
Pertaining to matters of inheritance, “The male shall have the equal of the portion of two females” Qur’an 4:11, also verse 4:176.
In Islam, sexism is mathematically established. Contrary to what Muslim apologists and evangelists will tell the public, women are considered second rate compared to men.
In matters of court testimony, “And call to witness, from among your men, two witnesses. And if two men be not found then a man and two women.” Qur’an 2:282
Muslim apologists offer creative explanations to explain why Allah felt that a man’s testimony in court should be valued twice as highly as a woman’s, but studies consistently show that women are actually less likely to tell lies than men, meaning that they would make more reliable witnesses.
Qur’an (2:228) – “and the men are a degree above them [women]”
Female Genital Mutilation or Cutting
“A’isha narrated another authentic hadith that the prophet Muhammad said: When a man sits between the four parts (arms and legs of his wife) and the two circumcised parts meet, then ghusl is obligatory” (Sahih Muslim, hadith no. 349).
“The prophet Muhammad said, Circumcision is a sunna for men and a preservation of honour for women” (Hadith of Abu al-Malik and Abu Dawud).
Right now, thousands of girls in Muslim countries endure agonizing pain and are forcibly violated as their clitoris is partially or fully severed off of her body.
This is not to minimize the horror and physical and emotional pain that many Muslim women endure even to this day, by having their faces severely disfigured by Muslim men who douse them with acid for not being “Muslim enough” or for failing to wear the hijab (head or head and face covering) or burqa (full body covering).
Predictably, Wikipedia’s entry on “Acid Throwing” doesn’t say the word “Muslim” once, though it apparently occurs in countries populated by Muslims.
Pre-pubescent marriage
The tragedy of pre-pubescent, child marriage endures to this day in many Muslim countries.
“The prophet wrote the (marriage contract) with A’isha while she was six years old and consummated his marriage with her while she was nine years old and she remained with him for nine years (i.e., till his death)” (Sahih al-Bukhari, book 62, hadith no. 89).
Muhammad was betrothed (engaged) to Aisha when she was six years old. He violated her sexually with intercourse when she was a mere nine years old. According to authoritative Islamic sources, Aisha was still playing with dolls at that time.
Narrated ‘Aisha: “I used to play with the dolls in the presence of the Prophet, and my girl friends also used to play with me. When Allah’s Apostle used to enter they used to hide themselves, but the Prophet would call them to join and play with me. “ (The playing with the dolls and similar images is forbidden, but it was allowed for ‘Aisha at that time, as she was a little girl, not yet reached the age of puberty.) (Fateh-al-Bari page 143, Vol.13) Sahih Bukhari 8:73:151
Although child marriage is against the law in many countries today, and international treaties forbid the practice, it is estimates that about 51 million girls below age 18 are currently married, often under the cover of darkness and in secret. In Afghanistan alone, it is believed that approximately 57 per cent of girls wed before the legal age of 16. That’s 51 million boys and men who know what they are doing is wrong. By their own attempts to cover their act from the outside world, they themselves have given implicit permission for others to call their act what it should be called, a immoral, criminal act.
God’s model for marriage makes it clear that Eve was not a prepubescent little girl when she and Adam were made “one flesh”, made one through a marriage sanctioned by God, but a “woman”.
(Gen 2:23) The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.”
(Gen 2:24) For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.
Ezek 16:7,8 clearly shows that a girl has to have fully transformed physically and mentally into a woman before she is eligible for marriage. And of course, marrying a girl off without her consent is wrong. Gen 24:58 is as close to an “arranged” marriage as is found in the Bible, yet Rebekah was asked, “Wilt thou go with this man?”
Muslim women are considered unclean
Qur’an (5:6) – “And if ye are unclean, purify yourselves. And if ye are sick or on a journey, or one of you cometh from the closet, or ye have had contact with women, and ye find not water, then go to clean, high ground and rub your faces and your hands with some of it”
Evidently, even dirt is cleaner than a woman, since Muslim men are to rub dirt on their hands if there is no water to purify them following casual contact with a woman (such as shaking hands).
“Women used to room about without Cloaks (Jilbaabs) and men used to see their faces and hands, but when the verse stating ‘O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks over themselves.’ (Surah Al-Ahzaab, verse no. 59) was revealed, then this was prohibited and women were ordered to wear the Jilbaab. The word Jilbaab means a sheet which Ibn Mas’ud explained as a cloak covering the entire body including the head, face, and hands. Therefore, it is not permissible for the women to reveal the face and hands in public”
SOURCE: (Ibn Taymiyyah’s book on fatwaas p, 110 Vol, 2 also in the book Hijaab p. 15).
Muhammad also identified the entire body of the woman as a vagina,
‘The woman is ‘awrah. When she goes outside (the house), the devil takes charge of her (i.e. possessed her)’
SOURE: Tirmizi,Volume II, hadith, No. 65
This hadith stated that whenever the woman went out of her house she would be possessed by demons. So she is dangerous to society and hence she should be confined inside her house. There is no definition so widely used and accepted among Muslims for defining the woman than ‘Woman is ‘Awarah.’
The term ‘Awarah is defined in the Encyclopedia of Islam as ‘the external genitals, especially of the female’ (Haqq & Newton 1996: 5). The word is derived from the noun ‘nakedness or nudity.’ So to put it in a simple meaning ‘woman is bare-naked or her whole body is a vagina.’ The prophet Muhammad said, “Even the woman’s voice is awarah (or vagina).”
From this it is understood why the Muslim woman was forced to cover her body from head to foot and not supposed to step out of her house.
Obviously, the view of women Muhammad had and has left as a legacy for future Muslims, is in stark contrast to the Biblical view that upholds the value of women, praising them for their virtue, chaste character and high regard for their role in the family and home and in the church community. For examples, Miriam, Deborah, Huldah in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, Tabitha/Dorcas, Phillip’ two unmarried daughters, Paul’s helpers Euodia & Synteche, Phoebe, Priscilla and Andronicus and Junia were known for being “outstanding among the apostles”. What a testament of praise for Christian women!
Where Muhammad had paranoid fear of women being demons, God in the Bible used them mightily for the kingdom of God as prophets and apostles. When Muhammad says women have half the testimony of a man, the God of the Bible calls women a “helpmate”, an equal partner in the blessing and promise of God. Where Muhammad taught to keep women in submission by through fear of being beaten, the Jesus demonstrated kindness and well-being for women, and the God of the Bible says to..
(1Pe 3:7) You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.
Where Muhammad refers to women pejoratively as a vagina (implied to be unclean), God values women so highly that He calls men to…
“love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:25-27)
We have seen that from within an end times context, one of the distinguishing characteristics of the anti-Christ is that he will have “no regard” for women. This could mean any number of dead beat husbands, manipulative, charming Casanovas throughout history or generally abusive men. But when other passages are considered that support an Islamic origin for the anti-Christ, this passage suggests the typical Islamic view of women under Islamic sharia law and the end times anti-christ himself being the embodiment of lack of care and actual hostility toward women.
[Right On, Jack, Note this item that I discovered on the web.]
The Background Obama Can’t Cover Up !
Islam, part of the Living River of History, can affect even the 2012 US election!
The “headwaters” of this River was Adam, according to Judaism, Christianity, Islam etc .
In the OT (Deut. 28), “tributaries” wanting to join the River will be blessed while “distributaries” who want to flow away from it will be cursed. Those wishing to totally separate from the fresh Living River will end up as polluted, dying “oxbow lakes.”
In the OT we see Israelites repeatedly flowing away from God, then repenting and returning to Him; we also see heathen “oxbow lakes” creating their own “gods” and being allowed by God to plunder and kill the erring Israelites.
Then, at the right time, the Living River took on new life with the arrival of the Promised One who offers “living water.”
In the 7th century Islam, drawing from both OT and NT, chose to be a distributary away from this River. Many scholars have viewed it as the final Antichrist: note “scourge” (Isa. 28), “Assyrian” (Mic. 5), “Euphrates” (Rev. 9) etc.
God will allow this “scourge” to temporarily persecute and even kill apostate Jews (JINOs) and Christians (CINOs). Jews, especially in “entertainment,” seem more expert in apostasy than Christians since Jews have been at it 2000 years longer than Christians have (Google “jewishfaces.com/porn.html”) – but Christians apparently want to catch up to the Jews!
It’s apparent that others will join Islam in its end-time inquisition; its great oil wealth can captivate many leaders and already we are seeing apostate American leaders being bribed into turning against true American patriots.
Those who ignore (or try to dilute or destroy) the God-ordained Living River of History will be swept down it to an ocean made by their own never-ending tears of agony and despair.
The good news is that American JINOs & CINOs can overcome the “scourge” discussed above. The secret is found by checking out “II Chronicles 7:14” & “John 3:16” on the web.
And there’s still time – and freedom – before the 2012 “End of America” election to Google or MSN “Obama Promotes Public Sex,” “Obama a Black-Slavery Avenger?,” “Dangerous Radicals of the Religious Right,” “Pretrib Rapture Politics,” “Mikey Weinstein, Jesus-Basher,” “Christ’s return is NOT imminent,” “Pretrib Rapture Dishonesty,” and “Pretrib Rapture Secrets.”
In light of Matthew 7:2, if we tolerate Christian leaders who lie to us and steal from us, we shouldn’t be surprised if God allows us to have political leaders who lie to us and steal from us!
A Kansas Patriot (who won FIRST PLACE over 2200 entrants in a nationwide Americanism essay contest)
i liked this article, but one note is that you made the suggestion that women havent always gone by religious ruling on modesty because of the hellfire quote, but that same quote states that women were supposed to be in the hellfire because they were ungrateful to their husbands, this of course is despicable but if a person reads the full quote it makes you look like you took the quote out of context to fit your viewpoint. i would be careful with things like this because as a non religious person reading articles by christians about muslims is very dodgy because of the potential for bias and non religious people i think are the worst offenders for not really considering the islamic faith as anything other than another branch of religious ideology and refuse to acknowledge the differences so christian literature on the subject needs to look like 100% logical conclusions on the faith itself insted of “hate speach” or “islamophobia” as most people dont understand that its only a phobia if its an irrational fear!
Emma – thank you very much your comment. It was not my intent to take the Quran out of context. In fact, I often omit real-life examples of various points I might be making because I do not want to take an isolated example to demonstrate my point; certainly, never to “fit my viewpoint” so as to manipulate readers, non- Christian or Christian.
My logic in this example went this way:
1. The Bukhari Hadith quotes Muhammad as stating that most of the hell-dwellers are women;
2. Then the women must have violated the teachings of Islam;
3. How could hell actually be filled with more women than men (according to Muhammad)?
4. Because Islam, as a true religion, is not of God. Islam takes away the rights of women. Islam suppresses a woman’s innate desire to be a woman created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). To do so is contrary to the will of the one, true God;
5. Islam fulfills the prophecy of Daniel 11:37. Muhammad’s statement is all the evidence one needs to conclude that Islam fulfills Daniel 11:37.
yes sure islam oppresses women, but the verse clearly states that women were in the hell fire because they were ungrateful to their husbands and not because they disobeyed allah in some unclear way. i just think its really important to be clear people to this day know nothing about islam by actually reading the quran some kid in my class today tried to tell me that muslims were not radicalised because the majority of them (in the uk at least) are second and third generations as if that means anything.
I see your point now. The full Hadith does say: “Then he [Muhammad] went towards the women and said. “O women! Give alms, for I have seen that the majority of the dwellers of Hell-Fire were you (women).” The women asked, “O Allah’s Apostle! What is the reason for it?” He replied, “O women! You curse frequently, and are ungrateful to your husbands.”
But are you saying that hell fire for women (according to Islam) is limited to “women who curse frequently and are ungrateful to [their] husbands.”?
Regardless, I will take your counsel and I am very appreciative for it
Blessings, Emma.
Jack.
not at all it seems if islam was the true faith no-one would be in heaven as the quran and hadith seem to contradict themselves quite alot and generally go against human nature. thankfully i grew up in a christian primary school and only ever heard nice things about jesus and was never frequently told that the non believers would burn in hell.
Please invert the up side down picture of the woman on the right, (in black headdress.)
Anonymous – thanks for your observation. It is a photo I purchased and when I scanned it, I must have had it upside down. No one else noticed it (I had to turn my laptop upside down to see it). I suppose the absence of others noticing points to the status of women in a Sharia society – they are invisible.
“but studies consistently show that women are actually less likely to tell lies than men, meaning that they would make more reliable witnesses.”
And women were the very first eyewitnesses to the empty tomb and also to the risen Lord. Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary” (In Mark 16 we read that this was Mary the mother of James and Salome) right after they departed from the empty tomb, where the angel had appeared to them and told them that Jesus had risen from the dead (Matthew 28:1-10). Mark records that Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out demons.
Think about that in light of the above comment. Jesus obviously held women in high regard (recall his interactions with women); the anti-Christ will not.