Most of the material in this article has been taken from a lecture delivered by a Scholar in Australia a few years ago. Before reading this article please read the article “Interest and the Modern Banking System” in November 2006 archives on this website to get the full value out of this article.
Allah says in the glorious Quran “O you who have believed, fear Allah and give up what remains [due to you] of Riba (interest), if you should be believers. And if you do not, then be informed of a war [against you] from Allah and His Messenger. But if you repent, you may have your principal – [thus] you do no wrong, nor are you wronged” [Al Quran, 2: 278-279].
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “A time is certainly coming to mankind when only the receiver of Riba will remain, and if he does not receive it, some of its vapour will reach him”. Ibn Isa said: “Some of its dust will reach him.” (Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 3325)
Riba is generally translated as Interest. But the fact is that Riba is a broad term (and there is no single word in the English language to describe it correctly hence it is translated as Interest) and the consensus prevailing among Muslims throughout history has been, and continues to be, that Riba among other things, includes interest. In this article, I will only concentrate on two aspects of Riba: Interest due to time and Riba due to deception.
If Allah and his Messenger are at war and we are sleeping then something is wrong. It is obligatory for an Islamic state to eradicate Riba (interest) from the society, otherwise they will be at war with Allah and his Messenger; and that is exactly what is happening today.
Why Allah has given such a stern warning. The answer is in the fact that Allah has told us that herein lies the greatest danger of all: if you allow this door to be opened (i.e. the door of interest) the poison of Riba (whoever will be injected with it) will paralyse you. The enemy will be able to take control of you. Do not let this door to be opened.
To understand one of the aspect of Riba let’s take an example: I pass on $200 to you and you are obliged to return $400 to me in five years; time is what is responsible for the increase. Today this is known as lending money on interest. In other words, the money lender argues that time equals money.
What the modern day banker does is that he reaps what others plant. He is like a pimp who lives of the sweat of others. This is oppression that some people sit down very comfortably in their beachfront homes and drive Mercedes Benz while the rest of humanity work like jackasses in order to allow them to live the affluent life.
When interest enters into a society, the bloodsucking predatory (a predator lives of the flesh of other animals) elite will now take control of the market and they will suck the blood of the masses. So when an economy is based on Riba, the rich will keep on getting richer while the masses will keep on growing poorer and poorer.
The banker might argue that he is running a business but as Allah Says in the glorious Quran “But Allah has permitted trade and has forbidden interest” [Al Quran, 2:275]. What is the difference between business and Riba? The brief answer to this question is that it is in the essence of a business transaction that you must accept the possibility of either a profit or a loss, but if this possibility is not there then it is not business; and so risk free investments are not business transactions. It is in the essence of the Riba (Interest) transaction that the possibility of loss is eliminated. The money lender is immunised from loss. He can only make a profit, he cannot suffer a loss. That is why Riba does not qualify as business.
An economy in which the rich will permanently remain rich (barring exceptions) and the wealth does not justly circulate means that poor will remain poor. If the rich is permanently rich and the poor is permanently poor, that is slavery; it is economic oppression. That is why Islamic economics is designed in such a way that wealth circulates in the economy in which this type of economic oppression (in the world we are living today) is eliminated.
What happens when money is lent on interest? It’s not only the case where the elite live of the sweat of the masses, it is more than that. When the money lender is immunised from loss, the implication would be that wealth will no longer circulate justly through the economy. Around the world today for those who have eyes to see, and who do not spend their days and nights eating Halwa, watching movies and partying, the modern economy is precisely this economy. And they call it the best model of economy ever experienced by humanity. This is the best model? Have you no shame? Do you think we have the brains of a Jackass? An economy in which wealth no longer circulates, an economy in which rich are permanently rich and the poor are permanently imprisoned in poverty, and you call that progress! This is not progress; it is new economic slavery which has descended upon mankind.
Another aspect of Riba is which is based on deception as narrated by Anas ibn Malik: The Prophet, peace be on him, said: "Deceiving a mustarsal [an unknowing entrant into the market] is Riba (Suyuti, al-Jami al-Saghir, under the word ghabn; Kanz al Ummal, Kitab al-Buyu, al-Bab al-thani, al-fasl al-thani, on the authority of Sunan al-Bayhaqi)
The biggest ripoff is what is taking place in our times.
The currency used at the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) time was mainly gold and silver. The well known hadith states "Gold is to be paid for by gold, silver by silver, wheat by wheat, barley by barley, dates by dates, and salt by salt - like for like, equal for equal, payment being made on the spot. If the species differ, sell as you wish provided that payment is made on the spot". (Muslim)
So if it is not like for like it is Riba (as explained in the hadith of Bilal [may Allah be pleased with him] bringing dates to the Prophet peace be upon him). What is common to all the six things mentioned in this hadith? They were all used for some time or the other for money. The second thing which is common among all of them is that the value of the money is in the money i.e. they all have intrinsic value.
One day Europe was attacked from the inside and the Europe which was Christian lost its Christianity. The Christian Europe fought a ferocious battle against interest. When French Revolution occurred, the back of the Christian Church was broken in Western Europe, while the Back of Christian Church in Eastern Europe was broken after Bolshevik Revolution. When Church lost its stronghold the Jews were delighted. Because the Christians were waging war for centuries against the Jews: they were not allowing the Jews to lend money on Interest. The Jews always wanted to lend money on Interest; because they had changed the Torah (in which Riba was prohibited) and the Torah now says (in context): “do not charge your brother interest, whether on money or food or anything else that may earn interest. You may charge a foreigner interest, but not a brother Israelite, so that the LORD your God may bless you in everything you put your hand to in the land you are entering to possess.[Deuteronomy 23:18-21].
Now with the French Revolution, economy based on Riba emerges in Europe for the first time. And of course after Bolshevik Revolution this possibility was also open in Eastern Europe. The banks not only started to lend money on interest, they started to issue paper as money. When the governments saw banks were getting richer by issuing paper as money, the governments took over the paper. Then gradually Europe started to conquer rest of the world at the point of the sword. So a white world order emerged at the point of a sword in which Europe now ruled the world. When they took over most of the world, one of the most important things they wanted to do was to dismantle the system of real money (e.g. gold and silver) and replace it with paper money. They achieved this eventually. Europe would not decolonise and handover, for example, Pakistan to Muhammad Ali Jinnah or Indonesia to Sukarno unless Europe was insured that the new financial system was in place in which real money was replaced with paper money.
At the beginning when paper money was introduced it was redeemable for Gold. In USA until 1920’s you could take $20.67 in notes to the bank and ask for one ounce of gold in return and you would get it. When the banks and the governments issued paper money, they gave their word that this is the value of the paper and they even printed on Dollar bills “In God We Trust” (in other words when we give our word to you that $20.67 is equivalent to one ounce of gold, our word is as good and as solid as the word of God). But in 1933 something strange happened: Uncle Sam (i.e. US Government) was broke. So guess what Uncle Sam did? In April 1933 Uncle Sam enacted legislation prohibiting all Americans from keeping gold. Americans had to return any gold they had (not jewellary but coins and bullion) to Uncle Sam and he will give you paper in return, and you have to trust in Uncle Sam that his word is as good as the word of God. So Americans gave their gold to Uncle Sam. If they caught you with gold after a certain date then you could be fined $10,000 and could spend a maximum of 10 years as a guest of Uncle Sam in one of his prisons. So Americans took their gold and got back paper in return. After Uncle Sam had collected the gold, he changed his word (these are values of those who economically rule the world today). Uncle Sam changed the price of gold from $20.67 to $35 an ounce of gold (the catch was that only foreigners could sell their gold at the new higher price). American people woke up that morning realising that their own government had ripped them off of nearly half their wealth.
This is a transaction based on deception which Prophet (peace be upon him) described as Riba. Why did all this happen? It is because the value of the real money is in the money. The definition of the paper money is that value of the money in the paper money is not in the money, therefore, the value can be CHANGED. Every time the value of the money is changed the value of the money goes down. What happens when the value of money goes down? The first thing is that there is a massive transfer of wealth from the masses to the predatory elite (which in the above mentioned case was the US Government). What is the second thing that happens? The answer is this: I worked for the whole month I got my salary in gold I could buy a camel; after ten years I could still buy a camel with that salary, after fifty years I could still buy a camel, but when I get my salary in paper I could buy a camel, few years later with my salary I can’t buy a camel with that money anymore (it will only buy a jackass now), so now I am beginning to feel like a jackass because someone has ripped me off. Where did my money go? If you can answer this question (i.e. who took my money and where did it go and how did they take it?) you would understand the game that they are playing. A few years later I cannot even buy a jackass anymore, I can only buy a goat; a few years later I cannot even buy a goat, I can only buy a chicken with that money.
How is this taking place? They started with paper being redeemable for gold and then came 1933 where they ripped people off of almost half their wealth. In 1944 after the end of World War II they consolidated the system with the creation of international monetary system. The new international monetary system now emerges from upstate New York in the form of Bretton Woods agreement. At Bretton Woods they decided that no longer paper will be redeemable for gold; only one paper will be chosen to be redeemable for gold. The one paper which was chosen was the US Dollar. So this was a major blow to the integrity of money. The second thing they did was that the only people who can come to Uncle Sam to redeem money for gold would be governments (through Central Banks). So now the entire system lost 99% of its integrity (because the masses cannot redeem paper for gold). Nobody from 1944 to 1971 redeemed their paper for gold. The Vietnam War took place in the late sixties and Uncle Sam printed a lot of paper to finance the war, and Uncle Sam did not have gold to back the paper. At Bretton Woods they had fixed the price of gold at $35 an ounce. So in September 1971 the British Government came with 3 Billion US Dollars and asked for gold. Uncle Sam knew that the game was up. Because in the coming months other governments would start coming in and demanding gold for the US Dollars they had in their Central Banks. So Richard Nixon addressed the American nation and said (in context), we gave our word but we do not have to keep our word, and we will no longer honour our obligation under Bretton Woods to redeem paper for gold from Central Banks. Therefore, since September 1971 there is no legal link between paper and gold.
Now all they have to do (those who want to rule the world) is to take control of money. Anyone who can take control of the money can control the world. The elites can attack paper so it goes down and down and down. When paper goes down and down, there is a massive transfer of wealth to that bloodsucking predatory elite, the second thing that happens is that wages lose their value because prices go up and up. As wages lose their value, the masses are now imprisoned in something called slave wages. When masses are imprisoned in slave wages you can now control them, you can now rule them.
The rip off has taken place. The thieves have looted our money. The rich have now grown filthy rich and the masses are now in miserable poverty from which there is no way out.
Do you know what happened to Indonesian Rupiah? IMF had issued Indonesia a clean bill of health (an economy which is strong). Indonesia is a major oil producing country. It has land which is very fertile. It has a big and energetic population. It has abundance of mineral resources. There is no reason why Indonesia should be poor. The IMF concurred that Indonesia has a healthy economy. Suddenly the Indonesian Rupiah was attacked by the bloodsucking predatory elite and the banking centres around the world. As a result, the Rupiah falls. Before the crisis, the exchange rate between the rupiah and the dollar was roughly 2000 Rupiah to 1 USD. The rate had plunged to over 18000 Rupiah to 1 USD at times during the crisis. Indonesia lost 13.5% of its GDP that year. In the process of bringing down the Indonesian money, they robbed the Indonesian people of probably more than half of their wealth. Half of Indonesia is instantaneously reduced to below the poverty line. Guess what is the poverty line: $29 a month. All this is happening because we accepted paper as money.
This economic system is driving some of our sisters to sell their bodies for a few dollars. They have no choice in order to get bread to feed their children. It is driving many to live a life of crime. Others are dying every day of hunger (please check out the statistics in the article “Interest and the Modern Banking System"). What will Allah do on the day of Judgement to those who are still eating Halwa and living a carefree life, while the predatory elite have gone filthy rich?
Now that Riba has engulfed the entire world what is going to happen? There is no certain answer to this question, but economists are coming up with certain predictions:
[1] The paper money (fiat currency) system will eventually collapse. First of all the US Dollar will collapse and this disease will slowly spread throughout the world. This would mean that Governments will not be able to print paper anymore.
[2] The likely scenario is that future money will be electronic money. And who creates electronic money? The banks; this would mean that whoever controls the banking system will control the world.
[3] Because governments will lose power, and commodity prices will soar after the collapse of the US dollar, there is a chance that centrally planned systems (in which bureaucrats decide everything) will come into existence. This could in turn result in wars breaking out to take control over the resources.
To get further insight into how this debt based economic system works, I would recommend the following books (they can be purchased from the internet):
The Problem with Interest by Tarek El Diwany
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins
Empire of Debt by Bill Bonner and Addison Wiggin
The Coming Collapse of the Dollar and How to Profit from it by James Turk and John Rubino
The Final Crash by Hugo Bouleau http://www.finalcrash.com/
The Web of Debt by Ellen Hodgson Brown (http://www.webofdebt.com/)
I would also recommend that you read the article “The Other Kind of Terrorism” http://www.islamic-finance.com/item115_f.htm
Please also watch the documentaries by John Pilger "War by Other Means" http://video.google.com.au/videoplay?docid=-5399796928596929639 "The New Rulers of the World" http://video.google.com.au/videoplay?docid=-7932485454526581006 and "Apartheid Did Not Die" http://video.google.com.au/videoplay?docid=-6343784518626528037
In addition, watch these interesting analyses by Ron Paul: "The End of Dollar Hegemony" http://video.google.com.au/videoplay?docid=-8327695139643041382 ; "Federal Reserve, Banking and Economy" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji_G0MqAqq8
All this has happened because the humanity, with its limited intelligence, opened the door of Riba. The revelation had told us long before not to open this door, but now after hundreds of years later we are realising what a big mistake this was!
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Homosexuality and the Logic behind its Prohibition
I would request that (along with this article) you also read the article “Sexually Transmitted Diseases” on this website, because both these articles are interlinked. Thanks.
Born Gay?
The majority of homosexuals believe that they were born "gay." This belief often supplies them with comfort, relieving them of any responsibility to change. However, there is no solid scientific evidence that people are born homosexuals. The overwhelming majority of gay people are completely normal genetically. They are fully male or female. The thing to note is that it is only a theory (and not a scientific fact such as moon reflects light or heart pumps blood), so unless someone can prove it is a scientific fact it will remain in question. Theories and researches have a history of taking u-turns. For example, a report published almost eight years ago in Science magazine refuted earlier claims by scientists to have discovered the so-called "gay gene." Those who argue that there is genetic predisposition to homosexuality fail to read the evidence which demonstrate the contrary. The point is that if someone says I am a born gay or I developed into a homosexual due to my genetic makeup, is basing his argument on theories and researches (and he does not realise that there is evidence contrary to his claims as well).
Learned Behaviour
Homosexuality is learned behaviour which is influenced by a number of factors: a disrupted family life in early years, a lack of unconditional love on the part of either parent, a failure to identify with the same-sex parent. Later, these problems can result in a search for love and acceptance, envy of the same or the opposite sex, a life controlled by various fears and feelings of isolation. (Please note that someone might object that what is the fault of that person if say, for example, his father was unloving and that drove him to homosexuality; I would like to remind him or her that if someone murders or steals and then a psychological analysis reveals that this criminal behaviour was a result of an unloving parent, will they still consider that criminal innocent). One thing that does seem clear is that homosexuality is brought about by a multitude of root causes. It is simplistic thinking to lay the blame on any single area. Fears of the opposite sex, incest, molestation, dominant mothers and weak fathers, demonic oppression: all of these may play a part in causing homosexuality, but no individual factor alone can cause it. Along with outside factors in a person's life (e.g. influence of the media), his own personal choices have played a key role in forming and shaping his homosexual identity, though few will admit this.
The Four Components of Homosexuality
Homosexuality involves much more than simply a sexual act. Those caught up in this usually have entered the homosexual lifestyle to some degree. To better understand the circumstances of the homosexual person seeking help, homosexuality can be divided into four components: behaviour, psychic response, identity and lifestyle.
Behaviour
Often, it is assumed that all homosexual people engage in homosexual acts, but this is not always the case. Because of fears or strong religious convictions, some may refrain from sexual behaviour, yet experience an intense battle with homosexual attractions. Another wrong assumption is that all people who engage in homosexual acts are homosexuals. There are a huge number of heterosexual men who engage in homosexual acts for a variety of reasons, such as being in prison or anywhere where heterosexual sex is unavailable (such as an all male hostel where children have just entered puberty and sexual desires are abundant).
Also, a child who is involved in homosexual acts early in his life will not necessarily become a homosexual unless these acts fulfill needs that are not being met in other ways, such as needs for love, acceptance, security and significance. In these cases, the child's involvement in the act is viewed as a "trade-off" for the non-sexual needs he is obtaining. It is possible that the act and the fulfilled needs could become synonymous, which could lead to the development of a homosexual orientation. However, statistics have shown most children who experience homosexual acts leave them behind, growing up to lead a normal heterosexual life.
Psychic Response
A brief definition of this term is, "sexual excitation (stimulation) caused by visual perception or fantasy speculation." Psychic response is also what people refer to as a "homosexual orientation." Though many people claim that they have experienced visual or sexual attraction for the same sex "as long as they can remember," there is a progression in a person's life that leads to a homosexual psychic response. A child may start out with a need to compare himself with others to see if he measures up to societal standards. When he feels he doesn't compare favourably with others, he develops admiration for those traits and physical characteristics he feels he does not possess. Admiration, which is normal, may turn to envy. Envy leads to the desire to possess others and finally, to consume others. This strong desire becomes eroticised somewhere along the way, eventually leading to homosexual psychic response. As psychic response begins to grip someone's life, a certain amount of scheming takes place; sexual situations are pictured in the mind. When the first sexual encounter takes place, it may be the result of several years of planning and fantasy. However, homosexual behaviour can precede psychic response, which may develop as a conditioned response to pleasant encounters with those of the same sex.
Identity
Some people enter into homosexuality through "identity". These are people who may not have experienced sexual attraction for the same sex or have had any homosexual encounters. However, from an early age, they have felt they were "different" from other people. They feel abnormal, like they do not fit into the heterosexual world. They reason, "If I'm not heterosexual, then I must be gay" and they accept the homosexual label onto their lives. Of course, this is a misinterpretation. A person troubled with shyness, fear of the opposite sex, lack of athletic or social skills need not accept the label "homosexual." However, people do grow into labels. Once a label is accepted, the implied characteristics of that label begin to develop in a person's life. What we believe about ourselves is of extreme importance.
Lifestyle
A homosexual may insist that he bears no responsibility for his identity, his psychic response or even his first sexual encounter, which may have been forced upon him. However, every homosexual person must bear the responsibility for his or her choice to enter the homosexual lifestyle. People enter this lifestyle to varying degrees. Some live in the heterosexual world for the most part, seeking out only sporadic, impersonal sexual encounters. Others immerse themselves in the total "gay subculture," a setting in which the person works, lives and socialises in a totally gay environment. There are all the varying degrees in between these two extremes, but the gay lifestyle, for many people, is the first place where they have experienced any form of acceptance on a below-the-surface level. In spite of the acceptance that is available, however, the homosexual lifestyle often proves to be a painful and unrewarding way of life, particularly for older gays who are no longer desirable sexually.
As you can see from looking at these four components, homosexuality is a complex problem with many definitions and variations. If someone tells you, "I am a homosexual," he has really told you very little about himself. It takes a deeper look into his life to determine the degree to which homosexuality has become a part of his identity. This also illustrates why homosexuality can be a difficult problem to overcome.
In fact, the common belief that one is ‘either a heterosexual or a homosexual’ and that physical or other clear reasons for this difference usually exist is not supported by research. The empirical research evidence indicates that for most people the sexual drive exists in a diffused state in the early stages, solidifying only much later. Sexual development occurs primarily between the second year of life and the onset of puberty. During the first few years it is rather undefined and can develop through learning so that it can be stimulated, or at least influenced, by a wide variety of objects, although at first the primary stimulus is tactile stimulation of the genital area.
Thus children’s sexual development is highly influenced by early experiences in a process similar to imprinting. This system enables a person to become sexually attracted to their own race, national group or culture. Thus, Chinese men generally find Chinese women most erotic. Black men relate to black women in the same way, etc. This is not to say that people cannot find those in other groups attractive, but that the general preference tends to be towards one’s own national and cultural group. Because the original sexual drive is diffused, it can thus be conditioned in many different directions.
For this reason, a variety of experiences, many of which have little to do with the person himself, can cause one to become a homosexual, depending on the degree that one’s early diffuse sex drive is conditioned toward persons of the same sex and away from persons of the opposite sex. Holmes noted that “In many women, particularly, sexual attraction tends to follow on the heels of strong emotional attachments with partners of either sex.”
Furthermore, Masters’ and Johnson’s scientific studies of those labelled homosexuals and lesbians have found that both groups consistently listed heterosexual encounters as highly erotic, actually at the top of a list of their erotic fantasies. In one study both male and female homosexuals listed a ‘heterosexual encounter’ as their third most common sexual fantasy! This finding also supports the conclusion that most of those persons labelled gay are, at best, in varying degrees bisexual—especially in view of the fact that many also have heterosexual relations, and many were once married and had families (but a pure heterosexual will feel disgusted even at the thought of a homosexual encounter).
The level of the population that is exclusively homosexual has traditionally been placed at 10%, partly as a result of the 1940s Kinsey studies. Numerous new empirical studies in the United States, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Britain and other countries reveal the rate is less than 3% and as little as below 1%.That the number varies from 0.9% of males in Norway to 2.8% found by the national opinion research centre at the University of Chicago for the United States of America, indicates that cultural factors are likely very influential. Further, according to a Minnesota adolescent health survey, only 0.6% of the boys and 0.2% of the girls surveyed identified themselves as ‘most of 100% homosexual’, 0.7% males and 0.8% females as bisexual, and 10.1% of the males and 11.3% of the females were ‘unsure’. This indicates that many individuals do not have a firm sexual orientation as an adolescent, and reveals the importance of social and sexual experiences in development.
Although many factors are involved, a person is not a prisoner to his or her sexuality and to a large degree chooses a homosexual lifestyle. The unfortunate factor in this debate is that it is very difficult to reason about this topic with those who advocate that a ‘sexual orientation’ called ‘homosexual’ exists. They simply reject, ignore or distort the enormous amount of empirical data against their position. A clear need exists to understand the reasons why people adopt this lifestyle, and the difficulties of doing so in our, or any, society.
The claim is often made that those who involve themselves in homosexual behaviour cannot help the way that they are, and are biologically attracted to the same sex, not the opposite sex. Despite claims, no gene causing homosexuality has yet been shown to unambiguously exist, nor has any clear evidence of a biological basis yet been located. This argument that homosexuality is biological also provides other perverts (e.g. pedophiles) a justification for their behaviour. You sometimes hear from drug addicts, alcoholics etc, that they have no control over what they do (in other words it is biological): which is an untrue and lame justification for their acts.
Further, it is not only homosexual behaviour that is objectionable, but also much of the sexual behaviour that is common among homosexuals. Bell et al. found that 43% of white male homosexuals reported having sex with more than 500 partners and a whopping 28% with over 1,000 partners. Also, the sexual practices that homosexuals engage in (a major one is labelled sodomy, from the scriptural example of Sodom and Gomorrah) are generally regarded as unacceptable in Christian or Muslim societies even for heterosexuals (i.e. anal sex is not allowed between married couples).
Born Gay?
The majority of homosexuals believe that they were born "gay." This belief often supplies them with comfort, relieving them of any responsibility to change. However, there is no solid scientific evidence that people are born homosexuals. The overwhelming majority of gay people are completely normal genetically. They are fully male or female. The thing to note is that it is only a theory (and not a scientific fact such as moon reflects light or heart pumps blood), so unless someone can prove it is a scientific fact it will remain in question. Theories and researches have a history of taking u-turns. For example, a report published almost eight years ago in Science magazine refuted earlier claims by scientists to have discovered the so-called "gay gene." Those who argue that there is genetic predisposition to homosexuality fail to read the evidence which demonstrate the contrary. The point is that if someone says I am a born gay or I developed into a homosexual due to my genetic makeup, is basing his argument on theories and researches (and he does not realise that there is evidence contrary to his claims as well).
Learned Behaviour
Homosexuality is learned behaviour which is influenced by a number of factors: a disrupted family life in early years, a lack of unconditional love on the part of either parent, a failure to identify with the same-sex parent. Later, these problems can result in a search for love and acceptance, envy of the same or the opposite sex, a life controlled by various fears and feelings of isolation. (Please note that someone might object that what is the fault of that person if say, for example, his father was unloving and that drove him to homosexuality; I would like to remind him or her that if someone murders or steals and then a psychological analysis reveals that this criminal behaviour was a result of an unloving parent, will they still consider that criminal innocent). One thing that does seem clear is that homosexuality is brought about by a multitude of root causes. It is simplistic thinking to lay the blame on any single area. Fears of the opposite sex, incest, molestation, dominant mothers and weak fathers, demonic oppression: all of these may play a part in causing homosexuality, but no individual factor alone can cause it. Along with outside factors in a person's life (e.g. influence of the media), his own personal choices have played a key role in forming and shaping his homosexual identity, though few will admit this.
The Four Components of Homosexuality
Homosexuality involves much more than simply a sexual act. Those caught up in this usually have entered the homosexual lifestyle to some degree. To better understand the circumstances of the homosexual person seeking help, homosexuality can be divided into four components: behaviour, psychic response, identity and lifestyle.
Behaviour
Often, it is assumed that all homosexual people engage in homosexual acts, but this is not always the case. Because of fears or strong religious convictions, some may refrain from sexual behaviour, yet experience an intense battle with homosexual attractions. Another wrong assumption is that all people who engage in homosexual acts are homosexuals. There are a huge number of heterosexual men who engage in homosexual acts for a variety of reasons, such as being in prison or anywhere where heterosexual sex is unavailable (such as an all male hostel where children have just entered puberty and sexual desires are abundant).
Also, a child who is involved in homosexual acts early in his life will not necessarily become a homosexual unless these acts fulfill needs that are not being met in other ways, such as needs for love, acceptance, security and significance. In these cases, the child's involvement in the act is viewed as a "trade-off" for the non-sexual needs he is obtaining. It is possible that the act and the fulfilled needs could become synonymous, which could lead to the development of a homosexual orientation. However, statistics have shown most children who experience homosexual acts leave them behind, growing up to lead a normal heterosexual life.
Psychic Response
A brief definition of this term is, "sexual excitation (stimulation) caused by visual perception or fantasy speculation." Psychic response is also what people refer to as a "homosexual orientation." Though many people claim that they have experienced visual or sexual attraction for the same sex "as long as they can remember," there is a progression in a person's life that leads to a homosexual psychic response. A child may start out with a need to compare himself with others to see if he measures up to societal standards. When he feels he doesn't compare favourably with others, he develops admiration for those traits and physical characteristics he feels he does not possess. Admiration, which is normal, may turn to envy. Envy leads to the desire to possess others and finally, to consume others. This strong desire becomes eroticised somewhere along the way, eventually leading to homosexual psychic response. As psychic response begins to grip someone's life, a certain amount of scheming takes place; sexual situations are pictured in the mind. When the first sexual encounter takes place, it may be the result of several years of planning and fantasy. However, homosexual behaviour can precede psychic response, which may develop as a conditioned response to pleasant encounters with those of the same sex.
Identity
Some people enter into homosexuality through "identity". These are people who may not have experienced sexual attraction for the same sex or have had any homosexual encounters. However, from an early age, they have felt they were "different" from other people. They feel abnormal, like they do not fit into the heterosexual world. They reason, "If I'm not heterosexual, then I must be gay" and they accept the homosexual label onto their lives. Of course, this is a misinterpretation. A person troubled with shyness, fear of the opposite sex, lack of athletic or social skills need not accept the label "homosexual." However, people do grow into labels. Once a label is accepted, the implied characteristics of that label begin to develop in a person's life. What we believe about ourselves is of extreme importance.
Lifestyle
A homosexual may insist that he bears no responsibility for his identity, his psychic response or even his first sexual encounter, which may have been forced upon him. However, every homosexual person must bear the responsibility for his or her choice to enter the homosexual lifestyle. People enter this lifestyle to varying degrees. Some live in the heterosexual world for the most part, seeking out only sporadic, impersonal sexual encounters. Others immerse themselves in the total "gay subculture," a setting in which the person works, lives and socialises in a totally gay environment. There are all the varying degrees in between these two extremes, but the gay lifestyle, for many people, is the first place where they have experienced any form of acceptance on a below-the-surface level. In spite of the acceptance that is available, however, the homosexual lifestyle often proves to be a painful and unrewarding way of life, particularly for older gays who are no longer desirable sexually.
As you can see from looking at these four components, homosexuality is a complex problem with many definitions and variations. If someone tells you, "I am a homosexual," he has really told you very little about himself. It takes a deeper look into his life to determine the degree to which homosexuality has become a part of his identity. This also illustrates why homosexuality can be a difficult problem to overcome.
In fact, the common belief that one is ‘either a heterosexual or a homosexual’ and that physical or other clear reasons for this difference usually exist is not supported by research. The empirical research evidence indicates that for most people the sexual drive exists in a diffused state in the early stages, solidifying only much later. Sexual development occurs primarily between the second year of life and the onset of puberty. During the first few years it is rather undefined and can develop through learning so that it can be stimulated, or at least influenced, by a wide variety of objects, although at first the primary stimulus is tactile stimulation of the genital area.
Thus children’s sexual development is highly influenced by early experiences in a process similar to imprinting. This system enables a person to become sexually attracted to their own race, national group or culture. Thus, Chinese men generally find Chinese women most erotic. Black men relate to black women in the same way, etc. This is not to say that people cannot find those in other groups attractive, but that the general preference tends to be towards one’s own national and cultural group. Because the original sexual drive is diffused, it can thus be conditioned in many different directions.
For this reason, a variety of experiences, many of which have little to do with the person himself, can cause one to become a homosexual, depending on the degree that one’s early diffuse sex drive is conditioned toward persons of the same sex and away from persons of the opposite sex. Holmes noted that “In many women, particularly, sexual attraction tends to follow on the heels of strong emotional attachments with partners of either sex.”
Furthermore, Masters’ and Johnson’s scientific studies of those labelled homosexuals and lesbians have found that both groups consistently listed heterosexual encounters as highly erotic, actually at the top of a list of their erotic fantasies. In one study both male and female homosexuals listed a ‘heterosexual encounter’ as their third most common sexual fantasy! This finding also supports the conclusion that most of those persons labelled gay are, at best, in varying degrees bisexual—especially in view of the fact that many also have heterosexual relations, and many were once married and had families (but a pure heterosexual will feel disgusted even at the thought of a homosexual encounter).
The level of the population that is exclusively homosexual has traditionally been placed at 10%, partly as a result of the 1940s Kinsey studies. Numerous new empirical studies in the United States, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Britain and other countries reveal the rate is less than 3% and as little as below 1%.That the number varies from 0.9% of males in Norway to 2.8% found by the national opinion research centre at the University of Chicago for the United States of America, indicates that cultural factors are likely very influential. Further, according to a Minnesota adolescent health survey, only 0.6% of the boys and 0.2% of the girls surveyed identified themselves as ‘most of 100% homosexual’, 0.7% males and 0.8% females as bisexual, and 10.1% of the males and 11.3% of the females were ‘unsure’. This indicates that many individuals do not have a firm sexual orientation as an adolescent, and reveals the importance of social and sexual experiences in development.
Although many factors are involved, a person is not a prisoner to his or her sexuality and to a large degree chooses a homosexual lifestyle. The unfortunate factor in this debate is that it is very difficult to reason about this topic with those who advocate that a ‘sexual orientation’ called ‘homosexual’ exists. They simply reject, ignore or distort the enormous amount of empirical data against their position. A clear need exists to understand the reasons why people adopt this lifestyle, and the difficulties of doing so in our, or any, society.
The claim is often made that those who involve themselves in homosexual behaviour cannot help the way that they are, and are biologically attracted to the same sex, not the opposite sex. Despite claims, no gene causing homosexuality has yet been shown to unambiguously exist, nor has any clear evidence of a biological basis yet been located. This argument that homosexuality is biological also provides other perverts (e.g. pedophiles) a justification for their behaviour. You sometimes hear from drug addicts, alcoholics etc, that they have no control over what they do (in other words it is biological): which is an untrue and lame justification for their acts.
Further, it is not only homosexual behaviour that is objectionable, but also much of the sexual behaviour that is common among homosexuals. Bell et al. found that 43% of white male homosexuals reported having sex with more than 500 partners and a whopping 28% with over 1,000 partners. Also, the sexual practices that homosexuals engage in (a major one is labelled sodomy, from the scriptural example of Sodom and Gomorrah) are generally regarded as unacceptable in Christian or Muslim societies even for heterosexuals (i.e. anal sex is not allowed between married couples).
Logic behind Prohibition of Homosexuality
A major problem relative to homosexuality is that many venereal and other diseases are far more a problem with homosexual behaviour than heterosexual. For non-promiscuous couples who take proper cleanliness measures, the transmission of disease among heterosexuals is extremely rare, and then usually almost always due to lack of hygiene. During homosexual behaviour, sperm can penetrate the partner’s colon wall. When inside the body, the sperm adversely affects the immune system, resulting in the person being more vulnerable to disease. This is especially a problem, in that homosexual practices commonly transmit many diseases which are uncommon among heterosexuals. For example, homosexuals as a group are far more apt to have rare bowel diseases, which are generally lumped together under the designation ‘gay bowel syndrome’. One study indicated that one half of homosexuals eventually contract the colon disease parasitic amebiasis, while rectal gonorrhea and infectious hepatitis A are far higher among the homosexual population. Fox, in response to this concern, noted: ‘First, the colon and rectum are made for the elimination of fecal matter and not for sexual experience. Fecal matter is eliminated because it is indigestible and contains disease-causing materials. With sexual penetration, the rectal muscles are often torn or over-expanded, and the fragile lining of the colon is almost always torn. The tearing of the colon allows fecal matter to penetrate into the body, bringing with it infectious disease.’
Many homosexuals frequent medical doctors who specialise in treating homosexuals in order to best deal with their special health concerns. While these doctors may not advertise themselves as such in the telephone book, the homosexual social network as well as the homosexual press is a common source patients use to contact these specialised physicians. Estimates of the infectious disease rate among homosexuals is about ten times higher than that of the general population—not only venereal diseases, but also hepatitis B and others. Other common diseases include AIDS, urethritis, viral herpes, pediculosis infestation and others. Of course, it is not only the type of behaviour that they indulge in which puts them at a much higher risk, but also their high level of promiscuity—one survey indicated that homosexual males have an average of over 50 sexual partners in their lifetime. Another study found that 28% had more than 1,000 partners, 15% had 500 to 1,000, 32% from 100 to 500, and only 25% had less than 100 partners in their lifetime. While surveys in this area vary, depending upon the sampling population, sample size and specific questions asked, all reveal that an enormous amount of promiscuity is a normal part of the gay lifestyle.
From a medical standpoint, they are fraught with health dangers, including infections, bleeding and disease transmission problems. While promiscuity among heterosexuals also carries many dangers, they are generally far less than sodomy, and infections from sexual relations are actually relatively rare in monogamous couples who practice appropriate hygiene. A major reason why this is true is that numerous genital secretions produce high levels of germicides which minimise enormously the chances of infection from heterosexual relations. On the other hand, no such secretions are produced for sodomy relations, which would be expected if heterosexual behaviour were designed and sodomy were not (meaning it is biologically wrong and God did not create us that way). Consequently, studies reveal that homosexual behaviour produces a rate of venereal disease 22 times higher than the national average. The major anatomical problems with sodomy (for example, tearing of mucosa) are generally not a problem in heterosexual relationships.
Let’s say for the sake of argument that all gays start to go into monogamous relationships (which is highly unlikely as statistics have shown) after their rights are recognised and they have the right to marry and get divorced. A number of problems will arise in a society due to this scenario in the years to come. Firstly, it is estimated that gays outnumber Lesbians in the ratio of four to one: i.e. for every four gays there is one lesbian. This means that millions of women all over the world will never find a partner for themselves. Secondly, in many societies the population growth will start to slow down and go into negative (which west is facing now because people are not willing to marry because of unfair divorce laws or have more than two children as more and more women are going into the workforce, and therefore, they are unable to take care of a lot of children, and hence many countries like Australia and Canada have relaxed their immigration laws so that their population can grow steadily and the skill shortages are minimised. Note that there are many other reasons why majority of western women are not having more than two children or why more and more couples are not marrying which is beyond the scope of this article). This will also result in an increase in ageing population (which is already the case in the west, but with the introduction of homosexual marriage laws this problem will get worse). Why is increasing ageing population a problem? To get a general idea please visit http://www.pc.gov.au/projects/study/ageing/docs/finalreport I do not want to discuss this here as this topic requires an article of its own.
Finally, gay argument is illogical and self destructive: if everyone becomes homosexual, then the human race will cease to exist in 150 years. If you argue that people can artificially inseminate and produce babies to keep the population going, then you have to realise that the population growth will be negative which will result in all sorts of problems (such as lack of skill shortages in many fields).
All in All, God did not design human beings to be homosexuals. It is a lifestyle which many adopt because of external factors. This confirms that revelation guides people in the right path and if humans turn away from it, they eventually learn it through their intelligence (but this learning comes at a much higher cost).
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Since the western values have taken over most of the world and religion has gone out of the lives of the majority, homosexuality and sex out of wedlock have grown many folds. People are more promiscuous then ever before. In Britain, The National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles 2000 (Natsal 2000) found that men and women have more sexual partners than they did 10 years ago and are more likely to be unfaithful. Details of the survey also reveal that more men are paying for sex.
The study of 11,161 people between the ages of 16 and 44 from across the UK found that a minority - one in five men and one in four women - have had one sexual partner over the course of their lives. This compares with one in 12 men and one in 28 women who have had more than 10 partners in the last five years. This figure rises sharply among those aged between 16 and 24. One in seven young men and one in 10 young women have had more than 10 partners in the last five years. The survey also found a sizeable number of people who have had concurrent relationships or have "two-timed" during the past year. Some 15% of men and 7% of women admitted to this. The figure jumps for those in the 16 to 24 age group. Some 21% of young men and 15% of young women said they had "two-timed" during the past year. The survey also shows that the number of men who have paid for sex in the past five years has doubled since 1990 to one in 23, rising to one in 11 in London.
Durex in their 2004 Global Sex Survey reported that people around the world have had an average number of 10.5 sexual partners. More than a quarter (27%) had only one partner while 21% have had sex with more than 10 people. Men have had more sexual partners than women - 12.4 compared to 7.2.
The numbers are more astounding among the homosexuals. One survey indicated that homosexual males have an average of over 50 sexual partners in their lifetime. Another study found that 28% had more than 1,000 partners, 15% had 500 to 1,000, 32% from 100 to 500, and only 25% had less than 100 partners in their lifetime. While surveys in this area vary, depending upon the sampling population, sample size and specific questions asked, all reveal that an enormous amount of promiscuity is a normal part of the gay lifestyle.
Because of all this, the number of the dreaded sexually transmitted infections has skyrocketed.
In a part of a Hadith reported by Abdullah ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "If lewdness exists among people and then appears as a common and open practice, plagues and NEW DISEASES which did not exist before will spread among them. (Ibn Maajah; Al Hakim)"
The statistics on STDs are shocking. In the UK, the estimated overall prevalence of HIV infection in adults increased over 12 months by 20%, so that by the end of 2002 there were an estimated 49,500 people living with HIV in the country. At the end of 2001, chlamydia was the most diagnosed sexually transmitted infection in the UK. Last year, 708,083 people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were diagnosed with an STI (Sexually Transmitted Infection). Marked geographic variations in disease occurrence exist, with a concentration of the HIV and STI epidemics in Greater London.
Between 2002 and 2003, new episodes of STIs seen in genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics in England, Wales and Northern Ireland increased from 1,546,812 to 2,125,243.
Individually:
Genital chlamydial infection increased by 9%
Syphilis increased by 28%
Gonorrhoea decreased by 3%
Genital herpes simplex infection decreased by 2%
Genital warts increased by 2%
Diagnoses increased by 4%
Workload increased by 63%
Figures show 1 in 10 young people have already had sex by the time they are 14. About 10% of UK adults have had an STI and 13% have visited a genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinic. Overall, 708,083 people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were diagnosed with an STI in 2003.
The United States leads the world in many areas. Unfortunately, sexually transmitted diseases is one of them. USA has the highest rate of curable STD's in the world. There are 12 million NEW cases of STD's each year in the US, and 2/3 of these are in people under the age of 25. This means that 1-in-4 Americans will get an STD during their lifetime!
The estimated total number of people living in the US with an incurable STD is over 65 million. Every year, there are approximately 15 million new cases of STDs, a few of which are curable.
Two-thirds of all STDs occur in people 25 years of age or younger. One in four new STD infections occur in teenagers. Cervical cancer in women is linked to high-risk types of HPV. Of the STDs that are diagnosed, only four - gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia and hepatitis B - are required to be reported to state health departments and the CDC for statistical purposes. Hepatitis B is recent addition to that list. Hepatitis B is 100 times more infectious than HIV. STDs, other than HIV, cost more than $8 billion each year to diagnose and treat - both the disease and their complications.
At least 80 percent of those with herpes are unaware they have it. At least one in four Americans will contract an STD at some point in their lives. Overall, herpes is the most common STD in the United States, with more than 45 million individuals having this lifelong virus. In a given year, however, it is estimated that more people will become infected with HPV than with herpes. More than 1 million people acquire herpes each year and over 5 million people acquire HPV each year. Some researchers believe that HPV infections may self-resolve and may not be lifelong like herpes.
Less than half of adults ages 18 to 44 have ever been tested for an STD other than HIV / AIDS. At least 15 percent of all infertile American women are infertile because of tubal damage caused by pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), the result of an untreated STD. Approximately two-thirds of Hepatitis B (HBV) infections are transmitted sexually; HBV is linked to chronic liver disease, including cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Increasing numbers of chlamydia infections have made it the most widespread STD in the USA. In 1996 there were 492,631 reported diagnoses, corresponding to a rate of 190.6 per 100,000 population. However, by 2003 the annual total had increased by 78% to 877,478 and the rate per 100,000 had risen to 304.3.
Genital warts accounts for 1 million new infections each year, but at least 24 million people are infected. Gonorrhea infects at least 800,000 people each year. There are 120,000 cases of syphilis each year.
Some STD's can be cured, but not all. Genital warts, herpes, HIV/AIDS, and some cases of hepatitis B CANNOT BE CURED! Once you've got them, you've got them for life. Left untreated, STD's can have serious health consequences. Not only can they be embarrassing, STD's can lead to infertility, cancer, heart trouble, blindness, other infections, and damage to reproductive organs. And they can even kill you. In fact, AIDS is the leading cause of death for all Americans ages 25-44.
All these statistics prove beyond any doubt that western values of free and liberal society are the worst principles ever given to the humankind in the recorded history.
Allah says in the glorious Quran "And do not approach unlawful sexual intercourse. Indeed, it is ever an immorality and is evil as a way." [Al-Quran 17:32] But the humanity with its limited intelligence opened the door of unlawful sexual intercourse and now after many years we are realising how big a mistake this was. It is time that we go back to the morals and ethics revealed to us by God Almighty in the Holy Quran. If we do not, then we should be ready to accept the disastrous consequences.
The study of 11,161 people between the ages of 16 and 44 from across the UK found that a minority - one in five men and one in four women - have had one sexual partner over the course of their lives. This compares with one in 12 men and one in 28 women who have had more than 10 partners in the last five years. This figure rises sharply among those aged between 16 and 24. One in seven young men and one in 10 young women have had more than 10 partners in the last five years. The survey also found a sizeable number of people who have had concurrent relationships or have "two-timed" during the past year. Some 15% of men and 7% of women admitted to this. The figure jumps for those in the 16 to 24 age group. Some 21% of young men and 15% of young women said they had "two-timed" during the past year. The survey also shows that the number of men who have paid for sex in the past five years has doubled since 1990 to one in 23, rising to one in 11 in London.
Durex in their 2004 Global Sex Survey reported that people around the world have had an average number of 10.5 sexual partners. More than a quarter (27%) had only one partner while 21% have had sex with more than 10 people. Men have had more sexual partners than women - 12.4 compared to 7.2.
The numbers are more astounding among the homosexuals. One survey indicated that homosexual males have an average of over 50 sexual partners in their lifetime. Another study found that 28% had more than 1,000 partners, 15% had 500 to 1,000, 32% from 100 to 500, and only 25% had less than 100 partners in their lifetime. While surveys in this area vary, depending upon the sampling population, sample size and specific questions asked, all reveal that an enormous amount of promiscuity is a normal part of the gay lifestyle.
Because of all this, the number of the dreaded sexually transmitted infections has skyrocketed.
In a part of a Hadith reported by Abdullah ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "If lewdness exists among people and then appears as a common and open practice, plagues and NEW DISEASES which did not exist before will spread among them. (Ibn Maajah; Al Hakim)"
The statistics on STDs are shocking. In the UK, the estimated overall prevalence of HIV infection in adults increased over 12 months by 20%, so that by the end of 2002 there were an estimated 49,500 people living with HIV in the country. At the end of 2001, chlamydia was the most diagnosed sexually transmitted infection in the UK. Last year, 708,083 people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were diagnosed with an STI (Sexually Transmitted Infection). Marked geographic variations in disease occurrence exist, with a concentration of the HIV and STI epidemics in Greater London.
Between 2002 and 2003, new episodes of STIs seen in genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics in England, Wales and Northern Ireland increased from 1,546,812 to 2,125,243.
Individually:
Genital chlamydial infection increased by 9%
Syphilis increased by 28%
Gonorrhoea decreased by 3%
Genital herpes simplex infection decreased by 2%
Genital warts increased by 2%
Diagnoses increased by 4%
Workload increased by 63%
Figures show 1 in 10 young people have already had sex by the time they are 14. About 10% of UK adults have had an STI and 13% have visited a genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinic. Overall, 708,083 people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were diagnosed with an STI in 2003.
The United States leads the world in many areas. Unfortunately, sexually transmitted diseases is one of them. USA has the highest rate of curable STD's in the world. There are 12 million NEW cases of STD's each year in the US, and 2/3 of these are in people under the age of 25. This means that 1-in-4 Americans will get an STD during their lifetime!
The estimated total number of people living in the US with an incurable STD is over 65 million. Every year, there are approximately 15 million new cases of STDs, a few of which are curable.
Two-thirds of all STDs occur in people 25 years of age or younger. One in four new STD infections occur in teenagers. Cervical cancer in women is linked to high-risk types of HPV. Of the STDs that are diagnosed, only four - gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia and hepatitis B - are required to be reported to state health departments and the CDC for statistical purposes. Hepatitis B is recent addition to that list. Hepatitis B is 100 times more infectious than HIV. STDs, other than HIV, cost more than $8 billion each year to diagnose and treat - both the disease and their complications.
At least 80 percent of those with herpes are unaware they have it. At least one in four Americans will contract an STD at some point in their lives. Overall, herpes is the most common STD in the United States, with more than 45 million individuals having this lifelong virus. In a given year, however, it is estimated that more people will become infected with HPV than with herpes. More than 1 million people acquire herpes each year and over 5 million people acquire HPV each year. Some researchers believe that HPV infections may self-resolve and may not be lifelong like herpes.
Less than half of adults ages 18 to 44 have ever been tested for an STD other than HIV / AIDS. At least 15 percent of all infertile American women are infertile because of tubal damage caused by pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), the result of an untreated STD. Approximately two-thirds of Hepatitis B (HBV) infections are transmitted sexually; HBV is linked to chronic liver disease, including cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Increasing numbers of chlamydia infections have made it the most widespread STD in the USA. In 1996 there were 492,631 reported diagnoses, corresponding to a rate of 190.6 per 100,000 population. However, by 2003 the annual total had increased by 78% to 877,478 and the rate per 100,000 had risen to 304.3.
Genital warts accounts for 1 million new infections each year, but at least 24 million people are infected. Gonorrhea infects at least 800,000 people each year. There are 120,000 cases of syphilis each year.
Some STD's can be cured, but not all. Genital warts, herpes, HIV/AIDS, and some cases of hepatitis B CANNOT BE CURED! Once you've got them, you've got them for life. Left untreated, STD's can have serious health consequences. Not only can they be embarrassing, STD's can lead to infertility, cancer, heart trouble, blindness, other infections, and damage to reproductive organs. And they can even kill you. In fact, AIDS is the leading cause of death for all Americans ages 25-44.
All these statistics prove beyond any doubt that western values of free and liberal society are the worst principles ever given to the humankind in the recorded history.
Allah says in the glorious Quran "And do not approach unlawful sexual intercourse. Indeed, it is ever an immorality and is evil as a way." [Al-Quran 17:32] But the humanity with its limited intelligence opened the door of unlawful sexual intercourse and now after many years we are realising how big a mistake this was. It is time that we go back to the morals and ethics revealed to us by God Almighty in the Holy Quran. If we do not, then we should be ready to accept the disastrous consequences.
Logic of Growing a Beard
Fashions change over the generations. At the turn of the 20th century beards were very popular; in modern times they are the exception rather than the rule. The fact that we readily accept clean-shaven culture (without questioning its logic) is a clear indication that how influenced we are from the modern western culture and how western values have taken over our lives. This article focuses on research done on the subject of beard (unfortunately, not a lot of research has been done on this subject and a lot more needs to be carried out); in addition, the article consists of logical arguments for growing a beard.
Shah Wali Ullah in his famous book (Hujjat Allah al-Balighah) writes that it is due to the beard that a distinction is made between adults and children. The beard is a beauty for men and its presence completes the personality of man. That is why it is obligatory (in Islam) to grow the beard and to shave the beard is an act of Zoroastrians.
Dr. Daniel G. Freedman, of the University of Chicago, did research on the reproductive value of male beardedness. To test his theory, Dr. Freedman and his graduate students asked a group of undergraduates of their feelings about beardedness by giving them questionnaires and interviewing them. Furthermore, one of the graduate students interviewed seven women about their feelings toward men with beards. The female students rated a bearded male face as more masculine, independent, sophisticated and mature compared to a clean-shaven male face. They concluded from their studies that a beard increases “sexual magnetism” and attractiveness and makes men more appealing to women. The presence of a beard makes a man appear more masculine to a woman, and she feels more feminine towards him.
Psychologist Robert J. Pellegrini reported in Psychology, 1973, Volume 10, No. 1, the results of an experiment on the perception of male personality as a function of varying states of beardedness. To carry out the experiment, Pellegrini hired eight full-bearded young men who were willing to have their beards fully shaved off for a payment of ten dollars. All of the full-bearded men were Caucasians. Their ages ranged from 22 to 25 years. The tabulation of the results showed a generally positive correlation between the amount of hair on the object person's face and his being perceived as masculine, mature, good-looking, dominant, self-confident, courageous, liberal, non-conforming, and older. The results also suggested a similar correlation regarding perceptions of intelligence, strength, health, and likableness. In view of the results, Pellegrini suggested that the presence of hair on a young man's face is associated with an idealised image of the male personality. In discussing the results of his experiment, Pellegrini wrote:
“Judging from the data in the present research, the male beard communicates a heroic image of independent, sturdy, and resourceful pioneer, ready, willing and able to do manly things.”
Pelligrini summed up his discussion by stating:
“In conclusion, it may very well be true that inside every clean-shaven man there is beard screaming to be let out. If so, the results of the present study provide a strong rationale for indulging that demand.”
Beards serve as secondary male sex characteristic. Secondary sex characteristics are those physical features which develop when human beings reach the age of puberty. Primary sex characteristics are the genitals, but the beard is a secondary sex characteristic in males. The purpose of secondary sex characteristics is to distinguish males from females. In addition, secondary sex characteristics serve the purpose of attracting the opposite sex.
A very interesting relationship between the male hormone testosterone, sexual activity and beard growth was published in the May, 30 1970 issue of the magazine Nature. The author and subject of this research carried out a detailed study to measure the rate of growth of his beard by shaving his beard everyday and weighing the hair which he collected in his electric razor. The author supplemented his article with scientific data in forms of charts and graphs. He concluded that, based on the results of his research, “the stimulus for increased beard growth is related to the resumption of sexual activity.” It was also shown in his research that as the weekend approached with the prospect of spending free time with his female companion, there was great increase in the beard growth. The author further writes: “Even the presence of particular female company in the absence of intercourse, after a period of separation, usually caused an obvious increase in beard growth.” Since the beard is a secondary sex characteristic, its growth is influenced by the levels of testosterone in the male body. The rate of production and the level of testosterone in body are affected by a man’s sexual behaviour. More interestingly, it has been shown by research that whereas testosterone stimulates the growth of beard, it has almost no effect on scalp hair. This further shows that the beard is, in fact, a secondary sex characteristic and our intelligent body does not grow the beard on our face in order for it to be removed with a razor everyday.
According to research of herbalists, allowing the beard to grow prevents a person from contracting diseases of the throat and of the gums. Similarly, some medical doctors of western medicine are also aware of the medical benefits of allowing the beard to grow. Physicians tell us that if we allow a beard to grow, we are less likely to suffer throat diseases. Recently, a medical specialist from Harley Street prescribed as treatment for a man suffering from a chronic cough that he allow his beard to grow. When the patient acted upon the advice of the doctor, his cough disappeared. Chronic coughs may be major indications of asthma and, hence, they may be activated by the same factors as for asthma, which include sudden changes in temperature or exposure to cold air. In this case, a beard acts as a preventive measure by keeping the neck warm.
People who frequently travel by sea are quite aware of the harmful effects of sea weather. Sea winds contain small quantities of salt. In addition to that, sometimes there are strong winds at sea. That is the reason that, in the past, most people who travelled by sea used to grow beards in order to protect their faces from the harmful effects of sea weather. It is interesting to note here that scientific research has shown that compared with the hair of the head, the hair of the beard has a faster swelling rate and higher reaction rate with a variety of reagents due to the less extensive disulphide bonding in it. This may suggest that the hair of the beard has more capacity to absorb harmful vapours in the air before they affect the face.
What is the total time spent in shaving by a man in his whole lifetime? Dr. Herbert Mescon from Boston University did research to give an answer to this question. Dr. Mescon calculated that if a teenager begin shaving at the age of 15, then in his 55 or so years of shaving, he is likely to spend about 3350 hours (which are equivalent to about 139 full days) at this task in his lifetime. That is an incredible amount of time which literally goes down the drain. You can add to it thousands of dollars one spends during his lifetime on products for shaving (razors, shaving gels, after-shave lotions etc).
Apart from the commercial media promoting the clean-shaven men culture, it is the fashion industry, many of whom are homosexuals, try to blur the difference between males and females. By doing so, they want to promote their own ideology of homosexuality (to understand what is wrong with homosexuality please read the article “Homosexuality and the Logic behind its Prohibition” on this website). It is clear that a beard is a big obstacle in the way of homosexuality, because a beard is an outward indication that men and women are different sexes. The reality is that men and women are different biologically as well as psychologically. Again, to achieve these goals, the fashion industry utilises advertising in television and in the print media. As “a picture is worth a thousand words”, it appears that fashion industry advertisements depicting clean-shaven men have the ability to deeply influence their viewers’ perception.
It is important to understand that the culture of clean-shaven faces is a Western culture. Daniel G. Freedman noted that “an emphasis on shaving creates a culture that worships youth, neglects the elderly and places less importance of differences between the sexes.” One consequence of this is that when a woman grows old she is more respected in an Islamic society. In western culture, woman receives more attention from society when she is at the peak of her youth and, hence, beauty.
Some other reasons men give to grow a beard are as follow:
I wanted to change my appearance
I look better, more handsome, with a beard
It is the natural thing to do
It is the manly thing to do
It suits my personality
I wanted to look older
I wanted to look more distinguished
Growing a beard is a family tradition
It is something that women cannot do
Saves from sunburn in summer and protects from cold in the winter.
Sign of piety
All the Prophets (peace be upon them all) had beards
It hides facial defects of a person
It is a cure for razor bumps on the face
To keep my facial hair down I have to shave twice a day. It is so irritating to have to constantly shave, so that is one reason I have facial hair
I think that having a goatee makes me look my age, and people take me more seriously
The fact that men can grow beards is a characteristic that nature has given us to distinguish ourselves from the female gender. I thought it would be interesting and fulfilling for me to grow one. I also have red hair and thought a red beard on my face would add more character
To me, it makes a man look even manlier, and handsome. Men should look as masculine as they can in my opinion. It's one of those things that separate the men from the boys (or girls).
You don't have to worry about the 5 o'clock shadow
Women wear makeup; men grow beards
It is evident that our creator has intended for us to grow the beard. Therefore, we should think twice before propagating clean-shaven values to others.
If you are interested in reading more about this subject, I would recommend that you to read “Growing a Beard: In the light of Quran, Sunnah and modern Science” by Dr. Gohar Mushtaq (this book can be purchased from http://www.islamicbookstore.com/). May Allah guide us all to the straight path, Ameen.
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