Raped? With Four Witnesses?

Here is another story that I wrote sometime ago. I thought it would be (unfortunately) appropriate to post it now because of what has been going on in KSA lately. And you know what I really hate? I really hate when otherwise sensible people (Some Muslims in this case) say nonsense things like, “In KSA they have a sharia system. They never go against Islam. It is the Western media distorting the news. blah blah.” When you try to reason with them then they accuse you of being a Western stooge directly or indirectly. These are the same people have no problem in believing in outlandish conspiracy theories.

Also this is off topic but please pray for the victims of the cyclone in Bangladesh.

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Raped? With Four Witnesses?

by Jahandost

It was an unremarkable village, the only thing different about it was that it was surrounded by mountains on three sides so that its main connection to the outside world was a pass. It was somewhat far from other centers of population, so for the purpose of this story it does not matter when this story took place, it could have taken place today, yesterday, a year ago, five years ago, a hundred or even five hundred years ago. The location is also of no consequence.

On that fateful day Fatima, the daughter of a poor farmer, got separated from the rest of her group while coming back from the fields. While trying to find her way back to the village she came across a group of men who had less than noble intentions. She cried for help and struggled but there is no person who could help her. After desecrating her body the men left her for dead. After many hours of searching her father and the village folk came across her and took her back. Fatima and her family were traumatized, but not completely broken even though people were saying ‘things’ and pointing fingers at her. She knew who were assailants were – the powerful and the influential in the community but she had faith in justice. The case was presented before the judge, the accused of course feigned ignorance and innocence. The qadi (judge) declared that Fatima should produce four witnesses otherwise the court has no doubt that she was involved in adultery and the society must be cleaned of her abominable presence. As expected, the two aggressors were set free by the qadi. Fatima insisted that this law was unislamic and that they were twisting the laws for their own benefit but her voice fell on deaf years.

Fatima was thus condemned to death by the court and abandoned by her family since it was now clear to everyone that she had dishonored her family and there is no other way for them to reclaim their honor. The next day she was brought to the main square to be stoned. She expected justice from men but men are imperfect and often times their justice is also imperfect. Dejected and wronged by her people Fatima turned to God, the only one who can deliver perfect justice and so right before breathing her last she asked God if the perpetrators of this crime would face the same humiliation that she had to face so that in the future men will think a million times before even thinking about desecrating a woman.

After the death of Fatima the village life came back to normal. It was winter time, it snowed this time of the year but this year it snowed unusually heavily so that the pass was closed, that’s when strange things started to happen. The two men who had desecrated Fatima became sick, at first the village doctor could not figure out what the problem was and there was no way to get doctors from the city since the village was now effectively cut off from the rest of the work. Then the qadi became sick as well, it was not after a few weeks that the puzzle was solved but it was bizarre – all three men had become pregnant! People could not explain it, some even called it a miracle. Then it happened again, another woman was raped and she was again asked to provide four witnesses but in her case the court proceedings took some time and the man who was accused was raping her became pregnant instead of her becoming pregnant. The court proceedings were stopped altogether, people wanted to make sense of what was going on in the world. It seemed that in case of married couples, the natural law still prevailed – The woman still became pregnant and their husbands would not become pregnant. Many weeks passed, a few more cases – the same pattern it was always the accused in rape cases that the became pregnant i.e., the men.

The village was still cut off from the outside world even after many months, although the winter should have ended some time ago. Consequently the village was running short on food and other vital provisions. It was then the people realized that it was not just a miracle but rather warning from God. People repented, they finally saw the obvious that the accused in all the cases were guilty. Menfolk had twisted the laws of God for their own benefit and now they had to pay the price. God was punishing them. Only repentance for their crime of denying justice to rape victims could redeem them. The villagers stayed up for a few days, prayed, begged God for mercy and promised that they will not deny justice to women in the future. The women in all the cases were set free, their honor restored and no blame was put on them. It was decided that the accused men would be put to death after the termination of the pregnancy. That night the village went to sleep and the next day when they woke up, all the male pregnancies had disappeared all of a sudden and snow had also melted overnight.

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Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, “People, beware of injustice, for injustice shall be darkness on the Day of Judgment.”

Saheeh Al-Bukhari, #2447, Mosnad Ahmad, #5798