Rant – No One Tolerates Criticism of Their Wives

–:Fourth emotional Rant:–

No One Tolerates Criticism of Their Wives

Ibn al Hashimi stated:

Sunni Imam and Shia Ayatollah

There is the story of a Sunni Imam who gave a speech in front of a Shia mosque. He began the speech by praising the Ayatollah of the Shia mosque and declaring his undying love for him. After this, the Sunni Imam began insulting the Ayatollah’s wife and declared her to be a Kaffir, Fasiq, Munafiqh, Nasibi, and an enemy of Islam.

The Ayatollah rushed outside and began yelling at the Sunni Imam. The Sunni Imam responded, “but I love you, dear Ayatollah!”
To which the Shia Ayatollah responded with, “then why do you insult my wife?”
The Sunni Imam calmly replied: “I love you, but I am against your wife who is an imprudent, inappropriate, and hateful woman.”
The Shia Ayatollah raised his fist in the air and said: “By Allah, if you hate my wife, then you hate me! My wife is my beloved!”
The Sunni Imam said: “She is my enemy. May Allah curse her!”
The Shia Ayatollah was rightfully incensed: “By Allah, I cannot stand for such slander. May Allah curse you! An enemy of my wife is an enemy of me! By Allah, I wish to kill you!”
The Sunni Imam then said: “O Shia, you reject the love of those who hate your wife. So then, why do you think the Prophet (صلّى الله عليه وآله وسلّم) will accept your love for him when you hate his wife and insult her, calling her a Kaffir, Fasiq, Munafiqh, Nasibi, and an enemy of Islam?”

To this, the Shia Ayatollah was left speechless.

Ibn al Hashimi stated:

A rule of thumb in Islam is that we should treat our brothers like we want ourselves to be treated. Thus, before anyone insults the Prophet’s wife, one should first allow others to insult one’s own wife. If he does not allow others to insult his own wife, then we wonder why he feels so comfortable insulting the wife of the greatest man ever born

Reply – A wife whose conduct threatens the stability of society can and should be criticized

Whilst we are in no doubt that the entire event is fictitious like much of Ibn al Hashimi’s defense submissions for his clients, let us make it clear that whilst no man has the right to make up false allegations against the wife of another, in this scenario the Sunni Mullah made unsubstantiated allegations, with no evidence to corroborate what he was saying, he was therefore publicly defaming / lying about another man’s wife, hence the hostile reaction by the Ayatollah. That is the natural response to a false allegation, what should our approach be when serious allegations against an influential woman that are harmful to the community at large are proven as correct, would the Sunni Mullah be justified in such making such public comments? What if the woman was indeed as the Sunni Mullah said, could this public dressing down be justified? A man may for example be in receipt of information that another man’s wife is committing acts that violate the Deen and make her a gross sinner. Such acts are personal they effect no one save that lady, in such circumstances he can choose to remain silent or take the husband to the side and advise him of the information that he has ascertained. It would be wholly inappropriate to publicly expose this woman, it would embarrass her and her husband.

What if this is no ordinary wife, rather the wife of a public figure, whose acts are so serious not only is she perpetuating sins, she is using her position to misguide others? Would it not be right in such circumstances to publicly denounce a wife whose conduct is both harmful to herself, others and most crucially a direct threat the national interest of the State? In such circumstances her conduct is damaging the basic fabric of society, peace and tranquility, as her behavior runs the risk of creating a divided nation subsumed in anarchy. If a wife is for example publicly incites people to rise against the Head of State, encouraging armed opposition, stoking hatred through her inflammatory speeches etc, she has gone astray and has misled others, it then becomes one’s duty publicly expose this wife, as her activities are harming society. When we look at history it is evident that Ayesha was responsible for dividing the Muslim nation, already deeply divided following the downfall of Uthman, her conduct worsened the situation, her rebellion against Ali (as) was a major sin that breached the Quran and Sunnah, caused the death of thousands, and fragmented the Ummah yet further. This was the harsh reality at the time, if we therefore evaluate Ayesha’s conduct against what the Quran and Sunnah that required that she remains at home, and see that she blatantly violated it, and caused harm to the Ummah in the process then it is only right that we highlight these facts to the masses, and criticize her conduct.