There are tons of verses and words and terms in the Quran I do not understand. but i disagree with you about the context. I don't think that the Quran can be used to justify laying your hand on someone just because you have a hunch or suspicion.
I said whatever you need for your salvation. Salvation meaning your fate on judgement day. No human can ever understand everything in the Quran and the Quran itself recognizes that. It advises the believers to only try to interpret the explicit verses.
Because you need four witnesses, right? Or swearing four times or a confession or whatever.
Here's the thing you're missing, bigmo: that was for a particular circumstance with a high penalty, namely "confining her to her house until death." Just think about that for a minute. I'm not going to try to pin it on you that Muslim societies very often find women stuck in the home worldwide, but this is in your perfect Quranic law society. There will be women under house arrest until death for lewdness, prisoners in their houses, their husband their jailer, Quranic law shining brightly overhead.
Does that sound nice to you? Of course not! I've gathered that at least you're a far more moral and decent person than the people who glorify this, more so than Allah. Of course you don't think that a woman should be locked inside her house forever until she dies. You're going to try to bring in "unless God ordains for her some other way," and try to make that exception the rule. You're going to do
something, even if it is just disagree without substance, because I know you're not a fucking asshole. You're a guy with good intentions trying to defend a book that is truly so flawed you'd find it easier to hide a mountain.
But just look at how women are treated in the Quran. They are put under the guidance of men, they are told to submit to their husbands. It doesn't say, "Listen to men (if you want to, ladies,) and obey them (if that's cool with you and if you feel inferior enough/dependent enough)," it flat out sets up the social structure where the women are obedient to the men. And then, nearly in the same breath, it tells men that if you fear they aren't listening to you, first lodge a verbal complaint, then let 'em sleep alone, and then, if all else fails, "hit them." And it's
not just because of a hunch. It's to reinforce and reclaim a man's rights in Islam, and to correct a woman for the very real offense of failing to return to obedience to her husband, even after he complained and stopped having sex with her.
This is
not considered a high consequence by the Quran or its author(s). This is not a death penalty, this is not something that requires amputation, it's not something that involves life imprisonment, it's not a hundred lashes. It's slapping your disobedient wife or roughing her up a little. And that is no problem. It's a problem with
some Muslims
nowadays, because times have changed, and we've realized that that's pretty fucked up, just like slavery, just like rampant polygamy, just like sending countless people to eternal torture and calling the torturer merciful.
I spent years doing this song and dance, Bigmo. There's nothing (short of saying the Quran abolishes slavery, that one was an interesting surprise) that you've said that I haven't heard before, or sometimes said before. In fact, when I was still a Quranist, I argued with my Saudi Sunni husband late into many nights until my voice was gone, and now he's a passionate Quranist, himself. And, like my husband, I think you're a really decent guy deep down, Bigmo. I have hopes that someday you're going to outgrow this thing that weighs you down and makes you an advocate of the indefensible.
Topic: Bigmo in the house