Islam Respects The Chastity of Women

Despite the fact that revertees to Islam (especially in the Western world) are mostly women, people critical of Islam have mostly brought their attacks from the women’s rights angle accusing Islam of ‘gross nonchalance’ to issues pertaining to the rights of women. 

Their points however fail to stand because they always place Islam on the scales of their cultures and interest. They have always failed to judge Islam as regards the effects of Islam on the creature called ‘woman’ or ‘female human’.

Muslim scholars of comparative religion in different eras have debunked loads of myths concerning the rights of women and girls in Islam from different angles, this write-up will however look at the aspect that has to do with the respect for chastity.

We live in an era where the chastity of women is been traded for the most ridiculous of prices. There has been an ever increasing number of prostitutes which has brought about a fast and blooming growth of the pornography industry whose main commodity is the value of womanhood. According to research, there are 4.2 Million pornographic websites which represents 12% of the total number of websites. 

There are 68 Million daily pornographic search requests, which represents 25% of the total number of requests. Every month sees 1.5 billion pornographic downloads, this represents 35% of all downloads. 

According to research platform All Time 10s, 30% of all the data transferred across the internet is pornographic in nature. Research has also shown that, at any particular second, there are 30,000 people watching the chastity of women being sold (pornography). And to meet this corpulent demand, a new pornographic video is made every 39 minutes. 

To crown it up, 100,000 websites across the globe sell child pornography. Those who seek to demonize Islam as a violator of the woman’s dignity are themselves so morally bankrupt that they institutionalize prostitution in their countries.

The UN General Assembly in 1949 adopted a convention that stated that "prostitution and the accompanying evil of the traffic in persons for the purpose of prostitution are incompatible with the dignity and worth of the human person"  requiring all signatory countries to punish all stake holders in prostitution and to abolish all special treatments or registration of prostitutes. 

But to our surprise, in January 2009, the convention was accepted by just 95 member nations while the other 97 member nations refused to formally accept it. These nations included: Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States (the champions of women’s rights). This event meant that many countries across the globe legalized prostitution. 

An NGO, Fondation Scelles, in 2012 reported that there were between 40 and 42 million prostitutes in the world (there is great reason to believe that this is an underestimation). Among the nations that refused to ratify the 1949 convention was Netherlands, 2003 estimates show that 1 in 35 women in Amsterdam (capital of Netherlands) are prostitutes. From estimates, the annual revenue generated by prostitution worldwide is over $100 billion.

So many countries across the so-called civilized world have legalized prostitution in a bid to raise their GDPs without ever stopping to think, ‘Is it worth it to sell our women’s dignity for some material gains?’ 

Today, the quest for material has gotten so great that we now hear new terminologies like ‘sex tourism’. To break it down, the government of nations that welcome sex tourists are simply saying, ‘We have women for rent, come and take your choice’. This really pushes us to ask the question, do these people have the word ‘Chastity’ in their dictionaries? 

A 2004 TNS poll in America showed that 15% of all men admitted to have paid for sex at least once in their lives. The number of men who have solicited a prostitute at least once from an estimated is between 7%  and 8.8%  in the United Kingdom (expected to be higher), to as high as between 59% and 80% in Cambodia. 

A survey conducted in the early 2000s in Australia showed that 15.6% of men aged 16–59 admitted using a prostitute at least once in their lives. The growing prostitution syndicate has brought about an accompanying rise in the trafficking of women across the globe. In 2009, the United Nations stated that sex trafficking is the most commonly identified form of trafficking in humans and estimated that about 79% of human trafficking cases reported is for prostitution. 

According to a U.S. Government-sponsored research which was completed in 2006, approximately 800,000 people are trafficked across national borders every year, this figure however, does not include the millions trafficked within their own countries. 

In a 2008 study, the US department of state found that approximately 80% of the victims are women and girls and up to 50% are minors.

Effects on women

Those who support the existence of the sex trade argue that prostitution is the choice of the women involved, they even go on to accentuate that giving women the freedom to be prostitutes is a fulfillment of their right to earn a living. To silence this view, a large percentage of prostitutes polled in one study of 475 prostitutes confirmed that they were in a difficult period of their lives and most of them wanted to leave the occupation. 

An activist, Catherine MacKinnon, once said, "If prostitution is a free choice, why are the women with the fewest choices the ones most often found doing it?"Activists have argued from statistics that prostitution leads to serious negative long-term effects on the women, these include: depression, trauma, anxiety, stress, alcohol and drug use and a greater risk for self harm and on some occasions-suicide.

The homicide rate for prostitutes in America has been estimated to be 204 per 100,000 showing that prostitution is life threatening for women.

In 2013, the General Assembly held a high-level meeting to appraise the Global Plan of Action. Member States also adopted resolution A/RES/68/192 and designated July 30 as the World Day against Trafficking in Persons. 

In September 2015, the world adopted the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and embraced goals and targets on trafficking in persons. These goals call for an end to trafficking and violence against children; as well as the need for measures against human trafficking, and they strive for the elimination of all forms of violence against and exploitation of women and girls.

Traffickers the world over continue to target women and girls. The vast majority of detected victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation and 35 per cent of those trafficked for forced labour are female.

Parting notes in the 2018 hollywood movie, Traffik, read, "It is estimated there are 1.9 million women being trafficked in the United States. Worldwide, 21 million victims of human trafficking generate illegal profits each year of 150 billion dollars".

What Islam Says

ALLAH says in the Qur’an: “…And do not compel your slave girls to prostitution, if they desire chastity, to seek [thereby] the temporary interests of worldly life. And if someone should compel them, then indeed, Allah is [to them], after their compulsion, Forgiving and Merciful”.

Suratul Nur (24:33)

This verse clearly shows the staunch opposition of Islam to prostitution and other related activities. ALLAH goes on to command Muslims to remain chaste. “Tell the believing men to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts. That is purer for them. Indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what they do”. Suratul Nur (24:30)

A verse which will most suitably kill this is: “And do not approach unlawful sexual intercourse. Indeed, it is ever an immorality and is evil as a way”. Suratul Isra (17:32)

As Muslims, we always want to hear the views of our beloved Prophet (SAW). 

Imam Bukhari and Muslim reported that, “Allah's Apostle (SAW) regarded illegal the price of a dog, the earnings of a prostitute, and the charges taken by a soothsayer"

It’s a closed case in sha ALLAH that Prostitution, Pornography, Sex tourism, Women trafficking and any other activity that debases the chastity of women is not tolerated in an Islam-inclined community.