Quacks On Air - Religious Ones

Have you ever seen a program on Haq TV, called Fiqh un Nissa hosted by a young lady all wrapped up in black and only her eyes revealing? I like her you know :p .. notwithstanding the solutions she provides to the female callers regarding sharia. The solutions usually.. are not easily digestible by soul like me. But she.. builds in me a sense of.. curiosity! :p (Note: I have no intention whatsoever to disrespect her because of her opinions!)

The other day, she was discussing something related to 'Mehrem' and 'na mehrem' (acquaintance and non-acquaintances). The usual practice is that when you leave for Hajj or Umra, you are not allowed to go alone if you are a woman. You must have someone alongside you either husband or someone as 'mehrem' in form of brother, father, son(?) and whatever that comes under the category of 'mehrem'. I honestly do not have a clue because I think this 'mehrem' thingy is just a restriction on women. Here is the definition that I got..

The term “Mehrem” means a male relative who is religiously banned from marrying that subject woman under any circumstances. In Islam, a Mehrem is a female’s father, brother, son, maternal or paternal uncle, grandfather or nephew. A blood relation or a suckling relation makes the subject man a “Mehrem” i.e. a son( brother, father, uncle) by birth or a suckling son(brother, father, uncle).

So she was telling a caller that she (caller) cannot go alone for Hajj because its not allowed and she'll be committing a disobedience to Prophet Muhammad as he prohibited so. (lovely) So the solution she provided went like this. She can marry a person! Now that her husband will be alongside her so she can go on Hajj! After she is done performing Hajj, she can take divorce from him! (whoa!) If she thinks he will not let her go so easy, she can write for a right of divorce in marriage contract! (please tell me that I heard it wrong)

Man O man! Why do I like her so much?!

Being a person associated with religion somehow gives you a clean chit to do anything and say anything you like especially when it comes to Islam and that too if you are in Pakistan. I remember when Womens Protection Bill was at the height of its implementation, Qazi Hussein Ahmad's daughter (Rahila Qazi?) was in a discussion panel being hosted by Talat Hussain of Aaj Tv. When he asked her where is raped mentioned in Quran, she said it is mentioned in Quran and quoted 24:33

24:33 - And let those who do not find the means to marry keep chaste until Allah makes them free from want out of His grace. And (as for) those who ask for a writing from among those whom your right hands possess, give them the writing if you know any good in them, and give them of the wealth of Allah which He has given you; and do not compel your slave girls to prostitution, when they desire to keep chaste, in order to seek the frail good of this world's life; and whoever compels them, then surely after their compulsion Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

and I was like.. what the hell. Where does it mention rape?! Nobody told her that she was wrong! and people must have believed her because she was in burqa and was daughter of a religious scholar/ politician! they would not believe me!

P.S: To find the exact meaning of 'mehrem', I searched Google and the search came up with this.

1. *MEHREM: Someone who has to accompany you and your lover when going out, usually the girl's brother or friend, just to make sure there's no funny business. (Foreigners Guide to Egypt)

2. Allah told us muslima's in his book, not to dance in front of not mehrem men. Not to sing for not mehrem men. To cover your body and hair for the not mehrem. (Ruby on Oghnia.com)

3. C) Call the non-mehrem "brother" so this prevents the shytan from coming in between. .... Ask Allah for forgiveness, and stop chatting with any non-mehrem. (Sister Area - Chatting: Footsteps of the Shytan)