The Background of Ayat e Tatheer
The interesting thing about the background of Ayat e Tatheer is that it was the wives of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) who were being addressed by God.
'You are the wives of a prophet. You are not common women; therefore, you must understand your position and rank. Do not behave like the average woman.'
Moreover, the era before the establishment of Islam and Prophet Mohammad's prophethood is known as the Age of Ignorance.
In that Age of Ignorance, the women had their own way of beautifying themselves.
Or you could say they had their own way of doing their make up.
They had their own way of getting dolled up, their own methods.
Now, the women who were with Prophet Mohammad would dress up and do their make up in accordance to the previous era.
Their get-up, their attire and their beauty regimes was in accordance to the Age of Ignorance.
God reprimanded them for this as well.
They were told not to dress in the same way as they did in the Age of Ignorance.
For example, it says here: Stay in your homes.
Which means: do not roam about unnecessarily, stay in your homes.
And it further says: Do not make the shape of your figure prominent as you did in the Age of Ignorance.
And establish Salat and give Zakat (religious tax).
And be obedient to God and his Messenger.
And then it says: God has intended to purify the Household of the Prophet of all kinds of impurities.
So in reality, the immediate addressees of Ayat e Tatheer were the wives of Prophet Mohammad.
You can see it here. Read the Koran.
I am neither a Sunni nor a Shiite. I am only telling you what God has mentioned in the Koran.
If you pay attention, you will come to know that the first addressees here, the immediate addressees,
the ones God is addressing after identifying the problem -
For example, if you have a sore throat and the doctor gives you antibiotics - the amoxicillin capsules
and then the doctor says, 'Now, whoever has a sore throat should take amoxicillin.'
Right?
So Shahid saw Zahir Shah [taking amoxicillin] and he copied him, Bilal copied Shahid and Nasir copied Bilal and so on
and then someone asks, 'What's going on? What is everyone taking? Will this make people better?'
Zahir Shah will say, 'I was the first one who was prescribed this.'
There is no doubt about that.
But if Zahir Shah remains quiet and Bilal and Amjad say that [this medicine] is available because of them,
you have to remember that the immediate addressee was Zahir Shah; it was prescribed to him first.
Was there a problem identified [in the verse] or not?
Which problem was identified?
Among the wives of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), there were a few who were in the same get-up,
their method of beautifying themselves and make up was the same as it was in the Age of Ignorance; it did not change.
Their mannerisms and lifestyle was like that of a common woman.
This is what we gather from what is written in the Koran. We are not demeaning them in any way, God forbid.
So here, God is explaining to them, 'Look, you are different. You are now wives of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), therefore, you must act accordingly.
You are not common women.'
And [the Koran] also says: O' wives of Prophet Mohammad, if you engage in any wrongdoings you will be given double punishment as compared to common women because you are not common women.
Now those things from the Age of Ignorance, the matters of beautifying themselves or let's just say their outfits
Let's just say that their outfits, keeping the requirements of God in perspective; staying within the limits of respectability
let's say that their outfits did not meet the requirements of God.
Secondly, God does not approve of women wandering aimlessly
and it makes sense because if women wander aimlessly, they will come under the sights of men which causes unnecessary mischief.
Therefore, naturally you would be inclined to agree that women should not leave their homes without purpose.
If they have an errand to run, they may leave.
For example, in Pakistan we see the kids roaming around and playing in the streets, unsupervised. You don't see that here in England.
But this does happen there.
People sit in groups and lounge or play cards or something else
or people gather at a Pashtun hotel and drink tea altogether. However, such an atmosphere is only over there, not here.
Right?
Now, there are some things that only suit men
and if women want to do those things as well, it creates mischief in the society.
Do you understand?
There are all sorts of freedoms here in the West - in Canada, America, etc.
Men and women can mingle, study together, etc.
However, despite that, toilets are segregated by gender.
Why didn't you make them unisex? It means you foresee an immediate danger.
Isn't that the case?
Women have a separate toilet and men have a separate toilet.
So just as you anticipate that there could be a potential issue with keeping toilets unisex,
similarly, there are many other circumstances in which God foresees potential danger to women's dignity.
So at those stages, God decrees that men and women should not mingle much.
But in the Age of Ignorance, there were no religious values. There was no religion.
There was no morality.
Therefore, men and women would associate with one another, travel together and sit and chat with one another.
However, with the advent of Islam, this had to be addressed.
This is something that God had to address. He said [to the wives of Prophet Mohammad], 'Be aware of your responsibility.'
'You are a wife of a Prophet.'
'You cannot behave like the average woman.'
[Now, God also told the wives of Prophet Mohammad to] quit the clothing and makeup fashions of the pre-Islamic era,
and adopt a modest style of dressing.
They would have to choose decent outfits for themselves.
Having said all these things, God said, 'Now we have decided that all this filth -'
- whether that impurity is cultural or whether it relates to the thought process,
or whether it is to do with a person's way [of living and behaving] or anything else -
- God said here to Prophet Mohammad, 'We have taken notice [of them].'
And all these things that [require rectification] -
- that some people's ways of speaking are incorrect and some others' conduct or clothing are incorrect -
- God said, 'We have decided to purify them of all these [different types of] impurities.'
Now let me come to my main point.
Any Muslim who thinks that
Ayat-e-Tatheer was revealed for Bibi Fatima, Imam Hussain, Imam Hassan and Syeda Zainab,
in my eyes, that person is a disbeliever.
Because they never had any impurity which would need to be purified.
The Shiites are just making noise when they say, 'Ayat-e-Tatheer is for the Prophet Mohammad's progeny.'
What do you mean? They were pure [to begin with]!
They were born [with] divine energy.
Ayat-e-Tatheer was revealed for Prophet Mohammad's wives.
Do you understand what I am saying or not?
Otherwise, you tell me:
God has made the decision to purify [them] of all impurities.
[If you want to say that it addresses Prophet Mohammad's progeny], you will have to say that they, God forbid, were impure to some degree.
How can that be?
What can't it be?
Prophet Mohammad said, 'Fatima is from me and I am from Fatima,'
If Fatima is part of Prophet Mohammad,
then why would God need to purify her?
If Bibi Fatima is a part of Prophet Mohammad
then how can you say that Ayat-e-Tatheer is for her?
In Ayat-e-Tatheer, God expresses his intent to purify [the wives] of impurity.
But Bibi Fatima is part of Prophet Mohammad's essence.
'I am from Fatima and Fatima is from me.'
This is what Prophet Mohammad said.
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