Monday, October 06, 2008

Muslim Contribution to Science

Prince Charles, Heir to the British Monarchy in a recent public speech at Oxford University stated:

"If there is much misunderstanding in the West about the nature of Islam, there is also much ignorance about the debt our own culture and civilisation owe to the Islamic world. It is a failure, which stems, I think, from the straight-jacket of history, which we have inherited. The medieval Islamic world, from central Asia to the shores of the Atlantic, was a world where scholars and men of learning flourished. But because we have tended to see Islam as the enemy of the West, as an alien culture, society, and system of belief, we have tended to ignore or erase its great relevance to our own history."

When Europe was going through dark ages, in the Muslim world, the period from circa 600-1600 CE was a prolific era of creative enquiry into science, technology and engineering and a time of advancement in civilisation, which would later act as a catalyst for the Western Renaissance.

To learn more about Muslim contributions to Science please watch the following documentaries:

What the Ancients Did For Us - The Islamic World
[BBC Documentary: Running Time 57min]

http://video.google.com.au/videoplay?docid=9151565736298805805

Ancient Discoveries: Machines of the East
[History Channel Documentary: Running Time 50min]

Part 1
http://www.tubeislam.com/video/4066/Ancient-Discoveries-Islamic-Science-Part1

Part 2
http://www.tubeislam.com/video/4067/Ancient-Discoveries-Islamic-Science-Part2

Part 3
http://www.tubeislam.com/video/4068/Ancient-Discoveries-Islamic-Science-Part3

Part 4
http://www.tubeislam.com/video/4069/Ancient-Discoveries-Islamic-Science-Part4

Part 5
http://www.tubeislam.com/video/4070/Ancient-Discoveries-Islamic-Science-Part5


For more documentaries please visit:
http://www.1001inventions.com/media/documentaries

If you would like more information on this subject then I would recommend visiting the following websites:

http://www.muslimheritage.com/Default.aspx
http://www.1001inventions.com/
http://www.islamicmedicine.org/history.htm
http://www.al-bab.com/arab/science.htm
http://www.answering-christianity.com/ac20.htm
http://www.twf.org/News/Y2006/0310-Exhibition.html

Monday, March 31, 2008

Response to Geert Wilders' Video "Fitna"

I think a very good response to this video is the lecture delivered by Dr. Jamal Badawi in Ottawa, Canada: Commonly Misunderstood Qur'anic Texts - Dr Jamal Badawi.

This lecture is available on YouTube in 7 parts. The links are given below:

Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMfWURGcvBI

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HXGRYaUy6g

Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyMD_tE6U68

Part 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AixgiXpAFTY

Part 5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WUgbgLgMXM

Part 6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3VLRoQ3qUw

Part 7
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5UvvkCDrm4


In addition, please watch the video Is Terrorism A Muslim Monopoly? - by Dr. Zakir Naik

The entire video can be downloaded from the following website:
http://islam.thetruecall.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=352

You can also watch it on YouTube in 17 Parts. The link for part 1 is
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utHBJmQIz7g

The link for the next part is on the right of the video. If you want to skip the speech by the guest speaker and listen to Dr. Zakir Naik's lecture, then start from Part 4.

Please also read the following articles on this website:

The Reality of Jizyah
http://haroonbaloch.blogspot.com/2007/08/reality-of-jizyah.html

Female Circumcision in Islam
http://haroonbaloch.blogspot.com/2007/08/female-circumcision-in-islam.html

The Future is Islam
http://haroonbaloch.blogspot.com/2007/05/future-is-islam.html

Did Prophet (peace be upon him) Massacred the Jews?
http://haroonbaloch.blogspot.com/2007/05/did-prophet-peace-be-upon-him-massacred.html

Islam Spread by Sword?
http://haroonbaloch.blogspot.com/2007/03/islam-spread-by-sword.html

Meaning of Jihad
http://haroonbaloch.blogspot.com/2007/02/meaning-of-jihad.html

Explanation of Verse 5 of Surah Taubah (Chapter 9)
http://haroonbaloch.blogspot.com/2007/02/explanation-of-verse-5-of-surah-taubah.html

Logic of Hudood In Islam
http://haroonbaloch.blogspot.com/2006/11/logic-of-hudood-in-islam.html

Striking Women in Islam?
http://haroonbaloch.blogspot.com/2006/11/striking-women-in-islam.html

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Logic behind the Prohibition of Alcohol

Some of the reasons behind the prohibition of alcohol are discussed in the article “Logic of Hudood in Islam” on this website. To further elaborate the horrors it has brought to humanity, I have put together a few more facts.

In the USA, no other substance (in comparison with alcohol) has caused nearly the amount of deaths, chaos, crime, and pain; and to make matters much worse, alcohol is almost completely ignored as a poison, or even as a drug.

The most devastating effect of alcohol is its addictiveness. In 1992, an estimated 27 ½ million people were addicted to alcohol. This ended up costing the affected, their families, and taxpayers over $148 billion (NIAAA). Besides the costs, alcoholism has ruined the lives of millions. The number one cause of child abuse always has, and always will be alcoholism. A study found that the number of abused and neglected children had more than doubled from 1986 to 1997 to 3 million. A rise more than eight times that of the rise of the population of children (Elrod). 915 child welfare professionals were surveyed, and 90% said that alcohol alone is the main cause of child abuse and neglect (Elrod).

We can also thank alcohol and the alcohol industry for over 110,000 deaths in 1996. Deaths from cirrhosis of the liver, drink driving, alcohol induced fights and accidents, and cancer just to name a few (NIAAA). Over 300 people die every day in America of something alcohol related. But how does the average American look at alcohol? Most people will say that it is a “safe” and “social” activity. Unless you consider 110,000 deaths “safe” and unless you consider rape and assault as being “social” then these are simply misnomers created largely by the alcohol industry.

Most Americans are unfortunately unaware that alcohol is the most common and widely used date rape drug. A study of the urine samples of 578 rape victims showed that 36% of them had alcohol in their system. Less than 1%, 5 victims, showed evidence of the “date rape drug” Rohypnol (ElSohly). In more than half the cases, the man was drunk.

Alcohol has also had a phenomenal impact on the crime world. A study by the British Medical Association showed that alcohol was present in 64% of all public offences and 40% of all violent assaults. Alcohol was also present in 60-70% of homicides, 75% of stabbings, 70% of beatings, and 50% fights (IAS). How can one look at that and say that alcohol is safe and social? It is obvious that people are not responsible with their drinking, and are bringing it onto the people around them. Alcohol remains one of the main cause of crime.

The way I look at a person who supports alcohol and buys alcohol, is a person that supports rape, child abuse and violence. You cannot say that you are against these issues while at the same time supporting them. If you were truly against these issues then you would not be supporting the number one cause of it. Every year the alcohol industry makes 100’s of billions of dollars that go right back out into society to keep killing and ruining lives.

The social cost of alcohol in Australia in 1998/99 was estimated at $7.5 billion (Counting the cost: estimates of the social costs of drug abuse in Australia in 1998-9 Collins, D and Lapsley, H, Commonwealth of Australia, 2002).

This includes costs associated with:
§ health and medical services - $225 million net cost
§ road accidents - $1.8 billion
§ lost productivity in the workplace - $1.9 billion
§ alcohol related crime - $1.2 billion

Approximately $3.9 billion of these costs or 62.1 percent were estimated by the authors to be potentially preventable and amenable to public policy initiatives (allowing time for such interventions to be effective).

Preliminary estimates indicate that the NSW Government spends almost $1 billion annually on drug and alcohol services and dealing with associated problems in the community (including some tobacco associated costs).

Various recent studies show:
§ Around 3,300 deaths per annum in Australia are attributed to alcohol use, second only to tobacco as a preventable cause of death and hospitalisation.
§ More than 72,000 hospital admissions per annum in Australia are estimated to be caused by high-risk drinking.
§ Main alcohol-related causes of death and hospitalisation are cirrhosis of the liver, cancers, stroke, falls and motor vehicle accidents.
§ Regular consumption of large quantities of alcohol by pregnant women, may be associated with a variety of adverse foetal consequences, including congenital abnormalities and foetal alcohol syndrome (foetal alcohol syndrome includes physical abnormalities, slow growth and neurological dysfunction).
§ One third of all driver and pedestrian deaths are alcohol related.
§ 12 percent of suicides, 16 percent of child abuse cases, 44 percent of fire injuries, 34 percent of falls and drowning, are associated with alcohol consumption.
§ Alcohol and drugs contribute to between 3 and 11 percent of workplace injuries and fatalities. Alcohol is also implicated in impaired work performance and productivity, and absenteeism.
§ Between 41 and 70 percent of violent crimes are committed under the influence of alcohol; in NSW alcohol was estimated to be prevalent in 42 percent of homicide incidents (although the exact role of alcohol in homicide is under debate).
§ Prisoners and offenders, prior to incarceration, show higher levels of alcohol consumption than the general population, with between 32 percent and 50 percent of offenders classified as alcohol dependent or heavy users.
§ Rates of deaths that can be wholly attributed to excessive use of alcohol are higher in non-metropolitan areas.
§ About 5-10 percent of the population drink amounts that are considered harmful or hazardous.
§ There are clear gender differences in patterns of consumption (e.g. men usually drink at an earlier age and generally drink more than women with consequent shorter life expectancy rates).
§ Women are more vulnerable to both the acute and chronic effects of alcohol misuse.
§ Misuse of alcohol is a particular concern to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) communities. Research has shown that although the proportion of ATSI people who drink is smaller than in the general population, those who drink tend to consume higher quantities – 68 percent of Aboriginal people consume alcohol at harmful levels compared to around 10 percent of drinkers in the general population.

Organisational records of the NSW Police indicate that an estimated 70 percent of incidents attended by police each year are alcohol related.

Other research indicates that almost 80 percent of domestic violence and street incidents (assaults, offensive behaviour or conduct, malicious damage and noise complaints) are alcohol related.

Alcohol reduces the size of testicles overtime. It also reduces the sperm count and increases the size of mammary glands in males, and hence his chest takes shape of a woman’s breasts over a period of time.

With hangover (even when the blood alcohol level is zero) a person cannot properly concentrate and is prone to a major error (e.g. if driving). The hangover sometimes takes many hours to clear. Alcohol acts as a diuretic and thus takes more water out of the body and therefore dehydrates a person.

Alcoholism, also known as alcohol dependence, is a disease that includes the following four symptoms:

Craving--A strong need, or urge, to drink.
Loss of control--Not being able to stop drinking once drinking has begun.
Physical dependence--Withdrawal symptoms, such as nausea, sweating, shakiness, and anxiety after stopping drinking.
Tolerance--The need to drink greater amounts of alcohol to get "high."

Yes, alcoholism is a disease. The craving that an alcoholic feels for alcohol can be as strong as the need for food or water. An alcoholic will continue to drink despite serious family, health, or legal problems.

Like many other diseases, alcoholism is chronic, meaning that it lasts a person's lifetime; it usually follows a predictable course; and it has symptoms. The risk for developing alcoholism is influenced both by a person's genes and by his or her lifestyle. (See also "Publications," Alcohol Alert No. 30: Diagnostic Criteria for Alcohol Abuse and Dependence.)

There are several scientific reasons for the prohibition of consumption of intoxicants i.e. alcohol. The maximum number of deaths in the world related to any one particular cause is due to the consumption of alcohol. Millions of people die every year only because of intake of alcohol. I need not go into the details of all the ill-effects of alcohol since most of them are commonly known. Below is a simple list of few of the alcohol related illnesses:
1. Cirrhosis of Liver is the most well known alcohol associated disease.
2. Others are Cancer of Oesophagus, Cancer of Head and Neck, Cancer of Liver (Hepatoma), Cancer of Bowel, etc.
3. Oesophagitis, Gastritis, Pancreatitis and Hepatitis are linked with alcohol consumption.
4. Cardiomyopathy, Hypertension, Coronary Artherosclerosis, Angina and Heart Attacks are linked with heavy alcohol intakes.
5. Strokes, Apoplexy, Fits and different types of Paralysis are linked with alcohol intake.
6. Peripheral Neuropathy, Cortical Atrophy, Cerebellar Atrophy are well-known syndromes caused by alcohol consumption.
7. Wernicke – Korsakoff syndrome with amnesia of recent events, confabulations and retainment of memory to old events with different types of paralysis are mainly due to thiamine deficiency due to excessive alcohol intake.
8. Beriberi and other deficiencies are not uncommon among alcoholics. Even Pellagra occurs in alcoholics.
9. Delerium Tremens is a serious complication that may occur during recurrent infection of alcoholics or post operatively. It also occurs during abstention as a sign of withdrawal effect. It is quite serious and may cause death even if treated in well equipped centres.
10. Numerous Endocrine Disorders have been associated with alcoholism ranging from Myxodema to Hyperthyroidism and Florid Cushing Syndrome.
11. Hematological ill effects are long and variable. Folic acid deficiency, however, is the most common manifestation of alcoholic abuse resulting in Macrocytic Anemia. Zeive’s syndrome is a triad of Hemolytic Anemia, Jaundice and Hyperlipaedemia that follows alcoholic binges.
12. Thrombocytopenia and other platelet abnormalities are not rare in alcoholics.
13. The commonly used tablet metronidazole (flagyl) interacts badly with alcohol.
14. Recurrent infection is very common among chronic alcoholics. The resistance to disease and the immunological defense system are compromised by alcohol intake.
15. Chest infections are notorious in alcoholics. Pneumonia, Lung Abcess, Emphysema and Pulmonary Tuberculosis are all common in alcoholics.
16. During acute alcoholic intoxication, the drunk person usually vomits, the cough reflexes which are protective are paralysed. The vomitus thus easily pass to the lung causing Pneumonia or Lung Abscess. Occasionally it may even cause suffocation and death.
17. The ill effects of alcohol consumption on women deserves special mention. Females are more vulnerable to alcohol-related Cirrhosis than men. During pregnancy alcohol consumption has a severe detrimental effect on the foetus. Foetal Alcohol Syndrome is being recognised more and more in the medical profession.
18. Skin diseases are also related to alcohol indulgence.
19. Eczema, Alopecia, Nail Dystrophy, Paronychia (infection around the nails) and Angular Stomatitis (inflammation of the angle of the mouth) are common diseases among alcoholics.

Alcoholism is a ‘disease’ Medical doctors have now turned liberal towards alcoholics and call alcoholism a disease rather than an addiction.

The Islamic Research Foundation has published a pamphlet that says:
If alcohol is a disease, it is the only disease that:
- Is sold in bottles
- Is advertised in newspapers, magazines, on radio and television
- Has licensed outlets to spread it
- Produces revenue for the government
- Brings violent deaths on the highways
- Destroys family life and increases crime
- Has no germs or viral cause

How can we stop this epidemic of poison? Simple. For one, stop drinking alcohol. It’s easy to do it if you are not addicted. Secondly, educate people about alcohol; show alcohol for what it really is. People today are blind from the truth about alcohol. Stop supporting an industry that kills thousands of people. You wouldn’t pay an assassin to kill people you don’t know, don’t pay a multi-billion dollar industry to do it either. Educate people about what alcohol really is. The alcohol industry refuses to take the responsibility of informing people about the gross amounts of death and violence that they are responsible for. They love the fact that people think that alcohol is a fun and social activity that makes you more attractive. Make yourself better than the industry of death. Don’t swallow the garbage they try to shove down your throat. Educate yourself and others about alcohol. Also, if you know someone who is an alcoholic, don’t be afraid to help him or her. Giving up alcohol could save their life.

If you are a person who is against rape, violence, disease, and crime, then I urge you to not support the number one cause of it. When you throw money down on the counter of a liquor store, that money could very well be the money that produces the alcohol responsible for another person’s death. I would be devastated if I paid money to kill someone.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Logic behind the Prohibition of Gambling

Allah says in the Glorious Quran “O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful. Satan only wants to cause between you animosity and hatred through intoxicants and gambling and to avert you from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer. So will you not desist?” [Al-Quran 5:90-91]

Gambling’s basic attraction for the individual has always been the lure of “getting something for nothing.” In its simplest form gambling is the act of risking something of value on the outcome of a game or event that may be determined in part or entirely by chance.

Gambling is an old evil, long recognised as such. Some Oriental gambling games have been traced back to 2100 B.C. In ancient Egypt persons convicted of gambling were sent to the quarries. Gambling is denounced in the Hindu code, the Quran, and the Talmudic law. Aristotle denounced gamblers.

Gambling was widespread in the Middle Ages, especially among the nobility. But even those who practiced games of chance were willing to recognise evil in the games, at least for others. Legislation in England and France attempted to counteract the detrimental effects of gambling on servants, because it induced them to idleness or caused them to neglect archery practice, thus endangering national security.

One of the most popular forms of gambling was the lottery, which was permitted among working-class people and was common in the English-speaking world in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Queen Elizabeth proclaimed the first state lottery in England in 1576. Lotteries were so widespread in the United States in the early 1800s that there were almost two hundred lottery offices in the state of New York alone. In 1832 the gross sale of lottery tickets was over $60 million, which was five times the total national budget of the U.S. government.

Opposition to lotteries first came in England in 1773, when the city of London petitioned the House of Commons to abolish lotteries because they were hurting the commerce of the kingdom and threatening the welfare and prosperity of the people. In 1808 the Commons appointed a select committee to inquire into the evils attending lotteries. The committee report, which helped to abolish lotteries in England a few years later, is so current that it could have been written last week instead of over 160 years ago.

The committee reported cases in which people living in comfort and respectability had been reduced to poverty and distress; cases of domestic quarrels, assaults, and the ruin of family peace; and cases of fathers deserting their families, mothers neglecting their children, wives robbing their husbands of the earnings of months and years, and people pawning clothes, beds, and wedding rings, in order to indulge in the speculation.

“In other cases,” the committee reported, “children had robbed their parents, servants their masters; suicides had been committed, and almost every crime that can be imagined had been occasioned, either directly or indirectly, through the baneful influence of lotteries. …”

In its final report the committee concluded that the foundation of the lottery system was so radically vicious that no method of regulation could be devised that would permit Parliament to adopt it as an efficacious source of revenue and at the same time divest it of all its attendant evils.

At a time when state lotteries are being touted as an attractive way to raise badly needed public funds, it is well to recall that a lottery is the most regressive of all revenue measures. Even more than the unpopular sales tax, its burden falls most heavily on the poor, who are the principal patrons of this type of gambling.

In 1962 United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy called attention to the overwhelming cost of gambling:

“… the American people are spending more on gambling than on medical care or education; … in so doing, they are putting up the money for the corruption of public officials and the vicious activities of the dope peddlers, loan sharks, bootleggers, white slave traders, and slick confidence men. Investigation this past year by the FBI, Internal Revenue Service, the Narcotics Bureau, the Post Office Department, and all other federal investigative units has disclosed without any shadow of a doubt that corruption and racketeering, financed largely by gambling, are weakening the vitality and strength of this nation.”

Lotteries harmful nature was widely understood before 1963, when New Hampshire organised the first modern-day lottery. Now, 37 states operate these highly profitable gambling monopolies, which prohibit competition while profiting from the desperation of the poor. In 1997, statewide lotteries extracted $16 billion from ordinary people hoping and praying for the jackpot! How times have changed. Historically, governments have outlawed or tightly regulated gambling. Now they promote it with vigour. Indeed, today's politicians love lotteries because they allow them to feed their voracious appetites for revenues without having to pay the political price for raising taxes. Truly, the fox is in the henhouse.

Lottery administrators are concerned about a phenomenon they call "jackpot fatigue," meaning gamblers no longer get excited at the prospect of winning only a few million dollars. Therefore, greater prizes are needed to get their money. Lottery officials defend their livelihood by asking what harm is there if someone who can afford to bet chooses to throw away a dollar on an 80-million-to-one long shot. But that is not where Powerball and other lotteries make their money. They rake it in from "players" such as Ernie Kovic, a 28-year-old Bronx waiter studying aircraft design at a trade school. Last summer, Kovic stood in line to buy $3,000 worth of Powerball tickets-money he had been saving for tuition. Kovic told The New York Times: "If I win, I won't have to go to school. Heck, I can buy my own aircraft." Guess what? Kovic lost, as did 79,999,999 other gullible betters.

There are a multitude of Ernie Kovics wasting their savings, their families and their futures chasing the tantalising but false hopes hawked by state lotteries. Ten percent of lottery players account for half of all lottery purchases.' The Washington Post, after examining lotteries in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., concluded that they rely on a hard core of heavy players, who, on average, have less education and lower incomes than the population as a whole."

Lottery administrators know exactly who their customers are, which is why they often target the poor with their marketing schemes. An advertising plan for the Ohio lottery recommended that "promotional pushes" take place at the beginning of the month. Why? Because government benefits, payroll and Social Security payments are released on the first Tuesday of each calendar month. An infamous Illinois Lottery billboard campaign in a Chicago ghetto showed a picture of a lottery ticket with the caption: "This could be your ticket out." Fat chance!

Lotteries also foster a get-rich-quick mentality while belittling the work ethic. A Massachusetts Lottery ad offered two options for how to "make millions." Let me quote: "Plan A: Start studying when you're about 7 years old, real hard. Then grow up and get a good job. From then on, get up at dawn every day. Flatter [your] boss. Crush competition ruthlessly. Climb over backs of co-workers. Be the last one to leave every night. Squirrel away every cent. Avoid having a nervous breakdown. Avoid having a premature heart attack. Get a face lift. Do this every day for 30 years, holidays and weekends included. By the time you're ready to retire you should have your money." Or "Plan B": Play the lottery."

Today there are many proposals to legalise gambling. Some urge this as a way to obtain new tax revenues, citing the examples of Spain, Norway, Sweden, France, Australia, and twenty other governments whose national lotteries provide significant revenues to state treasuries. Others propose to legalise gambling because they contend that this would weaken organised crime by drying up one of its principal sources of financial support. It is also urged that legalised gambling would reduce the amount of graft and illegal payoffs to public officials.

Closely examined, none of these arguments for legalised gambling is persuasive. When the late Thomas E. Dewey was governor of New York, he answered these arguments, declaring:

“The entire history of legalised gambling in this country and abroad shows that it has brought nothing but poverty, crime and corruption, demoralisation of moral standards, and ultimately lower living standards and misery for all the people.”

The late J. Edgar Hoover, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is quoted as saying: “If you think legalising games of chance starves out the criminals, look at Las Vegas, where the games are legal, yet the hoods still deal themselves in and related vices flourish.”

In urging the state of Alaska not to legalise gambling as an economic panacea, Senator Alexander Wiley of Wisconsin gave these additional financial reasons: the idea that gambling would increase revenues is an illusion. Every dollar raised from gambling would mean five dollars spent in “higher police costs, higher court costs, higher penitentiary costs, and higher relief costs.”

Another evil of gambling is that it promotes greed and covetousness and inevitably involves and encourages the base practice of overreaching and taking from one’s neighbour.

In addition, gambling has a tendency to corrupt the participant. We are all familiar with cases in which trusted employees have ruined their lives and brought disgrace and tragedy upon themselves and their families by stealing their employer’s money. All too often the sordid story is traceable to a desperate attempt to pay gambling debts or to finance further gambling activities.

The temptations of the gambler are such that persons in responsible positions in government and private industry will not hire or retain as employees those who are known to gamble. In recounting the undesirable side effects of gambling, mention must also be made of the fact that gambling is often accompanied by indulgence in alcohol and other vices.

Also, one disadvantage cited by persons not concerned with the moral effects of gambling, is the extraordinary waste of time involved in it. Those who while away their hours gambling frequently do so to the neglect of family and work.

Time wasted in gambling becomes more significant when we reflect that many persons who indulge in gambling become addicted to it. The late Elder Richard L. Evans of the Council of the Twelve (1906–1971) made this statement:

“The spirit of gambling is a progressive thing. Usually it begins modestly; and then, like many other hazardous habits, it often grows beyond control. At best it wastes time and produces nothing. At worst it becomes a ruinous obsession and fosters false living by encouraging the futile belief that we can continually get something for nothing.”

In the USA Studies show that about two-thirds of teens have gambled in the past year. Sometimes they are betting on sports or cards with their friends, but a staggering percentage are gambling on legal activities despite their ages. In Massachusetts, 47 percent of seventh-graders, and three-quarters of high school seniors, have played the lottery! Massachusetts' attorney general found that two-thirds of underage teens who tried were able to bet on keno games run by the lottery. In a survey of 12,000 Louisiana adolescents, one-quarter reported playing video poker, 17 percent had gambled on slot machines and one in 10 had bet on horse or dog racing.

Even more significant is what is happening to these young people as a result of their involvement with gambling. The same survey of Massachusetts high school students found that one in 20 had already been arrested for a gambling-related offense; 10 percent experienced family problems due to gambling; and eight percent had gotten in trouble at work or school because of gambling.' A new Louisiana State University study shows that Louisiana youngsters in juvenile detention are roughly four times as likely to have a serious gambling problem as their peers. Two-thirds of the hard-core gamblers in detention admitted stealing specifically to finance their gambling.'

As for gambling at the college level, Sports Illustrated produced an in depth three part series that described gambling as "the dirty little secret on college campuses, where it [gambling] is rampant and prospering." Betting also threatens the integrity of collegiate athletics. A national study by the University of Michigan earlier this year found that 45 percent of male college football and basketball players admit to gambling on sports, despite rules explicitly prohibiting such activities. More than five percent admit shaving points, leaking inside information for gambling purposes or betting on their own games.

Studies indicate as many as eight percent of teens are already hooked on gambling!' For all their pious talk about wanting to prevent underage gambling, many operators actively attempt to cultivate betting habits in the next generation. That's why casinos in Louisiana have donated computer equipment and library books along with cards, dice and T-shirts emblazoned with casino logos to schoolchildren there (and why a grateful superintendent repaid their generosity by making a television commercial for a casino!)." That's why games in children's arcades inside casinos are virtual copies of adult casino games." That's why casino complexes now appeal to children with amusement rides, theme parks and movie theaters often forcing kids to walk through the casino floor to get to these attractions!

Gambling promoters try to downplay the high rates of gambling addiction among young people, saying they will grow out of such behaviour. Some undoubtedly will, but many will not. For millions, the hold of a gambling addiction is every bit as powerful as illegal drugs or any other addiction. A study of Gamblers Anonymous members found that only eight percent were able to stop their gambling even after attending GA for two years. Many of these young troubled gamblers will remain mired in the cesspool of gambling addiction for years and years to come.

Using the 2002 Canadian Community Health Survey, Cycle 1.2 on Mental Health and Well-being, the study estimates that 1.2 million adult Canadians were at risk of experiencing a problem with gambling, or were problem gamblers.

Of these, an estimated 700,000 were at low risk, another 370,000 at moderate risk, and 120,000 were already problem gamblers. That is, they had suffered adverse effects from their gambling behaviour, such as financial or social problems, anxiety or depression, or dependence on alcohol.

These 1.2 million individuals represented 5% of the total adult population, and 6% of all gamblers.

According to the study, those most likely to be in the at risk or problem categories were men, Aboriginal persons, those with less education, individuals who played video lottery terminals (VLTs), and people who gambled frequently.

One of four people whose gambling included VLTs were at risk or problem gamblers, confirming the much reported notion that VLTs are the "crack cocaine" of gambling. Those who bought only lottery tickets had the lowest chance of becoming problem gamblers.

Manitoba and Saskatchewan had considerably higher proportions of at risk gamblers than other provinces. This may be because they have the highest VLT participation rates in the country, above-average Aboriginal populations, and, along with Ontario, the highest attendance rates at casinos.

Constant gambling and excessive spending can take its toll in many facets of life, particularly personal and family finances, as well as an individual's health.

Half of all problem gamblers reported that their gambling caused difficulties in relationships with family or friends. Four in 10 obsessive gamblers (42%) reported a high level of stress in their life, compared with 23% of gamblers who reported no problems.

About 18% of problem gamblers reported that they had contemplated suicide in the year prior to the survey, six times the proportion (3%) of non-problem gamblers.

The insidiousness of excess gambling is revealed by the 27% of moderate-risk gamblers and 64% of problem gamblers who wanted to stop gambling in the year prior to the survey, but believed they could not. About 56% of problem gamblers had tried to quit, but couldn't.

Frequent gambling quickly lightens the wallet. About 62% of problem gamblers spent more than $1,000 a year on gambling, compared with only 4% of people who gambled with no problem.

The following facts regarding problem gambling have been obtained from the Report of the Productivity Commissions Inquiry into Australia's Gambling Industries (26 November 1999):
About 290,000 people in Australia (that is approximately 2% of all adult Australians) are considered to be experiencing significant problems associated with gambling.

The average duration of gambling problems is nine years.

It is estimated that in 1997/98 problem gamblers spent (lost) $M2 673, 80 per cent of which was expended on gaming machines.

Between five and ten "other" people are affected by the behaviour of a person who has a gambling problem.

If a gambler "reinvests" their winnings, he or she will eventually lose the lot.

Around 130 000 Australians (about 1 per cent of the adult population) are estimated to have severe problems with their gambling. A further 160 000 adults are estimated to have moderate problems, which may not require ‘treatment’ but warrant policy concern.

Taken together, ‘problem gamblers’ represent just over 290 000 people, or 2.1 per cent of Australian adults.

Problem gamblers comprise 15 per cent of regular (non-lottery) gamblers and account for about $3.5 billion in expenditure annually — about one-third of the gambling industries’ market.

They lose on average around $12 000 each per year, compared with just under $650 for other gamblers.

The costs include financial and emotional impacts on the gamblers and on others, with on average at least five other people affected to varying degrees. For example:

– one in ten said they have contemplated suicide due to gambling; and
– nearly half those in counselling reported losing time from work or study in the past year due to gambling.

The adverse impacts on individuals and the community help explain the ambivalence of most Australians about the gambling industries, despite their widespread involvement:

– around 70 per cent of people surveyed believed that gambling did more harm than good; and
– 92 per cent did not want to see further expansion of gaming machines.

Economists agree that wealth is created by manufacturing. Those economies which perform well, e.g. china, are manufacturing economies. Gambling only ends up in transferring wealth from the masses to a few hands. The more you play the more you will lose. As the odds are in casino's favour.

All in all, gambling is the main cause of serious economic and social problems. Gambling destroys marriages, undermines the work ethic, increases crime, motivates suicide, destroys the financial security of families and is related to a number of other social issues. It is now time for us to stand up against this evil practice and eliminate it from our lives.

The Issue of Slavery

This article is aimed to answer some of the objections raised by Non-Muslims on the issue of slavery in Islam. A lot of books have been written on this topic, and if one is interested, one should read those books so as to get the complete picture. I have only attempted to discuss this topic briefly, but hopefully this should suffice for those who are genuinely seeking the answers to the objections raised against Islam.

First thing one must understand is that Prophet (peace be upon him) did not start slavery. This system was in place centuries before Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was even born.

The next thing to keep in mind is that Shariah abolished all systems of slavery except one. Before the advent of Islamic Law, free men and women were captured and forcibly sold as slaves. Islam removed this tyranny and Prophet (peace be upon him) cursed those who sold a free person as a slave. Islam has clearly and categorically forbidden the primitive practice of capturing a person, and to make him or her as a slave or to sell that person into slavery. On this point the clear and unequivocal words of the Prophet (peace be upon him) are as follow:

"There are three categories of people against whom I shall myself be a plaintiff on the Day of Judgement. Of these three, one is he who enslaves a free man, then sells him and devours this money" (al-Bukhari and Ibn Majah).

The only thing which Shariah did not eradicate about slavery was the issue of prisoners of war. The question was what should be done with the male and female prisoners of war who were captured.

These prisoners of war were retained by the Muslim Government until their government agreed to receive them back in exchange for Muslim soldiers captured by them, or arranged the payment of ransom on their behalf. If the soldiers they captured were not exchanged with Muslim prisoners of war, or their people did not pay their ransom money to purchase their liberty, then the Muslim Government used to distribute them among the soldiers of the army which had captured them. This was a more humane and proper way of disposing of them than retaining them like cattle in concentration camps and taking forced labour from them and, if their women folk were also captured, setting them aside for prostitution. In place of such a cruel and outrageous way of disposing of the prisoners of war, Islam preferred to spread them in the population, and thus brought them in contact with individual human beings. Over and above, their guardians were ordered to treat them well.

The result of this humane policy was that most of the men who were captured on foreign battlefields and brought to the Muslim countries as slaves embraced Islam and their descendants produced great scholars, imams, jurists, commentators, statesmen and generals of the army. So much so that later on they became the rulers of the Muslim world.

The solution of this problem which has been proposed in the present age is that after the cessation of hostilities the prisoners of war of the combatant countries should be exchanged. Whereas Muslims have been practicing it from the very beginning and whenever the adversary accepted the exchange of prisoners of war from both sides, it was implemented without the least hesitation or delay.

In modern warfare we also find that if one government is completely routed leaving her in no position of bargaining for the prisoners of war and the winning party gets its prisoners easily, then experience has shown that the prisoners of war of the vanquished army are kept in conditions which are much worse than the conditions of slaves.

Can anyone tell me what has been the fate of the thousands of prisoners of war captured by Russia from the defeated armies of Germany and Japan in the Second World War? No one has given their account so far. No one knows how many thousands of them are still alive and how many thousands of them have perished due to the hardship of the Russian concentration and labour camps.

The forced labour which has been taken from them is much worse than the service one can exact from slaves. Even perhaps in the times of ancient Pharaohs of Egypt such harsh labour might not have been exacted from the slaves in building the pyramids of Egypt, as has been exacted from the prisoners of war in Russia in developing Siberia and other backward areas of Russia, or working in coal and other mines in below zero temperatures, ill-clad, ill-fed and brutally treated by their supervisors.

The Europeans take great pride in claiming that they abolished slavery from the world, though they had the decency to do so only in the middle of the second last century. Before this, these Western powers had been raiding Africa on a very large scale, capturing their free men and women, putting them in bondage and transporting them to their new colonies. The treatment which they have meted out to these unfortunate people has been worse than the treatment given to animals. The books written by the Western writers themselves bear testimony to this fact.

After the occupation of America and the West Indies, for three hundred and fifty years, traffic in slave trade continued. The African coasts where the black-skinned captured Africans were brought from the interior of Africa and put on the ships sailing out from those ports, came to be known as the Slave Coast.

Only in one century (from 1680 to 1786) the total number of free people who were captured and enslaved only for British Colonies amounts, according to the estimate of British authors, to 20 million human beings. Over the period of only one year (1790) we are told that 75,000 human beings were captured and sent for slave labour in the Colonies. The ships which were used for transporting the slaves were small and dirty. These unfortunate Africans were thrust into the holds of these ships like cattle right up to the top and many of them were chained to the wooden shelves on which they could hardly move because these were only eighteen inches apart, kept one on top of the other. They were not provided with suitable food, and if they fell ill or were injured, no attempt was made to provide them with medical treatment.

The Western writers themselves state that at least 20% of the total number of people who were captured for slavery and forced labour perished during their transportation from the African coast to America. It has also been estimated that the total number of people who were captured for slavery by the various European nations during the heyday of the slave trade comes to at least one hundred million. This is the record of the people who denounce Muslims day and night for recognising the institution of slavery. It is as if a criminal is holding his finger of blame towards an innocent man.

If you read the Christian and Jewish history until the 18th century, you will find that whenever they got dominance they used to kill civilians and the prisoners captured. They did not recognise the skills of a particular person i.e. whether he was a scholar, engineer, doctor etc. and how these skills benefit the humanity; in addition, they did not consider if a woman was a mother and has young children or she has got other responsibilities. All these factors were ignored and generally people captured were killed. Even in this day and age, the number of people killed by USA and Israel is far greater than by any other nation.

Islam, on the other hand, forbade the killing of those who became captives when a war was over. So if someone is not killed what should be done with that person? Should he or she be kept as prisoner? If they were incarcerated then their skills and abilities are wasted. For example, if a person is an architect then by sitting in a prison that person’s abilities would rot over a period of time. Secondly, the state would have to bear the burden of expenses for these prisoners which can get expensive overtime. Thirdly, should they be sent back: there was a great chance that these prisoners of war will use their skills against you again once they got together with their tribe or nation. This would further lead to wars and hence peace cannot be achieved.

Shariah says that you should keep them with you. If someone is illiterate, he or she should be educated and cultured. Those who are skilled should be utilised for the betterment of society. In addition, Shariah encouraged the freeing of slaves gradually. Briefly I would like to tell you about the position and nature of slavery in Islam. Islam tried to solve the problem of the slaves that were in Arabia by encouraging the people in different ways to set their slaves free. The Muslims were ordered that in expiation of some of their sins they should set their slaves free. Freeing a slave by one's own free will was declared to be an act of great merit, so much so that it was said that every limb of the man who manumits a slave will be protected from hell-fire in lieu of the limb of the slave freed by him. The companions of Prophet (peace be upon him) even bought those slaves who came in the market (who were not captured in the war [as it was common in those times]) and set them free.

The result of this policy was that by the time the period of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs was reached, all the old slaves of Arabia were liberated. The Prophet (peace be upon him) alone liberated as many as 63 slaves. The number of slaves freed by 'Aishah was 67, 'Abbas liberated 70, 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar liberated one thousand, and 'Abd al-Rahman purchased thirty thousand and set them free (may Allah be pleased with them all). Similarly other Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) liberated a large number of slaves, the details of which are given in the Traditions and books of history of that period. Thus, the problem of the slaves of Arabia was solved in a short period of thirty or forty years.

Now the question arose about the females: i.e. those females who came as prisoners in war. The Shariah condemned the killing of those females. The Quran refer to them as what your right hand possesses. When the Ameer (leader) of war e.g. General of the army declared that I give that female to a particular soldier, it was equivalent to marriage (and her previous marriage was annulled). Hence, a person was allowed to have intimate relationship with that woman after a waiting period of one menstrual cycle (so as to make sure that she was not pregnant) and this was done with the woman’s consent.

What else could have been done? Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) enjoined his followers to treat the slaves kindly, gently, and, above all, to regard them as members of the family.

In this way, they were made to feel wanted; which was far better than treating them as outcasts and leaving them to wander the streets of a strange society in a peniless, destitute condition. Such treatment would have ultimately forced them to take up evil occupations such as prostitution in the case of slave woman in order to fill their hungry stomachs. The First World War in 1914 was a clear reflection of the evils involved in setting captive women free to roam about in a strange society with strange surroundings. During that war, German and English women prisoners on either side were set free to roam the streets with no one to feed them. The result was obvious that they resorted to other unrefined and uncivilised methods of income on the streets. Thus, it is evident that the Islamic treatment of women prisoners of war was conducive towards better social relations and led to the refinement of their overall social lives.

With regards to the objection that you can have unlimited number of female slaves in marriage, it must be understood that a number was not fixed in case of an emergency i.e. if there were a situation where a lot of females were captured. Generally speaking, it would not happen as the females who were captured would not outnumber the soldiers. Also, the soldiers would have to take care of them financially. Not many can afford to take care of a big number of slaves in any case. Hence, this attack on Islam that you can have as many slaves in marriage as you want is not justified.

One advantage which came out of the marriage with these women was that many people of high caliber married these women and many high quality individuals were born: Qasim bin Muhammad bin Abu Bakr, Salim bin Abdullah bin Umar, Imam Zain-ul-Aabideen are just a few examples. Lot of big scholars and Jurists were born from these women and because of this many preferred to marry a slave women rather than a free female.

When in 18th century all the nations of the world signed an agreement to end slavery, then Muslim nations were also bound by this agreement as well. The reason being that Muslims are bound by their international contracts as mentioned in Surah Taubah (chapter 9) of the Glorious Quran.

Islam is against the killing and making free people slaves by force. It is so much against slavery that Jurists have written that it is forbidden to do such actions which will cause Jinns to become your captive (which is the practice of a few even in this day and age).

Those who think that slavery of prisoners of war is tyranny have a false concept of slavery in their mind (they are probably brainwashed from USA’s treatment of black slaves). Islam gave such beautiful teachings regarding the treatment of slaves that the Islamic system of slavery reduced injustice in the world. A couple of narrations are as follow:

Abu Hurairah reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: "When the slave of anyone amongst you prepares food for him and he serves him after having sat close to (and undergoing the hardship of) heat and smoke, he should make him (the slave) sit along with him and make him eat (along with him), and if the food seems to run short, then he should spare some portion for him (from his own share) - (another narrator) Dawud said:" i. e. a morsel or two". 4097. (Translation of Sahih Muslim, The Book of Oaths (Kitab Al-Aiman), Book 015, Number 4096)"

Narrated Al-Ma'rur: "At Ar-Rabadha I met Abu Dhar who was wearing a cloak, and his slave, too, was wearing a similar one. I asked about the reason for it. He replied, "I abused a person by calling his mother with bad names." The Prophet said to me, 'O Abu Dhar! Did you abuse him by calling his mother with bad names You still have some characteristics of ignorance. Your slaves are your brothers and Allah has put them under your command. So whoever has a brother under his command should feed him of what he eats and dress him of what he wears. Do not ask them (slaves) to do things beyond their capacity (power) and if you do so, then help them." (Translation of Sahih Bukhari, Belief, Volume 1, Book 2, Number 29)

Well if someone objects as to why Islam did not eradicate all forms of slavery once in for all (i.e. why they kept the slavery of Prisoners intact), then I would have to remind that person (apart from the reasons mentioned above) that the world does not function in such a simple way where you can bring changes overnight. Almost every household had a slave in those times. It was not feasible to introduce a policy which would finish slavery all at once. On the contrary, Islam gave a system whereby freedom of slaves was encouraged and slowly slavery was tackled with.

If Islam would have introduced a policy to finish slavery all at once, there would have been chaos and massive resistance from almost every household. It must be understood that Prophets of Allah (may peace be upon them all) gradually change incorrect teachings in a society while they keep rest of the system in place. For example, Prophet (peace be upon him) did not change the law regarding compensation for murder (i.e. 100 camels), but he gradually abolished seven forms (out of eight) of marriage and kept only one which is practiced among the Muslims all over the world.

I hope the above mentioned explanation must have cleared some of the misconceptions spread by those who have got extreme hatred in their hearts for the religion of Islam. My humble request to those who genuinely seek answers to these misconceptions is to do thorough research before reaching a conclusion.

The Case For Single-Sex Education

This article was published in Jumuah Magazine about a year ago. I thought I should publish it on my blog: since it is further evidence that revelation is far superior than intelligence.

By Gohar Mushtaq (Ph.D., Biochemistry, Rutgers University, USA)
When Islamic civilization was at its zenith, non-Muslim students from all across Europe sought education at Islamic universities in places like Muslim Spain, Turkey, and Egypt. Their impression of the Islamic civilization was such that they would imitate most of its aspects. When Roger Bacon (one of the founding fathers of British educational system) returned to Britain after studying at the Islamic universities, he was so fond of Muslim dress and Arabic books some of his contemporaries called him "Muhammad Bacon". However, with the passage of time the wheel of history turned leading to the decline of the Muslim power and civilization. Not only did Muslims loose their freedom, they also had to go through one of the most damaging experiences forced upon them losing the right to educate themselves the way they believe they should. Neil Postman (an American writer and intellectual) writes in his book Conscientious Objections that: "Every age has its own special forms of imperialism. And so does each conqueror. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when the British mastered the art, their method of invasion was to send their navy, then their army, then their administrators, and finally their educational system."1

Using this methodology, and claiming that its purpose was to help Muslims achieve modernity since they are not capable of achieving it on their own, Britain dismantled the educational systems of its Muslim colonies. Hence, the Islamic schools in these countries, where both Islamic and secular sciences used to be taught simultaneously, were rendered ineffective. Some Muslim historians indicate that Al-Jami'ah al-Yusufiyah (Yusufiyah University) of Marrakech, Morocco, was the last Muslim educational institution to be ‘conquered' by the Western imperialism. Ever since, a network of schools and colleges based on the British educational system spread throughout the Muslim lands.

In all those schools and colleges, sooner or later, the same moral diseases, which had already infested the British and then, American schools and colleges, started to emerge. Chief among those illnesses is the malady of coeducation, which refers to the educational system in which boys and girls are taught in the same classroom in schools and colleges. On the other hand, some Muslim countries in their blind imitation of the Western educational models, adopted coeducation and implemented it in their school systems a trend prophesized by Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu alayhe wa sallam, in an authentic hadeeth narrated by Abu Sa'id al-Khudri: "You will surely follow in the ways of those before you, inch by inch and step by step, so much so that if they were to enter an iguana's [a large lizard] hole, you would follow after them." (Muslim)

In the following discussion, the negative effects of coeducation and the benefits of single-sex education will be briefly presented in light of religion and modern science.

Coeducation: An Islamic View
Islam has given the Muslims a superior and comprehensive social system in which there is no room for unnecessary and reckless mixed gatherings. And based on its realistic approach to the human nature, Islam is perfectly aware of the fact that free mixing of men and women breeds moral vices which are significantly culpable in the destruction of the moral fabric of many societies, as past and present societal experiences reveal. In the Qur'an, Allah says the following to the believing men and women: "Tell the believing men to lower their gaze (from looking at forbidden things), and guard their modesty. That is purer for them. Verily, Allah is All-Aware of what they do. And tell the believing women to lower their gaze (from looking at forbidden things), and guard their modesty and not to reveal their adornment." [24: 30-31] After these verses in the surah of an-Noor, details of women's modesty inside the home are provided. Similarly, in the surah of al-Ahzab (verse 59), the commandments regarding a Muslim female's dress outside the home or Hijab are given. Likewise, Allah gave the commandment in the surah of al-Israa (verse 32): "And come not near to adultery (or fornication), verily, it is a shameful deed and an evil way (that leads to other evils)," which clearly closes all back-doors to deviant human desires and illicit behavior.

Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu alayhe wa sallam, said, "Verily, I have been sent as a teacher." (Tirmithi) The Companion Muawiyah ibnul Hakam as-Sulami said about the Prophet: "I have neither seen any teacher before Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu alayhe wa sallam, nor after him, who could teach better than him." (Muslim) For sure, the Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu alayhe wa sallam, was the most successful teacher in the human history-who raised great students like Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, Umar ibnul Khattab, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Ibn Abbas, Aisha and many others who followed, and remained faithful to, his guidance in the field of education as well as in other walks of life. The teaching method of the Prophet did not include coeducation; for we learn from his Sunnah that he had appointed a separate day for the education of male Companions and another for the education of female Companions.

Moreover, the teaching method of Aisha, the mother of the believers, involved teaching male students from behind a curtain. In fact, a look at the Islamic history shows that the Islamic learning institutions, up to the university level, were separate for males and females or, at least, there used to be a separation between the two.

Islam is deeply aware of the differences between males and females with respect to psychological development. The Qur'an has clearly stated that males and females are not the same: "And the male is not like the female." [3:36]
The difference to which this verse refers is of wide range. Essentially, it refers to the biological, emotional and psychological differences between the two genders. There is no doubt that men and women have different biological traits that results in a number of differences in their respective developmental and learning patterns throughout their lives. The growth spurt of girls in the adolescent stage has been showed to be faster than that of boys. Biological processes do really affect and influence psychological tendencies. Due to the inherent biological differences between males and females, variation in their psychological tendencies and dispositions is inevitable.

An Alien Idea
Coeducation is an alien idea to the Islamic society. In fact coeducation is a by-product of the Western thought and its educational system. This system of education originated in the earlier part of the twentieth century in Scotland and was then taken up by several private and state-aided schools in England. Later, it was also adopted by the schools and colleges in the United States of America. In the 1950's, followers of the feminist movement started to propagate a broad-based idea of coeducation that will allow women to not only work with men side-by-side in the society, but to sit with them cheek by jowl in the schools and colleges. Today, this task has been taken up by many of the NGO's (Non-Governmental Organizations) working in the Muslim countries. Meanwhile, in the West, the continuous failures that have characterized its experimentation with the idea of coeducation over the previous 30 years have prompted some Western intellectuals to seriously consider the option of single-sex education.

Benefits of Coeducation as Advanced by its Advocates
Before discussing the problem with coeducation and highlighting the merits of single-sex education, it is necessary to consider coeducation in light of modern science, to present a more complete picture of the issue at hand. So, what do the advocates of coeducation say regarding the benefits of mixed-gender education?

In a five-year longitudinal study of single-sex schools becoming coeducational, reported in the 1989 issue of the Journal of Educational Psychology (vol. 81), Australian researcher Prof. H.W. Marsh looked at the advantages of coeducation and found out that there appeared to be some socialization benefits that can be achieved from coeducation. In addition, those benefits were not at the expense of academic achievement for either girls or boys.

In the same vein, in a study conducted by the Australian Research Council, researcher Ian David Smith of the School of Education Psychology (University of Sydney) measured academic achievement of both boys and girls at two Sydney high schools which had turned into coeducational schools. The study found that the academic performance of boys and girls did not change when they went from single-sex schools to mixed-sex schools. Similarly, researchers Robinson & Smithers (Research Papers in Education, 1999, vol. 14) argued in favor of coeducation on the basis that it is more realistic to everyday life when they stated: "It has been suggested that educating the sexes together is more like real life, and the experience of growing up with the opposite sex makes it easier to move on to the mixed environments of university and employment."

In addition, advocates of coeducation claim that educating girls side by side with boys does not harm the fundamental traits of the girls' feminine nature. A girl will not become masculine because she has been educated in a boys' school. The presence of both genders together in the class will have a wholesome effect on their character. According to the supporters of coeducation, mixed-gender education leads to improved social and personal development. Both girls and boys meet regularly to discuss their progress in a co-ed class. In so doing they learn that ‘equality' does not mean ‘sameness'- that men and women often have different perspectives on the same issues and that each gender has a great deal to offer the other. There may be some truth in the claims made by the proponents of coeducation. Nothing in this world is one hundred percent evil. Everything has harms and benefits associated with it. However, the approach of Islamic Shari'ah includes, among other things, weighing out the benefits and harms of things. This has been mentioned in the Qur'an clearly in the case of alcohol-drinking and gambling: "They ask you (O Muhammad) concerning alcoholic drink and gambling. Say:

‘In them is a great sin, and (some) benefit for men, but the sin of them is greater than their benefit.'" [2:219] Hence, in the case of alcohol and gambling, the Qur'an acknowledges that there are some benefits for people but at the same time, asserts that there are much more harms to the individuals as well as the society than these benefits. It is for this reason that Islamic law does not make alcohol and gambling permissible. Similarly, in the case of coeducation, there may be benefits such as socialization and self-confidence in the presence of the members of opposite sex, but the harms of mixed-gender education are much more than its benefits. This belief of ours will be further substantiated and furnished by corroborating facts and statistics below.

Psychological Harms of Coeducation
Placing boys and girls in the same class can be disadvantageous and harmful for both, psychologically as well as biologically. Famous Islamic scholar and theologian, Imam Ibn Hazm (d. 456 AH), in his book Tawq al-Hamamah (The Neck-Ring of the Dove), which is about the art, practice and psychology of love and lovers, describes some of the things that take place in mixed gatherings of women and men as "strange and uncommon" to imply a change in the psyche and attitude (thus behavior) prompted by the situation. Although they might seem simplistic, Ibn Hazm's observations and findings are supported and elaborated by modern scientific research.

In his book Men and Marriage, the American author and intellectual, George Gilder, notes that boys and girls attain puberty earlier when they are in coeducation environment.

The production of male hormone, testosterone, is increased to 20 times than normal in male adolescents and, as a consequence, they suffer from severe mental and sexual agitation. Similarly, female hormones production increases in adolescent girls and as a consequence, they suffer from lethargy and depression. At puberty, the limbic system (area of the brain) is stimulated by the surge of those sex hormones, which affects the behavior of both sexes. In such conditions, most of them think perpetually about the opposite sex. In the words of George Gilder, "First and most important, most of the boys and a good number of the girls are thinking about the opposite sex most of the time. If you do not believe this, you are a dreamer." It is interesting to note that feelings of men and women toward each other stay the same in colleges and universities. In the learning institutions where there is coeducation, love affairs and courtships are common.

Structural Differences in the Brains of Boys and Girls
Science has shown that long before the birth of the child, the sex hormones released in the womb of his/her mother induce specific, permanent and different developmental effects on the growing brains of the male and female child. For example, during pregnancy, the testicles of a developing baby-boy release as much testosterone (male sex hormone) as the amount produced by a young adult man. These sex hormones bind to the brain tissue of the fetus and permanently and irreversibly transform his brain. Furthermore, researchers Reuwen and Anat Achiron showed in a research paper, published in the medical journal, Prenatal Diagnosis (2001 issue), that the brain of an unborn baby-girl can be distinguished from a male brain during a regular ultrasound exam of women who are 26 weeks pregnant. Similarly, when a group of scientists compared the brain tissues of infant children, they found significant differences between the brains of boys and the brains of girls. So striking are the differences in the photomicrographs of the brain tissues of male and female children they are easily visible to the naked human eye. Interestingly, this research which was published in the year 2000 issue of Developmental Brain Research Journal was headed by a female research scientist Dr. Maria Cordero.

In the same vein, female researcher Dr.Tracey Shors of Rutgers University (U.S.A.) and her associates concluded, based on a study they conducted on male and female brains, that the nature of male brain is such that when it is under stress, its learning ability increases, whereas the learning ability of a female brain is impaired and reduced when it is exposed to stress (PNAS, Oct. 15, 2002). This finding indicates that boys need discipline and separate-sex environment for their abilities to be sharpened. Conversely, girls require a lenient environment for studying. This is also due to the fact that girls, whether children or grown ups, are very adept at face-reading. In a research published in the Journal of Genetic Psychology (vol. 154), a group of researchers at Wellesley College did a study on young children and found that 3-year old girls have the ability to interpret facial expressions better than the 5-year old boys. Obviously, this result indicates that girls can judge the signs of anger and irritation on the teacher's face. Boys, on the other hand, are very poor in this ability and, therefore, need admonishment.

Boys and Girls Learn Differently
Dr. Harriot Hanlan, a female scientist at Virginia Tech University, analyzed the male and female brain activity in a research conducted on 284 boys and 224 girls ranging from age 6 months to 16 years. Dr. Hanlan came to a conclusion that in girls, the brain centers that are related to language abilities are six (6) years more advanced as compared to those centers in boys. On the other hand, the spatial memory of boys is 4 years more advanced as compared to girls. It is for this reason that boys and girls learn languages, mathematics and geography differently. Similarly, boys develop digital coordination of hands nine months after girls. This is so because the nerves in the boys' fingers develop later as compared to the nerves in girls' fingers. Digital coordination of hands is important in activities such as holding the pencil and good hand-writing. To sum up, what really matters here is that these developmental differences often leads educators, teachers, and parents to unfairly sidelining boys as slow or dumb and planting a seed of distaste for school in those boys as early as the first grade. But the gulf of learning differences between boys and girls increases with time more evidently so in the coeducation environment. Under such circumstances, one wonders how could the two sexes be placed in the same classroom for learning?!

Different Hearing Abilities of Boys and Girls
In researches carried out over the past 40 years, scientists have shown that right from childhood, the female sense of hearing is about four times better than the hearing ability in males. This finding has been affirmed in a recent research conducted by two female scientists, Dr. Jane Cassidy and Dr. Karen Ditty, and published in the Journal of Music Therapy in 2001. When these two female scientists conducted a study on 350 newborns, they found that young girls have better hearing ability than boys of same age. This difference in the male and female hearing capacities has deep implications during their education. For example, in a mixed-gender classroom in which girls are sitting in the front rows and boys in the back rows, if the teacher speaks in a gentle and low voice, boys will engage in acts of naughtiness because they cannot hear the teacher. Conversely, if the teacher speaks with a loud voice so that the boys could hear him, the girls (whose sense of hearing is already four times stronger than boys) sitting in the front rows will feel as if the teacher is drilling in their ears.

Leonard Sax, M.D., Ph.D., founder and director of the National Association for Single-Sex Public Education, author of "Why Gender Matters", a family doctor and psychologist, argues that due to the hard-wired differences between boys and girls, it can become impossible for both genders to learn successfully in the classroom together. In one interview, Dr. Sax noted: "Almost every substantial choice you have to make will benefit one gender and disadvantage another." He further added that "girls hear better than boys and that part of boys' reasons for falling behind is simply that they can't hear the teacher." Needless to say, such problems do not exist in single-sex classrooms.

Long-Range Harmful Effects of Coeducation
On May 26, 2003, Business Week (one of the most prestigious magazines in the U.S.) printed a powerful article under the title, "The New Gender Gap" written by Michelle Collins, a female journalist. In that article, Michele noted the fact that there has been a continuous decline in the education of men in the past 20 years. Actually, she wrote, in the Western countries, a wide section of boys do not make it to college after finishing their high schools. The reason, she explains, lies in the fact that coeducation provides an unnatural and often feminine educational environment, and as a result, many boys get disappointed and lose their focus on education, some even react in negative ways as they try to show their manhood by committing crimes and resorting to violence. Furthermore, since 1970 as the number of coeducation schools increased in the U.S.A., suicide rates amongst young boys rose by three folds.

To add insult to injury, when teachers in the coeducation environment observe that boys (in comparison to girls) usually have hard time sitting in one place to learn, they commonly identify them as having the disease known as ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and some of these children end up taking drugs such as "Ritalin". In fact, about 80% of the Ritalin used in the whole world is given to children "diagnosed" with ADD in the U.S.A. Of course this is what the reality is, but lest we forget, this is also happening while the U.S.A. is leading the world in the area of coeducation. What is more important is that Ritalin use has increased 500% over the past decade, leading some to call it the new K-12 management tool. According to Paul R. Wolpe, a psychiatry professor at the University of Pennsylvania, there are school districts where 20% to 25% of the boys are on that drug. Wolpe notes, "Ritalin is a response to an artificial social context that we've created for children." The fact of the matter remains that, I believe, the children are not the ones who are sick, rather, it is the mixed-gender educational system that is sick and is in need of treatment. What most of us are not aware of is the appalling situation of children with similar psychological and emotional conditions in the many third world countries that follow coeducation systems.

Because coeducation environment creates similar cases of depression and lack of focus in these children, they show similar behavior to that of the children in American schools, but instead of getting Ritalin, they end up getting harsh physical punishment. The teachers assume that these children just do not like to learn and respect school's discipline so they punish them to enforce discipline and change their behavior.

In summarizing the harmful effects of coeducation, George Gilder has this to say in his book Men and Marriage:

"Adolescent boys are radically different from adolescent girls. The boys, for example, are at the pinnacle of sexual desire and aggressiveness. In school, what they chiefly need is male discipline and challenge; ideally, without girls present to distract them. Girls, on the other hand, are less aggressive and sexually compulsive at this stage and are more willing to study without rigid policing and supervision. Thus a classroom that contains both boys and girls will hurt both." And a question remains to be answered: to what extent this harm may go and at what expense, when this system of education is forced upon the children for their lifelong schooling? Especially for parents and educators, before giving any answers, there is much for them to learn and reflect upon.

The Success of Single-Sex Education: Practical Evidence
Apart from Muslim countries-where education is still mostly a single-sex-classroom-based system (same curricula but separate classrooms) and after experiencing the deleterious effects of coeducation, many countries in the West have recently started experimenting with the single-sex education system. An overwhelming majority of the people affected by this change indicated that seeing and experiencing the changes brought by applying single-sex education system in their schools helped them truly appreciate the idea and understand it better. Benjamin Wright, principal of the Thurgood Marshall Elementary School in Seattle, Washington, turned his previously co-ed school into one with separate-sex classrooms. Mr. Wright stated that previously in coeducation, most of the teachers' time was wasted in resolving issues arising from boys teasing the girls and vice versa. However, now in separate-sex environment, they are in fact teaching knowledge to the children. Mr. Wright also noted that in the state-level exams which were held in Washington in 2002 (The Washington Assessment of Student Learning), their school boys who were previously being taught under the coeducation system and were scoring 10%, increased their scores to 73%, courtesy of single-sex education, an outstanding success indeed.

Testimonials from Around the World
Jamaica
Single-sex education is quite common in the Caribbean country, Jamaica. In a large study of Jamaican schools published in the 1985 issue of the International Journal of Science Education, it was shown that girls at single-sex high schools performed much better in mathematics and science as compared to those girls who were studying at co-ed high schools. The study concluded that "the effects of sex stereotyping are more sharply apparent in the coeducational setting, for here there appears to be a stronger need to differentiate between the sexes. Thus, even if subjects such as mathematics and sciences are technically available to girls in this type of school [mixed gender school], they are more likely than their single-sex institutional counterparts to get the message that such subjects are unfeminine and beyond their grasp intellectually." Another very interesting study which confirms this contention is conducted in Britain by Lawrie and Brown who surveyed 284 students of the age group 14-15. The study findings, which were published in the 1992 issue of the British Journal of Educational Psychology, arrived at similar results as the above-mentioned research. Lawrie and Brown found that students at all-girls' schools reported enjoying math more, and found math less difficult, as compared to the girls who attended co-ed schools. Girls at the all-girls schools were more than twice as likely to say that they planned to take advanced math, compared to girls at co-ed schools.

Canada
Another shining example of the success of single-sex education comes from the inner-city James Lyng High School in Montreal, Canada that was a coeducational institution in the past. Five years ago, single-sex classrooms were introduced in the school and since then, students' absenteeism has declined, pass scores are higher and the number of students going on from this school to college has nearly doubled. All this is due to the blessings of single-sex education. Our next testimony from Canada is taken from a report published by the Montreal Gazette, the most widely circulated newspaper in Montreal, Canada, in its October 1999 issue titled: "Let's Separate Boys, Girls in Classes". This article reports on research conducted by the Superior Educational Council of Quebec and its final recommendation to the Canadian government advising it to end coeducation in its public schools and have them adopt the old system of the 1940s when schools separated males from females and even had separate entrances for boys and girls to the school buildings. The head of this educational council Celine Saint-Pierre (a female) was quoted as saying: "There is plenty of evidence that boys and girls learn differently." Celine further added that education should be separate-gender based, otherwise boys and girls will keep on getting weaker in their studying and the Quebec society will have to suffer its bitter consequences in the future. In addition, the article reported the council as being very concerned about the state of education in the province; quoting their statement that "Quebec is headed for a social crisis, a situation where males won't be able to get jobs in a knowledge-based economy."

Australia
In July 2003, a conference of educational experts was held in Sydney, Australia, where several speakers presented evidence that the boys who are educated in single-sex schools may do far better in terms of maturity and social adjustment than boys who attend coeducation schools. Dr. Bruce Cook, principal of the Southport School on the Gold Coast, told the audience of his experiences and observations that boys educated in single-sex schools prove to be better husbands in the future because, due to absence of girls around them in schools and colleges, they do not have to adopt a ‘masculine' attitude. Hence, boys in single-sex schools "become more sensitive men."

Personal Testimonials
We conclude this telling reportage of the news the development and growth of the single-sex educational systems is making by the following personal testifications to the benefits of single-sex education.

The first anecdote and good example is found in the personal experience of a known contemporary Western historian, Steven Miles. Dr. Miles put in plain words, in an interview, how attending a single-sex high school was a turning point in his life. He believes his attendance of a separate-gender school to be the main reason his abilities flourished and, eventually, he did his Ph.D in history. He said: "I began high school more shy than most adolescents. But I did take the enormous step of joining the speech team, and that opened a new world to me. It led me to other activities...I strongly believe that they made possible the development of interests and skills that led me to undertake a Ph.D in history. When I think back on the catalyst joining the speech team and I consider the fact that forensics in Illinois is dominated by girls, about 70/30, I cannot imagine that I would have joined the team in a co-ed school...I needed the chance to explore my own potential without worrying about looking foolish in front of the girls."

In a recent Newsweek article (October 24, 2005) titled, "With No Boys to Ogle, We Had Time To Learn," Christine Flowers wrote of her experiences as an undergraduate student at Bryn Mawr College (which follows separate-sex education at undergraduate level). She was exceedingly happy to get admission at Bryn Mawr, especially because it gave her the opportunity to extend her 12 years of single-sex education into 16. According to Flowers, "...it's far too distracting to have a member of the opposite sex sitting in class beside you." She went on, describing her female college mates: "At Bryn Mawr, the women I encountered were brilliant, independent and focused. Not all of them arrived that way, as this writer can confirm, but all of them exited confident of success in whichever fields they chose to enter." Studying at a separate-gender educational institution encouraged Christine Flowers to concentrate on her studies as she points out: "I immersed myself in French and Italian, history and philosophy, fencing and swimming. I never once worried about whether I was going to have a date on Friday night (I never once did), nor did I hesitate to contribute a comment in class because I felt intimidated by the attractive young man to my left...Bryn Mawr [college] helped me to understand that excellence has no gender preference." Flowers further clarifies that females are not the only ones who benefit from single-sex education. Educating the two genders in separate classes is beneficial for boys as well, and Christine Flowers' experience as a school teacher stands testimony to this fact as she writes: "I used to teach at a boys' school in suburban Philadelphia, and while I'm certain that my teenage scholars weren't completely unaware of female charms, they did seem to focus admirably on their schoolwork between the hours of 8 and 3...The ability to spend a few hours concentrating on developing their minds and not their social skills should take precedence over some misguided urge to integrate."

Summary and Conclusion
Evidence based on scientific research and empirical studies has been briefly presented and discussed in this article to support the claim that single-sex educational systems are best suited to the human fitrah and the function of education in the human life. The article also pointed out the negative effects of coeducation and the fact that it is an unnatural and artificial social construct with more harms than advantages. Boys and girls need separate training to suit their different rates of physical, intellectual and emotional growth. Research has shown that this gender gap in education extends from primary school to undergraduate levels at university. However, it becomes much more intense when boys and girls reach their adolescent age and then it continues in the higher classes. Single-sex schools provide better environments for young people where they remain free from the pull of the opposite sex. This difference in the psychological make-up results in a huge difference in the way the two sexes learn in a class and in the way members of the two genders influence the learning of one another while present in the same classroom. It must be noted that Islam cares much for the preservation of morals and the maintenance of modesty and chastity in the Muslim society. To achieve this goal, Islam requires the highest degree of cautiousness when dealing with the members of the opposite sex. A Muslim is always asked to distance himself from anything that stirs his sexual urge. Islam forbids free intermingling of sexes in the society. Islam has the basic requirement of young men and women maintaining the purity of their sexual lives from the very beginning. Muslim adolescents are specifically asked to maintain a safe distance from the opposite sex for their own benefit. Islam is a religion that is in complete accordance with human nature. Islam emphasizes the upbringing of children in an environment that would preserve their ‘fitrah' (inherent Islamic nature) state. If children or youth attend mixed-gender classes in education, there are good chances they will be exposed to acts that may tarnish their whole worldview of sexual morality. They may even lose the ability to distinguish between modesty and indecency, morality and immorality, chastity and promiscuity.

The Islamic approach to dealing with vice and corruption in the society is, as we stated above, to nip the evil in the bud.

This can be better understood by learning about the well known principle of Islamic law called: sadd baab ath-Tharai' (i.e., blocking or narrowing means/ways that lead to commission of sins). According to this principle, if an act or event is capable of leading you to sin, you should avoid it even if it were not a sin in itself. It is due to this principle that Islam always discourages free-mixing of the sexes, which includes coeducation as well. Imam Ibnul Qayyim writes in his I'lamul Muwaqieen (vol. 2) about this Islamic principle thus: "The Islamic principle known as sadd baab ath-tharai', means that some of the permissible acts (mubahat) are sometimes forbidden lest they serve as back doors for commission of prohibited acts. For instance, exchanging gifts among Muslims is a recommended Sunnah act, but it is forbidden to present gifts to a government official for fear that it might lead to bribery and corruption. Also, to ogle the face of a woman (who is not one's mahram) is prohibited because such intense staring is capable of sowing the germs of fornication in the heart."

In coeducation environments, students have more opportunity and temptations to go astray. They cannot maintain the right etiquette of intermingling as prescribed by the Islamic Shari'ah, at all times during school hours. Also, students in coeducation schools might become more consumed by how they appear or present themselves to the opposite sex than by their studies. Perhaps this is what many sociologists refer to on the subject of friendship between man and woman: that it is difficult to have pure friendship between the two, because the more friendship deepens, the more the instincts find their way to physical expression between the man and the woman.

Educational systems should not overlook the fundamental differences, in nature and role, between men and women. Ignorance of these differences has led the advocates of Feminism to believe that both sexes should have the same responsibilities, and hence the same type of education. Nothing can be more absurd. A man may learn cooking but he cannot bear a child. Similarly, a woman may handle a machine-gun but she cannot replace the role of men in real combat situations. God has meant for human beings, males and females, to be effective and creative soul nurturers and nation builders each in his/her own capacity and in ways that are most effective and best fitting to his/her innate nature.

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14. Sydney Morning Herald (July 6, 2003). Quoted in: (http://www.singlesexschools.org)
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17. Ibid.
18. Ibid.
19. Ibid.
20. Zacharias,Yvonne (Oct. 14, 1999). Let's separate boys, girls in classes: report. The Montreal Gazette. (www.montrealgazette.com/news)