Ridicule by Proxy

Perak Mufti Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria has  “won” the ‘insulting intelligence’ award at the “Aiyoh…wat lah?!” awards.

According to the Malay Mail report, this was for saying that “women must follow their husband’s request for sexual intercourse even when they were riding ‘on the back of the camel’.”

The problem is it wasn’t the Mufti who first said this. He was merely quoting a hadith by the Prophet Muhammad. There are several versions of this hadith reported by multiple sources, so it cannot be considered weak. One version of it is in Sunan Ibn Majah, which goes:

1853 It was narrated that ‘Abdullah bin Abu Awfa said: “When Mu’adh bin Jabal came from Sham, he prostrated to the Prophet (saw), who said: ‘What is this, O Mu’adh?’ He said: ‘I went to Sham and saw them prostrating to their bishops and patricians (i.e. aristocrats), and I wanted to do that for you.’ The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: ‘Do not do that. If I were to command anyone to prostrate to anyone other than Allah, I would have commanded women to prostrate to their husbands. By the One in Whose Hand is the soul of Muhammad! No woman can fulfill her duty towards Allah until she fulfills her duty towards her husband. If he asks her (for intimacy) even if she is on her camel saddle, she should not refuse.'”

So, the question is: if you ridicule someone for quoting what someone else said, who are you really ridiculing?