SHARED WISDOM

four hundred dirhams and that anything in excess of this amount would be confiscated and deposited in the public treasury. After the proclamation of this ordinance, when Umar came down from the pulpit, an old woman stood up and confidently said: “The Quran has set no restrictions on this matter. Therefore, Umar has no right to set an upper limit to the dowers.” To back up her contention, she loudly recited a verse of the Quran: “If you desire to replace one wife with another, do not take any part of her dower back: even if you have given her a treasure.” (4:20) At this, Umar responded: “May God forgive me, everyone knows better than Umar (Sunan Sa’id bin Mansur, 598), everyone knows better than you, even ladies.” (Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya - I’laam ul Muwaqqi’een, Vol. 2, p. 193) These incidents from early Islamic history show the importance Islam attaches to freedom of expression and healthy criticism. POSITIVE STATUS QUOISM A great benefit of positive status quoism is that by adopting this policy, one can instantly avail of opportunities for carrying out one’s projects. One can then utilize one’s energies fully in one’s mission without wasting even an iota of effort. A very important principle from Islamic teachings is positive status quoism, accepting the prevailing situation. Using this principle, one can maintain unilateral ethics at all times.