http://www.newint.org/issue345/legacy.htm
New Internationalist May 2002
Amina
Wadud
looks at the struggle for women’s rights within Islam.
I converted to Islam during the second wave feminist movement in
the 1970s. I saw everything through a prism of religious euphoria
and idealism. Within the Islamic system of thought I have
struggled to transform idealism into pragmatic reforms as a
scholar and activist. And my main source of inspiration has been
Islam’s own primary source – the Qur’an.
It is clear
to me that the Qur’an aimed to erase all notions of women as
subhuman. There are more passages that address issues relating to
women – as individuals, in the family, as members of the community
– than all other social issues combined.
Let’s start
with the Qur’anic story of human origins. ‘Man’ is not made in the
image of God. Neither is a flawed female helpmate extracted from
him as an afterthought or utility. Dualism is the primordial
design for all creation: ‘From all (created) things are pairs’ (Q
51:49).
Therefore,
when the proto-human soul, self or person (nafs) is brought
into existence, its mate (zawj) is already a part of the
plan. The two dwell in a state of bliss: the Garden of Eden. They
are warned against Satan’s temptation but they forget and eat from
the tree. When the Qur’an recounts the event in the Garden, it
uses the unique dual form in Arabic grammar showing that both were
guilty. The female is never singled out and chastised for being a
temptress.
Ultimately,
the two seek forgiveness and it is granted. They begin life on
earth untainted by a ‘fall’ from grace and with no trace of
original sin. On the contrary, in Islam the creation story for
humans on earth begins with forgiveness and mercy as well as a
most important promise or covenant from God. He/She/It will
provide guidance through revelation. Adam is the first prophet.
Furthermore,
the Qur’an is emphatic that since Allah is not created then
He/She/It cannot be subject to or limited by created
characteristics, like gender. That Arabic grammar carries gender
markers has led even the best Arab grammarians erroneously to
attribute gender to the thing referred to. Modern feminist studies
have analyzed this gender bias in language.
Islam
brought radical changes regarding women and society, despite the
deeply entrenched patriarchy of seventh-century Arabia. The Qur’an
provides women with explicit rights to inheritance, independent
property, divorce and the right to testify in a court of law. It
prohibits wanton violence towards women and girls and is against
duress in marriage and community affairs. Women and men equally
are required to fulfill all religious duties, and are equally
eligible for punishment for misdemeanors. Finally, women are
offered the ultimate boon: paradise and proximity to Allah:
‘Whoever does an atom’s weight of good, whether male or female,
and is a believer, all such shall enter into Paradise’ (Q 40:40).
In the
period immediately following the death of the Prophet, women were
active participants at all levels of community affairs –
religious, political, social, educational, intellectual. They
played key roles in preserving traditions, disseminating knowledge
and challenging authority when it went against their understanding
of the Qur’an or the prophetic legacy.
The
Prophet’s favorite wife A’ishah, from whom the prophet said we
should learn ‘half our religion’, was sought after as an advisor
to the early jurists. In the famous ‘Battle of the Camel’ she was
an army general. The prophet even received revelation while
resting his head on her lap. Unfortunately, this period passed
before it could establish a pattern sustainable as historical
precedent. And the name of A’ishahs cannot erase what was to
happen to the status of women in the following thousand years.
During the
Abbasid period, when Islam’s foundations were developed, leading
scholars and thinkers were exclusively male. They had no
experience with revelation first hand, had not known the Prophet
directly and were sometimes influenced by intellectual and moral
cultures antithetical to Islam.
In
particular, they moved away from the Qur’an’s ethical codes for
female autonomy to advocate instead women’s subservience, silence
and seclusion. If women’s agency was taken into consideration it
was with regard to service to men, family and community. Women
came to be discussed in law in the same terms as material objects
and possessions. (This is today reflected in Pakistan’s rape laws
which treat the offense as one of theft of male private property
with no consideration for the woman’s rights).
Not until
the post-colonial 20th century would Muslim women re-emerge as
active participants in all areas of Islamic public, political,
economic, intellectual, social, cultural and spiritual affairs.
Today Muslim
women are striving for greater inclusiveness in many diverse ways,
not all of them in agreement with each other. At the Beijing
Global Women’s Conference in 1995, nightly attempts to form a
Muslim women’s caucus at the NGO forum became screaming sessions.
The many different strategies and perspectives just could not be
brought to a consensus. On the Left were many secular feminists
and activists who, while Muslim themselves, defined Islam on a
cultural basis only. Their politics was informed by
post-colonialist and Marxist agendas of nationalism. Concrete
issues of women’s full equality: standards of education, career
opportunities, political participation and representation were
understood in Western terms. The cultural imposition of veiling
was to them a symbol of women’s backwardness; for them full entry
in the public domain and other indicators of liberation were
reflected in Western styles of dress.
On the far
Right, Muslim male authorities and their female representatives,
known as Islamists, spearheaded a reactionary, neo-conservative
approach. They identified an ideal Islam as the one lived by the
Prophet’s companions and followers at Madinah. All that was
required today was to lift that ideal out of the pages of history
and graft it on to modernity adopting a complete shari’ah
state, unexamined and unquestioned and opposed to modern
complexity. Then life would be perfect. There were no inequities
towards women because the law was divine and the matter of
patriarchal interpretation was irrelevant. Female Islamists
representing this viewpoint handed out booklets (written by men)
with titles such as ‘The Wisdom behind Islam’s Position on Women’.
Although the arguments were not intellectually rigorous or
critically substantial they held a substantial sway. Ironically,
these arguments would also form part of the rhetoric used by
secular feminists to discredit human-rights and social-justice
advocates who were in the middle ground, who insisted on fighting
from within an Islamic perspective, or who happen to wear hijab.
As the term
‘Islamic feminism’ gained currency in the 1990s through scholars
and activists, it would clarify the perspective of a large number
of women somewhere between Islamists and secular feminists. While
they would not give up their allegiance to Islam as an essential
part of self-determination and identity they did critique
patriarchal control over the basic Islamic world-view. Islamic
feminism did not define these women, and many still reject the
term. However, the term helped others to understand the
distinction between them and the two dominant approaches for
Muslim women’s rights.
Today more
women are active in the discussion and reformation of identity
than at any other time in human history. By going back to primary
sources and interpreting them afresh, women scholars are
endeavoring to remove the fetters imposed by centuries of
patriarchal interpretation and practice. By questioning underlying
presumptions and conclusions they are creating a space in which to
think about gender. Drawing upon enduring principles of human
rights, enshrined in the text, they extract meanings that can
interact with the changing moral and intellectual circumstances of
the reader. And women scholars and activists are also busy
constructing a system of legal reforms that can be implemented
today for the full status of women as moral agents at all levels
of human society.
This moral
agency is a mandate of the Qur’an and cannot be restricted by any
amount of historical precedent, social custom or patriarchal
aspiration. The long-term success of this project lies in the fact
that it is all happening within Islam. And the rationale for
change comes from the most trustworthy and reliable source of
Islam itself – the Qur’an.
Amina Wadud
is an Islamic Studies Professor in the Department of Philosophy
and Religious Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University.
KEY
MOMENTS
of Islamic civilization
continued...
700-750
Islam extends into India. Muslims enter Spain and reach the
borders of France. The advance of Muslims is halted at the Battle
of Tours on the Loire river in France in 732. The battle becomes a
seminal event in shaping European stereotypes of Muslims.
In Baghdad
the Abbasid dynasty is established.
The paper
industry emerges and Iraqi jurist Al-Shaybani publishes his famous
work, The Concise Book of International Law.
751-800
A sophisticated book trade evolves, backed by a thriving
publications industry.
The great
compilers of hadith – al-Bukhari, Abu Dawood, al-Tirmidhi,
ibn Maja and al-Nasai – publish their works and ‘authenticate’ the
sayings of the Prophet. Ibn Ishaq publishes the first biography of
the Prophet Mohammad. Islamic Jurisprudence (fiqh) is
codified and six ‘Schools of Thought’ emerge as the orthodoxy. A
massive project to translate works of Greek thought and learning
into Arabic begins. The Rationalist school of philosophy (the
Mutazila) emerges. The Spanish Umayyad dynasty is established
in Cordoba and the Arabian Nights stories make a first
appearance. Abu Hanifa al-Dinawari publishes The Book of Plants.
800-850
Al-Kindi becomes the first Muslim philosopher, Jabir ibn Hayan
establishes chemistry as an experimental science. Al-Khwarizmi
invents Algebra. Ibn Qutayba, an ‘Inspector of injustices’ in
Basra, publishes his seminal The Book of Etiquette. Translation of
the works of Greece, Babylonia, Syria, Persia, India and Egypt
reaches its peak. Muslims conquer Sicily.
This site is still under
construction. Please visit again for more updates.