|
submit
articles |
| A Muslim Woman's Reflections
on Gender Omaima Abou-Bakr How valid or appropriate is it for Muslims
-women and men- to adopt a so-called gender-sensitive perspective or
approach to the study of religious, cultural, and historical texts? Or, we
can reverse the question: Can we study gender issues from a Muslim woman's
perspective? In attempting to answer such a question, we
can refer to three incidents related in the authenticated Traditions, two
of them are in the context of the "occasions for revelation" of
two particular Qur'anic verses. (a) It was related that Um Salama, a wife
of the Prophet (PBUH), was in her room with her maid combing her hair,
when she heard the Prophet calling for a community gathering for an
announcement in the mosque: "O people!" Her maid says, "You
don't have to go; he is calling for the men, not the women." Um
Salama replies: "Indeed, I am one of the people." (b) Um Salama went to the Prophet and
wondered: why are the men being praised for their sacrifices in the hijra
and not the women? Hence, the revelation of verse 195 of chapter 3:
"And God has heard them and responded: verily, I suffer not the work
of any worker of you, male or female, to be lost, you are one of
another… ." (c) Narrated is the incident of a group of
women complaining to the Prophet that the Qur'an only mentions the wives
of the Prophet and not women in general: "Men are mentioned in
everything and we are not; is there any goodness in us to be mentioned and
commended?" Hence, verse 35 of chapter 33: "Verily, Muslims, men
& women, believers, men & women, obedient men & women,
truthful men & women, patient men & women, humble men & women,
charitable men & women, fasting men & women, chaste men &
women, those who mention and remember God - men & women--, for all
those God has prepared forgiveness and a great reward." What is the significance of these
narratives? (a) They demonstrate the concern on the
part of the women for being included in the public affairs of the
community or the Divine address itself, and to be a visible part of Muslim
life-its public aspect as well as its religious aspect. (b) They reflect concern for the
recognition and acknowledgement of what women do and participate in, so as
not to be excluded, ignored, or marginalized. (c) Such narratives also show observing the
necessity of a certain balance between the two groups of the community; in
other words, a gendered view that is also holistic and seeking equity.
This view, or the expression of this view, underscores a woman's
perspective, initiative, and agency in questioning and debating. (d) A final important point here is that
God (Almighty) "responded" (the Qur'anic word) to the
questioning by a revelation that inscribes and hence validates women's
right to voice concerns and questions. If God Himself and the Prophet
(PBUH) gave ear to Muslim women's queries then why not reproduce the same
situation if there is need for it at another point of our history or in a
particular Muslim community, depending on the issues needed to be
addressed? Is there a need? What is it or what kind of
need? Women's legal and religious rights in Islam are well-known to us all
and are unquestionable. They just need to be more defined in terms of
actuality. The divergences between theoretical
statements about the rights and status of women in Islam and the actual
implementation or application of these rights within present-day state
policies, in the legal arena, through facilitating opportunities for
education or work, etc.-are to be addressed. Muslim societies are called upon to take
seriously the issue of the humane and equal treatment of women-respect for
their common human-ness-a theme that is reiterated throughout the Qur'an
but is never allowed by interpreters and religious scholars to be a
governing principle in constructing gender relations. Whereas we want to bridge the gap between
theory and practice in this area, we can never emphasize too much the
difference between the basic equitable religious principles of the Qur'an
and the authenticated Sunnah -acting as referential framework- and culture
or cultural trappings. These constitute the inherited cultural
concepts and notions about gender distinctions and women, practices that
have developed historically as a result of a very complicated process of
acculturation, or sometimes pre-Islamic ideas that heavily influenced
religious thought and were thus incorporated and canonized. Eventually
these notions have become part of the popular understanding and practice
of religion. This is where the hard part lies: working up the care and
patience to sift through all of this entanglement and specifically tracing
the cultural history of Muslim societies. One approach would be to examine the
historicity and development-or devolution-of some of these cultural
constructions that proved unfair to women, promoted illogical assumptions
about gender differences, and were (in my opinion) so oblivious of the
higher Qur'anic paradigm of moral, ethical, and religious egalitarianism,
as well as the sheer compassion and humanity of the Prophet himself in his
treatment to the women around him. Examples: The interpretation of the concept
of ma'ruf (in verse 228, ch. 2) changes between earlier and latter
exegetes, with negative implications for gender-role division. Whereas
Tabari (10th century exegete) treats it as the balancing of rights and
duties among men and women through kindness and goodness, Zamakhshari
(12th century) and much later Muhammad Abdu (20th century) define it as
adhering to people's established customs concerning gender roles and
duties. This, in turn, leads to discussions among
interpreters-especially the more modern-of domestic chores and managing
households as being also inscribed in the verse, thus God-ordained. Abdu at one point contests the very early
commentaries that a wife has no specific domestic responsibilities-since
no Qur'anic text enjoins it-and insists that this would be relieving women
of their necessary and established duties as wives. Al-Qurtubi (end of
13th century) in his commentary states that men are preferred over women
in their ability to "enjoin what is righteous and admonish what is
unlawful," in complete contradiction to another verse that clearly
and directly states that believers, men and women, are supporters of each
other in "enjoining that which is righteous and admonishing that
which is unlawful" (Chapter of al-Tawba, verse 71). Apprehensions or reservations of Muslims
concerning such discourses as feminist consciousness, gender issues, and
patriarchy can be answered by emphasizing that we can develop our own
agenda. I don't have to subscribe to any
foreign/Western agenda or discourse on feminism and gender. Some of these
specific issues are simply irrelevant (e.g. homosexual rights, the charge
that western feminism is anti-family and an expression of excessive
individualism, the problem of secularism, etc.). These have become the
characteristic criticisms of women generally working on women's or gender
issues in Muslim societies. However, one can define one's own context and
paradigms for a gender-sensitive perspective. We should also not forget that feminism or
feminist scholarship now is not one entity any more. A variety of
approaches have developed along the years, ranging from radical feminism,
to socialist/Marxist feminism, to modernist feminists, to religious &
evangelical feminism, to essentialist womanism (stressing female culture
and intrinsic differences), to more egalitarian feminists, and then to the
French school of ecriture feminine, etc. There is also the gender perspective that
analyses power relations and their cultural application, seeking not so
much to empower women (over and above men) as much as to redress balance
and fairness, to include women's perspective for holistic purposes, to
problematize issues of unequal distribution of power, and finally to
promote women's agency and negotiating stance in our culture and history. Hence, my position would be not so much
seeking sameness, but a balanced, fair, and egalitarian kind of
difference. Personally, I try to do this from within an indigenous and
Islamic frame of reference. Already within the last 10 to 15 years there
has been a growing trend among women researchers and scholars (I'm
interested particularly in those who are Muslim or adopt a Muslim
standpoint) to study-coming from various disciplines-such issues. They are discussing and analyzing
discourses and methodologies from within our indigenous tradition, which
can be employed or developed to articulate gender awareness, as well as to
apply the intelligent use of Islamic principles and fields of meaning for
the acquisition of rights or for revisioning discourses that encourage
subordinate gender consciousness. Examples of issues being debated that might
have positive implications for Muslim women are: a return to a more direct
examination of the Qur'anic text and message; exaggerated gender
distinctions should be superseded by the Qur'anic egalitarian world-view
and repeated emphasis on ethico-moral religious equality (i.e. regarding
distinctions are strictly legal and functional and not inherent); the
higher paradigm of egalitarian values should be made to prevail, thus
focusing on the general 'just' intent and purpose of the Divine message;
consideration of inner-Qur'anic references to view the overall picture of
certain themes and issues; considering seriously the Qur'anic view on
women's integration to the public sphere and the evolving problematic of
the private-public dichotomy (i.e. how much of it is actually Qur'anic and
how much is cultural and historical); studies on the formation of the
legal tradition of Islam (fiqh) incorporating non-Qur'anic cultural
pre-suppositions (derived from the wider region of the pre-Islamic middle
east). . .etc. We are not seeking a woman-centered
hermeneutic or a repudiation of a 14 century- long tradition, rather a
rectifying of historical biases and imbalances. In short, we create our
own discourse. Pitfalls to avoid: (a) In trying to be reformist or critical,
one has to avoid the Orientalist tone and standpoint that historically
represented Muslim woman as across the board the eternally downtrodden
oppressed female, her inferior position taken as a symbol for an inferior
culture and religion. (b) One has also to be wary of the
secularist or modernist position (sometimes pro-Western) that seeks either
to completely exclude religious/cultural specificity from the picture when
discussing improving women's lives, or redefines (unconsciously) the
Orientalist view that Muslim woman stands for/symbol of success or failure
of our progress and march towards the western model of modernity. (c) At the same time, we do not want to be
naive in denying that there have been specific problems concerning women's
life conditions, or that they haven't been treated fairly or provided with
equal opportunities for education and work, etc. We do not want to be
defensive and apologetic so that we end up defending passionately the
wrong side of the culture or wrong perception and application of religion,
as indeed a cherished part of the religion and religious tradition proper. (d) If as Muslim women we are aware of all
these dimensions and can intelligently maneuver our way out of this maze
of discourses, then we should be all right. Personally, when I started getting
interested in learning and researching these areas, I thought that there
are going to be in the field dozens of researchers any way, (whether
Muslims or not, neo-Orientalists or not, secularists or not, theologians
gender-sensitive or not, etc.), representing me, speaking on my behalf,
interpreting and 'writing' me. It is my responsibility as a Muslim,
Egyptian Arab woman to acquire the necessary knowledge, and if gender is
going to be an issue, let us study it our way and for our own benefit and
betterment. As I said, the list of names in this area is increasing in the Arab region or Muslim countries or Muslims in the US, who are studying cultural and religious roots to validate present-day concerns. Granted there are divergences and convergence among them, but a certain commonality remains, women's views and place in religion and culture is important. Source: Islam21 |