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| Women & The Interpretation
of Islamic Sources Heba Raouf Ezzat Can a feminist reinterpretation of Islamic
sources be set in the context of Islamic theology? In other words: Can
there be a feminist interpretation of Quran and Sunna? Was there one in
the past, and if not…can we initiate one in the future? These questions have appeared on the agenda of women’s debates in the Muslim world in the past two decades…stressing the “feminist” as different…currently absent and …urgently needed. Introductory issues 1- Women’s contribution to Islamic
sciences dates back to early Islam, and has not ceased through the
centuries, with interruptions here and there in history due to different
reasons in each case. This history of women’s involvement in ‘Ilm and
Fiqh was recorded by male scholars themselves in books of history of
Islamic sciences. The issue is not initiated by contemporary Western
feminism but has its roots in our culture. This is important to clarify
that the liberating potential of Islam is inherent in Islam itself and its
history and is not a result of forces outside the culture and civilisation
of Islam or a result of the contact with the West in the colonial era. The
issue is not necessarily “feminist” and other terminology can –and
sometimes should- be used instead of the confusion and the enforcement of
the concept “feminist” on the Islamic concepts and their semantic
field as a key concept. 2- The text dealt with in Christianity (the
Bible) differs substantially from the Book (Quran) in Islam regarding the
status of the text, its origin, its legacy, and its position in the
religion. While Jesus is the logos of the Christian faith, Muhammad is not
the logos in Islam, but the revelation…the Book…the Quran. This gives
the text - as well the Sunnah that put it into action - a centrality in
the process of jurisprudence and legislation that is quite unique. This
raises the question whether one can talk about an international
cross-cultural and cross religious, unified or common agenda for women in
this matter. 3- While in the back of mind of the Western
discourse of the matter is only related to the text, in Islam the
interpretation can not be completed without the a complex interaction with
the Sunnah, a thorough understanding and critical reading of the fiqh, and
a continuous process of Ijtihad and Tajdid to place the divine and
absolute within the relative and present. The knowledge of related Islamic
disciplines and methodologies is a must, along with a profound updated
knowledge of the social and political contexts. Not only average Muslims
are required to study carefully the Islamic sciences, but Islamic scholars
are also required to know the realities of life - a strict condition of
Fatwa and Ijtihad that is known to everyone. 4- Contemporary Muslim women have been
involved in studying and teaching the Islamic sources, and Islamic
Universities have distinguished women scholars…the most prominent Bint
Al-Shati -the professor of Tafsir in Egypt and Morocco who died recently,
as well as many female professors at Al-Azhar and in all Islamic
Universities. It has been neglected in recent writings that started giving
attention to the role of women within the Islamic movements in
transmitting and studying the Islamic sources that they, too, contributed
to the knowledge and Ijtihad. Ann Sophie Roald (In K.Ask & M.Tjomsland
1998 ) for example studied Bint Al-Shati, yet forgot Zainab A-Ghazali -
the leading Egyptian Muslim activist of the Muslim Brotherhood - who
published an interpretation of the Quran 1994. Though published by the
famous Dar Al Shorouk publishers, and forwarded with praise by a (male)
professor of Tafsir at Al-Azhar University, Karam did not even refer to
that volume when studying Ghazali’s “feminist” ideas. (A.Karam,
1998) Women’s reading and interpretation of the Islamic sources is then
an ongoing process in the Islamic as well as Islamist circles. 5- Taking the awareness about women’s
problems and the unjust treatment of women in Islamic societies with
different Islamic pretexts as the criteria according to which one
classifies writings as “feminist” or not (sometimes regardless of the
sex/gender of the author], one can find indeed that male scholars have
been more outspoken and “revolutionary” than women scholars. Hence
insisting on “feminist” as description for the reading or
interpretation, places feminism as a frame of reference and a basically
secular paradigm to be the point of reference. Within the Islamic circle
adjectives such as: “fair” , “just", “methodologically
correct” and “nearer to the general aims of Islam (Maqasid)” are
more accurate. Methodological reflections Established Islamic methodology to approach
the Islamic sources has been challenged lately by secularist writings,
either generally as a whole, or focusing mainly on the issue of women. In
this respect Fatima Mernissi (Morocco) can be considered to be the most
sophisticated one. Her work discusses –among other things- the
compatibility of some narrators of the Hadith and their hostile position
towards women that affected their integrity and credibility,
deconstructing by that some crucial Hadith on women that were narrated in
Al-Bukhari and accepted as authentic Hadith. (Merrnissi,1996) . Her work was attacked by many Islamic
scholars, not because of its feminist nature but because it challenges the
established, widely accepted, methodology. Others such as Nawal Saadawi
(Egypt) or Farida Banani (Morocco) are more general in their arguments.
These writings state that Ijtihad is needed to initiate new ideas and
perspective that are more compatible with the modern notions of human
rights, while at the same time accepting and advocating intellectually
Western notions and concepts on “gender” and “patriarchy” without
much revision or criticism. A researcher with a secular paradigm when
dealing with the Islamic sources rejects established Islamic sciences’
methodology and usually bases his/her analysis on approaches that deal
with “texts” regardless of the origin of these texts - revealed or
human. Any contribution will always be classified as a secular critique to
the transcendental and will hence be rejected and refuted by the
mainstream Islamic schools of thought and jurisprudence - even if
insightful and worth discussing. The political situation and polarization is
dominant in a lot of discussion spaces. The arguments of secularisits are
not read and understood by Islamic scholars, while any effort or new
Ijtihad on the Islamic side is usually accused of being for propagandist,
not serious, for political purposes and temporary. Especially in the
issues of women the political is very much linked with the methodology,
the selection of topics and the way these are addressed from both sides
according to the hot issues on the political agenda. The lack of a real
intellectual environment for dialogue blocks change on the grass root
level for the best of the majority of women. A second point is that attempts to bridge
the gap between social sciences and Islamic sciences have been going on in
many academic circles in the Muslim world. Disciplines like economy were
given more attention than other disciplines such as political science and
sociology. It is very important to realize that any
reform in women’s issues by combining a contemporary reading of the
sources with knowledge of social sciences requires Ijtihad on both sides.
Till now only attempts to reform the reading of the text have been in
process, while the Ijtihad on the social sciences level has been almost
non-existent. A simple example for that is the attempt to seek new fatwas
allowing women to participate in politics by voting as well as become
political representatives. Little has been done to introduce a new
political theory that would revise the centrality of the state major
actor, or revise the whole issue of political representation and its
problems. Democracy, as people have to be constantly
reminded, can take many forms, not necessarily representative democracy,
and not necessarily in a party system. Authoritarianism or totalitarianism
are not the only option to the former statement, but a variety of forms
for political governance that are definitely NOT the simple
non-sophisticated talk about an “Islamic State” that is always more of
a State than it is …Islamic. The Ijtihad has to be on all tracks,
otherwise one will end up defending just and equal women participation in
a political system that is not just nor fair or equal itself
–structurally speaking . Discussing the issue of women and politics
one finds different approaches. Following you will find two different
ones. The first is called here the selective anti-Sunna method as it is
based on the selection of the source (reference), denying and refusing the
whole of Sunna and Hadith. It is short and brief as it saves itself the
path of Ijtihad and argumentation. The selective anti-Sunnah Method “Can a woman take the leadership role? Is
it prohibited? The answer will be different if you look at the Quran, or
if you look at the Hadiths, that most of them were written about 200 years
after the Prophet's death. When God tells us a story in he Quran, He does
not do so just for entertaining us, but to teach us a lesson. "We narrate to you the most accurate history through the revelation of this Quran. Before this, you were totally unaware." 12:3. "In their history, there is a lesson
for those who possess intelligence......" 12:111. The role of an important woman in the
history of the old world, as much as Muslims are concerned, is shown in
the story of Belquees, the Queen of Sheba. See 27:22-44. God mentioned her
history in the Quran to let us know that a woman in a ruling position is
not offensive as far as God is concerned. She represented a democratic
ruler who consulted with her people before making important decisions, See
27:29. She visited Solomon, talked to him, made decisions for herself and
her people, not hiding behind walls, or shying behind another man. After
witnessing what God gave Solomon, she became a submitter (Muslim), while
still the Queen of Sheba. "She was told, "Go inside the
palace." When she saw its interior, she thought it was a pool of
water, and she (pulled up her dress) exposing her legs. He said,
"This interior is now paved with crystal." She said, 'My Lord, I
have wronged my soul. I now submit with Solomon to God, Lord of the
universe". Here we witness one of the first Muslim
women in charge of a nation, ruling them as a queen of Sheba. Can we learn
a lesson from the Quran? We should. The lesson is that, God in the Quran
never put restrictions on a woman in a ruling position. Contrary to what
the traditional Muslim scholars and Hadiths teach, a woman in a leading
political position is not against God's system or against the Quran. It
might be against the chauvinistic views of the men who wrote the corrupted
history of Hadiths. What did the books of man, the Hadith
books, teach about women in leadership positions? Completely the opposite,
and then they claim that Hadiths do not contradict the Quran. Of course
the reason is that, the Prophet Muhammed would have never contradicted the
Quran, but those who invented these stories about him did. In one of the most famous Hadiths that is
often raised in the face of any Muslim woman seeking higher education or
higher position in her career is one by a man called Abu Bakra who
narrated a Hadith reported in Bukhary that states that any community ruled
by a woman will never succeed. The fallacy of this Hadith is not only
proven in history but in the fact that Abu Bakra himself was reported in
the Muslim history books to be punished publicly for bearing false
witness. Despite this known story of his bearing false witness, Bukhary
did not remove his Hadith from among his collected Hadiths according to
the rules that Bukhary himself claimed to follow. Such a bearer of false
witness should never be allowed or accepted as a witness ever, according
to the Quran (24:4). The tajdid method Access to political positions is dealt with
in the dominant feminist discourse as a gain that women should target for
power and influence. “Power” is also the reason why Islamists deny
them that right so they would have no authority over the supposedly wiser
males. It is usually forgotten that political positions are not gains to
be sought but rather responsibilities to be carried. They necessitate
specific competence, which, according to Ibn Taymiyya, is based on two
factors: strength and integrity. Strength is dependent on the nature of
the jurisdiction. Strength in judgments is based on the knowledge about
the Qur’an and the Hadith and the ability to implement them. Personal
integrity all depends on the fear of God. It is also neglected that whoever takes
that power is obliged to abide by the laws of the Shari’a - be that
person a man or a woman. Their decisions concerning the public law and the
codes of ethics should be issued through the mechanisms of Shura. They are
obeyed in as far as they do; otherwise, there is no obedience to those who
disobey God and “Obedience is conditioned by the virtues” and “If
the ruler judges unfairly or in contradiction to the established rules,
his judgment is rejected.” Reading literature on the topic reveals that
the disagreement arises in Fiqh from the different readings and
interpretation of the Islamic sources that we can discuss as following: Scholars disagree on the possible meaning
of the verse, which goes, “Men are in charge (qawwamun) of women,
because of what God has graced some of them over the others and because
they spend of their property (for the support of women).” (IV:34). Some
interpretations argue that being “in charge” is exclusive for men
since they possess superior attributes over women with respect to the
management of affairs, the physical and psychological strengths, etc. To
them, this makes it unfeasible that a woman takes over any public
jurisdiction that can make her “in charge” or even let her share such
responsibility. In their view, the text states explicitly that
responsibility is given to men. It is also argued that even if the
responsibility stated in the above-mentioned verse is meant to be in the
specific family context, the argument is still valid, since a woman is
necessarily then incompetent in managing wider public affairs. Other scholars maintain that the
relationship between men and women in general is based on equality and
that the Qur’an here only refers to the family in a regulative manner
not to the human nature or the competence of women in general. This does
not indicate that women are less competent, but rather suggests the more
appropriate party who can be replaced by the other if necessary in cases
of the absence of the father due to any reason. Views are at variance concerning the
Prophet’s Hadith narrated by al-Bukhari in the authority of Abu Bakra
who said, “When the Prophet was informed that in Persia, the daughter of
the King (Kisra) succeeded to the throne, he said, ‘No success is
destined for a folk whose ruler is a woman’.” Some literature debate
that this includes all women in all public jurisdiction. The statement is
separated from its context and taken as a divine rule. Other opinions see
that, in general, this is exclusive to the caliphate -the highest position
in an Islamic political system. Some contemporary scholars deny the
authenticity of the hadith altogether, describing it as “fake”,
maintaining that it is at best a “Hadith Ahad” - a Hadith narrated by
a sole narrator-, a case which excludes it as a source of Sharia’ in
serious matters of legislation and constitution. The first party have done
no attempt to interpret the above-mentioned Hadith in the light of the
other relevant Qur’anic verses (the simple next step in interpretation
that is usually forgotten here!), or the other Prophetic tradition on the
issue. The second group basically adhered to the same approach except that
they made it specific and have not associated it with competence but with
certain positions. The following remarks can be given about
the Hadith discussed: It has to be interpreted in the light of
the other Hadiths on Persia and King Kisra. It was reported in the context
of a narration reported by Ibn Hajar al-’Asqalani quoted in Sahih al-Bukhari.
It was reported that Kisra tore off the message sent to him by the Prophet
and that the Prophet accursed him. Then the Kisra’s son first killed him
and then his brothers and the killer was ultimately poisoned himself.
Therefore, Quran prohibited. Otherwise, how can women manage to perform
their religious obligations without necessarily mixing with men? Alleged
resulting “Fitna” cannot thus be taken as an argument since the
legitimate rulings are established on the Qur’an and the Sunna. To sum up, public jurists and political position require special competence in both men and women. They remain at the end the full occupation of a minority of people and among them some women are definitely eligible. Arguments to the established rules of interpretation. It is my conclusion that only few women can practically manage both the responsibilities of family and jurisdiction at a time. If they have the capability or can gain it they have full choice –even a responsibility- to participate on these political levels in a Muslim society. Source: Islam21 |