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Islamic Feminist The defenders on Islamic traditions say that they provide women with a much higher level of care and protection than non-Muslim societies do. However, a philosopher and religious leader Muhtidar Khan has invented the term epistemological hijab, asserting that the term puts a border between moral and social ghetto, in which a modern Muslim woman is locked. Hijab has become a symbol of this conflict. This word used to mean a curtain that divided men from women. Today it is associated with a womans gown, but in a broader sense it means separation, womens difference in family and in society.
In Morocco, Alger, Tunis, Libya, Jordan, Lebanon and some other countries more and more women are getting higher education, become doctors, lawyers and business women. This process is going slow, but cannot be stopped. Kuwait parliament, which consists of men only, after many years of strong controversies, has finally given up to emir, granting Kuwait women a right to run for parliament. Sooner or later, the number of women, who play an active social role outside of the family and outside of the norms, given them by hijab will become critical. There is one profession, which is still not available for Islamic women to be a religious leader, to spread the word of Serial. It was not always like this, however.
Back in the 8 th century, in Baghdad, there lived Rabia Al-Basri, who was superior of her contemporary men and who was acknowledged as holy in Sufism. Rabia Al-Basri was the first one to introduce the Sufi ideal of loving god without fearing a punishment of hell or expecting a reward of heaven. Her teachings of love and beauty as main religious ideas are somewhat similar to Christian ideas. She prayed: "O Allah!
If I worship You for fear of Hell, burn me in Hell, and if I worship You in hope of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise. But if I worship You for Your Own sake, Grudge me not Your everlasting Beauty. (Rabia Poetry Page) This might be similar to a dialog between God and another Islam woman - Amina Wadud. Amina was born on September 25, 1952 in Maryland. She was not born in a traditional Muslim family, but accepted Islam voluntarily. She is considered to be one of the modern Islam Feminists and is a scholar, specializing in Islamic studies.
Amina Wadud has become the first woman in history to lead a Friday Salah prayer. It happened in March of 2005, in New York, about hundred men and women together took part in this prayer. This was a very daring defiance for most orthodox Muslims, who are confident that men and women should pray separately and that a woman, by definition, cannot be an imam this word simply does not have a female form. Wadud's practices were also criticized by many Islamic women, who still remain indifferent to the noisy Western innovative campaigns. Many women are not ready to change their orthodox lifestyle. Nevertheless, the Muslim conservatives are afraid that in reality millions of women are listening to what Islamic feminists are saying, trying to form their own opinion and find a place in this changing world.
The conservatives are aware that at the moment, the main danger is coming from the womens issue. In a May, 2002 brief article published on the internet, ? aisha's Legacy: the struggle for womens rights in Islam, Am? ? na Wad? ud revealed the most simplistic scholarship imaginable, clearly assuming that none of her intended public was qualified to challenge her entirely original presentation of history, law, and hermeneutics. This is who the New Internationalist website blurb enthroned as our foremost Muslim feminist scholar whose article will introduce readers to Islamic feminism.
In the above article Wadud does a tap dance around the exclusivity of the Quran as a source of Law in Islam except when it comes to illustrating proto-feminist themes, such as praising our Mother Aisha from whom, Wadud says, the Prophet [upon him blessings and peace] said we should learn half our religion (Aishahs Legacy). Wadud has always talked about problems in the Muslim world. She emphasized that there are problems not only for men, but for women as well. She always tried to bring attention to gender issues in Islam and has somewhat succeed in that. Amina Wadud has also numerously pointed out on the status of Islam in America. She saw everything through a prism of religious idealism.
Within the Islamic system of thought she has struggled to transform idealism into pragmatic reforms as a scholar and activist and has become an Islamic feminist. Her main source of inspiration has always been the Quran. (Aishahs-legacy) It is clear for Amina that the Quran aimed to erase all notions of women as inferior humans. There are plenty passages, which describe a woman as an individual, in the family, as a member of the community, etc. Wadud frequently talks about the Quranic story of human creation.
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). The female is never singled out or characterized as being a temptress. According to Wadud, the Quran does not speak of objects or people characterizing them on the basis of gender. She argues that the most prominent Arab grammarians cannot always determine which gender is referred to.
Modern feminist studies have analyzed this gender bias in language. (Aishahs Legacy Islam brought radical changes regarding women and society, despite the deeply entrenched patriarchy of seventh-century Arabia. The Quran 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 atoms weight of good, whether male or female, and is a believer, all such shall enter into Paradise (Q 40: 40). (Aishahs Legacy) Wadud says: During the Abbasid period, when Islams 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. Wadud goes on to claim: In particular, they [the male scholars] moved away from the Quran's ethical codes for female autonomy to advocate instead womens subservience, silence and seclusion. If womens agency was taken into consideration it was with regard to service to men, family and community. (Amina Wadud's Interview) Amina Wadud considers Islam a very progressive religion. She says it progressed since the beginning of historical Islam and the times of Muhammad. Even though some disruption, such as colonialism, has stopped this progression for a short time, Islam has regained its own trajectory. Wadud sees progression to a better humanity as the main modern trajectory of Islam. ( (Amina Wadud's Interview) Amina Wadud certainly plays a very important part in modern Islamic traditions, revealing the new religious horizons to many women all over the world.
Her personality is widely discussed and there is no certain attitude towards her actions and religious views. It is extremely interesting for non-Islamic people to follow up with the revolutionary changes Amina Wadud is bringing in the orthodox Muslim world. Bibliography: Aishahs Legacy: Amina Wadud looks at the struggle for womens rights within Islam, web New Internationalist (vol. 345, May, 2002), visited on March 27, 2008 IHYA Foundation, web visited on March 27, 2008 Interview: Amina Wadud, web visited on March 27, 2008 Rabia al Basri, Poetry, web visited on March 27, 2008
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