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Women & Civilization #3- Forthcoming Issue - Fall 2002
Abstracts & Reviews
Gender in the Qur'an:
Beyond Feminist and “kiwama” Theories
Amani Saleh
The main thrust of this essay is to find the answer of this question: How does Qur'an deal with gender? The study seeks the answer by letting the qur’an ‘speak freely’, unmediated or encumbered through its interpreters, taking the qur’anic discursive field, syntax and semantics for its own parameters, momentarily suspending the reader’s prejudices / judgements, attentively open to its flow, without any arbitrary or preconceived attempt or intent to isolate, abstract, predetermine, or refine. Unexpectedly the search brings in several surprises: first and foremost, it proves that gender far from being marginal, constitutes a central undercurrent that informs not only civil, legal and social spaces, but that it lies at the very heart of the existential discourse in the Qur’an.
Differentiated from both Fiqhi and Feminist theories, through the Qur'an it is possible to perceive gender as a reflection and constituent of a formative and regenerative, conditional and conditioning consonance in life itself. It suggests a new concept for this dimension that is more consistent with reality and edifying of humanity. Zawjeya (“Pairing”) is the original and widely used expression in Qur’an to describe the male-female relationship. Grounded in a universal cosmogony, zawjiya is poised to compass and encompass a dynamic axiology: it asserts the meaning of a deep rooted unity and affinity, human equality, interdependence, functional integrity, a fair and balanced system of reciprocities, a right-duty allocation, and a basic social equity between both sexes where merit and due recompense are acquired and not ascribed.
With this in view, the Qur’an unequivocally denies the inevitability of a confrontation between the sexes and dislodges traditional male-bounded authoritarian theories on the gender question
The Moral Content of Zawjia in Qur'an
"Marriage" between the Qur'anic perspective and the juridical reading
Hind Mustafa
This paper aims to uncover the moral and spiritual aspects which are included in the Qur'anic discourse, and which – through being neglected in the Juridical writings - make for the great paradox between two discourses.
It raises the essential question of whether and how both the prevailing religious and cultural discourses could be revised and reformed by becoming more cognisant and informed by the staying and all pervasive "spirit of Qur'an." But first this spirit needs to be identified, recovered, and articulated for it to be reclaimed and activated.
As a case study, the paper contemplates the Ayat concerning the relation between men and women, called zawgia in the holy Qur'an. It focuses on the quality and attributes of an intimate socio-ethical and psycho-spiritual space constitutive of the marital relationship (al-zawag) , as it is represented across a span of the concrete and the subtle, the sublime and the tactile, in a range of Qur'anic guidelines, precepts, admonitions and rulings basically anchored and anchoring the moral and spiritual foundations of this relationship. .
The paper also explores how aspects of the same relationship were dealt with in the Juridical writings so as to shed light on the critical discrepancy between two underlying visions, mindsets and discourses.
In its thrust, the paper tries to make the case for a new holistic reading in approaching the holy Qur'an as a pre-requisite for a much needed re-examination of the prevailing concepts and norms that define our culture and practices. Only by recovering the spirit of the Qur’an would it be possible to go beyond the limitations that inhere in the reductive fiqhi methodologies and overcome the rifts and problems they create.
Maryam Bint Al‘Imran – The Lady of the Niche
Tayba Sharif
Through a close and systematic reading of the account of Mary in the Qur’an, this paper highlights the characteristics and qualities that are associated with prophethood, wilaya, and saliheen.
An intimate and reflexive hermeneutic finds that Mary is doubly honored in the Qur’an as the mother of a revered prophet, and the vehicle for a miraculous and divine conception, and, especially, in her own light/ right, as a model of piety and righteousness in her person and life.
By dwelling on the qur’anic idiom and syntax, the paper goes beyond traditional controversies about Mary’s prophetic status to address attributes identified with a divine election and merit that Allah reserves for his righteous devotees. It demonstrates that these attributes are potentially attainable by those who strive in the way, and that sex is not factored in this striving. Indeed, the aggregate of devotional qualities that ennoble and elevate in the eyes of Allah are brought together in the Qur’an in the example of the Lady of the niche – sayyedat al mihrab – ( with ‘niche’ used as metaphor for this aggregate!) - a woman from the people of Al ‘Imran serving as a lesson to people everywhere and for all time.
Women and Prophecy in Qur'an
Women in the Moses Story, Motherhood of Da'wa
Azza Galal
This paper focuses on the role of motherhood in the " Da'wa", through a brief incisive rehearsing of the story of prophet Moses in the holy Qur'an.
The main argument is that the mother of the prophet, or his wife in a later phase, effectively participates in Da'wa by bringing up the prophet in a manner that enables him to bear the burden of his mission, enduring and overcoming the obstacles in his path. Beyond nurture, the mother also contributes to the general atmosphere or climate of the Da'wa.. In other words, such a mother can be considered as the mother of the Da'wa itself and motherhood may be seen to have a crucial role in the divine economy of guidance and election
The paper presents a new way of viewing the positive aspects of femininity from an Islamic perspective.
Women in the Story of the First Creation: A Comparative Perspective
Asmaa Abdel Razek
Through a comparative perspective, this paper revisits the Creation story in both Qur'an and Torah. Our study assumes that this story has had a great influence in determining women's symbolic and actual status in society both in the past and today.
The paper examines the content of each story separately in terms of the nature and purpose of human life, the relation between God and man (either male or female), the relation between man and evil/ the devil, then the relation between man and woman.
The main point here is that the Qur'anic story is free from all the negative aspects that deform women's image, status, and role. Yet, the anomaly is that historically Muslim culture, instead of being influenced by the Qur'anic view, was deeply penetrated by the Biblical view, and it is the persistence of this influence that continues to be the main source of distortion.
The paper cites some examples to demonstrate the impact of Torah on shaping Muslim popular attitudes and how this is reflected and reproduced in contemporary literary and cultural output.
Beyond Human Mysogyny:
Women and Ethics in Qur'an
Aminah Mahmoud
This paper is about a popular and pervasive stereotype of the eternal and incorrigible feminine that informs pockets of Muslim culture. It asks whether there might be roots for this misconception in the Qur’an. What exactly does the qur’an have to say about these allegedly ‘natural’ all feminine proclivities? The relationship is particularly perplexing when the qur’an is used to justify such prejudices. The endpoint of its inquiry suggests that far from being the source for any such attitudes, the qur’an that has often been used to justify individual perversions and cultural prejudices, may be more properly used to rectify and reform.
Women in Qur’an, the work of a renown literary figure in the modern Arabic thought pantheon, Abbas al Aqqad, provides an ideal counterpoint against which to investigate the proverbial triad of cunning, seduction, and hypocrisy which he takes as the hallmark for his theory about women’s nature. The paper shows how the author applies an arbitrary reading of the Qur’an that interweaves his personal subjectivities with a range of diverse philosophical, psycho-analytical, pseudo-scientific, biblical,and mythological views that have no foundations in the Qur’an.
It then adopts a two-pronged approach, first examining the specific concepts in question against their usage in the qur’an to disengage them from their reductive gendered associations and, next, resituating the ethical issue against its broader qur’anic framework to highlights comprehensive, integrated axiology that draws on the precepts of the faith.
The main idea here is that Qur'an presents a non-gendered ethical code to be observed by all human beings regardless of gender or race..
The Queen of Sheba: A model of Rulership in Qur'an
Manal Yahya
This paper deals with Sheba's political regime as the only model of women’s rule in Qur'an. It also turns out to be a generic model for good governance through which the Qur’an teaches some fundaments and principles of universal validity.
The essay begins by reflecting on the concepts, aims and methodology of the stories in Qur'an. Then it discusses the meanings and lessons of Sheba's regime as presented by Qur'an, in terms of the Qur'anic perspective of authority in general, and of the relation between gender and authority in particular. Here the paper discusses some key concepts such as governance and the political elite in Qur'anic discourse.
Central to its discursive analysis is a comparison it draws between the political regime of the Queen of Sheba, and that of the Pharaoh of Egypt in Moses's time from the Qur'anic point of view.
The main conclusion is that the Qur'an, when dealing with authority or political rule, focuses on roles and not persons, it also neutralizes Gender, and evaluates regimes relying on aspects of competence and faith (Iman).
Reviews
Asbab al nuzul and Shafei’ fiqh of Ahkam al Nisa’-
Deconstructing a Tradition
Zeinab Ali
Prompting the incipient research for this paper is the realization that many of Muslim women’s frustrations today are unnecessarily self-imposed and may be substantially ungrounded. They are based in 2 fallacies: the one confuses the human interpretations of the religion for the message and its precepts as preserved intact in its original and founding sources. The other turns popular piety into deference to an authority that has acquired a life of its own and that may have unwittingly cut itself off from its own legitimating sources and subverted the purposes it was intended to serve. As a result women pay the price of misplaced loyalties and the onus is unfairly placed in the misappropriated grounds of religion.
By striving for methodological transparency, this paper aims at attacking the problem at its roots. First, it draws a clear distinction between the Qur’an (and the authenticated sunnah of the Prophet) – and the legacy of Muslim thought, placing the Fiqhi legacy squarely in the latter category. Next, it proceeds to contextualize and relativize. By establishing the historicity of a tradition, it aspires to open the way for its reconstruction and its interpretation in the light of the abiding precepts of a universal message and the concrete present day needs of the community.
In this task it takes the evolution of the Shafei tradition in a genre of juridical rulings on women’s issues –ahkam al-nisa’- as a case in point. It selects a number of formative moments and key figures as benchmarks for its deconstructive enterprise and goes on to problematize their usage of the original sources in terms of reliability, interpretation, and justification. The preliminary findings shed light on areas that need further investigation.
In opting for a rigorous internal critique of the secondary sources of the tradition, this paper knowingly treads the thin end of the wedge between a justified, rational self-criticism and subversive intent. It does so in the conviction that this is the only way that can save both women and Muslim societies from dubious and sterile encrusted accretions and put them once again in touch with the emancipatory thrust of their pristine religion.
Aicha’s Istidrakat and their Methodological Premises:
Reclaiming a Stunted Tradition
Zeinab Alwani
Using umm al mu’mineen, Aicha bint Abu Bakr’s legacy, this paper draws attention to an important and under-researched area in hadith scholarship identified with a revisionary body of literature that takes for its scope the verification and validation of a prophetic tradition. By interpellating a reported narration in terms of source, context, intent and purpose, some of the earliest companions of the Prophet assumed a role that went beyond the transmission of a legacy to its critical authentication. Aicha’s Istidrakat belong to this category and occupy within it pride of place.
The paper proceeds by selecting a number of concrete narrations/ situations where the scope, style, method and purport of Aicha’s interventions in counter-checking the content of a disputed tradition are scrutinized. What emerges is a pattern of consistencies which inform her approach and that, when taken together, may be seen to provide a basis for a critical methodology for adjudicating contested traditions. In addition to a concern for verifying the authenticity of a tradition, the focus of such a methodology is on understanding the meaning of a tradition through instituting a matrix for testing its validity/ viability.
In her studied and didactic responses that often involved sharp, witty, and reasoned rebuttals, Aicha may be seen to have thus deliberately engaged the grounds for a consistent and coherent rationale for dealing with contested issues in the community. Through teaching by example, she was also imparting an ethic for disagreement and disputation that drew on the source and model that inspired and infused her own practice.
Asked to describe for a later generation the character of the Prophet whom she outlived by nearly fifty years and whose mantle she reverently and authoritatively carried, Aicha had referred her interlocutor to the source, succinctly answering, ‘His character was the (lived) Qur’an’ - It was this categorical link between the qur’an and the sunnah that was at the core of a methodology for dealing with an entire corpus of hadith that she sought to embed in a rational and purposeful matrix of reasoning which affirmed an integral internal hierarchy between the founding sources of Islam.
By going beyond the conventional hagiographies of ummahat al mu’mineen and identifying with the authentic and critical cast of mind exemplified in Aicha’s Istidrakat, this paper points the classic disciplines to new and creative possibilities for reclaiming a tradition and building on it.
