Surveying the most recent developments in Islamic feminism, Margot Badran finds an increasingly dynamic global phenomenon that is as varied as it is radical
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I had offered a concise definition of Islamic feminism gleaned from the writings and work of Muslim protagonists as a feminist discourse and practice that derives its understanding and mandate from the Qur'an, seeking rights and justice within the framework of gender equality for women and men in the totality of their existence. Islamic feminism explicates the idea of gender equality as part and parcel of the Qur'anic notion of equality of all insan (human beings) and calls for the implementation of gender equality in the state, civil institutions, and everyday life. It rejects the notion of a public/private dichotomy (by the way, absent in early Islamic jurisprudence or fiqh) conceptualising a holistic umma in which Qur'anic ideals are operative in all space.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Islamic feminism has taken on the two-fold task to expose and eradicate patriarchal ideas and practices glossed as Islamic -- 'naturalised' and perpetuated in that guise -- and to recuperate Islam's core idea of gender equality (indivisible from human equality). For this Islamic feminism has incurred enemies from within and without the Muslim community: 1) from within -- men who fear the loss of patriarchal privilege and women who fear the loss of patriarchal protection, and 2) from without -- those whose pleasure and politics are found in denigrating Islam as irredeemably anti-women.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Since the final years of the 20th century women started to become part of new interpretive communities, producing compelling tafsir (analysis) and treatises on gender issues. While new female exegetes have commanded considerable respect in the global umma, they have also, not surprisingly, been discredited and maligned. However, if the messenger and her authority are attacked, the new gender-sensitive exegesis itself is becoming an authority. Meanwhile, it is becoming increasingly apparent that it is difficult to square Islamic notions of equality and justice with (secular) patriarchy still supported by conventional male religious authorities. The new Islamic feminist theorists and interpreters include: Asma Barlas (Pakistani), Riffat Hassan (Pakistani), Amina Wadud (African-American), Ziba Mir-Hosseini (Iranian), Qudsiyya Mirza (Iranian), and Aziza al-Hibri (Lebanese), to name just a few.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The new gender-sensitive exegetes have focused attention on male supremacy in marriage and the family imposed in the name of Islam that is fundamentally disruptive of the Qur'anic principle of human equality. In 4:34 of the Qur'an, the term " qawwamuna 'ala " has been used to justify and perpetuate male authority over and protection of women as a prerogative and duty of men. The new women exegetes offer a rereading that affirms the Qur'anic ideal of human equality. They place the statement that men are qawwamuna 'ala women in the context of childbearing and nursing when women exert labor that men do not and cannot, and read this as men having responsibility "a degree above" in this context in a way that acts as a balancing or equalising of labour. Patriarchal interpretation reads this verse as ordaining that the male is in charge of the woman or has authority over the woman and he is a "degree above" her. The patriarchal reading has been so firmly and pervasively held over time and place that it is seen as "Islam itself."
This reading has promoted and entrenched the notion of male protection of women, the fundamental duty of a husband to support his wife materially and take charge of her spiritually and morally. Many women have welcomed this notion of male protection and material support as intrinsic to Islam and a decided benefit. But with this protection and material support have come exaggerated forms of obedience to men, to the point that it became a commonplace notion that a woman's path to heaven lay through obedience to her husband, thus detouring her obedience to God and rendering her khilafa second-class.
Along with deconstructing the notion of female dependency and male protection, Islamic feminists elaborate the idea of mutual support/protection of males and females embodied in the notion of awliya enjoined upon male and females believers, specifically citing the two genders . (Qur'an 9:71: "The believers, male and female, are protectors of one another.") Why has this idea historically not been made the touchstone of gender relations?
Islamic feminist interpreters work at the intersection of idea and reality. Gender-tuned interpreters of the Qur'an are mindful of changing social and economic realities as they approach the sacred text for guidance. Today in the greatly expanding middle classes in Muslim societies, husbands and wives have increasingly to pull their joint weight in the economic support of the family and in the everyday running of its affairs. Ideas of socially and religiously ascribed gender roles give way to practical imperatives. The Qur'anic notion of mutuality of spousal support is becoming increasingly operative in the middle strata of society as it has always been among the urban and rural poor who have historically constituted the majority of Muslims. The Qur'anic notion of gender equality, expressed in the notion of the mutual protection of the spouses of each other, has recently been legally established in the idea of dual headship of the family affirmed in the revised Moroccan Mudawwana and the new Indonesian draft family law, both of which are sharia - grounded.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A version of this article was presented recently as a talk at the Netherlands/Flemish Institute in Cairo. Margot Badran is a senior fellow at the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University. -- Yoshie <http://montages.blogspot.com/> <http://mrzine.org> <http://monthlyreview.org/>