Muslim Women & Modern Society
By Asghar Ali Engineer
Deccan Herald
08 December, 2003
There are two categories among Muslim women. The first are those who accept Shariah pronouncements in respect of women totally and uncritically as they are totally unaware of the circumstances in which Muslim jurists made those pronouncements. Most of these women are either illiterate or educated in traditional Islamic sciences. The second category is of those women who are totally indifferent to religion and consider religion an impediment in realising women’s rights.Both these extremes do not help as far average Muslim women who, ignorant or otherwise, take their religion seriously and also are struggling against traditional Shariah pronouncements about women. These women are in overwhelming number and one has to help them realise their rights in the Muslim society. This can be done only through the medium of Islam and by re-examining the Shariah pronouncements in the light of the Quran and its normative verses.
There is enough in the Quran favouring rights of women but these Quranic pronouncements have so far been ignored or interpreted in ways loaded against women. It is, therefore, necessary to critically examine the Shariah pronouncements in respect of women in the light of the Quran as understood by modern Muslim women in a democratic set-up. It is heartening that some Muslim women are making serious attempts in this direction. Some of them are organising seminars and discussions and rereading the Quran from women’s perspective and are invoking the doctrine of Ijtihad which is the dynamic principle of Islam. Ijtihad has been sanctioned by no less a person than the Prophet himself. Ijtihad is an integral part of Islam and has played a very important role in the entire history of Islam. The corpus of Shariah laws would not exist but for Ijtihad. It is unfortunate that after 11th century AD the ulama began to frown upon Ijtihad for various reasons.
It is also important to note that there are different translators of the Quran and a translation, howsoever honest and liberal, does tend to be interpretation and the translator’s ideological dispensation sneaks in. The word qawwam in the verse 4:34 has been translated in number of ways as ruler, manager, protector, supporter, in charge and so on. In this key verse, men have been described as qawwamun by the Quran and conservative translators translate as “men are rulers over women”.
Sense of superiority
However, liberal translators do not accept this translation and translate it as ‘in-charge’, or ‘protectors’ or ‘managers’ and so on. But even this carries a sense of superiority and others have translated it as those who run around to earn and nothing more. This reduces the degree of superiority and also they add that being qawwam is a function, not any biological superiority or inferiority and a woman can also be qawwam, if she earns (many women earn today in modern society) and hence they also become qawwamun. Thus the Quranic text per se cannot be decisive but how it is understood by the jurist or theologian is equally important and cultural mediation plays an important role.A great struggle is going on in the Muslim countries for the rights of women. More and more women are getting educated and becoming aware of their rights, Islamic or otherwise, and demanding changes in law. Something will definitely emerge from this great churning. Women scholars like Fatima Merssini from Morocco, having both Islamic and modern secular education, have also shown the way. She has pointed out in her work The Veil and The Male Elite how to understand Quranic and Hadith literature. She has critically examined the Hadith literature which is one of the main sources of Shariah formulations.
Great changes have taken place in the world during the last two centuries. In the past it was unthinkable that a Muslim woman could step out of four walls of her house and be active earning member of the family. But today it is an accepted practice even in countries like Saudi Arabia though with a lot of restrictions. In other Muslim countries she can move freely, go out and earn and also hold important public positions. When Benazir Bhutto took over as Prime Minister of Pakistan many conservative ulama objected quoting a hadith that if a woman becomes head of the state it would be a disaster for the country. Fatima Merssini effectively demolished the authenticity of this so called hadith in her scholarly work and the Muslim world also ultimately accepted women premiers in Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Complex structure
Despite the fact that there have been women Prime Ministers in Bangladesh and Pakistan it does not mean that women in these two countries are not suffering.Quite to the contrary, the Pakistani and Bangladeshi societies are very complex in structure and Muslim women are suffering a great deal. In many Muslim countries, the mechanical interpretation of hudud laws (punishments for crimes) in respect of adultery and rape normally goes against women especially when she becomes pregnant or she goes to lodge complaint against a man who raped her. This is taken as self-confession of illegitimate sexual intercourse and is arrested and jailed or even sentenced to death by stoning.
The hudud laws also need to be properly interpreted in the light of the Quranic pronouncements. Stoning to death is certainly not a Quranic punishment as there is no such verse in the Quran but is based on hadith literature and it is necessary to critically examine the entire hadith literature. We have to re-codify the Shariah laws pertaining to women on the basis of the liberal, modern interpretation of the Quran and some ahadith which are in conformity with the Quranic spirit. Such an approach will be an instrument of struggle for women’s’ rights for believing Muslim women. It requires a great deal of research in authentic Islamic sources and great Islamic scholarship on the part of Muslim women activists. They may face opposition from conservative ulama but there is no other way. A new way will have to be carved out by women themselves.