Islam, gender, and modernity

1. Islam, gender, and modernity Instructor: Claire Robison Summer 2014

2. Logic of Our Course • the rise of feminism and women’s rights movements in the early 20thc., parallel to those movements in Europe and America • the effect of European colonialism and nationalist movements on women and gender issues • post-independence nationalism and the receding of religion from public sphere • the rise of Islamism and return of religion to the public sphere; need to separate from the West • complex modernities, time is morally neutral

3. Models for Women in Islamic Tradition • Women and the Prophet • Women in Sufism • Women in the Quran and in Tradition • Education of the soul (nafs) • Woman as Manifestation of God Categories from Annemarie Schimmel’s My Soul is a Woman

4. Women and the Prophet • Khadija: first wife of Muhammad. She was the first to learn the Quranicrevelation and encouraged Muhammad that it was authentic. Owned her own business, hired Muhammad, and later proposed to him. While she was alive, Muhammad did not take any other wives. • Aisha: later wife of Muhammad. Much younger but a strong figure, especially in Sunni Islam. Led troops into battle. An important source of hadith about Muhammad’s life. • Fatima: daughter of Muhammad and mother of Ali, central figure for Shia Muslims. Figure of devotion in Shia Islam, known for her purity, truthfulness, righteousness.

5. Women in Sufism • Women have been Sufi teachers and practitioners from the early days of Islam • Rabia, of Basra, Iraq (d. 801) is a central figure in Sufi tradition. Fatima of Nishapur, Iran (d. 854), known for her wisdom and devotion to God • Noblewomen, like Jahanara Begum (d. 1681; daughter of Shahjahan) were influential in Sufi history. Jahanara commissioned mosques and shrines to Sufi saints, and wrote Sufi biographies and poetry • In mystical tradition, common spiritual equality of all souls is often emphasized

6. Education of the Soul (nafs) • Sura 12:53 in the Quran speaks of the nafs “inciting to evil.” • In some places, the Quran talks about a good and bad nafs – a higher and lower soul – one “accusing,” the other “at peace.” • Traditional statement from Muhammad: “man’s worst enemy is the nafs, and the struggle against it is the greatest jihad.” • Nafs generally pictured as female, and should be subordinate to the ‘aql, intellect or reason • Though many allegorical stories about the nafs also show that it/she can attain perfection and become “a soul at peace.”

7. Women as Manifestation of God • Classical Arabic and Persian literature is full of love poems and descriptions of the sweetly perfumed beloved with all her charms • In mystical poetry, God as Divine Beloved is sometimes expressed as male and sometimes female (also many times gender-ambiguous) • In poetry, Beloved, or Kaaba, as veiled bride or desired virgin • In Rumi’s Sufi poetry, the mystical state (hal) and its lasting stage (maqam) described: “The hal is like the unveiling of the beauteous bride, while the maqam is being alone with the bride.” (Masnavi 1 1435) • Descriptions of Beloved as female in Indian Sufi poetry, Manjhan’s 15th c Madhumalati: • “The maiden’s face shone like the moon… As he beheld the loveliness of her form, he fainted away every second… He was astonished to see such beauty… as the prince observed her lovely form and adornments, he found fulfillment.”

8. Women in the Quran and Tradition • The Quran explicitly states that men and women are equal in the eyes of God. Furthermore, the Quran: • forbids female infanticide (practiced in pre-Islamic Arabia and other parts of the world) • instructs Muslims to educate daughters as well as sons • insists that women have the right to refuse a prospective husband • gives women the right to own and inherit property (though in Sunni Islam they get only half of what men inherit. Men are expected to care for their mothers and any unmarried female relatives, and would, it is reasoned, need greater resources for this purpose.) • While polygyny is permissible, it is discouraged and on the whole practiced very infrequently. It is most frequent in the Gulf, including Saudi Arabia. Many Muslims cite the Quranic phrase "But treat them equally... and if you cannot, then one [wife] is better" and argue that monogamy is preferable, or even mandatory.

9. Regional Interpretations of the Quran • As the Islamic state and religion expanded, interpretations of the gender roles laid out in the Quran varied with different cultures. • For example, some religious scholars in 9th- and 10th-century Iraq were prescribing more restrictive roles for women, while elite women in Islamic Spain were sometimes able to bend these rules and mix quite freely with men. • Interpretation or exegesis of the Quran: tafsir • Shariah: way, path, law, based on Quran and Sunnah/hadith of Muhammad • Who does the interpreting? • AminaWadud on women’s reading and interpretations of Islamic texts:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luyjABV1nYw

10. Complexities surrounding women’s status illustrated by country-specific differences:

11. Islamic Tradition and Local Interpretations Director of the New Delhi-based Centre for Peace and Spirituality, editor of the monthly Al-Risala journal and author of almost two hundred books, MaulanaWahiduddin Khan is one of India’s best known Islamic scholars.

12. Women as political leaders in Muslim-majority countries • Razia was a Muslim woman ruler of 13th-century India • Amina was a 16th-century queen of Zaria in present-day Nigeria • Shajarat al-Durr was briefly sultan in Mamluk Egypt, but was the power behind the throne for even longer • The so-called "sultanate of women" in the Ottoman Empire during the 17th century was a period when several strong women had enormous power over affairs of state • Benazir Bhutto (11th Prime Minister of Pakistan) • Sheikh Hasina (current Prime Minister of Bangladesh)

13. Women as leaders of social justice • ShirinEbadi • (born Iran 1947) internationally-renowned human rights advocate and lawyer, former high court judge, first Muslim woman Nobel Laureate. Founder of Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran.

14. Quranic Excerpts • Quran 24, Surat An-Nur: “Light” • 1-20 on adultery and lying • 23-26 on blaspheming chaste women • 30-34 on how men and women should conduct themselves with modesty, on marriage • 56-61 on proper behavior and seeing people undressed http://quran.com/24

15. Quranic Excerpts • Surah 33, Al-Ahzab (the combined forces) • 28-34: wives of the Prophet, you are not like other women • 35-40 Believing men and women • 53 on showing respect by not barging in • 59 tell women to draw their wraps around them http://quran.com/33