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April 19, 2005
We need organizations that will keep
the "religious leaders" honest
S. Reshma Yunus
Thank you for the response to Sabahat's comments and as well as mine. For me at least, this whole thing about women led prayers was anything but a non issue as it highlighted something critical in the framework we are using as Muslims.
I respect and share your concerns about attempts to edit the Quran. I too take umbrage with "outsiders" who would highjack my religion and attempt to force me to worship in ways more convenient to them. However, from my perspective, the Quran has already been edited and not by "outsiders" but by those who claim to be the "Scholars" of our Deen. This was done centuries ago, through use of convenient "hadith" or misinterpretation of various ayaats, often to simply preserve the status quo. This "methodology" has been used often as a framework for keeping women out of the out of the public sphere, for ensuring that women’s voices are silenced , for classifying rape as adultery and most recently to validate murder as "jihad".
For example, I attended a forum, last year, organized by an affiliate of ISNA to support a more active role in masjids by women. The forum had two distinguished speakers, Ingrid Mateson, VP of ISNA and Imam Suhaib Webb. These two speakers, although they provided arguments to allow women on masjid boards, were both unequivocally against having a woman be a leader of a nation. The reason given of course was the ever popular Hadith about people not prospering if they turn over their affairs to women. I then asked if this was the case, why was the Queen of Sheba is exemplified in the Quran as leader, despite having been a woman. The response given by Imam Webb, to this day perplexes me, he said: The hadith abrogates the Quranic ayat" !!!!!!
To my mind at least, this kind of reasoning, by otherwise intelligent individuals, is symptomatic of deep and inherent misogyny within the interpretation of divine law. What has been more astounding is that this very hadith, which is considered "sound" and has been used over and over again, throughout the centuries, to maintain the a gender based status quo, by the "religious scholars" has in fact been attributed to a Abu Bakrah who apparently was horsewhipped for slandering a chaste woman per the following references (received via email):
‘Umar ibn al-Khattab. Ref ‘Izz al-Din Ibn al-Athir, Usd al-Ghaba fi Ma‘rifat al-Sahaba, (al-Qahira: al-Maktabah al-Ta‘awuniya, 1964) p.39 and Taqi al-Din Ibn Taymiyya, Tafsir Surat al-Nur (Bayrut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiya, 1983) p.73. Abu Bakrah was never known to have repented and based on the Quran, which we are trying to defend from corruption, his testimony should not even be used
"And those who slander chaste women and do not produce four witnesses: flog them eighty lashes and reject their evidence ever after: these are the transgressors." Al-Quran 24:4
The writer who sent met the above information - in fact via email was sent by Hasan Chisti Sahib on the AMV list, states very eloquently: "It is up to us Muslims to choose whether we wish to follow the guidance of the Quran or whether we wish to put it aside and follow the guidance of Abu Bakrah and the traditions of some of our ancestors."
As an activist, this whole situation has led me to question the very basis of the various "fatwas’ handed down to us by various and sundry Imams, Shaykhs, and the Ulema. I am also skeptical of the cries and accusations of "Fitna" as that too has been used to avoid change, even when needed. Recently, this accusation was used against an individual incarcerated in Saudi Arabia who demanded a public trial.
As an activist, just as I question our government about justification fed to us to validate its actions, whether it be civil liberties or social security, I will also question and protest injustice within our own man made framework of interpreting divine law. And although I do agree with you that problems exist with everyone and not just Muslims, as a citizen, I wont stop demanding fair and public trials in the United States just because Saudi Arabia does not have them.
I had a recent conversation with Dr. Agha Saeed (Chairman of the American Muslim Alliance) about this issue who commented that if we don’t make change others will make it for us. Many people look to the "religious scholars" for guidance in spirituality and the very essence of their souls. Just as we have organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, BORDC or American Muslim Voice to keep our national/world leaders honest, we need organizations that will keep the "religious leaders" honest as well. Right now frankly, the only group I see acting as "gadfly" if you will, is the PMU, most everyone wants to maintain the status quo. The fact, as you pointed out, that not all PMU members see eye to eye, actually lends credence to their organization as they allow for a plurality of opinion rather than demand that all follow the party line.
It is very sad but I hear only the deafening roar of silence on issues that the religious scholars should have take up a long time ago. Where are the cries of outrage by the Shaykhs and the Imams, with respect to serious issues such as the education of women in Afghanistan (I mean real education, not just a cursory ability to recite the Quran) that we all know wont be done by European countries or the US. How many of these "scholars" spoke out when Muslim women were being raped or when innocent girls continue to be forcibly circumcised in Africa?
Regarding your charge about the issue of women led prayer being a deliberate distraction, well, frankly, I don’t think it takes much to distract these defenders of Deen. It has been said that when Bagdhad was burning during the time of Ghengis Khan, our ulema was sitting around debating the number of hairs allowed to be shown by women. I thought that was just a "story: until I heard about the group of "scholars" in Pakistan spending hours debating whether it takes two stones or three stones to do proper "istinja" (cleaning after urination). To be fair, I have come across one Imam, Zaid Shakir from Zaytuna, who at least, in his analysis of women led prayer his spoke about social justice. The Imam said, "Perhaps, if the men of our community had more humility, we would behave in ways that do not alienate, frustrate, or outright oppress our women."
I do agree with you Ghazali Sahib that we have many serious issue ahead of Muslims as a whole and Muslim populated countries in particular. An immediate concern is Sunni-Shia relations primarily in Iraq and the Gulf States. It would be too easy for the Salafi Shaykhs to once more cry "jihad" which would lead to yet another unnecessary slaughter of innocent lives. I believe we ought not to be wasting time on witch hunts of the "progressives" but rather make genuine attempts at reform within ourselves. If we do not agree with the PMU, then we do need to propose an alternative that will function as "watch dog" else we will once again be bamboozled by our esteemed religious scholars. Our voices will be silenced once again due to fear of being branded an apostate or creating fitna. Hmm, sounds a lot like a police state rather than what should be the path to the divine. And Allah knows best.
S. Reshma Yunus is a San Francisco Bay Area community activist
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