Previous | Next 
ISLAMIC TRADITIONS AND THE FEMINIST MOVEMENT:
|
Dr. Lois Lamya' al Faruqi Whether living in the Middle East or Africa, in
Central Asia, in Pakistan, in Southeast Asia, or in Europe and the Americas,
Muslim women tend to view the feminist movement with some apprehension. Although
there are some features of the feminist cause with which we as Muslims would
wish to join hands, other features generate our disappointment and even
opposition. There is therefore no simple or "pat" answer to the question
of the future cooperation or competition which feminism may meet in an Islamic
environment. There are however a number of social, psychological, and economic
traditions which govern the thinking of most Muslims and which are particularly
affective of woman's status and role in Islamic society. Understanding these
can help us understand the issues which affect male and female status and
roles, and how we should react to movements which seek to improve the situation
of women in any of the countries where Muslims live. THE FAMILY SYSTEM: One
of the Islamic traditions which will affect the way in which Muslim women
respond to feminist ideas is the advocacy in Islamic culture of an extended
rather than a nuclear family system. Some Muslim families are "residentially
extended" - that is, their members live communally with three or more generations
of relatives (grandparents, parents, uncles, aunts, and their offspring)
in a single building or compound. Even when this residential version of the
extended family is not possible or adhered to, family connections reaching
far beyond the nuclear unit are evident in strong psychological, social,
economic, and even political ties. Mutual supports and responsibilities affecting
these larger consanguine groups are not just considered desirable, but they
are made legally incumbent on members of the society by Islamic law. The
Holy Quran itself exhorts to extended family solidarity; in addition it specifies
the extent of such responsibilities and contains prescriptive measures for
inheritance, support, and other close interdependencies within the extended
family.[1] Our Islamic traditions also prescribe a much stronger participation
of the family in the contracting and preservation of marriages. While most
Western feminists would decry family participation or arranged marriage as
a negative influence because of its apparent restriction of individualistic
freedom and responsibility, as Muslims we would argue that such participation
is advantageous for both individuals and groups within the society. Not only
does it ensure marriages based on sounder principles than physical attraction
and sexual infatuation, but it provides other safeguards for successful marital
continuity. Members of the family provide diverse companionship as well as
ready sources of advice and sympathy for the newly married as they adjust
to each others' way. One party of the marriage cannot easily pursue an eccentric
course at the expense of the spouse since such behavior would rally opposition
from the larger group. Quarrels are never so devastating to the marriage
bond since other adult family members act as mediators and provide alternative
sources of companionship and counsel following disagreements. The problems
of parenting and generational incompatibility are also alleviated, and singles
clubs and dating bureaus would be unnecessary props for social interaction.
There is no need in the extended family for children of working parents to
be unguarded, unattended, or inadequately loved and socialized because the
extended family home is never empty. There is therefore no feeling of guilt
which the working parent often feels in a nuclear or single-parent organization.
Tragedy, even divorce, is not so debilitating to either adults or children
since the larger social unit absorbs the residual numbers with much greater
ease than a nuclear family organization can ever provide. The move away from
the cohesiveness which the family formerly enjoyed in Western society, the
rise of usually smaller alternative family styles, and the accompanying rise
in individualism which many feminists advocate or at least practice, are
at odds with these deep-rooted Islamic customs and traditions. If feminism
in the Muslim world chooses to espouse the Western family models, it should
and would certainly be strongly challenged by Muslim women's groups and by
Islamic society as a whole. INDIVIDUALISM VS. THE LARGER ORGANIZATION: The
traditional support of the large and intricately interrelated family organization
is correlative to another Islamic tradition which seems to run counter to
recent Western trends and to feminist ideology. Islam and Muslim women generally
advocate molding of individual goals and interests to accord with the welfare
of the larger group and its members. Instead of holding the goals of the
individual supreme, Islam instills in the adherent a sense of his or her
place within the family and of a responsibility to that group. This is not
perceived or experienced by Muslims as repression of the individual. Other
traditions which will be discussed later guarantee his or her legal personality.
Feminism, therefore, would not be espoused by Muslim women as a goal to be
pursued without regard for the relation of the female to the other members
of her family. The Muslim woman regards her goals as necessitating a balance
with, or even subordination to, those of the family group. The rampant
individualism often experienced in contemporary life, that which treats the
goals of the individual in isolation from other factors, or as utterly supreme,
runs against a deep Islamic commitment to social interdependence. DIFFERENTIATION
OF SEX ROLES: A third Islamic tradition which affects the future of any feminist
movement in an Islamic environment is that it specifies a differentiation
of male and female roles and responsibilities in society. Feminism, as
represented in Western society, has generally denied any such differentiation
and has demanded a move toward a unisex society in order to achieve equal
rights for women. By "unisex society," I mean one in which a single set of
roles and concerns are given preference and esteem by both sexes and are
pursued by all members of the society regardless of sex and age differentials.
In the case of Western feminism, the preferred goals have been those
traditionally fulfilled by the male members of society. The roles of providing
financial support, of success in career, and of decision making have been
given overwhelming respect and concern while those dealing with domestic
matters, with child care, with aesthetic and psychological refreshment, with
social interrelationships, were devalued and even despised. Both men and
women have been forced into a single mold which is perhaps more restrictive,
rigid and coercive than that which formerly assigned men to one type of role
and women to another. This is a new brand of male chauvenism with which Islamic
traditions cannot conform. Islam instead maintains that both types of roles
are equally deserving of pursuit and respect and that when accompanied by
the equity demanded by the religion, a division of labor along sex lines
is generally beneficial to all members of the society. This might be regarded
by the feminist as opening the door to discrimination, but as Muslims we
regard Islamic traditions as standing clearly and unequivocally for the support
of male-female equity. In the Quran, no difference whatever is made between
the sexes in relation to God. "For men who submit [to God] and for women
who submit [to God], for believing men and believing women, for devout men
and devout women, for truthful men and truthful women, for steadfast men
and steadfast women, for humble men and humble women, for charitable men
and charitable women, for men who fast and women who fast, for men who guard
their chastity and women who guard, for men who remember God much and for
women who remember - for them God has prepared forgiveness and a mighty reward"
(33:35). "Whoever performs good deeds, whether male or female and is a believer,
We shall surely make him live a good life and We will certainly reward them
for the best of what they did" (16:97).[2] It is only in relation to each
other and society that a difference is made - a difference of role or function.
The rights and responsibilities of a woman are equal to those of a man, but
they are not necessarily identical with them. Equality and identity are two
different things, Islamic traditions maintain - the former desirable, the
latter not. Men and women should therefore be complementary to each other
in a multi-function organization rather than competitive with each other
in a uni-function society. The equality demanded by Islamic traditions must,
however, be seen in its larger context if it is to be understood properly.
Since Muslims regard a differentiation of sexual roles to be natural and
desirable in the majority of cases, the economic responsibilities of male
and female members differ to provide a balance for the physical differences
between men and women and for the greater responsibility which women carry
in the reproductive and rearing activities so necessary to the well-being
of the society. To maintain, therefore, that the men of the family are
responsible for providing economically for the women or that women are not
equally responsible, is not a dislocation or denial of sexual equity. It
is instead a duty to be fulfilled by men as compensation for another
responsibility which involves the special ability of women. Likewise the
different inheritance rates for males and females, which is so often sited
as an example of discrimination against women, must not be seen as an isolated
prescription.[3] It is but one part of a comprehensive system in which women
carry no legal responsibility to support other members of the family, but
in which men are bound by law as well as custom to provide for all their
female relatives. Does this mean that Islamic traditions necessarily prescribe
maintaining the status quo in the Islamic societies that exist today? The
answer is a definite "No." Many thinking Muslims - both men and women - would
agree that their societies do not fulfill the Islamic ideals and traditions
laid down in the Quran and reinforced by the example and directives of the
Prophet Muhammad, salallahu alehi wasallam. It is reported in the Quran and
from history that women not only expressed their opinions freely in the Prophet's
presence but also argued and participated in serious discussions with the
Prophet himself and with other Muslim leaders of the time (58:1). Muslim
women are known to have even stood in opposition to certain caliphs, who
later accepted the sound arguments of those women. A specific example took
place during the caliphate of 'Umar ibn al Khattab.[4] The Quran reproached
those who believed woman to be inferior to men (16:57-59) and repeatedly
gives expression to the need for treating men and women with equity (2:228,
231; 4:19, and so on). Therefore, if Muslim women experience discrimination
in any place or time, they do not and should not lay the blame on Islam,
but on the un-Islamic nature of their societies and the failure of Muslims
to fulfill its directives. SEPARATE LEGAL STATUS FOR WOMEN: A fourth Islamic
tradition affecting the future of feminism in Muslim societies is the separate
legal status for women which is demanded by the Quran and the Shari'ah. Every
Muslim individual, whether male of female, retains a separate identity from
cradle to grave. This separate legal personality prescribes for every woman
the right to contract, to conduct business, to earn and possess property
independently. Marriage has no effect on her legal status, her property,
her earnings - or even on her name. If she commits any civil offense, her
penalty is no less or no more than a man's in a similar case (5:83; 24:2).
If she is wronged or harmed, she is entitled to compensation just like a
man (4:92-93; see also Mustafa al Siba'i 1976:38; Darwazah n.d.:78). The
feminist demand for separate legal status for women is therefore one that
is equally espoused by Islamic traditions. POLYGYNY: Although the taking
of plural wives by a man is commonly called polygamy, the more correct
sociological designation is polygyny. This institution is probably the Islamic
tradition most misunderstood and vehemently condemned by non-Muslims. It
is one which the Hollywood stereotypes "play upon" in their ridicule of Islamic
society. The first image conjured up in the mind of the Westerner when the
subject of Islam and marriage is approached is that of a religion which advocates
the sexual indulgence of the male members of the society and the subjugation
of its females through this institution. Islamic tradition does indeed allow
a man to marry more than one woman at a time. This leniency is even established
by the Quran (4:3).[5] But the use and perception of that institution is
far from the Hollywood stereotype. Polygyny is certainly not imposed by Islam;
nor is it a universal practice. It is instead regarded as the exception to
the norm of monogamy , and its exercise is strongly controlled by social
pressures.[6] If utilized by Muslim men to facilitate or condone sexual
promiscuity, it is not less Islamically condemnable than serial polygyny
and adultery, and no less detrimental to the society. Muslims view polygyny
as an institution which is to be called into use only under extraordinary
circumstances. As such, it has not been generally regarded by Muslim women
as a threat. Attempts by the feminist movement to focus on eradication of
this institution in order to improve the status of women would therefore
meet with little sympathy or support. II. DIRECTIVES FOR THE FEMINIST MOVEMENT
IN AN ISLAMIC ENVIRONMENT What can be learned about the future compatibility
or incongruity of feminism in a Muslim environment from these facts about
Islamic traditions? Are there any general principles to be gained, any directives
to be taken, by those who work for women's rights and human rights in the
world? INTERCULTURAL INCOMPATIBILITY OF WESTERN FEMINISM: The first and foremost
principle would seem to be that many of the goals of feminism as conceived
in Western society are not necessarily relevant or exportable across cultural
boundaries. Feminism as a Western movement originated in England during the
18th century and had as one of its main goals the eradication of legal
disabilities imposed upon women by English common law. These laws were especially
discriminatory of married women. They derived in part from Biblical sources
(e.g., the idea of man and woman becoming "one flesh," and the attribution
of an inferior and even evil nature to Eve and all her female descendants)
and in part from feudal customs (e.g., the importance of carrying and supplying
arms for battle and the concomitant devaluation of the female contributions
to society). The Industrial Revolution and its need for women's contribution
to the work force brought strength to the feminist movement and helped its
advocates gradually break down most of those discriminatory laws. Since the
history and heritage of Muslim peoples have been radically different from
that of Western Europe and America, the feminism which would appeal to Muslim
women and to the society generally must be correspondingly different. Those
legal rights which Western women sought in reform of English common law were
already granted to Muslim women in the 7th century. Such a struggle therefore
holds little interest for the Muslim woman. In addition, it would be useless
to try to interest us in ideas or reforms that run in diametrical opposition
to those traditions which form an important part of our cultural and religious
heritage. There has been a good deal of opposition to any changes in Muslim
personal status laws since these embody and reinforce the very traditions
which we have been discussing. In other words, if feminism is to succeed
in an Islamic environment, it must be an indigenous form of feminism, rather
than one conceived and nurtured in an alien environment with different problems
and different solutions and goals. THE FORM OF AN ISLAMIC FEMINISM: If the
goals of Western feminism are not viable for Muslim women, what form should
a feminist movement take to ensure success? Above all, the movement must
recognize that, whereas in the West, the mainstream of the women's movement
has viewed religion as one of the chief enemies of its progress and well-being,
Muslim women view the teachings of Islam as their best friend and supporter.
The prescriptions that are found in the Quran and in the example of the Prophet
Muhammad, salallahu alehi wasallam, are regarded as the ideal to which
contemporary women wish to return. As far as Muslim women are concerned,
the source of any difficulties experienced today is not Islam and its traditions,
but certain alien ideological intrusions on our societies, ignorance, and
distortion of the true Islam, or exploitation by individuals within the society.
It is a lack of an appreciation for this fact that caused such misunderstanding
and mutual distress when women's movement representatives from the West visited
Iran both before and after the Islamic Revolution. Second, any feminism which
is to succeed in an Islamic environment must be one which does not work
chauvenistically for women's interest alone. Islamic traditions would dictate
that women's progress be achieved in tandem with the wider struggle to benefit
all members of the society. The good of the group or totality is always more
crucial than the good of any one sector of the society. In fact, the society
is seen as an organic whole in which the welfare of each member or organ
is necessary for the health and well being of every other part. Disadventagous
circumstances of women therefore should always be countered in conjunction
with attempt to alleviate those factors which adversely affect men and other
segments of the society. Third, Islam is an ideology which influences much
more than the ritual life of a people. It is equally affective of their social,
political, economic, psychological, and aesthetic life. "Din," which is usually
regarded as an equivalent for the English term "religion," is a concept which
includes, in addition to those ideas and practices customarily associated
in our minds with religion, a wide spectrum of practices and ideas which
affect almost every aspect of the daily life of the Muslim individual. Islam
and Islamic traditions therefore are seen today by many Muslims as the main
source of cohesiveness for nurturing an identity and stability to confront
intruding alien influences and the cooperation needed to solve their numerous
contemporary problems. To fail to note this fact, or to fail to be fully
appreciative of its importance for the average Muslim - whether male or female
- would be to commit any movement advocating improvement of women's position
in Islamic lands to certain failure. It is only through establishing that
identity and stability that self-respect can be achieved and a more healthy
climate for both Muslim men and Muslim women will emerge. NOTES [1]. For
example, see Quran 2:177; 4:7,176; 8:41; 16:90; 17:26; 24:22. [2]. See also
Quran 2:195; 4:124,32; 9:71-72. [3]. "God (thus) directs you as regards your
children's (inheritance): to the male, a proportion equal to that of two
females..." (Quran 4:11). [4]. Kamal 'Awn 1955:129. [5]. "... Marry women
of your choice, two, or three, or four; but if you fear that you shall not
be able to deal justly (with them), then only one, or (a captive) that your
right hands possess. That will be more suitable, to prevent you from doing
injustice." [6]. It should be remembered that any woman who wants her marriage
to remain monogamous can provide for this condition under Islamic law. REFERENCES
Kamal Ahmad 'Awn, Al Mar'ah fi al Islam (Tanta: Sha'raw Press, 1955) Muhammad
'Izzat Darwazah, Al Dastur al Quran fi Shu'un al Hayat (Cairo: 'Isa al Babi
al Halabi, n.d.). Mustafa al Siba'i, Al Mar'ah baynal Fiqh wal Qanun (Aleppo:
Al Maktabah al 'Arabiyyah, first pub. 1962).
Listing Information
| This link is listed for Free. | Learn More about featuring your site. |
| Link Actions: |
|
| Addition Date: | Added on Nov,09,01 :: Last modified Nov,09,01 |
| Title: | ISLAMIC TRADITIONS AND THE FEMINIST MOVEMENT: |
| Link's Owner: | admin
admin :: Visit Profile |
| Contact Owner: | This owner does not wish to be contacted. |
| Description: | No Description specified. |
| Keywords: | No keywords specified. |
| Listed in Category: | Home: Society And Culture: Women In Islam: ISLAMIC TRADITIONS AND THE FEMINIST MOVEMENT: |
| Number Of Votes: | 0 Total Votes. |
| Current Rating: |  :: Rate Now |
| Number Of Hits From Our site: | 218 |
| Number Of Recommendations: | No recommendations yet. :: Recommend Now |
| Number Of Reviews: | No reviews yet. :: Write a Review |
| Guestbook: | No Guestbook entries yet. :: Sign Guestbook |
| Top Sites Banner: | The counter below counts the actual hits that this site and this page have gotten so far. For this counter to be accurate the link owner must insert the MuslimsCounter code on their page, if not then it only represent this page total hits.
|
