If justice is an intrinsic value in Islam, why have women been treated as second-class citizens in Islamic legal tradition?
If justice is an intrinsic value in Islam, why have women been treated as second-class citizens in Islamic legal tradition?
Today, the idea of gender equality, inherent to contemporary conceptions of justice, presents a challenge to established, patriarchal interpretations of Shari‘a. In thought-provoking discussions with six influential Muslim intellectuals – Abdullahi An-Na’im, Amina Wadud, Asma Lamrabet, Khaled Abou El Fadl, Mohsen Kadivar and Sedigheh Vasmaghi – Ziba Mir-Hosseini explores how egalitarian gender laws might be constructed from within the Islamic legal framework. Journeys Toward Gender Equality in Islam
Journeys Towards Gender Equality In Islamcomes at a time when conversations around Islamic feminism, or other interpretations of that term are at an all time high. Written by anthropologist and one of Musawah’s founding members Ziba Mir-Hosseini, the book follows interviews with 6 Islamic thinkers, theologians and change makers: amina wadud, Asma Lamrabet, Abdullahi An-Na’im, Khaled Abou El Fadl, Mohsen Kadivar and Sedigeh Vasmaghi. In each interview, Journeys presents a mix of expert opinions by the interviewees on long debated topics around Shari’ah laws’ stance on gender equality as well as personal interactions with the interviewees own journeys in forming those opinions and the struggles they may have had to face along the way. For example, in amina wadud’s interview, wadud and Mir-Hosseini discuss the former’s changing stance on identifying as a feminist due to the the controversial and troubled relationship between Islamic thinkers and secular feminists.
The book is personal to the author herself, as Mir-Hosseini mentions her own relationships with the interviewees which she credits for giving the book a more relaxed feel because of the nature of the interviews. Mir-Hosseini’s work focuses specifically on Islamic legal theory, family law and gender and her experience both as an academic at SOAS as well as a journalist and activist in her work with Musawah, the global movement for equality and justice in the Muslim family.
At first glance, the book immediately draws the reader in with its promise of clarifying questions and terminologies that have long confused and bothered many Muslims seeking to understand the intricacies of Islamic legalities. With secular feminism and traditional Islamic circles seeming to mutually expel each other, many Islamic feminists have struggled back and forth to reconcile the two and it is this journey – that many often brush under the rug in favour of presenting Islamic feminism as an alternative – that Journeys does justice to. By writing in an approachable way, she makes it easier for readers to understand the relationship between Islam and gender quality.
Each chapter follows a narrative which makes grasping and following the context easy. The book itself acknowledges the thought processes behind how the author and the interviewees reached the conclusions they did, and the changes in their own thinking and personal trajectories that they went through. This allows the reader to critically engage with the text, and open up the possibility for change and transformation for them too. Mir-Hosseini also acknowledges that conversations concerning certain issues in this field are still ongoing with her interviewees, once again cementing the notion that our understanding of Muslim legal texts will continue to evolve.
At the heart of the patriarchal interpretation of Islamic legal texts lies the concept of qiwamah. It is generally understood today as a husband’s authority over his wife, using verse 4:34 in the Quran as a justification. Mir-Hosseini explains how classical jurists used this verse to construct the gender roles within society and give them legitimacy through family laws.
Because the principle of qiwamah today guides most Muslim family laws from marriage, divorce and inheritance, its framing as a patriarchal tool would rouse the reader’s mind to further question laws and practices based on it. Journeys does a fantastic job of detangling and demystifying religious texts in traditional scholarship - thus giving the reader new perspectives on Islamic legal text they may have been looking for.
Those dismayed with patriarchal interpretations of Islam will find Journeys an insightful read of the brief history of how family laws came to favour men over women. It is sure to benefit anyone who is interested in knowing more about Islamic feminism and gender equality according to Islamic texts.
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