Muslim Women Reclaim Their Original Rights

by Yahya M, American Convert to Islam

I recently had my consciousness raised by hearing some intelligent young Muslim sisters who are well-educated and articulate (and who also observe good Islamic adab and respect others). Recently a young sister named Afra Jalabi from Montreal visited Washington DC for an Islamic philosophy conference, and she spoke eloquently of Muslim women's status of equality and the rights that they have in the original Sharî‘ah. She also came to speak at the ADAMS mosque in Virginia, and made a very good impression on the sisters there, who loved her and invited her to come back and raise their consciousness some more. She pointed out that the Sahâbîyât of the Prophet's time enjoyed the full range of rights and freedoms that Allah and the Prophet allowed them. There were many prominent Muslim women in that generation who were outspoken and contributed to building the Islamic society, whose names have been recorded. But after that, notable women rapidly drop out of Islamic history. What happened? How did it come about that they were denied their God-given rights and freedoms? One thing Sister Afra pointed out was that the ‘Abbâsids preferred having concubines to wives. Wives were free Muslim women who could exercise their rights, while concubines were slaves with few rights. The emphasis on concubinage affected the whole society and engendered attitudes that canceled the exercise of women's Islamic rights and freedoms.

I remember at the same conference, Shaykh Tâhâ Jâbir al-‘Alwânî spoke on ijtihâd and gave an example of a fake hadith, one that said women should not be educated. As outrageous as that sounds, for centuries the maulvis got away with denying women their right to education on the flimsiest pretext: a fake hadith! Didn't anyone challenge this? One thing is apparent: if the women weren't educated, they couldn't criticize their status on the basis of Islamic sources of fiqh. The maulvis controlled the means of access to the sources of fiqh and ijtihâd, preventing women from claiming what belonged to them.

One example that has never ceased to amaze and disgust me is the way in some Muslim societies they don't allow women to go to the mosque! This even though the Prophet himself, peace be upon him, specifically ordered (as narrated in Sahîh al-Bukhârî) that if women ask permission to go to the mosque, do not stop them from going. For the maulvis to get away with brazenly contravening an order of Rasûl Allâh himself is scandalous. Just because they had an attitude of keeping all women in seclusion as though they were concubines, an oppressive practice which is not from the Qur’ân and Sunnah.

After converting to Islam I read books by maulvis which placed a great emphasis on the seclusion of women while ignoring their God-given rights and freedoms. Somehow I accepted this as normative Islam. I am writing now to say that I am sorry I ever allowed myself to be persuaded to think this way, and I have repented from this error. I have been encouraging my wife and daughters to learn and think and get the full benefit of the innumerable halâl things in life that Allah has to offer. I would like to urge all Muslims not to take at face value anything that maulvis say that diminishes women's rights. It is on this specific issue that I am concentrating my skepticism, because this issue is where the most damage has been done to the Sharî‘ah for the longest time. The ummah as a whole will remain oppressed from within their own minds as long as women's Islamic rights are suppressed.

It has recently dawned on me that North America is the only place where Muslim women can exercise the full range of rights and freedoms they enjoy in the original Sharî‘ah. In too many Muslim countries overseas women are kept in subjugation and even suffer violence because their shar‘î rights are denied. Even at the hands of the official "Islamic" authorities, which is a disgrace to the ummah. The worst violator is the Taliban regime, who oppress and beat women based on their crude tribal customs and try to pass it off as Islam. What an embarrassment to Muslims the world over. Of all Muslim countries, the one that has perhaps the best record of respecting women's Islamic rights under the Sharî‘ah is Iran. During the revolution, of course, there was so much violence that everyone's human rights were violated, women's not least of all. The situation has not completely improved yet. But the problem in Iran today is more a case of human rights in general, not specifically oppression of women. Under Rafsanjânî, and even more so under Khâtamî, Iranian women have made great strides in reclaiming and exercising their Islamic rights in society and politics, and their example should be an inspiration to Muslim women in other countries. They have demonstrated that the wearing of the chador or kerchief is no obstacle to this achievement.

Still, the only place I know where Muslim women can fully live their Islamic rights and freedoms (education, working, social & political organizing & participation, protection from violence, writing their own marriage contracts) is North America. We American Muslims have been pretty active the past 20 years or so in building Islamic communities, and this is where Muslim women's life can fully flower as it had not had a chance to since the days of the original Sahâbîyât. I realize this may offend some hardline ideologues who insist that America is nothing but the Great Satan, the mortal enemy of Islam, but I say wake up. Real life is more complex than that. Here there are plenty of open spaces where Muslims feel free to live joyfully as Muslims without having to compromise on their identity or apologize for it, and they are the ones who are helping other Americans to see and understand Islam as a lived reality. For everyone who condemns America for being un-Islamic, there are lots more Muslims here who are taking advantage of all the opportunities for building a vibrant Islamic life.

Chinese proverb: Those who say a thing cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

If you find it disturbing that America of all places is the one where this neglected aspect of the Sharî‘ah (women's rights) is at last being implemented, then I say what has gone wrong with Muslim societies overseas, and why don't you redress the systemic wrongs against women being committed over there in the name of Islam? I congratulate my Muslim sisters here for educating themselves in the Qur’ân & Sunnah and on that basis taking advantage of their Islamic rights, thereby implementing the Sharî‘ah more completely.

I have always been a strong advocate of traditional Islam, and anti-modern. Lately my Islamic thought has been getting more and more liberal, while fundamentalism (of all kinds) looks more and more abhorrent. I believe that healthy liberalization of Islamic society does not require importing any modern Western ideas—traditional Islam  already has within it sufficient liberal resources that derive from the kindness and liberality of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and the mercifulness of the All-Merciful.