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ISLAM, GENDER, AND
MODERNITY
Instructor: Claire Robison
Summer 2014
Logic of Our Course
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the rise of feminism and women’s rights movements in the early
20th c., 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
Models for Women in Islamic Tradition
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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
Women and the Prophet
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Khadija: first wife of Muhammad. She was the first to learn the
Quranic revelation 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.
Women in Sufism
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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
Education of the Soul (nafs)
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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.”
Women as Manifestation of God
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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:
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“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.”
Women in the Quran and Tradition
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The Quran explicitly states that men and women are equal in the eyes of
God. Furthermore, the Quran:
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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.
Regional Interpretations of the Quran
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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?
Amina Wadud on women’s reading and interpretations of Islamic
texts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luyjABV1nYw
Complexities surrounding women’s status illustrated by
country-specific differences:
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,
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan is one of India’s best
known Islamic scholars.
Women as political leaders
in Muslim-majority countries
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Razia was a Muslim woman ruler of 13thcentury 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)
Women as leaders of social justice
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Shirin Ebadi
(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.
Quranic Excerpts
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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
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http://quran.com/24
Quranic Excerpts
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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
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http://quran.com/33