Abstract
This note highlights the abuses and violence that some Muslim women, mainly in the West, are subject to. The article further present a Qur’anic verse “men are superiors/ protectors of women” and “wife beating” which generates a considerable amount of controversies; the paper examines Muslims’ readings of the Qur’anic verse and concludes that the patriarchal readings should take the blame of the misfortune that is befalling on Muslim women. Lastly, the article urges Muslim women to cease to be on the defensive and get involved in the process of reintroducing a new kind of Qur’anic exegeses.   

 
Introduction

The status of women in Islam is arguably one of the most debate single issues in Islamic faith and generates a considerable amount of debate from both within Muslims and non-Muslims alike.[2] At least two schools of thought have so far stemmed from the debate. First are those who view Muslim women as segregated, subordinated and ranked as second-class citizens.[3] This description and generalisation has more to do with the appalling and despicable situation of Muslim women. Such as honour killing; forced marriages; domestic violence; female genetic mutilation; and even burying girls alive.[4] Next come Muslim apologists who believe that Muslim women enjoy a greater right than any other society and that “Islam improved the position of women in all respects”.[5]Moreover these people view that Islam liberated women from many ill-treatment and inhuman practises.  For instance these people claim that whereas in other cultures woman gives up her family name, in Islam she has right to keep her name.[6] Furthermore, while in other faiths divorce is not impossible, in Islam, these people argue, woman is allow to seek for divorce. 

While both claims are understandable they nevertheless appear to contain some flaws, to say the least. For instance it would wholly be misleading and ignorance to put the whole blame on Islam without taking into consideration the socio, geographical and political circumstances in which the religion was revealed. Likewise it would also be oversimplification to say that Islam grants women an absolute right and that Muslim women enjoy more rights greater than any other society.  I should also admit that it would be foolish and arrogant on my part to claim that a complex topic such as ‘women in Islam’ can be studied in details in such a limited space. While nothing should prevent us from trying, we nevertheless, hope that our readers would appreciate our constraint as much as we value their effort and time in reading this article.   

Appalling Facts

While we are celebrating International women’s Day around the world we are told that here in U.K two women are murdered in every week. We are also saddened by the news that one in every four women here in the U.K suffers from domestic violence and that one in every four women is either victim or attempt of rape. [7]

Although the above mentioned figure may include Muslim women as well but the sad reality is that much of the time because of the nature of the situation such as pressure from relatives, hardly any women come forward. For instance how many Muslim women are killed in the so called humour killing here in Britain or elsewhere?  How many Muslim women suffer from the trauma of forced marriages and beating and so forth in the name of Islam? Unfortunately we do not know and it would be wholly unwise to speculate.

For instance in February last month a Muslim man was charged with beheading his wife. What made this case even more alarming is the fact that the perpetrator was known to be a very ‘moderate’. Muslim whose view of moderation and liberal Islam led him to establish a TV station called the ‘Bridge’. This station had an aim of showing moderate Islam and also “countering stereotypes of Muslims”.[8] The crime of his wife was nothing but she wanted to have her divorce and the husband in return believed that as Muslim women she was not permitted to ask for divorce.[9] The end was beheading. Yes beheading your own wife in the 21st century.

In Italy a Muslim girl had her throat slit by her father who according to the Italian police, believed that “ she was too westernize in her dress and manners” and because she refused to fulfill  the will of her father which was to marry a man she did want to. For this the father murdered his own daughter in a rather horrific fashion because he believed that as the ‘guardian’ of her own daughter, Islam gives him the right to marry her against her will.  Another Muslim man was convicted of murdering his own daughter because she loved a Shi’a man and since the family was Sunni the father therefore decided that the poor girl should be killed; because of the shame that she brought into the family. Here again in the name of Islam because as a Sunni they don’t consider the Shi’a to be Muslims. What is taking place in Iraq is a sad evidence of the hate between the Sunni and Shi’a.

In February this year a sixteen year old girl was buried alive by her father who according to the report was “unhappy his daughter had male friends”.[10] This practice of burying girls alive was widespread among the Arabs because they believed that having a baby girl was shameful; Qur’an however did condemn this practice. In Saudi Arabia, the birth place of Islam, fourteen young school girls were let burned to death when a fire engulfed their school. The school doors were locked and the poor girls prevented from escaping because they were not “properly covered”. Hence the fire fighters were not allowed to go into burning building to rescue the girls because the officials “did not want physical contact between the girls” and the fire fighters because Islam does not allow it.[11] Hanny Megally states that: "Women and girls may have died unnecessarily because of extreme interpretations of the Islamic dress code”.[12]

In the Name of Islam

Do these abuses and ill-treatment stemmed from purely cultural illness. Do the scripture of Islam, the Qur’an condone or condemn these abuses?[13] I find the Qur’an and traditions to be at the very heart of the problem. Or at least to be more accurate, the readings and the interpretations of the texts are at the heart of the problem. Asma Barlas makes the following comment:“To identify Islam inseparably with oppression [of women] is to ignore the reality of misreadings of the sacred text”.[14]

Take for instance the issue of “Men are superior/ protectors of women” and “wife beating”. Some Muslims go as far as to say that men are superiors to women and the sad thing is that this superiority, they would argue, is not only physical but also mental and spiritual. Sadly enough they quote the Qur’an to justify this claim. For instance a Qur’anic verse reads the following: “Men are [protectors/ superiors to] of women because God has made one of them to excel the other” ( Qur’an 3: 34). The word used by the Qur’an is ‘Qawwamune’ and can, as El- Fadl rightly explained, be translated as protector, guardians, supporters or masters. Moreover, the word can also be translated as servants.[15] It goes without saying that very few people would be ready opt ‘servants’ as the accurate meaning.

Beside “Man superior/protectors”, some Muslim men would say that beating one’s wife is acceptable because the Qur’an allows it:“ As to those women on whose part you see ill conduct, admonish them, refuse to share their beds and beat them”( Qur’an 3: 34).[16]  This verse presents difficulties and generates a considerable amount of contradictions. Moreover the verse has opened “serious misinterpretation”. This verse along with others such as the Qur’an’s allowing polygamy makes it difficult, if not impossible, to anyone seeking to advocate that the Qur’an “is egalitarian and anti- patriarchal”.[17]

I remember few years ago in France the bewilderment of Prof Tariq Ramadan when President Nicolas Sarkozy, then Interior Minister, put the issue “wife beating” to him while the two were debating on the national TV. The latter asked the former does Islam allow “wife beating” or not? Prof Ramadan in return was somehow uncomfortable but later admitted. I  Also I recall once more in an interfaith meeting two years ago when the issue of “wife beating” was on the table again. One of the Muslim participants who both is well-read and well respected within the Muslim community here in Britain, was so adamant to prove that “wife beating” is not in the Qur’an. I was of course surprised to see a versatile scholar acting like an armchair scholar. 

I just can’t comprehend why Muslim scholars should be uncomfortable or shy away from answering this question. Yes Qur’an does say beat your wife but the most important things is also to understand the context in which this is said. A hard look at the historical context of the occasion of the revelation of this verse reveals that the provision of this verse was “in the nature of restrictions [and] not a license” for men to continue beating their wives.[18] If one is to consider the verse more carefully, it becomes apparent that beating is the last resort and that is because beating and other atrocities was very much widespread in this patriarchal tribal society; after all we are talking about 7th century Arabia.

How about the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad himself? How did he understand this Qur’anic verse? While time does not allow us put here all the relevant reports related to Muhammad’s approach to this verse i.e. ‘Men superior/protectors’ and ‘wife beating’, I consider the following tradition to be sufficient. Muhammad is reported to have said to his followers that: “the best among you is the one who is the best with his family and I am the best with my family”.[19] It is important to note there is no single tradition which states or even hints that Muhammad had ever raised his hand against any person.

It is very unfortunate that the above verses ‘wife beating’ and ‘men are/ superiors protectors’ are taken to mean that the Qur’an advocates gender inequality, condones violence and heinous deeds towards women. However, every sound minded person would see that the above quoted verse do neither justify nor condone the appalling condition of Muslim women. Unfortunately, however, some people beg to differ.

I do certainly not wish to be perceived as a Muslim apologist. However, if my reader does so, then her/his reading of me is, to some degree, understandable but I hope that such reading would not lead her/him to similar ill-reasoning and dogmatic conclusion that some people hold about some passages in the Qur’an. Time and time again the Qur’an tells its readers that both woman and man are equal in the sight of God and that most honourable amongst mankind is not male, female, rich or poor, but the most righteous. Hence I would invite my reader to take a look; even briefly, at the below Qur’anic verse before she/he jumps into conclusion. 

“O mankind! We created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that may know each other. Verily the most honored of you in the sight of God is the most righteous of you. Verily God is All-Knowing, All-Aware” (Qur’an 49:13).

Conclusion

What is presented is just a tip of the iceberg; there are many more atrocities that are being inflicted on Muslim women in the name of Islam. However I do recognise the fact that the problem is more complex than it appears and that generalising is both an oversimplification and mistake, to a degree. Likewise, while I do acknowledge that socio and cultural factors play a part in the problem, however, I do have a strong believe that Muslims’ reading and understandings of the Texts i.e. the Qur’an and traditions, should take bigger blame. But if we accept that the ‘reading’ is influenced by milieus then the blame lays entirely on the person who reads.

Hence there is an urgent need for Muslims, mainly those in west, to fully understand the historical context in which the Qur’an was revealed and also be cautious of the “conservative and patriarchal exegesis” that is carried by the previous scholars.[20]  These Muslim exegetes were living in a patriarchal and misogynistic society and attempted to interpret the Qur’an “to legitimise actual usage of their own day”.[21] To this we say that the Qur’an is a Divine Book but its interpretation is Human.  Therefore any Divine Book whose meaning and message is sought through literal interpretation not only loses its wisdom but also becomes a dangerous weapon.

Muslim women also have a role to play. As Barlas remind us “ even though Muslim women directly experience the consequences of oppressive misreading of religious texts, few question their legitimacy and fewer still have explored the libratory aspects of the Qur’an’s teachings”.[22] Moreover, it appears that many Muslim women seem not to be aware of the fact that in the early period of Islam women played vital roles in shaping the then embryonic Muslim community. Take for instance Khadija, the first wife of Muhammad. She was the first to convert to Islam, owned “her own business and played a prominent role in the birth of the Islamic community”[23]. Furthermore women and men used to pray in same places and that women also used to fight in battles alongside men.

Hence it is high time that the oppression stopped once and for ever. Muslim women need not to be on the defensive but rather offensive. Those who are familiar with the English Primer League would know that the best way to defend is to attack, to borrow Jose Mourinho, the former coach of Chelsea’s loved expression.[24]  Muslim women such as Fatima Mernissi, Amina Wadud, Asma Barlas to name just few understand this point very well as their books are annoying many ‘Islamists’ and awakening many Muslim women. It is to be hoped that many more women will follow suit.

[1] Dr Bacum is one of our editors who have published a number of papers with Open Theology. For more information about Dr Bacum visit our web-page with the names of Editors.
[2] Ruth Roded, Women in Islamic Biographical Collections ( Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc, 1994), p.1 ; Khaled Abou El Fadl, The Great Theft ( Harper Collins Publishers, 2007), p. 250;
[3] John L. Esposito, Islam, Gender and Social Change ( Oxford University Press, 1998)
[4] Shelina Zahra, ‘Beware a New Jahiliyyah’, Emel Magazine, March 2010, p. 19. In February this year a sixteen year old girl was buried alive by family.
[5] B. A. Awad, ‘ The Status of Women in Islam’, The Islamic Quarterly, vol. viii no: 1-2 (1964)p. 22 ; Leila Ahmed, Women and Gender in Islam  (Yale University press, 1992), p. 42;  Fadwa El-Guindi, Veil, Modesty, Privacy and Resistance ( Berg, 1999), p. 10.
[6] Ahmed, op. cit, p. 40
[7] Zahra,op. cit., p. 19.
[8] BBC News, February, 17th 2009.
[9] There is a claim that Muslim women cannot seek divorce but this is not true at all. Islam does permit woman to file divorce if she is not happy.
[10] Zahra,op. cit., p. 19.
[11]  Abou El Fadl, op. cit,  p. 251.
[12] Hanny Megally is the Middle East and North Africa Director of the International Center for Transitional Justice.  This horrible event was reported by BBC, Washington Post and other major cable news but because of the pressure from the Saudis was not properly covered. 
[13] Asma Barlas, Believing Women in Islam ( University Texas  Press, 2002), p. 1.
[14] Ibid., p. xi
[15] Abou El Fadl, p. 267.
[16] Qur’an 3: 34.
[17]Barlas, op. cit., p. 6.
[18] Ibid., p. 6.
[19] Hadith reported by both Bukhari and Muslim.
[20] Barlas, op. cit., , p. 9.
[21] Ibid., p.8.
[22] Barlas , op. cit., p. 3.
[23] Esposito, op. cit., p. xiii.
[24] Please no resentment if you are an Arsenal or Tottenham diehard fans. The fact that I am an United supporter does not make things better either.