Working against dominant conceptions of masculinity

When seeking men as partners in campaigns surrounding violence against women/gender-based violence, it may be useful to discuss how violence may be conceived of as antithetical to - rather than supported by - dominant conceptions of the masculine. Dialogue with male partners and campaign strategies (ie the format in which your group disseminates information) should be informed by the ways in which contemporary masculine ideals support non-violent behaviour, eg: linking mental strength and status to non-violence. This exercise demonstrates the flexibility that exists even within dominant constructions of male and female identity, and the role that rhetoric plays in these constructions. When working within hegemonic gender categories, we can rearticulate and expand the socially and culturally accepted repertoire of gender-defined characteristics with creative use of current rhetoric, which allows for greater breadth of agency for women and men. Naureen Shameem Femin Ijtihad

Separating women’s rights projects from being associated with western-influence and discredited as a degradation of Islam.

FI ACADEMIC ANALYSIS
Tools for Lawyers, Policy-Makers and Activists

Academic Analysis of: Mir-Hosseini, Ziba. “Muslim Women’s Quest for Equality: Between Islamic Law and Feminism.” Critical Inquiry vol. 32, no. 4 (Summer 2006): 629-645

By: Melissa Sions, Francesca Spidalieri, Natasha Latiff and Helena Zeweri
The views expressed are not those of the authors above. This is an academic analysis of this particular article.

Using the distinction of Shari’ah and Fiqh

Why the knowledge of this distinction is crucial in separating women’s rights projects from being associated with western-influence and discredited as a degradation of Islam.

Being aware of the distinction between Shari’ah and Fiqh may allow activists to take the discourse of Islamic feminism outside the stigma and debates over the legacy of colonialism and Western agendas. This is especially so in countries whose populace experience foreign intervention as a fact of colonization, occupation and invasion.

The association of feminism with colonialism and the missionary project to attack Muslim society during the colonial campaigns of the 19th and 20th century has often forced Muslim women to choose between feminist projects and anti-colonialist/nationalist movements within their own societies, as they became positioned as symbols of cultural authenticity and carriers of a religious tradition and way of life in contrast to those of Western countries.In practice, this meant that women had to choose between their identity/faith and their gender. Although 19th and 20th century colonialism does not exist today, in many Muslim countries gender norms and customs are still considered as symbols of national identity and cultural authenticity, which are posed in opposition to Western culture. Thus, activists currently grappling with this kind of opposition should make an effort to articulate the concepts of women’s rights and gender equality in a way that does not trigger the memory of colonialism, occupation, or invasion by the West.

Having an authority over the difference between Shari’ah and Fiqh i.e. a) (Shari’ah) the sacred and immutable aspect of religion and religious knowledge, and b) (Fiqh) the human interpretations which, on the other hand, should address contemporary challenges — can help women’s groups demonstrate to opposition, that women’s rights is grounded in the Qur’anic discourse and that fiqh (man-made interpretations) should continually seek to reach the spirit of the Qur’an, where contemporary application fails to do so. By positioning the question of women’s rights within the Islamic discourse in an authoritative and well-referenced manner, women’s groups can dispute accusations against them for being influenced by western-led agendas.This last point needs to be further articulated as opponents to Islamic feminism (Muslim traditionalists, Islamic fundamentalists, and secular fundamentalists) may refuse to recognize the historically contingent and evolving nature of Islam and Islamic law. In order to address this opposition and break the dichotomy of religious identity vs gender, women activists should use the discursive tool of separating historical contingencies from religious interpretations, and base their arguments on a more fluid interpretation of Shari’ah, mainly through Qur’anic interpretation (tafsir).

For lawyers and activists on the importance of distinguishing Shari’ah and Fiqh

Tools for Lawyers, Policy-Makers and Activists

FI Academic Analysis of: Mir-Hosseini, Ziba. “Muslim Women’s Quest for Equality: Between Islamic Law and Feminism.” Critical Inquiry vol. 32, no. 4 (Summer 2006): 629-645

By: Melissa Sions, Francesca Spidalieri, Natasha Latiff and Helena Zeweri
The views expressed are not those of the authors above. This is an academic analysis of this particular article.

Distinction between Shari’ah and Fiqh

The underlying idea in Ziba’s thesis is the main distinction in Islamic tradition between Shari‘ah and fiqh.

The distinction is important as it can enable organizations to recognize that the lack of gendered citizenship rights and the discriminatory practices that some Muslim women confront are not necessarily derived from the core message of Islam’s sacred texts, but rather to the interpretation given to those texts by traditional political and religious institutions.

Indeed, Shari’ah is “the totality of God’s will as revealed to the Prophet Muhammad”—thus essentially an enduring set of guideline. Fiqh, however, is the process of human endeavour to “discern and extract legal rulings from the sacred sources of Islam,” which the author argues has often been conflated with Shari’ah even if it is culturally derived. This distinction also elucidates a tendency in Muslim discourse for fiqh to be equated with Shari’ah, often with the ideological intent of passing fiqh as divine and infallible, when instead it is a product of patriarchal, man-made interpretations situated at different historical moments.

How and why the distinction between Shariah and Fiqh is important to activists and lawyers?

The recognition and understanding of the distinction between Shari‘ah and fiqh is crucial to strengthening the arguments of committed activists who are trying to respond to the conservative view that fiqh is an immutable and absolute reflection of religious principles as articulated in the core Islamic texts. This knowledge can provide activists with the informational tools to produce counter-narratives to patriarchal and discriminatory discourses on women’s roles and rights, through contextualizing those discourses within the historical moments during which religious and political institutions defined Islamic jurisprudence.

Through re-discovering Islamic jurisprudential history of interpretation and development of Islamic sources, activists can better articulate how inequalities embedded in fiqh are not manifestations of divine will but rather human constructions, informed by the social and psychological realities of early Islamic authors. In this new light, activists could demystify both the power games conducted in a religious language, and the instrumental use of religion to justify autocratic rules and patriarchal culture.

This essay can be further interpreted as a call to activists to educate one another on the discursive conflation of Shari’ah and fiqh, and to deconstruct this false link in an effort to argue for policy changes.

What makes an interpretation of law legitimate and authoritative?

Activists can further explore questions of legitimacy and authority in Islamic jurisprudence and thus can challenge the notion that the interpretations of state and local religious authorities are absolute truths, and instead position them as historical constructions. This argument could even be made without evoking the subject of women’s rights and so avoiding unnecessary backlash. The answers to fundamental questions, such as “When is power exercised legitimately?, Who can exercise it? And when is resistance against power legitimate and necessary?”, may also generate greater civic engagement.

Women’s Rights to post-divorce maintenance

Femin Ijtihad Case Law Project

Commentary of Md. Hefzur Rahman (petitioner) v  Shamsun Nahar Begum

By: F.I. Legal Researcher, Sharifah Alliana Idid 

The issue of post-divorce maintenance is an issue widely debated among lawyers, jurists, and scholars, specifically on the interpretation of the term “mataa” or “mut’ah”. Its literal translation means “gratification” or “gift” as written by Dawoud El-Alami [1995:54]. The contention is whether this “gift” or “gratification” is intended as a compensation or consolation to a divorced wife and whether it is compulsory.

Surah Al-Baqarah, verses 240-242, makes specific reference to provision for divorced women by way of maintenance. According to these verses, dissolution of marriage comes about in two ways: death and divorce. Both instances are covered by the provision in Surah Al-Baqara and verse 242 further adds that God continues to provide signs so that Muslims may act accordingly. This verse shows that a correct understanding and interpretation of the Qur’an texts is essential to ensure that the Islamic principles and teachings are properly followed. Dr. Pereira [1999: 2] claimed that such understanding and interpretation “ought to be based on the principles of justice, reason and sustenance of the spirit of the Qur’an”.

The importance of ijtihad in interpreting and applying Islamic principles to a progressively changing society was observed in the Report of the Commission on Marriage and Family Laws: “No progressive legislation is possible if Muslim assemblies remain only interpreters and blind adherents of ancient schools of law.” (Gazzette of Pakistan, 1956: 1231). This statement is significant because in this case, upon reading and interpreting the relevant verse, the learned Judges decided that Shamsun should be maintained beyond her iddat period. This is quite a notable decision since in most cases of divorce, the husband need only pay up and until the end of the woman’s iddat period.

In a similar case, Gul Bibi vs. Muhammad Saleem, the judgment of the court was based on the principles of justice and common sense:

“According to Shiah and Shafi law the wife is entitled to maintenance notwithstanding the fact that she was allowed to get into arrears without having the amount fixed by the Court, or by agreement with the husband…

In the instant case the parties admittedly follow Hanafi school of thought… However, as some thinkers of Islam do favour the positive view and such view is also consistent with reason, logic and common sense, its adoption as a rule in case of such sects which do not strictly follow that school of thought, would not be unjustified.”

Dr. Pereira also claimed where one school of thought does not provide relief, then it would not be wrong to implement Muslim laws as interpreted and implemented by another school of thought:

“Bangladesh, which has a predominance of Hanafi adherents, implements Maliki based Muslim laws too. This by itself should be enough for us to realise that where borrowing from one school would be more consonant with principles of justice, fairness and equity, it would be erroneous not to do so.” (p.4)

Dr. Pereira, however, stated that post-divorce maintenance and the iddat maintenance are two different situations:

“The Shari’a Courts in Malaysia have rightly highlighted the distinction between the iddah maintenance and mut’a or post divorce maintenance. Many scholars confuse iddah with divorce. In fact, iddah is a continuation of the marriage, being a waiting period during which a divorce pronouncement may be revoked. Thus during this time the husband and wife continue to be within a legally married state and therefore the question of mut’a at this stage does not arise. During the iddah the woman is entitled to maintenance as a wife. It is after the completion of the idda period that the divorce becomes effective and thus the question of post divorce maintenance where the divorce was arbitrarily brought by the husband.” (p.4)

While the learned Judge in this case did not make the distinction between post-divorce maintenance and iddat maintenance, it may be relevant for the development and progress of women’s rights in regards to Islamic law. The distinction between the two clearly shows the effect of ijtihad. By properly analysing the different nature of the two circumstances, judges may find it easier to protect the rights of women in relation to their welfare during and after divorce. This case has shown that Judges in Bangladesh are taking the iniative to read, understand and interpret the Qur’an independently of previous jurists and scholars. Certainly this is the attitude needed by the judiciary in order to ensure the fair, just and reasonable application of the Islamic principles in all cases. In view of the hardships that many divorced women face, an active approach by the judiciary would ensure their rights and welfare are protected and enforced.

Bibliography

Monsoor, Taslima, Judiciary & Gender on Trial: Reported and Unreported Decisions on Family Court, Dhaka (Nymphee, 2004).

Dawoud El-Alami, Mut’at al-Talaq under Egyptian and Jordanian Law, in 2 Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law 54 (Cotran and Mallat, eds. 1995).

Dr. Faustina Pereira, WLUML, Dossier 22, November 1999; (http://www.wluml.org/node/334).

Gazette of Pakistan, Extraordinary, 20 June, 1956.

Gul Bibi vs Muhammad Saleem, PLD 1978 Quetta 117.

Obedient Wives Club meets with opposition from Muslim women

A new organization calling itself the Obedient Wives Club has gained traction in Muslim majority states, with chapters in Jordan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. In Malaysia, the chapter’s founders count themselves among the members of Global Ikhwan, a group that promotes traditionalist interpretations of Islam that include the practice of polygamy. Supporters of the club attribute a rise in Malaysia’s divorce rates to the failure of women to be good wives. According to chapter founder Dr. Rohayah Mohamed, “…a good wife must be a sex worker to her husband.” 

The club has met with opposition from women’s groups like Malaysia’s Sisters in Islam. For more information, click here for an editorial from Altmuslimah. The Reuters report is available here and contains further information about the mission of Global Ikhwan. 

Afghan women brave opposition to join police

Afghanistan’s growing police force is providing Afghan women with new opportunities for employment and personal development. President Hamid Karzai has announced a goal for the country’s police force to include 5000 women by the end of 2014. That number currently hovers around 1000. Yet the trend has met with opposition from traditionalists, and many women are forced to defy social expectations for their sex. Harassment is common, and threaten the Karzai administrations diversity goals.

For further reading, click here.