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A Call for Coexistence
Episode 22
Mr. Amr Khaled:
In the Name of Allah,
The All-Merciful, The Ever-Merciful. All praises be to Allah, Lord of the
worlds. Prayers and peace be upon Allah’s Messenger Muhammad
(SAWS).
Our episodes on the four imams
of jurisprudence are about to end and thus we will dedicate this one to talk
about women in the lives of the four imams and the stance of their jurisprudence
on issues related to them. My main aim is not only to refute the
allegations of the West that Islam has oppressed women, but more importantly to
show every woman how Islam honored, dignified and ranked her high, .
Today we are have a woman as
our guest scholar, to set an example of coexistence, Dr. Lina al-Hemsy, a
Professor of comparative religion and Islamic jurisprudence at al-Azhar
University, Damascus branch. Dr. Lina, would you please elaborate on the
issue of women in Islamic jurisprudence.
Dr. Lina:
I consider the four imams to be among the greatest people in the history of
mankind. If we look at the status of women at the outset of the 20th
century, we find that many Muslim scholars fought against by Dr. Taha Hussein’s
initiative to allow women to join the Faculty of Arts for instance. The
different schools of thought of our imams allowed women to study, teach and even
to participate in ijtihad (independent reasoning) and fatwa (giving
religious opinions). When comparing the elevated stayus of Women in Islam
to the depressing state of women worldwide, one can not help but be impressed.
Up to the year 1938, women in France did not even enjoy financial independence.
Mr. Amr Khaled:
But women enjoyed this particular right in Islam. In our history, we learn
of how the reat companion and caliph Omar Ibnul-Khattab (RA)
agreed to give a loan to Hind Bint-Utba for her to establish her own trade.
Dr. Lina:
Compare the status of women in England, in 1085, when a husband had the right of
selling his wife, to her status 15 centuries ago during the era of the Prophet
(SAWS). Women were allowed to attend the Prophet’s teaching sessions but
were to take seats behind men. Women were not satisfied with this and asked the
Prophet (SAWS) to give them extra-sessions, which would be for women only.
In another example of great respect and esteem exhibited towards women, we learn
of when the Prophet (SAWS) asked ash-Shifa’ah al-Adawiyah (a woman) to
teach his wife, Hafsa (RA), how to read and write.
In Islam, women were allowed
to participate actively in politics and in social life. All of these many
allowances and rights constituted the basis on which the four imams founded
their opinions.
Mr. Amr Khaled:
Imam Malik was advised to continue his studies at the
hands of a woman, Aishah Bint-Sa’d Ibn-Abu-Waqqas.
Dr. Lina:
Islamic history is filled with the names of women scholars, muftis and those who
practiced ijtihad. Al-Hafidh al-Munthiry, a scholar of hadith,
had twenty female teachers and sheiks. Twelve of the teacher and sheiks of
Ibnul-Qayyim al-Jawzy, a scholar of jurisprudence, were female. Imam
adh-Dhahaby stated that not a single woman was accused of falsely narrating
after the Prophet (SAWS). Lady Aishah (RA) narrated 2210
ahadith. The companions used to resort to her whenever they disagree on
any of the religious matters.
Among the Successors also are
many women who used to teach Qur’an, hadith and jurisprudence such as Hafsah
Bint-Serene who used to teach the Qur’an. Imam ash-Shafi’iy learnt hadith
from Nafisa Bintul-Hassan.
Mr. Amr Khaled:
Yes, this is true. The first thing he did when
he came to Egypt was to go directly to her and ask her to teach him the science
of hadith. Women certainly played an outstanding role in our Islamic
history. They participated in the Pledge of al-Aqaba, they were allowed to
give protection to the Prophet (SAWS) and above all, shared in the battles.
As a matter of fact., the first martyr in Islam was a woman.
Would you please explain to us
why the status of Muslim women has regressed greatly over the centuries.
Dr. Lina:
Let us recall what Murad Hoffmann, the German Ambassador who converted to Islam,
said. He invited Muslims to restore the status of women in the Muslim
world back to what it was like in early Islam. There are two main factors
behind this regression. First is the fanaticism to certain schools of
thought and the immoderation that flourished in the absence of ijtihad.
The latter reached its peak in the tenth Hijri century. This led to
imitation and replication of the scholars’ views without applying reason or
referring to Qur’an and Sunnah.
Second is the mixing and
combining of religious concepts with cultural traditions. An example of
this is when women were prevented from going to mosques, contradicting in this
regard the Prophet’s command. Another example is the barring of women from
learning, when in Islam, learning is actually an obligation. We hear some
people saying that a woman should not come out of her father’s home except when
she moves to her husband’s, and from her husband’s only to be taken to her
grave!!!
Mr. Amr Khaled:
Islam is wrongly accused of oppressing women and
causing their retardation. Now it became quite obvious that Islam is
innocent of all these allegations.
Back to the issue of ijtihad,
we need to elaborate more on its importance and the controversy that surrounds
it.
Dr. Lina:
There are recent matters that have no rulings in the books of the four imams and
other scholars. These matters necessitate ijtihad. This is
what the four imams themselves did and what we must do to be truly treading in
their footsteps. Besides, we have to deduce and extract rulings from
existing jurisprudence books for the new events that emerge. However, there is
no
ijtihad in those matters for which there are conclusive evidence in the
Qur’an and Sunnah. This is the red zone. So there must be
constructive jurisprudence to set rulings for recent incidents, and in the
meantime selective jurisprudence to select from among the existing rulings what
suits our current time and place.
Mr. Amr Khaled:
This was exactly the policy of imam Abu-Hanifah. He
refused for jurisprudence to standstill in the face of the ever changing
circumstances, otherwise, a wide gap would form between Islam as a religion and
legislation and the new events and ideologies of our present life. There
is no doubt that Islam is valid for all times and places and can coexist with
the changing circumstances. Therefore, breaching this gap necessitates
deduction from the Qur’an and Sunnah.
Dr. Lina:
There are examples from the four jurisprudence schools of thought
concerning women of which some are conclusive and others are subject to ijtihad.
First is the issue of public leadership, such as the right of a woman to become
a Caliph, a minister, a ruler, etc. The four imams denied women this right
based on some evidence from the Qur’an and hadith. However, contemporary
scholars fall in one of two groups: those who take the view of the four imams as
fore granted, and those who see that women can hold important posts save
presidency. Examples of the latter group are Sheikhs Qaradawy, al-Bouty,
Hassan Fadl-Allah, Ahmad Diftar and Shaltout. Sheikh al-Maraghy believed
that women should be allowed to become presidents also. These scholars based
their opinion on the fact that there is no conclusive text in this regard.
Mr. Amr Khaled:
Although I am partial to the opinion of Abu-Hanifah,
yet the call for coexistence maintains that I should accept both opinions.
Dr. Lina:
We sometimes see a scholar, appearing on a satellite channel,
presenting his own opinion as the sole accepted one. Then another scholar
presents a different view claiming that it is the only one which is right.
The end result is that people become confused and perplexed.
The second example is
the issue of women’s testimony; the weapon that the westerns used efficiently
against Islam claiming that Islam considers women legally as not fully
competent. This is based on the ayah
which can be translated as, “And
call in to witness two witnesses of your men; yet, in case the two are not two
men, then one man and two women …” (TMQ,
2:282). This ayah is
conclusive in financial and civil matters. It can be explained on the
basis that women are overwhelmed by their household duties, pregnancy and
delivery, that they might not remember precisely these matters. However,
there is no conclusive evidence against accepting her testimony in criminal
matters.
The third example is the
ruling pertaining to women’s right to hold judicial posts. The great
majority of scholars prohibit this based on the same reasons for prohibiting
women’s public leadership. Abu-Hanifah allowed it only in matters in which
women are allowed to testify. Ibn-Jarir and at-Tabary are of the view
that, by analogy, women can become adjudicators as long as they are allowed to
be muftis. So in such a case we can resort to selective jurisprudence to
select what suits our time.
Mr. Amr Khaled:
I would like to add an important point here.
When Allah (SWT)
decrees a certain ruling He reveals it in an ayah so clear and conclusive
that it leaves no doubt. For instance the ayah on pilgrimage which can be
translated as, “… then (make) a fast of three days in the Pilgrimage, and
seven when you return, that is ten completely; …” (TMQ, 2:196). Other
ayahs are flexible in their meaning that they do not provide conclusive
evidence, such as the ayah which can be translated as, “And of mankind
are (they) who trade diverting discourse to lead into error away from the way of
Allah …” (TMQ, 31: 6). Diverting discourse was interpreted by some as
singing, whereas others considered it inconclusive with respect to the
prohibition of singing
Dr. Lina:
The fourth example deals with inheritance. The Westerns claim
that Muslims rip women off their rights since the Qur’an says what can be
translated as, “Allah enjoins you concerning your children: to the male the
like of the portion of two females; …” (TMQ, 4:11). The consensus is
that in some situations a woman gets half of the share of a man, as in the
aforementioned ayah. However, in other situations, her share equals
that of a man, as seen in the rest of the same ayah, “And to (both) his
(i.e., the deceased’s) parents, to each one
of the two is the sixth,” and “then in case he has no children, and his
parents are his heirs, then a third is to his mother;”. As we see, the
woman sometimes even gets more than what a man gets. When we ponder on the
situations in which she gets half a man’s share, we find out that she is the
winner.
Mr. Amr Khaled:
How is this?
Dr. Lina:
In Islam, it is the men’s responsibility to support women financially. So
a woman can inherit a fortune from her father, but still her husband or brother
must expend on her. Definitely, she is the winner.
Mr. Amr Khaled:
Allah, the Great Creator, can never do injustice to a
certain sex or race. The differentiation here is not gender based; rather
it is based on the requirements and circumstances.
Dr. Lina:
This is equality as it should be. As for equality, from the European
standpoint, it ends with family disassembly, divorce and illicit relations.
When a man divorces his wife, she gets half of his wealth. Hence, he will
not proceed to marry until he is sure that that marriage will not end up with
separation.
Mr. Amr Khaled:
I read the Arabic translation of the book “The Death
of the West” by Patrick.Buchanan, who ran for presidency of the United States.
The author states that this equality has not been wise enough as it led to a
decline of the rates of marriage and childbirth.
Dr. Lina:
I read another American book tackling the legend of freedom of the Western
woman and how this apparent freedom turned out to be real oppression.
Reforming women’s status in Muslim countries should run according to the true
Islamic beliefs that dignified women and gave them their freedom.
Mr. Amr Khaled:
Thank you so much Dr. Lina. At the end, I would like to
stress the idea that there should be coexistence with women and with their right
to live in dignity. May Allah
bless you. Peace, Mercy and Blessings of Allah be upon you all.
Allah: The word Allah is the Arabic term for God. Although the use of
the word
The word Allah is the
Arabic term for God. Although the use of the word “Allah” is most often
associated with Islam, it is not used exclusively by Muslims; Arab
Christians and Arabic-speaking Jews also use it to refer to the One God.
The Arabic word expresses the unique characteristics of the One God more
precisely than the English term. Whereas the word "Allah" has no plural
form in Arabic, the English form does. Allah is the God worshipped by
all Prophets, from Adam to Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad.
TMQ=Translation
of the Meaning of the Qur'an. This translation is for the realized
meaning, so far, of the stated (Surah:Ayah) of the Qur'an. Reading
the translated meaning of the Qur'an can never replace reading it in
Arabic, the language in which it was revealed.
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