how islamic is islamic feminism ? now this question is a bit above my pay grade so i'm going to
quote from an article by a london muslim who is a person of knowledge , who has written very
extensively on muslim subjects over the years and i'll mention who it is at the end and link
to the article . he asked how valid are feminist reinterpretations of the quran ? and does the quran
really endorse feminism's dual core beliefs ? doing away with patriarchy and dethroning hierarchy to
create an egalitarian social order so that women may be put on equal footing with men
socially , politically and economically . here i wish only to draw attention to a few incongruities between
loyalty to feminist principles and certain passages of the holy quran . for example : how
can one claim every form of patriarchy to be wrong given that the quran is pretty specific when it
says in the context of marriage and family life that quote : men are protectors of women
chapter 4 verse 34 . and that men have a degree over them 2 2 8. of course such verses aren't saying
that every man is intellectually , morally and spiritually superior to every woman
but they are sanctioning patriarchy at least in the marital and family context
our prophet said : indeed each of you is a shepherd and each of you is responsible for their flock
the ruler is a shepherd over the people and is responsible for his subjects . a man is a shepherd
over his family and is responsible for them . a woman is a shepherd over her husband's home
and children and is responsible for them . and this hadith is found in bukhari and muslim .
surely this hadith is not just speaking about patriarchy but to a sense of hierarchy too
hierarchy makes more than a guest appearance in the quranic command : oh you who believe obey allah
and obey the messenger and those charged with authority among you 4 59 . we see hierarchy again
in the verse which tells us who does and who does not have the right to speak about matters of wider
public welfare . quote : if any matter comes to them concerning security or fear they spread it around
but if they had only referred it to the messenger or to those charged with authority those amongst
them who are able to investigate and reason out the matter would then know what to do with it 4 83.
at some point be it the hierarchy present in a head of state's authority over the subjects or
citizens or a wife's obedience to her husband and her yielding to some level of patriarchy
or the non-egalitarian unequal right of parents to receive kind and dutiful treatment from their
children . feminists will encounter an epistemic impasse . do they honor the clear-cut injunctions
of the quran ? or do they remain glued to the key feminist principles and say no to the holy text ?
do they acquiesce to some degree of quranic patriarchy and hierarchy or put the feminist quest
to abolish these two evils ahead of revelation ? professor Jonathan A C Brown definitely notes : the move
to assuming that scripture contains the truth but need only be understood properly to saying
no to scripture because it says something unacceptable or impossible is a blow that
shatters the vessel of scriptural reverence . it means that some extra scriptural source of truth
has been openly acknowledged as more powerful and compelling than the words of god in scripture .
so how islamic is islamic feminism ? any creed philosophy , ideology value system or
ism including islamic feminism that is given final authority to decide what is or isn't good or bad
relegating islam's revelation to a secondary place forfeits any claim to be considered islamic .
for loyalty to feminism's core doctrines and loyalty to islam's revealed truths
are at odds with each other . loyalty to one will undeniably necessitate
disloyalty and disbelief in the other this much is clear .
so that is taken from "Justice , Equality and Feminism : The Quranic View "
by Surkheel Abu Aaliyah . as i say lives in london and i will link to his fascinating website below ,
he has many many articles written over the years on islamic jurisprudence , on politics , on
atheism is particularly good on atheism . he went to university he studied astronomy but he's a
very learned man and studies under the real ulama actual scholars so you can see where his knowledge
comes from . and i think overall i agree with the principle if one is going to have a religion
islam or christianity or judaism . one must take it very seriously and not let it be subverted by the
passing fashions of the age and they are passing fashions because what was acceptable 10 years ago
is no longer acceptable today and doubtless there will be a new set of values tomorrow
constantly evolving and changing like fashion and a religion that takes revelation seriously
must stand above that and and have be rooted in unchangeable and unchanging values . and
the feminism we've been discussing there clearly puts these fashions over god , over
his revelation and that to any serious religious person is unacceptable i would think . so i tend
to agree with the thrust of the argument in that article . what do you think ? until next time