Religion and Theology

The Veil and the Male Elite by Fatima Mernissi
The book certainly draws upon some deep thinking when talking about the concept of the Veil and the Male elite. However, one would expect that in a book, with reference to the title, there would be more work that would revolve around the subject area. The book draws upon other areas of thought and builds a foundation for the understanding of the differences in interpretations that have come about in time.

The book starts off with making the argument that in history, it has become clear that there have been certain perversions to all religions. However, in the case of Islam, the elite support a view of the Quran and Hadith that favors the elitist male. At best, the author tries to reflect that Muslim women are thus treated as second class citizens. Here, the author makes a clarification statement that women are treated as good Muslims, but the problem lies in the entrustment of power and authority.

According to the author, after the death of the Prophet, there was no concrete text referencing the Quran and the Hadith. Thus, even though the collection and compilation periods were thorough, there is still a room for inconsistencies. As such, the author points out that various Hadith point towards political inequality for women. She bases these arguments on the fact that they were suspiciously remembered by the male elite.  Building her argument, the author claims that certain sources in the compilation period and compares Aishas compilations with those of Abu Hurayra, who had recalled many Hadiths which depicted negative equality for women.

In the second part, which consists of topics such as the veil, the Prophet and space, and the Prophet and Women the author talks about the revolution in Medina. Before the conquest of the Arabian Peninsula, the author discusses a period of difficulty. According to her, the rules and foundations laid were in respect to the situation at that time. Some of the key factors that came into consideration were the fact that war pressure created a strenuous environment. To keep a balance of interests, certain concessions and stability had to be reached concerning the key issues of women at that time.

The author discusses the incident which led to formation of the concept of the veil. According to her, the curtain or screen that separated female living quarters was based on an incident that took place in ancient times. The veil was prescribed when a bunch of men, identified as street hoodlums tried to molest Muslim women. After investigation, it was found that they were in fact searching for slave girls and other women.  Thus, the concept of the veil was a source of identification. Using various sources of Quran as referencing points to discuss the imposition of the veil, the author sheds light on the formation of the veil itself.  She reveals the verses that the Prophet narrated that directed women to wear full loose cloths to cover themselves the veil.

The book narrates the conflict of history and traditions. The author discusses how the modern muslim society broke free from the previous concepts of jihaliya. She reflects how the tradition of dominating women was broken by the inception of Islam in that period. However, the author sheds light onto some conflicts that took part during this time period. Because the Muhajarun, the ones who emigrated from Mecca were not use to the new ideals set by Islam, they wanted to preserve their dominant positions, and thus maintain the status quo. Thus, implementation of the new ideas and new revelations because difficult in the formation of the relatively young religion at that time.

The underlying conclusion that the Author reaches in the preface reflect on the main facts of the book itself. The author states that women rights in Islam are not subdued by the Hadith alone. Neither the Prophet, nor the Quran impose inequality on the woman gender. However, the problem occurs in the conflict of interests between men and their vested interest in preserving the concept of the Male elite. According to the author, if women are treated unequally in Islam, it is because of that philosophy alone.

Inside the Gender Jihad Women reform in Islam by Amina Wadud
The author of this book, Dr. Wadud has been spearheading the feminist movement of Islam.  Being a woman herself, she discussed the implications she has had to face as a wife, mother, sister and woman. She narrates difficulties encountered in her lifetime and uses Islam as a source of enlightenment.

In her book, she presents a Tawhidic Paradigm, which reflects upon equality. According to her, all Muslims, regardless of gender are equal in the eyes of God. According to her, the unity and strength that binds the Muslim community to God is not because one gender is more human than the other. Since we are all humans, we are part and parcel of the same concept of unity.
The book entails various issues that the author faced her, and is pertinent to the cause of gender equality in modern times. She discusses issues ranging from social status to leadership, and also reflects upon education and sexuality for women in Islam.
Her arguments reflect the answers to two prominent questions
Does God have a gender
Are woman equal in the eyes of God

Through her arguments and narrations in the book, the author uses her personal reflection to answer the first question. According to the author, she states
Sometimes I will use she on purpose to demonstrate that I dont view it literally. Thinking of God in terms of the male pronoun does not work for me, but it works in the Arabic Language.

Basically, what the author is trying to explain through her quoted words is that a gender is often indirectly implied to God through the Arabic language. Time and custom has reinforced that idea even though there is no theoretical backing, nor is there any quoted sacred text which discusses the issue or gives it any credence. Therefore, to imply that God has a gender is not fair or argumentative in nature.
She answers the second question through the premise that since God is omnipotent, a sense of balance is predominant. Through this omnipotence, a sense of unity occurs, and with the use of that unity, a sense of equality prevails. Because of this fact, the Oneness of God, and the Oneness of everything that entails accordingly, male and female genders are also one in the eyes of God.

Women and Gender in Islam by Leila Ahmed
Modern debate has been shaped by the conversation of woman, based on their gender, being segregated from a high position in society. some argue that Islam is predominantly oppressive towards woman and the forcing of the veil and other symbolic acts as such are testimony to the fact that one of the sexes is being suppressed in this religion.  The author, using her book, discusses the controversy and arguments in a different perspective. By exploring historical backing and roots, discussing the development that has come about with time and Islamic discourse, and an explanation to the views held by various Islamic scholars, the author tries to address the controversy with this book.

The book discusses prehistoric times, before the advent of Islam and the position of women in Arab society at that time.  She starts off by discussing the pre Islamic Middle East, where she claims that Mesopotamia saw women losing their status in society due to the institutionalization of this ideology. According to her, this took place because of the sudden rise in urban centers near the Valleys of Tigris. This rise promoted military orientation, extreme competitiveness and the patriarchal society. She also discusses how this was the time period where reputable women were segregated from those of disrepute through the veil.

She begins her book with the comparison of the pre-Islamic periods and those after. The basic question she tries to address in the first part of her book is that the advent of Islam and the Prophet teachings actually increased the status of women in Arab society. She moves her argument in the direction that Islam itself has granted the greatest protection to woman, respect, status and a fundamental role in society. However, this ideology that was placed by the Prophet and the Quran has been subsequently lost. She reflects on the periods of Caliphate, with particular reference to the Abbasid period. Here, she discusses the time which marked the conclusion of discourse, interpretation and ijtihad for Muslims. She gives reference to the fact that a lot of rules and discussion was solidified in Islamic Law by this time and could not be changed. Her arguments tell a tale which reflect that customs relating to the woman gender were both better and much worse in earlier times, before the advent of Islam. The new rules and regulations that accorded more status to women were misshaped with time.  However, she also has solid arguments to some of the practices that were abolished quite clearly through Islam, such as the killing of female babies when they were born, in an attempt to sustain sons only (Female infanticide).

According to Ahmed, social factors influenced the advent of new laws and the misplacement of the ones set by The Prophet. She claims that as Islam expanded and the empire moved into much larger realms, the need to rationalize and acquire grew substantially. This rationalization and acquiring was in particular reference to the hundreds of wives and concubines by various Islamic notables at the time. The spoils of war had generated a large amount of wealth and slaves for the community. Because of these factors, Islamic laws were misshaped in the aftermath of the Prophets death.

In the later part of her book, Ahmed goes on to explain the difficulties in modern times relating to the woman question. Because of the controversy surrounding the topic, and the belief of western influence in its direction, a massive entanglement has occurred in the truth of the gender issue and the accused western encroachment. She explains how such issues have created more struggles for women trying to break free from incoherent notions imposed upon them.

The underlying conclusion that Ahmed has reached in her book is two folds. According to her, western feminism should be separated from Muslim feminism. This is in light to the idea of the veil, as some Muslim women want to wear the veil. She argues that with conformity there is a sense of considerable freedom. To Ahmed, both forms of feminism are different in nature. She views the western ideologies with a sense of caution as she implies that western feminism wants the development of woman in Islam through the same mind frame and culture as western society, which is not possible.

Second, she places a caution for all Muslim women, demanding Shariah, an Islamic law code. According to her, countries such as Egypt and Syria which promote multi cultural leniencies in their code of law, the same does not happen across the board. There are many Muslim countries, who in eventuality, actually take away the freedoms of Muslim  women, in the name of Shariah, that are in reality granted to them by Islam.

Quran and Women by Amina Wadud
The prevailing laws and conditionalitys in Islam, regarding the role and status of Women have been reanalyzed in this book. The author provides a critique in response to predominant views and interpretations of Islam and the Quran.

According to the author, women involved in the reading of the Quran will find a different concept of women explained in The Book. The author discusses the reasons in the differences in interpretations of the Holy Quran in the view that since the tafsir or interpretation of the Quran was based on the view points of a male dominated society, the interpretation needs to be revisited to clear the misconceptions and inequalities that have been produced, unfairly.

The author studies the nature of The Book and provides a different view, as opposed to those created unfairly and unjustly in the name of Islam. The book authored by Dr. Wahdud centers around an introduction, divulging into 4 distinct chapters and then offers a conclusion. The essence of the book lies in the hope to uncover the reasons of inequalities in Islam. The author quests on to find whether the inequalities between genders are dominant in the function of Islam, or simply a product of other social factors. These social factors include the most basic point that she makes, which was the exclusion of women from the initial interpretation procedures and foundational discourse. She terms that as unfair because the basics which define religion have been made without the inclusion of women in the process. Thus, there is a possibility that the inequalities that exist today are the product of the male dominated society.

She argues that with the initial discourse and the fundamental Islamic principles set, there are limitations that must be considered. With reference to feminism in Islam, she lays particular importance on the limitations bounded by nature, language, societal assumptions and the very grammar used in text. Throughout the book, she mentions how factors like these have played their role in according women a lower status than what they deserve under the light of true Islam. She later dwells upon the fact that psyche and experiences have on interpretation. As discussed earlier, since the only interpretation put forward today has been through the psyche and experience of men, gender balance can be termed as controversial.

In the central chapters of her book, she mentions the importance of grammatical connotations in a language. She examines how the language of Arabic is predominantly male centered, where each word must have a gender, thus creating a form of influence for the reader.  She argues that the following factors must be considered when dealing with Quranic verses that discuss the status or role of women

Their context
Context of similar topics in the Quran
Similar Language and Syntactical structures used in the Quran
Overriding Quranic Principles
The Quranic World View

She further uses her research to analyze and differentiate between the roles that women have been accorded based on the characters mentioned in the Quran. The roles of Moses mother, Maryam- The mother of Jesus and Bilqis The queen of Sheba are a few she has carefully assessed. According to her, the views predominant in society are based upon interpretation. According to her, though Muslim society today does not accord women the same status as it does to male rulers, these women, especially Bilqis can be celebrated as women of wisdom, and leadership characteristics, as opposed to what is the predominant view in certain sectors of Islamic Society.

In her fourth chapter, Dr. Wahdud examines the role and rights of women and the controversial entailed alongside them. in her introduction, she claimed that a hermeneutical method should be used to examine and reassess the Verses, which have been interpreted as indicating that men are accorded more status than women. On the basic 5 elements discussed earlier, she points out that such interpretations must be in context and not in contradiction with any other equality promoting signs. The Quran, according to her, is a Book for all mankind and thus can be applied to each and every social arena.

Muslim Women and Higher Education by David Tyne and Fauzia Ahmed
This study outlines some of the major forces and factors that come into play in regard to the development of the Muslim females. The book highlights some key determinants and factors that relate directly to Muslim women and their pursuit for higher education. Some of the most pertinent are listed below
Expectations from Schools and colleges
Caring responsibilities
Role of families
Islam-o-phobia
Barriers to education for Muslim women

Policy recommendations
Based on the research conducted by the authors, Muslim women face a lot of cultural restraints and religious fall back which lead them to discontinue their education or not pursue it in the long run. The truth lies in the matter is that Muslim women are not properly advised as to their options in their career choices, before, during and after college. Stereotyped attitudes of teachers and the cultural influences which command them have resulted in a lack of awareness for the Muslim women in this regard. The problem lies in the fact that coaches, mentors and teachers have a different and often unconcerned attitude towards Muslim women, hindering their chances of personal growth and development. Concerned parents or advice givers often structure advice for Muslim women that are culturally centered and respective of the norms of society, entailing fewer opportunities for women.

Other factors, such as the caring responsibilities thrust upon women are another source of concern when examining the ratio of Muslim women who continue their higher education. Marriage, subordination to the husband, child rearing and maintain the home are some influences that lead women to lead double lives. Because they have such an enormous responsibility thrust upon them both through social and religious influences, they rarely continue higher education. However, the study also found that most men and families were encouraging of married women continuing their higher education. The need for professional counseling in this respect is needed to help gear such women towards their aspirations.

The role of parents in the development of Muslim women and their higher education career lines was also discussed in the paper. Some households place barriers on women from the beginning and are oppressive in nature. The concept of arranged marriages and lack of motivation towards extending education leads to many Muslim women not continuing their higher education. This also constitutes as a stifling of opportunities for them. Marriage choices and employment prospects deter women from continuing their higher education. According to the paper, society places some automatic barriers for women. The choice of jobs, industries and work hours are more in tune with a male dominated society and tends to favor the status quo. Similarly, peer pressure and peer thinking tends to affect Muslim women in their future endeavors. A society promoting a life of a woman as a housewife will have its due influence on the young girl wanting to continue studying in the future. Parental guidance, and motivating is extremely important in this scenario.

A new concept that has invoked a lot of attention is that of Islam-o-Phobia. Racial profiling on the lines of religion has perhaps affected the Muslim community the most. This paper studied the effects on Muslim women and their prospects for higher education. Verbal abuse and harassment are part and parcel of this new situation that has developed and most Muslim students do experience it in some form or the other. Being made to act as a spokesperson for all Muslims, being automatically segregated, being induced into answering racist questions are all discouraging principles which deter Muslim women from pursuing higher education. Similarly, the study revealed that those students who wore a Hijab or veil were automatically segregated and recognized as Muslims and thus experienced an entirely different onset, far worse than the above mentioned conditions.

The study concluded that consultation processes have to be improved, both within universities and with the parents of students as well. Similarly, the needs of Muslim women in particular have to be analyzed and instead of blaming cultural restraints and barriers, consultation should be used to alleviate their problems. Engaging Muslim women and offering equal employment opportunities are some of the other recommendations made by the study in relation to the consultation processes.

To cut down on other barriers, representation of Muslim women needs to be addressed.  Balanced coursework, ensuring diversity in publications, provisions for halal food and timetable timing sensitivity are some of the few provisions that new to be considered when dealing with Muslim women so as to act as a sense of encouragement and ensuring their representation in the main stream universities.
Finally, the case of racism and Islam-o-phobia can be addressed through awareness and training. University staff members and facilitators should know what the term entails and how to address it properly. Race equality policies should be up to date and cultural diversity should be favored.