Mohd Sayeed Bhat
“Islam does not oppress women, but patriarchal interpretation of it does.”
– Fatema Mernissi
What comes to mind when you think about women—love or suffering, sex or gender, mythos or logos, rights or duties? Regardless of the perspective, women across all communities and traditions carry the weight of numerous discourses and debates. In this context, a recent book, “Muslim women: a manifesto for change” by Mohammed Maroof Shah, an esteemed columnist and writer, has reinvigorated the discourse. The book is based on eight chapters and addresses a few issues, like domestic violence, Hijab/veil, political rights, Nikha-Nama and economic security, among many. The book tries to reach a modus vivendi among interlocutors like Islamic revivalists, Jurists, Islamic feminists through the Habermasian approach of communicative-rationality.
Women, Thy Name is Suffering:
Author in the inception has focused on the plight of Muslim women and the suffering at the family level. The cultural conventions and varied interpretations regarding the Muslim women issues have enhanced the disempowerment of women. The reliance on the legal structures to solve Muslim women issues cannot lead to consensus as there is an impasse in multiple interpretations, and such efforts lead to more tensions. Author, however, hopes to approach the issues through Ishan(Love) rather than law. Author invokes women to lead and come forward in building a model community, based on values of compassion, justice and address both social and economic issues, through micro-financial efforts like interest-free credit cooperatives.
The Philosophy of Other:
It is the comprehension of “self” which can lead to harmony in the relations both in private sphere and public sphere. The self is not women or men-centric but is spirit-centric or reality centric.
The author brings to the fore the duties and rights arising from the ‘Other’. Addressing the issues arising in families, the author has exhorted on the philosophy of “other”. The ‘other’ is non-self or reality. It is the faulty interpretation of self which creates conflicts in interpersonal relationships.
The commitment to value-centric-Paradigm over juristic entanglements is what the author believes can resolve the issues. Love not the law is refuge from suffering.
Crisis of Hermeneutics
The women’s cause is also because of what the author calls ‘crisis of hermeneutics’. Various strands in the theological domain have led to deadlock in reaching a consensus. By quoting dozens of scholars like Ashraf-Ali-Thanawi, Fatimah Mernessi, Kecia Ali, Khaled Abou El Fadl, Farhad Shafti etc. author has shown that absolute interpretation on women issues is implausible and should remain open. The book offers insights in this regard by discussing issues like head-cover /hijab/veil and women in public spaces. The issue of Hijab/veil has been discussed not only from a theological point of view but also from a symbolic perspective. The hermeneutical understanding about hijab/veils has been explicated both in traditional as well modern light. The plurality of interpretation logically allows one to not impose one particular interpretation. In this light, the author has discussed various principles in Islamic jurisprudence to enhance his argument. One such approach is the principle of Taklif (wajoob),which cannot be pronounced when there is uncertainty in the interpretations of an issue. Other principles like the principle of Talfiq and Istihsan have also been discussed in dealing with rights discourse.
New Manifesto of Change:
The discourse of the book is conscious about civil issues like Nikha Nama, Marriage, divorce, inheritance besides economic empowerment in the concluding chapters. In this vein, the book provides a description of multiple suggestions regarding the framing of Nikha Nama which involves attention towards revisiting Khula and Talaq-e-Tafweez. Moreover, the emphasis on economic empowerment and financial security is one of themes of the book.
The author has underpinned the need to create interest-free-credit cooperatives, Meher investment fund among other things in the socio-economic justice for the Muslim women.
Conclusion
The manifesto of change is not based on venting resentment against a particular gender but is a call to cooperation based on empathy, Ishan and love. And it does not empower only cognitively but also prompts a serious action towards justice for Muslim women. That will happen when all stakeholders, interlocutors regarding women’s issues reach a fusion of horizons based on universal values and set the wheel of justice rolling.
About the author:
Mohammed Maroof Shah is an author, columnist and social reformer, who has authored books like Revisiting Sufism, Enigma of Osho, Problem of evil in Muslim philosophy besides publishing multiple research articles on mysticism, religion, philosophy and science.
Author can be mailed at sayeedbhat57@gmail.com
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