Inside the Gender Jihad: Women's Reform in Islam (20 page)

to future success.

In particular, if a situation of gender reform regarding Islam and modernity demands some actions, those interested may act – either proactively (with planning and forethought, that is, by using a preceding idea or theory) or reactively (in response to a cause and its effect). The efficacy of reaction is fickle. It maintains the prominence and privilege of the cause of the action in the first place. The initiator of the events, the one

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that caused the reformists to respond or react, still
holds all the power
. Reaction is an action in response to a situation premised upon someone else’s underlying theories or ideas. This is perhaps one way to understand the well-known Audre Lorde quotation, “the master’s tools will never dis- mantle the master’s house.”
2

Although some active response may be called for in many situations, to react maintains the advantage of those empowered to oppress or to create the problem in the first place. Actions, in the form of reaction, do not reconstruct the worldview of the situation. The original perspective or underlying cause of the predicament goes unchallenged by reactions alone. If we want to make a change then we cannot merely run around like ants and just be active. We must have ideas about where we want to go and why we want to go there, and from there determine how to proceed effectively. Theory is significant in providing direction and perspective.

Theory also supplies articulations about goals and agenda. What is our goal? What do we hope, plan, or need to achieve? How do we achieve it? What steps do we take to reach it? What are the obstacles in the way of our success? How can these be avoided, reconstructed, or removed? Theory helps us to conceive of a plan by mapping out the terrain that we are to cover relative to an overview of the existing situation. Although the theory itself is not a step-by-step plan, it maps out the big picture or worldview underlying potential approaches and lends understanding to how things operate. In the case of gender reform in Islam one underlying idea is women’s full agency, or
khilafah
, before Allah. This is spoken of in terms of another underlying idea: justice and women’s full human rights. What must be done to bring about a change in the status of women until they become full agents of Allah endowed with full human rights? Ultimately this is a proposal resting upon certain theories of justice.

To propose ideas about women and justice one must first determine the basic sources of that idea. Furthermore, how does that idea compare to existing views? What makes one worldview oppressive and another liberating? How are negative consequences of certain ideas avoided or effectively transformed? What makes a particular worldview appropriate to positive identity development without disrespecting others? After all, patri- archy did not start as an idea to oppress women. It started as a healthy idea to help establish and maintain social, religious, political, and economic systems within the framework of men’s identity affirmation.

When justice is the underlying theory we are working toward in the establishment and transformation of asymmetrical gender practices, then

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we have to give some thought to our underlying premise and the basis for our work. If we wish to locate our arguments and activities for women’s rights and access to justice within the religious framework, as within Islam, then we need to have some clear articulation of how we understand Islam. What is our theory of Islam and how did we arrive at it? How does our theory compare to other theories whether existing and historical? How can it be developed? Ultimately theory is a powerful state of mind. It is not a chapter, a verse, a
hadith
, or any one specific operation. This is a reduc- tionist misunderstanding of the criteria of evaluation or reference point within the Qur’an and
sunnah
.

A theory is a perspective that helps determine certain goals. Clarity about a goal and its underlying perspectives helps to develop a process including actual steps needed to attain the goal. If the theory of Muslim women’s inherent human equality could be reduced to a single verse, or a single set of verses, someone could easily come along and wager an argument completely deconstructing the validity of the perspective. Under- standing the breath of an underlying theory is not so simple that it can be referred to in terms of a single reference, but rather requires a vision of the map or grounds upon which the theory rests.

IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD: A THEORY OF GENDER JUSTICE

In Qur’anic cosmology, the entire universe was created before the penul- timate creation of humanity itself. Indeed, even the
jinn
were created before humankind. The significance of this has been the subject of much theory. By way of metaphor, I mention only one of these. It has been said
3
that Adam and Hawa’ (Eve), the fore-parents of our continuing humanity, were not the first attempt at human creation. Others had been created before but having failed some essential divine test, were replaced by a new creation. One such test was whether or not they exercised their free will, even if the demon- stration of this was disobedience to Allah’s command to avoid the fruit of the tree, in the pre-earthly blissful paradise.

With regard to Adam as the archetype first created soul, according to the Qur’an, a test was given between humankind and the angels. While the angels confessed their ignorance, human beings were able to “give the names of things” (3:33). Thus, nomenclature is an important distinguishing aspect of what it means to be human above the rest of the creation. Nomen- clature is the ability to give names. It is the particular metaphorical and

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literal use of language, or abstract reasoning. This “naming” is also the primordial stuff of theory.

The ability to name things implies a unique power over those things. Like all power, it can be used to privilege some over others. For example, the one who determines the name of a people also defines the classification of that people. When colonialists entered the lands of other indigenous peoples they chose classifications of “other” and “primitive” in order to privilege their own notions about human development and civilization.

In addition, the power of words operates in other situations as an illocu- tionary force. An illocutionary force brings a thing into being, or causes a status change through pronouncement alone. When the queen says, “I dub thee, Sir . . . ” she invokes a radical change in the status of the one being knighted. When heterosexual marriage ceremonies conclude with the words, “I now pronounce you husband and wife,” a major status change turns two individuals into a legal and social relationship as spouses. The divorce decree has the illocutionary force to reverse that status. Moreover, from the Qur’anic perspective, Allah’s ultimate power of creation ex nihilo

is the illocutionary “
kun
” (Be) , “
fa yakun”
(and it is)

(36:82).

Another aspect of the power of words is measured in terms of their effect. “I love you,” selectively uttered, has meaning. So does the accu- sation, “You are so wonderful.” Such phrases of endearment can bring about a change in psychological status through a complicated process of response in the one spoken to. In the same way, negative statements like “You mean nothing to me” and “I never want to see you again” have a powerful effect and can bring about a change in status.

Our ability to perceive of and act in the world is powerfully influenced by language. Where Allah’s creative power in the illocutionary pronounce- ment “Be” brings real change in the physical realm, human creativity brings about change in meaning. Imagination is a key component of this ability. I attended a lecture once where the presenter made reference to those who had experienced the status of slavery for generations. Some slaves had experienced no other reality. The very
idea
of freedom existed only relative to the experience of non-slaves and in the imagination. If a slave cannot imagine freedom, he stressed, then it is impossible to be free because freedom is not a practical reality; it is an idea, a theory.

I have an idea about Islam without patriarchy. Since patriarchy has always existed in the history of human development, then my idea stems from my ability to imagine an end to patriarchy. A theory can also grow from imagination and spurs us to find relevant sources of information and

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inspiration that help lead to transforming that image into its potential reality. However good or bad this post-patriarchy idea might be, it exists in my mind and is felt in my heart. Although I do not draw from my immediate experiences for what human civilization would be like without patriarchy, I have enough experience with the negative consequences under pervasive patriarchy that I utilize all my skills of mind, body, and will to work toward achieving an end to it. Like other underlying ideas forming theory, it is possible to share the idea with others who can contribute to ways of thinking and being without Islamic praxis enmeshed in patriarchy. However, to bring such an idea into reality requires more than imagination. Certain definitive actions are called for in order to bring a change in human relations so that women are integral actors to – and agents of – all actions, as well as beneficiaries – objects or subjects – of the results of those actions.

At the most fundamental level, this is what I mean about the relationship between theory and practice. Theory is the idea, and in this case the idea of particular changes in the status of women in Islam and the world, which is imagined in terms so eloquent that it can be passed on to others who can use their limited human empowerment or agency to transform the existing reality toward greater resemblance of that idea.

Islamic Law and Theory

The task of
shari‘ah
has always been to make judgments about appropriate actions. The
fiqh
then constructs juridical codes and principles for codifi- cation. According to the well-known statement of the Prophet, “Actions are judged by their intention.”
4
Since intent remains known only to the actor and Allah, the confirmation of that intent by action can never be known to another human for certain. Ultimately this
hadith
means that Allah is the only judge of the totality of anyone’s actions, because humans can perform actions deceptively or hypocritically. However, despite not knowing the full extent of an action, the responsibility of
shari‘ah
is to make a judgment on external action. This is an interesting paradox in the relationship between idea and action – although the idea behind a practice is not apparent, it is essential.

More notably, Islam is
din
, a complete way of life. The meaning of
din
points to a correlation between orthodoxy – right ideas, or faith – and orthopraxis – right actions. Faith or belief cannot be verified on an empirical level. It cannot be evaluated in concrete measurable terms.
5
For example, if a believer and an unbeliever are engaged in the ritual act of

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salah
(formal worship), it is impossible to tell the difference between them from the outward appearance of their performance. In this respect, let us take faith as a state of mind, a perspective, or a worldview which incor- porates certain transcendent or unseen elements as essential and sacred. Therefore, for simplicity’s sake, the relationship between faith and action in Islam will be taken as a parallel to the discussion about theory and activism. One is internal and the other is external. One is hidden and the other is manifest – and at best, a manifestation of the internal.

Orthodoxy in Islam covers ideas about Allah, humanity, and nature. Over the course of Islamic intellectual history, orthodoxy has not been monolithic. Indeed, certain notions of orthodoxy have evolved at one place or time that were in complete contradiction to ideas evolved at other periods of history. These contradictions have had fatal consequences for some and led to inquisitions that punished those who disagreed.

The foremost principle of Islamic orthodoxy is
tawhid
.
6
Allah is one,

unique, and unites all of creations through His/Her/Its unity. Allah, the Creator, is uncreated. One question that proceeded from the idea of
tawhid
was how could words proceed from Allah in form of revelation, the Qur’an? Either the words are uncreated and eternal with Allah as reflected in the very nature of
tawhid
, or the words are created, as emanations from Allah. Debates over Islamic orthodoxy included right understandings of revelation and definitions of belief itself. The answers to these questions were used to determine if a person would be considered Muslim or apostate. Even today, the practice of identifying someone as not Muslim stems from the variant understandings of orthodoxy. Women who advocate the necessity for gender reform within an Islamic framework are even challenged by patriarchal and narrow conservative standards on what it means to be Muslim. To disagree with the idea that men are superior can be projected as anti-Islam! This is why theological theories behind gender reform also need elaboration and explanation.

Reformist thinkers in Islam and modernity are proposing alternative understandings of Islamic orthodoxy. They are challenging the meaning of Islam and offering expanded notions of
tawhid
, especially as each term operates in the context of historical reality of real social and political con- texts, as well as as reflections of the underlying universal principles. How these two terms are understood affects how the social and political order is established and maintained. There are also reconsiderations about the nature of the Qur’an and the role of interpretation within the framework of Islam. Again, the underlying theory is important to Islamic reform.

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