Countering the Narrative about the Contribution of Women to Islamic Intellectual Thought
On 4 February 2021, the newly elected Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), Zara Mohammed, was interviewed by Emma Barnett on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour. The interview ignited a discussion surrounding the role of women in Islam.
Ms Mohammed is the first female Secretary General of the MCB and was questioned closely by Emma Barnett about the number of female imams in the United Kingdom. The style and tone of the interview attracted hundreds of complaints[1] and prompted dozens of public figures, including politicians and academics, to write an open letter to the BBC noting that the interview had been ‘strikingly hostile’ and had reinforced ‘damaging and prejudicial tropes’[2] about the role of women in Islam.
Through providing a cursory introduction to the immense contemporary and historical contributions that female jurists, imams, poets, and theologians have made to Islamic thought, this article aims to counter the common narrative that women have exerted little influence on the development of Islamic philosophy and thought. This article is not intended to be exhaustive and it is acknowledged by the author that, in detailing the lives of certain individuals, others will invariably and regrettably be excluded.
The interview: A brief overview of the controversy
In order to contextualise the following discussion on the role of women in the development of Islamic intellectual thought, it is first necessary to briefly recount the key exchanges of the Woman’s Hour interview. Much of the subsequent debate has focused upon the interviewer’s decision to repeatedly question Ms Mohammed about the number of female imams currently in the UK. In response, Ms Mohammed noted that the MCB is a civil society organisation and not a religious body which appoints or regulates imams. Nonetheless, the interviewer chose to continue this line of questioning, noting that the number of female rabbis and priests in the UK was ‘increasing.’
While seemingly innocuous, the use of priests and/or rabbis as a comparative reference point was, at best, deeply unfortunate given that Islam does not have a centrally organised or educated clergy analogous to an ordained priesthood. An imam is merely an individual who leads prayers and does not necessarily have any formal training in Islamic law, philosophy, or jurisprudence (unlike a Faqih, Qadi or Mufti). Consequently, the role of an imam is not analogous to that of a priest or a rabbi and many imams do not hold positions of authority within their local communities. The comparison so perplexed Ms Mohammed that she enquired whether the interviewer was referring to ‘chaplains or women who lead prayers’ to which the interviewer simply responded ‘you tell me.’ It is worth noting, as many other commentators have done, that there is no central register for imams (of any sex or gender) in the UK[3] and so the interviewer’s question was, in any event, moot.
It is trite to state that the interviewer, who is well known for her robust style of questioning, is entitled to ask probing questions of public figures and, consequently, any accusations that her tone and style of questioning were pervaded by subtle Islamophobia[4] are, in the author’s view, misplaced. Notwithstanding this, it is clear that the interviewer failed to grasp the decentralised nature of the Islamic clergy and that the line of questioning appeared to be predicated upon the common, but entirely incorrect, assumption that female imams are largely non-existent.
Female imams and scholars: the contemporary reality
It is arguable that the interviewer’s line of questioning was animated by the belief that woman are not permitted to lead congregational prayers in Islam, which is the view of certain jurists. However, there is, in the author’s view, an unfortunate tendency among some commentators to treat both Islam and its adherents as a monolith. In truth, Islam is more akin to a vibrant tapestry—each of its 1.8 billion adherents following a myriad of jurisprudential, theological, and philosophical traditions refracted through the lens of culture, history, and, of course, their own personal experiences, ethics, and reasoning. In this vein, many parts of the Islamic world have rich traditions of female-led congregational prayers. For example, in China female imams have led congregational female-only prayers for centuries and continue to do so.[5] Three of the four major schools of classical Sunni Islamic jurisprudence acknowledge that female imams can and should lead female-only congregations in prayer. In Shia majority Iran, almost a decade and a half has passed since female imams have been able to lead women-only congregational prayers.[6] Dozens of mosques around the world, such as the Mariam Mosque in Copenhagen and The Women’s Mosque of America, continue to be staffed and led by teams of female imams.
The position regarding female leadership of mixed-gender congregational prayers is more complex and the purpose of this article is not to engage in a critical exegesis of the literature on this subject. For the present, it suffices to note that various jurists have opposed female imams leading mixed-gender prayer congregations whereas others have supported female leadership of congregational prayers either outright[7] or in certain defined circumstances.[8] Female academics, such as Riffat Hassan and Zailan Moris, continue to actively contribute to debates in contemporary Islamic thought.
The foregoing is not designed to obviate the reality that there are comparatively fewer contemporary female imams and academics than males or the fact that certain segments of the Islamic community continue to oppose female leadership of mixed-gender or women-only congregations. Instead, it is an attempt to illustrate the complexities that are all too often entirely lost in contemporary discussions about female imams, such as the Woman’s Hour interview, which fail to engage with the subject in a meaningful and nuanced fashion. Indeed, beyond the discussion relating to female imams, the Woman’s Hour interview posed a broader question relating to the urgent need to raise awareness about the involvement of female scholars, jurists, and theologians in the historical development of Islamic thought and practice.
Female scholars, jurists, and philosophers: a brief historical overview
It would be remiss to explore the contribution of women to the development of Islamic thought without discussing the pivotal role played by the Prophet Muhammad’s wife, Aisha, in the development of early Islamic scholarship and law. Aisha’s contribution to the systematisation and codification of verbal Islamic traditions into written dicta cannot be understated. She exerted such an indelible influence on the development of Islamic law and practice after the death of the Prophet Muhammad that her opinions on which traditions and ahadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammed) were authentic came to constitute ‘official Islam.’[9] Aisha is emblematic of the many women who were regarded as authoritative sources of the ahadith during the formative years of Islam. It would be easy to dismiss the contribution of these pioneers as amounting to the mere transmission of received wisdom, but this would entirely ignore the decisive role that these women played in the evolution and subsequent dissemination of Islamic thought. These women helped to establish a vibrant tradition of female religious scholarship within Islam.
Following in the footsteps of Aisha, the inimitable 7th century jurist, Umm al-Darda, taught in the mosques and madrassas of the Levant. Umm al-Darda was so widely renowned as an authority on Islam that the then-Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (the temporal head of the Islamic community and the monarch of the Umayyad Caliphate) was a regular student at her lectures.[10] A fearless rhetorician, Umm al-Darda noted that she found no better way to worship and develop her knowledge than to sit and debate with other scholars.[11]
By the 8th century, it was not uncommon to find female scholars of the ahadith teaching and instructing pupils across the Islamic world. For instance, Sitt al-Wuzara’ al-Tanukhiyyah became the preeminent teacher and commentator on the ahadith in Damascus,[12] while Fatima al-Batayahiyyah could be found teaching pupils of all genders in the spiritual heart of Islam (in Medina) during the annual Hajj pilgrimage.[13] At a similar time, in Cairo, Sayyida Nafisa became a key spiritual mentor and teacher to Imam al-Shafi’i[14] (the man who would become one of the most influential Muslim theologians of all time and whose legacy would culminate in the founding of one of the four major schools of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence). The Golden Age of Islam can be characterised as a time in which many female scholars freely engaged and contributed to the contemporary spiritual debates engulfing the Islamic world.
In addition to commentating, transmitting, and teaching the ahadith, female scholars also played a critical role in the development of Tasawwuf (commonly known as Sufism). Rabia al-Adawiyya’s unique brand of asceticism led her to develop the concept of Ishq-e-Haqiqi[15] (real love) i.e. the unconditional love of God similar to the concept of agape which has become central to modern Sufis. Rabia’s standing among her contemporaries was unrivalled, as attested to by the renowned theologian, Hasan al-Basri, who commented that he considered himself spiritually ‘bankrupt’[16] in contrast to her. By the turn of the 15th/16th centuries, during the Mamluk Sultanate, female poets and jurists, such as Aisha al-Ba’uniyya, continued to play a prominent role in the development of Sufi asceticism and philosophy. Aisha wrote prolifically and authored ‘more works in Arabic’[17] than any of her female predecessors, including a masterful collection of over three hundred Sufi poems entitled Fayd al-Fadl wa-Jam’ al Shaml (‘The Emanation of Grace and the Gathering of the Union’).[18]
Female academics and thinkers were also actively involved in the promotion and preservation of Islamic learning. For example, Fatima al-Fihri funded and oversaw the construction of the mosque of al-Qarawiyyin, which grew into one of the oldest continuously operating institutions of higher learning in the world. In Islamic Spain, Lubna of Córdoba is noted, not only for playing an active role in the court of the Caliph Al Hakam II, but also for being the driving inspiration behind the creation of the famed library of Medina Azahara which, at its height in the 10th century, consisted of over half a million books.[19]
Conclusion
The author is acutely aware that, by recounting the lives of a select few female theologians, jurists, and academics, a reader may be tempted to suggest that the author is simply ‘cherry-picking’ certain women who are, in fact, unrepresentative of female involvement in Islamic scholarship as a whole. Nothing could be further from the truth, as evidenced in the seminal book, Al-Muhaddithat: The Women Scholars in Islam, by Dr Akram Nadwi, which contains the meticulously researched biographical accounts of no fewer than eight thousand prominent female scholars who have contributed to the development of Islamic thought in the field of ahadith scholarship alone. Consequently, far from cherry-picking a select few women who have contributed to Islamic thought, the reality is that women have not only actively participated in the vibrant intellectual life of Islam across history, but have also actively propelled and reformed Islamic thought since Islam’s inception in the 7th century to the present day.
Viewed from this perspective, the key question does not relate to the number of female imams currently serving in the UK. Rather, the central question is why debates about the role of women in contemporary and historical Islamic thought and practice are often conducted with little to no awareness of the contributions of countless prominent female thinkers, jurists, and theologians.
In Islamic Spain, Lubna of Córdoba is noted for being the driving inspiration behind the creation of the famed library of Medina Azahara which, at its height in the 10th century, consisted of over half a million books. Image source: Woman Reciting the Qu'ran (1880) by Osman Hamdi Bey
On 4 February 2021, the newly elected Secretary General of the MCB, Zara Mohammed, was interviewed by Emma Barnett on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour. The interview ignited a discussion surrounding the role of women in Islam. Image source: The National
Beyond the discussion relating to female imams, the Woman’s Hour interview posed a broader question relating to the urgent need to raise awareness about the involvement of female scholars, jurists, and theologians in the historical development of Islamic thought and practice. Image source: AFP
This article aims to counter the common narrative that women have exerted little influence on the development of Islamic philosophy and thought. Image source: Shutterstock / Marina Podrez
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Sources Cited
[1] Tom Horton and Keiran Southern, ‘BBC Receives 564 Complaints over Woman’s Hour Interview with Zara Mohammed’ (Belfast Telegraph, 18 February 2021) <https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/news/bbc-receives-564-complaints-over-womans-hour-interview-with-zara-mohammed-40106999.html> accessed 27 February 2021.
[2] Yassmin Abdel-Magied and Mariam Khan, ‘Open Letter to the BBC on Zara Mohammed’s Mistreatment on Woman’s Hour’ (gal-dem, 17 February 2021) <https://gal-dem.com/open-letter-to-the-bbc-on-zara-mohammed-mistreatment-on-womans-hour/> accessed 26 February 2021.
[3] Naima Khan, ‘Female Imams Aren’t the Only Feminist Solution. I Know Because I Am One’ (The Huffington Post, 10 February 2021) <https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/womans-hour-emma-barnett-female-imams_uk_6023c01bc5b6173dd2fabb51> accessed 26 February 2021.
[4] Nesrine Malik, ‘There’s a Reason Muslim Women Struggle to Make their Voices Heard’ (The Guardian, 15 February 2021) <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/15/muslim-women-voices-heard-islamophobia-media> accessed 26 February 2021.
[5] Anna Zacharias, ‘Special Report: Meet the Female Imams of Muslim China’ (The National, 1 January 2019) <https://www.thenationalnews.com/special-report-meet-the-female-imams-of-muslim-china-1.808330> accessed 27 February 2021.
[6] ‘Iranian Women to Lead Prayers’ (BBC News, 1 August 2000) <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/861819.stm> accessed 26 February 2021.
[7] Ahmed Elewa and Laury Silvers, ‘“I am One of the People: A Survey and Analysis of Legal Arguments on Woman-Led Prayer in Islam’ (2010-2011) 26 Journal of Law and Religion 141, 158.
[8] ibid 156.
[9] Leila Ahmed, Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate (Yale University Press 1993) 47-75.
[10] Mohammad Akram Nadwi, Al-Muhaddithat: The Women Scholars in Islam (2nd edn, Interface Publications 2013) 179.
[11] ‘The Lost Female Scholars of Islam’ (Emel) <https://www.emel.com/article?id&a_id=828> accessed 27 February 2021.
[12] Nadwi (n 10) 264.
[13] Firas Alkhateeb, Lost Islamic History: Reclaiming Muslim Civilisation from the Past (C Hurst & Co 2014) 67.
[14] ‘Nafisa, al-Sayyida’ (Oxford Islamic Studies Online) <http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1689> accessed 27 February 2021.
[15] N Hanif, Biographical Encyclopaedia of Sufis: Central Asia and Middle East (Sarup & Sons 2002) 108
[16] Ahmed (n 9) 96.
[17] Th Emil Homerin, ‘A’ishah al-Ba‘uniyyah’ in Joseph E Lowry and Devin J Stewart (eds), Essays in Arabic Literary Biography II: 1350-1850 (Harrassowitz Verlag 2009) 21.
[18] ibid 23.
[19] Assia Hamdi, ‘From Slavery to Politics: Honouring the Multi-Dimensional Personality of Lubna of Cordoba’ (TMWT) <https://themuslimwomentimes.com/2020/12/07/lubna-of-cordoba-one-woman-many-tales/> accessed 27 February 2021.