Deen Talk! Women and Islam - Part Three - Feminism

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

Assalaamu alaikum.

This post marks the end of this three-part section on Women and Islam. Today's topic is Feminism - what it is/isn't, what it looks like, and how Islam is inherently feminist.

What is feminism?

feminism

[fem-uh-niz-uh m] 

noun

1.

the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of womenequal to those of men.

2.

(sometimes initial capital letter) an organized movement for theattainment of such rights for women.

Feminism is NOT a movement asserting women are "better" than men; this is a misconception due to second and third wave feminism, which focused on white, middle class women (particularly lesbian women in third wave feminism) and which housed a lot of anger toward men due to the great expanse of the inequalities between men and women at the time. The hatred of men is called misogyny and is absolutely NOT synonymous with feminism!

The current stage we are in (and the stage which every Muslimah scholar I know are a part of) is Fourth Wave feminism. While third wave feminism asserted feminism through sexual freedom (re: promiscuity) and women being an equal or dominant partner in a relationship, fourth wave feminism acknowledges that part of equality of and for women is her right to CHOSE. Previously it was said (and is still said among older feminists not part of the fourth wave movement) that one cannot dress modestly and be a femininist; one cannot be religious and be a feminist; one cannot wear hijab or niqab and be a feminist; one cannot be a "traditional" wife (submissive/obeisant) and be a feminist. Fourth wave feminism, however, says a woman is equal when she can make these decisions for herself. So women can choose to wear or not wear hijab, and we can't tell other women how to dress. Women can be submissive to their partners out of choice, and we can't bar her from the label of feminism.

What is wonderful about Islam, from a feminist perspective, is that it afforded women so many rights we previously did not have in Jahaliyyah society. Before Islam, women were possessions; chattel. If she worked, the money went to her husband. If she wasn't married, she essentially belonged to her father (or brother if father was deceased), and upon being married she was a possession of her husband. Women could not inherit unless there were no male to inherit, and once she married the inheritance went to her husband or another male relative. Women did not have the ability or right to divorce; only the male was able to initiate and finish the divorce, so many would trap women in an in-between state where the divorce was not final and they could not remarry, but where the husband had no obligations to her.

In Islam, this is very very different. Take a look at Surah an-Nisa. This surah sets out rules for the inheritance of women, giving her up to half of what the males in the family receive. Now, many people use this to say Islam isn't feminist. However, we need to look at the Quran in the narrative of the holy books in Abrahamic religions and in the narrative of society as a whole. In this we see that before Islam, women could not inherit. After Islam, women were entitled to inheritance! Yes it was less than the men, but Allah ta'ala eases us into things - just as it took 13 years for alcohol to be completely banned within the Ummah, now today societal laws have changed and women receive equal inheritance. Subhan'Allah! Allah al-Alim gives us the extreme on laws in order to guide us to do better.

In Islam, women are allowed to chose whether or not they work. In a marriage, the man is supposed to be able to fully support his wife/wives and children. However, should his wife/wives chose to work, only they are entitled to the money earned unless they decide to share it with the family. We see this in the example of Khadijah, radhi'Allahu 'anha, who was a business owner. Similarly, upon getting married women receive a mahr. Before Islam, men paid a "bride price" to the Wali (male relative involved in the marriage), essentially buying the wife. After Islam, men are instructed to pay the wife the bride price! This belongs only to her, and she can do whatever she wants with it. Should she save it, in the event of divorce the husband cannot take it back and she can use this money (if it was money or other currency given) in order to secure herself until she marries again, if she remarries.

"But what about hijab and niqab? It's so oppressive/backwards/shameful/anti-sex positive!"

Hijab was commanded to protect the women from being harassed. THIS IS NOT SAYING A WOMAN IS "ASKING FOR IT" IF SHE DOES NOT WEAR FULL HIJAB! But we need to look at the historical context of hijab. In Mecca and Medina, women wore khimur (veils) on their heads, but allowed them to flow behind their backs (please see Women in Islam part 3 for more information). There were prostitutes in the area who wore khimur in this way, and the Muslim women were being harassed by men looking to pay for sex! In order to show that they were NOT prostitutes, Allah ta'ala advised them to change how they wore the khimar and also to wear the jilbab. Some scholars also suggest that Muslim women then advised prostitutes and slaves to wear the khimar the Islamic way in order to avoid constant harassment from customers/men in general.

Finally, there is a Hadith from the Prophet, salla Allahu alaihi w salaam, that I wish to talk about (pictured above). Islam preaches for equality in relationships. While, yes, women are called to be obeisant to their husbands, they have rights on their husbands just as their husbands have rights upon them. Women are entitled to fair treatment of themselves and between wives. They are entitled to love and respect. They are entitled to sexual pleasure (and female genital mutilation of children and grown women is banned as it is harmful and also removes the ability for women to have sexual pleasure). Rasulullah, it is narrated, salla Allahu alaihi w salaam, would help his wives clean and cook. He would joke with them and laugh. He was, subhan'Allah w bihawmdihi, a full and equal partner in all of his marriages. Allahumma barak 'ala Muhammad w 'ala ali Muhammad.

We need to remember that in the Quran, Allah 'azza w jal first called upon men to observe hijab and THEN called upon the women. He provided women with a minimum for rights they never had received before, calling on us to go above and beyond in fairness and mercy, and He provided women with a way to show that they were not prostitutes while out and about in the city and the market (from which we can deduce that women are not required to stay within the home but can, in fact, work or go to the market to shop, etc.). Because Allah ta'ala and His Messanger, salla Allahu alaihi w salaam, called upon us to give women these never-before-heard-of rights and provided us with the perfect example on how to treat women, Islam is easily seen as inherently feminist. Now it's up to us to continue the progress started centuries ago in order to give women full societal equality so we can live up to the example of our Prophet, in shaa Allah.



Jazakum Allahu kheiran! Please let me know if there is anything you would like me to cover in the future.

Sajida.