Men In Charge?: Rethinking Authority in Muslim Legal Tradition

The Need for Holistic Approach

The introductory essay, “Muslim Legal Tradition and the Challenge of Gender Equality” by co-editor Ziba Mir-Hosseini, provides an excellent primer of the historical context that surrounded these juristic concepts. Mir-Hosseini details the problems in the Muslim legal tradition and the tensions that arose when the understanding, validity or interpretations of these concepts were contested in a climate of modern demands for more equal gender relations. These two postulates and their codification then are not simply understood through the theological lens but with the added awareness that they were susceptible to and shaped by socio-historical pressures. It is clear from the introductory chapter that a holistic approach is needed if we wish to intelligently problematise these two juristic concepts. In a particularly incisive prognosis, Mir-Hosseini suggests that:

“The problem is not with the text but with context and the ways in which the text is used to sustain patriarchal and authoritarian structures. The strategy must be not just logical argument and informed reinterpretations from within the tradition; there must also be challenges on the political front.”

The two subsequent chapters, “The Interpretive Legacy of Qiwamah as an Exegetical Construct” by Omaina Abou-Bakr and “An Egalitarian Reading of the Concepts of Khilafah, Wilayah and Qiwamah” by Asma Lamrabet, further provide a thorough understanding of these concepts for the reader. In the former essay, Omaina Abou-Bakr traces how a mere descriptive word, qawammun, had evolved to become the patriarchal construct of qiwamah and how this term came to be conceptualised and re-conceptualised by medieval theologians and then modern Islamic thinkers. They each coloured the term with their conceptions of gender difference, essentialism and hierarchy. Lamrabet, in his essay then follows up to detail how current interpretations of khilafah, wilayah and qiwamah that uphold patriarchal notions of gender relations are in fact un-Qur’anic. By referring to injunctions in the Qur’an and directly analysing the semantics of these terms in relation to the Qur’an, that is, to interpret and understand these terms as they were to be understood, Lambaret uncovers how a reformation of these terms is not only possible, but Qur’anically valid:

“To reduce wilayah to male guardianship over dependent wards or qiwamah to an assumed authority of the husband amounts to violating the spiritual principles of the Qur’anic message regarding the ethics of marriage and family life. We must not forget that the meaning of Qur’anic concepts will evolve over time, especially since the Qur’an never set out to determine specific social roles for men and women.”

By now, these central juristic concepts have been adequately demystified. They are not immutable divine laws that are subject to the whims of socio-historical contexts and human prejudice. Further suggestions on approaches to reforming these juristic concepts include considering prophetic reports as a source that can help point one to a more egalitarian framework (Ayesha S. Chaudry) as well as utilising Sufi discourses and perspectives to critique gender discrimination from within the tradition (Sa’diyya Shaikh). Sufism stresses on the complete equality of all humans – regardless of gender – before God and its distaste for egotism and the exercise of personal and social superiority provides ample opportunity to do so. Subsequent chapters then provide real-life accounts and observations of how these concepts work in reality, whether through challenges faced by activists and NGOs when attempting to enact proposed reforms or through muftis who have to grapple with outdated interpretations of these concepts in a world of shifting gender relations. These accounts take the reader away from understanding these juristic concepts theoretically and semantically, to understanding how they function as legal postulates that govern personal lives in our time and how they interact with international human rights law or human rights norms. The suggestions made at this point are not about re-interpretations of the terms but about how NGOs can refine their approaches in proposing legal reforms.

Personal Accounts of Women All Over the World

Towards the last two chapters we then come to read of personal accounts of women from all over the world. In her chapter, Lena Larsen presents stories of women through the Global Life Stories project which documented and analysed personal accounts of 58 Muslim women from 10 different countries and how they experienced qiwamah and wilayah in their daily lives. It is through the study of these personal accounts that one could truly see that the patriarchal understanding of these concepts does not stand in contemporary reality. For example, males are no longer necessarily the main providers of the family, females often take on economic roles in the family and polygamous marriages are evidently likely to put women “at risk of economic marginalisation, spousal abandonment, lack of support for their children and lack of emotional fulfilment.” Perhaps the chapter that best provides a microcosm of the journey to seeking a more egalitarian formulation of laws is the concluding one by Amina Wadud. She begins by sharing her personal and intellectual journey in grappling with the issue of male authority as articulated in dominant interpretations of the Qur’anic verse 4:34. She then continues to talk about the polarised perspectives she noticed women themselves had with regards to Islam and patriarchy. These personal experiences then go on to shape her development of a new principle based on Tawhid (monotheism or the unicity of Allah). Often it is the personal experiences that drive the way people would proceed to function in society or the way they would choose to approach things like the reformation of laws. Paying attention to the personal and the real is what can bring about the most effective ways of diagnosing problems and coming up with precise solutions. That the book concludes with personal accounts is probably no small matter. After all, the personal is political.

Conclusion

Men In Charge? is a valuable contribution to the production of knowledge centred on family law and preciously includes the lived experiences of women. It demystifies the concepts of qiwamah and wilayah and aids in the push for reforming laws to reflect a more equal relationship between married partners and de-institutionalising gender inequality. Though critical feminist and other social-scientific methodologies are used, the approach that Musawah chooses is still markedly rooted in the Islamic tradition. While these two approaches are not necessarily at odds, there has been a tension between the two discourses that activists continue to grapple with. Understanding that an approach based merely on human-rights will not suffice without also integrating those who wish to work within the tradition is what makes Musawah’s method of knowledge production particularly useful. The book itself is a testament to the holistic approach they have chosen to take, starting with a more theoretical understanding of the two concepts, how these concepts function legally and socially in reality and ending with understanding them through personal accounts and lived realities.

Men In Charge? can be purchased directly from its publisher, One World, at the site www.oneworld-publications.com or Book Depository. More information about the publication can be found on the Musawah website, at the following link: www.musawah.org/knowledge-building/men-in-charge.