A New Fitnah

Prof. Amina Wadud, a professor of Islamic studies, recently led the Juma prayer of about hundred men and women. Of over a billion Muslims across the globe just hundred gathered to start a new tradition, a very small event indeed but the media flashed it the world over proving once again that man biting the dog is THE NEWS.

Prof. Wadud and a few others, who can be counted on fingertips, have been arguing for some time that no where the Holy Quran has prohibited a woman from leading the prayer. But then no where it has directed that a woman must lead the prayer. Therefore, the ummah will not be held guilty if a woman does not lead prayer of men and women together. Prof. Wadud’s zeal for this new cause is misplaced, to say the least.

If one studies surah al-Noor carefully, he would come across the fact that while Islam stands for all round development of a woman’s personality, it surely discourages free mixing of men and women. This surah has also made it binding upon Muslim women to observe hijab which has expressed itself variously in different cultural contexts. With such clear Islamic guidance against free mixing of men and women, even the most liberal ijtihad can not justify what Prof. Wadud has done.

Islam is not against women. In fact, women have all the rights to excel in all walks of life but within the limits prescribed by Islam. What is the use of a woman becoming Imam of a mixed gathering of men and women, if clear Islamic teachings and injunctions are violated?

The Muslim society is in a state of decline for many centuries. In such situations many people tend to be conservative and start doing things which should have been avoided. In the time of the Prophet the women used to attend the prayer in the mosque. The practice has continued in various parts to date, though it is not a normal practice in many parts of the Muslim world. The need is to allow or bring women to the mosques where they can not only pray but also learn about Islam, the Muslim world and society, and can contribute to the ongoing efforts for its renaissance.

The most important thing to realize is the fact why Islam has prohibited free mixing of men and women? This is surely to strengthen the moral foundations of the Muslim societies. Islam wants a strong and well-knit family system with a healthy environment in which all members, women and men, the youth and the children will have all the chances to develop their personalities in satisfactory manners. An environment full of broken marriages, split families and mechanized lives is surely injurious for the social health of a nation. And if Prof. Wadud’s example is followed by Muslims the world over, Islam will require no external enemy for its destruction.

For women of Prof. Wadud’s stature, there are too many good works to undertake. Already the Islamic world has produced many heads of states and thus there is no need to highlight Islam’s equal treatment of men and women in the way Prof. Wadud has done. Muslim women suffer from several handicaps in the Islamic world. There is wide spread illiteracy or lack of education among the Muslim women because of which they are unable to know their rights as enshrined in the Quran and the Sunnah. Their poor education also prevents them from fulfilling their responsibilities or contributing their bit to the development of the Muslim societies the world over. The Islamic world needs a lot many Mother Teresas for upgrading the conditions of its children and women. Why Prof. Wadud can not be one of them. Doing such works would bring her laurels while what she has done will only create further cleavages in the Muslim society.

We are living in an age in which the print and electronic media are very powerful. They can bring you instant fame, if you do some thing spectacular. Doing what Mother Teresa did is a life-long activity and only the most committed and the most sincere human beings can embark upon such a course of action. And it is not sure that your life-long labour will bring you the fame that Prof. Wadud has achieved overnight. Well, you are famous the world over but at what price? You are creating more divisions in the already divided Muslim ummah.

It, however, must be clarified that we do not believe that all is right with the Muslim women. The truth is that the whole ummah has fallen behind and understandably the Muslim women have suffered the most. Efforts must be made to rectify the past mistakes and programmes ought to be launched to improve their situation. But all has to be done within the Islamic framework. Above all we need to understand and practice our religion the way our Prophet and his companions did it. And aping the West blindly is not the way of the Prophet, and deviation from it would surely lead to fitnah.

And given the bad situation in which the ummah finds itself today anything of little relevance and significance that creates internal divisions is surely a fitnah.

[March, 2005]