Women in the Qur'an

An Emancipatory Reading

Asma Lamrabet, Myriam Francois-Cerrah

• Publisher: Kube Publishing Ltd
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781847740915
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Sexuality & Gender in Religion

Today, the issue of Muslim women is held hostage between two perceptions: a conservative Islamic approach and a liberal Western approach. At the heart of this debate Muslim women are seeking to reclaim their right to speak in order to re-appropriate their own destinies, calling for the equality and liberation that is at the heart of the Qur'an.

However, with few female commentators on the meaning of the Qur'an and an overreliance on the readings of the Qur'an compiled centuries ago this message is often lost. In this book Asma Lamrabet demands a rereading of the Qur'an by women that focuses on its spiritual and humanistic messages in order to alter the lived reality on the ground.

By acknowledging the oppression of women, to different degrees, in social systems organized in the name of religion and also rejecting a perspective that seeks to promote Western values as the only means of liberating them, the author is able to define a new way. One in which their refusal to remain silent is an act of devotion and their demand for reform will lead to liberation.

Asma Lamarbet is a pathologist in Avicenna Hospital, Rabat, Morocco. She is also an award-winning author of many articles and books tackling Islam and women's issues.

Myriam Francois-Cerrah is a writer and broadcaster whose articles have been published in the Guardian, Salon, and elsewhere.

PART ONE

WHEN THE QUR’AN SPEAKS OF WOMEN

A story of all women

The Qur’anic text often cites, and at different points in the history of humanity, characters, male or female, with the constant objective of erecting them as living models for those who ‘believe’.

These women and men are sometimes models of virtue to ponder upon and follow, sometimes models of vicissitude to recognize in order to know to avoid … .

At times idealized characters, but never dehumanized, whom God cites all through His message not with the objective of distracting us but in order for us to extract a teaching, a route, a path to follow … . .

Each woman and each man cited in the Qur’an have a singular history, a particular spiritual struggle, a different path, which distinguishes them from one another. God made things this way so that each of us, whoever we may be, can recognize ourselves one way or another, in their journey.

Their struggles, challenges, defeats or their victories are in a little way our own, if we know how to read them, if we know how to interpret them, how to translate them into the language of daily life.

Whatever the context, the location or the era, these beings chosen by God are signs all through the sacred book designed to remind us that we might advance in this life, slowly, patiently, inescapably towards His light … . Adam, Nuh (Noah), Ibrahim (Abraham), Yusuf (Joseph), Musa (Moses), ‘Isa (Jesus), Muhammad … . But also Asiah, Sarah, Umm Musa, Maryam, Balkis … . and so many others whose names were sometimes deliberately omitted because the example is not so much in the name as in the path and the moral conduct. It is also in the example set. And as believers, they are all, male and female, eternal models for us to return meaning to our history and our present … .

God, through their respective tales, calls on our understanding, our reasoning and our capacity for discernment as human beings:

Indeed, in their stories […] there is a lesson for those who are endowed with insight.¹ (Yusuf 12: 111)

In addition, it is interesting to note that in the history of the great Prophets of humanity the particular presence, even crucial presence, of women as mothers in the paths and lives of these Prophets.

In fact, Isma’il (Ismael), Musa, ‘Isa and Muhammad (peace be upon them) were all under the particular protection of their respective mothers, whereas history rarely reports a significant role for the father who is often absent or even inexistent, as in the story of ‘Isa … . .

These women who, in addition to their natural maternal role, have accompanied and protected God’s emissaries on Earth. We, therefore, note throughout the history of these Prophets the pre-eminence of women – mothers – in the education, the protection and the diffusion of the Prophetic message. Women who have been veritable intermediaries of the sacred … . .

And who would be surprised of this very feminine capacity to endure, resist and suffer all the contingencies of revelation? Their influence and involvement in the success of the transmission of the Divine message is evident and oft related in the sacred text.

But, far from enclosing women singularly in her natural – and no less important – role of mother, as many seem to do, the Qur’an on the contrary outlines a variety of women’s profiles, from the female governor represented by Balkis, to Zulaykha, the passionate woman, via the spiritual woman such as Maryam or the woman symbolising sacrifice, such as Asiah … .

Ultimately, the Qur’anic vision refutes the traditional Muslim view which only recognizes and praises women as mothers first and foremost and which makes abstraction of her femininity.

In very many Islamic publications, women are only valued through their role as mothers, sisters or spouses. Never simply as women … .

It is a concept which remains at odds with Islamic religious culture, despite the fact the Qur’an never ceases to underline the other dimensions of the feminine personality through the different representations of women cited in the text.

We too often forget that before being mothers, sisters or spouses, a woman is first and foremost a woman and that her femininity is an integral part of her personality as a human being.

Thus, through the different female characters described in the Qur’an, who transcend the share of humanity common with men, it is first and foremost the female side which is exalted through her abilities, her values, her abnegation, but also her faults and weaknesses … .

And on this topic of female deficiencies, the Qur’an gives two examples which could be deemed pejorative, the remainder of the characters mentioned are in reality unquestionably positive models of womanhood. The two pejorative examples concern the spouses of Prophet Nuh (Noah) and Lut (Lot). This is how God describes them in His sacred Book:

For those who are bent on denying the truth God has propounded a parable in [the stories of] Noah’s wife and Lot’s wife: they were wedded to two of Our righteous servants, and each one betrayed her husband; and neither of the two [husbands] will be of any avail to these two women when they are told [on Judgment Day], “Enter the fire with all those [other sinners] who enter it!” (al-Taḥrīm 66: 10)

It is interesting to note in this verse, that the negative aspect of these two women lies in their betrayal of their husbands as messengers of the Divine revelation. In fact, as Ibn ‘Abbas clarifies in his exegesis,² it is not a question of a conjugal betrayal, but of a moral betrayal … Various classical commentaries report that Noah’s wife condemned her husband’s spiritual activity to his enemies and used to mock his belief, branding him a madman, while the wife of Lut advocated sodomy and openly derided the moral values which he was trying to propagate among the people.

According to the majority of classical commentators, the critique which seems to be directed at them concerns their disloyal behaviour towards their partners.

The marital union which bound them implies respect of this alliance and thus a certain faithfulness, among others, to the spiritual undertakings of these two Prophets which the Qur’an refers to as virtuous men. They did not respect the message of justice and morality which these men, each according to their distinct path, sought to try and transmit to their respective peoples and worse, they denounced them to their enemies while denigrating their moral and spiritual aptitudes. It is here that resides any meaning to the condemnation of these women by the Creator … The Qur’an here condemns the worse kind of betrayal, a moral betrayal which in addition places in peril the spread and viability of a message which was seeking to rehabilitate the utterly dissipated mores and customs of the time.

Aside from these two negative examples of women, the Qur’an revives the story of other women who each shone through a particular facet of their personality, while supporting their primordial role in the transformation of customs and traditions found throughout the history of humanity.

When the Qur’an speaks of women, it is all about love, beauty, intelligence and mercy which is read through words, signs and omissions … yes, omissions, because one must know how to read not only what the Qur’an says clearly and what it implies, but also what it omits … An omission which can be very telling because it is symbolically very evocative … .

Balkis, Queen of Sheba: A democratic queen

Whoever reads the Qur’an and stops on the verses of the Surah entitled ‘The Ants’ (al-Naml) might ask themselves why God gave the Queen of Sheba as an example. Historians have given her the name of Balkis³ and assert that she reigned over the people of Sheba, the kingdom of which was in Yemen. The people of Sheba and their sovereign were known for their idolatry and history states that Balkis lived in a palace with three hundred and sixty windows in order to let the light of the sun through, before which she would prostrate every morning.⁴

Balkis one day received a message from the Prophet and no less King Solomon (Solomon) asking her to submit to the Creator of the world. What is interesting in this story told in the Qur’an is God’s description of this woman. In fact, while the majority of kings and male governors referenced in the Qur’an are despots, as in the case of Pharaoh or Neron and others, the model of Balkis, female sovereign, is that of a monarch certainly, but a fair and enlightened monarch.

The depiction is of a female leader who was apparently very scrupulous concerning the political principles of equity and justice. The Qur’anic verses are in fact very explicit concerning the manner of governance of this illustrious woman. As soon as she receives the message from Solomon, she immediately convenes a council of dignitaries, conveys the content of the letter to them and asks them to reflect on the political decision which should be taken. This is what the Qur’an reports her as saying:

She added: ‘O you nobles! Give me your opinion on the problem with which I am now faced; I would never make a [weighty] decision unless you are present with me. (al-Naml 27: 32)

A female leader of one of the richest kingdoms of the era and who makes the effort to consult the elected representatives of her people! The latter inform her that the final decision rested with her alone, but that she could rely on their physical and material strength:

They answered: “We are endowed with power and with mighty prowess in war - but the command is thine; consider, then, what thou wouldst command”. (al-Naml 27: 33)

The famous exegete al-Zamakhshari⁵ explains in his commentary that the representatives consulted by Balkis, while leaving the ultimate decision with her, undertook a demonstration of their force and power, suggesting they would rather be in favour of bellicose action. However, Balkis did not agree with this approach, since she suggested a peaceful solution as a first response, namely the act of sending Solomon a gift with the objective of testing his reaction.

This pondered political decision reflects the great wisdom of this queen, who in passing, also made a pertinent remark on the despotism of kings … An intriguing comment, considering she herself was a queen, but one can also read therein her concern to avoid precisely the type of corruption typically associated with autocratic power.

(Said she: ‘Verily, whenever kings enter a country they corrupt it, and turn the noblest of its people into the most abject. And this is the way they [always] behave? Hence, behold, I am going to send a gift to those [people], and await whatever [answer] the envoys bring back.’) al-Naml 27: 34–35

An attentive reading of these verses indicates the extent to which the observations of this queen are politically grounded. The political message which she sought to transmit here could not be clearer. It represents an acerbic critique of all forms of despotism which can be found recurrently in the history of humanity with their corollaries of humiliation and oppression experienced by peoples who, as she says so well, go so far as to ‘lose their human dignity’ under the governance of authoritarian political powers.

What is more, her political analysis is of great relevance for those observers of the disastrous management of politics in Muslim lands and enlightens us, where needed, on the necessity of justice and fairness in the Qur’anic message. A requirement which constitutes the cornerstone of the Islamic moral and legal system. Ibn ‘Abbas, the famous and first Muslim exegete, nicknamed the ‘Interpreter of the Qur’an’ or,‘Turjuman al-Qur’an’ attributes the following verse ‘This is the manner in which they usual behave’ to God Himself, responding to Balkis’ commentary and confirming her earlier analysis on dictatorial political systems. What more telling testimony than this one could we need to illustrate the judgement and political perspicacity of this woman?!

Thus, Balkis demonstrated political wisdom but also intelligence, because in sending the present to Solomon, she was judiciously disregarding the rash proposition of her advisers in order to avoid an unnecessary war and, by the same token, she was buying time to reflect in order to study the personality of this king.

Balkis wanted to test Solomon and see what was behind this message in which he was exhorting her to submit to the One God. If the king accepted her present, it would mean his mission reflected earthly ambitions, however, any re...