"And whosoever performs righteous deeds, whether male or female, and is a believer, such shall enter the Garden, and they shall not be wronged to much as the speck on a date stone."
Quran 4:124
Islam, like all religions sadly, has a conflicted and spotty history (and present) in regards to gender issues, which I'll doubtless revisit frequently during this year of reflection. I routinely find myself championing the cause of the sisters at our local mosque (and often getting a fair share of kickback; although, truthfully, mild as I'm viewed as a value brother, just a liberal one). As is often pointed out, a very compelling argument can be made that Muhammad was a reformer, and a reformer far ahead of his time, for the rights of women. Still, there are also so many cultural norms which did, and still do, get in the way; that is, Islam developed, and continues to evolve, in countries that are culturally, at least by a Western perspective, very traditional and conservative. One of the things that we struggle with in my various Islam classes are the traditions inside of Islam (or any religion for that matter) that are an integral part of the faith itself as compared to being a reflection of cultural norms. It's more than simply a scholarly diversion as I would argue that the former speak to a greater relevance and permanence (as much as anything is permanent, I guess) while the latter reflects a more transitory view that reflects a specific time and place, and thus can, and should, change with time. I can't imagine that there is an issue inside of Islam that relates to this struggle more clearly or importantly than gender issues. Simply put, the Prophet was born into a dreadfully misogynistic age, and pushed back against it and arguably transcended the age in which he lived more than anyone who ever lived. But he still lived in an age and area that routinely persecuted women, and even moving beyond that as much as he did would have still left him in a, again by our standards, very misogynistic final location. So, do we judge the position of women inside of Islam based on that final location or the Prophet's desire to improve the condition of women? I always focus on his intent rather than where it ended in Arabia fourteen centuries ago. If we're using dictates of the faith to suppress women today, then not only are we agents of a ruling patriarchy, but, I would argue, standing in opposition to what Muhammad himself fought for. After that fairly lengthy exegesis we come back to the verse above. Beyond the fact that it is one of the over fifty times that righteous deeds is lumped in with belief (which, again, to me is the key to everything) it's point out that who ever is guided by both, "whether male or female," is living that virtuous life that will be rewarded in the afterlife; or, maybe more importantly in regards to our community, both small and large, is living a virtuous life. Here we're not drawing a distinction between male or female. Sadly, every day in the mosque (or the church or the synagogue or the temple) we're drawing that distinction.
Quran 4:124
Islam, like all religions sadly, has a conflicted and spotty history (and present) in regards to gender issues, which I'll doubtless revisit frequently during this year of reflection. I routinely find myself championing the cause of the sisters at our local mosque (and often getting a fair share of kickback; although, truthfully, mild as I'm viewed as a value brother, just a liberal one). As is often pointed out, a very compelling argument can be made that Muhammad was a reformer, and a reformer far ahead of his time, for the rights of women. Still, there are also so many cultural norms which did, and still do, get in the way; that is, Islam developed, and continues to evolve, in countries that are culturally, at least by a Western perspective, very traditional and conservative. One of the things that we struggle with in my various Islam classes are the traditions inside of Islam (or any religion for that matter) that are an integral part of the faith itself as compared to being a reflection of cultural norms. It's more than simply a scholarly diversion as I would argue that the former speak to a greater relevance and permanence (as much as anything is permanent, I guess) while the latter reflects a more transitory view that reflects a specific time and place, and thus can, and should, change with time. I can't imagine that there is an issue inside of Islam that relates to this struggle more clearly or importantly than gender issues. Simply put, the Prophet was born into a dreadfully misogynistic age, and pushed back against it and arguably transcended the age in which he lived more than anyone who ever lived. But he still lived in an age and area that routinely persecuted women, and even moving beyond that as much as he did would have still left him in a, again by our standards, very misogynistic final location. So, do we judge the position of women inside of Islam based on that final location or the Prophet's desire to improve the condition of women? I always focus on his intent rather than where it ended in Arabia fourteen centuries ago. If we're using dictates of the faith to suppress women today, then not only are we agents of a ruling patriarchy, but, I would argue, standing in opposition to what Muhammad himself fought for. After that fairly lengthy exegesis we come back to the verse above. Beyond the fact that it is one of the over fifty times that righteous deeds is lumped in with belief (which, again, to me is the key to everything) it's point out that who ever is guided by both, "whether male or female," is living that virtuous life that will be rewarded in the afterlife; or, maybe more importantly in regards to our community, both small and large, is living a virtuous life. Here we're not drawing a distinction between male or female. Sadly, every day in the mosque (or the church or the synagogue or the temple) we're drawing that distinction.
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