In late-June, a maulvi (Islamic cleric) and a few employees of a madrassa in India's northern city of Lucknow were allegedly thrashed by a group of women for endorsing a "one-sided" divorce by a Muslim husband. The incident took place after a man named Ali Imran unilaterally divorced his wife Mumtaz Fatima aka Heena. The cleric endorsed the divorce without ever consulting with Mumtaz Fatima.
According to a report on the website of New Delhi Television, the cleric, Maulana Asghar Ali, and two employees of the Sultanul Madaris madrassa, later lodged a complaint with the police, accusing the women of violence.[1] The women in turn charged that the cleric sanctioned the divorce without verifying the facts and gaining the consent of both the parties. These women were later supported by Shaista Ambar, a rising symbol of Muslim women's liberation in India.
This incident, like many such other incidents in India, has attracted public attention. In recent years, a number of Muslim women leaders have come forward to claim their rights publicly. However, these claims are always made within the boundaries of the Koran and the Hadith, i.e. sayings and deeds of Prophet Muhammad. Such attempts by Muslim women are also gaining the support of the vibrant television media in India, giving birth to an Islamic feminist movement in the country.
In a recent report, The Times of India newspaper commented on the role of these emerging Islamic feminists: "They're not burning bras, or burqas. But a bunch of non-conformist Muslim women activists are making an attempt to free the sorority from the clutches of a patriarchal clergy."[2] The report, titled "Burning burqas and bras? Nah. Enter the Islamic feminist," further observed: "This bunch of Islamic feminists is fighting for a better future for sisters in distress."
Following are some excerpts from the article:[3]
Islamic Feminist Shaista Amber: "The Patriarchal, Misogynist Clergy Will Have to Mend Its Ways Or [Else, Because] Women Know How to Avenge Injustice"
Shaista Ambar (Image courtesy: Hinduonnet.com)
"Lucknow-based feminist Shaista Ambar was on television again. This time she was siding with the three daughters-in-law – Nishat, Hina and Arshi – who had beaten up some maulvis [clerics] at Sultanul Madaris, the city's famous Shia madrassa which also houses a Shari'a court. The maulvis had given talaqnamas (divorce documents) to the women's husbands without consulting them when they tried to get justice against the advances of their father-in-law.
"Incensed, Ambar batted for the brave women whom the clergy predictably attacked for taking the law into their hands. 'The maulvis should have spoken to the women before they wrote the talaqnama. The patriarchal, misogynist clergy will have to mend its ways or [else, because] women know how to avenge injustice,' Ambar said.
"Ambar belongs to a small but increasingly influential group of Islamic feminists in India. They may not be as powerful as the senior maulvis who head leading Islamic seminaries or run Muslim Personal Law Boards and Shari'a courts, both Shia and Sunni. But this band of non-conformist women is silently and successfully ushering in change.
"They may not equal the audacity of the bra-burning feminists of several decades ago, but they've hit hard at the patriarchal and misogynist elements in Muslim society. And their guiding sources are the Koran and Hadith (the Prophet's traditions). Ambar, who founded the [pressure group] Muslim Women's Personal Law Board in 2005, saved the marriages of hundreds of Muslim couples in Muradabad village in the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) a couple of years ago.
"A maulvi belonging to the Deobandi sect had led the namaz-e-janaza (funeral prayer) of a man from the Barelvi sect. Calling it a sin, another maulvi of the sect issued a fatwa that all those who had attended the funeral prayer under the imamat (leadership) of the Deobandi imam needed to remarry, as their wives had become haram (illegal) for them. 'This diktat threatened not just to throw the marital lives of several dozen Muslims into disarray, but also inflame a sectarian strife in western UP,' says Ambar, who quelled the crisis by opposing the fatwa.
"She cited the example of holy mosques in Mecca and Medina where lakhs [hundreds of thousands] worship behind Deobandi imams. Ambar was also among those who opposed the recent fatwa of the Darul Uloom Deoband that called women's earnings illegal. India's Islamic feminists are bucking trends courageously and cannily."
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Syeda Saiyidain Hameed on Clerics: "I Asked Them to Show Me a Verse in the Koran or a Hadith Which Prevented a Woman from Becoming a Qazi [Judge]"
Syeda Saiyidain Hameed (Image courtesy: actionaid.org)
"In August 2008, Syeda Saiyidain Hameed, a member of India's Planning Commission, created history by becoming the first woman qazi [judge/cleric] when she solemnized a nikah ceremony in Lucknow – that of activist Naesh Hasan and PhD scholar Imran Naeem. 'Naesh told me that she would remain unmarried if I didn't act as the qazi. I had to give in to her demands,' recalls Hameed, who drew flak from a section of clerics who said there was no precedent of a woman acting as a qazi.
"'I asked them to show me a verse in the Koran or a Hadith which prevented a woman from becoming a qazi. If it was not forbidden by Allah and His Prophet, who were the maulvis to oppose it?' she asks. After they couldn't come out with a convincing reason, some maulvis spread the lie that Hameed had not covered her head while she chanted the Koranic verses during the nikah. This was a lie, claims Hameed, fabricated to malign her..."
Uzma Naheed on Her Membership of Male-Dominated Pressure Group All India Muslim Personal Law Board: 'Initially, Some Ulema [Religious Scholars] were Uncomfortable with My Being Unveiled; Now They have Accepted Me"
Uzma Naheed (Image courtesy: twocircles.net)
'The Islamic feminist movement is not confined to occasional acts of rebellion by contrarian 'progressives.' There are some feminists who are respected by even senior clerics and regularly invited to their meetings.
"Mumbai-based Uzma Naheed is one such. Coming from the family of the clerics that founded the famous Darul Uloom Deoband (UP) in the mid-18th century, Naheed is a member of the [male dominated] All-India Muslim Personal Law Board... and heads Iqra International Women Alliance..., an NGO committed to empowering Muslim women.
"A few years ago, she drafted a model Nikahnama [marriage contract] which had, among other provisions, a right to talaq-e-tafweez (delegated talaq) which allowed women a right to put certain conditions in the Nikahnama. If the husband failed to meet those conditions – like not taking another wife while the first wife is still alive – the woman could divorce him. Many members privately appreciated Naheed's revolutionary Nikahnama, but are yet to implement it.
"Unlike most Muslim women who are expected to remain veiled when they meet strangers, Naheed doesn't use a face veil, though she covers her head with a scarf. 'Initially, some ulema were uncomfortable with my being unveiled. Now they have accepted me,' she says."
Zeenat Shaukat Ali on Her Book Marriage and Divorce in Islam: "Since Allah Made Male and Female as Complementary to Each Other, There is No Reason to Treat Women as Inferior to Men"
Zeenat Shaukat Ali (Image courtesy: daijiworld.com)
"Another feminist is Zeenat Shaukat Ali, who teaches Islamic Studies at Mumbai's St. Xavier's College and has made 'freeing Muslim women from the clutches of the clergy' her life's mission. Thirteen years ago, Ali created a stir among educated Muslims with her critically acclaimed book Marriage and Divorce in Islam (1997). 'The book's main argument is that since Allah made male and female as complementary to each other, there is no reason to treat women as inferior to men,' says Ali, who adds that her feminism is not about male-bashing, but about sharing space with them.
"The academic has organized several multi-faith programs, including a cricket match featuring maulvis, Hindu pundits [priests], Christian, Zoroastrian and Sikh priests as players. Her Art for Peace project had similar multi-religious participation where the participants were asked to paint on a theme of peace. 'Many of the maulvis had never picked up a brush before,' she recalls."
Daud Sharifa, Who is Building India's First Mosque for Women, Says: "It Will Serve Not Just As a Place of Worship But Even as a Cultural Center Where Women Can Air Their Views and Discuss Their Problems"
Daud Sharif (Image courtesy: infochangeindia.org)
"Fiery woman activist Daud Sharifa's aim is to build a mosque exclusively for women. Since mosques are binding forces for practicing Muslims, there has been a movement to allow women to worship there, and a few mosques in India, like the Tajul Madaris [in the city of] Bhopal, do allow women worshippers, though [they are] segregated by a wall or a curtain. But an exclusive mosque for women was unheard of in India till Sharifa took up the issue a few years ago.
"Having seen the discrimination against Muslim women at the hands of the local Jamaat [possibly Jamaat-e-Islami] in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, Sharifa launched a movement for women's empowerment, not [just] financially but spiritually too. She is building India's first mosque exclusively for women in Pudukkottai, around 300 km from Chennai [the capital of Tamil Nadu]. 'It will serve not just as a place of worship but even as a cultural center where women can air their views and discuss their problems,' explains Sharifa whom the local maulvis vehemently opposed, but failed to stop.
"This bunch of Islamic feminists is fighting for a better future for sisters in distress. Ask the three women in Lucknow who, after bashing up the corrupt maulvis, found Shaista Ambar as a shield against the threats, both verbal and physical..."
Endnotes:
[1] www.ndtv.com, India, June 30, 2010.
[2] The Times of India (www.timesofindia.com), India, July 10, 2010.
[3] The Times of India (www.timesofindia.com), India, July 10, 2010. The text of this report has been lightly edited for clarity.
