what to do when your work necessitates interaction with males - and your boss and staff are male?
Answer
As long as you are modestly dressed, you should be able to work anywhere. A Muslimah is supposed to be actively contributing to society in whatever field it may be and this is why there is this attention to modesty in dress.
I might just note that this is more of a fatwa question that you may also refer to Sheikh Muhammad Al-Hanooti when he holds the next fatwa dialogue next week.
Name
aycha
- United Kingdom
Profession
fashion designer
Question
how can a woman have a role in this century if she is never given the real freedom to express herself..
Answer
I am very sorry to hear this kind of complaint because it highlights the heart of the problem when we speak of women in Islam today. It goes to the heart of the disjuncture between Islam as it should be in the light of the Qur'an and the Sunnah and Islam as how it is practiced today in certain cultures. Needless to say, the challenge for Muslim ummah in the 21st century is to try and close this unfortunate gap which exists in various fields and women's issues and the so-called "woman question" is at the frontiers of this challenge. It is for people like you to educate themselves in genuine Islam from its sources and to contribute to raising awareness in the community beginning with your own children and families. As a Muslimah, you are duty-bound to Allah (SWT) and to no one else, to persevere and persist, to clear the ignorances, myths and stereotypes that exist about Islam and the role of Muslim women.
Name
Dr.Amani Saleh
- Egypt
Profession
Question
We know that you have a great project for studying women from an Islamic Perspective. What are the main ojectives and aimes for this projet? and How can it add for developing a new islamic knowledge in the Academy?
Answer
Glad to meet you online!...and even gladder that you brought up this important subject.
As you know, we have just instituted a unique Muslim Women's studies Chair at the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences (GSISS) here in Virginia. The project for studying women from an Islamic civilizational perspective is at the core of this Chair's program.
I emphasize the "civilizational perspective" to distinguish that from the Fiqhi perspective, the historical perspective or a da'wa perspective. The challenge in the new academic field of women's studies is to present a viable perspective for studying women's issues and women's history, particularly Muslim women. This can only be done by reexamining Islamic sources beginning with the original and ultimate sources for Islamic norms and culture (i.e. the Qur'an and the Sunnah). We need criteria and a viable conceptual framework for this task and any such criteria and framework to be viable and valid for the purpose at hand will have to be conducted from within an Islamic frame of reference (values, epistemology, drawing on tawheed) so one of the main objectives of the Zahira Abdin Chair of Women's Studies is precisely to work on developing this conceptual framework that can enable us to critically reexamine Muslim history and effectively address women in contemporary society.
Another purpose or aim of our Women's Studies Program is to provide an alternative model for examining and addressing women's issues that can be utilized in current women's studies and that could be a basis for policy issues in contemporary politics of development and in the global arena.
As you very well know, women in Islam is one of the most misconceived and stereotyped topics in contemporary discourse. Our objective is to go beyond polemics. The projected research project that includes the radical reexamination of Islamic sources and Muslim Women's history is precisely directed at this objective.
In addressing the "woman question" from the proposed Islamic civilizational perspective, we will tus be using the field of women's studies to reform and renew the field of Islamic studies in particular and cultural studies more generally. This is what we mean by using women's studies which is an interdisciplinary field as an axis and access for a positive and original contribution to Islamic academic and intellectual contribution to contemporary thought. This way, we may also be in a position to recover the links with a great historical tradition when Islamic colleges in the west (Andalusia) were at the forefront of the Renaissance that began the epoch of "modernity". I hope this gives an idea of the challenges and opportunities faced on the eve of the 21st century by Muslim scholarship in general and particularly by Muslim women doing research and scholarly work.
Name
Hind Mustafa
- Egypt
Profession
Question
I red an article for you a "Al-Marah Wal-Hadara" magazine about women and the Islamic thought reform. Do you think that muslim can really play an active role in reforming the islamic thought starting from women's issues?
Answer
This follows up on my answer to the previous question. I should probably mention here that the magazine that you referred to is the newsletter of the recently founded Association for Studying Women in Civilization (ASWIC) located in Cairo, Egypt. This particular article in the maiden volume of this magazine-like newsletter set the tone for the women's studies program at GSISS. Needless to say, this is a unique program within the modern academy (in the Muslim world as well as in the west) simply because it is the first of its kind in terms of focus and perspective and we hope that it will inspire the proliferation and spread of similar departments and study enclaves elsewhere.
I'm convinced that Muslim scholars can play an original and innovative role in reforming Islamic thought once they know how to re-read the original sources beginning with the Qur'an. The grounds of this conviction lie in the belief that the Qur'an has traditionally been at the wellspring of renewal and reform throughout Muslim history and there is no reason why it cannot play this role at the present. To note, Islam has historically played a crucial role in renewing and vitalizing all traditions and cultures that it encountered both in the east and the west. The Qur'an has constantly been a reservoir in the past, the present and will continue to be so in the future and the challenge is for the human intellect to tap into this source and to rise to its level rather than belittle and reduce it to their own limited contexts and understandings. We hope that Muslim women scholars at the dawn of the 21st century will set an example in taking up this challenge and tapping into this reservoir.
Name
Azza Galal
- Egypt
Profession
Question
Why do we always talk about women in 20 or 21 century while women's problem started from many centuries before? It has deep roots in our islamic heritage..
Answer
Thank you Azza. This is a very good question, for we can hardly address women today or tomorrow without knowing something about yesterday. This is why we are giving special attention to "deconstructing" Muslim women's history - "herstory" - in our research program on Women in Islam. It is true as you rightly put it the roots of contemporary problems in the ummah go back to earlier periods whether in the "modern" period (colonial history and orientalism) or in the course of the evolution of earlier Muslim history and the setbacks that it encountered and that came to be reflected in decadent thought traditions and attitudes and patterns of behavior (customs and traditions).
Name
Omar
- Netherlands
Profession
Filmmaker
Question
Unfortunately, until now, many Muslim intellectuals are believing in a secondary role for women --even in their household-- Firstly, how can you classify this thinking? Secondly, can you clarify the way that Islam considers the role of women is as important in the society as men --if not more important in many situations--
Answer
Again, thank you Omer for a very good question. As you know, Muslim intellectuals are just as much apart of our ummah as any other category or social group. So, whatever the problems that beset the Muslim ummah are likely to be reflected among its intellectuals. In fact, the burden of responsibility for many of the misconceptions and malpractices in our ummah today lies with its thinkers and this is why the reform of Muslim thought lies at the heart of any agenda of renewal. Taking the role of Muslim women for a focus provides an excellent example of what I mean here. Nowhere in the Qur'an is it ever indicated that Muslim women have a "secondary" role in society.
The emphasis of roles between men and women in Islamic authentic sources had always been on a complementarity and not on hierarchy. Ar-Rasool (SAAWS) said, "An-Nisa Shaqaiq Al-Rijal" (women and men are twin-mates) and in Qur'an the emphasis is on solidarity and equity as a principle in ummah formation. The example of this is found in the verse, "Al-Mu'minoona wal mu'minat ba'duhum awliya'a ba'd" (believers, men and women are friends and supporters of one another). So this kind of thinking you mention can hardly be classified as anything other than falling short of these precepts (not to say decadent)!
Islam gives a high priority to the moral foundations of community. In this area, the primary responsibility seems to implicitly lie with women as the nurturers and educators of new generations. A role that may begin with the immediate family, kith and kin, but certainly doesn't stop there. May I add that one of the wisdoms underlying the responsibility and charge given to men in the family/household situation to provide for its material needs is in a way a testimony to the honoring and privileging of women in her role as primary nurturer and educator. Let us remember those speaking out of the best of Muslim culture have realized this mission and beautifully articulated it. As with Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X), Hafiz Ibrahim as well as the Poet Laureate Ahmed Shawqi. "If you want to educate someone, educate a man. If you want to educate a nation, educate the women." Also, "The mother is a school, educate her and you educate a nation." To put it briefly, "Al-umm ummah" (the mother is the community)which is one of the motifs of the women's studies program at GSISS.
Which includes a revalorization of the role and function of mother in modern society.In the understanding that motherhood is more than biology and that it is among the most elevated roles for women, but not the ONLY role for women and that the key to understanding women's role in society is to understand the concept of priorities in varying contexts and lifecycles. This is just a brief commentary, but I hope it gives an idea of the direction of thought on the subject.
Name
Shahid
- Canada
Profession
DBA
Question
More and more, the self-worth of our Srs is attacked my North American society which correlates personal income to self-worth. Many of our Srs make the difficult decision of raising children, instead of just working, however, they are often 'lost' as to what their purpose or worth is in this society.
On the other hand, many Srs juggle both family and career, often creating chaos in family and development of children.
In general, which should be a Srs focus?
Answer
This, brother Shahid, goes to the heart of our day-to-day problems and the challenges exacted by modern society in a hard-pressed material age. First, I would like to take up the question of worth. It is very important not to be drawn into the downward spiral of perverting our values and value system. While material values have their place in the Islamic value system, gauging human worth and value transcends material values. For example, a personal income is an important asset for all Muslims (men and women) and this is why Islam assured women an independent legal personality that includes the freedom to inherit, earn, manage property and wealth as well as to engage in fiscal and commercial transactions (a unique status among so-called "world traditions" and legal systems). Also income is an important condition for stability and well-being of the family. However, it should not be the primary measure and focus of the family or its members. For example, in a family situation, while work is mandatory on men to provide for their families, it remains an option and a privilege that Islam affords women. Often in real life situations, a family may need two incomes to survive: in which case women working is not a choice. In this case, Islamically, the burden of juggling responsibilities should be borne by all its members, and not just women. In fact, easing the burden befalls the community as part of its mandatory obligations (fard kifaya) for all its members, beginning with the purpose of safeguarding the conditions for family solidarity and well being.
So I hope this brief and pointed response which is confined to some of the issues raised by your important practical question gives some idea about how to address some of these very real problems. I did not intend to address the more general question of women and work: which is broader than the example I have addressed.
Name
Houria
- Morocco
Profession
Question
What do you think of the new legislation concerning women in Morocco? Is it compatible with Islam?
Answer
This is a very critical and important question because it goes to the heart of the issues of women and development and the global agenda on women in the "public square". I will not go into the details of the new legislation here, but I will point out the significance of the context that surrounds the controversy of this particular legislation.
It is the unfortunate polarization of the politics and culture that pervades the Moroccan setting that has given this controversy its edge. The real problem here goes beyond women and development to contesting the meaning of development and the ideal or image of womanhood in that society. If we are unaware of the ongoing contest between two incompatible and contradictory paradigms, we are likely to miss the true import and meaning of the divisive issues that have used the forum of the new legislation as another battlefront. Suffice to say that doubtless there is a strong need for legislative reform in the area in question, but the framework strategy and objectives of this reform need to be reconsidered in light of the rights of Muslim women as well as the well-being and solidarity of the community beginning with the health and coherence of the Moroccan family that is the cornerstone of community.
Just an indication or example of what I mean by referring to incompatible paradigms, there is a need to reconsider radical reform in a perspective that reconciles individual and communal rights as against a perspective that takes the individual as the unit and ultimate end of social legislation. The first is an Islamic reform perspective and contrasts with the prevailing liberal perspective, which provides the current global measure - and is an instrument for "globalization".
Name
Zeinab Abul-Magd
- Egypt
Profession
Question
- Yor project to study woemn from an Islamic perspective, Dose it set its theoritical framework and basic approaches? Dose it has a specific agenda for resreach?
Answer
As-Salaamu Alaikum Zainab and welcome to the forum. I think I have already addressed part of this question earlier. The rest of your question which touches on the theoretical and conceptual aspect may be a little too abstract and complex to go into in any depth here. Suffice to remark, that our focus on developing the tawhidi episteme and working within a civilizational perspective provides the originality and novelty of our women's studies project, and is the grounds for anticipating some breakthrough in both the academy and this specific area of study.
Name
MAHMOOD
- United States
Profession
DBA
Question
Do think that the face of the Muslim ummah will change when the women are going to educated about Islam so that they teach their kids the correct knowledge and the raise their kids by the Quran and the Sunnah rather then the Television?
Answer
Yes.. Of course I do... But we have to have educated Muslimahs to be able to educate their children... mish kida?!
Name
hassan
- United States
Profession
Question
Asallam alikom,
I think women in muslim countries should gradually improve their situation. I do not understand the big issues arising these days about women where at the same time muslim women intrest still in redicalus things.. they should brove themselvies in their houses in their community. My question where is the active muslim women from improving our kids these days.?
Answer
Wa-Alakum As-Salaam.
I dont understand what you mean by this question: "women gradually improving themselves" -- al hamdulillah, we have women who are contributing vitally to their communities, and we all stand to gain from self-improvement. This goal is at the forefront of our value system as Muslims and Muslimahs: it is the concept of "ihsan": striving for excellence and perfection in all we do, beginning with ourselves.
I agree with you that it is very dangerous for our kids and community, to neglect the cultivation and education of our women, and we should all beware of trivializing our interests and concerns (the 'ridiculous' aspects you refer to). To rise to our ideals as Muslims, we need to study the example of the early Muslim community... and I suggest you take a look at Abdel Halim Abu Shaqqa's volume 1: on "Women's Liberation in the Age of the Prophet" (tahrir al mar'a fi 'asr al risala' ---(6 volumes))
Name
Maysoon
-
Profession
Student
Question
What do u think about the first priorites the muslim woemn should take care in this time
Answer
Very briefly, a few golden rules to observe:
(1) Priorities change with the particular circumstance of the women concerned, with the phase of their life, as well as with the kind of society in which they live and the needs of the community.
(2) Islam provides a framework that is very versatile and flexible. No rigid rules, but certain basic precepts: like ordaining that every man and woman is duty bound to live out his or her time on earth within the framework of taqwa and service to Allah .. That men and women are partners in a common mission to uphold the Khair ummah: the best ummah set out for humankind: that the command of the Good and forbidding of evil, is a duty to all, and it is left to their educated discretion and the conditions of their times to see how this is to be performed...
Women's "first priorities" begin with her offspring and her home, but they do not stop there...so, on the basis of your taqwa, education, sense of responsibilities and discretion, it is up to you to decide on your priorities.
I think this gives an idea of where to go from there!
Name
Manal Yahia
- Egypt
Profession
Question
I'm very gald to hear about your deep and unique project', "women from a Civilizational perspective". I hope that this projct can go through very acadmic thorough researches that fill a gap in our research field in the islamic acadimy. Many thanks for you.
Answer
Thanks for your encouraging comments and I hope you continue to be involved in the same project over the longterm and not just at the beginning. A message to everybody involved in a similar project of reform and renewal in the ummah is to keep up the enthusiasm and to work with the long view in mind. This is the meaning of Jihad (persistent effort and struggle in the way of the good) and ijtihad.
Name
Zeinab Abul-Magd
- Egypt
Profession
Question
- Yor project to study woemn from an Islamic perspective, Dose it set its theoritical framework and basic approaches? Dose it has a specific agenda for resreach?
Answer
Hello, zeinab... I think we met earlier.. so welcome back! As I come to the end of my session I have to wrap up.
But, here is a quick response to the second part of your very important question. I feel there may be much that could be learned from western feminist scholarship in its field, particularly in its critique of contemporary thought. However, this kind of scholarship can contribute more to deconstructing and critiquing than to constructing and providing alternative viable models for academy and society..
This is where I believe that developing the field of women's studies from a Muslim perspective should be a priority in our own academic and research agenda as an academy and scholarship with access to Islamic sources. It will be instrumental to reforming Muslim thought, as well as in offering enrichments and opportunities for breaking out of the current impasse in modern thought.
It is a challenge for the twenty first century: particularly perhaps, for Muslim women in the academy,but also for everyone who is is seeking to contribute to the enlightenment of our global moral community. For those seeking to make a difference: in what is our common abode on planet earth..
wa'allahu a'lam...
Name
MAHMOOD
- United States
Profession
Question
Can you please explain to us why in the West so many more women are embracing Islam and why when sister achya just said that Islam is taking women's freedom away. And do think that Women in Islam can just gain freedom through Feminist movements like the west.
Answer
I am not sure I understand your question very well.. But it certainly touches a lot of "spark plugs"... First a comment. Yes, it is true that women in the West seem to be eager to embrace Islam, once they break the barrier of stereotyping and deep seated prejudices. It perhaps speaks for women's intuitive feel for an innate sense of truth and fitra.. While some women come to discover Islam through marriage, others come to it through various life encounters: and it goes without saying, that women's life in western culture, while it may seem to be glittered with freedoms of all sorts and kinds, is really littered with 'falls' and traps of all hues. The gist of it is that women in modern: traditional, transitional, and modernizing societies is under much strain... and the problems in the modern, advanced West just take on a different face.
What Islam presents to those who come across it, and are steadily drawn to it, and begin to reach into it - as if reaching for the light -- is an opportunity to rise above pettiness and self-destruction, and it gives them a sense of recovery and rediscovery of their innate selves. This is true for both women and men: It is just that women's lot may sometimes be harder, and woman's sensibility and sensitivity : stronger, so their route may be shorter.
Women is in touch with concrete reality in the everyday world on one on one responsibilities: She is in touch with the very culture of life: from her biology to her spirituality, and everything in between... If she combines integrity and reason: then she is all set on the path...
Women in the Muslim world, by contrast, often take only for granted what they have and are hardly aware of what they might be about to lose. They are often too the victim of the prejudices and decadences of their own societies: So they look up at the dominant western model of liberation and emancipation, and feel that their problems will be solved: if only they become ardent 'feminists' a la mode... The feminist movement in itself, is a search for that freedom, that is an innate yearning of the human soul...
As a Muslim woman, first, before being a Muslim scholar, I feel that this sense of homecoming and genuine freedom can only be found in Islam: not the Islam of tradition, but the Islam of Qur'an:
If this evokes some notes of the 'sufi' that lurks in every human soul... we might take this up on another occasion: as part of the challenges of the twenty first century....
