Whether Religious Leadership Can be Denied to Women?

Posted on July 22, 2010 on www.sukkoon.wordpress.com Whenever an issue relating to harassment and discrimination of women is under discussion, Islam will be in the forefront as the role model responsible for such discrimination. The Vatican City recently issued a draft of new disciplinary rules to the effect that the ordination of women as Roman Catholic priests is a “crime against the faith”. While commenting on the issue, Mr. Colin Armstrong noted that “To Islam women will always be pathways of temptation to all men, who are thus absolved from reaching any maturity in sexual behaviour and to Catholics, women will always be “daughters of Eve”, responsible for the fall of mankind. Did we go through the Renaissance (thanks to the prior millennia of Arab wisdom), Reformation, Enlightenment and political striving for equality just to roll over and be forced by law to “respect” those who still adhere to those dark-age ideas? I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.” Last month, Canadian authour Raheel Reza, became the first Muslim-born woman to lead a mixed-gender British congregation through Friday prayers in UK. Her appearance is a repeat of a similar prayer session in 2008 which was led by Amina Wadud, an American-born convert and a Muslim feminist. These two incidents, women reaching and aspiring the highest thorne of religious ceremony are paving path for a detailed analysis. When we are pleading for the freedom of women specific to a particular country we have the rights guaranteed under the law of that country to rely on. Here we are claiming a right under a religion and hence we have to go for the status of women under that particular religion and extract our locus standi to claim the same right. To dig out a locus standi to be a religious leader from the most conservative religion such as Islam, standing within the parameters of its provisions is not an easy task for a woman. In order to prove this, I have to base my contention on the fact that Islam is the only modern religion which confers, approve and protect women’s right. Islam evolved in such an era and in such a culture that female babies were being killed and deserted at the time of birth itself. Even in 21st century in countries like India unless accompanied by a huge amount of money as dowry, a marriage is impossible for a girl. In 14th century Islam mandated to pay Mahr to the girl for the consent of her marriage. You may ask, marriage in terms of money, whether mahr or dower is an insult for women? No, the purpose of any law is the upliftment of the society and protection of the weaker section of the society. Mahr is a guarantee that the husband has the capacity to protect his wife and Nikkah is the entrustment contract between the husband and the father of the girl who was her protector till that time. So Islam secure the future of a girl through marriage. That is why Islam allows inequality in inheritance laws as far as ladies are concerned. Now comes the question of polygamy. Islam does not confer an exclusive right to have more than one wife for a muslim male. As per Verse 3 of Sur Nisaa,”If ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, Marry women of your choice, Two or three or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one, or (a captive) that your right hands possess, that will be more suitable, to prevent you from doing injustice.” So it is a restrictive or provisional measure to ensure justice for orphan woman. Now people are misusing this clause which evolved as a protective and security measure to safeguard the interest and justice of women to exploit them and to create more orphans through divorce. Quran is the words of God and it has to remain the same forever. When people are deviating or acting against the purpose for which a particular provision is evolved, we cannot say that they can still be justified on the ground that the law has to be unaltered. The remedy is not an amendment or blame for Quran. People are liable to be punished for their deviation from the original intention of Quran and its provisions and enactment of any other legislation for safeguarding the rights of women which was already secured by Quran is not against the interest of Islam, but against the interest of those who had been exploiting women for long. So we cannot say that Quran and its provisions are barbarian as far as polygamy is concerned. It is a provisional measure to ensure absolute justice for orphan woman and it is not a mandatory principle of Islam. Here when I am talking about women, I am mentioning not of the women who enjoys all the conveniences of life like Paris Hilton or Shakeera or about their rights, but about those women who has to lease out their uterus or has to pledge her chastity to cure the hunger of her children. When at the time of evolvement of Quran also, the fate of women was nothing less than this. So also divorce, a permissible, but a conditional provision. Divorce must be resorted to only in exceptional circumstances following so many proceducres based on the principles of equity and justice which we seen in modern Contract Law and other Legislations. Regarding the status of women in society in terms of acquiring knowledge or money, there is no restriction in Islam. Modern woman reached her present position by force and She was forced by circumstances and in turn she forced herself through and acquired her new status. Whether they are happy with these modern status is another matter to discuss. Most of the working ladies are subjected to harassment by superior officers and are low paid than their male counterparts. The object of Islam is to provide maximum protection for women and granted immunity from taking responsibility or burden of maintaining the family. But there is no restriction for a woman to work if she wishes. The modern women are reluctant to feed mother’s milk for their children on account of losing charm and beauty after delivery. Islam is the religion which granted exemption for a woman even to feed her own baby and entrusted that responsibility to the husband to find and protect another woman and her baby who is in need of care and food and allow his child to be feeded by her along with her child and treat the woman as mother and the child as co-brother. Here a relation apart from blood relation, but equivalent to that is also generating. This single example is sufficient to prove that how protective Islam is as regards women’s right is concerned. Woman is equal to man in all aspects. Quran mention ‘Never will I cause to be lost the work of any of you, be he male or female; you are members, one of another… (3:195; cf 9:71;33:35-36;66:19-21). She is entitled to freedom of speech and expression similar to man. It is reported in the Qur’an and history that woman not only expressed her opinion freely but also argued and participated in serious discussions with the Prophet himself as well as with other Muslim leaders (Qur’an,58:1-4; 60:10-12).Women used to accompany the Muslim armies engaged in battles to nurse the wounded, prepare supplies, serve the warriors, and so on. Even now in 21st century, the teachings and life of Prophet’s(S.A) wife Ayesha(R.A) is a research subject for students of western universities. As far as religious rights are concerned Quran Says (O Mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another. Verily, the most honorable of you in the Sight of Allah is the believer who has Taqwa (piety and righteousness). Verily, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.)[49:13]. Equal religious duties and rituals are required from both women and men. Testimony of Faith (Shahaadah), Prayer (Salah), Obligatory Charity (Zakah), Fasting (Saum), and Pilgrimage (Hajj) are equally required of both genders. Due to her health and physical conditions, women have been granted some exemptions or immunities in terms of prayer for eg, during mensuration and postnatal bleeding and she don’t need to perform these outstanding prayers missed during those time except fasting. So in Islam, women enjoys certain immunities so far as religious aspect is concerned. Now coming to the question whether women in Islam have any right over superior positions of religious institution, for the performance of Juma Khutba or claim to be the Imam of a mosque, we need to understand the meaning of both these terms. Juma is the most important activity of any Islamic community and it is a Fard(Mandatory) and Khutba is the most important part of Juma. It is the tool of educating and bonding the community, uniting the community, giving hope to the community, guiding the community, improving the quality of the community and propagating Islam (dawa). It is a religious lecture. So according to the intention of the Quran or practices of the Prophet, there is no harm in a woman delivering juma Khutba so long as she is faithful to Islam in terms of her words and deeds. Now coming to the question of whether women can be Imam of a Juma or a mosque, an Imam is a person who is the leader of congregation and the community. The Imam is responsible for every person praying behind him. If he makes a mistake he is responsible for his mistake and of all those who followed him. If he misleads or uses the Khutba for the wrong purpose, he will be responsible for his action and for all those who follow him. As we discussed earlier, women have been granted immunity from prayers. As such she should be granted exemption or immunity from shouldering the responsibility of leading a group in prayers. Right is the correlative of power and immunity is the correlative of disability(no power). Moreover, due to her biological variations also, she cannot lead a group continously even for a month and it is a singular post in a mosque. Even in organizations where hundreds and thousands of women are working, the harrassment and molestation of women and their diginity is a question. If a single women is working to lead a group of men or a mixed group of men and women, there are always the chance of sexual harrassment. Still women can be Imam in the following situations according jurists and Hadiths. i) A woman is allowed to lead a congregation consisting only of women ii) A woman is allowed to lead her own family members in Prayer especially In the following cases - If she is exceptionally qualified and others are not so well versed in the rules of prayers and knowledge of the Quran - If her husband is a new Muslim who is struggling to learn the rules of Prayer and the Qur’an, while she herself is perfectly well versed in them. - If she is a mother of minors who are still learning the rules of Prayer and the Qur’an. Now coming back to the question of ordination of women in Christianity, whether exoneration is justified? Ordination is the ceremony by which a person receives spiritual authority and becomes a members of the clergy. Clergy are people who have been ordained as priest and ministers of the church and therefore they are officially authorized to conduct ceremonies and perform other religious duties. Functions of the members of the Clergy are Authority to conduct worship services. Deliver sermons during masses or services. Gives religious instruction. Can administer the Holy Communion. Can perform marriages, baptismal, confirmation, ordain and conduct funeral services On the basis of the above facts why women cannot be permitted to perform the above functions while nuns who are women are part and parcel of the institution of church. A church is a body of believers who may or may not meet in some kind of a building. A nun is a female ascetic who chooses to voluntarily leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent. The term “nun” is applicable to Roman Catholics, Eastern Christians, Anglicans, Lutherans, and Buddhists, for example. The male equivalent of a nun is a monk. Nun – Catholic. In Roman Catholicism a nun is the term for a female monastic regular, equivalent to that of a male monk. Those women consecrate their lives to spiritual service and various religious orders. They do not marry and are normally virgins. So in Christianity a women can serve and dedicate her entire life for the service of spiritual and religious activity after sacrificing all her pleasures of the world. There is no discrimination or the church doesn’t give her any exemption as a woman. Here she is entrusted with the responsibity of serving the community or religion according to the rule of the church which she belongs. Responsibility is the entrustment of other’s right. She is etrusted with additional responsibility of serving others. These dual rights can empower Christian women to claim ordination. In this aspect Islam is entirely different from Christianity. Sacrificing one’s normal pleasures such as marriage, reproduction and family life is prohibited in Islam and women are exempted from Juma Prayer even. It is not mandatory for a woman in Islam to attend the mosque on Friday. Likewise she has so many immunities in the matter of religious rituals. As long as she enjoys these immunities, she is deprived of the right to administer religious organizations or lead religious ceremonies. Both the male and the female are equal in terms of their humanity. Islam does not categorize women, for instance, as the source of evil in the world for some & original sin that caused Adam (Peace be Upon Him) to be dismissed from Paradise, as some other religious doctrines and fables teach. Glorious Qur’an teach : (O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single person (Adam), and from him (Adam) He created his wife (Eve), and from them both He created many men and women…) So any comparison or equation of Islam with the wrongs or injustice of others cannot be justified.