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Women's Intelligence and the Islamic Tradition: Difference between revisions
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Women's Intelligence and the Islamic Tradition (view source)
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===Muhammad was referring to that specific group of women alone (Dr. Rasha al-Disuqi)=== | ===Muhammad was referring to that specific group of women alone (Dr. Rasha al-Disuqi)=== | ||
Dr. Rasha al-Disuqi is a professor of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) at | Dr. Rasha al-Disuqi is a professor of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) at al-Azhar University, a former lecturer at California Polytechnic State University, and holds a PhD in Islamic studies from the University of Wales.<ref>{{Citation|url=https://www.cilecenter.org/about-us/our-team/dr-rasha-al-disuqi|publisher=Research Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics|title=Dr. Rasha Al Disuqi|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/save/https://www.cilecenter.org/about-us/our-team/dr-rasha-al-disuqi}}</ref> Al-Disuqi has been a key proponent in recent times of the idea that Muhammad, in the relevant portions of scripture, was merely referring to the group of women in front of him during the time of his address and not all women in general. Al-Disuqi's argument, colliding with classical interpretations, has been subjected to criticism both from traditional authorities and critics. | ||
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==== | ====Not a blanket statement for all Women==== | ||
{{quote || That hadith was said at a specific time, during a specific situation, addressing a specific group and it was not meant to be as a blanket statement.}} | {{quote || That hadith was said at a specific time, during a specific situation, addressing a specific group and it was not meant to be as a blanket statement.}} | ||
Al-Disuqi's conclusion rests in part on the argument that because while making the relevant statements Muhammad was present in a specific time, place, and situation, his statements cannot be taken to be generally applicable. This argument of al-Disuqi's upsets both traditional Islamic hermeneutical practice and what might be considered a plain reading of the scriptures concerned. | |||
In traditional interpretive practice, Islamic scholars rely on the maxim that "the meaning [of scripture] is based on the generality of the wording and not the specificity of the circumstance" (العبرة بعموم اللفظ لا بخصوص السبب).<ref>{{Citation|title=حول قاعدة : ( العبرة بعموم اللفظ لا بخصوص السبب )|url=https://islamqa.info/ar/answers/224767/%D8%AD%D9%88%D9%84-%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%A8%D8%B9%D9%85%D9%88%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%81%D8%B8-%D9%84%D8%A7-%D8%A8%D8%AE%D8%B5%D9%88%D8%B5-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%A8%D8%A8|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309164943/https://islamqa.info/ar/answers/224767/%D8%AD%D9%88%D9%84-%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%A8%D8%B9%D9%85%D9%88%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%81%D8%B8-%D9%84%D8%A7-%D8%A8%D8%AE%D8%B5%D9%88%D8%B5-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%A8%D8%A8|publisher=Islam Q&A}}</ref> The theological idea behind this practice is that since Allah tasked Muhammad with providing laws and beliefs for humankind for all eternity while still, as a human, being bound to a specific time and place, his followers would necessarily have to extrapolate his teachings which emerged in particular circumstances into future-proof, universalized formulations. Accordingly, traditional Islamic scholars agreed that if this were the case, then Muhammad would have to explicitly declare a teaching of his to be time-limited or otherwise non-generalizable in order for it not to be extrapolated into the future - otherwise there would be no way to distinguish his general proclamations from his temporal ones. | |||
2. | Since the scripture diminishing women's intelligence contains no such explicit qualification which limits Muhammad's comments to the women in his presence and because the scriptures also explicitly give women's lesser intelligence as the reason for the eternal Quranic law disabling women as testifiers in court, the classical understanding of these statements has always been that women were, as a rule, less intelligent than men. Classical scholars have also pointed out that the law justified with the teaching of women's lesser intelligence is itself not qualified temporally - {{Quran|2|282}} does not say, for instance, that women's testimony will be worth half of man's for "a limited time". Thus, with an unqualified pronouncement in the hadith coupled with an unqualified legal ruling in the Quran, the classical understanding has always been that women are, as a rule, less intelligent. Other evidence that has been cited to this effect, though not explicitly linked with women's intelligence in the hadith itself, is Muhammad's teaching that women should "never" be the leaders of nations.<ref>{{Bukhari|9|88|219|}}</ref> | ||
The same reasoning for the permanence and universality of women's intelligence is traditionally used to arrive at the permanence and universality of women's religious disability. As a works-based religion where one's fate hereafter is determined, deed-for-deed, according to one's acts in this life (except for those cases where God feels like bestowing his ''fadl'', or unequal favor upon someone), Islam teaches that a person is not generally judged by their ability, but their output. In a famous hadith, Muhammad taught that some people, given wealth more than others, would through donation be able to ascend to higher awards in heaven than the impoverished could ever hope to attain, for no other reason than that God had favored them with wealth. While admittedly unjust, Muhammad concluded that "This is Allah's Grace which He gives to whom He wishes".<ref>{{Muslim|4|1239|}}</ref> Similarly, women are permanently disadvantaged in their ability to perform good deeds because they have been 'cursed' with menstruation, due to Eve's transgression, and are thus unable to pray as much in their lives as men (in Islam, menstruating are prohibited from prayer, which is the most important and most deed-rewarding Islamic ritual). | |||
Do we also apply the "This was only for that specific group of Women" answer to Muhammad's claim that women are also deficient in religion? Are women suddenly allowed to fast and pray when they are menstruating? We know they aren't; so why should we apply one part of the hadith to that specific group of women when the second claim is clearly referring to all Muslim Women? | Do we also apply the "This was only for that specific group of Women" answer to Muhammad's claim that women are also deficient in religion? Are women suddenly allowed to fast and pray when they are menstruating? We know they aren't; so why should we apply one part of the hadith to that specific group of women when the second claim is clearly referring to all Muslim Women? | ||