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The Role of religion and its misinterpretations
Rihana Nesrudin
Arab Women Novelists
Professor M. Jiyad
Spring 2007
In the five novels we’ve read throughout the semester, we travel from the lands of Jordan to Morocco, from the depression of the Palestinians to politics of Cairo. Arab women who have been portrayed through out the books which we have studied may come from different part of the Arab world, from different classes, but they all share one thing in common; They share a tremendous amount of strength and courage. While living within a society that views women as the weaker sex and that defines boundaries for women, we witness their constant struggle and their abilities to go through hard and Challenging circumstances: No matter what, we’ve witnessed them endure. These are stories of exceptional women among many. There have been millions of women who have been victims of oppression by their societies, by customs and traditions. They have been constrained mentally, physically and emotionally in the things that they do, in the ways they do it. They are constrained even to the extent of being able to dream. If they ever found the courage to leave these boundaries, the consequences are not kind to them. If the consequences don’t come from their close families or relatives, it will come from the larger society. Coming from a society that views women as the weaker sex, and a society that has defined the boundaries for women, even if they can find courage to go above it, they can only do so to a certain extent.
Most of these novels refer to the continuing suppression of Arab women whose daily assistance to the society and struggle to survive in a male- dominated society have been neglected. For many centuries, from historical events to current phenomenon, women have struggled and fought to empower themselves. One of the first steps to be taken in order to be able to understand the problems of women and more specifically the challenges of Muslim Arab women is to look at and study the long lasting tradition and customs of the Arab society. How is it that even today women of the Arab world have to still face constant subjugation, not only by the male population but also by the whole society at large?
Among the many themes that run through out the book, religion and its role in the Arab society is a very strong one. In all the novels we’ve read we witness the power religion has both at the individual level and at the level of society at large. The actions and ways of thinking of the characters in the novel is greatly influenced by Islam, which in many parts of the Muslim world is considered as a way of life rather than simply one aspect of the life of an individual. In Novels such as Dreams of Trespass, we witness religion playing a very dominant role, it’s teachings constantly being compromised among the men and the women of the harem. In the novel such as In the eye of the Sun, even though the community is a Muslim community and all characters in it are Muslims we witness religion playing a very diminutive role. But no matter what the level of influence of religion in the lives of the characters in the Novels, It plays a vital role, since the larger society of the Arab Muslim World mainly uses religious thinking to lead everyday lives.
Because of the influence religion has on the Arab society it is not very surprising to hear sufferings of women being constantly attached to Islam. Hearing debates about Islam and the status of women on a frequent bases has almost become a trend in the Arab world, and most widely in the Western world. It is observed that Islam plays a major role in the lives of most of the Arab population, for this reason whenever we look at the situation of the Life of the Arab women, Islam is very quickly and frequently refer to by many that it is the major source of the suffering of women in the Arab world. It is considered often that the religion limits women and upholds the idea of a male-dominant society.
So, is it the case that Islam, the religion of the majority of the Arab population, is the one which views women as inferiors to men or is it actually the problem of interpretation and understanding of the religion itself? This question is one which requires long studies and also which requires ones ability to understand the laws of Islam and the customs of that society. To do this, I’ll first try to look at the role religion plays in the lives of the characters and the constant compromises done between men and women and among women themselves in the five novels we’ve read. Then I’ll look at the source of the Islamic laws, the Quran and the hadith, and look at how they deal with issues concerning women. I’ll try to look at the issues of Hijab and polygamy in detail and compare and contrast what the religious text state about these issues and how they are actually being interpreted and practiced by many. Finally, I’ll look at Arab Feminists and see how they found ways to deal with these issues and their struggle to live the lives which they believe Islam permits them to live.
In any society differentiating between religion and culture is a difficult task. Due to the passage of time, most of the religious practices have been intertwined with cultural practices, that it becomes very difficult to differentiate the two, since in most cases, one ends up being the source of the other. There are a lot of cases in which culture and custom rise above the laws of the religion to a great degree that religion is easily corrupted to serve evil purposes of individuals in a society and more specifically in these cases the purposes of men. It also becomes almost impossible to identify where the source of the problem truly lies. Even in incidents where it is evident that religion does not permit certain acts, for example slavery, it is practiced by many because it has been part of a tradition or custom for many centuries and has become the norm of the society. So, it becomes ok to have such practices, since it is clearly the norm even though there are victims as a result of these practices. Thus, can Islam really be considered as the primary source of women’s subjugation. I don’t believe so. Since, If this really is the case getting rid of these issues becomes almost hopeless. A holy text is considered the word of God, telling a society not to abide by it will be telling them not to live by the basic principles given to them by an entity they consider their creator. But this is not the case. These problems are problems which can be tackled no matter how hard they may be, and more importantly they can be tackled using the teachings of Islam. We have seen issues concerning women change through time and we continue to witness the changes. These changes have been possible due the constant struggle of women, actually defending themselves using the same source that is considered to have oppressed them in the first place. The main problem is deeply rooted in customs, traditions and the practices that are considered as the norm of the society. These have deeply taken root within the religion, hence have given men the opportunity to interpret the Islamic teachings in ways by which it could serve their purpose. I will argue that the oppressions that Arab women face are not religious oppressions. They are oppressions of people’s lack of understanding and abuse of their religion. The liberation of the Arab women is very much possible within the context of religion, if Islam is allowed to be correctly applied. This is the very reason why we have met in our novels, great Muslim Arab feminist who have attempted to rise above the subjugation of men and society and tried to find their freedom within the context of Islam, being great examples for Arab and Muslim Women everywhere and will continue to be so for many Generations to come.
Pillars of Salt:
“They were women and I was a woman too” Maha, a rural girl from Jordan describes when meeting the city women who came to her home with her brother, “but they were so different. One of them was wearing a tight dress with a wide, shamefully short skirt. Pulling my dress to the front, I lowered my eyes. Every part of the woman’s body was revealed by the light material.”… “One was dark and the other blond, a foreigner to our land. Crimson lips, fair hair, and thread-thin eyebrows. I felt like heating some water and washing the colors off their faces. Maybe I could give them long black Qasimi robes and headdresses. The shame of it! By the gray hairs of my father, these women were not shy of showing their bodies to the gazing men.”
In Pillars of Salt is where we first meet Maha, a strong headed woman with principles. She was raised by a strong mother, whom she lost at a young age, nevertheless who had decisive influences on her, and by an affectionate father who loved his wife and adored his daughter.
Through out this novel, as in most Arab societies, people abide and live by the teachings of their religion. The name of God is mentioned in most utterance of sentences. Not only is religion something they practice in the everyday life but it’s the basic law which they know.
The teachings of Islam embody with in it laws from something as major as inheritance to one that can be considered minor, such as the way one eats and sleeps. Upon meeting foreign women Maha is amazed at their way of life. Being a Muslim, a woman is supposed to uphold ‘modesty’, not be out with men in any way she pleases. She looks down on them amazed, in her eyes, of their lack of understanding of what and how a woman should be and how she should act.
“ Who wants to have a clear head? Who wants to remember how my father slapped my face there and then and pushed me inside the house? By your life, when I saw the gleaming faces of the women wating to see the bride and inspect her, my legs started trembling and I looked at my father again who stood at the door , blocking the sight of the street. With a shaky voice, I whispered, ‘My father, Allah protect your women, Allah lengthen your live. I will be your slave girl for the rest of my life.’ He shook his turbaned head. I was pushed by the eager women to the dais and sat there with my hands folded in my lap.”
Here is also were we meet Um Saad, a lonely women in the city of Amman. Her father marries her off to a man she never meet and is forced to spend the remaining part of her life with him. Once her father decided she was old enough, she was forced to quit her Quran school, which was the only type of school she knew, and married a butcher and gave birth of eight boys through out the years.
Among the many approaches, what this book does is compare the lives of these two Muslim women from different parts of Jordan who met in a mental hospital and who narrate their stories. Both their families are considered Muslim; therefore their actions can easily be related to their religion. But here we witness the way each individual, family and society at large practices the religion – very differently, and mainly the purpose being to serve personal interests and believes.
In the case of Maha, she marries a man she fell in love with. She consents to the marriage and is happily sent off to live with her new husband. Her husband loves and respects her for the women she is. He loves and respects her as a woman, as a person. Her love and affection towards him is met with a mutual gentleness and purity. Even at times were they face difficulty and pressure, it is each other they turn to. Most pressures and difficulties Maha faces later on in her life arises mainly from the larger society.
In the case of Um Saad, she is forced to give up the man she initially wanted to marry, Mohammed, who was denied her hand because he was not an Arab and she is given off to a butcher she didn’t know. Her consent was in no way put in. Unlike Maha’s father, Um Saad’s father was feared and his word in the family was law. With absolutely no choice whatsoever she starts living a life of an a women confined within the limits of a house provided by a man she hardly knows. She is a sheer property to her husband, slaving away everyday of her life, raising eight children. Neither did she love her husband nor received any gratitude from him. She lived her life serving a purpose every Arab girl grows up thinking is her sole role in her life. With no way out, she is a presence within a house that can never be her home.
Comparing the lives of these two women is where one can find how, among similar cultures and religious values, the application of them can differ. The above two women are both Arabs and Muslims, but their lives and the way their families interpret and apply their religion very much differs. While Maha’s family has granted her respect and happiness, Um Saad’s family has taken it all away from her, fully believing that a girl should not require much else. Neither referred to texts of the religion directly, but they live by the teachings as a norm that should exist, but the teachings as in most cases differ in applications.
“ Her gentle touch on my plaits used to wipe out the pain of Daffash’s slaps. “What do you expect? He’s a boy. Allah placed him a step higher. We must accept Allah’s verdict, “ She used to say.”
What women of the Arab world have to constantly do is not only protect themselves physically or economically but also mentally, against such thinking as the above, which allows society to subjugate women, believing that the case is a norm and that it is ok.
A women of Five Seasons:
When we move to the second novel we witness the transformation of an Arab woman seeking independence and self fulfillment in the face of Arab male attitude of chauvinism. Here religion doesn’t have much of an effect on the lives of the Palestinians we meet in this novel.
When we’re first introduced to Nadia, we meet her as she was deeply caught in her own thoughts barely aware of her surrounding. “My lovely kitten – this perfume suits you better.” He starts. Her husband Ihsan appears to love his wife in his own way, but she’s nothing more than a property, there by his side to please him and satisfy his desires. In the mind of a materialist and a self proclaimed achiever, Nadia is among the many items of his pleasures. We don’t see him either mistreating her or abusing her, at least physically. But, she’s trapped in a world where her role is to be constantly by the side of her man, to love and please him in any possible way with no regards to the need of her personal being. This, she describes, is the life of an the Arab woman.
“I became the daughter of that Arab Woman who repeated her mother’s advice on her wedding night. For a whole year we’d sat on the wooden steps in front of our teacher repeating what the Arab woman had pronounced. “fall in with everything he commands.”
The culture of the Arab society places women in the household, serving husbands and raising children. In this novel religion is very much marginalized, but other cultural and traditional thinking and practices are alive and well. Islam here is not involved in the lives of these characters, but the subjugation and degradation of women still exists.
It is important to notice here the luxury that Nadia possesses – the economical status that she enjoys has given her the opportunity to have choices, no matter how limited those choices may be. Unlike the characters we’ve witnessed earlier, e.g. Um Saad. Nadia has the ability to ponder upon these questions which she constantly asks herself, questions which, as we saw towards the later parts, will eventually lead her to find herself, her independence and most of all her freedom.
“Marriage was the aim – a strange, confused feeling, somewhere between getting a husband and finding love.”
Nadia starts of as a somewhat confused individual. Unsure of her feelings or what actions those feelings might lead her to, we see her gradual progression from a submissive wife into someone who starts not only getting full control of herself but joins the business of her husband and plays a major role in his affairs. She had started with such simple things as picking colors of her cloth according to her taste to running her own company. She depicts the ability that women have if they were given the chance or, if they somehow found the power to take it themselves.
“A sense of utter loathing welled up inside me. Dreamer though I am, I never imagined an encounter like this, with Jalal, could be so stupid and cheap and sickening. All of a sudden I was just a woman to him. I’d imagined him as panicky on meeting me – beseeching in his confusion of love – describing how bitterly he missed me. And now all he could see in me was a female he could throw away of pick up at his leisure. I felt better loathing and resentment and that inner being began to stir, then grow furious, savagely beating my very head.”
This is a turning point in Nadia’s life where she takes possession of herself and is ready to be the strong women that she is.
A Balcony over the Fakihani:
“Yusra’s mother tried to persuade her to stop her choking sobs an death something. Everything, she told Yusra, is fate and chance: God decrees the span of each of our lives from the moment of our birth. It was enough that she, Yusra, had got out of Tal Al-Zaatar and was still alive. Her mother also said something about a wall on scavenging among the bodies thrown at the foot. She talked about the need to go on with the living of her life.”
In this novel we meet a people with no land constantly trying to find a home to somehow make theirs. From among the people, we meet Yusra who suffers with the death of her husband, Ahmed, who was a romantic individual who died serving a purpose for his people.
Religion in this novel is to the lowest amount. The one place were religion is mentioned briefly is in the above circumstance when Ahmed passes away. Yusra loses her mind and her mother consoles her, telling her about fate, or ‘qadr’, which is a very strong concept in Islam. Among the major principles Muslim people should believe in, is the idea of an already preordained life.
Other than this, we see characters in this novel are very much caught up with their every day lives. Death is very much real. Politics has ruled the lives of the people. The author never portrayed much about the issue of religion. They are people trying to survive in a politics which has taken over their lives. Everyday struggles are what add up to make a life worth lived.
Dreams of Trespass:
In Dreams of Trespass we meet Fatima, a child with very enchanting questions and who constantly examine her environment and the reason for the situation she is born into. Religion, in this novel plays a major role in the lives of the men and women of the harem. The women in this novel not only study and read feminists of the Arab world but they live as one. Within the borders of the Harem, their dreams flaws far from the frontiers. Fatima’s mother and Chama, the two women fighters of the book, constantly challenge the ways of the older women and the ideas of the men in the Harem.
When Lalla Thor objected to the idea of the other co-wives washing the dishes in the river the case was brought to Fatima’s grandfather. He asked them to explain their project. They argued convincingly that there was nothing wrong in washing their dishes in the river. We witness the women using religion in a smart and logical way to state their ideas well.
“They would gladly renounce their project, If lalla thor could produce a fatwa( decree) from the Qaraouiyine mosque religious authorities banning women from washing dishes in rivers, but until that time, they would do as they pleased. After all, the river was Allah’s creation, a manifestation of his power, and if, in any case swimming were a sin, they would pay for it once in front of him, on judgment day.”
Within the Harem, women are confined within their boundaries. This situation is upheld by many but highly hated by others. Fatima’s mother and Chama, are the two characters in the book that are constantly fighting for their freedom to live as they please. They, very much, consider themselves Muslims and they see no contradictions in their religion for their need to live a free life.
This novel represents in a great way how interpretations differ when it comes to religion. All sides view and use religion in ways that best suits them. Sometimes they use it to serve their interests and still have the ability to be very logical in their approach and other times they use it to serve their interests but the logic is completely pushed aside. Aside from the difference of opinion between men and women, what pulls us in this novel is the difference of opinion between the women themselves. Mostly their differences arise mainly because of age. While women like Chama and Fatima’s mother fight for their liberation, the older women like Lala Mani and Lalla thor, strictly believe in the position of women being within walls and limits, referring to how it functions as a guarantee for many divorced and widowed women and also believing that women need limitations to be free from all sin. Interpretation, through out the novel remains a constant problem.
In the Eye of the Sun:
In the Fifth Novel we meet Asya. Asya’s story takes place between England and Egypt. She’s an upper middle class girl raised by educated parents with privileges. The role religion plays in this novel is to the minuscule.
While we read all the five novels one of the things we experience clearly is how people’s background highly affect their way of thinking. Be it their religious or socioeconomic, their background, as can be expected, plays a great role in their actions. More specifically, like I’ve mentioned above their religious background plays the biggest role of all in most cases.
One thing that is very striking about the character Asya is how easily she has detached herself from the cultures one might expect exist in an Arab and Muslim country such as Egypt and how easily she finds comfort living outside of those traditions and limitation. When comparing her character to the other characters such as Maha, it makes one wonder.
Asya wakes up one morning after sleeping with a man who’s not her husband:
“When Asya wakes she surprises herself. She had gone to sleep expecting to wake up to the cold finger on the heart; to the weight of the rock of doom settling on her chest: guilt, fear – confusion would surely coalesce into one mass that would settle inside her and prevent her from even breathing – but there is nothing: she surprises herself by how well and how peacefully she slept.”
In the Islamic law, adultery is punishable by death, and the negative connotations attached by a Muslim society to the practice of adultery is highly consequential. It is not surprising for a person who has committed adultery to easily be excluded from his\ her community. With such harsh consequences associated with adultery, being able to commit it and later show no remorse, shows the lack of influence of religion and other similar cultural thinking of the community she was raised in.
So what does this mean? As pointed out earlier with the case of Nadia, socioeconomic status plays a big role in how much religion affects an individual or a family within a certain society. Even though this might possibly not be a dominant circumstance, one of the biggest reasons to be able to choose whether religion affects an individual’s life or not can be their economic status.
Asya grew up with parents with carriers in the academic world. Their financial status has helped their children get privileges only a few are granted. With such parents, Asya grew up reading English novels and exposed to a world beyond her immediate surrounding. This opened up the opportunity to, not only, be influenced by the customs and traditions of her surrounding but also with ideas and thinking of the western world.
Asya’s constant reference of characters in books she enjoys is a common trend. She is constantly accused by her mother, for example, that she treats life as if it was a novel. While most women in her community quote and refer to the Quran and other religious teachings, it is very common to find Asya refer back to Weathering heights or Anna Karenina. The idea of having influences from two totally different sources has given Asya the opportunity to chose and her choice, it seems, has selected a ‘free’ life with little reference to her family or her community.
Even when we go beyond Asya, we witness the same reaction with Asya’s mother. When she first finds out her daughters situation with Gerald, she talks to her in a very rational manner and does not show any kind of disapproval or shock.
In this specific case what is happening in regard to religion is, it is easily being disregarded rather than being interpreted in a wrong or abusive way.
Through out the five novels we have witnessed religion being used and misused in different ways. So, how is it possible that one religion can be interpreted and practiced in so many different ways? To look at this issue I’ll look in detail to two highly debated issues: Hijab and Polygamy.
Hijab
The veil is one of the highly discussed issues concerning Muslim women. It is never merely considered just a piece of cloth, it’s always what that cloth represents. And as in the case with a lot of issues in the Muslim community, many different interpretation are given to what the Hijab really is and what it means for women.
The veil is seen from two different perspectives. It can either be viewed as a limitation for women or it can be viewed as a sort of liberation for women.
Mostly in the west the veil is constantly depicted as another way were both the religion and men have limited the freedom of women. If men are allowed to dress like ‘valentino’ why was it that women had to cover from head to toe? Does this not hinder them both physically and psychologically to fully exercise their rights?
By many other, the veil is seen as an obligation of their religion and they follow it simply as a way of to please their lord and more recently than ever as a way of presenting themselves.
It is seen as a form of oppression by many and is highly criticized and hated. From the book, Dreams of Trespass, we hear Fatima’s mother:
“…I ran around with one of my mother’s scarves securely tied around my head, until she noticed it and forced me to take it off.” Don’t you ever cover your head! Mother shouted,” Do you understand me? Never! U am fighting against the veil, and you are putting one on?! What is this nonsense?”….. “ even if Hi-Hitler, the almighty king of the Allemaine, is after you,” she said, “ you ought to face him with your hair uncovered. Covering your head and hiding will not help. Hiding does not solve a women’s problems. It just identifies her as an easy victim. Your grandmother and I have suffered enough of this head-covering business. We know it does not work. I want my daughters to stand up with their heads erect, and walk on Allah’s planet with their eyes on the starts.”
It is also seen by others, as a strict obligation of God and is not only worn to cover the head but it is used to cover the entire body and face. In the Eyes of the Sun after returning to Cairo to teach at the university, Asya asks her students why they were taking poetry. One of her female students had written down
“ I want to learn the language of my enemy.” Asya had read the student’s name out, and sure enough the girl who sat shrouded in the front row, dead centre, had put up a gloved hand.
‘This is yours? Asya had held up the paper.
The hooded figure nodded. It was spooky talking to one of them directly – seeing nothing except the movement of a pair of eyes through the narrow slit of a white tarha.
‘Why is English the language of your enemy?’ Asya had asked. She knew the answer, but she wanted to hear her speak, to engage her in dialogue, to ask whether she didn’t not think there was commonality of human experience beyond politics, beyond forms.
The veiled head shook once silently and was still.
‘I’m sorry?’ said Asya, and nothing happened.
‘Are you all right?’ she asked, and another – an unveiled – girl had spoken up.
She cannot speak,’ she had said,’ because the voice of a woman is a “awra.’
From the above two examples, we witness two extreme cases in the opinion about the Hijab. Once we look at the Quran and hadith and see what they say about this issue it might be relatively easier to understand how and where the different interpretation arises from.
Hijab in the Hadith and the Quran
Hijab is the Arabic term for “cover”, based on a root word meaning “to veil, to cover, to screen, to shelter”. Most Arabic-speaking countries and Western countries use the word hijab primarily to refer to women’s head, face or body covering, In Islamic scholarship hijab is given the wider meaning of modesty, privacy and morality. Through out my discussion, when I will use the term hijab it is to refer to the head and body covering of Muslim women.
The following are verses from the Quran, which refer to covering and modesty in Islam:
“And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what must ordinarily appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers, or their brothers' sons or their sisters' sons, or their women or the servants whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex, and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O you Believers turn you all together towards Allah, that you may attain Bliss.” (Quran 24:31).
“O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks close round them (when they go abroad). That will be better, so that they may be recognized and not annoyed. Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful.” (Quran 33:59)
An example of a Hadith that refers to the Quran:
Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin: Asma, daughter of AbuBakr, entered upon the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) wearing thin clothes. The Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) turned his attention from her. He said: O Asma', when a woman reaches the age of menstruation, it does not suit her that she displays her parts of body except this and this, and he pointed to her face and hands.[3] Sunnan Abu Dawud 32:4092
The verses I’ve discussed above are the main sources which dictate how both women and men should dress. Hijab or the veil is considered as a source of modesty for many Muslims around the world. The key work here, is modesty. The idea of having modesty is one that doesn’t really bring much debate, but the idea of what modesty is, is what brings about all the debates and misunderstandings. For some modesty can easily mean wearing clothing which does not show a women’s bosoms or other parts of her body clearly. And still for other groups modesty is still considered covering the body, face, hands and face even as far as not talking or interacting with other.
Hence like any other religions text, there exist different opinions within Muslims themselves about the correct way of wearing Hijab. There is also the question of whether hijab is at all an obligation for a Muslim women to wear. Some argue that it’s more of a cultural obligation than a religions one, but still others see it as a religious obligation and abide by it.
Even though opinions differ as to whether the veil is an obligation of a cultural subjugation it is left for the reader to decide on their own. But the most important issue of all is that to truly liberate women, is to empower them to have their own choices and give them the right to form their opinions about it. What we should aim at is providing women with this empowerment.
Polygamy
Another one of the biggest problems Arab and also other Muslim women face is the issue of polygamy. Many people believe Islam permits polygamy, but lack the understanding that when polygamy was first permitted in Islam it came with many restrictions and responsibilities. But because the majority of the Muslim community lack this understanding, they marry up to four wives, sometimes even more and this result in the abuse and humiliation of many women. We witness polygamy in all the books we’ve read, A Balcony over the Fakihani being an exception. Two examples that can be drawn, which can also help us understand how polygamy is understood and constantly misused for a long period of time are the following.
In the Eye of the Sun, Chrissie’s husband Fuad goes to Sinai for the purpose of his job, since his wife was unable to join him he marries a second wife. Here she describes her emotions to her friend:
“You will never imagine it – I myself could not believe it, even after I know it was true – would you believe that Fuad has got married? Married on top of me, Asya, would you believe it? Not having an affair, or keeping some woman, but married – actually married.”
“I asked him for a divorce. I went from the flat to his site office with his brother droning in my ears all the way, and I was telling myself to be wise and be careful, and when I saw him I forgot everything except that I wanted to attack him, the traitor, I swear I would have gone for his face…”
We also witness the case of Um Saad, a poor women trying to raise eight kids and practically being a property to her husband, finds out one day that he has brought home a new wife:
“ I said to the man I had been calling my husband, ‘How dare you bring another woman to my house?’ I said, “ how dare you do this to me.’ He ignored me. He had no eyes for me. He ignored me and asked his young bride, ‘shall I show you the bedroom.’ Maha, my sister, may Allah widen your chest for you and prevent your ribs from closing in. Abu Saad took her to my bedroom and closed the door. I saw red and green. I saw blood. Gripping the sharp kitchen knife, I stood close to the bedroom door. When I heard their suppressed sighs, the laughter, and the husky pleading, I could not open the door. I could not bear to see what they were doing on my bed. My hands were shaking and the knife was on the floor. I went to my son Walid and cried on his shoulder. He said, ‘I’m glad you know. The whole of Amman knows.’ Amman the absent-minded city knew about Abu Saad and his new wife and was still smiling.”
These incidents are among the many that happen everyday. Women face humiliation and suffer great burdens as a result of men practicing polygamy. And yet again it is easily identified that Islam allows the practice of polygamy, meaning it allows the subjugation of women and increases their sufferings. This is far from being true. The problem, once more, is the abuse of a religious right, which was given with restrictions and purposes.
To understand why polygamy is one of the major problems in Islam, it is important to look at how polygamy was first practiced by the Muslim community and by the prophet Mohammed and more importantly why it was practiced.
When polygamy was permitted, it was done for a purpose, therefore it came with certain restrictions and obligations. What we see nowadays is that in certain areas of the Muslim world, the meaning of polygamy as given in the Quran has been lost. It has some how evolved into a culture or it has been taken as the right of a man. The reason for this misconception might be lack of religious knowledge or simply ill morals. Whatever the reason women suffer as a result of it. The men practicing polygamy nowadays should not use the Quran as a justification for their actions, since the Quran permitted polygamy for a purpose, not for the satisfaction of men’s ego.
To understand the way polygamy should really be practiced as instructed in the Quran, the first important thing is to understand how such a rule was given. The verses dealing with polygamy were first revealed to the prophet Mohammed after the battle of Uhud. The battle of Uhud was one of the deadliest battles that the Muslims faced against the non- Muslim Arabs. After Uhud and many other battles that followed, lots of Muslim men had lost their lives. These deaths had decreased the number of men in the community and had left many women either widowed or orphaned. So there had to be a way to protect these women that had no means of livelihood and prevent them from entering into sins, such as prostitution and illegal sexual intercourse. Thus, men were permitted to marry up to four wives if they could handle the responsibilities that came hand in hand with entering these types of marriages. This way the women would be under the protection of their marriages. So the main purpose of the verses was to solve a major problem that the society was facing at that time. The purpose was nothing else except to benefit the whole society.
To give as logical an interpretation as we can, let us look at the verses dealing with polygamy.
Verse 4:3 "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."
Noble Verse 4:129 "Ye are never able to be fair and just as between women, even if it is your ardent desire: But turn not away (from a woman) altogether, so as to leave her (as it were) hanging (in the air). If ye come to a friendly understanding, and practice self-restraint, God is Oft-forgiving, most Merciful."
When we study the verses dealing with polygamy we may be able to realize that polygamy is not an act that could be practiced as any man pleases. The verses make it clear that it is not encouraged, but merely permitted. The verse states, “if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one…” (4:3). Hence what this verse tells us is that the equal and just treatment of women is an obligation to the men that enter into this kind of marriages. All the women that are inside the marriage should receive equal treatment from the men who they marry. They should be treated equally with every aspect of their live. The husband should be able to provide the same thing to all of his wives. They should have the equal financial status, equal time from their husband; they should even be given equal affection and love. But one big question we all can ask ourselves is how many men, in fact how many human beings, have the ability to treat two things equally. The Quran makes it clear how hard it is to do that: “Ye are never able to be fair and just as between women, even if it is your ardent desire…” (4:129).This verse clearly discourages men from entering a polygamous marriage stating how hard it is to deal justly between two women.
Another important point that can be looked at critically is the word “marry”. In the verses it says “marry” not force or kidnap, so the consent of the women entering the marriage is needed. In one of the hadith narrated by Abu Dawud, he says:
"When a man gives his daughter in marriage and she dislikes it, the marriage shall be annulled." Once a virgin girl came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said that her father had married her to a man against her wishes. The Prophet gave her the right to repudiate the marriage. (Abu Dawud).
This clearly shows that the consent of the women entering the marriage is a necessity .All parties involved should agree that they will benefit from the arrangement. So if polygamy should be practiced it can only be done if the women are willing to practice it. If a woman believes that she can benefit from the marriage she has all the right to enter it. But if she is somehow forced into the marriage the relationship will surely be against the word of Quran. Thus, what we can conclude from the verses dealing with polygamy is that there are restrictions and qualifications that come with practicing polygamy. If these obligations are not fulfilled then the marriage will be far from the words of the Quran.
Some people believe that if God did not want us to be in a polygamous marriage he would have prohibited it directly telling men not to practice polygamy at all. They believe because the Quran did not prohibit polygamy directly, it means that any man can practice polygamy anytime and anyway he pleases. This, I believe, is an incorrect way of thinking and is not supported in any way by the Quran.
The reason for not prohibiting polygamy categorically is perhaps due to the fact that there are certain conditions which face individuals and societies in different places and at different times, which make the limited practice of polygamy a better solution.
There are places and times in which there are compelling social and moral reasons for polygamy. As the Quranic verses indicates, the issue of polygamy in Islam cannot be understood apart from community obligations towards orphans and widows. Islam’s law was mean to be a universal religion suitable for all places and all times so it could not ignore these compelling obligations.
But how is it being practiced today? Are the obligations being fulfilled? What is the motive of the Muslim men practicing polygamy in this day and age? How is their actions affecting our society? Muslims nowadays, I believe, are abusing the license of polygamy as decreed by the Quran. Men marry more than one wife when he is not certain of his fairness. Some marry more than one when they are unable to sustain both, nor in addition, what follows the marriage i.e. children and other responsibilities. Some men are able to sustain more but are unable to protect them. Her we use examples based on financial status of individuals and society at large to give us more idea about how men abuse the word of the Quran and in turn abuse their families and societies at large.
If we take the rich as an example we can see the motive with which they practice polygamy is far from being legal and is immoral. Their actions also contradict to what the Quran says. Since they believe they can afford to have more than one wife financially they marry different wives to fulfill their sexual desires with different women. Some go as far as marrying a younger wife as a substitute for the old wife. This is far from the spiritual point from allowing polygamy in the Quran. And if a man’s wife strongly opposes to polygamy to a point that she would seek a divorce then clearly he can never satisfy her, and most probably can never be fair enough with her because he would be always fighting and arguing with her, where it may not be the case with the other wife. So destroying a marital life and damaging the kids for a personal reason is not fair by itself.
When we look at the poor, the situation is very saddening. The practice of polygamy has lost all of its Quranic meaning and has evolved into a culture. Whether because of misconception or ill manner, Muslim men practice polygamy either to satisfy themselves or see it as their old and valuable culture. When one man can barely afford to satisfy one family he marries more than one and brings misery to his family. What these men do is bring more illiterate and starving kinds in to their society and worsening the situation that they are already living under. It should be understood that practicing polygamy among the poor and starving is not allowed in Islam. These men should be accountable by their actions. These men practicing polygamy don’t provide fairness to the newly born children and to the economically crippled society and certainly not to their wives. Polygamy was not permitted for a man to fulfill his ego and to do whatever he fells. Polygamy comes with a responsibility far more than this; it is a way of bringing security to women who need it most. The law was given to better society not to be used in an immoral manner and bring more misery and dissatisfaction to the wife or the family.
Such Misuse of Islamic teachings, like the examples given above on hijab and polygamy, have resulted in situations where women end up facing the horrible consequences. After going through such examples, it is clear that the abuse of the teachings of the religion is the source of the subjugation and suffering of women, not the teachings itself.
Arab Women Feminists:
There have been women in history and also women today who have carefully studied their religion and who have stood up for the very right their religion grants them.
We have women like Maha, who can actually be viewed as true feminists, who, without going to any formal studies, know and believe that they have every right for their choice and are strong and willed enough to take their choices and fight against the constant subjugation caused by men. But, there are the Feminists who are examples to millions of Arab women. We meet these remarkable women in more detain in Dreams of Trespass.
In this novel, like I’ve mentioned earlier, Chama and Fatima’s mother are constantly fighting for what they believe is their right as women. In the performances that Chama gives to her eager audience she uses the life of remarkable Arab feminists and brings their lives to life. The women in the Harem have the ability to dream, and these feminists were women who have lived their dreams. Three notable Arab women feminists who are raised in Dreams of Trespass are: Aisha Taymour, Zaynab Fawwaz, and Huda Sha’raoui.
Aisha Taymour was born in Cario in 1840, she wrote fiery poetry, mostly about the veil. She wrote in many languages, and this, for the women of the Harem “is like opening a window in a blind wall. Speaking a foreign language in a harem is like developing wings that allow you to fly to another culture, even if the frontier is still there, and the gatekeeper too.”
The next woman that we meet is Zaynab Fawwaz, a self-taught Lebanese women born in the 1850s. She was a literary Figure in Beirut and Cairo intellectual circles. Even though she never stepped out or her Harem, she was able to overwhelm the Arab press with articles and poetry “ in which she vented her hatred of the veil and condemned the seclusion of women. Both she argued, where obstacles to Muslim greatness, and both explained our mediocre performance when facing Western colonial armies.”
The third and maybe the most influential example of the Arab women Feminist is Huda Sha’raoui. Born in 1879, an aristocratic Egyptian women. She involved herself in popular street marches and gave great speeches. This enthralling women was able to transform a society in a few decades. “ Huda managed to do two seemingly contradictory things at the same time – fighting the British occupation and end her own traditional Seclusion and confinement.” She created the Egyptian Feminist Union and successfully fought for women’s rights.
These three extraordinary women are among the few women who decided to speak their minds and contribute to the liberation of women. They constantly believed and fought for the idea that Islam did not prevent them from living a free life. They fought against the hijab, which they believed was their right not to wear. If anyone chose to wear the hijab it is purely their right, and if anyone chose not to wear it, that was also clearly their right. Just like Zaynab Fawwaz believed, all the seclusion of women is the obstacle to Muslim greatness and also the greatness of women themselves.
Women like these, were and always will be, the great examples that help in the process of liberating both Arab and Muslim women. They use the same source that is claimed to subjugate them and fight for their rights and liberation.
These Arab feminists were not asking either for sexual freedom or any of the other feminist issues we witness in the west. They wanted the right to be respected and honored, to be given the right that they deserve, to have their voices heard and be taken into account seriously. They wanted the freedom Islam has given them, but that of which men and society has taken away.
Like the small and enchanting Fatima has described:
“Allah is generous and gives every one of his creatures some beautiful thing, tucking it right inside, like a mysterious flower, without you even knowing it. I had probably received my share, and would just have to wait and develop it when the right time came. Meanwhile, I would lean all I could from heroines of literature and history.”
These women were fighter, liberators, the hope that Women can rise up and take the right that most rightly belongs to them. They are constant reminders that the strength of a women should be celebrated and that it can rise above all misconceptions and lack of understandings of cultures. They are among the many women who make all hopeful in the fight against the subjugation of the Muslim women.
Sources:
Al-Atrash, Leila. 2002.A Woman of Five Seasons. New York: Interlink Books.
Badr, Liyana.2002. A Balcony over the Fakihani. New York: Interlink Books.
Faqir, Fadia. 2004. Pillars of Salt. Northampton, MA: Interlink Books.
Mernissi, Fatima. 1995. Dreams of Trespass. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books.
The holy Quran
Hadith online.